Firstly, as the Head of Student Success for Years 7 to 9, I would like to congratulate all Foxwell students on an incredible start to 2022. We have already faced COVID delays and are now seeing horrific flooding throughout the state. Our students' resilience during this period is to be commended. Even this week, the willingness to jump into learning on Wednesday and Thursday despite the disruption to our routine has been awesome and something we know will continue when we return to some kind of normality (if that exists anymore!). Please know that if you have family or friends heavily affected by any of the recent events, and/or you feel your student may need additional support over the coming weeks, our team of Heads of Year are just an email or phone call away.

Attendance

One of our 2022 strategies to help our students take ownership of their learning is to know and understand their attendance percentage. For all students, 95% attendance is the goal, which, as students calculated in Week 1, is 9 days absence across the full school year. Please be assured that if your student is absent due to a government direction, such as the school’s closed, the student has tested positive to COVID or is required to isolate as a close contact, or any other directive, then these do not contribute to the year’s absences (as long as we are notified of the reason). Each week (on a Tuesday), students will receive their year-to-date attendance percentage and will reflect on and create goals around their current and future attendance. We encourage you to continue this important conversation at home if you are concerned that your child's attendance is an issue or tracking below 95%.

Please continue to make contact regarding student absences by contacting the school absence line, and by providing a medical certificate where possible when there has been illness. If there are barriers to your child attending school where you require support, please make contact with the relevant Head of Year or myself as soon as possible so we can implement the most effective strategies.

Extra-Curricular Activities

This year, our program of extra-curricular activities will look slightly different in its design and implementation. Extra-curricular activities will require an official sign up or trial, depending on the nature of the activity, will often result in the students representing Foxwell in some type of competition, may have a cost associated with participating in the activity, and will have a regular attendance roll taken. A commitment to an extra-curricular activity is not just for a week or two, but for the duration of the activity. As part of enrolment at Foxwell, it is also an expectation that all students will take part in at least one extra-curricular activity so please encourage your students to engage with this program. Student involved in any of our Excellence Programs will also be expected to engage in activities as part of their overall experience in their program.

Different to this program will be our full range of lunchtime activities, which will roll out in the coming weeks. Students may opt in and out of these activities as they please. Your student may have let you know that extra-curricular sign ups took place in a whole school event last week; however, do not be concerned if your student was absent. As soon as Microsoft Forms is up and running, students will be able to select their extra-curricular activities for all of 2022 via a Forms survey, so nobody will miss out. Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks!

Leadership

Our 2022 Student Leadership nomination process is underway. Thank you to the students who have engaged with the process and have submitted their applications. School leader applications are under review and successful applicants will be notified shortly.

Our ambassador positions for Year 8 will reopen from Monday (those who have applied already, do not need to reapply – their application remains valid) and this message will be delivered in person to all year 8 students as well as through Student Sharepoint. For Year 9 students, House Captain applications will also run through a separate process once the College Leader and Ambassador positions have been filled. Again, more information on this will be distributed through Student Sharepoint and upcoming newsletters.

Please continue to read the articles below, thanks to my incredible SWEL Team! (Note: everyone maintains a whole school portfolio, not just managing their own year level, so please read through all of their articles for whole school updates) 

Elle Bullock – Head of Student Success

Head of Year 7 - Collette Wilson

I would like to introduce myself as the Head of Students for our Year 7 cohort.

What a start to high school for our Year 7 students! It has been my absolute pleasure to observe them in their classes and the playground over the last few weeks. Their growth in confidence has been amazing to witness as have the relationships they have built with their peers and the staff at our college.  They have taken a very unusual start to the school year in their stride and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

As part of my portfolio, I also oversee the whole school roll marking program.  Heading up this program has given me the opportunity to work closely with our school support staff such as our School-based Youth Health Nurse and our Chaplain to create mini lessons for our students.  These lessons are conducted at the start of each day and are an important aspect of all students' social and emotional wellbeing learning at Foxwell while also introducing students to the support staff available to them on campus.  We also are using this time to look at student’s attendance data, mindfulness, wellbeing and goal setting.  The value of this approach in starting conversations between students and teachers regarding their goals and attendance has already become evident in our college. To gain the most benefit, it is important that all students are at school by 8.35am (first bell) and in class ready for learning by 8.45am, every day.

I look forward to seeing the amazing things that our Year 7s will achieve this year. If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, I can be contacted at cwils138@eq.edu.au

Head of Year 8 – Bryce Berrell

What an incredible start to the 2022 school year! While it hasn’t been as we expected, the Year 8s have handled it in the best possible way. Over the past few weeks, it has been an absolute pleasure getting to know the cohort. I am very impressed with the standard of behaviour and uniform and, more importantly, the work ethic of each and every student in the grade. Keep up the great work and keep on smashing it out!

In addition to leading the Year 8 cohort, I manage two important portfolios for the school – Whole School Events and the Pasifika Student Group.

Throughout this year, we have many exciting events planned with which the whole school can be involved. It all kicks off with Bullying No Way Day on Friday 18^th of March, followed by our Harmony Week celebration starting on Monday 21^st of March. I am excited to be able to take charge of these events, and many more like this, throughout the year.

The Pasifika Student Group is aimed at supporting our Pasifika students and celebrating their rich cultural heritage throughout the school community. My role for this group is to be “go-to-person” for all things Pasifika. The primary goal for this group is to give students a voice and allow them to celebrate their culture in their own special way. The group will meet every Thursday at Lunch to share cultural stories, create a shared understanding, and discuss ways that they wish to embed their culture into our school community. If your child wishes to be a part of this group, please ask them to check students notices daily for important notices. More importantly, I will not be able to run this group without parent and community support. If parents and community groups/organisations wish to support the group, I would appreciate if you could email me, bdber0@eq.edu.au, and let me know how you wish to support our group and the opportunities that you could provide. From this, my goal will be to share this knowledge with our staff and begin to embed more cultural perspectives and practices into our classroom and wider school community.

Head of Year 9 – Holly Arndt

My name is Holly Arndt I am so excited to be the Head of Year 9 this year. This is my second year at Foxwell and my fifth year of teaching. A key part of my role, aside from assisting our Year 9s to navigate their wellbeing and engagement, is to also oversee our positive behaviour and student engagement systems here at Foxwell, including our school SPIRIT values and Spirit Card system. This system rewards students who display our SPIRIT values of Service, Perseverance, Integrity, Respect and Responsibility, Inclusivity and Teamwork both inside and outside of the classroom. When a student displays one or more of these values, any member of staff can sign their Spirit Card to recognise this effort. Any student who completes their Spirit Card by having one entire row or column of their card completely filled in will hand this card into their Head of Year and will receive a prize. To further engagement with this system in 2022, we are in the process of making some slight changes and will communicate these with you and your students soon.

For next week, try out our positive engagement challenge: in those car-ride or dinner table conversations, rather than asking, “How was school?” and hearing back the classic conversation-ender “good”, try “Which SPIRIT value did you demonstrate today?” to see where it leads! If you have any concerns regarding Year 9, you can always get in touch at hfbra0@eq.edu.au