Caboolture Special School Week 5, Term 1, 2024
Principal News
Dear Caboolture Special School community members
It's now half way through Term 1 and it's so pleasing to see students engaged in learning every day alongside their peers at our school. It was fantastic to catch up with lots of families at the recent meet and greet session and given this event's success, we'll organise another meet and greet session for later in the year.
Student Attendance
89.3% (strong). Congratulations and well done everyone.
2024 School Priorities
Optimising effective communication processes for all learners.
Strengthening Australian Curriculum (AC) implementation, with an increasing focus on numeracy and Respectful Relationships Education (RRE).
Scaling up Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL).
Parents & Citizens' (P&C) Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Set down for 21 March 3-4pm. EOI for P&C executive members is currently open. The opportunity to be a P&C executive member is also available to extended family members.
School Supervisor (SS) and Regional Director (RD) visit
Gary (RD) and Ric (SS) visited recently and were very impressed with our school and the work of the little and big people within it.
Student Drop Off and Pick up Area
Some changes to present infrastructure in the drop off and pick up area that will help alleviate current traffic congestion will be progressed during the next holidays, increasing the length of the current student drop off and pick up area, while working within the existing available space.
Avocado Drive - potential development
I am meeting with Regional Infrastructure in coming weeks around a proposal for Region to consider upgrading this area to make it suitable for an additional student drop off and pick up area and (possibly) additional on site parking. Bitumen, signage line marking, access gates etc. This will be a long term project to accommodate future student growth and I will keep school community members updated on any significant developments.
Pedestrian Crossing Rules – bus and student drop off and pick up zone
Reminders
Vehicles are never to be stationary (for any length of time) on a pedestrian crossing.
Pedestrians have right of way (with the required caution) over vehicles.
Thank you for making our school as safe as it can be.
L Block Playground Enhancements
WillPlay is supplying us with a new feature in the L Block sandpit. It’s currently being manufactured and will be installed in the holiday break between Term 1 and Term 2. Further landscaping work will follow.
Clean Up Australia Day (Sunday, 3 March)
We’ll acknowledge this important event on 1 March.
Tuckshop Day (morning tea)
Friday 15 March. All staff and students will be invited to take part. Partnership project with Lee Street Hospitality students. Free of charge for all participants. Tuckshop boxes have landed on site and are currently being labelled with class names. Will require parent/carer permission for students to participate. Permission, menu and ordering information will be out soon.
Another celebration is we are currently enjoying the highest readership of our newsletters in weeks 1, 5 and 10 that we have seen. Thank you for your support.
Best wishes always
Sheldon Boland (Proud) Principal
Deputy Principal
Welcome to week 5 everyone.
Here at Caboolture Special School we are a proud community with a strong sense of belonging where everyone is welcomed and celebrated.
A recent celebration within our school has been the addition of our Indigenous Art Mural created by Aboriginal Artist Lauren Turner that encompasses our proud school community. Upon entering our school administration building you will be welcomed by the wonderful mural on display.
We thank Lauren for her creativity and vision in designing this mural and hope you all love it as much as we do.
Caboolture Special School Art Mural created by Aboriginal Artist Lauren Turner
This art mural is designed around the Caboolture River which flows through the mural in two shades of blue, thus depicting the natural course the river runs through the local community. The position of the main meeting circle is painted to represent the school’s proximity to the river. This meeting circle has people (symbolised) sitting around it which represents Caboolture Special School, its staff and students integrating towards brighter futures. The green and white camp sites in the middle display the local suburbs and communities thriving together.
Orange is painted to represent the land, with travel journey circles layered on top. These travel journeys portray each student’s passage through Caboolture Special School, embracing the connection the community holds. Each circle is unique in design to show that we can meet in one place with respect, regardless of backgrounds or abilities. 'We connect as one, we are stronger together'. Honouring the school’s motto - Respect, Growth and Belonging.
The design incorporates the local animals: orange kangaroo tracks on the left, white fish in the river, green koala paw prints illustrating the diet of the eucalypt leaf, and the carpet snake (Kabul) which is the totem of the Caboolture area. Also included are mountains/hills on the bottom right which represent the Gubbi Gubbi landscape, further indicative to the belief that we can conquer any 'mountain' to achieve our goals.
Sheree Carter
Deputy Principal - Upper Years
Respectful Invitation to all
As mentioned in our last newsletter we are now ready to invite our parent and carer community to an introduction to our school's Respectful Relationships Education Program. I am excited to see many of you attend this informative workshop so we can share with you this amazing program and how much we will rely on you to be a part of it.
Please join me and members of our team for a face to face presentation on Wednesday 13 March at 3:3opm-4:15pm in J Block classrooms as we introduce you all to some changes in our HPE curriculum and the introduction of a targeted program to help young people navigate their own health and well being including topics such as body ownership, protective behaviours, concepts of public and private and many more. Come along because this is brand new to you and you want to know more, come along because you know some things and have questions or simply come along for a cup of tea and a biscuit and meet other like minded parents. If you want to know more please have a look at the website as there is a special parent section filled with information.
Extract below from Respectful Relationships Hub...
As a parent or carer, you have a primary role in teaching your child the importance of respect and how to build the skills they need to establish safe and healthy relationships.
Children and young people who are well informed about relationships and sexuality are less likely to feel guilty or shameful about their bodies or their thoughts. They will understand their feelings and know what is and is not ok for them. This in turn will help protect them from exploitation and abuse.
They are also less likely to be bystanders of unacceptable behaviours. Young people will be empowered to call out unacceptable behaviour they see at school, at a party, in a workplace or in the community.
By having regular conversations about what positive, happy and equal relationships look like, you help your child build self-respect and learn to be respectful to others. These conversations will assist in building your child's social-emotional skills so they can successfully:
- engage positively with others
- develop a positive sense of self and resilience
- identify and respond appropriately to their own emotions and those of others
- accept and resolve differences respectfully
- challenge stereotypes
- understand consent and know how to seek help
- be confident in challenging unacceptable behaviours they see
- build relationships that are based on equality and respect.
By building these personal and social skills and creating a culture of respect, issues such as domestic, family and sexual violence and all forms of violence or abuse, discrimination and harassment are less likely to occur.
We ask that you RSVP via your childs SeeSaw app if you are planning to attend by Monday 4 March. If you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to email me tjoll5@eq.edu.au. I look forward to seeing you there!
Tanya Jolly
Head of Department - Pedagogy
Star Students - Term 1, Week 5
Name | Class | Award |
Elliot | Class R | Bronze |
Dominic | Class R | Bronze |
Isaiah | Class A | Bronze |
Kynyn | Class O | Bronze |
Aneet | Class O | Bronze |
Xavier | Class O | Bronze |
Curriculum Corner - Individual Curriculum Plans
Teachers have been busily preparing Individual Curriculum Plans (ICPs) for our students this term. ICPs record the curriculum level your child will be taught, assessed and reported on for Semester 1, 2024.
As part of this process, parent and/or carer and teacher meetings will be held sometime between Term 1, weeks 7 – 10. These meetings are to discuss your child’s learning progression and also strategies that will be put in place by the class teacher and teacher aide. Teachers will share with you your child’s individual learning goals for literacy, writing and communication.
The ICP process requires parents/carers to discuss, provide input on and endorse the ICP plan.
Your child’s teacher will contact you soon to organise a meeting time and date. We look forward to your valued participation within this process.
Katie Rogers
Head of Department - Curriculum