Principal's Piece
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Welcome Back! It is with great pleasure that I welcome you back to school for Term 4. We officially farewell Mr Mark Wright as our Principal and thank him for his positive impact on Calliope State School during his three years here. Under his leadership, the school has continued to grow and improve. This is a journey the Leadership Team are committed to continuing into the future. Our three improvement areas of WELLBEING, CURRICULUM and PEDAGOGY, with an explicit focus on the improvement in the area of READING will be reviewed by the Education Improvement Branch later this term. We look forward to having them visit and share their insights with us. A number of schools in the Gladstone region have undertaken their reviews this year and all have reported it to be an overwhelmingly positive and supportive experience to help their school continue their improvement journey. Information regarding the Human Rights Act 2019 Our new Student Code of Conduct incorporates the new Human Rights Act 2019.  The Human Rights Act 2019 commenced in its entirety on 1 January 2020 and provides a mechanism for all Queenslanders to ensure that public entities, including state schools, act only in a way that is consistent with the protection of human rights. In schools, one of the areas that will require careful consideration is decisions that impact a student’s right to education, such as suspension or exclusion. The decision to suspend or exclude a student from school is a complex activity that has always required principals to balance the rights of an individual student with the need of the school to provide a safe environment for all members of the school community. The introduction of the Human Rights Act 2019 emphasises the importance of considering the rights of the student, including appropriately documenting the decision, and, where a student’s rights are being limited, for example by suspending them from attending school, providing evidence that this action is lawful, justified and reasonable. The recent revision of all student discipline procedures, including the introduction of new resources such as flowcharts and checklists, is designed to help ensure that principals are able to demonstrate that their decisions are consistent with the Human Rights Act 2019. We will be running focus sessions in Term 4 to work in partnership with our parent and community to finalise the development of our Student Code of Conduct. This will replace our current Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students. Please keep an eye out for how you can be involved. Opportunity for new Instrumental Music students! Feedback We are always open to feedback as this helps our school to continuously grow and improve. There are many appropriate ways to provide feedback to our school and we appreciate the time and effort people have taken to ensure they are using these avenues. At the moment we have modified some of our avenues for providing feedback. The most effective way in this present situation is to email our admin@calliopess.eq.edu.au email address or via a phone call. Kindest Regards,  Rebecca Crapp A/Principal |