Welcome to the March edition of our “newsletter", with the Easter holidays upon us and the first term as good as dusted. Thank you for taking the time to connect with our school; providing a regular stream of updates on the happenings at Urangan SHS remains an important way for us to maintain a positive relationship with our parents and community, and something that we are really happy to see so many parents engaging with over the course of this term. Our community engagement through our website and social media feeds has increased over 270% across Term 1! It is heartening to know that our community are enjoying and interacting with the increased communication we have been providing.
Strategic Direction
As I spoke about in our last newsletter, in 2023 our school is focused on two priorities: Working together (Priority 1) and To learn (Priority 2). These priorities, and the actions that we are taking to address them, are outlined on the Strategic direction page of our website. We have been working hard already this year to deliver on these actions, with:
- the employment of four new CECs through our LCEB;
- creation and recruitment of new Program Coordinators in Student Leadership, Digital Pedagogy, Positive Behaviour for Learning, and Career Development;
- development of stronger relationships with our primary partners (in particular Sandy Straits SS);
- expansion of our Tier 2 intervention programs for students, including our Hands on Learning, RAGE, and Chillax programs;
- improved communication home thanks to our amazing new Marketing & Events officer;
- further rollout of our iPad and digital learning strategies, as highlighted through the work of Mr Steve Muir on the news throughout the term;
- enhanced focus on Positive Behaviour for Learning and improved classroom dynamics; and
- continued focus on teacher knowledge and skill with the curriculum through our award winning CAPIP processes.
And that's just Term 1! Our continued work to refine and improve what we do as a school is important to us, and we thank you – our community – for your ongoing support in working together to learn. I look forward to sharing with you the measurable updates on our progress towards our targets early in the new term, as a result of our work to date.
P&C Association Update
Thank you to those who attended our recent P&C Association AGM, and a special thank you to our newly installed P&C Executive – President Lorna Waerea, Vice President Lisa Cooper, Treasurer Amanda Bird, and Secretary Megan Abra. We are incredibly lucky at Urangan SHS to have a dedicated team of parents and community members who care deeply about our school, and their work through the P&C enables things like our Canteen and Uniform Shop to operate so successfully. New members are always welcome, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside our P&C throughout the year. Our next P&C meeting will be held in the USHS Admin building, 5:30pm on Tuesday 9th May.
Acoustic Night
Thank you to all who turned out to support our Certificate IV Music students at our recent Acoustic Night – it was a fantastic reminder of the talented young people who work amongst us every day, and a fitting showcase of the amazing things that our Urangan students can achieve. I look forward to seeing many of them turning out in this year's production of Grease: The Musical – stay tuned for more information on tickets as we get closer to the show.
Easter Holidays
Finally, all the best to our students and staff as they head off for two weeks well deserved break, and to all of our families over the holiday period. Thank you for your hard work throughout the term, and I look forward to continuing to work together to improve in everything that we do across the remainder of this year – collectively shaping the future of our school in the community. Together, we have a great school – a great, State School; the school of choice in the Urangan community.
As always, if our school can assist you in any way, please continue to contact us. To keep up with all of our school events and see details of student success, you can follow us on Facebook (@UranganSHS), on Compass (https://uranganshs-qld.compass.education/), on our website (https://uranganshs.eq.edu.au/), and now too on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/uranganstatehighschool/).
Many thanks
Tony McCormack
Principal