Principal's Report

Good afternoon parents and carers, 

Camp

Our Junior Secondary students left for their camp excursion this morning. They are heading to the Caves for a two night stay. On the way to the Caves they will have their morning tea at Mount Archer lookout, followed by a Dreamtime Cultural Centre visit.  All of the students are very excited and hope to make the most of their camp experience. We wish them and the staff a safe and happy camp with lots of good memories to share. 

Seesaw

We endeavour to create more opportunities for families to be active participants in their child’s learning. What better way for our families to share with and talk to their children about the learning that is happening in classrooms every day. We are trailing the Seesaw app in a few classrooms across the school. Seesaw is a simple way for teachers and students to record and share what's happening in the classroom. Seesaw gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to use technology. Each student gets their own journal and will add things to it, like photos, videos, drawings, or notes. When there are new Seesaw posts, families can be notified via app notification, email or SMS. Parents are only notified about their own child’s work, and all data is safe and secure. Seesaw is used by teachers, students, and family members across schools in Australia. Seesaw is at the heart of the learning process for thousands of students. Our platform encourages creativity and feedback which makes students excited to learn.  Now more than ever, remote learning solutions are essential. 

Covid 19 School Update

Except when a local government area or state-wide lockdown is in place, visitors including parents, carers, family members, adult volunteers and visiting specialists, are welcome at state school sites. However, adults are kindly reminded to maintain physical distancing at all times, especially at drop-off and pic​k-up times, in the car park, outside classrooms and at the school gate. Unless a school is closed, builders and contractors are permitted to attend state schools to undertake construction and maintenance work. Schools operate under COVID normal​ conditions when there are no COVID-19 restrictions in place.

When face mask restrictions are place, advice regarding the wearing of face masks in schools should be followed. ​Parents’ and carers’ may be asked to check in when attending events for contact tracing purposes. All other visitors must adhere to school visitor and sign-in arrangements.​ Please do not visit a school if you are sick. Anyone who is showing signs of illness or feeling unwell must stay at home, contact their doctor or call 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84) and get tested.​​​​​​

Please be assured that our school has been taking all of appropriate precautions regarding health and hygiene and we will continue to take the advice of Queensland Health. We are working closely with the public health authorities and our own Department of Education to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.

Mental Health

Who would have ever guessed that words like coronavirus, COVID-19 or pandemic would become part of our daily vocabulary? When stressful times occur, like we now find ourselves in, it is just as important to make sure we are feeling as good emotionally as we do physically, because your mental health is your first line of defence to staying healthy. One scientifically proven way to boost the immune function is by thinking and acting optimistically. In other words, dreaming and setting achievable life goals can be good for your health! 

Fear and stress cause illness. When the mind and body are in a state of fear and stress, our autonomic nervous system (the body’s “engine”) revs up and hits the gas pedal, giving us lots of extra energy to protect ourselves. This is also known as the fight or flight response. Then, when the danger has passed, our body slows down and hits the brakes, which allows us to recover and restore. This is known as the rest and digest response. This balance of “on” and “off’ works great until we hit a period of chronic stress, in which case our body stays in the fight or flight response for longer than usual. This becomes a drain on the body’s resources and doesn’t give us enough time in the rest and digest cycle to restore and rebuild. Whilst stress can wear us down, managing stress properly can help us be strong and healthy. 

Here’s the Good News! You can learn how to turn off the fight or flight response and put your body in the rest and digest cycle. You do this by changing your thoughts and actions in optimistic ways. These stressful times provide the perfect opportunity for your family  to learn a few strategies to not only survive, but thrive in the face of stress. As a parent, you are your children’s most important role model. Showing them how you handle stress will go a long way to help them manage their own stresses.  Overall, the goal is to acknowledge that stress is part of life—stress can be big, small, and every size in between. The most powerful thing we can do is teach children how to handle stress in a healthy way both physically and emotionally. This lets them make a positive, intentional change in their lives. Learning skills like self-awareness and self-management can help your child learn to effectively identify and manage stress. Learning and practicing these skills leads children to develop physical and emotional resilience, and acceptance that even when challenges occur in life, they have the ability to manage how they respond to these challenges.

Please be safe and take care of your physical and mental health. 

Kind regards,

Dehlia