Dear Families,

I trust the return to school for our final term of the school year has been a positive one for your child/ren. As I catch up with the students and staff, I am encouraged by the many recounts of a truly relaxing break focussed on simple yet rejuvenating activities. Trips to the beach, camping, days at home and catch ups with friends featured a lot. I was blessed to be invited to join friends on a sailing trip traversing the inside of K’Gari (Fraser Island). So many whales, dolphins and turtles to spot, sunsets to relish and beaches to roam. It was wonderfully relaxing. We are blessed here in South East Queensland with our weather and natural wonders to replenish ourselves.

We welcome Emma Richardson to the Year 5 teaching team this term and know that Emma will be feeling supported by our excellent Heads of Curriculum, Inclusion Staff and mentors. I am encouraged and energised every day at the quality of teaching and learning that occurs at Yeronga State School.

Our student progress data continues to support the work of our signature practice of inquiry learning. Whilst the early years are focussed on learning to learn and foundational skills of literacy and numeracy, our students in the middle years are engaged increasingly in application of these skills independently to complex tasks. The Learning Assets (Kath Murdoch 2015) you will hear students refer to are skills that students are explicitly taught at Yeronga State Schools in order to engage effectively with an inquiry stance. To be a collaborator, self-manager, communicator, thinker and researcher are skills that our students learn and embody during their time at YSS and will stand them in good stead as learners and change agents throughout life.

We welcome all our new families. May your experience joining the Yeronga State School community be the start of life-long friendships and many happy memories. I encourage you to be proactive participating in the life of the school where you can. We are blessed with a very supportive PandC who are prolific in providing opportunities to be involved and engaged. I encourage you to consider attending our next PandC meeting on 19 October will be held in the Resource Centre (library) at 7pm.

As the two major infrastructure improvement projects are now fully underway, you will notice at times there are changes to access around the school. The school administration will endeavour to relay the changes as they are communicated from the project managers and to keep you up to date in real time via Schoolzine messages, Facebook and email. We thank you sincerely for your patience and understanding.

As the COVID guidelines and restrictions in SE Queensland advise, teachers and staff in schools and child-care centres must wear a mask even where physical distancing can be maintained. All visitors including parents and caregivers are asked to wear a mask when on the school site unless an exemption applies. Thankyou again for your cooperation.

As we commence this last term of the school year, I encourage all our families to work closely with your child’s teacher to ensure they conclude the academic year with confidence. For all our students the next transition will be to their new class in 2022 and for our Year 6 students to secondary schooling. Transitions that are supported and planned make for a confident start for students in their new learning environment. Open communication between parents and teachers is vital in supporting this process and I thank you for your role in this important partnership.

Here’s to a great Term 4!

Eunice Webb
Principal