At the time of writing this, we are approaching the halfway mark of term 3 and the term has been action packed already!  I had the pleasure of briefly attending the Relay for Life fundraiser at Barlow Park Saturday 2 August. Our College was front and centre there with over 50 students and many staff in attendance. This year our students beat their previous fundraising record of $5,500. They raised over $9,000! This is a fantastic achievement and all who supported this effort should be very proud of this achievement. I am.  I would, in particular, like to recognise the work of Mrs Pam Dean and Mrs Nicole Neill who were the driving force from a staff perspective. I look forward to what we can achieve next year. At the same time, we also had a Primary Campus staff and retired staff team entered.  They raised approximately $6,000.  Congratulations to that team as well.

Last Wednesday the Queensland Teachers Union directed its members to take a day of Protected Industrial Action. Most of the Redlynch State College teachers participated in this day of action. I would like to thank the parents of our College for your support by keeping your children at home. I understand and respect that this was not possible for all parents and as a result we had adequate supervision in place for those students that attended on the day. I sincerely hope that our Department and the Teachers Union can reach an agreement.

It is with a lot of excitement that I can announce that Mrs Claudia Belcher has been selected as the Queensland Nominee in the category of Australian Teacher Aide of the Year 2025! Mrs Belcher now represents all Queensland schools, state, private and independent as the nominee at the upcoming awards in September. This is an awesome accolade and just recognition of Mrs Belcher’s dedication to her students and her work.  I am very proud of her achievement this far and wish her all success as the finalists and Australian Teacher Aide of the Year is announced next month.

I am noticing, perhaps because of the colder weather, an increase of students arriving late at school. Whilst being punctual is always the best outcome, this is a timely reminder to ensure that you remind your children that if they are late they must get a late slip. I have also noticed a decrease in parents notifying the school to “explain” an absence. This directly has an impact on your child’s official attendance record. For students in Year 11 & 12, this may impact whether a student has “Clearance” or not. If you are aware that you may have missed notifying the College regarding an absence, you are still able to contact the College and have that absence recorded accurately. 

The next 9-10 weeks of school are the most important weeks of school left for our Year 12 students. After this, students will be undertaking external exams and before they know it, their year is finished. Please encourage your Year 12 students to take every opportunity and put the work in for their final assessments, which are quickly approaching. 

Mike Hansen - Executive Principal