Glen Aplin State School is a small country school that offers an excellent education program for all students. Our motto is “Striving to improve” and we truly believe we provide the environment that enables all students to improve.
Our school is small enough for all children and families to know each other, and also large enough for our students to experience a variety of teachers, staff and friendship groups. Being a smaller school means all the children are known to all the staff, and individualised programs can be easily implemented. Our multi-age philosophy enables each student to learn at their own pace and experience real success.
Being a small school doesn’t mean our students miss out. Our students have access to the latest technology, experienced staff and a resource-rich environment that supports their needs. Our permanent staff are supported by visits from music, physical education (PE) and Languages other than English (LOTE) specialist teachers, and weekly engagement with other small schools in the ‘Granite Belt Community of Small School’ sporting competitions.
Our school has adopted the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework to ensure the best possible learning environment for every member of our school community. SWPBS framework is a whole-school framework, developed in USA and implemented in the worlds leading educational systems, including Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark. The SWPBS framework requires schools to develop proactive systems to define, teach, and support appropriate student behaviours. Through the SWPBS framework, our school has defined school expectations for all students as:
I am safe.
I am responsible.
I am respectful.
I am a learner.
Glen Aplin State School was established in 1887, and is sited by the picturesque Severn River. Our school overlooks bushland and farmland in a very rural area of the Granite Belt. Our school community has historically been predominantly farming families. We now have a number of students from the growing Glen Aplin village and more students travel from nearby Stanthorpe seeking a small school experience.
Our P&C is very active, running the usual tuckshop, Mother's Day stalls, and various other fundraisers throughout the year. The P&C are motivated to raise funds to be able to support the school in providing a varied and interesting program for the children. Fundraising does go towards school improvements, but also to bus hire so children can attend events hosted in Stanthorpe and further abroad, and significant contributions to school camps to ensure all children can attend.
The Glen Aplin community is very generous and supportive of our school, donating regularly to school fundraisers. The Glen Aplin memorial hall is the centrepoint of the Glen Aplin community and is frequently used by our school for events and functions. The hall includes a stage and a commercial kitchen, so it’s perfect for hosting Arts Queensland productions or school community events. The Glen Aplin Hall was built largely by volunteers in 1953 and is maintained by a dedicated committee for use as a community resource into the future. The rural fire brigade is housed next door on land made available by the hall, so it is also ready to be used as an evacuation centre during emergencies such as fire or flood. Nearby the hall, the hall committee has developed sporting oval for use by the community, and it has been made available to the Glen Aplin State School to use.