Principal Piece with Justin Harrison Term 3 Week 10 2024

As Term 3 draws to an end, I would like to sincerely thank our Toolooa community for the support and commitment you have shown our school, and more importantly, your child over the course of the last ten weeks.

Providing students with the best education possible in a safe and supportive environment would not be possible if it was not for the hard work of the teaching and non-teaching staff. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for their commitment to providing each child with a quality education. To those families who have taken the time to thank the school for everything we do, I appreciate it.

I am sure all students and staff are looking forward to the break, a time to recharge and return with the energy and focus needed to achieve great things in Term 4. For those families who are travelling on our roads during the break, please take care and we look forward to seeing everybody back on Monday the 30th of September.

Year 11 and 12 reporting is now complete for Term 3. Your child's report has been e-mailed home. Please talk with your child about how they have progressed this term and make contact with the school if you have any concerns.

Year 7 - 10 reports are due to administration on Tuesday 1st October. They will be emailed out shortly after this. As with senior, I encourage all families to discuss these results with your child, celebrate their achievements and if you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher.

Friday 15th September sees our term 3 attendance celebration. Any student who has attendance at or above 90% will be invited to celebrate with an ice-cream sundae. Thank you to the tuck shop who are assisting with serving over 600 children ice-cream!

R U OK? Day Thursday 12th September, 2024 is our national day of action dedicated to reminding everyone that every day is the day to ask, “Are you OK?” and support those struggling with life's ups and downs. We are very proud of our Toolooa State High School staff and students for their efforts in supporting the raising awareness of checking in on our fellow peers.

2024 is the fourth year where we have had Year 11 students gaining their P Plates and driving themselves to school. As a result of the change to the starting age in Queensland, we now have two cohorts of students eligible to drive and park across the road from the school. Students who drive to school and park on the designated area (council property), park at their own risk. The school is unable to take responsibility for damage to staff or student vehicles parked on or near school property. Students are reminded that any pranks or dangerous driving resulting in damage to vehicles will be referred to police and families.

Students have been reminded that they are not to leave the school grounds without the permission of the school. They must also sign in and out through the office when arriving or leaving due to their timetable variations. Students have been reminded that they must not take other students in their car during breaks. Finally, the school will not give lunch passes to purchase food from nearby shops. Wholesome, great tasting lunches can be purchased from our wonderful school tuckshop.

During the last 6 weeks of this term, a large team of SET Plan case managers conducted individual meetings for close to 210 Year 10 students and their parent/carer(s). These mandatory meetings were an excellent opportunity to meet with all parties to review, align and discuss the student’s intended learning options after Year 10, their career aspirations, explaining the QCE, their chosen school pathway (ATAR Vs Pre-vocational) and to also help guide subject selections and external program options/applications. Additionally, I believe these contact meetings were also used to effectively communicate school expectations, policies and procedures required of all senior students who are in the post-compulsory phase of education. I would sincerely like to thank all parents of Year 10 students for engaging in the SET planning process and supporting the school on the advice/guidance given to students. A big thank you must also go to the following SET Plan Case managers, who gave up their time and re-scheduled calendars to fit in each of their allocated meetings; Mark Thomas (DP), Danielle Willard (DP), Nicki Collocott (DP), Silke Hetherington (GO), Jenny Morris (GO), Tim Lowe (GO), Tracey Davis (HOSES), Darren Boase (HOD), Chris Hill (HOD), Paula McDonald (HOD), Renee Dwyer (HOD), Tyrian Fletcher (HOD), Katrina Johnson (HOD), Nat Jounquay (HOD), Chris Hill (HOD), Jess Batey (HOD), Tony Muller (HOD), Nathan Elvery (HOD), Tracy Connolly (CEC), Kelly McEachran (Youth Support Coordinator), Anne Maree Ghele (HOD/Diverse Learning Case Manager) and Victoria Provan/Tammie Weurtz (Diverse Learning Case Manager). Your commitment to student pathways and outcomes does not go unnoticed. If parents/guardians have any further questions regarding their child’s Senior schooling please do not hesitate to give the school a call.

Congratulations to all Year 12 students who have sat their Mock External exams over the last week. I believe all students conducted themselves with academic integrity and given these mock exams their best effort. Whilst these Mock exams do not contribute to a student's overall summative results and may have been stressful for some, the anecdotal feedback we have received from students and parents alike has been very positive. Most students are extremely grateful for not only the exposure to a simulated EA environment and conditions, but more importantly, the opportunity to have their responses marked by their teacher so as to receive constructive feedback which will then guide the re-teaching and learning for the 3 weeks leading up to the real EA block starting in Week 4 next term. More information about the real EA block.

Mobile Phone /Headphone Smart Device Reminder.

All devices, phones, headphones need to be out of sight from the first bell until the end of the day. Headphones must not be used during the school day.

Smart watches are to be switched to flight mode with all notifications silenced through out the day.

Please remind your child of these expectations. As per our Student Code of Conduct, sighting of these devices by staff will result in your child being requested to hand these to the office for the remainder of the school day.​