Newsletter - 21 August 2025

Principal's Report

Welcome to the halfway point of Term 3, it is amazing how fast the term and year are flying by.

As it is the winter term, we have had many cases of illnesses throughout the school, and I thank those families who are keeping unwell children at home to recover and for the understanding of those who have had to collect children from the sick bay. It seems that there are still many nasty bugs and viruses making their way through the community. Please take care of yourselves.

Congratulations to our secondary students who have attended the Warwick All Schools and Border District Track and Field Carnivals. We are very proud of these students’ efforts and congratulate them on their displays of sportsmanship and encouragement. Congratulations to Blake, Jackson, Zavier and Lochlan who will be competing at the Darling Downs Trials next week.

Congratulations to our primary students who are also heading off to the Darling Downs trials at the end of this term – Allison, Cody, Graysen, Karlee, Kyah, Anabel, Ellie and Will. A report of results is included in the sports news section of this newsletter.

Thursday 21 August saw us welcoming all our favourite book characters to the school for Book Week. The theme of this year is ‘Book an Adventure’ and the school has purchased many of this year's shortlisted and winning books for the library. We were also lucky enough to be joined by our Kindy students at the parade. Thanks for visiting us and joining the best school in town to celebrate the joy of reading.

Friday 5 September is a student free day. Teaching staff have completed these hours at the beginning of year and are not attending school. Our teacher aides will be attending professional development sessions at school hosted by the department on that day.

STAFFING NEWS:
Mr and Mrs Turner are on leave until the beginning of Term 4 to complete their fundraising challenge for diabetes research. During this time Ms Leanne Murphy will be teaching Year 6 and Mrs Belinda Gregson will be teaching Year 3.

Ms Angie O’Toole has taken leave for the remainder of the term and we welcome Mr Jon Watson to our secondary teaching staff.

Mrs Nicky Veal is leaving us at the end of week 8 to work for Catholic Education, closer to home. We thank Mrs Veal for her efforts, enthusiasm and dedication to our students and wish her all the best for her future career endeavours. We are currently working with HR to source a replacement teacher and will let families and students know as soon as possible.

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEY

Thank you to all of those who have already completed the Parent/Caregiver Survey. If you have not had a chance to complete the survey yet, please note that the online surveys will remain open until Friday 22 August 2025. This is your opportunity to provide feedback about what our school does well and how we can improve. To have your say, check your email for an invitation from the Department of Education titled School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2025. Can’t find your invitation? If your family has more than one parent/caregiver, check that they haven’t received the invitation and/or check your junk email folder.

Kind regards
Megan

League Stars Program

Support Staff Week & School Principals' Day

Our school's incredible support staff were celebrated during the first week of August. We are truly blessed to have them and express our heartfelt gratitude for all they do every day to uplift our school community! Thank you Mrs Beveridge, Mrs Gartery, Ms Stepanoff and Mrs Frizzell (our office staff) and Mr Bowman, our schools facilities officer.

School Principals' Day was on 1 August and we thank Mrs Rauchle for leading our school. Thank you for all that you do.

Events Calendar

P&C Fundraising

Can you help out our P&C Fundraising efforts by assisting with the catering at the Leyburn Sprints? See the flyer below for details and come along and enjoy your day.

Sports Report

Warwick All Schools Track and Field Carnival 
Congratulations to Blake (14Yrs) and Lance (12Yrs) Age Champions at the recent Warwick All Schools Track and Field Carnival. It was a great day, with students showing good sportsmanship throughout their events. Congratulations to those who placed in the top three positions in their events, giving it their very best shot.

Darling Downs School Sport
Due to the inclement weather, a decision was made to defer the 13-19Yrs Darling Downs Track and Field Carnival until next Monday (Track) and Tuesday (Field). Lochlan, Blake, Jackson and Zavier will compete on Monday, with Lochlan and Blake then competing in field events on Tuesday. We wish you all the best at the Darling Downs Track and Field Carnival.

Allison, Cody, Graysen, Karlee, Kyah, Anabel, Will and Ellie will compete at the 10-12Yrs Darling Downs Track and Field Carnival in Toowoomba on 1 and 2 September. Good luck, athletes.

The Resilience Project

Pie Drive and Disco Fundraising

Thank you to all who bought pies from our recent pie drive. What a successful drive we had, with around $2000 raised towards our Year 10 and Year 6 camps. Year 10 students also held a successful disco, with those profits also going towards their Term 4 camp. Thank you to all staff who volunteered their time to supervise at the disco.

A Note from the Library

This week we celebrate Book Week.  It runs from Saturday 16 to Saturday 23 August. Book Week, officially known as Children's Book Week, is an annual celebration in Australia focused on promoting reading and Australian children's literature. It's organised by the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) and involves schools, libraries and bookstores hosting events that highlight the joy of reading and the work of Australian authors and illustrators. 

To celebrate Book Week, our dress-up day was today, the theme being “Book an Adventure”.   There were some amazing costumes around our school today.    We held a special parade at 10:30am, with the Allora Kindy joining us. Thank you Mrs Rauchle for putting the collage of photos together for the newsletter.

It is wonderful to see so many students borrowing from our school library.  Reading is vital because it enhances cognitive abilities, fosters personal growth and expands one's understanding of the world. It improves memory, concentration and critical thinking skills, while also reducing stress and promoting empathy. Furthermore, reading is essential for academic success and navigating everyday life, allowing us to learn, communicate and engage with society effectively.  Please encourage your student to READ.

I sincerely thank the Year 4 class who recently had their information texts on display in the library for everyone to read.  Students certainly enjoyed reading this information and were able to learn many things about the animals mentioned in the reports.  Well done, Year 4!

Have a wonderful week.

LEA-ANN WEIER

Anti-Bullying Lessons

Student Council News

RU OK Day

Mark Your Calendars - Arts Extravaganza!

Classroom News

JAPANESE FOOD POSTERS BY YEAR 9 AND YEAR 10 STUDENTS

Community News