The City's Country School
The city's country school adjacent to the rainforest at the base of the Kuranda Range, Caravonica is a primary school of around 600 children in years prep to six. The school was established in 1927 and has enjoyed a steady growth rate ever since. Our grounds are quite extensive and well maintained, with a 'green' image that complements our tropical surroundings. The architectural structure of the school supports flexibility in teacher decisions about classroom organisation. All classrooms are air-conditioned and most teaching spaces are separated by flexible partitions which can be opened when required to facilitate cooperative teaching and learning. This happens only rarely and, for the most part, classrooms adopt a fairly traditional one teacher to one class group approach. Composite classes are established in response to demands exerted by enrolments.
Subjects taught at the school cover Mathematics, English, Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE), Languages Other Than English (LOTE), Science, Art, Music, Instrumental Music (strings, brass and woodwind), Health and Physical Education (HPE).
Competitive sport is highly encouraged among pupils in years four to six to provide the opportunity to apply skills learnt during physical education lessons. The school has a choir, an orchestra and a concert band who perform in a variety of public forums and school events.
Students are also encouraged to participate in local public speaking competitions. We have a well-equipped, air-conditioned library, and computers are available to children in every classroom including prep in addition to a computer laboratory.
Our school services five disparate communities which comprise Caravonica, Lake Placid, Smithfield, Holloways Beach and Trinity Park. An outside school hours care facility which operates from 2:30pm to 6pm each school day offers support for families who require it.
This service also offers a Vacation Care Program for each holiday period and for all Student Free Days held by the school throughout the year.
The Parents and Citizens Association at Caravonica is a well informed, proactive and energetic group which is actively involved in the decision making process of the school. Regular newsletters every Monday address school-based and general educational issues, forming the basis of on-going dialogue at various parent-teacher forums. With the advent of the school council, this role has been enhanced and staff and parents establish strategic direction for the school. Parents can access school involvement by assisting in classrooms, working in our tuckshop and attending P&C meetings (which are held on the third Monday of every month). Sports days are well supported by our parents, and there are frequent opportunities to accompany specific classes on excursions and camps. School facilities are used by a wide range of community groups including athletes, tennis players, and soccer.
Caravonica State School acknowledges the traditional custodians, the Djabugay people, of the country in which this school is located and pays respect to their elders past and present.
Each year a student council is elected by the pupils in years 4 to 6 as part of a leadership program. This program encourages and promotes students with leadership skills and potential. The school captains and vice captains assume the role of Student Council Executive.
Caravonica networks with other schools on an issue-by-issue basis. An on-going relationship has been established with the neighbouring school, Trinity Beach, which, because of cultural similarities between the two schools, is frequently involved in addressing issues similar to those at Caravonica.