Dear Parents and Carers
We have had a very positive start to the new school year with enrolments sitting at around 1650 students. Across all year levels, students have settled back into school routine very quickly and are engaging in their programs of study. It has been particularly pleasing to see our Year 7 students adjusting to high school life so well and I am delighted with their engagement in learning programs and extra-curricular events. Our staff involved in Year 7 have done a great job in supporting this transition. I invite parents of Junior Schooling to make contact with the Junior Hub staff if you have any questions about school operations. It was extremely pleasing to see a large number of Year 7 parents and carers in attendance at our "Meet the Parents evening" this week.
The school implemented a couple of significant changes for 2023; Year 11 and 12 students finishing early on Tuesday afternoons and the transition to our online uniform shop through Struddy's. These changes have been overwhelmingly well received and whilst there have been some challenges during this transition we are very confident that any concerns raised with the school can be overcome. We will continue to do our very best to strive to improve communication between school and home and a recent innovation is the publishing of the Week Ahead on our Facebook page. I trust you will find this informative.
New Staff
I would like to welcome our new staff for 2023:
Teaching Staff: Corey Finlay – HPE/Maths, Alfio Gangemi - INTAD, Sally Gardiner – English/HPE, Laura Jeffrey - SEP, Adam Lovett – Jun Sec/ENG/Humanities, Britta Munce - Arts, Marco Pozzebon – Jun Sec /MAT/Science and Jordan Reimer - English.
Administration Officer: Lara Cunningham, Facilities Staff: Lexie Steffan, School Based Police Officer: Michael Lederhose and School Based Youth Health Nurse: Retha DeBeer.
NAPLAN
The annual NAPLAN testing program for Year 7 and 9 students will be occurring earlier than usual this year. The dates for Year 7 and Year 9 students are as follows:
For more information we encourage parents to the link: https://nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/simple-english-naplan-parent-carer-information.pdf
Further communication will be coming out closer to the date with detailed information for both students and parents.
How you can help your child be successful at school
Parents and carers can have a very positive impact on the learning of student; encouraging students to attend school every day is fundamental, supporting students by taking an interest in their learning and talking with them about it, helping them understand difficult concepts if possible and directing them to their teacher or other school staff for help where necessary are all really meaningful contributions you can make to the growth of your children. At all times you are welcome to reach out to school staff for support if you need it, we are here to help.
This term in all subjects, students will be engaged in goal setting with their teachers as a means to help them focus their efforts. I encourage you to discuss those goals with your children and support them throughout the term to achieve those goals. Again, I encourage you to contact the school if you have any questions about this.
Leadership Investiture
On Thursday next week we have our annual Leadership Investiture to acknowledge our 2023 school leaders and the Graduating Year 12 cohort. Invitations have gone out to invited guests.
P&C Association
If you would like to know more about goings on in the school, I invite you to join our P&C Association, we meet on the third Monday of each month. There is no pressure for anyone to take on a role and the meetings are a great opportunity to engage with the broader school community. The format for the meetings is for parents and carers to find out about and discuss school operations and projects, ask questions of me and support our fundraising attempts. Our first meeting for the year is Monday 20 February at 5 pm in P Block (the old library).
QParents
QParents is a secure, online portal that is free for all Queensland State Schools to use, providing parents with quick, easy access to their student information including:
· student and attendance details
· behaviour information
· report cards and assessment planners
· timetables and upcoming events
· invoices and payment history.
To learn more about QParents you can:
· access the fact sheet for parents (PDF, 294KB) and the registration fact sheet (PDF, 260KB)
· visit the QParents website
· call 13 QGOV (13 74 68).
All parents and carers would have received an email from the school containing information about accessing QParents and we strongly encourage all parents and carers to utilise this very efficient innovation.
COVID Management
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been informed of isolated cases of COVID within the school community. Advice from the Department of Education suggests the following:
· Students showing signs of illness or feeling unwell should stay at home.
· Anyone who has been suffering from illness should only return to their school once they are no longer showing signs of illness.
· If a child develops symptoms whilst at school, their parent or carer will be contacted and asked to collect them as soon as possible.
Student pick-ups and drop offs
As you would appreciate with the large number of students enrolled at Bundy High, peak drop off and pick up times are extremely busy with for pedestrians and vehicles alike. Whilst I appreciate that the traffic infrastructure around the school provides limited opportunity for dropping students off and picking them up, I would ask that that all care is taken in the school vicinity to ensure the safety of students. The school is working with stakeholders to identify possible solutions to this long-term issue.