Year 7 Parent & Carer Toolkit
Transitioning to a new school can be difficult for Students, but also for their Parents and Carers. To make things easier for you, we have put together a checklist to make it easier for you to navigate.
1. Connect with your Class: Your Student will likely be in this class for three years so it is great to have the contact details of other parents to organise real life hangouts / birthday party invitations, etc. **Year 7 Class Registration**
2. Connect with the School: It is important to register for the school newsletter to know what is going on and when. This will help you save the dates and ensure no clashes with extracurricular activities. **Newsletter Registration**
3. Connect with your Community:
a) Attend a P&C meeting to understand the positive changes being made and the challenges that the community face. Sign up to receive P&C Meeting Agendas, Minutes here: New P&C Members. Presentations are made by various roles within the school, to better understand who does what. If you want to see change, we invite you to be involved to effect the change. We are very welcoming of newcomers and would love to see you there and hear your views. Dates are in the calendar below but are here also for ease: 11 Feb, 11 Mar (AGM), 6 May (TBC), 3 Jun, 29 Jul, 26 Aug, 21 Oct, 11 Nov (TBC). Contact Annika our Secretary at secretary@ishspandc.org.au with any queries.
b) Volunteer at Tuckshop: register to give 1 to 3 hours of your time and meet other parents and the lovely team. Tuckshop sign up. You will work alongside our amazing chef Deb, who is our Convenor and leader of all things culinary. As our way of saying Thank You, you get to leave your shift with a lunch of your choice. Having 1 tuckshop volunteer each day helps us keep food prices lower than you might find at other tuckshops.
c) Join the Facebook Page: Sign up here Indooroopilly SHS Parents as it's a great place to ask questions, and many families tell us it's the only reason they are on FaceBook!
d) Consider taking on an Executive Role with the P&C. Every year, all P&C Executive roles become vacant at the AGM. Anyone can apply for the roles, and if more than one person applies, P&C Members vote at the AGM to elect the new Executive. At the March 2026 AGM, we know for sure that our Treasurer role will become vacant, and we haven't yet heard from anyone who is willing to take on the role. Please give it some thought if you can do this role, and contact Maryanne (president@ishspandc.org.au) and Treena (assistant.treasurer@ishspand.org.au) to find out more.
[The finances are in good shape, there's a paid bookkeeper, an experienced Assistant Treasurer, and a clean audit opinion as at 31 December 2025. It would be the smoothest start anyone could wish for!]
e) Be part of the UN Night 2026 team: Mark your diary for Friday 19 June 2026 from 3pm - 8pm. UN Day for students is all about showcasing the rich cultural diversity, creativity, and spirit that makes our school so unique. In 2026, we're undertaking an experiment: extending UN Day into UN Night, inviting families and alumni to be part of the celebrations from 3:00pm–8:00pm. From vibrant performances to delicious food stalls and engaging activities, we want this event to reflect the incredible ideas and talents of our students, families, and wider school community. To get involved, register your interest here, and we'll contact you shortly.
[We need to hear from 1 more Event Planner / Area Convenor to help ensure the planning for this event is neat and tidy... let us know now if this is something you can help with!! Need to know by 15 February to assess what scope of event we can support. We don't burn out our volunteers, we adjust the event to what we can realistically deliver. Register your interest above, to tell us how you can help]
f) Are you a Happy Helper who's able to fill a shift on a roster at a BBQ? Perhaps you love to cook and are keen to join a cook-up team and get to know some other families at the same time? Or do you have a new idea that you'd like to take flight via P&C and are keen to get it moving? Fill out this form and we'll be sure to plug you in to the relevant people soon.
4. Student Resource Scheme and Stationary Lists: The School's website lists the resources for each year group here.
5. Download QParents (and make sure you have the most up to date version). Contact the school admin office if it's not working for you. You really need QParents to work through all the consent notifications and approvals the school needs to function smoothly.
6. Morning Notices are important for your student to listen to - High school's default way of working is that the student drives their own pathways. There is A LOT of content in the morning notices that are read out in Connect class. If they are not properly read out, you can check the online version that the student's receive each day.
7. Term 1, Week 2 Morning Notices are the key to navigating Clubs - every year the day, time and location of club activities are usually announced in the morning notices for Term 1, Week 2. The first newsletter of the year contains a link to the club scope and offerings. There are a lot of choices and it gives students somewhere to be at first break.
8. Pre-order food at Tuckshop - your student will be able to skip the line at lunchtime, if they go to tuckshop before the start of the school day and order and pay for their lunch. It is much quieter to do it that way, and quicker too. Tuckshop menu and prices are on the school website.
9. Use a card to pay at Tuckshop rather than cash - your student will get through the tuckshop line and pre-order line faster, if they pay with card and not cash.
