Term 3 is progressing so quickly! One of the best things about this term is I have had a chance to visit more classrooms to observe teaching and learning and provide feedback to staff about the great work they are doing with their students. This is exciting and rewarding.

Temporary change in Principal and Deputy Principal: I have accepted the Acting Principal position at Mackenzie Special School in Brisbane from Tuesday 19th August to Friday 10th October.

During my absence:

Phil Whatt will be Acting Principal at Gympie Special School.

Shellie Pursey will remain in her role of Acting Deputy Principal. Shellie is currently filling in as Deputy Principal while Phil is on secondment at Rosella Park Special School until 18th August.

I will return to Gympie Special School on Monday 13th October, week 2 Term 4.

Student achievement: I really enjoy seeing the student progress that occurs across time and recently I met with Karen Abt, our Head of Curriculum, to discuss the progress students have made over the past 12 months. It was wonderful to hear that 12 of our students from Prep to Year 10 went up a curriculum level! This is a fantastic result of 13% of our students moving up a curriculum level from the end of 2024 to the middle of 2025. WOW!

School Support Staff Recognition Week: This week we are celebrating School Support Staff Recognition Week. We will be celebrating the great work our support staff do here at Gympie Special School. This week recognises, respects and celebrates what they do to make our schools safe, well maintained, supportive and engaging places to work. We could NOT do our jobs without the hard work, positive approaches and dedication our support staff provide here at GSS. At GSS our support staff includes:

• Jess and Bec - our Administration Officers
• Cherie - our Business Manager
• Adam - our School and Grounds Officer
• Greg - our IT Officer
• Megan and Simone - our Speech Language Pathologists
• Janet and Elizabeth - our Occupational Therapists
• Kaidee and Naomi – our Physiotherapists
• Rachel – our Chaplain

At GSS, we celebrate the hard work these staff do to support our students, staff, and families. By taking on non-teaching tasks, support staff allow teachers to focus on unit and lesson planning, assessment and direct instruction. They are vital to the smooth running of our school. Thank you to these awesome staff members!

School Opinion Survey: Thank you to those families who have completed the Online School Opinion Survey. The survey helps to identify areas our school can improve to make sure we are doing everything we can to make our school an excellent school – please help by completing the survey to let us know what we are doing well and where we can improve!

Shout out to our Hardworking P&C: Miss Liz, one of our Senior Sector teachers is our P&C secretary and she has been working so hard to fundraise and improve the schooling experience of our students. With our treasurer Tricia, a past parent and past teacher aide they are both making a difference for your child, working tirelessly to fundraise and support the school, to ensure our students can have wonderful experiences during their schooling.

Our school just can not do what we do without the support of our parents, caregivers and friends of Gympie Special School and our P&C is integral to supporting our students.

If you are interested in being a P&C member, please come along to our next meeting on MONDAY 1^st September at 3pm in the admin building. Your child is welcome to stay during the meeting.  

Thank you for your continued support.

Best wishes

Sarah Lester

Principal