ARD SCHOOL VISIT/ PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Mrs Kerri Jones, Assistant Regional Director, met with the Strategic team and visited classrooms across the school at the end of the first week of term. Kerri was very impressed with the quality of teaching and learning, professional learning opportunities and high level of active and purposeful student engagement she observed. Kerri’s feedback was that Yeronga is a school that has a culture that strongly promotes learning through high quality teaching, student agency, inquiry and collaboration is affirming for all of us.

The re-establishment of the Early Years network, consisting of local schools, kindergartens and child cares, to facilitate quality transition plans for local Prep students, was impressive to Kerri. Tracy Freeman is busy leading this work. The inclusion teacher role description and our approach to Inclusion, led by Kate Paynter,  also brought praise.  The school improvement agenda – Creating Curious Risk taking Writers and Deepening our Inquiry Stance is lead by a passionate, focused and highly skilled team, with special mention to Liz Kemp (Writing Coach/HOC) and Clare Triggell (Inquiry Coach), whose core business these priorities are.

TRAVELLING ROADSHOW

Last week teachers across our school visited each other’s classrooms to share their inquiry practice.  Shared language, split screens, learning assets, stages of inquiry, visible thinking routines were all evidenced across the school. It was incredibly affirming and worthwhile as teachers identified strategies to develop their inquiry approach further. Teachers have asked could they do it again so we will look for an opportunity early next term to explore our Writing priority.

INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS

Next Tuesday over 20 practitioners from fellow Curiosity and Powerful Learning schools will be visiting Yeronga State School to provide feedback on our progress with the transition to an Inquiry approach. This is a wonderful opportunity for our teachers to share their practice to help other schools deepen their learnings too. I look forward to sharing with you feedback from this session.

EARLY YEARS NETWORK

Yesterday early year teachers from childcare, kindergarten and local state and private schools attended the second EYN meeting, facilitated by Tracy Freeman. The intention of this group is to build understanding of each  other’s context and facilitate quality transitions. The recent AEDC Data identified emotional maturity as a priority for children in our local area. This team of practioners brainstormed some possible strategies yesterday to help address this in all our contexts. We will share some ideas around how you can support this in the future.

YEAR 4 CAMP

Last week I went to Camp Goodenough for the first time and I was very impressed with the quality of food, accommodation and organisation. It has been run by the same family for over 35 years, with the third generation currently becoming involved. They take significant pride and care in every aspect of the camp. Yeronga State School has been attending the camp for 26 years and I can see us attending for many more.

It was such a joy to attend camp and get to know the Year 4 children some more. They were courageous and resilient, challenging themselves on all the activities on offer. It was lovely to see them encouraging and supporting each other, cheering on their successes and commiserating with their misses. I hope they have come home and shared many great tales.

Thank you to Mr Ryan Henry, Miss Amy Ward, Mr Josh Newby, Mrs Gemma Chase and Mrs Kerri McGuire for their dedication, commitment and willingness to make sure the camp could happen.

PARKING

The safety of our students is of paramount importance. There should be no parking at all in our school grounds. The YOSHC car park continues to be of concern as parents and children drive and walk through this space.  We have established a pedestrian walking area and encourage parents to use it. There should be no one driving in or out of this car park in the morning or afternoon to drop or pick up children.

Beginning this week, there will be a concertina barricade across the space in the afternoons as part of YOSHC and the school’s continued efforts to keep our children safe. Thank you for your cooperation in following these guidelines.

DOGS ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS

We have added signage to our school as part of our dog policy. The need to keep dogs on a leash and clean up after the dog applies in and out of school hours. I have been contacted regularly by the public with concerns about owners allowing dogs off their leash in our school grounds after hours. I have given authorisation to the authorised personnel from Brisbane City Council to issue fines for failure to follow council dog laws. Please be aware that the fines can be as much as $266. There is a dog park at the back of the school that can be used for off leash time.

Debbie Spanner
Principal