© Brisbane Catholic Education, Christ the King School (2024)
As we welcome a new school year, it is with great joy that we extend a warm welcome to all members of our vibrant school community, whether new or returning. We trust that each one of you has enjoyed a restful and joyous Christmas break, filled with moments of love, laughter and rejuvenation, and you feel ready to receive all the blessings of 2024.
With the echoes of holiday cheer still lingering, we are eager to embark on a new chapter together as we look ahead to a year filled with growth, camaraderie and shared accomplishments.
A heartfelt welcome to our incoming students and families in 2024. Regardless of the year level, the warmth of a welcome in the spirit of Nano Nagle hospitality is alive and well across our school.
We welcome the following new staff to our school for 2024: Mrs Geraldine Philp-Smith and Ms Madison Turner (Year 3); Mrs Natasha Fetherston (Visual Arts); Ms Melanie Stephens (Physical Education); Mrs Tracey Graham (Health); Ms Vanessa Lamb (Library Aide/ICT Officer); and Mrs Renee Hyland (Tuckshop). Please extend a wonderful Christ the King School welcome to them.
Our Staff for 2024
Sometimes, it is understandable that people may become overwhelmed and confused about who to contact about what. When in doubt, contact School Reception on telephone 07 3379 7872 and our friendly and helpful staff will assist you with your query and direct you to the appropriate person. Alternatively you can email our general Administration email address.
It is important to know who your child's teacher is. Every student from Prep to Year 6 has a classroom teacher that they engage with every morning, and they are a helpful contact for you. It is important to know the names of your child’s teachers and to work with your child/ren by having them share login details with you so that you can also see their class work and homework. Class teachers will communicate with you. Please remember that teachers have full and busy days.
A general rule is to allow two [2] days for an email response from teaching staff. I would also respectfully request that wherever possible emails be kept to working hours on Monday to Friday. It is understood and respected that this is not always possible but work intensification for teachers in regard to keeping up with online communication is a challenging reality. Please seek to keep email correspondence brief, respectful and in the interests of building a positive relationship in support of your son. The CTK School community is extraordinarily supportive of our staff, and this is greatly valued and appreciated by all.
It is important to know who your child's teacher is. Please see the list below:
- Prep Red: Mrs Eloise Bennett
- Prep Blue: Mrs Phoebe Berg
- Year 1 Red: Mrs Danielle-Louise Boundy
- Year 1 Blue: Miss Sarah Boevink
- Year 2 Red: Mrs Zoe Colley
- Year 2 Blue: Mrs Barbara Kiernan and Mrs Emma Cassidy
- Year 3 Red: Mrs Geraldine Philp-Smith
- Year 3 Blue: Ms Madison Turner
- Year 4 Red: Mr Craig Jackson
- Year 4 Blue: Mrs Kim Fannin
- Year 5/6 Red: Ms Jessie Fraser
Parent Information Evening
All parents and caregivers are invited to attend our Parent Information Evening for Year 1–6, which is scheduled for Tuesday, 6 February. There will be two sessions:
These sessions will be held in your child's classroom. The evening is not a Parent/Teacher interview, but a time for parents and caregivers to receive important information relating to classroom procedures together with a brief overview of the curriculum. This format will hopefully allow you to meet/see more than one teacher. It only requires parents/caregivers to be available on one evening and is for parents only.
We look forward to seeing all families at our Parent Information Evening.
Tips to Help Children Settle into the New School Year
At this early stage of the school year it's only natural that some children will feel anxious or unsettled getting into the routines for their new class and coming back to school. Often in this type of situation we hear that families can have a tricky time at home with children being upset. There may be tears in the morning when it's time to get ready for school. If you are feeling this frustration as a parent/caregiver, you are not alone.
Some tips that might help include:
Focus on the positives of school – enjoying time with friends, learning new things
Make less of a deal about what may potentially cause upsets
Tell your child that coming back to school may be tricky, but it soon becomes easy and fun
At drop off, make it a quick hug and/or kiss goodbye. Encourage children to go, then turn and walk away, don't look back
If you need to walk your child to the classroom, make it a quick handover to the teacher (or office staffer)
Do your best to be on time for school – arriving after the bell (8:30am) will unsettle most children.
You may feel you are helping your child by comforting them, but drawn out goodbyes make for longer periods of calming down. Remember that school is a safe place for your children. They will be okay. We usually see after parents and caregivers leave children quickly settle into the day.
If you don't see a teacher making a fuss over your child it's because we are encouraging them to step into the morning routine and build resilience.
This settling in time after school holidays is quite common, but generally only lasts from a few days to a couple of weeks. Please don’t hesitate to contact your class teacher or the school office if you would like some support with helping your child back into their school routine.
Welcome to Our P&F Assocation for 2024
Our Parents and Friends Association (P&F Association) will meet on Tuesday, 30 January for first time in 2024. We have some enthusiastic new Committee members joining the Association for this year. Thank you to all who attended and to those who have taken on a role for your commitment and support for the school.
Our P&F Association committee consists of the following dedicated parents and caregivers this year:
Executive Committee
President: Tegan Russell
Vice-President: Kate Blumke
Secretary: Anne-Louise Keane
Treasurer: Sarah Jackson
Diocesan Delegate/s: Victoria and Joe Thorne
General Committee
Care & Concern Convenor: Rhiannon Bell
Class Representative Coordinator: Sandra Bastian
Communications & Community Engagement Coordinator: Calista Simmons
Extracurricular Activities Coordinator: Melissa Rawal
Facilities Officer: Anne-Louise Keane
Mother's Day High Tea Convenor: Anna Katter
Sustainability Coordinator: Kim Lyons
Uniform Shop Convenor: Lyn Cavanagh
Family Contact Lists for Each Class
At Christ the King School a valuable part of the communication among parents and from the school is through our Parent Representatives. Ideally each class has a Parent Class Representative who shares information regarding social opportunities, volunteering and school events. For different classes there are a number of ways this communication and networking happens including email, Facebook and other social media.
To ensure the privacy of families is protected, the sharing of contact information among families must be done in the right way, taking the preferences of families into account. To assist with this CTK School Administration and the P&F Association would like to work with our Parent Class Representatives to set up a Family Contact List for each class.
What you need to know
This class contact list will include:
- each child's name
- parent names
- parent emails
Phone numbers will not be included.
Inclusion in the contact list is completely optional.
Parents have the option to
- not have their email address list on the contact list
- only have their email address available to the Parent Class Representative
The Family Contact List is to be used for social contact between families and to help facilitate the distribution of information from the P&F Association and the school.
CTK School's Office Staff will coordinate and distribute these lists.
The P&F Association will have a master copy of the Family Contact List to enable the quick sharing of information.
The contact list will be emailed to the families of each class.
Email addresses must be placed in 'BCC' when sent from the School and/or the P&F Association to maintain privacy.
The Family Contact List will be arranged on an 'Opt Out' basis. Please tell us by Wednesday, 7 February if you do not wish you to be on the list. If you do not advise us otherwise, we will presume you want to be included in the Family Contact List.
Please note that your preference to be included or otherwise will be kept by the Office in order to create the Family Contact Lists for future years. However, families can 'Opt Out' of these contact lists at any point by contact the School Office.
Prep Enrolments for 2025
For families who have a child who will commence school at Christ the King School in 2025, now is the time to ensure you have completed your enrolment application. A link to this application can be found on our school website. We will be conducting our enrolment interviews for Prep 2025 in Term 1. The enrolment application is our way of knowing we need to contact your family and hold a space for your child before we make offers to new families.
Prayer
As we begin the new school year, let us pray that all school students may learn to seek God in all people and all events.
God of new beginnings, may tis year which we dedicate to you, bring us closer to you and to each other.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Damien Sullivan
Principal