Starting the new school year can often be a little daunting, with many exciting changes and new experiences ahead. A brand new school perhaps, or the same one that’s acquired more students and a big building – this view, of course, depends on whether you’re a new family to Caloundra City Private School or continuing on the learning journey with your children here. Independent Schools Queensland’s media release last week dealt with school fees and how Independent Schools in Queensland have a moderate annual fee averaging $8,000, plus uniforms and incidentals. This was in contrast to media reported amounts of more than half a million dollars for a child’s schooling life. At CCPS we’d like to think that our “moderate” fees are set to assist our families to provide a caring education for life; that will see your sons and daughters graduate as a citizen of character, principles, and consideration for those around them. In short, we are very proud of our graduates at the end of their Year 12 journey, for the respectful and purposeful members of society which they will undoubtedly improve throughout their lives. This is the very best aspect of teaching at Caloundra City Private School. The pride we have in the children as they learn, progress, and contribute as high-quality people; if that’s what you are hoping for your child, then you’ve come to the right place! We greatly look forward to helping you and your family members in the 2018 School year. This year, our School focus will be on the progression of our sports and music programs, as well as improving communication between our School and families in an effort to assist each child where we can. At Caloundra City Private School we cherish authenticity and integrity as our school motto states, because that is a characteristic we value in our School community. We love learning, we value high-performance progression, and we celebrate the children’s honesty. We think that these are the traits of people who are highly regarded in life, and we want to encourage all the children here to achieve these goals for themselves. Cyber Bullying Awareness and Prevention In light of recent, tragic events, we would like to make our stance very clear on bullying of any form. We abhor the destructive negativity of instant messaging Apps like Sarahah. Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett’s tragic recent suicide as a user of Sarahah, exemplifies why Caloundra City Private School has strongly warned our students to avoid this App, and others like it, for their well-being. The Sarahah site states that their mission is to “improve your friendship by discovering your strengths and areas for improvement; let your friends be honest with you.” They do that cynically by using anonymous comments from anywhere. Adolescents who are seeking reassurance are torn apart. The curse of exploring and establishing youthful identity in today’s digitally savvy world brings many dangers. We are working with our students closely to try to help them navigate this space intelligently and carefully, as with all their explorations of life. We encourage all parents to check in with their children and “Do It For Dolly” to educate them of the risks online. Welcome Back To All Of The Teachers. We welcome Teachers new to CCPS: Emma Woods – Sport, Health and Physical Education, Biology Lisa Gravestein – Kindergarten Jenni Ryan – Year 4 Yiran Xu – Japanese; and Grace Paterson – Junior School Physical Education We congratulate and thank Miss Matsumoto and students for their highly successful three-week exchange with students from Yokohama’s Kanagawa University High School. Mia Tenkate (Yr 7) Anna McLean (Yr 9) Giselle Schmidt (Yr 11) William Topping (Yr 11); and Jai Allman (Yr 12) Their visit included snow skiing in Hokkaido on some of the world’s best snowfields. The warmth of their hosts was stunning, and we look forward to reciprocating with some Sunshine Coast sunny hospitality in March. Principal’s Acknowledgements In other ice cold news, at Boondall Figure Skating ‘Sunshine Aussie Skate Challenge’, Jayla Tarbuck (Yr 4) and Sianna Tarbuck (Yr 2) came first in their divisions. What else would you do in midsummer in Queensland? We congratulate Ms Macks for her selection in the World Dragonboat Championships to be held in exciting Hungary later this year. We congratulate Ms Burton for her Candidature in the Queensland Election. We thank Mr Cusick for being the Music Director of ‘Kawana Carols’ in December. Dr Dirk Wellham – Principal   Download the – Your School Choice PDF