18 February 2022

Newsletter Articles

Executive Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Friends,

It was wonderful to finally welcome all our staff and students back on campus last week and it was great to see everyone reconnect after a long period away. There was a real buzz around the school despite all the smiles hiding behind their masks. Thank you for all your support of our Senior students during their Learning@Home as it certainly helped them settle in very quickly on their return last week.

Unfortunately, our start up has prevented us from conducting House assemblies and induction processes, and this has presented some challenges in bringing cohorts together, celebrating House spirit and understanding key messages for 2022. Our main priority was ensuring our students started their learning, and were settled with teachers in their classes given the loss of learning time, as we are aware that this could impact future assessment and consolidation of learning prior to assessment.

The COVID restrictions have meant we have been unable to hold some of our traditional welcome events in these early weeks of term 1. We look forward to future opportunities to come together and reconnect soon. Some of these events include the Year 12 Breakfast, Year 7 Parent Welcome Evening, Student Leadership Days and Academic Awards of Excellence. We will keep you informed of future plans for all events as they are very important events for our staff, parents and students.

Unfortunately, the impact of COVID and the spread of Omicron is still presenting many challenges around staffing and student absences, and I expect this to continue during 2022. We will continue to keep you informed of any developments and our staff are working hard to ensure there is continuity of learning. Each scenario presents different challenges and we assure you, that we will always put the learning needs and health and safety of staff and students at the forefront of our decision making.

Sun Safe Policy

As you are aware we are fully implementing our Sun Safe Policy across the school. I am very appreciative of the support parents and caregivers have provided around this, and I ask that you continue to reinforce the importance of protecting our students from the harmful effects of the sun.

On a whole the students have been very good and when prompted, have been extremely compliant. Like all other industries right now, I understand there have been some supply chain issues with uniforms and I know The School Locker have been working 24 hour shifts to try to restock and meet the demands of the back to school period. We will continue to provide updates on stock arrival where possible.

Next week the school Uniform Shop will be open on Tuesday 22nd February for hat purchases only. The Uniform Shop will then open with available stock from Tuesday 1st March. The Uniform Shop operates on Tuesday and Thursday mornings between 7.30 am and 10.30 am.

YONDR

Please remind your students of our Digital Wellbeing priority and the need to ensure they have their YONDR pouch and are using it. We have been doing random checks where possible, but the demands following the late start have impacted on our ability to deliver key messages and follow through with assemblies. If students have lost or misplaced their pouch they are able to purchase a new one from Student Services.

School Lockers

Our goal is to provide all students with a school locker. The purpose of this initiative is to provide safe storage of laptops during break time, security of valuables and to prevent them from having to carry their backpacks around to every classroom. 

Unfortunately, we have once again experienced supply chain issues and have been unable to provide the lockers for school start up. We hope to have the Year 7 lockers allocated within the next couple of weeks and all other year levels for the start of term 2. We are very disappointed that this cannot be provided for the start of the year, but we are in very unique times. The school locker policy will be tabled at the next School Council and P&C Meeting. Once endorsed this will be available on our school website.

Traffic Concerns

As you are aware, student safety and illegal parking around school zones remains a concern for parents, students, local residents and staff. Parking spaces during pick up and set down times are at a premium and subsequently, competition for these spaces can lead to poor driver behaviour and potentially dangerous parking practices.

We have been informed by Brisbane City Council that they intend to conduct regular patrols around our school to ensure safe parking, and parking fines may be issued in cases where illegal parking is observed. I encourage all parents, carers, and student drivers to visit Council’s website via the link below and search parking rules to learn more about parking requirements. We as a school will continue to advocate for designated drop off zone and traffic flow solutions and understand that parking and traffic flow is a concern for all.

Thank you for all your support with our school start up this year. We are certainly navigating unique and challenging times as we learn to live with the pandemic while we make every effort to ensure continuity of learning for our students. Your patience and understanding is very much appreciated and I look forward to meeting you all when we can gather to celebrate the amazing achievements, talents and culture we have here at Corinda.

Regards,
Helen Jamieson
Executive Principal

Coming Events

Some of our best

The Corinda family

Staff shortages, classroom ventilation measures, mandatory vaccine mandates, and a delayed school start… it was a bumpy start to 2022 and the unpredictability is far from over but we could not have gotten to where we are today with over 2000 students currently on campus thanks to our incredible staff.

Over 250 staff work at Corinda. From our wonderful cleaners and hardworking Facility staff to our dedicated Teacher Aides and passionate teaching staff who, despite the challenge of COVID, never lose sight of challenging, inspiring and driving our students to remain focused in their pursuit for personal excellence.

A number of new faces including Samantha Kennedy and Brian Shoesmith have joined our Corinda family and we’re always keen to share their impressions of our wonderful school (please view images below).

Week one reflections by Year 7 students

Last week we welcomed 14 classes of Year 7 students to Corinda State High School. We were so impressed with how confidently this cohort moved around the multistorey Year 7 space, with most having clearly benefited from having attended Orientation Day last year.

Along with making friends including the cuddly variety down on the Farm, the students met their teachers, were given their all-important Student Planners and YONDR pouches and were introduced to their Home Group. The Home Group structure is a unique feature at Corinda. While students belong to a common sporting House, Home Groups are made up of students from Years 7 – 12. This structure fosters a supportive and fun culture across the entire student body.

School News

2022 Deans of Students

At Corinda, the Dean of Students play a significant role in supporting students through secondary school. They are an integral part of Corinda’s Wellbeing Model, the PERMAH Platform (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment, and Health), who provide consistent support across student leadership, behaviour management, whole school Positive Education initiatives and year level events.

The Deans are the main point of contact for students and families enquiring about academic studies, social and emotional wellbeing and behaviour expectations. Each Dean is ready to help students enjoy every aspect of their schooling and support them in making positive and constructive decisions. The Deans are complimented by Housemasters who will continue to build House spirit and event participation.

Dean of Students

Year 7 & 10 – Brian Shoesmith - bjsho0@eq.edu.au
Year 8 & 11 – Katherine Laurence - klaur27@eq.edu.au
Year 9 & 12 – Caitlin Brown - cbrow585@eq.edu.au

Looking for another staff member’s email? View our staff contact list here .

Six Houses, One Family

Welcome back to all students from the 2022 Housemasters! For new students, our energetic Housemasters are active members of staff who promote House culture, pastoral care and lead Positive Education initiatives in Home Group settings throughout the year.

Housemasters are based in their individual department staff rooms and can be contacted via the email addresses below:

P&C Annual General Meeting

Our P&C AGM will be held on Wednesday 30 March at 7:00 pm in A block. We invite you to join us to appoint our new Executive Committee and hear an update from both the P&C and the School.

At the AGM, all positions will be vacated and declared vacant and we are calling for nominations for life membership. We will be seeking nominations for the following positions:

President: Convenes and runs all meetings, oversees the Executive team and ensures P&C guidelines are followed and enacted. Works with the Principal to ensure the P&C is aligned with the school’s priorities and supports the activities of the school. The President is also a member of the Corinda State High School Council and is required to attend these meetings on behalf of the P&C Association.

Vice President(s): Supports the President and steps into the President role if the they are absent. Work as part of the Executive team to achieve the P&C Association’s goals and activities.

Secretary: Maintains all records of the Association, record and distributes all minutes of meetings. Collate and presents correspondence. Maintain register of members, life members and official documents. Communicates on behalf of the P&C Association working closely with the Executive team.

Treasurer: Responsible for ensuring the Association’s financial management adheres to the P&C Accounting manual. This role has been significantly reduced as both the school Tuckshop and Uniform Shop is outsourced. An Accountant assists the Treasurer in completing BAS statements and producing financial reports for meetings, preparing books for the Auditor. The Treasurer is responsible for working closely with the Executive team, and reporting the Association’s financial position at each meeting. They are required to prepare and submit the books for auditing prior to the AGM.

If you are interested in nominating for one of these positions please complete the nomination form.

To nominate to be a member, you are not required to be in attendance at the AGM. This is the only meeting where membership can be approved without being present. To register your membership please complete the nomination form. We hope that you can join us and we welcome new parents to come along and bring ideas and suggestions for how we can engage on a more social level with our parent/carer body.

For more information about our active P&C Association, please visit the link below.

Join the Corinda Family

Would you like to part of a team of dedicated staff who provide the best possible opportunities for the students of Corinda State High School? We are currently seeking a Teacher Aide and an Administration Officer to join our amazing school community. Click APPLY in the job ads linked below.

• Administration Officer https://smartjobs.qld.gov.au/jobs/QLD-MER405597-22T
• Teacher Aide https://smartjobs.qld.gov.au/jobs/QLD-MER405596-22T

Uniform Matters

As you are aware, The School Locker has had supplier issues and are out of stock for some items of the school uniform. While there is still a very high expectation that students are presentable and that jewellery and mobile phone rules are followed, the temporary guidelines outlined below have been established while we wait for stock to return to the shelves.

• Students are asked to wear their full formal uniform to school if possible
• Students are permitted to wear their sports uniform to school (if they do not have the full formal uniform available)
• Students who do not have either full formal uniform OR sports uniform are asked to wear items as close to the school uniform as possible until they are able to source a full school uniform. For example, student has a junior shirt but no grey shorts should be wearing school shirt with an alternative pair of shorts (preferably black or grey). Student has sports shorts but no school sports polo should be wearing school shorts with a plain polo (preferably green or yellow if possible).
• Students are expected to wear their school hat and bring their school bag to school if they have these items available (alternate hat allowed)
• Parents have been asked to send a note with their student outlining incorrect items that they may be wearing.

We thank you for your continued patience and understanding during these unpredictable times. We strongly recommend that you contact The School Locker for the latest stock updates.

The School Locker Oxley Superstore
The Zone Oxley
2118 Ipswich Road
Oxley QLD 4075
Phone: (07) 3725 2500
Email: oxley@theschoollocker.com.au

Online Ordering:

Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 8.30 am - 5.00 pm (please check website for weekend hours)

COVID Communications from Corinda

The health, safety and wellbeing of students, families, and staff of Corinda State High School continues to be our key focus.

We are continuing to liaise closely with the Department of Education in relation to the latest developments and will act immediately on their advice. The State Government’s Back to School Plan, which outlines the current and additional COVID safe measures to protect school communities, has been in place at Corinda State High School since 7 February and will remain until 4 March.

Along with mandatory face masks, one of the key features of the Plan is the availability of Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) for students and staff who develop symptoms while on site.

Staff or parents will receive the unsealed box which includes five self-tests. Testing must be carried out at home and are not to be administered on campus or by school staff. Full instructions regarding RAT tests are provided in each box. Please read instructions carefully.

Please note, if a student becomes symptomatic at school:

• The student will be immediately isolated in Sick Bay
• Sick Bay staff will contact parents/carers to collect student
• When collected, parent or carer will receive a RAT to administer at home
• If result is negative and student is well, they can return to school
• If test is positive, they will need to report the test result to QLD Health and follow QLD Health quarantine and isolation requirements.

When a positive case is confirmed, we will send a letter home to families of casual contacts. We will also notify year level of students, and relevant Home Groups and teachers.

Thank you for working with us in order to keep our school community safe.

TOP TIP: Did you get our email? Sometimes school emails end up in Junk folders. To avoid this happening, add us to your Safe Senders/Whitelist.

After school tutoring returns to Corinda

After school tutoring commenced this week at Corinda. Sessions are FREE and based on student’s subject needs. Held Monday to Thursday from 2:50 pm – 4:00 pm, tutoring takes place in the Non-Fiction Area, in the Research and Innovation Centre (RIC).

Face masks required on public transport

Does your student travel to school by public transport? All children aged 12 and over must wear a face mask when travelling on public transport, including on dedicated school bus services. In addition to wearing a face mask, students are reminded to leave a gap between themselves and others and show respect to TransLink staff and fellow customers.

New year, new location for Student Services

Our Student Services are now located in the Research and Innovation Centre (RIC). This incorporates late arrivals to school, early departures from school, uniform slips and all other general student services. Our Payments Office remains located behind school reception and is open from 7:30 am – 1:30 pm every school day.

Keeping all students safe during school drop off and pick up

To help minimise risk and to ensure a steady flow of traffic before and after school, could all parents, carers and drivers of students familiarise themselves with the drop off and pick up etiquette below.

• Please be respectful and mindful of our neighbours
• Please be aware of the Brisbane City Council parking restrictions at the front of the school as they actively patrol these areas
• During peak times, particularly around the end of the school day, congestion problems are experienced. Please be considerate of all drivers and the large number of students exiting the school as pedestrians
• Please refrain from parking in bus zones or blocking driveways when dropping or collecting your student.

Creating change with chilled water

Students are taking advantage of several new chilled water stations that were installed at the RIC over the summer break. We’ve already seen hundreds of bottles refilled; boosting water consumption among students and keeping thousands of bottles out of landfill.

Community News

Offer to girls to play football at Taringa Rovers

Registrations are now open to join the Taringa Rovers U14/15 Girls Division 1. See information below.

Souths Junior Girls sign on

Souths Rugby League are looking for their next Junior Girls superstar. See details below.

New dance club opens in Moorooka

BJP Physie Dance Club opened in Moorooka this month, offering classes for girls aged three up to ladies. See information below.

Centenary Netball needs you

Registrations are now open to join the Centenary Netball Club. See information below.

Choose how to add this event to your calendar:

Apple Calendar iPhone, iPad, Mac - Download .ics file

Outlook Desktop Outlook - Download .ics file

Android Calendar Android devices - Download .ics file

Other Calendar Google Calendar, Yahoo, etc. - Download .ics file

Download Event