Caboolture Special School Week 10, Term 1, 2024

Principal News

Dear Caboolture Special School community members

It has been a very pleasing Term 1 of 2024 leading our fine school.  Effectively managing the current school growth and planning for the expected future growth will remain a priority of our work.  It is certainly an exciting time for our school.

Student attendance

Our school regularly tops Queensland in having the highest student attendance of any Special School.  This achievement is a credit to students, staff, parents and carers.  If students have other commitments (such as therapy) preventing their attendance for a whole day at school, I encourage students to attend on these days in the capacity possible.  Every day (or part day if required) at school counts.

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).

Progress is being made across these three pillars of our Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) and I look forward to leading ongoing improvements at our school across these areas, supported by our committed and capable staff and in partnership with our valued school community.

Tuckshop Day Morning Tea

We had a terrific Tuckshop Morning Tea recently.  We will continue this event every school term.  Thanks to Lee Street State Special School Hospitality students and staff for making the food and for the wonderful smiles at the counter.

Elimbah State School – Numeracy

Katie Rogers (Head of Department – Curriculum) was our school representative at a recent numeracy professional development at Elimbah State School as we increase our focus on what's possible in this space.

Respectful Relationships Education (RRE) School Community Workshop

Tanya Jolly (Head of Department - Pedagogy) facilitated an RRE workshop for school community members recently on the Department’s RRE curriculum materials and our school approach to RRE - https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/stages-of-schooling/respectful-relationships

Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP) work

I have received numerous compliments from parents and carers on the commitment demonstrated by our educators most recently at ICP meetings.  We very much appreciate the support of parents and carers in the ICP process.

Student drop off and pick up area – enhancements

We now have an additional car space in the student drop off and pick up area, helping to alleviate the congestion we have witnessed at times this year with increased student enrolments.  Margaret Waite (Business Manager) and I are also part of a combined Department of Education, Department of Transport and Moreton Bay Regional Council committee investigating effective longer term traffic movement strategies around our school.

L Block play area

Playground enhancements will take place in the L Block playground over the school holidays, with landscaping works to continue after that time.  Looking forward to seeing our little learners exploring this new space.

Staff Dress Up Theme Days

A new dress up theme for staff occurs every Friday of school term.  Optional participation.  It’s always fun and supports our school's wellbeing focus.

Student Absences

Our school office (54314444) requires notification from parents or carers of student absences. A voice message service is available during busy times and/or for calls made after hours. 

SeeSaw notices to teachers alone are not satisfactory notice for student absences - thank you.

Principal Commissioner Visit

Queensland Family and Child Commission Principal Commissioner Luke Twyford will be paying us a visit during Term 2.  Luke and I first connected at a Daniel Morcombe Foundation event in 2023 - https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/about-us/management-and-structure/our-executive

Occupational Therapy (OT) Students on site

Our school hosted 26 University of the Sunshine Coast Occupational Therapy students on 20/03 and 27/03 for their field experience session.  It was a pleasure supporting these students.

Senior Student Leader Ceremony

Congratulations to Senior students and those stepping into 2024 student leadership roles.  We hope you enjoy your Senior shirt. It was lovely to connect with so many proud parents and carers at the recent ceremony.  Thank you Sheree Carter (Deputy Principal) for organising the event.

Meeting with Assistant Director-General (ADG)

I look forward to catching up with the ADG on 26/04, discussing matters of relevance to our local community and wider school sector.

Harmony Day

There was plenty of orange about on 21/03 for Harmony Day– another reason to celebrate difference and diversity! https://www.harmony.gov.au/

I wish all school community members a safe and happy upcoming holiday break.

Best wishes

Sheldon Boland

Principal

Deputy Principal Lower Primary

What a fantastic Term 1 we have had here at Caboolture Special School.

The last few weeks have seen wonderful teaching and learning happening across the school with many bronze certificates awarded to students in celebration of their learning achievements.

Enjoy your holidays with friends and family!

Bus Transport

If you are considering bus transport, please see administration as soon as you can. The process for bus approvals can take some weeks to process.

If you have any changes or edits to make to existing bus transport approvals, this can also take some time to approve. If you are moving house, please advise us as soon as possible.

In some cases, the buses may be full and there will be a waitlist.

If you no longer require bus transport, please make us aware as soon as possible. Other students may be waiting for these seats.

Medication 

If your child has any updated health or medication information, please advise the office as soon as possible when we return next term.

Deputy Principal 

Kerry Gilmore

Deputy Principal Upper Primary

Week 10 is here!

What a busy and productive Term 1 we have had here at CSS.

There has been a plethora of wonderful teaching and learning occurring across the whole school with the dedication and commitment of our staff evident in the support our students receive each and every day.

Last week our senior students received their senior shirts with our senior leaders also receiving their special senior shirts and badges. I want to thank P&C President Krista Pettigrew and Sarah Ross from Terry Young’s office for their contribution to the event, with P&C graciously providing the shirts for our senior students to wear proudly.

Our 2024 Senior Student Leaders are:

Drazic - School Captain

Cierra - School Captain

Atreyu – Durra Sports Captain (blue)

Matthew – Gulla Sports Captain (yellow)

Haiden – Wongai Sports Captain (green)

Angelikah – Mari Sports Captain (red)

Congratulations to our senior leaders for 2024!

I wish all staff, students and their families a safe and joyous holiday break and I look forward to seeing you all back in Term 2.

Deputy Principal

Sheree Carther

Bravehearts Keep Safe Adventure Show- Term 2

Date Claimer for Ditto the Lion Cub

Parents & Carers,

We have the pleasure of receiving a visit from a very cute Lion Cub called Ditto in Term 2 - May 29 (week 7) who will be delivering a wonderful performance to our students as part of our HPE and whole school Respectful Relationships Education commitment.  If you have never heard of Ditto before I encourage you to check out the Bravehearts website - an organisation who works tirelessly to educate and empower young people around skills to help keep themselves safe such as body ownership and protective behaviours.  https://bravehearts.org.au/ 

Please note that the performers will use correct terminology for private and public body parts just as we are doing in our Respectful Relationships Program through the delivery of HPE in the show.

Teachers will be using a variety of resources and familiarising students with the songs and the 3 key messages in the lead up to the performances.

Tanya Jolly

Head of Department - Pedagogy

Curriculum Corner - Comprehensive Literacy and Term 1 Learning

Across the term students have settled into new class routines. This is a credit to our staff that have made a priority to build relationships with all students to make them feel secure and supported to learn and take risks together. The result of this is the amazing learning experiences that are seen all over the school especially with writing.

Our Comprehensive Literacy for All approach is designed to create opportunities for students with complex communication needs and significant disabilities to engage with literacy and the belief that all students should have access to good literacy instruction.  We make the assumption that all students can engage in literacy and by exposing them to the writing process and seeing themselves as writers they have the opportunity to become literate in the future to give and receive messages using written text.

The writing process is very social and builds in conversation exchange and building language with the students. Many of the prompts used for writing are personal photos of students engaging in learning experiences or personally preferred items to get students excited to talk about and then write about the photo. Alternate writing tools, such as keyboards, alphabet charts or flip charts, are selected for students to be able to choose letters to write their message.

The results of this strategy have been astounding with increased student engagement in conversations both verbally and using AAC and also increasing the length of time they attend to the writing process. Also students are able to show their letter and sound knowledge as they begin to choose letters that match the sounds in the words in their message. Without this strategy some students would never be able to convey their message.

If you would like to know more about the Comprehensive Literacy for All refer to Jane Farrall Consulting  links below -

https://www.comprehensiveliteracy.com/index.html#/

https://www.janefarrall.com/

Enjoy the holiday break.

Looking forward to more learning in term 2. 

Katie Rogers 

Head of Department - Curriculum 

Disability Expo

Asha Kumar

Guidance Officer

P&C News

Dear Caboolture Special School Community,

We’ve had an incredible first term at school! The P&C has been busy fulfilling uniform orders and planning events for the year. Recently, we hosted a successful sausage sizzle on Election Day. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who stopped by, and immense gratitude to our dedicated volunteers.

Just last week, we held our Annual General Meeting (AGM). During this meeting, all executive positions became vacant, and new or returning executives were nominated.

Our 2024 executive team are as follows:

• President: Krista Pettigrew
• Vice President: Sharn Storey
• Treasurer: Jody Minifie
• Secretary: The position is currently vacant and open for nominations.

Looking ahead, we have several exciting fundraising events planned for this year. In Term 2, mark your calendars for the Mother’s Day Stall on Wednesday the 8^th of May, and Thursday the 9^th of May. Keep an eye out for notes coming home next term. We also welcome donations of any kind towards our stalls or if you’d like to volunteer on the day please reach out to us via our email or Facebook page. Additionally, we’ll be hosting a Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough fundraiser, starting near the end of this term and continuing into Term 3.

Uniforms will continue to be delivered to classrooms on Wednesdays, ready to go home with students. While we’re currently out of a few sizes in shirts and jumpers, rest assured that orders are in place, and we’ll update any back orders as soon as we receive information on their arrival. Our uniform shop also welcomes donations of second-hand uniform shirts from anyone willing to contribute.

Our next P&C meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 9^th of May, at 3:30 PM in J Block. For more updates and information on events, follow our P&C Facebook page.

Thank you for your continued support!

Warm regards,

Caboolture Special School P&C

Star Students - Term 1, Week 10, 2024