Principal Piece with Justin Harrison Term 4 Week 2 2024

Welcome back from a well-deserved break!

Term 4 is upon us and the year has certainly gone by quickly. I am looking forward to finishing the year off strong; celebrating all of Toolooa’s achievements, seeing off our graduating cohort and planning for another successful year in 2025.

Toolooa SHS has recently received the report from the school review that was conducted from the 20 to 23 August last term. With every school having a review at least once every four years, the report provided presents an evaluation of the school’s performance against the 9 domains of the School Improvement Tool. It includes affirmations that celebrate the achievements and successes of the previous four years and improvement strategies that identify the next steps for school improvement. As principal of Toolooa SHS, I am very proud of the positive feedback that we received from the review which has been an accumulation of a lot of hard work that has undertaken here at Toolooa over an extended period of time. More specifically, the key affirmations are as follows:

Staff, parents and community members highlight an extensive range of established partnerships that benefit student wellbeing, learning and transition to post-school destinations

Staff, students, parents and community members express pride in the school and describe a focus on continuous improvement

Staff speak of a comprehensive and detailed curriculum quality assurance process

Leaders highlight developing a team of highly capable teachers is a focus

Leaders speak of a strong data culture where analysing achievement, behaviour, effort and attendance data is used to drive decision-making

Moving forward, the school review will influence Toolooa’s four-year strategic plan which will be completed by the end of the year. This plan will identify the next priorities and actions so every student reaches their full potential as a result of receiving a successful education in a safe and supportive environment.

An important event on our yearly calendar is our annual awards’ evening whereby we have the opportunity to celebrate outstanding academic, cultural and service achievements and say thanks to all involved. Students, parents and community members have been invited to join us at one of the two ceremonies which will be held at Toolooa next week on Thursday the 17th October. Subject awards and a number of academic bursaries will be presented to students, along with the special awards that will be announced on the night. Recognition of all award recipients will be included in our next newsletter.

This year, Toolooa has had an excellent pool of applicants for 2025 senior leadership positions. In order to attain a position as school captain or vice-captain, all applicants were required to write and present a speech which they pre-recorded and presented to form classes, as well as have a meeting with members of the school’s administration and P&C. Following this, all students and staff voted for their preferred leaders. The announcement of the successful applicants for school leaders for 2025 will be made at our annual awards night.

The Year 12 EA & Tutorial timetable has been distributed to all Year 12 students this week. The External Exam block commences on Monday 21st October through to Friday 8th November. This timetable not only identifies General Subject exam dates and session times, rooms and exam supervisors but also shows when mandatory subject tutorials are being held. Students are expected to attend school for each of their subject exams and subject tutorials. All other times when not expected to be at school are to be used for Exam study at home or in the library. This timetable has been comprehensively explained to all students including expectations regarding school processes such as signing in and out. If you have any questions regarding the EA timetable or other Year 12 matters including the last week activities or the Senior Formal please don’t hesitate to contact the school.

Attendance: Reminder that every day counts. Please ensure that unless your child is unwell that their attendance is expected. If your child is unwell or not attending school for a day, please inform the office via the absence line, sending a note with your child (either before they are absent or following their return) and /or reply to the text message. We thank parents for their assistance with managing student attendance.

Subject selection forms for 2025 elective subject choices have been distributed to all students in Years 7 - 9. I encourage all parents/caregivers to sit down with their child, carefully read the form, select the elective subjects and return the form by the due date. If you have any questions/concerns regarding the process, please contact the school.

Junior reports (7-10) were emailed out in week 1. Please check your emails and take the time to review your child’s results and discuss goals for the term.

Junior Assessment Calendars are being handed out to students this week. Please ask to see your child’s assessment calendar and discuss the time management of tasks this term.

The 25th of October is World Teacher's Day. On this day we will be celebrating all the fantastic and dedicated teachers that we have at Toolooa. It is a day where we say thank you for all that our teachers do. I am sure that you will all agree that our teachers go above and beyond to support your child/ren to help them to reach their full potential.