Thankyou to Mrs Kristen Bennie for facilitating the Early Years in my absence last term. It was so wonderful to be greeted so warmly by the students on Tuesday. They are certainly our greatest asset and I am always so grateful to run into groups of students when I tour the College with prospective families. Just this week, as I took several families from out of town through the learning areas, students were friendly, engaged and happy. Without exception, this is always noted and commented upon by our visitors. Our focus on the Learning Dispositions and the Learning Pit are clearly evident in these interactions both within and outside of the classroom setting. One of the Year 1 students gleefully told me how he had “been in the learning pit A LOT” over the holidays as he was learning to ride a two-wheeler – what a great transfer of knowledge and information! I thank all our families for supporting us in working together as a team to foster this development. 

This week you will have once again received the Term 4 outline of what your child is learning about in the classroom. I urge you to take some time to read this information, print it out if you find that easier, perhaps stick it on the fridge! In this way, you can engage in meaningful conversation about what your child’s day or week has been like. This gives a great base for the vital questions of  

• what are you learning?  
• how are you going with the learning? 

• what do you have to do to bump your learning up? 

It is with great excitement that we have begun preparations for the Annual Early Years Christmas Musical. Next week, each year level will receive notification of costume requirements. Some extra bits and pieces will be provided at school and we would love some parent assistance to help create these. To do so, we are planning a night of creativity in the form of a working bee on  

• THURSDAY OCTOBER 27 (week 4) 
• 6:30pm – 8:00pm  

This will involve simple things such as cutting out A LOT of stars, etc. Nibbles, good company and a few laughs provided! Keep your eye out for further information. 

Unfortunately some of our families are missing vital pieces of information due to not reading our newsletter on a regular basis. If you come across people who feel they have “not been told” something, please direct them towards the College newsletter and website. Whilst much of our information is emailed directly to parents, the newsletter remains an important and up to date source. If you are currently reading this, then you are the people I am relying on to get the word out to others! 

We were lucky enough to have Opera Queensland come to the College to present The Frog Prince to the Early Years – our first experience with operatic singing with a catchy story and excellent visuals!

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years