Principal Piece with Justin Harrison Term 2 Week 4 2022

For all mothers out there, I do hope that you had a lovely day with your family last Sunday celebrating Mother’s Day.

As we approach the end of Week 4, I would like to congratulate our student body on how they have settled down and re-engaged with their schoolwork and the routines of our school. It has been very pleasing to hear that the majority of students are adhering to the school’s core values of respect, achievement and responsibility.

All students have received their assessment calendar for Term 2. Not only is it important that the calendar is placed in a location whereby the student can constantly refer to it at home, I encourage parents/carers to reinforce with their child the importance of mapping out their term and being well organised. Please contact your child’s teacher or the school if you have any questions regarding the assessment schedule.

As Principal of this great school, I am very fortunate to have parents/carers fully invested in their child’s education and the direction of the school. Working together has allowed us to continue to provide the best education possible. I would like to thank those parents who attended the parent-teacher evening last night and to those parents who have since made contact to discuss their child’s progress and what is expected from all moving forward. Please do not hesitate to contact the school to provide us with any feedback (positive or constructive) or to discuss your child’s progress as we all know, working together early on an issue will normally result in a positive outcome.

I would like to congratulate all students who achieved their academic goals for Term 1. It was very pleasing to see the large number of students who received Cs or above, with a large percentage receiving all As and Bs. A special mention must go to the majority of students whose behaviour and effort in all classes was well above satisfactory. Please see the breakdown below highlighting the positive engagement of students in class:

As you would have heard, NAPLAN has moved online this year for students across the nation. Our Year 7 and 9 students have started their tests this week, with reading and writing already completed, and numeracy and language conventions still to be completed. Our students have taken the change in their stride and have done an excellent job with the tests so far. I'd like to acknowledge the work of our teachers in preparing the students for NAPLAN Online, and Mr Capill for organising such a smooth process for students to participate. Student results will be released later in the year, and will be sent home to parents.

Several important information sessions and activities have been planned by Mr Thomas (Deputy Principal) and his Senior Schooling team to support students in Year 10 and their parents/carers to learn about:

The following is a list of important events and dates to assist students and their parents/carers to gain and attend sessions/meetings, meet deadlines for subject selections and course enrolments.

As a result of extenuating circumstances, The Department of Education has requested that the tender process be delayed for Toolooa’s new Performing Arts Complex.

Attached is the updated program with key dates:

Practical Completion of the Performing Arts Complex – 17 November 2023, ready for start of Term 1, 2024.

This week is Guidance Appreciation Week. We would like to thank our amazing Guidance Officers Jenny Morris, Simon Mayne, Karyn Baxter and Silke Hetherington for all the hard work that you do supporting our students and our staff.

Each year approximately 1200 people are killed and another 44,000 are injured on Australian roads. Traffic injury is the biggest killer of Australian Children under 14 and the second-biggest killer of all Australians aged between 15 and 24.

Show your support for safer roads and take the pledge this National Road Safety Week.