Issue 7 Friday 16 May 2025
Principal Mark Winrow
There was plenty of excitement last week when we welcomed the Premier of Queensland and the Minister for Education and the Arts to launch the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Both visitors (and their entourage) were full of praise for the beauty of our school, the respect and enthusiasm shown by our students and the professionalism of our staff. Our School Captains were afforded the rare opportunity to attend the Premier’s press conference, responding to the day’s most pressing issues. It was a true privilege to have such esteemed guests and to see our school highlighted across social media.
Communicating With the School
The Department of Education has just released a set of guidelines to support schools and parents to maintain open and respectful communication. I have included the guidelines in the newsletter for your reference.
Grounds Update
I am incredibly pleased and relieved to share that our grounds have been declared safe for use again. I thank the community (especially students and staff) for their patience while the issue was resolved to ensure safety. Unfortunately, the cabin fever has yet to be relieved while we battle the ongoing wet weather.
I will now be working closely with stakeholders to find a solution for the ongoing water drainage issues. This will require the collaboration of a number of stakeholders so it may take time, but something I will continue to work towards.
Deputy Principal Kerry-Ann Reese
Positive Behaviour for Learning
As part of our school improvement agenda for this year, we are engaging in a regeneration process of our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) framework.
PBL uses a prevention logic to anticipate potential problems and put proactive supports in place to increase the likelihood of student success.
As part of our PBL regeneration process, it is important that we review our Tier 1 universals and how we respond to inappropriate minor behaviour.
Research tells us that consistency plays a paramount role in managing student behaviour effectively. By upholding consistent expectations, consequences, and responses to behaviour, the Carbrook community can establish a predictable and fair environment for students to thrive.
Consistency reinforces the message that positive behaviour is valued and rewarded, while negative behaviour has clear consequences. When behavioural expectations and routines are consistently applied, students develop a sense of security and trust in the learning environment, enabling them to better understand and internalise expected behaviours.
Consistency fosters a shared understanding among teachers, staff, and students, promoting a unified approach to managing behaviour and reinforcing the positive values upheld by the school community. By emphasising consistency in dealing with student behaviour, we can create a stable foundation for academic and personal growth, nurturing students' social-emotional development and lifelong skills.
This term, our staff have been working collaboratively to design consistent, whole-school routines that clearly outline behaviour expectations across all settings – classroom and non-classroom. These routines aim to provide clarity for students and support a positive and predictable learning environment for all.
We appreciate your continued support in reinforcing these expectations at home and within our community. Working together helps ensure that all students feel safe, respected, and ready to learn.
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Last week we were honoured to welcome Queensland Premier David Frank Crisafulli and Minister for Education John-Paul Langbroek to officially launch the 2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge right here at Carbrook State School!
Our wonderful Teacher Aide Mrs Julie Ariel, who looks after our school library, creates a space that is both welcoming and engaging for our students. Her keen eye for detail makes our library such a wonderful space to be. Thank you Mrs Ariel for all your hard work and effort in making our library a special place within our school.
Both leaders engaged with our amazing 1A class and read a story to the students. 1A were an exceptional audience, demonstrating outstanding manners and engagement. We were super proud of them showcasing our 4BE’s - being safe, responsible, respectful and learners.
We also had five lucky students take part in promotional filming for next year’s challenge — what a fantastic opportunity!
We’re excited to see many Carbrook kids getting involved in the 2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge and embracing the love of reading.
The Reading Challenge is not a competition but a way to encourage students to develop a love of reading for life. Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability and enjoy reading these during the challenge period. We will also read in class, in the library and during special events during this period.
To complete the challenge:
- Prep to Year 2 must read or experience at least 20 books
- Years 3 and 4 must read at least 20 books
- Years 5 to 9 must read at least 15 books.
Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2025 challenge is to encourage students to make time to read. Last year saw more than 216,000 children from around the state participate.
Book suggestions are available on the PRC website:
https://prc.median.com.au/BookList
Every student who completes the challenge, will receive a Certificate of Achievement. I look forward to seeing all our students take part in the 2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge!
Our wonderful classroom teachers, specialist teachers, inclusion teachers and teacher aides at Carbrook will facilitate this process in our classrooms and learning spaces across our school during the reading challenge period.
Life Education Program
The Life Education Team will be visiting Carbrook State School in
Week 10 of this term from 23 to 27 June.
WHAT IS LIFE EDUCATION?
Life Education is a mobile learning centre that focuses on delivering preventative health education for young people. Life Education delivers a program to children, providing them with information, understanding, skills and strategies that they require to make safe decisions about their own health and well-being. Children will participate in an engaging lesson on the following topics delivered by the expert teaching team from Life Education:
Prep: Friendships, feelings and body clues;
Year 1: Being your social, emotional and physical best
Year 2: Nurturing ourselves and our friendships
Year 3: Discovering a healthy active you
Year 4: Digital literacy and staying safe
Year 5: Respectful relationships and wellbeing
Year 6: Supporting you to make informed and safe decisions
The cost of the incursion is $13.
If you wish for your child to participate in this learning opportunity, we require parent permission. An online consent form has been sent home to all families. For those parents who are already on QParents, the online consent form can be completed electronically. As per instructions provided, we ask all other families to register for QParents, so you can also complete the form electronically. If you are unable to access QParents, please see Carbrook Office staff to complete the permission form in person. Please complete the online consent form through Qparents no later than 18 June 2025.
We look forward to providing your child with this learning opportunity and welcoming the Life Education program to our school.
Positive Behaviour Learning (PBL)
iHUB News
Community Resource Unit – free parent workshops, webinar and resources – Term 2, 2025
Please find below information about some parent self-advocacy events which are coming up through the Department’s partnership with the Community Resource Unit (CRU).
Workshops
Families can apply to CRU for funding to assist their travel and accommodation where workshops are not being held close to home for them.
These workshops are also outlined on the attached flyer:
If you have any questions about these events, please feel free to contact the consultants at CRU directly, by phone on (07) 3844 2211 or by email at EducationProject@cru.org.au
Library News
After the excitement of the Premier’s Reading Challenge launch, the library has once again been transformed in preparation of the annual National Simultaneous Storytime.
Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country.
This year Carbrook’s students will join in the hall to watch a live reading of The Truck Cat, on May 21st at 12pm and to celebrate, a B-double tri-axle truck has rolled on into our library. To conclude this colourful and vibrant event, students will then participate in some fun The Truck Cat themed activities in their classroom.
The Truck Cat written by Deborah Frenkel with illustrations by Danny Snell is a heart-warming story about cats and humans, immigration and identity, and homes lost and found.
Some cats are house cats. Some are apartment cats.
But Tinka is a truck cat. Tinka lives everywhere.
Along with his human, Yacoub, Tinka travels roads wide and narrow, near and distant. But no matter how much they travel, home feels very far away – for both of them.
The Truck Cat is a stunning book that will inspire kindness and compassion in young children which makes it the perfect story to fit in with our current PBL focus of Being Responsible by using positive language and words.
This live stream event is open to all. Register for free at: www.alia.informz.net/ALIA/pages/NSS2025_Register
Cross Country
Community News
SHAILER PARK HIGH SCHOOL
To secure a position in one of our 2025 academies,
enrolment packs must be completed and
submitted by the end of next week!
VICTORIA POINT STATE HIGH SCHOOL
COMMUNITY CELEBRATIONS
📅 Date: Saturday, 31 May 2025
🕑 Time: 2:00pm – 6:30pm
📍 Location: Raby Bay Harbour Park, Cleveland
🎟️ Entry: Free for all – everyone is welcome!
🔗 Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/share/15FjJqdTVK/
About the Event
This family-friendly afternoon will be full of fun, connection, and celebration of our local volunteers. The event will feature:
🎶 A live performance by award-winning children’s entertainers, The Mini Moshers
🎩 An exciting magic and variety show by the fantastic Johnny the Jester, Ongoing live entertainment for all ages,
🎤 Live music, food trucks, community stalls, and interactive activities for all ages
🌟 Plus, the day will end with a spectacular laser light show at sundown!
