Debbie Spanner Principal principal@indooroopillyss.eq.edu.au

The school year is well and truly underway and it is wonderful to see how calm, engaged and happy our students appear. The Prep BBQ was a great success on the weekend. A big thank you to the P&C Executive for organising this event and the many staff who attended too. Many parents expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to meet other parents and teachers in the informal setting.

Parent teacher nights have been well attended over the last few weeks, with many parents taking the opportunity to gain further insight into their child’s teachers and their plans for teaching and learning this year. My message to parents centred around the whole school learning asset Contributor, that is a focus this year. 

I encourage parents to think about how you can contribute to add value to our school community. This can be in smaller, every day things like following the traffic rules, parking in considerate ways, smiling and greeting fellow parents and children. It can also be in more substantial ways like P&C participation, becoming a Parent Rep, volunteering to help at school events to ensure they go ahead. Please see the Parent Engagement diagram that highlights the difference that your engagement in our community can make. Your contributions model what being a part of a community means to your children and they are so proud to see you actively supporting their school. The Movie Night on Saturday 22 February is a great opportunity to contribute. I encourage you to volunteer to help the team make this night a really successful one and create some lovely memories for your children.

The first P&C meeting will be held on Monday 24 February in the school library. P&C meetings are a great opportunity to learn more in depth detail about school operations and general school happenings. Meetings are either in person or online the fourth Monday of each month. Please reach out to one of the Executive if you are keen to be involved beyond attending meetings- secretary@isspandc.org.au.

This year we have employed a Digital Coach, Mr Kyle Walters, for two days each week. Kyle will look to embed Digital Intelligence and HONOUR online strategies to help our students be safe online, explore the productive use of devices in our BYOD program, discover the productive use of AI for staff and, where appropriate, students, broaden our use of digital tools and devices to support pedagogy. Kyle is an outstanding user of technology, communicating clear messages about considered and measured use. We will offer parent education information in multiple ways throughout the year too, including external providers to address considerations such as screen time. Look out for information from Kyle in our newsletters. The following information from the eSafety Commissioner regarding screen time may be of interest.

Yours in Education

Deb