Dear Parents/Carers

CARPARK

There has been much communication about car-parking this past fortnight as usually happens at this time of year.  We did have a meeting during the middle of last year with Brisbane City Council officers who were unable to present us with solutions. The car-park itself is not within Police or City Council jurisdiction and the school is not a regulatory authority for drivers. However, I implore people to drive and park like you would if police and parking officers were watching.

I sometimes attend morning meetings and when I get to work there may not be a spot available, so I drive out of the carpark and park around the corner in a legal spot.  In fact, at my own children’s schools  as is the case at many schools, there aren’t carparks available within school-grounds.  We know that we have to factor in additional time to find the closest available street park and walk.  Adults that drive need to behave like adults. It isn’t the job of staff to adjudicate between upset adults when it is clear that some people are driving or parking illegally.  There is no justification for that to happen on school-grounds. This is about protecting children!  If you want to be guaranteed a car-park leave home earlier or arrive later-PLEASE DO NOT PARK ILLEGALLY!  Children should not see adults arguing like children over car-parking and poor driving. 

A reminder that turning right out of the front parent car-park is unsafe and therefore not allowed.

Double-parking, parking where there isn’t a space or parking in a space which is clearly signed NO PARKING, or a disability space without a sticker is clearly not allowed.

Please park correctly and ensure you are allowing room for cars to get in and out of spaces and driveways.

Do not park on yellow lines, on footpaths or block our neighbours’ driveways.

Please obey speed limits in the streets surrounding the school.

Finally, there are solutions! These might require little to no more effort and result in a lot less stress for everyone.

WALK WALK WALK! Just a small distance.

Arrive earlier or arrive later to get a carpark. 3.10 or 3.15pm is like a ghost town most days.

Use the 2 minute zone in front of the school which is clearly marked. Ask your children to wait near the flagpole, keep an eye out for you, they load themselves and off you go! This would particularly suit students in Years 2 to 6.

Schools are under no obligation to provide adequate car-parking for parents and many don’t.  Let’s enjoy the luxury of having these spaces by using them properly and taking a common-sense approach if you are unable to get a spot on a particular day. Everyone is busy these days! However, if a child or family member from this school was hurt or injured as a result of car-park behaviour,  we would all question why we didn’t slow down and think more rationally to prevent it happening. That time is now.

ONLINE EXCURSION/INCURSION FORMS

As some classes are aware, we are transitioning to online excursion forms.  We have had an excellent response already to the Prep and Year 2 excursions where online forms have already been sent.

• We have received some feedback about ideas to make  the forms more user friendly and we are working on those. 
• We are putting regular FaceBook reminders to direct parents to the excursion/incursion forms.
• During the transition period, we will be phoning those that haven’t responded to ask how we might assist them in completing the necessary permissions.
• We have support available here at school or over the phone to assist parents.

A number of our functions have been email only/online for many years particularly newsletters and report cards so we currently have email addresses for every parent of every student in our school.  Parents can still choose to pay by direct transfer, credit card (if over $10), through QParents, cash or EFTPOS at the window.  Excursion/Incursion notes are regularly not taken home, left in the bottom of bags and a large number are re-issued each excursion. The school can track more efficiently who hasn’t responded and act on that in comparison to the paper method.  The permissions come straight to the office rather than through the teacher which allows teachers to focus more on learning time and increases the reliability of forms reaching their destination. Additionally, the amount of paper used is reduced which allows the school to more easily meet its financial and environmental sustainability targets.

Please contact the office by phone, email or in person if you are having difficulties or require support.

STUDENT SUPPORT AND EXTENSION

One of our priorities this year was to move to the full inclusion model where students of all abilities receive support and/or extension close to their classrooms.  We now have a consistent Targetted Learning Team on each year level consisting of a leadership team member, classroom teachers, teacher-aides and a Targetted Learning Teacher who work together every two weeks to collect information and plan for the needs of every student in the class. The current focus is Writing. Every two weeks the improvement of the students on an aspect of their learning is analysed and addressed in the planning for the next two weeks. This week the Leadership Team have been conducting Walkthroughs where we observe classroom teaching and learning and talk to teachers and the children about how learning is progressing. This week I have been in Year 2 and Year 5.  I will share some Year 2 photos this newsletter.  The amount of adult support and extension in classrooms though it was good previously, is now moving towards great as staff become better each fortnight at targeting the needs of all students in their year level.