Dear Mudgeeraba Special School Families,

Last Wednesday, Mudgeeraba Special School hosted our ANZAC ceremony, a significant event on our calendar. Once again, our school honoured this solemn day with respect and pride. We were honoured to welcome Chief Technician Jack Gamble from the Mudgeeraba RSL, who reminded our students of the essence of the ANZAC spirit and the importance of honouring those who made the ultimate sacrifice in war – men, women, and animals alike. Chief Technician Gamble shared touching stories, including that of Simon the boat cat, highlighting the invaluable contributions of animals during wartime. His commendation of our students' respectful behaviour and the quality of our tribute was deeply appreciated.

Students’ social and emotional wellbeing is central to all that we do at Mudgee.  Over the next few weeks, children across the school will be invited to take part in the Queensland Engagement and Wellbeing (QEW) survey. The QEW survey aims to collect information from Queensland state schools in a consistent and systematic way to gain a better understanding of the engagement and wellbeing of our students. In order to ensure the QEW survey is inclusive for all students, Mr Graeme Clancy, our school Knowledgeable Other for Student Support Services, has been busy differentiating the questions, utilising visuals and simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers.

The QEW is offered on a voluntary basis and asks questions about many aspects of students' wellbeing, engagement and experience at school. Data from the survey will help our school monitor our school culture, school engagement and student wellbeing. The QEW survey gives us the opportunity to hear the collective voice of our students. Survey results are intended to inform continuous improvement within schools and provide an evidence-based approach to positively and proactively support students’ mental health, school engagement and wellbeing.

The QEW survey measures wellbeing and engagement across 12 domains, including resilience, school climate, sense of belonging, motivation and perseverance, academic self-concept, personal social capabilities, general life satisfaction, future outlook and aspirations, relationships with peers, with teachers and at home, and general health. I am really looking forward to analysing the feedback from all our students, and look at how we can best support their ongoing needs.

Every three years Government, Catholic and Independent schools across Australia participate in the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The AEDC is a nationwide census undertaken to understand early childhood development. The AEDC provides evidence to support policy and planning for children. When every school, regardless of size or type, collects AEDC data for a child in their first year of full-time school, they make a vital contribution to a better understanding of early childhood development in Australia.

This year, Mudgeeraba Special School is actively engaged in the AEDC initiative. We aim to utilise the data collected to facilitate seamless transitions to school by collaborating with early childhood services, engaging parents in their children's education, fostering community partnerships, and implementing comprehensive approaches to support students and their families in the pre-school years. Early intervention and personalised transitions hold immense significance to me as I am committed to ensuring that every student embarks on their schooling journey with confidence and success. I eagerly anticipate analysing the data to enhance our existing school practices and procedures.

If you find yourself dropping your child off after 9:00 am or picking them up before 2:30 pm, we kindly ask that you please sign in and out at the main office. This simple step helps us ensure the safety and security of all students within our school community.

Warm regards,

Renee Zhu

Acting Principal

We had a moving Anzac Day service at school on Wednesday, and it was wonderful to see so many members of our school community come together. A big thank you to the P&C and representatives from the Mudgeeraba RSL for joining us.

The students did an amazing job creating their wreaths - the fields of poppies around the school looked fantastic! We know people will be excited to receive our postcards of honour tomorrow, a real testament to how much our students value service and sacrifice. 

The highlight of the day was definitely having one of our student's great-grandfathers speak at the service. He shared some fascinating stories about the animals who served in wars, including a very clever cat named Simon! 

Lest We Forget.

The young tourist had a look of determination, and exhaustion in his face.  He marched towards the end of the concrete platform overlooking Burleigh beach his suitcase still in his hands. I could only imagine the day that the young man had.  It seemed he was a tourist who had just flown in to the Gold Coast from who knows where maybe Melbourne may be overseas.  It had been a really hot day and from the looks in the young man's face the journey that he had taken had exhausted him.  He looked a little out of place on the beach as he was wearing a pair of long pants a buttoned-up shirt and a tie.  That's something you do not usually see on a Gold Coast beach at 6 o'clock in the evening.  I noticed that his eyes were transfixed on the waves breaking on the Sandy beach. He wasn’t distracted by the various people swimming in the various attire that they may have been wearing.  The only thing on his mind was to look at that beautiful blue ocean with its churning and breaking waves as they ran up the golden Sandy beach.

I went for a short walk up the beach, just as I was about to leave the beach , I saw the tourist again this time he had removed his shoes, left his suitcase in the park near the beach and was heading directly toward the surf to splash his feet in the cool water.   As he began to splash his feet there was a look of absolute delight.  He was celebrating his victory, he had made to the water and was enjoying the coolness of the ocean.

Some times I think we forget that important action that the young tourist demonstrated so clearly.  Celebrate the victories when they happen.  So often we get caught in the many issues we face and forget to celebrate those little victories you have along the way.  This is highlighted in the book Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg.  The essence of this book is that by changing to create things like new tiny habits and celebrating the victories we have while changing may change our world completely.  Today why not find that thing that you can celebrate however small or big.