Hello Fernbrooke Community,

Welcome to Term 2 of the 2025 school year.

 The start of this term is a little unusual, with three public holidays falling within the first three weeks of school. In light of this, all teachers and staff are focusing on reinforcing class routines, revisiting school expectations around student behaviour, and delivering engaging teaching and learning experiences.

These three priorities are essential to building a positive school culture and helping students understand the value and purpose of each school day.

2025 Explicit Improvement Agenda

 

School Assembly Schedule – Term 2

This term, we will be trialling a new model for school assemblies. Traditionally, assemblies have been held weekly. However, over time we've observed that this practice is quite time-consuming and can limit opportunities for both social development and focused teaching and learning.

To better support student engagement and classroom time, we will hold three scheduled assemblies this term:

• Week 1 – Whole School Assemblies
• Week 5 – Sector Assemblies
• Week 9 – Sector Assemblies

In the weeks between these parades, Deputy Principals will visit classrooms each Friday to present Student of the Week certificates and whole class awards.

We look forward to seeing how this new approach supports our students, and we welcome your feedback throughout the term.

Staffing Updates

Over the next two weeks, there will be a few temporary staffing changes at Fernbrooke. Please see the details below:

• Mr Shane Hancock (Deputy Principal, Years 3 & 4) will be taking long service leave.
• Miss Kasey Curwen will be stepping into the role of Deputy Principal for Years 3 & 4 during this period.
• Mrs Charli Valeri will be taking on the role of PBL (Positive Behaviour for Learning) Coach.
• Mr Roman West will be teaching Class 2D.

We appreciate the flexibility and dedication of these staff members as they take on new roles to support our students and the broader school community.

Fernbrooke SS P&C Reboot

This week, I had the pleasure of meeting with a group of enthusiastic parents who reached out in Term 1 with the goal of ‘rebooting’ the Fernbrooke State School Parents and Citizens Association (P&C).

During this forum, I had the opportunity to share my thoughts and aspirations for re-establishing the P&C, and provided the group with some insights on how to ‘start small’ and gradually build a sustainable and active association.

To officially get things underway, we will be holding our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday, 6 May, from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm, at The Hub. At this meeting, we will elect the new P&C Executive and welcome new members.

I look forward to seeing many of you there as we take this exciting step forward together.

Fernbrooke SS ANZAC Ceremony

Thank you to all the parents who attended our school’s annual ANZAC Ceremony. Your presence helped make the event a meaningful and respectful tribute.

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the following community representatives for joining us:

• Mr Lance McCallum – Member for Bundamba
• Councillor Pye Augustine – Ipswich City Council, Division 1
• Councillor Jacob Madsen – Ipswich City Council, Division 1
• Ms Kerry Silver – Representing the Honourable Shayne Neumann MP
• Flight Sergeant Shawn Spry – Royal Australian Air Force
• Mr Angus Johnstone – Salvation Army Australia

A special thank you goes to Mr Shane Hancock and Miss Kasey Curwen for their efforts in organising the ceremony. On behalf of the Fernbrooke school community, we sincerely thank them for their dedication to delivering such a thoughtful and respectful event.

Have a great fortnight,

Scott

Principal

Fernbrooke State School STARS awards are handed to students by their class teacher and acknowledged at their assembly. Students are nominated by their class teacher. Each week Fernbrooke STARS recipients are shared in the newsletter. All Fernbrooke students are STARS because they are Safe, are Thinkers, Attend school, are Respectful and Successful learners.  As a community, we congratulate all these students in their efforts to Exceed Expectations.

News Flash!

Uniform Shop Update!

As of Term 2, 2025, our uniforms will be proudly supplied by ShopUniforms.com.au

ShopUniforms.com.au is the uniform provider for Fernbrooke State School

For enquiries, please contact enquiries@brandedaustralia.com.au or

phone (07) 5527 1722

ShopUniforms.com.au is a division of Branded Australia Pty Ltd

Online Store

Purchase your uniforms from our online store https://shopuniforms.com.au  This link is now active. Choose to have your order shipped to you or collect from the Uniform Shop at school.

School Policy

Fernbrooke State School is a uniformed school and we encourage all students to wear their uniforms each day, to foster school pride and equality.

THE UNIFORM SHOP WILL BE OPEN WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS 8AM-10AM EVERY WEEK

Early Years Newsletter – Term 2 Welcome

Welcome back to Term 2! We hope all our families enjoyed a restful break and had the opportunity to spend some quality time with loved ones. It was wonderful to see all our students return with bright smiles and eager minds, ready for another exciting term of learning.

With several public holidays scattered throughout this term, we’ve hit the ground running to make the most of every moment. Our classrooms are already buzzing with activity as we launch into a full and engaging curriculum across Prep to Year 2.

What’s Happening in the Classrooms:

• Prep students have begun exploring the fascinating world Under the Sea as they prepare to write their very first information reports. In Mathematics, they are diving into Number and Measurement concepts.
• Year 1 students are busy researching Australian animals to write their own informative pieces. In Maths, they are building their skills in Problem Solving and Measurement.
• Year 2 students are looking to the skies as they investigate Planets and develop their information report writing. Their Maths focus this term includes Number, Problem Solving, and Space.

Exciting Events This Term:

• Prep Ocean Life Incursion: On Tuesday 29 April, Prep students will have the opportunity to get up close with marine life during their Ocean Life incursion — a hands-on experience that supports their "Under the Sea" learning.
• Year 1 Queens Park Excursion: Our Year 1 students are heading off to Queens Park for a fun and educational experience!
• 1A & 1B – Wednesday 30 April
• 1C & 1D – Thursday 1 May
• 1E, 1F & 1G – Tuesday 6 May
• Make-Up Swimming Session: A reminder that tomorrow, students in Year 1 and 2F who missed a swimming session due to Cyclone Alfred and attended the previous two lessons will participate in a make-up lesson. Please ensure your child brings all required gear.

ANZAC Day Assembly:

This morning, Fernbrooke commemorated the ANZACs with a heartfelt school assembly. Our Early Years students displayed exceptional respect and proudly presented their class tributes. It was a moving moment that reflected the values of remembrance and gratitude.

As always, we look forward to another enriching term of learning, laughter, and growth here at Fernbrooke. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Warm regards,
Theresa Parker
Early Years (Prep – Year 2) Deputy Principal

Welcome back! I trust that you all had a very enjoyable holiday break with your children, family and friends. The extra-long weekend is always a nice way to unwind, down tools and relax. For those of you who had to work, I hope you got some down time to enjoy yourself over the school holidays with your family.

Term 2 is always interesting for many reasons. Firstly, we have the majority of the year’s public holidays fall during the term with Easter, ANZAC Day, Labour Day and the Ipswich Show Holiday. Secondly, we have Semester 1 reporting to finish off the term. Added to this are the sporting events like the cross country and athletics carnival. It’s always a very quick term that is usually feels over before it begins so strap yourselves in!

Year 4 are currently engaging with LIFE Education to learn about safe behaviours when online to protect themselves from harm or abuse. This cybersafety message is a necessary lesson for our children in this very complicated world of technology and virtual reality they are growing up in.

The Senior Cross Country (Year 4) is scheduled to go ahead tomorrow, weather permitting. As irony would have it, we have already postponed it twice due to rain and by the looks of it, rain is predicted for tomorrow as well. Hopefully, the wet weather holds off until late morning to allow it to go ahead. If not, the PE teachers will go to Plan B which is a time trial beep test to determine the stamina levels of any high-performance students to see if they can qualify for District Cross Country trials. Our PE teachers know the children’s athletic prowess very well and will put them through their paces to see who qualifies in the absence of a cross country occurring.

Our Junior Cross Country for the Year 3 students is currently scheduled for Thursday the 8th of May. Let’s hope the weather is perfect that day.

This term, the students are writing information reports in English. Year 3 are focussing on the topic of the life cycles of plants while Year 4 are focussing on sports for their organising topic.

Thank you to those of you who attended our school ANZAC Day ceremony today. It was a very respectful and dignified acknowledgement of the role that the service men and women have played in our nation’s history and continue to do so today around the world to keep us safe and maintain peace on earth wherever possible. If you are attending a dawn service or march this Friday on ANZAC Day, thank you.

Lastly, I am taking some long service leave for the next 2 weeks and will be returning back to work on Monday 12 May (Week 4). While I am away, Miss Kasey Curwen will be replacing me as the Middle Years Deputy. Kasey is well known to the children and has replaced me before as a Deputy Principal. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Kasey if the need arises so she can assist you with your query.

See you on the crossing,

Shane

Welcome back to Term 2, as always there is a busy term ahead for our senior students.

ANZAC Day

We have started the term with our ANZAC Ceremony. I was impressed by the respect shown by the senior classes and the wreath layers during this event.  Our school leaders took part in the ceremony and acquitted themselves beautifully when speaking in front of such a large audience. 

Curriculum in Term 2

YEAR 5

Week 9 PBL Focus: Thinker – We follow cohort eating expectations.

Perry’s Marketplace Term 2

Perry’s Marketplace has been restocked and is ready for students to spend their Perry Points from week 2. Recently we surveyed all classes, and we’ve stocked up our prizes with an abundance of new items that were requested. Term 2 will also see our first Perry’s Afternoon Tea for the year, with a handful of students already putting their names down. Our sports raffle is returning this term for both junior and senior junctures with raffle tickets being available from Perry’s Marketplace. Congratulations to Ryan and Hendrix for winning our first raffle of the year last term. Perry and I look forward to seeing our students Exceed Expectations by being Perry STARS! See you all at Marketplace soon!

Finally, over the next two weeks, I will be backfilling Mr Hancock who is taking some much-deserved leave. Ms Valeri will be stepping in to take over Perry’s Nest while I relocate to the Year 3-4 juncture. Thanks, Ms Valeri!

Special Event

Wednesday 7^th May (week 3)

The Student Council are hosting Fernbrooke’s first ‘Do It For Dolly Day’. This is a day where we raise awareness to our community about the importance of being kind. Students are invited to wear blue, with no gold coin donation required. We will, however, be hosting a fundraising event on this day… more info to come via the Fernbrooke Facebook page.