Thank you for a great start to 2023. It has been lovely to welcome our new Prep Students and families as they join our school family. I want to thank you for your efforts in school drop off and pick up as you and your families have quickly transitioned to school life. I really enjoy seeing the smiling faces and children excited to be entering the school gate each morning. School is what each of us make it. If we are excited and positive, then our children will be excited and positive.
Prep Welcome Parade
This Thursday we will be welcoming our new Prep students at a parade in the hall commencing at 2:25pm. Prep students will enter the hall and move up onto the stage in class groups. The whole school will welcome them before moving off the stage and leaving the hall. This will be their first experience in a large group and we all want to make it a positive one. We would love to see parents and family there!
Day 8
Day 8 is an important administrative time in every state school. Our student enrolment on this day is used to confirm our staffing allocations for 2023. We have managed to predict accurately that we would have 803 students enrolled on Day 8. This means that our 33 class groups are now confirmed and no changes are required. This final number was slightly down in 2022 where we believed we would start the year.
In our planning we understood that this year we would no longer be intitled to our third Deputy Principal position. With Mark Craswell retiring, we have developed a new service model for 2023. As Principal, I am now also the main contact Administrator for Prep classes. Mr Will Windsor will be leading Years 1-3, and Mr John Kennedy will continue leading years 4-6.
Parent information Nights
This week our teachers have held information nights to share classroom expectations and ways of working. I was so impressed with the volume of parents who were able to make the time to come and meet their teachers and learn a little more about how their class will operate this year.
The relationship with your class teacher is an important factor in building positive attitudes and learning for your child. When parents and teachers work together we can achieve great things. The key to this relationship is to stay informed and communicate where possible. Teachers will have outlined how they will be communicating and how best to meet to discuss important things for your child. It was lovely to hear from parents so many positive stories and the excitement that many children have when coming home each day.
Welcome to Coorparoo Movie Night
Our P&C have organised a family movie night to start the year and bring the community together! The movie is being voted on by the children currently but will be a fun movie suitable for all ages.
Date: Saturday 25 February 2023
Time of event: 4.30pm - 8.30pm
There will be popcorn and Fairy floss! A sausage run by our local Federal MP, face painting and bubble blowing.
We would love to see you there.
Coorparoo welcomes our own school Psychologist
Senior Psychologist - Jess Parsons has been appointed to our school this year and will be working with students and families referred through our Whole Child Supports Team. Jess is very experienced and comes to Education from her previous position in QLD Health in North QLD. This service will further enhance our support team and together with Guidance, Speech Language Pathologists, Inclusion and Support teachers, contributes to the team of professionals supporting our children.
Road Safety and Parking
I really want to thank parents for your efforts already this year in road safety and parking. I understand there has been and will continue to be a police and council presence around our school weekly. However, I am seeing so many people doing the right thing, parking and walking to school, using the stop and drop correctly and ensuring they follow the road rules.
Please ensure you are not parking over neighbours drives, or on yellow lines or near our crossings. Please at all times think about your child and the dangers of cars around children.
Senior Playground commencing soon
Our long-awaited senior playground will commence approximately on 13/2/2023. I am so pleased to be able to share that the successful company under the state-wide tender process is Prestige Group Aus. Construction will have little impact on our school operations as the site is located off of Tarlina Lane and gives good access and is away from classes. Some deliveries may limit access in the lane at times but this will be managed by a site supervisor. Our project Manager is Honeywill who have previously worked with us to deliver the Kijini lift and under croft and our Senior STEM space.