Principal's Report

Dear school community,

Welcome back to our second newsletter of the term. Our staff and students are settling into clear classroom routines. This is supported by our wonderful school community in following the pick up and drop off times. The amount of families collecting their children earlier than 2:50pm have dramatically decreased and this helps with the smooth running of the overall learning time. Families are reminded to sign in at the office when you pick and drop your child off outside of the official school times.

P&C

Our annual P&C AGM will be held on the Friday the 18th of March at 10:00am. As we hope we will have a large number of families attend, the AGM will be held at our neighbouring school, North Rockhampton State High School. We encourage families to join the P&C who have an interest in supporting the P&C’s strategic direction. Our P&C strategic direction focus on ‘every student succeeds through meaningful community engagement’. If you would like to sign up as a P&C member you can collect forms in the office. The forms will be made available during the AGM as well.

Meet the Teacher Evening

We are pleased to announce that our delayed ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening will be hosted on Wednesday the 30th of March from 3:30 – 5:30pm. We invite all families to join us in meeting your child’s teacher. Please pencil this date into your diaries as we would love to meet every family in the school.

Full School Review

I am very excited to share with you that our school will be having a full school review next term. The Department of Education regularly reviews the teaching and learning practices of Queensland state schools. Full school reviews are conducted by a review team appointed by the Education Improvement Branch. The team generally includes an internal reviewer, an external reviewer and a principal peer reviewer. At the completion of each review, the review team presents its findings and improvement strategies to the principal and leadership team. A written report follows. The principal discusses the review findings with their assistant regional director and school community and uses the feedback to inform the school’s four-year strategic plan.

Our school is scheduled for a review from 27 April to 29 April 2022. The reviews do not rate or compare schools, but provide us with independent feedback so we can continue to improve learning outcomes for students. All schools have a review at least once every four years. Key findings from the review will be made available to parents and the community on our school website. The review team would like to hear from the school community and I encourage anyone who is interested to have their say. The team would like to hear from you about the journey of the school and celebrate what the school has achieved so far. Your feedback is important and will help us continue to deliver a great education for our students. Feedback can be provided to the review team by phone or in person. All feedback remains confidential. Please contact the school office if you are interested in speaking to a reviewer. Alternatively, you can register your interest by emailing eibmb@qed.qld.gov.au.

More information about the review process is available from the department’s website at www.schoolreviews.education.qld.gov.au

Covid Updates

Following the Premier’s announcement and the Director-General’s message to staff around COVID-19 relaxations from 6pm on 4 March, additional information is now available to guide school operations. From 6pm on 4 March, the Back to School Plan will no longer be in place, and schools will return to COVID-normal operations with some additional considerations outlined below.

Face masks: From 6pm on 4 March, face masks will no longer be required to be worn by staff or students in schools, on dedicated school transport or at other education workplaces. Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask at school may continue to do so.
Rapid antigen tests: Despite the Back to School Plan ceasing on 4 March, schools will continue to supply RATs to staff and students who become symptomatic at school throughout Term 1. The current arrangements for symptomatic staff and students who record a positive RAT result remain in place, based on current health advice.
Excursions and camps: Excursions and camps will resume from 6pm on 4 March.
Assemblies, gatherings, visitors, contractors: Schools can resume assemblies and other large gatherings, and parents, carers, volunteers, contractors and other external workers will be permitted on school sites from 6pm on 4 March. Please remember - anyone who is working or volunteering at our school site must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
As schools are venues that need to determine proof of vaccination, it is recommended that schools continue to use the check-in app as they have to date.
Health and wellbeing: For anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, once they have completed their period of isolation and no longer have symptoms, they are free to return to school. They do not need to produce a negative test before they can return. Information is also available for close contacts.

Please stay COVID safe. As always, we will continue to update you on any further developments as they arise.

Have a wonderful two weeks until we catch up again on the 16th of March.

Kind regards,

Dehlia