5 September 2018

Newsletter Articles

BALONNE SENIOR GAMES

This year the Year 10 cohort volunteered at the Balonne Senior Games. The students all had a great time officiating and interacting with the competitors as they played a variety of games. The students even had a go at some of the games themselves. It was a great day where the students showed their willingness to help and offered support wherever necessary. These students should all be extremely proud of themselves. Great job!

From the Principal

Sadness

In recent weeks the St George State High School community has been impacted by tragedies that have been felt deeply within our families and across this school and the St George State School.

On behalf of the school I would like to express our heartfelt condolences to our families, both those directly and indirectly affected.

Throughout this difficult time the members of our Health and Wellbeing team and Guidance Officers have been working tirelessly to help students who have been struggling with sadness. I would like to thank them for their efforts through this very trying time.

New Senior Curriculum 2019

Work is well underway at St George State High in readiness for the implementation of the biggest reform to senior schooling in Queensland in several decades. The most obvious changes include a completely new range of curriculum offerings that will begin with our Year 11 students in 2019. Many of these new subjects will culminate in an External Exam at the end of Year 12. Statewide and in all schools the current Year 11 cohort will be the last group to attain Overall Positions (OP) or sit the QCS test. In the future any student with aspirations of attending university will have to attain an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) which brings Queensland into line with the majority of the other states in Australia.

Subject offerings for the new seniors, while many will have the same or similar names, the way they are presented and assessed will be significantly different. 2019 will see the new system begin with the Year 11 cohort and, just as importantly, will see the final year of the previous system with the Year 12 cohort. It will be a very exciting and complicated time for all.

Students

During the last two weeks, the Year 9 HPE classes of Mr Leadbetter and Miss Ives have organised student vs staff games as part of their assessment. Mr Leadbetter’s class organised a game of Basketball last week and Miss Ives’ class a game of Touch Football. Both games were played in great spirit and many laughs were had; it was great to see. Thank you to these classes and their teachers for organising these games.

Our Year 10 students attended the Balonne Senior Games held at the Warrawee Aged Care facility on 20 August. The role of the students was to run games and competitions for the residents of Warrawee and other teams competing from around the area. Our students were excellent ambassadors for our school and did themselves proud on the day. This work will contribute to their Certificate II in Active Volunteering.

South West Track and Field

On Thursday and Friday 6 and 7 September, this major event is being hosted at St George State High School. Up to 400 athletes and their families will be in attendance over the two days. I know that our P&C is actively involved in catering for this event and also many Year 10 students will again be adding hours to their Cert II in Active Volunteering. We wish Mr Leadbetter and his team a great carnival.

Mr John Lofthouse, Principal

From Deputy Principal

The Queensland Core Skills test is underway this week with our Year 12 students sitting their exams in the Skills Centre. Good luck to all our students involved.

Our exam block for our Year 11 and 12 students commences next Tuesday 11 September and finishes Friday 14 September, 2018. Please be aware that whilst students are expected to attend their exams in school uniform, they will be entering and exiting the school at different times throughout the week. Our 7-10 year levels will also be participating in their exams over the next two weeks, however, are expected to be at school each and every day. We are adopting a new approach to our Junior Secondary assessment administration and seating them in cohort groups. This is a whole school initiative to help us develop their skills for the new QCE requirements that are being implemented in Senior in 2019.

We are very impressed with the amount of students cashing in their ZINGERS for prizes. These students have regularly upheld our school expectations of Being Safe, Responsible, Respectful and Prepared and it is great to see them being rewarded.

Mr Nick Hutchinson, Acting Deputy Principal

From HoD Senior Secondary

The New QCE

Queensland is introducing a new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system starting with Year 11 students in 2019. The changes will give students the skills they need for success in work and life in the future.

Key features include:

• new and redeveloped QCAA senior syllabuses
• external assessment in most senior subjects

• new quality assurance processes to strengthen the quality and comparability of school-based assessment
• changes to QCE eligibility requirements
• the introduction of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)

These changes are an exciting change and as a school we are planning how to best support the students in both this new QCE and also the 2019 Year 12 cohort who are finishing off on the current system.

To get the new QCE system off to the best start possible we are holding our Subject Selection night in Week 2 next Term on Monday 15 October. We will then take advantage of this knowledge and all Year 10s will complete a Senior Education and Training (SET) Plan meeting with their guardian and a member of Admin on Thursday 18 October.

All Year 10 students will be taking home a brochure about the new QCE this week.

As the Term quickly comes to a close, I want to remind students, parents and caregivers that every day counts. Senior students are expected to have above 85% attendance at school. If your student is going to be missing school for an extended time, please make sure that the school is aware. The Year 12s have the goal of 85% attendance for Term 3 and the start of Term 4 to receive an invite for formal. At the moment the senior school has the following attendance for Term 3:

As you can see our attendance is not where it should be and I encourage all families to strive for better attendance.

For any questions or concerns you may have regarding your Senior Secondary students please email me at daddi4@eq.edu.au or call 4620 8205.

Mrs Deborah Addison, HoD Senior Secondary

Hostile People on School Premises

The Department of Education, Training and Employment is committed to taking all reasonable steps to provide a safe School environment for staff, volunteers, students, parents and visitors. Unfortunately, dealing with people visiting School facilities, whose behaviour is unacceptable in that it threatens our safe School environment, or who do not have lawful authority to be on School premises, is something that we must address from time to time. To this end, the School and wider community are reminded that:

• It is an offence for a person to wilfully disturb the good order or management of a State educational institution (School).
• It is also an offence to insult an officer of a State educational institution in the presence or hearing of a student.
• Further, it is an offence for a person to be on the premises of a State educational institution unless the person has lawful authority.

BIOLOGY FIELD TRIP

On Wednesday 22 August, the Year 11/12 Biology class had a field trip to the Balonne River where they conducted water tests. Students completed many tests including a macro-invertebrate study. The data collected will be used to complete their assignment. Thank you to David Campbell for driving the bus.

Mrs Karla Small, Biology Teacher

SCIENCE AND EGGS

This term, the Year 10 students learnt about the laws of motion, conservation of energy, momentum and impulse. For their assignment, they had to design an experiment to investigate how mass; speed and car safety features affect the severity of a car crash. Last week, they conducted their experiments, and they got some good results. Six dozen eggs were used, and the students enjoyed crashing them. Some groups even named their eggs; some of the favourites were Patricia, Mal and Lucky.

DIVERSE LEARNING at STG SHS

Grace has been visiting the Ag Plot to observe and interact with the newest arrivals as part of her QCIA learning goal, “explain the importance of environments to animal and people”

Mrs Belinda Tolete

REMINDER - YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE

Parents, please remind your child that students need to return their Work Experience placements forms to the school office ASAP, as we only have two weeks until works experience for students.

Mrs Donna Waters, Youth Support Coordinator

CHAPLAINCY

Students face myriad challenges in their day to day life that have very little to do with education. Our school chaplain, Simon, plays an important role in our school community assisting students who are struggling with issues of self-doubt, bullying, peer pressure, anxiety, family breakdown and more. Simon assists students through programs such as Rock & Water (focusing on managing emotions and reactions), Love Bites (focusing on building healthy relationships), lunchtime activities (including OzTag) and individual support where required.

Simon’s wage is funded partly through a federal government grant (1 ½ days) and supplemented by community funding (3 ½ days). Unfortunately, the community funding is running low and we risk a reduction in hours if further funding is not sourced. As a school community, we are asking for financial support for the chaplaincy service. Donations can be made through SU Qld (please select St George State High School as the School)

YEAR 10 & SETPLAN MEETINGS

Senior Education and Training Plans for Year 10 students and their parents are on Thursday 18 October. Each parent and their child MUST have an interview at the school. The meeting will take place for approximately 30 minutes. During this meeting, we will look at your child’s post school destination, career goals and intended subjects of study. Each student’s journey must be mapped out carefully to ensure that their chosen subjects match their intended pathway; that they are QCE eligible and they are choosing subjects which reflect their interests and strengths. If you have not yet made an appointment, please do so using the school’s online booking system.

It is compulsory for all students to participate in the SET Plan process. I look forward to planning your child’s pathways with you.

ZINGERS

Students have been working hard to receiving Zingers. Students who demonstrate the school expectations of Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe and Be Prepared are rewarded with a Zinger.

These could be different values of 1, 2, 5, or 10 Zingers depending on the effort displayed by students. They then bank these zingers and use them to “purchase” a prize from the Zinger Menu.

This term, new prizes have been added and the students now have a lot to choose from. It’s been great to have so many students awarded Zinger prizes!

Melissa Scriven, Library Teacher Aide

DENTAL VAN VISITING

As you know, all forms have been issued and handed out to each student from Years 7 to 10. Forms must be returned to the office ASAP. Any student who is eligible and who has not received a form, please collect one from the Dental Van or the front office.

This service is a school-based service, so if a child misses coming to the van whilst it is in the school, the only appointments that will be available when we leave will be for emergencies.

Thank you for your assistance.

Jan Dimond, Oral Health Therapist

Looking for Vacation Care

Balonne Kindergarten is offering Vacation Care from 8am to 5pm, 24 to 28 September and 2 to 5 October. Phone Balonne Kindergarten 4625 3923 to register your interest and book a place.

P&C News

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 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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