Dear Parents and Community,

What a wonderful time to be a part of the Mudgeeraba Special School community! This week we celebrated Book Week with a magical display of doors and hallways, targeted English lessons and our best book parade we have ever had. Our book week parade had a few difficulties with sound and the building noise of concrete trucks, but in true Mudgee style it all went off and created a magical experience for everyone involved. 

A huge thank you to the families who came along, we love you joining our school events and experiencing precious moments with us. We hope you enjoyed it as much as us. 

Concert week is one of my favourite times at Mudgeeraba Special School and I want to thank you in advance for helping to make this time spectacular for your young person, families, community members and especially our whole school community. Staff and students have been working so hard, it is going to a memory that creates lifelong happiness. If you haven’t purchased tickets please do, as we want to finalise this process. 

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, I will be undertaking school review training outside of the school grounds, and look forward to this opportunity to learn more so I can continue to lead the school community with clarity and direction. Next year we come into our school review which happens every four years, by attending this program I will be able to develop a deep understanding of: 

- the school review process, with a focus on self-assessments and where reviews fit in a school’s four-year planning cycle  

- the nine domains of the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT) with a focus on inclusive education  

Next year, we look forward to working with a whole school community to document our schools focus for the next four years. I know I am already talking next year. 

On the note for 2023, we have started planning and looking at classes.  What we ask you to do for any parent requests or suggestions, is to pass them on to your class teacher. Your teacher is involved in the process of class design. 

The process for class design at our school is allocated a lot of time and processes to ensure we have the right environment. We use the following; 

• All teachers advise learning goals, strengths and preferred learning environments 
• Team Leaders start to shape each class 
• Executive Team members unpack classes with Team Leaders 
• Teacher and Teacher Aides unpack class design and provide feedback 

This cycle continues until we get the right design. Please note, it is really important you let us know if you are leaving Mudgeeraba Special School in 2023 for staffing and class design.  

Absences 

One of the departments requirements is students are at school every day (expect if they are unwell). Please help us by bringing your young person to school every day, it is super important for the class teachers who have planned targeted lessons but also for routine and consistency.

I can’t wait to see you next Thursday night. Enjoy the experience and what makes Mudgeeraba Special School a magical place to come every day. 

Kind regards
Natasha Markwick
Acting Principal

Science week saw our students join others all across Australia, from 13 - 21 August exploring the scientific concept of ‘Glass: More than meets the eye’. Across the week every student engaged in hands-on activities targeted to the three key concepts of this years National Science Week theme including the making of glass through cold honey Vs warm honey, Bending light through magnifying glass fossil/object exploration and Windows to the world through the classroom glass treasure hunt and creating stained glass windows.

Our staff did an amazing job creating opportunities for each student and we can not wait until next year!