Principal's Piece
Fantastic start to 2021
The 2021 school year has got off to a flying start. Remember that “EVERYDAY COUNTS”. It has been amazing to be out and about visiting all the classrooms. Our students have been working hard making a difference to their own learning. The level of engagement in their learning has been outstanding. Well done Calliope State School students for your amazing start to the year and also to all our parents and carers for ensuring a smooth and successful transition back to school.
Our focus of areas of “Every Student Included” and “Every Teacher Excelling” are evident in every classroom every day.
Before School for Parents
Thank you so much to all our parents who have been following our COVID requirements for entering the school grounds before school. Classrooms open from 8:45am. Check your child's before school routine letter for their individual classroom opening times. Parents are welcome to drop students at their classroom ONCE THEY ARE OPEN. If classrooms are not open, students are welcome to go to the oval from 8:30am. Once parents have dropped their child/ren, they then leave via the closest exit. Part of our guidelines outline that parents are not to congregate on school grounds. Should you wish to make an appointment to discuss your child, please contact us to make an appointment. You can organise this directly with your child's teacher or by contacting our school office.
Parent Meetings
We are very excited to be able to run our parent information sessions for 2021. These will be face to face following our COVID safe guidelines. These sessions provide an opportunity for the teachers to provide parents with information about their classroom expectations and routines. They are also an opportunity for parent to ask any questions they may have. We look forward to seeing parents attend these sessions.
Student Leadership Induction – Save the Date
Our Student Leaders will have their badge ceremony during the Week 3 Friday parade – 12 February. Parents of these students will receive further information in the coming days.
Parent Volunteer Mandatory Training Sessions
In another exciting easing of restrictions, we are looking forward to welcoming parent volunteers back into our classrooms. In order to sign up as a volunteer, you will need to undertake our Volunteer Mandatory training. We have scheduled two sessions this term. Please RSVP to our office if you would like to attend. We will also run a third session later in the term. Please register your interest and preferred days/times with the office staff to help us with our planning of the third session.
The two session already organised are:
- Thursday 11 Feb at 9.15am
- Monday 15 Feb at 4pm
Supporting your child’s wellbeing and learning
When children have a strong sense of wellbeing, they experience greater success in learning.
Our school is strongly committed to enhancing the wellbeing of our students which is why we have a range of activities and supports across our school to help students feel and function the best they can.
This is part of a Queensland-wide recognition of the importance of wellbeing and is supported by a series of webisodes delivered by respected psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg. The short video presentations are available at: http://deta.qld.gov.au/initiatives/learningandwellbeing/resources.html
This year we have increased the Student Wellbeing Team. Should you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing at school, please work with your child’s classroom teacher in the first instance and then make contact with one of our Student Wellbeing Team. Our team this year is:
Mrs Christine Johnstone, Mrs Kayleigh Donald and Mr Lochie Carlson.
STOP, DROP, GO
to all our parents who access our Stop, Drop, Go area. The way in which you have all supported our staff to support you to move out of the space as efficiently and safely as possible has been amazing. Our changes to the student waiting area have improved this even more. Our advice is to arrive after 3:15 so you are in the flow of traffic. It is a 2 minute only zone, so if you arrive before hand, feel free to park in one of the available parking spaces. Please be aware that there is a yellow line painted on the Administration building side of the entry road, which means “No Parking”. This includes stopping to let children out of the car. This applies at all times of day, including before and after school.
Feedback Welcome
Calliope State School is committed to ensuring that ‘everyone at Calliope State School is working together to ensure that every day, in every classroom, every student is learning and achieving’. We want to know from our parents, carers and students, what we are doing well, and if there are any areas we can improve on or do differently. You can give feedback at any time to a staff member, coming into the school office, or leaving a message in our Suggestion Box (in the office foyer). Please be respectful when providing feedback.
If you have a complaint we ask that you:
1) Arrange a time to speak with the class teacher as the first point of call.
2) If your concern is regarding the classroom teacher or a staff member, contact the office to speak with a Deputy Principal responsible for your child’s sector.
- Miss Raelene Norris is the P-2 Deputy Principal
- Mrs Rebecca Crapp is the 3-6 Deputy Principal
- Ms Moira Mackenzie is the Principal.
We ask that you refrain from using social media platforms to comment about issues or incidents involving our school. We have a great school with great students and staff and together we can continue to promote our school as a fantastic learning venue in our community. By following the above process we can work together to ensure any concerns you have are addressed in a proactive and solution focused way. Posting about our school on external Facebook pages hinders rather than helps our problem solving processes.
