21 November 2018

Newsletter Articles

FABULOUS FORMAL

Wednesday 14 November, the graduating class of 2018 celebrated their Year 12 Formal at the Cultural Centre. Students arrived in style and walked the red carpet into the beautifully decorated venue. Parents and guests looked on as the students arrived, and spent time celebrating with a few beverages and canapes, catered for by the P&C. Mr Rigney was the MC for the evening and entertained the crowd with his ‘dad’ jokes. Dinner and dessert was catered for by the P&C, led by Rochelle Ferguson and the tables were waited on by Kylie Whitaker and the volunteer students in Years 10 and 11.

Karen McKechnie was the official photographer for the night, and captured many great moments of the students and their families and friends. Thank you to Leisa Mullholland for lending her beautiful garden to the Year 12s, it was a beautiful location for the group photo.

The night was concluded by the Year 12s showcasing their moves on the dancefloor.

One final thanks goes to all the staff and community members who helped to create such a memorable night for our departing Year 12 students.

VALEDICTORY FOR CLASS OF 2018

Friday 16 November was the very last day of school for the 2018 Year 12 students. The Valedictory was held in the Rec Centre, where parents, carers and staff joined the student cohorts to wish the Year 12s all the very best on their journey after school.

Acting Principal, Mr Nick Hutchinson also congratulated the Year 12s on completing their schooling. He advised them to look back at how quickly those years had gone and with that in mind, to soak up this time with their friends and families and be sure to take a moment to reflect on their achievements, their friendships and where they are in themselves as a young adult.

In thanking parents, carers and families, Mr Hutchinson also said ‘by far the best gift you have been given in life to date is the opportunity to be educated. This would not have been possible without the support of your families both direct and indirect as well as the staff that have supported you through both primary and high school.

Knowledge gives you the capacity to learn new things, to challenge the norm and transfer your skills to new and exciting endeavours. It also equips you with the resilience you need to preserve when times are tough and the ability to show empathy and kindness to those who you come across in your life who may need to be helped, as you were many times throughout this part of your life. As we move through life we influence and are influenced by the people we meet. I’d encourage you to approach new situations with this in mind and aim to leave an influence of positivity and kindness’.

Mr Hutchinson’s last message was, ‘be humble, be respectful and work hard to achieve your goals whatever they may be. It has been a pleasure to know you for this short time. Good Luck!’

Mayor of Balonne Shire Council, Richard Marsh, was then invited to congratulate the Year 12 students and touched on the saying ‘school days are the best days of your life’ stating that this is true but only up until now. He said that the Year 12s have many ‘best years’ ahead and that they will be different for each person and never to settle for something that you are not overjoyed with. Tools such as a positive attitude, an education, the right friends and a fierce determination to succeed go along way with hard work to achieve those ‘best years’. Excellence is never an accident – it is the result of hard work.

The 2018 Captains, Olivia Hoolihan and Jack Drescher spoke about leadership and quoted U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office,” as they handed the reigns of leadership over to the 2019 Captains-Elect, Courtney Spackman, Georgina Speedy, Aerol Plaza and Georgina Waters and encouraged them to lead with integrity first, above all things.

The maroon blazers that are always a significant part of our formal school ceremonies were then handed over to the 2019 Captains who then compered the remaining Valedictory Ceremony.

The Senior Class of 2018 was presented with the Senior Folios before celebrating at the front school sign for the obligatory Valedictory Day photo and enjoying the company of parents, staff and other students at a morning tea in the library.

MURWILLUMBAH SHOW

On Thursday morning 10 students, Mr Lenny Cott, Mr Bruce Hoolihan, Mrs Rochelle Ferguson and Miss Alanna Ives had an early start and made the trip to Murwillumbah show grounds. Once the team arrived, the sheep were unloaded and camp was set up. On Friday, it was also an early start. Two students, Taylor McDougall and Matilda Hoolihan were chosen by the stewards to do the professional wool judging for the Murwillumbah Show Society. The show stewards were very impressed and appreciative of the girls. The team then learnt about Banana farming from Mr Colin Schurn, who showed the students a sample of the different types of bananas and mentioned how the banana farmers are inventing new strains of bananas via DNA extraction to reduce diseases. On Friday night, students enjoyed the rodeo. Saturday morning the students were up feeding, leading and giving the sheep water prior to the start of junior judging. Kiarni, Taylor, Dayna, Matilda and Bronte were chosen to speak. Taylor received first place and Matilda received second place. The St George Sheep also did well and received many first, second and third place ribbons for the ram and ewes as well as runner up champion ewe and supreme champion ewe. Overall, the St George State High School Show Team received the Mateship award for going above and beyond to help out the Murwillumbah Show Society. It was a great show, and end to the year. A huge thank you must go to Rochelle, Bruce and Lenny for making it another successful show!

YEAR 12s MASS WITH ST PATRICK’S SCHOOL

On Wednesday, 31 October, 23 Year 12 students travelled by bus to St Patrick’s Church to celebrate a special mass. For many years now St Patrick’s School has invited the graduating class from the high school to join with students from Prep to Year 6 and staff of St Pat’s to wish them well in their exams and their chosen pathway after school. Students who attend boarding school were also prayed for in their absence.

This annual ritual is now cemented in the senior’s calendar and it is a wonderful sight to see the youth of St George join together to celebrate finishing 12 years of schooling. Thank you to the students, staff of St Patrick’s School and Fr Salvador for continuing this tradition.

HIGH SCHOOL PERCENTILE CUP TEAMS CAMPDRAFT

On the weekend of 10 and 11 November, Jackson Halliday, Matilda Fry and I attended the Pittsworth High School Percentile Cup Teams Campdraft. We went on behalf of St George to represent our school in the campdraft. There had to be more than 3 in the team but no more than 15, we only had the 3 of us in our team, whereas the other schools all had up to 11 and 13. I am very happy with the way our team went. On Saturday, the first round was held which had 330 runs, and that is with only 2 runs each. Jackson managed to score an 81 on “One Hot Chick” and a 20 on “Pop Omega Smokey”. Tilly scored a 16 on “Relda’s Gold Mist” and a 20 on “Opal Acres” and I backed up with a score of 77 on “Braebo Reba” and an 82 on “Willdraft Just Sure”. On the Sunday round 2 was held, Tilly scored a 73 on “Opal Acres” and a 20 on “Relda’s Gold Mist”, Jackson came back again with a 74 on “One Hot Chick” and a 74 on “Pop Omega Smokey” and I came back with an 82 on “Braebo Reba” and an 87 on “Willdraft Just Sure”. The score of 87 that I managed to score on “Willdraft Just Sure” got combined with my first round score of 82 on “Willdraft Just Sure” which made a score of 169, which put me into the top 23 individual final out of 660 odd runs over the weekend and I came out with a score of 22 on “Willdraft Just Sure”. Out of all of the 26 schools that attended, our little team of 3 was placed 9th, which is a really good effort and worked very hard for. If they had worked the scores out on an average by adding all scores together and then dividing by how many kids are in the team like they did last year we would have got 2nd, but this year they just added the top 10 scores together out of each team and that made your score. To be placed 9th out of 26 schools was still a wonderful achievement.

Miss Bobby-Jo Tattam, Year 9

From the Acting Principal

It has been an exciting week for our Year 12 students having completed their senior schooling. We would like to thank all the volunteers, in particular the P&C for their hard work in catering for the Senior Formal and assisting with the numerous other events that have taken place in Term 4.

It was a pleasure to share the events of the Awards Night, Formal and Valedictory with so many of the students’ families and friends. We wish the students all the best in their post schooling pathways and hope that they return to share stories of their successes in the years to come.

As planning for 2019 continues, I would encourage families stay abreast of the Facebook page, newsletters and SMS messages to ensure you are aware of important dates and requirements to prepare our students effectively for 2019.

Mr Nick Hutchinson, Acting Principal

From HoD Senior Secondary

Please take a look at the attached brochure that gives you updated information for students completing Year 12 from 2020. The QCE requirements, contributing points, credits from completed courses, literacy and numeracy standards and Senior Education Profiles are all explained. There are significant changes occurring in Senior Schooling in Queensland and it is vital that parent, carers and students keep up to date with these changes.

Mrs Deborah Addison, HoD Senior Secondary

Science Department Message

The Science Department would like to sincerely thank the members of the community that have contributed to the Periodic Table prac.

St George Florist donated the helium gas, Bush Technology donated several computer parts, JCMs for electronic items and Billing Metals (Brisbane) who donated metal samples. Also thanks to the members of staff who loaned personal items for this practical lesson.

It truly takes a village to raise a child.

Mrs Di Bergmann, Science Operations Officer

P&C News

I am sure you will all agree with me in saying this term is really going by so quickly. There have been so many exciting milestones achieved for our students.

Congratulations to the upcoming leaders of 2019, Courtney Spackman, Georgina Speedy, Aerol Plaza and Georgina Waters, you should be very proud of yourselves. To receive such an important role in the school for your senior year is an honour. I know you will accept this responsibility well and carry it out to the best of your ability.

Year 12 Formal

Congratulations class of 2018 for looking absolutely stunning on Wednesday at your Formal. We were all very proud of the beautiful young ladies and handsome young men. I do hope your night was very special and a night to remember.

Behind the scenes of the formal, the kitchen and bar staff was kept on their toes preparing and cooking. An amazing and selfless team of dedicated people ensured that this all came together.

Due to some elements against us, we were behind in our scheduled time but did get there in the end. Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding.

A massive thank you to everyone who gave up so much time to ensure this event happened. I feel that a thank you isn't enough for the hours given for this event. I am truly grateful and over whelmed by the kindness and generosity given to the P&C. Well done team. It was an epic event but so much easier with your support.

Goodbye and Good luck - Wishing the outgoing students of 2018 all the very best for their future endeavours. May you stay true to yourself and have happiness in wherever life takes you.

With the year drawing to an end we will have no further P&C meetings for the year. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the committee, without you nothing would be possible.

Thank you for your support.

Rochelle Ferguson, P&C President

Choose how to add this event to your calendar:

Apple Calendar iPhone, iPad, Mac - Download .ics file

Outlook Desktop Outlook - Download .ics file

Android Calendar Android devices - Download .ics file

Other Calendar Google Calendar, Yahoo, etc. - Download .ics file

Download Event