Welcome to the February edition of our “newsletter", as the first term rapidly passes us by. 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 past few weeks.
Strategic Direction
As I spoke about in my last update, 2023 is shaping as a foundation-building year for our school. Our four-yearly school review has been scheduled for 9-12 May and the report from that review will form the bones of a new strategic plan to cover 2024-2028. As we set in place the foundations that will sustain that strategic plan, our school is focused on two priorities: Working together (Priority 1) and To learn (Priority 2). Together, they form our school motto Working together to learn and capture the important culture, wellbeing, transitions, and teaching and learning work that we do as a school to foster collective and individual excellence within a dynamic, inclusive, and cohesive community. You can read more about our strategic direction, why we think each priority is important, and how we are going about delivering on those priorities on the Strategic direction page of our website.
Parent/Teacher Interviews and Report Cards
A key part of our Working together priority is the development and refinement of communication practices that support a positive and transparent school culture. This includes how we communicate with parents and the community, through things like our progressively revamped website with regular news updates and social media channels, but also through how we report and provide feedback on student progress throughout the year.
In 2023, we will report four times per year for all year levels via formal OneSchool report cards (three times for Year 12, because their final report is their Senior Statement from the QCAA). Through consultation last year, however, we have determined that these report cards will not have formal comments on them because many parents tell us that the comments are formulaic, generic, hard to read, and do not provide a clear picture of how their child is doing. Instead, we are hoping to open better lines of communication through making teachers available to provide face-to-face feedback earlier in the learning process through moving our first Parent/Teacher interview to the middle of Term 1.
We look forward to meeting as many parents as possible on Wednesday 8th March at our first Working Together to Learn Parent Meeting, which will feature not only traditional Parent/Teacher Interview slots but also a range of information sessions for Junior and Senior secondary topics, and information stalls for our support team, P&C, and other key members of our school community. Please see the Compass notifications and our website for further information
NAPLAN
While the NAPLAN tests (National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy) are not new for our Year 7s and 9s, the timing in 2023 is somewhat new. For the first time, the online tests will be held in Term 1 (March 15-27) with our test schedule focused on the Wednesday/Thursday of each week – Wednesday/Thursday 15/16 of March, and 22/24 of March. Catch-up days will be provided on Friday 17th March and Friday 24th March. Practice tests commence this week to provide students an opportunity to test the technology and become comfortable with the online testing environment, ahead of the testing window in a fortnight's time.
It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not a high-stakes test, and provides only one piece of information about how a student is travelling in class. The real work is the curriculum, teaching, and learning that takes place in classrooms every day and that is where our school's award-winning focus remains. For more information on the NAPLAN tests and how you can support your child to remain calm and cool about the whole experience, please check out the NAP website.
Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to Triton, who continued their winning ways at last week's Senior Swimming Carnival. It was a fantastic day at the pool, with the weather providing only a brief interruption – getting drenched at a swimming carnival is all part of the charm anyway! Congratulations to those who turned out to support their house, and a special congratulations to our Age Champions and competitors on the day.
P&C Association
Finally, a quick plug for the work of our super-supportive P&C team. 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. As a foundation-building year, now is the perfect time to get involved in the P&C and have some input into the work that we are doing as a school. I would love to see you at our next P&C meeting – Tuesday 14th March, 5:30pm in the USHS Boardroom (Admin building). This meeting will also be our Annual General Meeting.
Together, we have a great school – a great, State School; the school of choice in the Urangan community. I look forward to continuing to work together to improve in everything that we do, and to collectively shape the future of our school in the 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/), and on our website (https://uranganshs.eq.edu.au/).
Many thanks
Tony McCormack
Principal