Wow! Can you believe we are already in Week 4. These short weeks have certainly made term 2 fly by but that hasn't stopped our action pack days. This past fortnight we saw our students participate in the District Cross Country trials with 25 students representing MSS in Yungaburra. Special mention to Braxton Marcel who placed 5th in his age group. Braxton and our students who placed in the top 8 will now head to Peninsular Cross Country and we wish them all the best. Our Year 2s also had a great excursion to different places of significance in the Mareeba community as part of their HASS unit, Year 4 participated in a Bat Talk for Science and our Year 1s enjoyed a visit from the 'Zoo to You' team who brought along feathered and slippery friends.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the FNQ Principal's Business meeting with my fellow Principal colleagues from across the region. During this meeting the focus was on the Department of Education's new strategy Equity and Excellence: realising the potential of every student which sets a clear vision for a progressive, high performing education system. To achieve this vision of equity and excellence, as a department we will focus on educational achievement, wellbeing and engagement as well as culture and inclusion. Equity and Excellence is about reducing barriers for all learners to realise every student's potential. Here at MSS, we look forward to adopting this new strategy and working towards supporting all of our learners to reach their full potential.
Coming up this fortnight our 2023 Prep transition program with our annual Prep Information Evening, kicks off on Tuesday 16th May from 4:30pm followed by our observation morning on Wednesday 17th May (for parents/carers) and open morning on Wednesday 24th May (for the Kindy children). These events provide opportunities for our Mareeba families and our newest learners to meet our staff, visit the 'big school' and begin to get familiar with our routines and expectations.
Mareeba SS prides itself for having high student and staff expectations across every facet of the school, focussing on 3 core expectations; I Respect Learning, I Respect Safety, I Respect Me & You. Along with our 9 focus expectations, this helps to ensure our student behavior reinforces and promotes a safe and supportive learning environment for all students. Our expectations are reinforced each morning before school starts and during parades held each Monday and Friday morning at 9am. Our Head of Behaviour Mrs Cherene Trimble leads the way in this field which includes positively promoting our student PayWay and Respect & Collect shop where students have the opportunity to purchase prizes with their earned tokens. At the end of term 2 we will see 4 lucky students take home a pushbike – the only way to be in the draw is to attend school and earn PayWays.
A reminder that our next P&C meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 17th May at 5pm with all encouraged and welcome to attend. Did you know, the P&C Awards for 2023 are now open! This year with categories specifically targeting the impact P&Cs have in our schools – as well as shining the light on a new individual award 'The Spirit of P&C' – you can nominate our great P&C for an award. Here is the link to the P&C Awards page on their website, which includes entry forms for each category, category entry guides, the application process and the Terms and Conditions.
Finally, this year, Mareeba SS has been scheduled for our 4 yearly school review. The department regularly reviews Queensland state schools to make sure they're delivering a quality education to students. Every Queensland state school is reviewed at least once every 4 years. The reviews are performed by the School and Region Reviews (SRR) branch and are tailored to the needs and context of each school. Our review is scheduled for July 17th to 19th (week 2 of term 3). During this period of time the review team will speak to students, staff, families and community members. Stay tuned for more review information in my fortnightly newsletter and through our ParentNet (emails).