Dear Parents and Guardians,   

Welcome to Week 5 and what a wonderful Term it has been so far celebrating Naidoc Week, Catholic Education Week and our annual School Dance. It was so wonderful to see all the students smiling and enjoying their dance productions that they have been working on and practising over the last term.

Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs)  

Over the next few weeks the teachers will be in the process of writing Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs). Personalised learning is a process that supports a wide range of students with additional learning and support needs. This includes students who may require support in one or more of the following areas: learning (including high potential learners), behaviour, social/emotional, cultural/language (including international students, boarders and learners of English as an Additional Language or Dialect) and those who have educational support needs arising from disability.  

Teachers, with the support of the Leader of Diversity, and in consultation with parents, collaboratively decide which adjustments and/or goals are to be targeted and determine appropriate strategies and supports to be implemented. It is the teacher’s responsibility to implement these planned strategies in order to support students to meet their goals.  

Teachers will direct School Officer support and plan for adjustments on a weekly basis. Teachers communicate weekly with School Officers regarding student progress and make adjustments as needed.  

Evidence is collected regularly and uploaded to ENGAGE. PLP meetings are set 6 monthly and will determine if current goals have been achieved before setting further goals. The teachers will meet with Parents of PLP students in Week 9/10 of this Term. 

Visitors 

This Term we farewelled Ms Heather Alison - our School Counsellor. Heather has done an amazing job over the last 18 months, and we cannot Thank her enough for all the time and support she gave the students, teachers and parents over that time. Best wishes on your new adventure Ms Heather. The position for a new School Counsellor has now been advertised.

In Week 4 we have Lorraine Carroll - Speech Language Pathologist from Cairns Catholic Education visiting and in Week 5 we have Zinna Aylward – Occupational Therapist from Catholic Education for a few days and supporting teachers and students. 

SEL Wellbeing Survey  

The children at St, Joesph’s Parish School Weipa have been invited to take part in a survey about student wellbeing and mental health from the between 29/07/2024 and Friday 16/08/2024. The survey will be completed online during school hours and contains between 25-57 questions (depending on the age of your child) and will take 15 - 20 minutes to complete. 

This annual survey is being issued to all students in the Diocese of Cairns by the Student Wellbeing and Diversity directorate of Catholic Education Services. The survey aims to gather student opinions about aspects of the school that relate to supporting student wellbeing and mental health.  

What is the purpose of the survey? The survey will provide schools with student opinions on what the school is doing well and what they can improve to better promote and support student wellbeing and mental health. Long term this survey may be used to track student wellbeing and mental health over a period of time. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to make contact with myself at a convenient time that suits. My email address is  mturner@cns.catholic.edu.au  

Kind regards,  

Melanie Turner.