Welcome Back to School

Welcome back to all students, families and staff. We are pleased to have enrolled 80 new Prep students and approximately 35 other students across Year 1 – 6.  We also welcomed new staff members to our New Farm team, including Ms Beeston on Year 2 and Mr Nash on Prep.  Day 8 census confirms the class allocations will remain stable without any changes required.  This is good news and will enable staff to now organise their parent / teacher information sessions in the coming week.  Details will be sent out via dojo and schoolzine.

Staffing Update

This term we welcome Stan Williams as Business Manager.  This term our current BM Jenny Deans will continue to train staff and assist Stan as the transition to the BM role for 2024.

This week we also farewelled Ms Chen as she begins her retirement after a long education career.  Ms Chen has taught at New Farm since 1997 and inspired the learning of languages, music and culture within our community and beyond.  Through the years Ms Chen has supported student involvement in language competitions, drama performances, special event participation such as the Prince Siddakah performance at QPAC, the Buddha Festival at South Bank, and our Fete dance performances, as well as organising excursions to the Buddhist Temple in Brisbane.  Ms Chen will be missed by our community and we wish her all the best for her retirement.

Swimming

Swimming lessons began this week for Years 1-6.  In terms 1 & 4 our Physical Education lessons focus on swimming, with the exception on Prep who swim only in term 4. Permissions and payments are required for participation.  If you need any financial assistance for any events, please contact our Business Manager Stan Williams on admin@newfarmss.eq.edu.au .

Attendance

Every Day of school attendance counts and research tells us those students who attend 85% and higher are more likely to achieve better results and have better social networks among peers.  While attendance generally is over 90%, the ideal is 95%.  An area which needs some improvement is to see a decrease in early departure of students in the afternoons.  This is especially high on Friday afternoons and causes disruption to classes.  While I understand that appointments are at times unavoidable, I would appreciate if you could be mindful of this issue.

Arrival times – students should arrive near 8:30am.  Our Schools Plus service uses our area until this time so if you are not attending Schools Plus, please do not arrive before 8:30am as there is no formal supervision before this time. Before school play areas from 8:30 include the oval, netball court and the upper section of the prep play area. 

For late arrivals after 9am, Parents please remember to send your child to the office, where they can obtain a late slip to present to the teacher. 

For early departure before 3pm, for an appointment or similar, parents must go to the office, sign their child out, take an early departure slip to the classroom, and present it to the teacher before collecting their child.

For absence such as illness, please ring through to the school office, email the school  on absence@newfarmss.eq.edu.au  or send a message through QParents before 8:30am  .

For longer-term absences, such as family trip overseas for emergent reasons, please see the office staff and complete a submission for exemption. Please note holidays may not granted under ‘exemption’ and recorded as ‘holiday’.

Please also remember that regular attendance is paramount to high achievement. 

Attendance + Effort = Achievement

Communication

Below for your information is a parent brochure explaining our main modes of communication.  Two of the main points to note is that:

1. Class dojo messages may not be addressed during the school day as teachers will be teaching.
2. For concerns, complaints, after school arrangements or appointments for meetings, please email the administration.

Creating a positive school culture

At New Farm State School, we pride ourselves on our positive school culture and with your help we can make it ever stronger.  You can do your part by speaking positively about the school and when interacting with staff. If there is an issue that needs addressing ask for a meeting to discuss your concerns and understand that there may be times when compromises are necessary.

No one benefits from negative comments or gossip about other school community members – including students – whether it’s in person, in writing or on social media.

Please recognise that staff are responsible for supporting the whole school community and every student is important.  Remember we are all working together for your child. Your child, our student. One team.