First and foremost, our belief is that the health and well-being of our school community is key. We work very hard to ensure that staff, families and our students are supported to provide the very best social, emotional, physical and educational outcomes throughout our community. Our strong standing throughout the Gold Coast and wider community and excellent “word of mouth" reputation are testament to our commitment to this belief.
Our vision, “Caningeraba is a community committed to educating happy, healthy, confident 21st century learners" was developed in consultation with parents, staff and students. We posed the question “What are the most important skills, attitudes and qualities that our children need to survive and thrive as adults in the 21st century?" and this vision became our answer. Our community believes in the importance of many 21st century skills and attitudes including self-confidence, individuality, creativity, resilience, risk taking, communication, collaboration in a team, being happy and healthy, and contributing by giving back to the community. This vision drives our strategic direction in working towards our preferred future within a culture of continuous improvement. Most importantly, a key belief is that 21st century learning requires a renewed focus on pedagogy and a movement from teaching to learning where we 'teach the way children learn'.
A future orientated vision has enabled our school to facilitate a 'cutting edge' focus in the provision of information and communication technologies to enhance student learning. Caningeraba State School supports a school-wide dense wireless Wi-Fi infrastructure incorporating a junior laboratory and laptop Technology Lounge, where students learn about digital technologies through exploration and problem-solving. We support students to develop the skills they need to thrive in their school life. Our school fosters a more collaborative learning environment and students learn to be digitally creative and critical thinkers. We also believe that a strong foundation in maintaining proper online etiquette are all vital skills students can learn. Classrooms are equipped with iPads or laptops for collaboration work and an interactive whiteboard platform is provided in every classroom to allow efficient access to online curriculum resources.
Caningeraba State School is a high performing school with a strong culture that through high expectations “lives and breathes”:
- Continuous improvement
- Consistency
- Clarity
- Celebration of success
Supported through:
- Quality curriculum
- Quality teaching and learning
- Quality data
- Quality processes
Caningeraba State School delivers the Australian Curriculum which provides the platform for enabling relevant and meaningful learning experiences for our students across preparatory to Year 6 currently in the areas of English, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography. Students also study French as a Language Other Than English (LOTE) from Year 2, and Music, Drama, Dance and Health and Physical Education starting in Prep.
Caningeraba is an inclusive school, catering for a diverse range of cultures, backgrounds and individual social emotional, physical and learning needs. Explicit targeted intervention programs to support individual learning needs involves working with small groups and individual children, the services of the Speech Language Pathologist, and specialised Gifted and Talented programs. Our school Guidance Counsellor and Chaplain provide support to students and their families.
Sporting and cultural endeavours have played an important role in paving our rich history at Caningeraba. We provide Friday afternoon sport program to students in Years 5 and 6 and celebrate our annual swimming, cross country and athletics carnivals. Sport is deeply entrenched within Caningeraba culture with our students always participating with a competitive spirit and demonstrating great sportsmanship. An excellent instrumental music program is strongly supported by parents and showcased through our Junior and Senior Band, Jazz Band, String Ensembles and a Performance Choir. Caningeraba State School boasts many prestigious awards at Fanfare and Gold Coast Eisteddfod events.
We believe all our Year 5 and Year 6 students are leaders in our community and the development of student leadership is well established at the school with a broad range of opportunities provided. Our students can be Active School Travel Leaders and can be involved in helping to umpire younger students' soccer games. They also have the opportunity to be a “badged" leader in the form of School Captain, School Vice-Captain, Student Council President, Student Councillor, House Captain, Music Captain, French Captain or First Nations Leader.
Extra-curricular activities abound at our school including a range of school excursions, Tournament of Minds, Chess, Drumbeat, Year 6 and Year 5 Camp, Somerset Festival of Literature, St Jean Baptiste Noumean Exchange Program, and various Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural programs.
Caningeraba State School is a proud school built on high expectations. Our children wear the uniform with pride in accordance with the Uniform Dress Code endorsed by the Parents and Citizens Association (P&C). Visitors often provide feedback as to the welcoming, relaxed tone of our school and comment on the impeccable behaviour and beautiful manners of our children. 'Being thumbs up' and 'treating others as you would wish to be treated' are part of our embedded culture and are strongly reinforced at daily assemblies. Our school environment is safe, supportive, tolerant and disciplined.
The Caningeraba P&C works closely with the principal to consult on setting the improvement agenda for our school and implementing our strategic direction over time. The P&C Executive and members work tirelessly to raise funds for our school community, providing enhanced opportunities and resources for our students. New families are always welcome to become involved in their child's school by lending a hand and making a difference.