Principal’s Piece — Justin Harrison
Upcoming Assessment
With week 6 nearly completed and the majority of subjects moving into the assessment phase of the term, students need to be organised and committed to their upcoming assessment. It is important that students take ownership of their learning and commit to each subject while also seeking feedback from their teachers on how to improve. I encourage parents/carers to regularly discuss their child’s progress and be ‘ahead of the game’ when it comes to their upcoming assessment and contact the school if you have any concerns.
Every Day Counts
As we already know, there is a very clear link between attendance and achievement. Currently, our year to date attendance percentage sits at 84%. For obvious reasons, this is significantly down compared to the same time last year. Due to the uncertain times and stress that this can place on students and families, if you are having any difficulty in getting your child to school, please contact the year level coordinator to discuss possible strategies.
Our Priceless Past
Last year, a group of Year 8 students participated in ‘Our Priceless Past’, an initiative in conjunction with Di Paddick at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum. ‘Our Priceless Past’ is a long-standing tradition in our community in which young people interview long-time Gladstone locals about their experiences in our area. The stories of these locals are shared in a published book, and in The Gladstone Observer. This week, a range of videos were released on the council’s website, showcasing these amazing stories. I’d like to congratulate our students for their involvement in this worthwhile initiative, and for the commitment to our community. To view these videos, please follow the link shared on our Facebook page.
Fanfare
Our String Ensemble blew away the audience at the Gladstone Fanfare earlier this week. Huge congratulations to our String Ensemble and Mrs Julie-Ann Clarke for taking out GOLD in this competition. Our Strings group is only relatively small, with 14 students performing on Monday, but their commitment is outstanding, and they have clearly got tremendous precision and skills in their chosen instrument. Well done to all involved.