COLLEGE PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE – John Lockhart

I’d like to warmly welcome our new students, new staff and new parents to Chancellor State College.  I wish you all the best for 2007 and look forward to your contribution to our evolving learning community.  We have grown to 1750 students and 150 staff across our two campuses.  This is a huge business and I congratulate my staff on their professional commitment to starting up the school year so smoothly.

A special thank you to our front office staff whose competence and experience make returning to school or beginning at a new school a positive experience.  Special mention also to our P & C for their tireless work in creating a great school environment for our kids.  Amanda, in the Uniform Shop and her band of willing workers have worked above and beyond to get everyone ready for school.  Gai and Janine did a terrific job in assisting with book packs.  Despite glitches beyond their control, I think a valuable and often thankless service was provided to families.  I am sure our Uniform Shop will have a good supply of stationery requirements throughout the year.

I welcome Mrs Althea McLean (Primary Campus Principal) and Mr Mark Treichel (College Deputy Principal) to my team.  They both bring a wealth of experience and expertise to our College.

The beginning of Prep and the addition of Year 11, the first cohort to be eligible for the new Queensland Certificate of Education, mark this as an historic year.  Coincidently, it is the 10th anniversary of the foundation of Chancellor State School.  Trish O’Connor will be coordinating events this year.  If you would like to be involved, please give her a call at the Primary Campus.

The road works for our much needed Dixon/Claymore Road Interchange have started.  Unfortunately, the removal of our forested area is required.  Whilst significant planning and landscaping will be undertaken in the final stage, the barren look of current development, while necessary, is confronting.  Please be patient and safe in your decision making as the ones most at risk, if we make poor driving decisions, are our kids.  For the next 18 months at least, we are in for significant disruptions.  The outcome will be the best possible, so please be patient, responsible for your own actions and forgiving during this time.

The master plan for the University of the Sunshine Coast and this Knowledge Precinct is sophisticated and will benefit all of our students and the broader Sippy Downs’ community.  You will read of some of these initiatives throughout the newsletter.

I hope this new format is well received by our families and improves communication between home and school.  Future newsletters will provide opportunities for feedback and give us information to continually improve this service to our community. I would like to acknowledge Advanced Photography for the use of some of their photographs in this new format.

Our key focus during 2007 across both campuses will be our continuous improvement in teaching and learning.  Chancellor is a high performance school and our student outcome data is above State average.  I welcome our International Teaching Fellow, Mr John Selvaggio, our Visiting Professor (Biology) Dr Rena Janke and our Honorary Teaching Fellow (Maths and Science) Dr David McKay from the University of the Sunshine Coast who will all be assisting us in this pursuit of academic excellence during 2007.

David Mckay

Rena Janke

John Selvaggio

From The Primary Admin Team

Welcome to the first edition of our electronic newsletter. I’m sure that this will further improve our timely and open communication with you.

Chancellor College primary campus has made a fantastic start to 2007. The weather has not been too kind, with some days long and hot. Our students, including the ‘preppies’ are managing very well. I hope that all students are now happily settled into the routines of school life for the coming year.

Thank you to the many parents, caregivers and family who came along to the Meet the Teacher evenings conducted in week 2. I was very impressed by the great attendance, and I know that our teachers were pleased to be able to make that first important contact with you. I f you have any issues or concerns that you would like to raise with your child’s teacher, please make an appointment for a time when the class teacher is free to speak with you. Formal parent teacher interviews will be offered later in the year.

A big thank you also to parents and children who supported our Breakfast for Jayne last Tuesday morning. Despite the wet weather, we had a great turnout - our community spirit is amazing! Special thanks to Rotary Maroochydore, Jamie Dunn and the Zinc Morning Zoo, Steve Dickson MP, and our great staff for your assistance and contribution. The raffle was also drawn on the day. The winner of the jewellery (donated by Angela Broeren) was Jayne Robertson herself. The winner of the original painting by Beverly Graham was ticket holder B 9. If you have this ticket, please call into the primary campus office to collect your prize.