Welcome Back

Welcome back to all existing and new families to Bowen State School. Over the holidays we enrolled a significant number of new families and we welcome you to our great community. The commencement of Term 3 will be a great opportunity for new students to experience all of the special traditions at Bowen State, that make our school such a special place to learn.

Recently our Regional Director, Joseba shared his clear directive around Educational Achievement, Culture & Inclusion and Wellbeing & Engagement.

• Educational achievement, because knowing each student’s learning progression is essential to making sure they are on track for positive educational outcomes. Clear expectations for every student, accompanied by differentiated support enables them to achieve.
• Culture and inclusion, because the diversity of our staff, students and school communities is our greatest strength.
• Wellbeing and engagement, because being healthy, confident and resilient is our foundation for engaging in learning and with a focus on wellbeing for all staff and students. We create a sense of belonging and a positive environment for teaching and working.

This is a great reminder to start the term. The current focus at our school is closely aligned to the State Education vision of “Equity and Excellence” for all of our students. Recently I shared those key strategic messages from our Regional Director at the staff meeting and fortnightly data conversations with teachers. It is important that we work together as a system to ensure that all of our students reach their full potential.

Staff Changes and Acting HOSES

This term we welcome Ethan Shaw, our Pedagogy Coach of Inclusion, to the Head Of Special Education Services role. Ethan has acted in this role at his previous school and is working hard to ensure he is the champion of inclusion and is providing support for teachers, families and students. The continued priority is to ensure students are on track to access the teaching and learning during the next ten weeks of school. Ethan will be attending the Challenge Games camp and is looking forward to this new experience. If any families of a child with a disability have questions with the changeover of staff, please contact the main office number for an appointment with Ethan.

Prep Open Day

I would like to thank the entire school community and staff for your tremendous efforts in planning and ensuring our recent Saturday Open Day went smoothy for our newest families for prep next year. We saw strong attendance again this year and I must say the petting farm was a highlight. It was great to meet new students and their families, including lots of grandparents. This is an amazing tradition that we are starting, for the first steps in the path towards Prep 2024. If families know of a prep student due to commence next year, please contact the office and check out our Facebook page for all of the upcoming activities.

Christien Payne
Principal