Hello Fernbrooke Community,

With one week to go, students have been working diligently on assessment to conclude the term. This week I have had the pleasure of siting in with 4E and 4F. Both classes have seen student attendance remain high and their engagement in class is positive.

Staffing at Fernbrooke SS

As many of you may be aware through news reports or social media, there is a growing teacher shortage across the state. This ongoing issue has impacted our school’s ability to allocate teachers to classes.

We would like to acknowledge and thank our specialist teachers for their flexibility and willingness to step into classroom roles at very short notice. Their support has been vital in maintaining continuity of learning for our students.

At the end of next week, we will be farewelling some staff members. Mrs Yathu Chandra and Mrs Jessie George will be commencing maternity leave, and Ms Renee Lotter will be moving on to pursue new opportunities and personal goals. We also farewell Mrs Kellie Parsons, one of our Prep teacher aides, who will be taking up a position at another school. We sincerely thank each of them for their contributions to our school community and the time they have dedicated to Fernbrooke State School.

At this stage, we are still finalising teacher replacements for classes 3B, 4C, and 5C. I am working closely with the Department of Education to recruit suitable candidates and will continue to explore all options to ensure each class has a teacher in place for the beginning of Term 4. We appreciate your understanding and ongoing support as we work through this complex challenge.

​Attendance

Thank you to all the families who have responded to unexplained absence letters. This is a practice we will continue each week to help support regular attendance.

Despite the challenges of the ‘cold and flu season’, we’ve seen some improvement in student attendance this term. The data in the graphics below shows that attendance is improving from Tuesday to Friday. However, Monday attendance remains an area for improvement.

A significant portion of Monday absences are due to late arrivals. For example, on Monday 8th August, over 50 students arrived between 8:45 am and 9:30 am. This late arrival time overlaps with important targeted literacy teaching across most year levels and represents a substantial amount of lost learning time.

Next term, we will continue working closely with students and families to encourage attendance “From the first bell to the last bell.”

Enrolling for High School – Year 6 Students

We encourage all parents and caregivers of Year 6 students to contact Redbank Plains State High School or your preferred high school to begin the enrolment process for 2026.

Finally, thank you to the P&C for organising and hosting the Fathers Day Stall. I know many dads out in our community appreciated the gifts last Sunday.

Next week is our last week of term three before the spring break.

Thank you all for a great term.

Scott