We are delighted to welcome our students to the 2022 school year. 

Unfortunately, a bumpy start, which is something we did not want! However, despite COVID hitting many hard, our team has rallied together to make things as smooth sailing as we can for the return of our students.

Nothing stops the creativity at Silkwood – just before Advisors took their holidays, they spent three days in a workshop preparing for the 2022 launch of our new student learning progressions, learning management system and planning for our newly inspired Exploring Program. 

Our new progressions and student management system will, for the first time, give students (and parents mid-year) visibility over their learning by making it easy for them to map their goals and see progress along their own progressions. This is the first big step in linking all aspects of The Silkwood Way learning design.

Our Exploring Program, explained below, is our Prep-Year 10 developmental program. It has reimagined our integrated, experiential and community project lessons into a broader range of ways to learn and increase student engagement. This was our developmental focus in 2021, which saw the launch of the first workshop and guidebook for our newly developed Silkwood Advisor Training Program. We will continue to roll out the training program in 2022 with our Advisor guidebooks for PILT and core math and English. We are well on the path to achieving our strategic goal for a fully integrated Silkwood learning design by 2024.

To say our Teaching Team are excited about this is an understatement. Although change means more time for consideration with planning, they can see the added magic and visibility this brings to student learning and the long-term benefits in minimising their planning workload.

An update on Robina

On a less exciting note, sadly, we were unable to secure a meditation date to settle the planning application for our Robina campus over the holiday period. Court and Council recesses slowed the progress of this. We are happy to say we now have a date in February and currently have three legal processes running relating to our application. We want to ensure we are covering every possible legal avenue. 

• The first is our appeal to the decision, and this is what the meditation date has been set for. Meditations are pre-court processes to allow applicants the opportunity to resolve matters. 
• The second relates to what is called a deemed approval. An applicant can apply for a deemed approval (automatic) if the council has missed deadlines. Our records show they did. A court date is now set for this; however, it is expected meditation will resolve the issue.
• We have also lodged a further court document requesting these processes be sped up due to the urgency of the matter and its effect on our school community.

Our advice to date is that it is highly likely to be resolved at mediation as the application is not complex. Unlike Mount Nathan, which was a change of use application, Robina already has approval for a school, and all it requires is an approved traffic plan. We already have an approved traffic plan from the council officers, so mediation will involve two new traffic engineers looking at this to make any amendments they feel are needed.  

Although we have received optimist advice, we are erring on the side of caution and working with our Solicitor to develop timelines for worst-case scenarios, so we are well planned. We will keep our community posted on the progress. 

While resolving this matter, students will continue their learning on the Silkwood Mt Nathan campus and attend the Robina campus on select days for workshops and outlearning. The campus is all ready to go and looks amazing, so we can legally use it for some purposes in the short term.

Right now, we have done all we can concerning Robina, so our focus is on the start of school. We can’t wait to see the students back diving deep into their learning! It is what it is all about and what Silkwood does well. We welcome our new distance learning students and our new on-campus learning students; an exciting adventure is about to begin! We welcome back our returning families to continue with your Silkwood journey. 

We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Kindest regards

Valerie and Terry

The Exploring Program is our year level program focussed on developmental content and experiences that support students with:

• Expanding their knowledge and understanding about our natural and cultural world.
• Extending their skills to improve communication and financial literacy.
• Building their capacity to be a performer, artisan, maker, sportsperson and enterpriser.

It runs from Prep to Year 10 and is designed to:

• Spark curiosity and new interests.
• Deepen understanding and perspectives about the uniqueness of our world. 
• Foster a love of learning 
• Engage in improving our community and the world.
• Learn business skills
• Experience creative activities as performers, artisans, and makers.

Advisors plan these learning experiences through a mix of:

• Student-led inquiry questions. 
• Inquiry projects.
• Project-based learning
• Real-life learning opportunities. 
• Community projects that solve real-world problems. 
• Planned skill-building and creative activities.
• Specialist Music and Italian lessons

This brings alive the learning of new content and skills in meaningful and developmentally appropriate ways and allows Advisors to design programs using flexible scheduling of sessions.  

These can include short daily and weekly timetabled sessions as well as longer, extended blocks suited to the learning experiences that the Advisor has set. 

We appreciate the patience and understanding our community have given as we begin the school year with adjusted operations due to COVID-19. 

Under current COVID conditions, schools are required to have a COVID Safety Plan and follow public health directives. Below is a link to Silkwood School’s plan. We respectfully ask that you support us wherever you find yourself on this COVID journey by following our plan while on campus.

We are looking forward to welcoming returning and new students to the music program in 2022! 

The following music activity will begin Thursday 17th February: 

• Year 3 Beginner’s Strings Program – Thursday during school hours

All remaining music activities will begin the week commencing Monday, 21st February: 

• Individual Music Lessons (Guitar, Woodwind)
• Choir Program 
• Orchestra and Strings Program

Coinciding with signup week for the following groups during rehearsal times:

• Intermediate Orchestra (Years 4 to 6) – Tuesday’s from 3:15 to 4:15 pm 
• Senior Strings (Years 7 to 12) – Thursday’s from 3:15 to 4:15 pm 
• Silkwood Sparrows Choir (Years 1-3) – Friday during school hours
• Hummingbird Choir (Years 4-6) – Friday during school hours
• Senior Choir (Years 7-12) - Monday during school hours

Students in Years 4, 5 and 6 are invited to attend a music information session on Friday 18th February during school hours. 

Afterschool Activities resume the week commencing Monday, 21st February. 

We are excited to welcome new providers, please scroll on to see what's offered in Term 1 and contact the providers directly to book. 

Our School Offices are open 8.15 am to 4.00 pm Monday to Friday. During these hours, you can contact the office via phone (07) 5655 0300 or email reception@silkwood.qld.edu.au. When calling, please follow the prompts to connect with our Primary, Middle and Senior Campus.

Our friendly Community Relations Team can help with most enquiries over the phone or by email. 

We have updated our School App user subscription settings; this means you will no longer need to re-subscribe to your child's year level at the beginning of each year. 

To ensure you hear from us correctly in 2022 and beyond, please jump into the School App settings and navigate to subscriptions, then select your child/children's current year level or specialist advisory. We recommend that families with children in a specialist advisory such as STEM, Sport or Learning Enrichment also subscribe to their generic year-level channel.

The School will automatically roll over these groups each year, similar to how we do with our Family Facebook Groups. We hope this change makes it easier for you to stay connected with Silkwood School! 

Learn more about our App below. 

Our School App provides an easy way to locate information and updates from Silkwood School. It is a primary communication channel through which to hear from us. 

THROUGH THE APP, YOU HAVE EASY ACCESS TO:

• Important messaging responsive to current events
• Our whole-school newsletter
• Absentee messaging
• Year-level and whole-school notices
• School bus information
• Links to key resources and information
• School calendar and event list
• And much, much more!

The app ensures you receive critical information right in the palm of your hand and it can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. As a parent and carer, you have the option to subscribe to the groups relevant to your child/ren. More information is available via the button below.

Please note: the Silkwood School App is separate from the Engage School App (an App version of your Parent Portal).

Our School Events page covers dates and events happening at Silkwood throughout the year; it is updated regularly and accessible anytime via our website or School App.  

Where families may need to know specific information regarding an event, our Community Relations Team will distribute information to families of the applicable year levels leading up to the event.

2023 SCHOOL CALENDAR

To help with your family's plans for 2023, below is a copy of the 2023 School Calendar. A printed copy will be sent home with all students when their school photos arrive.

We ask parents and carers to use our pick-up and drop-off systems unless it is unavoidable for student wellbeing. 

Additional Team Members have been allocated for support at these times to help our youngest students and students who need assistance to get safely to class. Please remain in your vehicle at drop off and pick up; our team is there to help students get in and out of cars and walk to class.

Morning Driveway Drop-Off Schedule

The Prep area (and gate) will be supervised from 8.00 am for those wishing to drop their Prep child from this time. We would love to see families encouraging their little people to walk from the set-down area to the Prep gate unassisted. This helps build confidence and sets their mindset to help them feel empowered when they arrive at school each day.

**From Term 2, 2023, Year 2 students will be dropped off and collected from the Middle School. More information will be shared towards the end of Term1.

Afternoon Driveway Pick-Up Schedule

PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE BEFORE YOUR PICK-UP TIME AS YOUR CHILD MAY NOT BE READY FOR COLLECTION

At the end of the school day, we move a lot of traffic in a short space of time. To assist with the smooth operation of our afternoon schedule, we have a few guidelines we ask you to follow: 

• To eliminate car park congestion, please do not arrive earlier than the times below to pick-up your child. 
• If you arrive early, you will be asked to re-circulate the driveway until your child arrives.
• If you arrive on time, use the drive-through pick-up system and refrain from parking if possible. 
• If your child is not looking out for their car, or they do not respond to their name being called, you will be asked to circulate the driveway until they make their way to the pick-up area. 
• If someone other than a parent or guardian is collecting your child, please let the school know in advance.
• Please ensure your child’s name and year level is clearly visible on your passenger-side car visor.

When pulling up to collect your child, please ensure you stop the vehicle as far to the front as possible so that we can assist multiple families. In the Primary School, there are three vehicle spaces marked on the road to help you see where you need to stop. Our volunteers will ask you to move forward if you have stopped with a vacant bay in front of you, please respect their direction, they are there to help every child get to their vehicle safely and promptly.

Families with siblings use their youngest child's pick-up zone and the latest designated pick-up time for that zone.

Senior School 

At the start of each term, we must remind our Senior School families of our Robina campus's parking, drop-off and pick-up procedures.

Due to contractor delays, the work required to open our driveway drop-off and pick-up system is not complete. Therefore we must maintain our current practices to adhere to strict Council conditions and to ensure student and community safety.

Campus Drop-Off and Pick-Up Procedures – Applicable for Term 1 

The locations to do this are Robina Train Station and Robina Town Centre. For ease of access and parking availability, we highly recommend using Robina Station. An Advisor will be at the train station each morning at 8.15 am to walk with any students needing support to get to School and again in the afternoon, should students require it. All other students can leave at 3.00 pm for their various transport options (off-site).

We will update families once the driveway and road system is complete. 

Students cannot be picked up or dropped off on the streets directly adjacent to the School ie. Laver Drive and Easthill Drive, as this will put the School in breach of Council conditions.

Details relating to student parking can be found in the Senior School Operations Handbook.

Students travelling with our School Bus Service require a valid SmartCard with credit already loaded onto their account. Bus trips are charged at $5.00 per trip with your SmartCard, and $10.00 per trip without presentation of a valid SmartCard (this will be charged at $5.00 at time of trip, plus a $5.00 manual administration fee).

If you would like your student to be issued with a bus card, please let us know by emailing schoolbus@silkwood.qld.edu.au and we can arrange this for you.

Students who travel by bus must be able to travel independently, have familiarity with their bus stop and have the ability to stay seated with their seatbelt fastened for the duration of their journey. Seatbelt use is compulsory on our School Bus Service.

We will still be requiring a parent or guardian to be waiting at bus stops to collect any students aged 12 or under.

Please be reminded that all students must adhere to the Queensland Government’s Code of Conduct for School Students Travelling on Buses.
This can also be viewed on our website by going to the ‘Our Community’ drop down menu and clicking on the School Bus Service link.

In 2023 there will be a ban on device usage on our bus service. This includes smartphones, laptops and tablets.

• Devices will be required to be placed in the student’s bag and stay there until they depart the school bus.
• Headphones can be set up prior to boarding the bus with a podcast or music playing, however, the device MUST remain in the student’s bag (once set, no adjustments).
• Bus drivers will be monitoring this, and any instance of device usage on the Silkwood School Bus service will be treated as a behaviour breach and will have consequences as outlined on our School Bus Service page on our website.

Our bus drivers are employed to ensure all students reach their destination in a safe and timely manner, therefore, their attention needs to be on the road. Could you please refrain from messaging bus driver’s personal phones during this time.

* Please be aware that the Southern bus route will be subject to delays and changes during 2023 as tram works progress.

At Silkwood, we take our commitment to work in partnership with our families seriously. With this in mind, we have designed Mt Nathan and Robina Campus School Operations Handbooks that can be used as a resource to ensure you have easy access to critical information about the School. 

This handbook is a working document, and changes are made throughout the year when required. A current version is available on our website and through the Silkwood School App.

Wherever you find yourself on the Silkwood journey, whether you are new to the school or returning, we recommend pouring a cuppa and taking a read through the pages when you have some time to do so.

Tuckshop Ordering resumes on Tuesday 24 January.

Our Tuckshop Team is committed to providing wholesome lunches and snacks in line with the Silkwood School nutrition policy. High-quality and homemade foods are available for purchase and served in paper bags or BioPak plant-derived, compostable containers. 

• All orders are to be made via the Qkr! App, before 8.15am each day, click here for instructions; OR
• Parents and carers can place their orders directly with Jo at the tuckshop (cash payments accepted);
• Late orders can be handed in at the tuckshop window or by phoning Jo on 0415 907 888 as early as possible;
• Students can place their orders directly with Jo at the tuckshop. This must be done before 8.20am each morning so as not to affect school start times;
• Lunch orders will be collected by lunch monitors and delivered to classes as usual.
• The School fully supports the move to a paperless, cashless ordering system (cash will be accepted at the tuckshop window when ordering directly with Jo in the mornings).
• The Qkr! App ordering system is straightforward and provides a visual menu to assist with ordering.
  
  * Sushi orders will be on hold for the first week until we source a new provider.

Learn more about the Silkwood Tuckshop and using Qkr! via the buttons below. 

At the beginning of each year, you will need to update your child's year level to ensure lunch is delivered to the right classroom. You can update this information under the 'Profiles' tab in Qkr!
You will receive a reminder notification on your phone at the beginning of the year.

Learn more about the Silkwood Tuckshop via the buttons below. 

We encourage families to follow the ‘Wipe Out Waste – Nude Food’ Guidelines and promote lunch foods without excess packaging. This reduces the amount of rubbish that needs to go in the bin to then be sent to landfill. Durable and reusable containers are a great way to bring food, as they may last from pre-school through to high school and beyond, providing long term cost savings and environmental benefits.

Reduce the amount of material sent to landfill to benefit the environment by packing:

• Snacks/food in reusable containers;
• Water in a reusable stainless-steel bottle;
• Reusable utensils when needed;
• A reusable lunchbox.

Tips for packing Nude Food lunches:

• Help children to make nutritious, waste-less lunches and let them make their own lunches. Try packing lunches the night before and storing them in the fridge overnight.
• Discuss with your child what they like to eat and how much. Be mindful of what comes home in your child’s lunchbox.
• Cut up fruit and vegetables and pack them in reusable containers so that children can eat some and save the rest for later.

For families who collect their child/ren from school must display a visor sign showing their child's name and year level. 

Whether you collect your child from the Primary or Middle School campus, this information is extremely important to assist in keeping school traffic flowing each afternoon.

Please ensure your car's passenger visor is fitted with a sign clearly stating your child's name and year level. We suggest you keep this sign attached to your visor (or somewhere handy and ready to attach) and simply flip your passenger sun visor down before entering the car park.

This greatly improves the efficiency of readying students to be collected.

Below are examples of signs for single and multiple name layouts. Should you require assistance in producing a sign for your vehicle, please get in touch with your Class Carer.

Silkwood Equestrian Team

This year, we are again excited to have students competing in the Equestrian Affiliated Queensland Inter-School Equestrian competition.

Competing at an interschool event is an extra-curricular activity and requires a time and financial commitment by families outside of school hours to train and compete. Please note despite these events across a range of disciplines being an interschool tournament; the school is not involved in the coordination and running of these events.

Conditions of entry:

Students must have their own horse

Ideally, students are already competing or partaking in regular lessons (Recommended to be ready for competition environment but not necessary)

Horses must be EA registered (base)

Riders must be EA registered

If your child is interested in competing in the Queensland Interschool Competition, please click here to find out how to register and all other details relating to this competition.

If you are interested in your child joining the team or have any other questions, please let your child’s Advisor know so further details can be passed onto you by our Sports Coordinator. We have a supportive Facebook group including our past and existing Equestrian Team members, and we’re always happy to welcome more!

District Sports

Silkwood School is part of the Broadwater District Sporting Schools Region. District Trials are a highly competitive, representative sporting pathway for students aged 10-19years wishing to pursue representative pathways in their chosen sport.

Broadwater District School Sport has this year established a Facebook page where students and families can locate the trial calendar and receive updates regarding any possible changes to trials. Please note that all nominations must go through the school nomination process.

If your child is interested in trialling for one of these sports, please inform your child’s Advisors well before the trial date (minimum of two weeks prior). 

Broadwater District School Sport Facebook

Cross Country

At Silkwood, our cross-country event aims to provide a fun and developmentally appropriate cross-year level opportunity for students to engage in physical activity.

Our focus is on students actively participating and doing their best, whether that be walking, running, skipping or dancing their way through!

For students interested in expanding their sporting horizons and seeking more competitive opportunities, our cross-country event is also used as an opportunity for students aged 10-19years to trial for the District Cross Country Trial (held in Term 2) and have their times recorded for consideration.

This year’s carnival will be held on Wednesday the 29th March.

District Swimming

The Broadwater District Swimming trial is taking place on Thursday 23rd of February. The District Swimming Trial is a highly competitive trial for students wishing to compete and possibly advance into more competitive pathways such as regional representation.

Consequently, we encourage students partaking in squad swimming or equivalent activity to consider this pathway.

To attend the District Swimming Trial, students must submit their times for consideration in their chosen races, and these times must be signed off by their swimming coach; please note there are no 25m races at the District Trial. Students should pass their times onto their Advisor or hand them into the office to be passed onto the Sports Coordinator. Times must be submitted no later than 1 pm on Friday the 10th of February.

Interschool Tennis

The Annual Gold Coast Interschool Tennis Tournament is happening again on Sunday 20th February at the Gold Coast Tennis Centre in Southport.

The format of this competition is a round-robin doubles tournament with Primary, Middle and Secondary divisions.

Students do not need to be professional tennis players to enter this tournament, but we do recommend they are confident and knowledgeable of the rules and have some experience at playing tennis to get the most out of the day.

If your child is interested in entering this competition, please get in contact with your child’s Advisor, nominations are due by the 10th of February.

Silkwood School has established Year Level Family Facebook Groups. Their purpose is to provide a positive, respectful, and engaging social media platform for our families to share and discuss information that will enhance a sense of community and connection. 

These groups are solely for the student's primary parents or carers. We respectfully ask that Grandparents and other family members refrain from joining the group unless they play a direct role in your child's school and home life and are listed as an approved guardian with the school. 

Group members can post and share information directly to the page. These groups are moderated and monitored by our volunteer Class Carers and the School Marketing Team. We provide guidelines as a self-reflective tool, so people can self-determine the appropriateness of what they share. Moderators will remove items that don’t reflect the purpose or guidelines of the group. More information is provided under the 'About' tab in each Facebook group. 

At the start of each year, our Marketing Team rolls over each group into the next year level. You will, therefore, only need to join the group once.

Join your 2022 Year Level Family Facebook Group below! 

We are finalising additional groups for our community to connect in and look forward to sharing these details with you soon. 

We love to see our community carpool as it helps many students safely get to and from school, and it helps reduce congestion around the school during drop-off and pick-up time. We encourage you to join our carpooling page if you're after help getting your child/ren to and from school, or if you are available to assist other families with carpooling.

We have seen such great community spirit through this page and thank all families for their dedication to the carpooling initiative. 

The Silkwood Community Care Association (SCCA) run a dedicated Facebook page for secondhand uniforms. 

The purpose of this page is to provide a positive, respectful, and engaging social media platform for the SCCA to sell secondhand uniforms to members of the Silkwood community.

All money raised through this SCCA secondhand uniform initiative goes back into supporting the SCCA and the work it does in the Silkwood Community. All uniforms sold through the secondhand uniform page have been kindly donated by past and present Silkwood families.

Please be mindful this page is solely for the SCCA to manage enquiries (e.g. donations and wanting to buy requests) and sell secondhand uniforms. If you wish to sell your secondhand uniforms, please do so using the dedicated 'Silkwood School Buy, Swap and Sell' page on Facebook.

The Silkwood Community Care Association (SCCA) is a not-for-profit group of parents and friends who work in partnership with our School Team and the wider community to nurture our strong sense of community at Silkwood School.

We look forward to sharing SCCA news with you later this term!

Silkwood School is committed to supporting parents to balance work and family. We work in partnership with the Helping Hands Network to provide Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) for children in Prep to Year 7. 

Helping Hands prides itself on providing children with fun, play-based learning experiences. From exciting activities, healthy nutritious food, to caring motivated team members; the service meets all your child's needs.

Before and After School Care Hours 

Before School Care Hours: 7.00 am - 8.45 am

After School Care Hours: 3.00 pm - 6.00 pm

Helping Hands provide a range of activities including arts and crafts, games, sports, science, gardening, drama, board games, dress-ups, cooking activities and fun social time with friends. On request from parents, children can also participate in Homework Club. The service provides breakfast at Before School Care and afternoon tea at After School Care. 

For more information and to enrol with the service please visit our page.