Welcome back to school!

My name is Scott Medford and I have been fortunate enough to be appointed as the Principal of Fernbrooke State School this year. I have had a positive introduction to the school and wish to thank all the students and parents who have had conversations with me to share their stories about being part of this lovely community.

I have been a Principal with the Department of Education for 13 years, with a majority of that time as part of the greater Ipswich region. Over the next few months, I look forward to connecting with internal and external members of the Fernbrooke school community so that I can further understand the needs that we as a school can address. In each fortnightly newsletter, I will share student successes and the future directions targeted at achieving school improvement for every child.

Our first official school newsletter for 2025 will be emailed to you on Wednesday 12 February in Week 3. The newsletter is a communication tool that allows us to communicate the processes and practices that the school enacts and manages so that we can provide a safe and supportive schooling experience for children and their families. Later this term, I will be forwarding a survey to all families to gain some insight on what the preferred forms of communication are so that we can provide manageable and effective messaging to our school’s community.

As Principal, I encourage all families to meet their child’s teacher as soon as possible. Please introduce yourself to them and start to build a relationship that benefits your child’s school experience. Your child’s teacher is the most important school adult in their lives and with your mutual support, your child can excel.

Our school is fortunate to have three experienced Deputy Principals that lead select sectors of the school to support students, staff and families being Mrs Theresa Parker (Prep, Y1 & Y2), Mr Shane Hancock (Y3 & Y4) and Ms Kerry Alberts (Y5 & Y6). All of our staff at Fernbrooke SS do their best to provide a rich learning environment each and every day which is why your child’s attendance is so important. I ask that we all model constructive and respectful relationships with each other so that we can all achieve positive outcomes for all students.

This Friday morning, we will be holding a full school assembly and presenting our Year 6 student leaders with their leadership badges. The parents and caregivers of these students were sent an email last week informing them of the assembly and we will look forward to having you here to celebrate this special occasion for your child. As with all school assemblies, parents and caregivers are welcome to attend.

Our Prep students will not be attending this assembly since it is their first week at school and we are aware of the enormity of this for them. They will continue to work with their teachers on how to engage in classroom routines and be ready to learn while the rest of the school is in the hall for the assembly.

On behalf of the staff at Fernbrooke SS, we hope you had a pleasant summer break and we look forward to working alongside you in 2025.

Scott

Principal

Payment window/Uniform Shop open daily from 8am – 10am.

If paying with cash, please have the correct amount; no change available as we don’t keep cash on-site.

Statements are sent at the beginning of each month.  A statement is a list of invoices or credits on your child’s school account.  A minus indicates a credit  eg. -20.00

Parents and visitors must use the front door to access the office; the back door is for students and staff only.

If you are going to be late collecting your child, please contact the office as soon as possible. Outside School Hours Care is available.

For early pick-ups, students must be collected on either side of the break times.

First break - 10.30am – 11.15am

Second break - 1.00pm – 1.30pm