22 August 2018

Newsletter Articles

EKKA Extravaganza

The St George State High School Show Team, comprising of seven girls, Ashleigh Ferguson, Matilda Hoolihan, Rebecca Hoolihan, Dayna Colley, Taylor McDougall, Bronte Johnson and Kiarni Wilson and one boy, Lachlan York, got off to an early start Monday 13 August with Ag Assistant, Lennie Cott, P&C President, Rochelle Ferguson, parent Nicky Hoolihan and Miss Ives heading to the Qld Royal Show in Brisbane (EKKA). The team took down 7 sheep from our Poll Dorset stud and arrived at the Show Grounds just after 3pm. For the rest of the day sheep were settled into their new homes and the pens were decorated in preparation for the ‘Tidy Pens’ competition. Students spent the afternoon preparing for several various Junior Judging Categories where the points received contributed to the overall most successful Junior Judge at the EKKA.

Tuesday

On Tuesday morning the team was up early mucking out the sheep pens, replacing saw dust, feeding the stock and refilling water. Once the chores were done, everyone got dressed in their formal uniform to try out their skills in the junior judging competitions. Cake icing judging was first. From over 40 entries, Lachy York, Ashleigh Ferguson, Taylor McDougall, Tilly Hoolihan, Becky Hoolihan and Dayna Colley judged the cakes in a similar order to the judge and got chosen to speak. Lachy, Ashleigh, Tilly and Becky received a highly commended award. Dayna received a 3rd place and Taylor took out 1st place! Students then rushed to try their luck in fish and pineapple judging. In the fish judging, Lachy, Taylor and Tilly were chosen to speak. The judge, Mr Stephan Barnes, was very impressed with St George SHS students in the competition and stated ‘if this is the caliber of young people we have, the next generation is in good hands’. The judge also said, Tilly did a great job of justifying her opinions and even though she didn’t get the same order as the judge she had 100% sound judgement and reasoning, so she took out 1st place! Taylor received 2nd place and Lachy earned himself another highly commended award. Kiarni Wilson did a great job in the pineapple judging and earned herself a 2nd place ribbon!

Wednesday

On Wednesday morning everyone was dressed in their green and gold to be ready for people’s day! Ashleigh, Bronte, Kiarni and Lennie Cott went out into the main arena in the grand parade. This was a great opportunity to show off two of our prize winning sheep on the 7 News channel. The students and Lennie were very excited to see themselves on the big screen!

After their claim to fame, all students took part in junior judging with the angora goats. With over 60 competitors Becky and Ashleigh made it into the final top 12 junior handlers. This was an outstanding achievement, considering that it was the first time the girls handled goats without halters. Becky received 2nd place for her handling skills and the judge said she answered his questions correctly and handled really well because she paid attention to the judge and kept the goat between her and the judge at all times. Students then had a go at angora fleece judging with Taylor earning herself a 2nd place ribbon. In between all of the judging and handling, students were proudly interacting with the public, answering the many questions and keeping the pens tidy. It was a very busy day, but everyone chipped in to help out!

Thursday

On Thursday there was another early morning preparing animals and then heading over to the wool judging. The students were lucky enough to hear some inside information about what characteristics were commendable in the merino wool. The extra knowledge paid off as Tilly, Dayna and Taylor were advanced into the final to speak amongst many competitors. Taylor and Dayna came in 3rd place and Tilly received 2nd place. Everyone then went to have a look at the dairy goats. Ashleigh, Lachy and Taylor were chosen to speak in the junior judging of dairy goats and Bronte and Miss Ives were chosen to speak in the seniors. Ashleigh and Lachy took out a highly commended and Taylor scored herself another 1st place ribbon. Bronte scored a highly commended and Miss Ives received a 2nd place.

Friday

Friday was an exciting day! Students were up early in the morning to prepare the sheep for judging. Bronte led Loco who went on to win Poll Dorset School Ram Champion. Dingle received reserve champion Poll Dorset and she was led by Tilly. Cream won Poll Dorset school champion ewe, led by Dayna. Cookie won poll Dorset school reserve champion ewe, led by Lachy. Cookie, Cream and Chief won 2nd place in the school breeders group. Cream was classed as ‘Cream of the crop’ and took out grand champion ewe lead by Dayna.

Saturday

Saturday was the junior handlers’ competition of sheep judging. Three St George SHS students, Dayna, Ashleigh and Tilly were chosen to be in finals (top 9) out of over 60 students. Dayna received 2nd, Tilly 3rd and Ashleigh 4th. Bronte managed to take out 3rd in the senior handlers. The three girls from junior handlers then went to compete against the seniors. The green and gold uniforms were on show, there were four St George students out of eight competitors. Out of all the juniors and seniors, Dayna earnt herself a 2nd place ribbon. Later in the day there were many tears of happiness when the judge, Mr George Malone, announced St George SHS in 3rd place for tidy pen competition and 2nd place for most successful school at the EKKA. Taylor McDougall was announced the winner of the Walter Darker Memorial Award for the most successful competitor in junior judging.

Thanks to Lennie, Rochelle and Nicky for their continuous support and to the many donors, The Australian Hotel, Nick’s Fix It, Elders St George, Landmark St George, Golders, O’Brien Toyota and Riverina Stock Feeds for their wonderful donations that made the week at the EKKA possible.

All eight students represented our school to a very high standard and, at all times, conducted themselves with pride. Not once did they complain about an early morning start, the unpleasant jobs or how extremely tired they were. They interacted with the public well and showed their sheep and school off proudly. All students looked stunning; receiving many comments how smart they looked. Every student used their manners at all times and they grew in their knowledge and experience. They showed interest, respect and listened to the judges; let’s say all of the hard work, effort and dedication paid off. It was a great week at the EKKA!

Miss Alanna Ives, Teacher

From the Principal

It is now more than half way through Term 3; the year is slipping away fast. Students should all be focussing on upcoming assessment. This is particularly true for students in Year 12 who have only 50 or so days remaining of their school life. In that time they need to ensure that they have completed all of the requirements for all of their subjects. Our goal is to assist every Year 12 student to leave St George SHS with a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), however, this can only happen with commitment and hard work from the students.

Since the beginning of the term, the staff and I have been working on several areas that we believe will assist the students of St George SHS have improved opportunities for success. The most notable has been establishing an expectation that students remain in class. As mentioned previously, students cannot learn if they are either not in attendance every day, or they choose to leave the classroom where the teaching is happening. This initiative has seen a great improvement and the students should be congratulated for this. The weekly school parade is another area that has improved markedly this term. Run by our student leaders, the parade has seen student engagement improve markedly in the last few weeks. Thank you to Mr Hutchinson and the Year 12 leaders for their efforts with this.

One of the stated school values is Be Prepared, this relates to students coming to all of their classes with the correct equipment. Students are unable to participate in learning if they do not have a basic set of equipment for every class that they are taught, and that this equipment is brought with them to every class, every day. This is also part of being Responsible, another of the school’s values.

School Opinion Survey

The annual School Opinion Survey (SOS) has been posted home and the students in Years 8 and 11 have completed theirs during Weeks 5 and 6. The SOS gives the school an important snapshot of how it is being viewed by students, parents and staff. Data collected through the SOS is used to inform the development of plans the school will implement in the coming year/s. It is always better if all of the surveys are completed as it gives the school a clearer picture of what may be needed. The surveys must be completed by Friday 24 August.

EKKA

Miss Alanna Ives and Mr Lennie Cott and the schools Show Team, a group of eight students from various year levels, have just returned from a week at the EKKA in Brisbane. As reported previously, the group of students were excellent ambassadors for the St George SHS community. Alanna and Lennie deserve a sincere thankyou from all of us for going well above and beyond to give the students this experience.

Mr John Lofthouse, Principal

From Deputy Principal

Well, the term is moving along quickly and it’s great to see the students engaged and learning as I walk through the classes. We are very excited to be welcoming several university practicum students to our school community throughout the remaining school year to complete their final university placement. They will be teaching classes across all year levels and completing their formal internship in Term 4. We are very fortunate to have experienced staff that will mentor these new teachers in their journey to graduate. It is very uplifting to know that there is a strong desire for teachers from the major cities to relocate to rural and remote areas and experience what the outback has to offer. We know they will enjoy their time in our community.

SATE

We are continuing our planning to prepare our staff and students for changes as part of the Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance (SATE) reforms. Whilst these reforms will impact on our curriculum delivery and assessment for our senior students from 2019 onwards, we are also acknowledging the need to review our pedagogy and processes in our junior secondary grades in order to prepare them for the new system they will be engaged in. It was great to see parents and carers at our information night on 6 August 2018 and a big thank you to Mrs Deb Addison (Senior HOD) for her presentation on these new reforms. Please keep an eye out on the Facebook page and newsletter for more parent and carer information nights to be scheduled before the end of the year.

Parent Contact

I’d like to take this opportunity to reiterate our interest to work with parents and carers to promote positive outcomes for our students. Please do not hesitate to make an appointment with me through our office staff if I can be of assistance on any matter.

Mr Nick Hutchinson, Acting Deputy Principal

From HoD Junior Secondary

Year 9 Camp

The 2018, Year 9 Team Work Development Camp will be held in Week 1 at Camp CYC Burleigh in Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast. Information about this camp was sent home with students last week. A non-refundable deposit of $100 is due by Friday 24 August 2018 if you would like to hold a place for your student.

If you would like to arrange a payment plan for Year 9 Camp, please contact Ben Lawson, Business Manager on 4620 8222.

Attendance

Attendance continues to be a school priority as every day counts towards improving the learning outcomes for our students. The stated goal for all students is 95% attendance. Below are the current rates for Years 7 to 9:

Road Safety

It is important to remember that as our students are walking or riding, to and from school, that they are following road safety rules. It has been noticed that a number of students, on their way home, have been unsafe. Members of the community have noticed this, in particular, along Alfred Street and have expressed concern about the number of students walking in the middle of the road and crossing at the intersection in an unsafe manner. If your child walks or rides home please take some time to discuss road safety expectations.

Late to School

If your child is going to be late, it is a requirement that they provide an official reason when signing in at the office. This explanation can come in the form of:

• a signed note from home
• a phone call to the office
• a conversation with office staff as your child is dropped off

It is expected that the reason for being late to school will be provided by a parent/caregiver. Students arriving late to school without an official explanation or satisfactory reason will be issued with a lunch time detention as a consequence.

Mr Christopher Smith, HoD Junior Secondary

NAPLAN Online update

Preparations for the move to NAPLAN Online are underway. Some of our staff will be attending training in August to learn how to use the national assessment platform.

The department is also supporting our school to ensure we are technically ready to participate in a national School Readiness Trial in October 2018. The trial allows us to check our technical readiness and provides our students and staff with an opportunity to become familiar with the types of test items and online assessment process.

The teachers are supporting students to become familiar with the ICT skills needed for online assessment. These skills are regular part of lessons and are described in the Australian Curriculum.

The tailored test design adapts to each student’s level of performance, and another benefit of online assessment is that students can listen through their headsets to the questions (except in reading).

The national demonstration website features test items that support students with a disability.

CHEMISTRY

The Year 11 and 12 Chemistry students are currently learning about the processes of oxidation and reduction in class and have discovered some concepts for themselves by doing experiments involving the electrolysis of water. They have generated hydrogen and oxygen gas and even some toxic green chlorine gas. When the electrodes were changed from graphite to copper, they observed the solution turn blue, showing that copper metal had been oxidised to form copper (II) ions with hydrogen ions acting as the oxidant. No students were injured in these experiments – we try to avoid ‘oxidants’ in Chemistry (ha ha).

Mrs Karen McKechnie, Chemistry Teacher

YEAR 9 SCIENCE

In Year 9 Science on Wednesday 8 August, students were investigating the excretory system. Students dissected a pig’s kidney and identified the anatomical parts.

BUROINJIN TRADITIONAL INDIGENOUS GAMES

Yr 7 students were able to participate in a game of Buroinjin on Wednesday 8 August.

Buroinjin is a ball game played by the Kabi Kabi people of South Queensland. The game is usually played with a ball made of kangaroo skin which was called a buroinjin.

Thank you to Mr Shaun Lacey for coming and sharing this with us.

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEYS

If you have already completed your Parent/Caregiver Survey, thank you and please disregard this notice. If not already completed, the online surveys will remain open until Friday, 24 August 2018. This is your opportunity to have a say about what this school does well and how this school can improve.

If you have not received any survey access details yet, please contact Di Morris on telephone 4620 8222 or email admin@stgeorgeshs.eq.edu.au.

RACQ Competition

At RACQ, we think teachers do an amazing job in our community. That’s why we’re giving every school in Queensland the chance to win a $20,000 staffroom makeover to reward teachers for all their hard work. We want to give Queenslanders the chance to say `thank you’ to a teacher who has inspired them or a family member – every message of appreciation gets your school an entry in the draw.

A little thank you goes a long way with the following prizes up for grabs:

• Major prize of a $20,000 staffroom makeover
• 2 runner-up prizes of a $1,000 eftpos gift card
• Plus, the school with the most thank you notes also receives a $1,000 eftpos gift card.

Entering is easy, visit the link below for full terms and conditions and to write your thank you note.

P&C News

Term 3 is flying by as fast as ever; it’s hard to believe that we are half way through already. The days should be getting longer soon and the weather warming up.

Southwest Track and Field Catering Fundraiser

With only 3 weeks to go I am asking for help to do a few hour-shifts or provide homebake on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 September. This will be held in the canteen at the back oval and this will be a massive opportunity to fundraise for our P&C. Can you please contact myself either by email nickelle@bigpond.com or phone 0419 798 352. Any time and support you can give would be so appreciated.

P&C upcoming meeting date

Our next P&C meeting will be held on Monday 17 September starting at 6.30pm in the school library. Everyone is welcome. If you cannot make it to the meeting but would like to join via telephone, the Conference Number is 1800 931 210 and the Conference Code is 5154 668 981.

Thank you for your support.

Rochelle Ferguson, P&C President

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