Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term 2. The glorious weather over the past two days has lifted spirits. A sense of hope and optimism pervades as we look forward to a productive term ahead.

We welcome Anthea Grant to our Student Inclusion and Engagement team.  Anthea is our newly appointed HOSES (Head of Special Education Services). The full-time position of HOSES for Yeronga State School from 2022 will greatly enhance the delivery of support provisions to students with disability and we are most excited to have Anthea’s skills to enhance programming for students across the school. The purpose of support provisions is to reduce barriers for a student with disability’s access to the curriculum. This is done in collaboration with parents, support teachers, classroom teachers and visiting specialists who identify, plan and make reasonable adjustments for individual students. Having a HOSES allows for greater collaboration and consultation with families and staff. At YSS we additionally resource teacher time to support Gifted Students as well as work with teachers to differentiate classroom instruction for highly able students.

Preparation for the tests to be conducted online is now completed. A practice test took place in the last week of term to ensure the school’s infrastructure and back up plans were in order. A few minor issues were identified such as the app not being downloaded onto some individual student iPads. Our NAPLAN online coordinator Liz Kemp has been working with our school technician to address identified concerns. The tests provide useful longitudinal data about school literacy and numeracy performance as well as a general point in time snapshot of an individual student’s literacy and numeracy skills. Classroom teachers use the report information to identify trends across cohorts as well as to triangulate individual student data with other diagnostic information to individualise programs for identified students. Yeronga State School will conduct the tests during Week 4 of Term 2 from Tuesday 10th- Friday 13th May.

Our Guidance Officer Robbie Spence, Chappy Jenny and Inclusion Support Teacher, Sally Ainsworth have been supporting parents over the past few weeks at Parent Café held under the Year 1 Building. This wonderful initiative will continue every Tuesday morning from now on.

At the end of Term 1 our Student Leader Induction ceremony was an opportunity to acknowledge the role our senior students play in the legacy of Yeronga State School. All Year 6 students were acknowledged for the legacy committee leadership as well as those students who are our 2022 positional leaders by The Hon. Mark Bailey MP.  Student Council leaders were presented their badges by Cr. Nicole Johnston. It was a very special morning and wonderful to see so many families in attendance. I thank especially, DP Stef Kirk and Student Council Coordinator Katie Mc Dermot and the Year 6 Teachers for their dedication to the student leadership program at Yeronga State School.

The school continues to operate within major construction sites. The PandC funded landscape project is due to be completed in the next week which is a major enhancement to our entire school. I am sure this PandC funded project will involve much celebration in the coming weeks. The handover of the new administration, classrooms, curiosity centre and staffroom is on target for the end of Term 2.

Subsequent to the special PandC Meeting held on Tuesday 15 March, 2022 and decision to tender for a new YOSHC approved provider, no time has been wasted in progressing this process. The importance of an Outside Hours School Care service within the grounds of local schools is an essential need for modern families and all involved are very mindful of what is at stake.  The tender process to appoint a new approved provider will take approximately three (3) months.

I am working closely with the department of education procurement branch to ensure this process is expedited as a matter of urgency for our community. Following the community satisfaction survey that went to parents at the end of term 1 it is evident the YOSHSC service is held in high regard by our families and the desire for a service that aligns with our community values be retained. I will continue to update the community on the tender progress.

I hope to see many of our students in formal school uniform accompanying our student leaders and leadership team for the ANZAC Day march on Monday 25 March. We will leave from the School Administration carpark at 7.00am.

Have a wonderful week,
Eunice Webb
Principal