Principal's Message

Hi Everyone,

Haven’t the storms been intense?  I hope your homes and cars (and yourselves of course) have come through unscathed.  A big storm season was predicted, and it has come to fruition.  We have had hot weather in conjunction with the storms, please know that we are always encouraging every child to drink water and put their hat on.  Coming to school in sunscreen and reapplying is a great idea too.  Also, a couple of you wonderful people passed umbrellas out of your cars to me during Monday’s storm, I have them in my office for you to collect  -  thank you so much for the kind gesture.

Our wonderful Library Monitors enjoyed their well-earned break-up party last week, what a truly deserving group of children.  On assembly Mrs Sauvage was able to give Life Member badges to Jiahn, Xiaoguo and Cooper; these children are so amazing with the service they provide.  Also, Thenujah received a MEDAL OF SERVICE!!  The dedication that is required to receive that is extraordinary!  Congratulations to all these children and thank you for making our school a better place.

We have a flourishing partnership with Stafford State School.  Some of our newly arrived year 6 children to Australia and Ironside SS, go one day a week for an Intensive English Class.  These classes are incredibly successful, in bridging the language barrier for the newest members of our school community.  Thank you so much Stafford State School!

Congratulations to our Year 4-6 Merit Certificate recipients, we are very proud of you!

I put out a call on assembly a couple of weeks ago, letting everyone know that I think we need children to lead us on the microphone when our Strings groups play the national anthem next year, so that everyone can keep in time.  Well, there was no need to wait until 2026, Sahanah did a beautiful job of leading us  -  what talent you have Sahanah, thank you!

It was great to have a repeat of our Senior Band and the Year 5&6 Select Choir on assembly last week.  It is impossible not to sing-along!  Thank you to all the children involved and Mr Kukulies and Mrs Kirsten. 

We also announced the children who participated in the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University State Honours Ensemble Program for 2025, otherwise known as SHEP.  Congratulations to Kahil, Abigail, Andy, Ricky, Benjamin, Amber, Valentine and Yufan.

A few weeks ago, a group of children completed the Rotary Challenge.  There was a wonderful night held to congratulate them but a large number of our children couldn’t go because they are in the band.  Finally, Mrs Janelle Bodman from Rotary was able to give them their awards on assembly on Friday.  Congratulations to all these children who completed wonderful and varied tasks to earn these awards and thank you Rotary!

Mr James Tait, our wonderful Debating Coach, acknowledged all our debaters on assembly on Friday.  We are so proud of all they have achieved this year.

We were able to recognise a huge group of our children who give up their time every week to contribute to our school by being Peer Mediators.   Thank you so much to all these children for their service.  Thank you to their coaches also, Ms Hannah Ersser, Ms Billie Barker and Mrs Jessica Ballantyne.

Coming up this week we have our whole school STAR assembly and then straight afterwards, we have our Junior Choir Mini Concert at 10am.  I cannot wait to enjoy our Junior Choir again!

Well done to all of children who competed in the 100m swimming races on Friday  -  so much talent!  This has certainly got us excited for the swimming carnivals this week.  Year 3&4 on Wednesday and Year 5&6 on Thursday.  Please ensure your children are ready with hats, sunscreen, water, swimmers, cap, goggles, towel etc.  We are looking forward to great days!

Coming Up This Week:

• P&C Meeting -  6:30pm, Tuesday 2nd December  in the staffroom
• Year 3&4 Swimming Carnival -  Wednesday 3rd December
• 2026 Prep Transition Afternoon -  Wednesday 3rd December
• Year 5&6 Swimming Carnival -  Thursday 4th December
• Whole School STAR Assembly Friday 5th December, 9:15am
• Junior Choir Mini Concert -  Friday 5th December, 10am start
• Year 6 Sustainability Showcase  -  Friday 5th December, 2pm start

We are looking forward to our final Prep Transition this week, our incoming Preppies are going so well.  If you know of anyone who wants to enrol in our school for 2026, can you ask them to contact our school please.  It is so important to finalise numbers as soon as possible.

I am looking forward to Year 6’s Celebration of Learning this term, which is their Sustainability Showcase.  The children and teachers have done a remarkable job with all this great work. Most of our other classes have their Celebration of Learning on Tuesday 9th December.  I will put the times into the newsletter too.

Our final P&C Meeting for the year is tomorrow night at 6:30pm in the staff room. The contribution that our P&C make culturally and financially to our school is significant. 

THANK YOU, P&C!

Have a safe and wonderful week.

Sincerely,

Angie Kelly

Principal

PS A few weeks ago I wrote about our truly wonderful Legends of the Lost team, who organise all of the lost property in our school.  They received their badges on assembly, and I didn’t get a photo into the newsletter.  Here they are and our school is so grateful to them!