A huge welcome to Term 3. It is great to be back on deck following ten weeks of leave. I have thoroughly enjoyed walking around the school and catching up with both students and staff. Thanks to Sam Wells for stepping in as Acting Principal in my absence, supported by Bianca Munday, Maree McCall and Emily Devlin.

I hope students and families enjoyed the break and had an opportunity to spend time together and re-energise for what we know will be a busy term. The start of the term has been one of mixed emotions as we process the loss of one of our students. We have had and will continue to have additional support staff available to support our students during this time. In our correspondence to parents and carers last week, we encourage parents and carers to contact the school if they feel their child would benefit from accessing professional support.

Staffing

This week we have farewelled two staff members as they step into the next journey of their careers. Hayley Wolstenholme, who has been our ‘Introduction to Nursing’ VET teacher, will be commencing at Utas as a lecturer in the Bachelor of Nursing. We also have Micah Jewell leaving after three years as a highly-valued teacher assistant. Micah has taken a position at the Indi school. We wish both Hayley and Micah all the very best.

We also welcome back Mr Gordon Brown from leave along with Lachlan Bryan and Michelle Bennett who have joined our teaching team.  Mrs Ange Hancock will be moving into the ‘Introduction to Nursing’ position with Mrs Leeanne Mason increasing her teaching load to take on the Year 7 Maths classes of Mrs Hancock’s.

Communications

Partnerships between school and home is a critical component in a young person’s education and development. We encourage parents and carers to contact their child’s teacher or Grade Coordinator if they have any concerns or questions regarding their child’s learning.  Also, to support student engagement we ask parents to contact the school office in relation to student absences and support.  

Looking forward to an exciting and productive Term 3.