Rosella Park School eNewsletter

News from the Principal

We’ve had a fantastic start to Term 2, and it’s hard to believe we’re already five weeks in! It has been incredibly pleasing to see how quickly our students have settled back into routines following the holidays. The opening weeks of term have been busy, with teachers and teacher aides working diligently to support each student in achieving their individual learning goals.

A heartfelt thank you to all our families for your support last week. Your understanding and cooperation were vital in allowing all staff to participate in new professional learning around the Berry Street Education Model. This four-day training will be instrumental in shaping our whole-school approaches to student engagement over the coming weeks and months. In 2026, we look forward to continuing this professional journey with further training to enhance how Rosella Park School supports all students in a safe and inclusive learning environment.

Looking ahead, our teaching teams will be finalising assessments and beginning moderation processes as we prepare Semester 1 report cards. This is a particularly important and busy time in our school calendar, and we ask for your continued support in ensuring your child attends school every day. Everyday counts—each day presents valuable learning experiences and opportunities for teachers to assess and report on student progress.

I’d also like to extend a sincere thank you to our wonderful P&C for their continued contributions to school life. Recently, they’ve been working hard on:

Coordinating a successful Mother’s Day stall
Planning our major fundraiser—the return of the beloved entertainers behind Bogan Bingo and our popular Trivia Night events
Organising another round of school jacket orders—it’s been fantastic to see so many students proudly wearing them

I’m also very proud to officially announce that Miss Dominique Collucci has been appointed as our permanent Deputy Principal. Miss Dom has provided exceptional leadership and support in the acting role over the past 12 months, and we are excited to continue working with her in this capacity into the future.

At the same time, we extend a warm farewell and congratulations to Miss Shelley Slade, who has been appointed the new permanent Principal of Rockhampton Special School. We thank Shelley for her dedication and significant contributions to Rosella Park School during her time with us and wish her all the very best in her new role.

As the cooler months approach, we typically see an increase in student absences due to illness. We kindly remind families to keep children at home if they are feeling unwell. Staff may also contact families during the day if a student becomes sick or shows signs of illness—your support in responding promptly is greatly appreciated.

As always, please notify the school of any student absences, whether due to illness or planned leave. If your contact details have changed, we ask that you update them with the office to ensure we can maintain clear communication, particularly for attendance notifications and other important information.

Wishing all our families the very best for the remainder of the term. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact the school and arrange a time to meet.

Warm Regards

Geoff Miller

News from the Deputy Principal

Parenting is a rewarding but demanding journey, and for parents of young or disabled children, the challenges can feel especially overwhelming at times. Balancing daily responsibilities while managing your child’s needs, advocating for support, and dealing with emotional and physical exhaustion can take a significant toll. Reaching out for help is not a sign of weakness—it’s a sign of strength. Seeking support enables parents to build resilience, access resources, and feel less alone in their experience.

As a parent myself, I’ve recently experienced setbacks with my own little one’s NDIS journey. The frustration, uncertainty, and emotional weight of navigating those systems is something I deeply understand. I’ve also drawn on Triple P Parenting strategies along the way, and found real value in those simple, practical tools—especially during moments when I felt unsure or stretched thin. Like many of you, I’ve learned that we don’t have to have all the answers, and that leaning on others can make a genuine difference.

In Queensland, there are a range of services and organisations that exist to walk alongside families through both the joyful and difficult moments. From early childhood development programs and disability support services to parent groups and mental health support, help is available. Organisations like Carers Queensland, Parentline, and local community hubs offer practical advice, counselling, connection, and advocacy. These services can make a meaningful difference in the wellbeing of both the parent and the child.

Building a network of support can also improve family outcomes in the long term. When parents feel supported, they are better equipped to support their children—emotionally, socially, and developmentally. Connecting with others who understand your journey fosters a sense of community and reduces isolation, making it easier to navigate the challenges that come with raising a young or disabled child.

For parents in the Gladstone region, Strong Communities runs two supportive sessions out of the Phillip Street Precinct designed to build confidence, connection, and capacity. These sessions provide a space to share experiences, learn helpful strategies, and access local resources. More details about these sessions can be found on the attached flyer.

Warm regards,

Dominique

PACT_Online_study_flyer.pdf

News from Administration

Premier's Reading Challenge

The PRC 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 record books read during the reading period 6 May to 22 August. All eligible students from Prep year to Year 9 were given a letter and a reader record form to take home.

To complete the challenge students must read or experience:

Prep to Year 2 - at least 20 books
Years 3 and 4 at least 20 books
Years 5 to 9 at least 15 books

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim of the challenge is to encourage students to make time to read. Book suggestions are available on the PRC website https://prc.median.com.au/BookList.

Every student who completes the challenge and returns the completed record reader form will receive a Certificate of Achievement. We encourage as many of our students as possible to take part in the PRC. If you did not receive a letter from the school, and you would like your child to take part, please copy the attached reader record form and return by 25th August 2025.

PRC_reader_record.pdf

Families of Prep students only

A registered nurse will be visiting the school on Wednesday 27th August to conduct their annual vision screen for children in their prep year. Information and Consent forms will be coming home at a later date.

Newsletter_item_re_school_visit_2023_002_.pdf

Student uniforms:

It is an expectation that students come to school in full uniform every day. Because it is getting cooler, students will be wanting to wear jumpers or jackets to school. Please ensure that these are school issue or at least in the school colour (navy blue). A reminder that jeans and/or hoodies and football jerseys are NOT part of the school uniform. Please see the attached Rosella Park School uniform policy.

Student_Uniform_Policy.pdf

Rosella Park School Book Fair 2025

Our Scholastic Book Club co-ordinator is once again running the Book Fair for Rosella Park School from Monday 26th May until Friday 30th May. All students are welcome to browse through the book fair and make out their wish list or make purchases. The Book Fair will also be open to the public every afternoon from 3:00 pm. Access will be through the Stop, Drop, Go gate then turn left into L Block and head towards the end room on the left. Signs will be everywhere so you will know where to go. Your support is very much appreciated.

Lower Primary 1 - Mrs Ward/Ms Harris

No new news to share, stay tuned for the next newsletter.

Lower Primary 2 - Mr Shaun

This term is passing by so quickly! LP2 students have been actively engaged in new learning experiences, incorporating both hands-on activities and moments of laughter. Students have also been developing their social skills to foster a supportive and cohesive classroom environment.

Best from LP2 team.

Lower Primary 3 - Ms Helen

Welcome to another term. We have all settled into class and back into learning. Lower Primary 3 are learning about the weather and how the environment affects us. We have had a lot of fun trying on clothes, and using our communication devices to identify what clothes we wear for the different seasons. We are also focussing on making choices and identifying our likes and dislikes when making a preference. The students have especially enjoyed trying on the clothes and dressing up for the different weather events.

LP3

Lower Primary 4 - Ms Michelle

Hello families,

For national simultaneous story time we have been exploring the book ‘The Truck Cat’. As part of our learning, we have all participated in fun craft activities where each student created their own tactile ‘The Truck Cat’ book. Students enjoyed exploring with a range of different textured materials and selecting which pieces they would like to choose for their pictures. Each book is five pages in total and uniquely different. We are extremely proud of the work students have put into their creations, well done LP4.

Thank you from the LP4 team

LP 4

Upper Primary 1 - Ms Sharon

Well Term 2 is proving to be very busy. We have been doing our cooking, learning about position in Maths and we have been doing lots of reading for the Premier's Reading Challenge. We love to listen to and read different stories every day. We are using the story "Possum Magic" to follow the journey of Hush and Grandma Poss around Australia and learn about all the amazing places that they visit. We are also cooking all the lovely things that Hush and Grandma eat during their journey.

UP 1

Upper Primary 2 - Ms Hannah

This semester is going so quickly! Week 5 already and our assessments are underway. The students have been working very hard on their positional language and have enjoyed placing items around the classroom to send their peers on little treasure hunts!
Cooking has also been a big hit of late as we explore our letters and sounds through food and sensory. The students made Cupcakes for the letter C last week and this week we are making Hamburgers for the letter H. All of the students in UP2 have been great at following our cooking rules especially with a focus on Hygiene. Next week we will finish exploring our special occasions unit. If you have any photos at home that you can send in of your child attending a special occasion (Christmas, Birthday, Wedding, Easter) I would really appreciate it. We are making a collage of all of the different types of special occasions that we celebrate, and I know the students would like to see their faces on the poster. I Will send a note home next week with more information. I hope everyone has a great week!

Upper Primary 3 - Mr Mark

Upper Primary 3 has been having fun looking at 3D shapes this semester. We have learnt all about spheres, cylinders, pyramids, cubes and cones. We have made models of each of the shapes and located these shapes in the environment. We have also begun to learn about patterns and how they recur in the world around us. We are all working so well!

Upper Primary 4 - Mrs Maguire

Welcome to the business end with end of semester assessments. In literacy students have explored connections between texts and students’ personal experiences and have been using beginning writing behaviours. In Maths they have been looking at shape and directional language. In Hass students have described features of familiar places and recognise why some places are special to people. Fridays have continued to be great fun with cooking in the morning and art in the afternoons. The students love cooking and helping with cleaning. We have had a great semester.

Junior Secondary 1 - Mr Mike

Junior Secondary 1 completed assessments for goals in English, Maths and Geography at the end of Term 1 which has given me the opportunity to judge the progress they have made since the start of the year.

In English during Term 1, students were demonstrating their ability to recall information from familiar texts. This term, they have been preparing biographies of various people to practise presenting information to their classmates and developing their ability to listen to their peers without interrupting.

Our Maths assessments in Term 1 were about location and direction whilst in Term 2, we have moved on to studying various types of shapes. In Science, we are continuing our learning about the rotation of the Earth round the Sun whilst in HASS our focus has moved from Geography to History.

I look forward to sharing the students’ achievements with you in their end of semester reports.

Mike Pallett

Junior Secondary 2 - Ms Pauline

All students in JS2 have been very busy since the start of the term getting ready for their term 2 assessments, and we are now almost finished working through them all. I am very proud of the how the students have all done their very best in all areas of their learning. While staff have been spending one-on-one time with students working through assessments, other students have been working independently completing set tasks on Reading Eggs. In the pictures you will see Beni thoroughly enjoying his reading with Miss Jess about his favourite place, the beach, and Norman and Laithe engaged in fun learning activities on Reading Eggs. Finally, Tehmarni and Tyriq worked exceptionally well together to start and finish a very difficult 1000 small piece puzzle. They took it in turns to achieve a little bit ever day. It was great to see their patience and perseverance develop as they worked together. Great work JS2!!

JS 2

Junior Secondary 3 - Ms Cindy

Welcome to Week 5 – the Halfway Mark!

What a fantastic journey it’s been so far! The students in JS3 have been working diligently on their Semester 1 assessments and will continue to build on their progress in the coming weeks. Their dedication and effort have been impressive!

We’ve also had the joy of celebrating several birthdays this year, with another one just around the corner in June. These celebrations tie in beautifully with our history unit, where we’re exploring significant events in our lives. Students have been enthusiastically researching and adding meaningful images to their assessments, with guidance and support.

What an amazing class we have – full of curiosity, energy, and growing minds!

JS 3

Junior Secondary 4 - Ms Susan

This month in our cooking lessons, JS4 has been cooking easy meals. Tasty chicken dishes such as Chicken and Mushroom Risoni. We also cooked a delicious Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken with a Cheese and Bacon Potato Bake. Our follow-up lesson was a tasty Fried Rice using left over chicken and bacon pieces.

JS 4

Senior Secondary 1 - Ms Sally

Another great term!

This term we have been continuing on with our subjects which will culminate with assessments in the following weeks.

We started the term organising, creating and running the school ANZAC day service. Everyone put a solid effort in and the service was very heartfelt and meaningful because of the level of care and attention the students put into it. They should all be very proud of their achievements with this.

Our vocational programs continue to progress with students learning fundamental workplace skills within our tuckshop environment and community placements. In devastating news our donated Slushy machine appears that it does not want to work anymore. We are researching the best option going forward and will advise once we have a solution.

Students are also exploring options for entering in the Mount Larcom show in the pavilion section. So far, we have shortlisted to photography, cooking and lego construction. We can’t wait to see how it all works out!

We’d also like to thank our school community for their support of our tuckshop program. The success of this program is thanks to the support we have received and as a class we are very appreciative of that.

Miss Sally and Miss Simone

Senior Secondary 2 - Mrs Leeson/Ms Harris

This year is speeding past faster than we can keep up. We have been busy working on finishing our current programs in order to get ready for new programs next semester. In the Arts we have moved into the music and dance curriculum area. We have been looking at different genres in music. We began with Reggae. I don’t think the students got as excited as the adults. In Health we have been looking at healthy and unhealthy food options and designing a healthy lunch box. In Life Skills we are learning to complete basic tasks such as making a cup of coffee/ tea, using a frying pan, making a bed and using household equipment (vacuum cleaner, broom, mop etc). Our current garden project has come to a stand-still but we plan to get back on track by preparing the garden bed with rich soil and nutrients ready to plant flowers at the beginning of spring.

Mother’s Day presents kept us busy at the start of May. Each student independently contributed to the completion of the pom poms for each bouquet. Some students were diligent in the motions of creating the pom poms, while others were involved in making colour choices and offering encouragement. I think you must agree that the end result was worth all the hard work.

On Friday 23^rd May, most of our senior secondary students will attend the ‘A Future 4 U Pathways for the Young Adult forum hosted by Parent2Parent. This should be a very informative day that is aimed to help young people with a disability explore what’s next in their lives beyond school. We can’t wait to share with you the information we learn.

SS 2

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

Last week the whole school undertook training on the BSEM (Berry Street Education Model). This training reinforced the importance of the staff and students to develop a meaningful rapport.

These connections are best when the interactions are based on genuine sharing of interests and activities. This is where we need our parents to share with our staff some of the activities your child did on the weekend.

Just by writing three to four words in either your Dojo chat or in your child’s Communication Diary about something your child did on the weekend, will make a huge difference.

It could look like - dog wash, pizza, markets

Or – Bunnings, grandma, recycling

We ask you give it a try, starting this week.

This might allow our students to navigate different pathways in their AAC devices which is always great news. Let’s add some vigour to our conversations by using your child’s experiences to build connections.

Photos are of our AAC in Action