Dear parents, friends and students,

Welcome back for Term 2 during which we hope will see a further return to normality as the current wave of COVID infections eventually declines. We appreciate the continuing support of our COVID practices with students (12 years and over) who are returning from quarantine or isolation wearing masks for another 7 days.  We also appreciate the understanding the college community has displayed during this period of high staff absenteeism which has necessitated the collapsing of classes and changes to normal routines. As this term begins with a series of 4-day weeks, our timetables are being altered so that students do not miss out on particular subjects and specialist lessons especially if they are normally timetabled for a Monday.

ANZAC Day
Our whole of college ANZAC Day ceremony was a great success. It was the first time we have tried this with all students from Prep to Year 12 gathering on the primary oval for the event and it was wonderful to have them together as one along with staff, the P&C, parents and invited guest so that our ceremony had over 2000 people in attendance.

Representatives from the Air Force, the Army and the Navy were all present which added to the importance of the day. Having a catafalque party from Gallipoli Barracks certainly ensured the solemnity of the occasion was evident along with the beautiful renditions of the New Zealand National Anthem sung by Mrs Vaetolu Mulivia and the Australian National Anthem sung by Aby Rivera and Vincent Ramos.

Our guest speakers, Leading Aircraft Woman Ms Angela Kohler and Flight Lieutenant Mr Paul Browning brought to home the significance and reverence in which we observe the day and having our own Shannon Druery play the Last Post and Reveille was very special. In particular, thanks go to former Lieutenant Commander Bill Krause for the Ode which he delivered with such emotion and pride.

The field of poppies that were placed in front of our brand-new ANZAC themed mural, enhanced the importance of the event and was certainly made poignant through Anna Mudole’s rendition of the poem ‘In Flanders Fields.’ The mural organised by teacher Ms Mel Hood, painted by former students Franco Filmater and Sina Tupa’i  only finished the day before our ceremony is best viewed as you walk up the path from the primary school hall towards the secondary school.

Our Media Club students managed the event which was respectfully and smoothly emceed by our school captains.

At time when we see war in the Ukraine played out on our television screens every day, the importance of honouring our ANZACs, those who have served and those who are currently serving today, is elevated as most of us who have not experienced the horrors and tragedy of armed conflict get a glimpse of the sacrifice servicemen and women make in defence of freedom and democracy.

Our day was made even more special as special guests Leading Aircraft Woman Ms Angela Kohler and Flight Lieutenant Mr Paul Browning visited our Prep classrooms to answer some of their questions. Our special guests couldn't pass up to opportunity to relive youth and also joined our students in the playground for a quick stretch of their legs. 

To all of our defence families and defence force personnel, we thank you for your service.

Lest we forget.

Jeff Jones
Executive Principal

Deputy Principal Restructure Reminder
Just a reminder to parents that as a result of our deputy principal restructure reducing to two deputies, that the Prep -Year 2 deputy principal is Mr Scott Fields and the Years 3 – 6  deputy principal is Ms Petra Yager.

Mid-Semester Interim Reports
As mentioned at the end of Term 1, primary students will receive a Mid-Semester Interim Report for English and Mathematics only.  An A-E provisional academic progress rating will be provided as well as a behaviour and effort rating.  There will be no additional comments provided. Science will appear on the report but as indicated, we are not reporting on Science in this report. The report will be emailed to parents in Week 2, Tuesday 26 April.

The interim rating will allow students to set a clear direction for learning in Term 2 and with support from parents and of course school staff, students can plan to achieve the best grades possible by the end of the semester.

Parents will also be provided the link to book Parent/Teacher interviews through SOBS (School Online Booking Service) to be conducted in Week 3 of Term 2, Wednesday 4 May from 3:00pm – 7:00pm. The support for students from both home and school working together will provide students the best opportunity for success.

Bullying
At the end of Term 1 our school highlighted awareness of the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. Bullying exists throughout our society and occurs in any school. Bullying must be reported as soon as it occurs to get the best outcome in overcoming the issue. Additionally, it is vitally important to report any repeated acts of bullying. In this case, the response to consequences dramatical escalates as there is nothing worse than an individual who continues to bully after they have been dealt with in the first instance.

These days we not only have the issue of face-to-face bullying, but we also have the additional occurrence of Cyber Bullying. The majority of cyber bullying occurs out of school hours, but the impact often spreads into the school environment. Parents often struggle to deal with cyber bullying and often have no idea it is occurring. We will be sharing some resources for parents around cyber bullying beginning with the link below.

https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/cyberbullying

When we give names to incidents of misconduct, it is easy to call any form of hurtful misconduct, bullying. The following is a great way to determine acts of misconduct, whether they be emotional or physical hurt.

Definitions:

• Unintentional acts of hurt are called Rude
• Intentional one-off acts of hurt are called Mean
• Repeated acts of intentional hurt are called Bullying

School Start Time
Our school day starts at 8:50am. By 8:50am, students need to be in class to begin the learning day. We still have a substantial number of students arriving after 8:50am which interrupts the class and adds to the administration workload in creating late slips. More importantly late students are missing valuable learning time which can add up over time. Please ensure that students arrive by 8:45am to support teachers in their delivery of their teaching and learning plans.

Peter Lund
Principal of Primary School

Welcome back to all of our Woodcrest families for Term 2. I hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful Easter break with family and friends. As we commence the new term, our focus is on ensuring students make a great start to learning. As we know the start to the delayed start to the school year was less than ideal, so it is very important that all students are ready for learning with all the necessary equipment, including their laptops and maximise their learning time every lesson.

At Woodcrest at the beginning of every lesson students are provided with the Learning Intention and Success Criteria for the learning they are about to undertake. Learning Intentions are descriptions of what learners should know, understand and be able to do by the end of a learning period or unit. Success criteria are the measures used to determine whether, and how well, learners have met the learning intentions.

Teachers use Learning Intentions and Success Criteria to:

• assist students to know what they are going to learn and where they are heading
• provide feedback to students and reduce discrepancies between current student understanding and intended learning
• assist both themselves and students in the tracking and assessing of student progress
• understand the impact of their teaching and learning activities, and when they may need to adapt or change these.
• Help students understand what improved performance looks like

Students can be involved in determining the success criteria for a learning experience. Understanding what it takes to become successful in a learning task supports students to develop their confidence as learners and set themselves high expectations. Students should be able to show you in their subject OneNotes or subject notebooks the learning intentions and success criteria for each lesson or lesson series. A measure of your student’s engagement and learning success is if they can answer the following:

• What they have learnt?
• How are they progressing and how do they know?
• How can you improve and where can they go for help if they need it?  

Term 1 Reporting
On Tuesday 26^th April the College will issue Interim Report Cards for Term 1. The purpose of an interim report is to provide both the student and their parents/carers with information about how they are tracking in terms of their learning. The interim report is based on evidence of learning that may have been shown through a combination of both formative and summative assessment and classwork. It is important that students are aware as to how they are progressing in order to identify learning goals and ways in which they can improve their learning outcomes leading into the end of semester report, which is based on summative assessment.

During week 3 the school will be hosting Parent/Teacher Interviews. These will take place for the secondary school from 3pm – 6pm. Upon receipt of your student’s Interim Report Card you will be provided with details as to how to make booking for these meetings. Parent-Teacher interviews are a great way to connect with teachers to hear more about your child’s academic performance and engagement with learning and to share and make plans about how you can both support your student in their learning. I encourage parents/carers to take this opportunity to meet with teachers as we work together to build strong connections for our students between school and home.

Homework Centre
For students who may be wanting some more assistance with their learning, the Homework Centre is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 3pm – 4pm in the Secondary Campus library. The Homework centre is a great place to engage with teachers, teacher aides and other students to complete homework and gain further assistance with upcoming assignments and or revise for exams. Students who attend receive afternoon tea. We encourage all students to come along and make use of this great learning opportunity.

Colour Explosion Run
Last term unfortunately due to inclement weather the Colour Explosion Run was unable to go ahead. This event has now been rescheduled for Friday 20^th May. An updated schedule will be provided to parents/carers in the near future.

Students who have undertaken fundraising for the Colour Explosion Run can continue to do so up until the end of Week 3, Term 2, Friday 6th May. If students have not yet registered and would still like to participate in fundraising, they can do so by creating a profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au . Students can also continue to collect cash donations up until this date. Cash donations can be returned to the Secondary canteen before school during the week beginning 2 May until Friday 6th May.

Please note that if your child has returned a permission slip to participate in the Colour Run, a new permission slip is not required. In the event your child is no longer able to participate when the new date is announced, please contact the relevant sub-school office to advise.

Dress Code
Students are reminded that as we move into the cooler months, that they are only permitted to wear a school uniform jumper or jacket. Additionally, students must continue to wear shoes that are appropriate for the workplace health and safety practices required in all learning environments, including kitchens, workshops and sport. Therefore, students are only permitted to wear black leather shoes with their formal uniform (Year 10 – 12) and runners or trainers appropriate for sport and exercise with their sports uniform. Canvas and or skate type shoes are not permitted.  Please also note that only minimal jewellery is permitted to be worn. Students and parents/carers are encouraged to refer to the student dress code in the student diary and on the website for further information.

New Staff
The Secondary Campus welcome the following new staff to our team for Term 2:

• Mr Ben Rathbone (English/Humanities)
• Kylie Walas (Inclusion teacher)
• Ms Pamela Owens (School Nurse)
• Ms Yvette McKinnon (Speech Pathologist)

We are excited to have you with us this term and hope you enjoy working at our wonderful school.

Kelsey Oakes
Principal of Secondary School

In Term 2, students will be asked to take part in the Queensland Engagement and Wellbeing (QEW) Survey.

We know that wellbeing and engagement are important parts of your child’s life at school. The QEW Survey is designed to measure how students view their wellbeing and engagement across different topics. The information we get from the survey helps us better understand and support our students.

An information letter will be sent out to parents and carers closer to the time. If you have any questions, please contact the school. More information, including FAQs, can be found on the Education website: (https://qed.qld.gov.au/publications/reports/statistics/schooling/students/queensland-engagement-wellbeing-survey).

The Woodcrest State College P&C Association is back with this years Mother’s Day Stall! Bigger and better than ever, with more gift options to fill our growing demand for all of our loved that deserve celebrating. Online pre-ordering available for convenience is available from Tuesday 27^th April – Sunday 1^st May.

www.wscpc.com.au/online-shop-ordering