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Successful students are not only those who measure well on academic testing, qualify for representative sporting teams, or perform well at Eisteddfods and competitions.
In my mind, successful students are also those who live by and demonstrate values of kindness, inclusivity, respect and selflessness.
At Foxwell State Secondary College we reinforce our strong belief in integrity and explain to students that they need to do the right thing whether someone is watching or not.
We don’t believe that students waiting for the external control of adults will allow them to develop into the types of adults our community and world needs.
Our Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students outlines our SPIRIT values and our clear expectations around behaviour in all settings within our school, and also those that are external to our school, which negatively impact on our students.
We teach and embed this in our lessons and our interactions around the school on a daily basis. We are aware that a small number of students are not living by our SPIRIT values and our expectations and we continue to address these behaviours immediately and involve students and parents in the way forward.
I encourage all parents/carers to take time to reinforce these values and expectations at home so that at school ALL children can feel safe, supported and able to learn without interruption in our school environment.
Whilst we address negative comments, harassment and bullying as soon as we become aware here at Foxwell, we need the support of our community to truly make a difference to this significant issue facing society.
Too often we refer to these insults and negative comments as ‘banter’ when we hear them in our home or parks, but this is not acceptable.
It becomes too difficult for young people to distinguish between what is ok to say at home to their brother and sister, compared to what then is deemed harassment and bullying at school.
The same goes for rough play at home which can be seen as physical assault at school, or swearing or using offensive language at home which is then unacceptable at school.
Let’s work together to address this, as too often I hear from students and parents, that the behaviour they are being suspended for at school is what is ‘normal’ for them at home.
Professor Barbara Spear, an Australian, University bullying expert, states that “Our community attitudes toward aggression and bullying and what we model to children and young people really do matter.”
“We need to recognise the links between bullying, wellbeing and mental health, and appreciate that bullying is physically harmful, socially isolating and psychologically damaging for all involved, including bystanders.
“All of us have a role to play in reducing bullying, harassment, aggression and violence in the community, which will be reflected in how our students behave in schools in the future.”
By no means are we shying away from our responsibility to address harassment, bullying and violence when it occurs in our school. We believe we can make more of a difference to the future of our school and broader community if we all work together.
Until next week
Kym Amor
Out of Uniform
Over the last few weeks we have communicated our high expectations of uniform and appearance at Foxwell State Secondary College, both to students and families. Thank you to those families who ensure that their child presents to school, each day, in the correct uniform. We are so happy to see our students wearing our beautiful uniform with pride.
We do understand, that at times, due to extenuating circumstances, students may be out of uniform. Out of uniform could include, but not limited to, incorrect shoes, sports uniform on a formal uniform day or vice versa, incorrect shirt, shorts, or no hat.
However, we expect any student who is out of uniform to follow the process outlined:
- Before school, student presents to Student Services with a note of explanation from a parent/guardian. Students will be provided with a uniform variation slip. Students will be required to carry this with them and show any staff member who asks during the course of the day.
- Students presenting to Students Services in incorrect uniform and without a note from a parent/guardian, will be asked to call home to arrange to have the correct uniform item brought to school. Should this not be possible, arrangements will be mad, in consultation with the parent/guardian.
- A record will be kept of students who are out of uniform. This record will be regularly reviewed by a Deputy Principal and parents will be contacted to discuss ongoing concerns and to offer support arrangements, as required.
No student should be out of uniform without a variation slip when they attend their first lesson of the day. Teachers will continue to check uniform throughout the day and any student out of uniform and without a variation slip will be directed to Student Services and parents may be contacted.
It is important that students follow these processes and maintain our culture of high expectations and take pride in their appearance and our College. We would appreciate your support by continuing to ensure your child arrives at school with the correct uniform each day, including their hat.
Absences
It is our policy that any absence from school be accounted for. Parents/guardians can notify the school via the absentee line. Please call 07 5555 3333, press 1 and leave a message explaining the absence. Please ensure you clearly state your child’s name. This option is available 24/7. It is preferable that the notification of absence occurs as close to the start of the school day as possible.
If we cannot confirm a parent is aware of a student’s absence, a text message will be sent at 9.30am each morning, informing the parent/guardian that their child is absent from school. We ask that parents/guardians reply to this text by midday, confirming the reason for their child’s absence. If no response is received by midday, a further contact will be made to confirm that the child is safe at home, with the knowledge and permission of a parent/guardian. It is important that this process is strictly followed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all of our students.
Late to School
School begins at 8.50am, students arriving after 9am are considered late and are to report to directly to Student Services to be issued with a late pass. Students are required to provide a note of explanation for their lateness from a parent/guardian. Parents of students arriving late, without a note, will be notified of the lateness to ensure they are aware. A record will be kept of students who are late. This record will be regularly reviewed by a Deputy Principal and parents will be contacted to discuss ongoing concerns and to see if any support arrangements are required.
Early Departure
Students who require to leave school early, due to extenuating circumstances, are to present to Student Services before school with an explanatory note from a parent/guardian. Students will be issued with an early leave pass which they will then show their teacher at the beginning of the lesson they will be leaving from. Students will leave class at the agreed time and proceed to Students Services to sign out and to meet with the parent/guardian collecting them.
All students are expected to have their iPad at school and charged, with enough space to save classwork and install apps and books for educational and classroom purposes.
It is the responsibility of each individual student to ensure that their device is ready for learning during class time, across the span of the entire day. In order to support this, we ask parents' and carers' assistance in reminding students to:
Charge their device each night, ready for the following day.
- Ideally, this will occur in a central location where the device will not disrupt sleep.
Ensure their device has enough storage.
- To do this, students may need to monitor the number of non-educational applications that are downloaded.
- This can be checked in Settings / General / iPad Storage
Check on arrival each day that their device is connecting to the school’s network.
- Students can do this easily by checking that their iPad will log in to SeeSaw, or SharePoint. If it can’t, then the device is not connected to the school’s network.
- Students who cannot connect to the network, or who need assistance with the iPad are asked to seek assistance at Student Services outside of class time.
- On most occasions, a device will not connect to the school’s network if the password being entered is incorrect, or forgotten. Password resets are quick and easy via Student Services.
Recent statistics from the Gonski Institute for Education and The University of New South Wales indicates that 78% of teachers believe a students’ ability to focus on educational tasks has decreased due to the distractions of social media and gaming. A number of strategies are put in place each and every day by teachers to optimise student engagement with learning, while using iPads. This includes the use of Apple Classroom as well as visual cues and prompts for guiding and managing learning. Further information about Apple Classroom is available at:
Parents and Carers can assist with improving their child's engagement in learning with devices by setting up Parental Controls to limit, and in some instances restrict, the use of particular applications during school time. The following video outlines how to set up Parental Controls.
We ask your assistance with restricting the use of the following applications to outside of school hours. You can do this by restricting the hours of use in Parental Controls.
- Apple Messages
- Apple FaceTime
- Social media including: TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Omegle
- Messaging apps including: Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
- Video streaming including: Youtube, Netflix and Stan
- Games including any that you believe may distract your child from learning
This will ensure that your student is best placed to engage in learning while in attendance on campus, and to limit their use of social media platforms while outside of parent and carer supervision.
We are aware that a number of families use Apple Messages and FaceTime to communicate with their child throughout the school day. We would like to remind families that a student phone is available for use by all student’s at Student Services. Should you require to contact your child urgently throughout the school day, we ask that you contact Administration by phone on (07) 5555 3333. Contacting students by Apple Messages and FaceTime throughout the school day provides a distration to student engagement in learning, and places student's in breach of their responsibiilties outlined in our Responsible Use of IT Agreement.
The Learning Hub continues to be a hive of activity during lunch time and What I Need (WIN) Time. The energy of our learners and the commitment of our teachers means that students are accessing helpful support and quality resources when engaging in activities for both leisure and learning. During their lunch break, students can access games and boardgames, Lego, puzzles, books, a space for quiet study and other interactive resources, while WIN Time is dedicated to academic support.
During WIN Time, from 8.00am to 8.35am and 3.00pm to 4.00pm daily, students can work on assessment, homework tasks and passion projects with teachers, teacher aides and their peers one-on-one or in small groups. Our teachers and teacher aides offer this opportunity to ensure students can be given the help they need by those who have a working knowledge of the student’s learning experiences in class. This service is invaluable and provides students with access to additional opportunities for what they need to improve their learning in a safe and supportive environment.
Are you, or do you know someone considering Foxwell State Secondary College for their Year 7 student in 2021?
We are pleased to announce that enrolments for 2021 are open.
We will be hosting a number of Principal Tours and Information Sessions for 2021 prospective families.
- For those families in catchment and who have submitted a completed enrolment application, we have started booking enrolment interviews. A personal tour of the school will be conducted at the conclusion of each interview.
- Those families seeking further information about our College and Excellence Programs can book a Principal Tour and Information Session by phoning the school on (07) 5555 3333.
To compliment these sessions, we have released an Information Video for Enrolling Families. This video can be viewed on our website or you can watch by clicking on this video:
A reminder that an enrolment application needs to be submitted for siblings of current Foxwell State Secondary College students.
For further information about Enrolment, Excellence Programs of our Enrolment Management Plan, please visit
Greetings from Foxwell State Secondary College P&C Commitee.
It’s so great to see students returning through the gates after what has been a difficult time in many students', families' and teachers' lives. It certainly is unprecedented times.
We sincerely thank all of our teachers, students and the community for their efforts, no matter how big or small, in keeping our students and each other safe whilst still maintaining the continuity of learning that has helped us to at least keep our children focused on learning.
The Foxwell SSC P&C team and the students produced a video in the first week of school to say Thank You to teachers, parents and caregivers which we hope everyone has been able to watch.
As a P&C we have been very restricted during these times, but we are looking forward to being able to support our students and community as soon as we are able and bring some fun and exciting opportunities into our school and community.
Recently, the Foxwell P&C have joined with Containers For Change and the school is now registered for the 10c refund on all eligible cans and bottles. Please consider collecting your cans and bottles and donating on behalf of the school. This is a great way to support your school and help the P&C raise funds that can be used to provide many future opportunities for the students and school community.
The school code is: C10256140.
The closest collection point is at 19 Kohl St, Upper Coomera and is open Mon-Fri 8am to 4pm, Sat 9am to 4pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.
It is a very easy non contact deposit where you simply tag your bag with the school code and drop it into one of the green recycle bins.
Our P&C General meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of each month during the school terms. Our next meeting will be held on the 14th July 2020 via the Zoom online platform. If you would like to consider joining the P&C, please do not hesitate to log online and see what we are all about.
It is very casual and we are a fun bunch who want only the best for our students and school. If you would like more details about our P&C please do not hesitate to contact us via our email: PandC@foxwellssc.eq.edu.au
Regards,
Michelle Digby
President
Foxwell P&C
The eSafety Commissioner regularly releases Webinars exploring topics that assist parents and carers to assist their child to develop the skills to be responsible and safe online.
All sessions are delivered by eSafety expert educators.
The following upcoming webinar is available for parent and carer registration:
eSafety Parent Guide to Online Gaming
- Monday 22 June 7.30 – 8.30pm
- Thursday 25 June 7.30 – 8.30pm
The webinar will cover:
- The benefits of gaming and how to mitigate risks
- Strategies to manage gaming and overuse
- Where to find help and support.
For further information and registration please go to
As you may be aware, Season 4 of the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why will be released soon.
13 Reasons Why is rated MA15+ and Foxwell State Secondary College does not support the viewing of this series, by our students, in any way.
13 Reasons Why is a fictional drama series which tackles real-life issues experienced by young people, including sexual assualt, homophobia, child abuse, suicide, termination of pregnancy and more.
Here is a link to a decision tree, should you wish to consider whether your child is to watch the show.
https://au.reachout.com/articles/the-latest-hot-new-series-to-watch-or-not
If your child should access this series this parent link may be helpful in responding to the content in Season 4.
https://headspace.org.au/assets/Uploads/13RW-S4/headspace-13-reasons-why-season-4-Adults.pdf
Parents and Carers,
Head lice have been detected in the school.
It is extremely important for you to check your child’s head for head lice.
If you do find head lice, commence treatment immediately and be sure to complete the process of treatment. This will help prevent head lice from spreading.
Remember to keep checking your family member’s heads every 2 days until there are no head lice found for 10 consecutive days.
For further information regarding treating head lice, refer to the Department of Health’s factsheet attached to this article.
Your local pharmacist can provide advice regarding head lice treatment options and head lice combs.
To reduce your child’s risk of getting head lice, make sure that long hair is tied up and discourage children from sharing their brushes and combs and having head to head contact with others.
Remember - Anyone can get head lice – they have no preferences for cleanliness, hair colour, hair type, ethnicity or age.
If for any reason you are having difficulties treating the head lice on your child effectively, please contact the school on telephone on 07 5555 3333.