Member for Toowoomba North Mr Trevor Watts spent the morning at Newtown State School (NSS) acting in the role of Principal as part of State Education Week celebrations.
The Principal for the Day Program enables schools to forge important partnerships within the community, and encourages relationships with parents and students.
Mr Watts shadowed NSS Principal Mr Ben Kidd to gain insight into the daily operations of the school. He engaged with the students and parents, attended a school assembly, and visited students in the classroom.
Mr Watts said “he was most interested in the schools reward-based Gotcha Program, a program that encourages students to display good behaviour with teachers witnessing students behaving well.”
“The students earn points to trade in for prizes at the Gotcha trading shop which rewards students for achieving the values of safety, responsibility, and respect,” Mr Watts said.
As part of celebrations, the Toowoomba Soroptimists group and the Toowoomba Youth Service together donated hand-made library bags as gifts for the school students.
NSS Principal Mr Kidd said “as we focus on our students achieving excellent reading and due to our socioeconomic status, many of our students don’t have library bags to borrow books. By earning Gotcha points and trading them for the donated library bags, we are finding the children are valuing the prize and utilizing our library for borrowing and extension of their reading skills.”
Principal for the Day Mr Watts said “I enjoyed meeting the school captains who were a great group of young ladies. As the new local member for Toowoomba North, I found meeting the parents and students incredibly valuable.”
For more information on State Education Week please visit the Queensland Government website at http://education.qld.gov.au/community/events/edweek or contact the Toowoomba North Electorate office on 07 4638 5755.