World Teacher and Staff Appreciation Day

This week I would like to acknowledge that today Friday is the nationally celebrated day for World Teachers Day. This morning on parade, I acknowledged that on this day we choose at Bowen State to also acknowledge all school support staff. It is important to note all supporting staff in our school including Admin staff, Our Business Manager, Leadership team, Groundsman, Teacher Aides, Cleaners, our Tuckshop staff and School Crossing Supervisors. We know it takes a village to raise a child and our staff work extremely hard each and every day to make a difference for our students.

Can I thank the wonderful P&C for their kind donation of a shared morning tea for all of our staff. This means a lot and was a great opportunity for all our school staff to connect in a busy term. As educators, we know the important role we play in shaping children’s futures and this day promotes and reminds us of incredible impact we can have.

Parent Teacher Meetings

Last week on Tuesday afternoon, we hosted a wonderful opportunity for our school community to engage with our Term 4 Parent and Teacher meetings. On the evening we saw significant numbers of families connecting in the hall and celebrating the growth in student learning and opportunities to set goals for improvement. Thank you all for your engaging conversations and interest in your child’s learning journey.

Townsville Presentation of the Wellbeing Actions at Bowen State School

On Thursday I was privileged to present in Townsville, the work of our communities of practice & the Health Safety and Wellbeing team. My presentation was entitled “Fostering a Culture of Self-Care and Compassion”. The audience was a mixture of Middle Leadership, Business Managers and Principals across the region. I was able to share the success of the work we are currently undertaking and ways we are looking to support our staff with practical and meaningful strategies to support Staff Wellbeing. The presentation was received overwhelmingly. Such a proud moment to clearly see the audience agreed with the impact we are having and appreciation of my presentation to share our stories. My hope is that another school may take away some ideas to apply new ways of working. The feedback I receive from the audience will be powerful to share with our staff and know that others schools in our region may adopt and trial some of the work and research we are undertaking.

Christien Payne
Principal