Principal’s Piece — Justin Harrison
With all year levels having been back a number of weeks, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the vast majority of students on their level of engagement, sense of enthusiasm and overall commitment to the school’s core values of respect, achievement and responsibility. It is terrific having students back at school undertaking their education and from all reports, they are really trying to achieve their best in a respectful manner.
Student Code of Conduct
Like all Queensland State Schools; Toolooa SHS has a Student Code of Conduct (SCOC). The SCOC outlines policies and procedures that each school uses to help create and maintain a safe and supportive school environment. It clearly outlines the school's core values of Respect, Achievement and Responsibility and the specific behaviours that are expected in all settings at Toolooa. The SCOC outlines the school reward system for reinforcing appropriate behaviour and also outlines the possible consequences that may be used to manage inappropriate behaviour. It also identifies the differentiated processes that may be used to support and manage both behaviour at Toolooa. In addition to the school’s SCOC, Toolooa has significantly invested financially into the Wellbeing Team that provides support to all students. This support is also differentiated based on the needs of each student. The levels of support are outlined in the SCOC. The SCOC can be found on the school’s website and in the student’s success journal.
All students will have received their 2024 Student Success Journal. The Success Journal provides students with the sections of the SCOC that are of particular importance to students at Toolooa. The expected behaviours can be found in the behaviour matrix on p 4A of the Success Journal. All staff at Toolooa are involved in the explicit teaching of these behaviours. Conversely, the Success Journal also outlines the list of the possible consequences that could be applied, should students not be demonstrating the appropriate behaviours. The Success Journal also provides students with a wealth of information with regards to uniform, late arrivals, early departures and assessment.
It is important for all parents/carers to be aware of the SCOC and its contents and I encourage you to discuss these with your child. Information from the SCOC will be being discussed with students at whole school and year level parades, and in class. Different year levels will all have specific focus areas, which will be determined based on the specific needs of the cohort.
If you have any questions in relation to the SCOC, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.
School Photos:
We have our annual school photographs being taken at school on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd of February. Envelopes and order forms have been provided to students in form class and will need to be brought to school and handed to the photographers when students have their photo taken. Students who are not ordering individual prints will still need to have their photo taken for upload to our internal school records and for provision of student ID cards. A more detailed schedule of photo times for students will be published closer to the date.
Term 1 Recognition Parade
Over the course of the last two weeks, Toolooa State High School has formally recognised students who excelled academically last year. More specifically, the students who achieved a majority of A’s on their end of year report card in Term 4 2023, were present with a certificate recognising their hard work and dedication to their studies. Please see more photo and
In addition to these students who excelled academically, Toolooa State High School also recognised the 2023 Dux Alyssa Pease. Alyssa achieved our highest ATAR Score of 99.6. Alyssa has now been accepted into a Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Queensland.
Her overall results speak to the hard work and dedication that Alyssa demonstrated throughout her schooling here at Toolooa:
Alyssa generously took time out to visit our school recently, presenting an inspirational speech on our Senior Recognition Parade.
Alyssa spoke about her gratitude and pride for the academic awards she has received, but made a point to recognise that these accolades are not the most important things in life. Alyssa graciously reminded the crowd that kindness - to self and others - should never be compromised at the expense of success. Alyssa plans to balance her time at university to allow for academic success and a healthy lifestyle. We're so proud of you, Alyssa. This is a well-deserved honour and we wish you all the best in your future studies and in life. More information and photos are on page 3 on this newsletter.
Congratulations Milly Sharpe
You may remember a post a couple of weeks ago about Milly's achievements. Check out this exciting update!
In Adelaide recently, Milly raced the U18 5km Australian and Oceania Championships. Milly raced superbly, taking the lead after 1km and pushing away from the field to win by 33 seconds in 26:53 to become Australian and Oceania Champion!
Incredible achievement - Milly - you should be so proud!
QCE Information