From the Principal

Dear parents and carers

At the end of term 1 I was fortunate enough to be able to pop into the SSP Intersport Day at the PCYC. Wow! What a wonderful job Mrs Said did coordinating the day. It was fantastic to see our students interacting with their peers from other schools and showing great sportsmanship throughout the day. On the same day, I also attended the Partnership Agreement event at CRTHS where schools committed to improving the education of Aboriginal students. This is something that I am personally very passionate about and will continue to foster strong connections with the Aboriginal community in my role as coordinator of our Aboriginal Education Group. I finished the evening off at the Orange City Library where one of the co-authors of The Australian Autism Handbook, Seana Smith, and Clinical Psychologist, Chloe Weekes launched the reviewed edition and discussed key points. The handbook offers support and guidance to families on their journey from early signs and symptoms of Autism to diagnosis, intervention programs, schooling, issues such as eating, sleeping, toilet training and much more. We purchased 1 copy of the book for the school and gave the other signed copy away to Kay Cunningham, who was our lucky winner on FB. 

Sadly, at the end of term we said farewell to 2 amazing SLSOs, Kathey Middleton and Joey Almond. They have both contributed so much to the school and supported students in the most respectful, caring way. Kathey has retired after 21 years of service, and Joey has taken up a position with Clontarf in Gunnedah. We wish them all the best, they will be greatly missed by all! 

While we were all on holidays the GAs worked tirelessly across the school, in particular, landscaping the front gardens ready for our ANZAC day service and tidying up the Campus including some painting, a new path to the scooter shed, and deck re-vamp. 

After a well-deserved break, staff returned from holidays and engaged in professional learning. 18 staff members completed Health Care Procedures recertification training. Michelle Maunder (OT) led a practical session on regulation in the Engine Room; Tenielle Thwaites (Speech Pathologist) taught staff how to use ChooseIt Maker to improve students' communication; Cassie Lloyd (DCO) and Hayley Marsden (stage 6 teacher) upskilled staff in the use of Microsoft Teams. All in all, it was a great day with lots of connecting and learning (and lollies). Thank you to all presenters, we certainly have an abundance of knowledge and talent within our team! 

Term 2 has been jam packed so far with loads of events and opportunities for students to engage in. I was incredibly proud of how our students conducted themselves at the Anzac Day community march and our Anzac service day at school. Thank you to Mrs Lloyd and Mrs Cunial for organising these important events. Harvest was a cracker of a day with entertainment and good vibes all round whilst 3 ton of grapes were picked. Mr Gell became a superstar on Prime News, and we all enjoyed a sausage sizzle for lunch. Thank you to the GA team, Mr Gell, Mrs Hodder, Mrs Griffen and Mrs Lloyd for making the day a huge success!

Now to the athletics carnival... we made it at last after nervously watching the weather, again, an amazing effort by Mrs Said and the GA team. The day was so much fun, full of healthy competition, culminating with Anson Street staff thrashing the James Sheahan student volunteers in a tug-of-war!  

I look forward to the weeks ahead, keep warm.

Jodie Pritchard 

(Rel) Principal