Welcome to the January edition of our “newsletter", and our first update for the new school year. 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 excited to expand upon in 2023.
WELCOME TO 2023
Our school has been a hive of activity this week, as we welcomed students back to classes in the most “normal" return to school for some years. We are particularly excited to welcome our newest students, and especially our Year 7s who have taken to High School life with enthusiasm. It has been fantastic to see our Year 12 student leaders out supporting our Year 7s through daily lunchtime activities on the oval, in the Resource Centre, and across the school, as well as the high levels of excitement and engagement across the cohort.
Across all of our other year levels, I have been impressed with the pride with which students are wearing their uniforms, and the high levels of attendance that we have seen across the school. I am confident that our students will be able to maintain this fantastic start and high standards throughout the year, as we collectively work together to strengthen the culture of Urangan SHS.
2022 ROUNDUP
As exciting as it is to welcome our new students, the start of the year also enables us one final opportunity to celebrate the successes of our Year 12 cohort from last year. It has been fantastic to hear the excitement and enthusiasm of our former students for their new pathways as they adjust to life after school. The vast majority of our ATAR-eligible students received a number that supports their preferred pathway, and it is fantastic to see that over 87% of our University-bound students have been accepted into their first preference course.
For those who are still looking for some guidance on their post-school pathway; please remember the ongoing work of our Link and Launch Coordinator Emma Amor. If you need a little extra support in successfully transitioning to further study, training, or work, Emma is on hand to support and we are very proud of the ongoing assistance that we are able to provide our students to ensure they have pathways and opportunities for whatever comes next.
THE YEAR AHEAD
2023 shapes as a foundation-building year for our school. A school review scheduled this year means that we are due for a new strategic plan to cover 2024-2028, and a lot of our work is focused on ensuring we have the right foundations in place to drive the next phase of our school's growth over that four year period. A key part of this has been our new case management structures, providing additional layers of support for students with all Deputy Principals playing a role in supporting year levels, in addition to a Head of Year for each year level. You can see more about the Year Level Teams for each year level, and the different roles that Deputies, Heads of Year, and Year Level Managers can play in supporting your child, on our Our Staff page.
We also have some significant building works to look forward to in 2023, with the establishment of a Wellbeing Hub in GD Block – pulling our Chaplain, Youth Support Coordinators, School Based Youth Health Nurse, School Based Police Officer, Link and Launch Officer, Social Worker, and Guidance Officers together into one central location to support students – and the long-awaited commencement of our Sports Complex. It's certain to be another big year!
OUR NEW CANTEEN
One exciting facilities project that we have already completed in 2023, has been the long-awaited reopening of our Canteen. The space looks amazing, and our students have certainly been glowing in their reviews of the reopened Canteen. Our P&C is moving towards the finalisation of the Canteen menu review – thank you to the many parents who provided feedback into the review late last year – and we are looking forward to seeing what the new space enables in the coming months.
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 first P&C meeting for the year – Tuesday 14th February, 5:30pm in the USHS Boardroom (Admin building).
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