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