Welcome to Week 3! After another long weekend, I hope your family had the chance to enjoy some extra rest and quality time together. It’s been lovely to see our students return re-energised and ready to learn.

A reminder that next Friday, 16th May is the Ipswich Show Holiday and Fernbrooke State School will be closed for the day. I hope you enjoy another special day with your family and maybe even head to the show!

This Sunday, we celebrate Mother’s Day—a time to honour all the incredible women in our lives. To all the mums, step-mums, grandmothers, aunties and other special ladies, I wish you a truly wonderful day.

Our Prep families are invited to a special Mother’s Day celebration this Friday morning in the Prep precinct, starting at 8:45am. This is a lovely opportunity for our youngest learners to spoil their mums and share some special moments together.

Also, this Friday Helping Hands will be holding a Mother’s Day Stall for all students to purchase a small gift. Please see the Principal’s Message for more details.

Today, Fernbrooke came together in a sea of blue for our very first ‘Do It for Dolly’ Day. Staff and students participated in a range of kindness activities and our whole-school assembly ended with a hilarious highlight—multiple staff members were slimed as part of our fundraising efforts! Thank you for your support in helping spread kindness and raise awareness.

Last week saw two exciting events in the Early Years Juncture:

• Our Prep students took part in the Ocean Life Incursion, where they experienced marine creatures up close and learned about life under the sea.
• Our Year 1 students visited Queens Park, where they deepened their understanding of Australian animals (and yes, they were amazed to learn that wombats have square poo!).

This week, our Year 2 students are looking forward to their Star Lab Incursion on Friday—a journey into space that connects beautifully with their current Science and English units.

We were also excited to welcome Miss Eden Moore, who has joined the Early Years team as the new 2A classroom teacher. Please help us make her feel warmly welcomed at Fernbrooke.

Looking ahead, our Early Years students will soon be taking part in National Simultaneous Storytime—a fun literacy event celebrated in schools across Australia. Stay tuned for more details in next week’s newsletter.

As always, thank you for your continued support. It’s a privilege  to partner with you in your child’s learning journey.

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