WELCOME BACK!

After a long break over Christmas and New Year, the staff are excited about the beginning of the 2006 school year (although not as excited as many parents, I would think). As the school year rapidly approaches, please note the following upcoming events:

� January 23rd is the first day of school for all students. This day is NOT a student free day.

� January 26 is Australia Day holiday

� January 27 is an open afternoon at the Eastern campus to allow all parents or interested community members to come and view the new facilities. The official opening will not be for some time yet but this will give all interested community members the opportunity to see the new state of the art classrooms. This afternoon begins at 1.45pm and concludes at 2.55pm. If you are going to attend this event, please come to the Eastern campus office at 1.45pm and we will direct you to the relevant areas.

This year we welcome a number of new staff to the school. We have a number of new staff on board and know that you will join with me in welcoming them to our school. The new members of our Weipa team are:

Mr John Weidon (Year 6)

Ms Emma Wesner-Smith (Year 3)

Mr Rodney Wawrzniak (HPE)

Ms Kathy Street (Behaviour Management)

Ms Renee Fowler (Science)

Mr Steve Smith (Marine Studies)

Ms Nikki Schell (Special Needs)

Ms Heidi Hayes (Special Needs)

Mr Craig Hoy (Art)

Ms Diane Hoy (Primary)

Ms Natasha Sankey-Laidlaw (Guidance � secondary)

Ms Corrine Newman (Year 2)

Ms Simone Daniels (Japanese)

Ms Chantelle Heffernan (English)

Ms Crystal Donnelly (Drama)

We trust that your stay is enjoyable and that your students are motivated and challenged by your teaching. We also welcome Mr Ian Mackie as our new director and Mr Andrew Brandon as our new Head of Senior Schooling.

To any new students, we welcome you to the Weipa campus and extend the challenge to rise to the tests you are given at this school. To any parents of new students, please come to the office on Monday morning so that the appropriate enrolment documents and procedures can be completed. Staff will be involved in in-service on Friday so may not be available for an interview at this time.

At the end of the 2005 school year we informed you of changes to the timetable for this year. I have republished this timetable so that you are aware of class times.

Class allocations have been made and students assigned to classes. Please contact the school should you have concerns in this regard.

Tuckshop will run on an order system in 2006. Any students ordering lunch from tuckshop need to order in the morning so that meals can be delivered to the correct part of the school. Year 7-12 students will need to order their meals as well, but will collect their orders from the western campus at break time.

Our main focus this year is unashamedly to critique and trial best practice for classes. As a school, we encourage you to be part of this process by being actively involved in partnership with the school.

Tony Whybird

Head of Weipa Campus