9 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal – York McFadzean

Last Monday we welcomed over 40 parents and carers who joined the school community to recognise and celebrate student success over Semester One.

Students were recognised in four aspects of student life:

• Attendance
• Academic improvement
• Effort
• And Behaviour.

Research will tell us that for a student to have any success at school they need to be present to receive instruction from their teachers. The students who received attendance certificates have attended school for at least 85% of the time this year. This figure is recognised as the baseline for student capacity to succeed and represents no more than 15 school days absence this semester.

The category of academic improvement should not be misinterpreted as meaning academic success. Our annual awards night is the proper time to acknowledge academic excellence. We recognised those students who have made an improvement in their total result across all subjects between Term One and Semester One. So this may well be an improvement from a “B” grade to an “A”, but it can be just as easily be an improvement from a “D” to a “C”. What we are acknowledging today is the improvement made, not the final grade.

Such improvement is an important pre-condition to success because we all need to see that our effort, our changed behaviour elicits results. If this occurs we are more likely to repeat and hopefully continue this process of sustained improvement.

The final two areas of recognition are student effort and behaviour. To receive an award in these categories students need to have no more than one rating below an “excellent” across all subjects. This is the other significant aspect of these celebrations– students who receive these awards do so for that reason alone – they are not tied to academic performance per se. So the student who is doing their best (effort) in a subject should be acknowledged regardless of the grade they receive in the report, as should the student who comes to school each day and focuses on their work in class (behaviour).

Understandably, there is a correlation between students who attend school, do their best and focus on their work each lesson and improvement – thus we had a total of 149 students recognised and presented with a total of 258 certificates.

The fact that 68 students across all year levels (or 33.8% of all students) will receive recognition for academic improvement fills me with a great sense of pride and confidence. As we move to establish student improvement as a key focus in all we do, we are well on the way to creating a place where staff can come to practise their skill and expertise in providing instruction to students across a wide range of subject areas and interests, a place where students can have the courage to pursue their learning and engage with each other in this important and worthwhile pursuit.

Schools should also be a place where staff, students, parents and carers join together to provide our charges with the best opportunity for success and for this reason I thank those parents and carers who were able to take the time to attend this parade.

Parent-Teacher Evening

This week saw the annual parent-teacher evening following Semester One report cards. Thank you to the staff and parents who took the time to be involved in this valuable occasion where we can come together towards discuss student success and how best to work together to achievement improvement for all students. Over the next two weeks I will be welcoming parents to the school for more in-depth discussions about how we can best approach this process for individual students.

Assessment Calendars

These should be in your student’s hands by the time this newsletter is published. A year-level focused has been generated and provided to all students so they can better map and plan their assessment over this busy Term 3 period. Please contact the school should you not be able to find this document so a copy can be provided to you.

Mr York McFadzean

From the HoD Senior Secondary – Deborah Addison

We are getting closer to the end of the year and I would like to congratulate the many senior students who have worked exceptionally hard during the year and acted as excellent role models to the younger students in our school.

Year 10

The 14 students who attended leadership camp in the second week of the term showed leadership and ability as they worked through different obstacles. They were generous enough to let myself and Mr Watson, their year level coordinator, get involved in the activities with them. I think they enjoyed the chance to hit us with paintballs during skirmish! I hope that these students will continue their leadership journey and lead their peers to a successful Semester 2 of Year 10.

Year 11

Year 11 students are working consistently in classes and teachers are calling home if there are issues with effort. Please ensure that any absences are explained and required. Taking a day off does mean they fall behind in classwork and it is up to the student to make contact with the teacher to stay on top of this. During Term 4 we will be running a practice of what the external exams might look like for 2020, there are many decisions still to be made around this and as soon as these have been made students and parents will be given more information.

Year 12

The Year 12 students have been working on the Formal and invites will be out soon. Thank you to Miss Ives who has been doing a great job as their year level coordinator in getting everything ready for this. We are looking forward to a formal that is earlier in the year and in the cooler weather. The Formal is on Friday 20 September, last day of Term 3.

The Year 12s will gladly tell you how many weeks and days they have left and every day counts for these students. Their final grades for this semester can mean the difference between gaining a QCE or not. If students are struggling please advise them to talk to their teachers and/or myself.

For any questions or concerns you may have regarding your Senior Secondary students please email me at daddi4@eq.edu.au or call 4620 8222.

Mrs Deborah Addison

From the Business Manager – Ben Lawson

Student Resource Scheme – Final Payment Now Due

With commencement of Term 3, the third and final instalment for 2019 Student Resource Schemes are now due (due date 26/07/2019).

Payment options include cash, cheque or EFTPOS via the school administration office, Credit Card online or phone through bPoint (see statement or invoice for details), CentrePay (contact office to arrange) or Bank Transfer.

If you still have amounts outstanding for Student Resource Scheme or other events and are unable to make payment in full, please contact Ben Lawson, Business Manager, to arrange a payment plan.

Mr Ben Lawson

From the Guidance Officer – Kelly Lawton

Don’t forget if your child is wanting an appointment to see me, please do this through the front office.

Important Dates to keep in mind:

• 11 August: Griffith University Open Day, Brisbane
• 28 July: Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
• 18 August: University of Queensland, Gatton
• 18 August: University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba

For more information and open days please visit the link below:

Miss Kelly Lawton

From the School Based Youth Health Nurse – Jodie-Lee Lawless

Hello! I wanted to share with the school community our first Random Health fact.

RHF 1# is: Everyone has a unique smell, except for identical twins that smell the same.

This fact comes from “Odd Stuff magazine” that discusses really weird facts and it made me think about personal hygiene. The Better Health Channel states that good personal hygiene is one of the most effective ways to protect ourselves from illness, such as gastroenteritis.

This means washing your hands especially, but also your body. It means being careful not to cough or sneeze on other people, cleaning things that you touch when you are unwell, putting items that you touch when you are unwell (such as tissues) in the bin, and using protection when you might be at risk of catching infection (gloves etc).

To make sure your "unique" smell doesn't become to unique, pay attention to your personal hygiene. Personal hygiene is very dependent on the culture in which you live. In some cultures, it is expected that you wash at least every day and put on deodorants to stop body smells. Other cultures have different expectations.

Mrs Jodie-Lee Lawless

YEAR 10 CAMP AT EMU GULLY

Week 2 this term saw fourteen Year 10 students, accompanied by teachers, Mrs Deb Addison and Mr Michael Watson, set off early Tuesday morning to Emu Gully just outside Helidon Spa. After five hours or so in the bus, we finally made it to Emu Gully where we settled into our cabins and met the camp leader Ethan. Ethan informed the group that Emu Gully has an ANZAC theme, where they use the spirit and stories of the ANZACs from WWI to set the scene for the activities. Ethan quickly got the students into some challenging but simple team activities to set the tone for what was to come over the next few days. Later that day the students would have to escape from a prison camp by climbing down a dark tunnel and then climbing out of another followed by climbing a nine foot wall. The next activity was a log suspended in the air with weights inside the log to make it wobble side to side as well as back and forth all while the students had to cross the 10 metre log. Day two, the students were faced with the challenge of a dark and small tunnel similar to the ones found in Vietnam during the war. The tunnels were dark, with small and large rocks that you needed to crawl over; drops that made you think twice about going head first; tight spots that required you squeeze and spin to fit past. The students were asked to “rescue” Barry from inside the tunnels all while not being seen by the “guards” outside the tunnel. The students worked well to not be seen and worked really well at supporting each other in the dark tunnels. After this task, the students had to cross a mud pit by placing planks of wood onto stumps in the mud pit. This simple task saw the students work together as a team to get to the other side all without falling into the mud. After lunch the students entered the next and one of the favourite activities, the mud pit. The mud pit was up to the neck with cold, slippery, smelly mud. The students had to cross the 20-metre long mud pits all while carrying a stretcher with a dummy traversing the slippery up and down hills, crossing logs above and below the mud. For the second mud pit Ethan stepped up the challenge by removing the dummy from the stretcher and adding Taylor in its place. The group did extremely well at keeping Taylor well supported and out of the mud, with only her hair getting a little muddy. After the mud pits the students washed the mud off by going down a huge tarp slide into a muddy dam. To wash this off the group went into a clean dam by either walking in, using the slide, jumping from the 3 metre platform or as most of the students did jumping from the 6 metre platform into the cold but refreshing dam. Thursday, saw the students in the morning do a number of small team building activities followed by some driving in the twister buggies. After lunch was arguably, what most of the students had been waiting for all week, skirmish. After the safety brief, the students were asked to take part in a simulation of trench warfare similar to what the ANZACs were asked to do during WW1. The Students really enjoyed skirmish as they could shoot each other but really enjoyed shooting Mrs Addison and Mr Watson. Once the skirmish was over the students cooled off and washed off by jumping into the dam. As day moved into night, the students were going into their most challenging team activity. The students were asked to get into groups of three with one of these people being blind folded, while the two others had to guide the “blind” to a 20-metre high slide. The students had to work together to get the “blind” person down the slide safely. Once down, the students had to swap the blindfold to another person. The next obstacle was a near vertical hill where students worked in their groups to guide the blindfolded person up the steep hill. Once at the top the students swapped the blind fold for the final time. This final obstacle was a very steep and slippery down hill section, where the students made a human chain to guide the blindfolded students down the hill safely. Ethan the camp leader was so impressed and trusted our students so much so that he even did the downhill section blindfolded for the first time. After all this the students had one final team activity where they had to crawl under cargo nets and through dusty pits all while not been seen by the “guard” (a torch). Friday, the final day was reflections and a wrap up of the week and how far the students had come from the first day. It was great to see the students step up in the tasks and work together as a team – the difference between Tuesday and Friday was outstanding – well done grade 10s. A good camp had by all.

From Michael Watson

DEADLY TRACKERS CAREERS EXPO

On Wednesday 24 July the DDSW Indigenous Education Transition Team held the 2019 Creating Pathways Leaving Footprints Deadly Trackers Regional Careers Expo which was at the Skill Centre. There were services from organisations such as Indigenous Youth Mobility Program (IYMP), Golden West Apprenticeships, Balonne Shire Council, BEST Employment Ltd, Compass Group, Queensland Corrective Services, Drug Arm Australia, Charleville Child Safety Service Centre, Care Balonne, Defence Force Recruiting and Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.

The important focus is to ensure the message is out there about employment, university and further education opportunities, and to share the many openings available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students whilst at school and after completing Year 12.

All of our students from Year 7 to Year 12 had the opportunity to attend the expo to see what prospects are out there for them and for their future.

Mrs Donna Waters, Youth Support Coordinator

EMERGENCY EVACUATION EXERCISE

On Thursday 27 June St George State High School was involved in an interagency field exercise, code named “Fire High”. This idea began forming last year with the aim for the emergency services to gain experience in a multi-casualty scenario in real time to help identify any areas in which the services may need more training in. With an enormous amount of organising amongst the services and the school Thursday rolled around like any other day. This was until the alarm was raised and the school was evacuated. With the help of a smoke machine, for authenticity, and a select few Year 12 and Year 7 students the exercise began. As you can see in the photos attached the ambulance had their hands full in triaging the students that were injured in the mock chemical exposure. Police helped direct traffic to ensure the safety of the students and the public. The fire brigade successfully rescued the unconscious victim from the building and controlled the contamination.

Once triage was completed with the help of the SES volunteers the five students and Science Operations Office, Mrs Di Bergmann were transported to the hospital triage room. Dr Coltzau ran through the scenario with hospital staff to show how they would deal with multiple chemical causalities. A big thankyou to all involved in the exercise, especially Patrick and Karlee from QAS and Dr Adam Coltzau. It was a rewarding experience and great to know that the Emergency Services in St George are at the ready and are always upskilling.

Mrs Kylie Whitaker, WHSO

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEYS

Parents/Caregivers are reminded to have their say in this year’s suite of School Opinion Surveys by providing their opinions about what our school does well and how we can improve. Each of the online surveys will be open until Friday, 23 August 2019.

Access details for the Parent/Caregiver Survey have been posted home with a letter explaining the process. The survey can be completed via computers, tablets or smart phones with internet connection.

Parents/caregivers who do not have access to the internet at home are welcome to complete their survey online at the school. Please phone the school office on 4620 8222 if you require access to a school computer.

If you haven’t received any survey access details by the end of this week or if your access details have been misplaced, please contact Ms Nicole Hyland on telephone 4620 8222 or email admin@stgeorgeshs.eq.edu.au

HOME ECONOMICS REQUEST

If you have any empty ice-cream containers, with lids, you would like to donate to our Home Economics department please bring them to the office. These will be used for students to take home their cooking. Your assistance will be appreciated.

Mrs Julie Worboys, Home Economics

P&C NEWS

BOOK WEEK 19-23 August in the Library

Dear Parents and Families,

Reading for pleasure unlocks the power of information and imagination and helps children discover who they are. Here’s what you can do to help children develop stronger reading skills and a love for reading:

• Set the example. Let children see you read.
• Have a collection of books in your home. Update this collection routinely to keep up with changing tastes and reading skills.
• Support our school’s Book Fair. Allow your children to choose their own books to read.

Our Scholastic Book Fair is a fun reading event that brings the books kids want to read right into our school. It’s a wonderful selection of engaging and affordable books for every reading level. Please make plans to visit our Book Fair and be involved in shaping your child’s reading habits. We will be having special activities this week so please join us.

Dress Up Day Wednesday 21 August. Come dressed up as your favourite book character or as a character that has secret/special powers. Prizes for best dressed students!

Community Morning Tea Wednesday 10:10 am 21 August 2019 in the library.

We look forward to seeing you and your family at our Book Fair! Remember, all purchases benefit our school.

School Opinion Surveys

This year’s School Opinion Survey will be conducted from 29 July to 23 August 2019. Links to the surveys are available on the link below:

Parents/Caregivers are encouraged to complete the survey online. The survey can be completed via computers, tablets or smart phones with internet connection.

It’s important that as many parents/caregivers as possible complete the survey, so we would appreciate if members of this committee would raise awareness of this survey with other parents/caregivers.

Survey queries or requests for translations can be directed to our school contact Ms Nicole Hyland on telephone 4620 8222 or email admin@stgeorgeshs.eq.edu.au

Next Meeting

The next P and C meeting will be held in the St George State High School library at 6pm on Monday 19 August. All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

With Thanks

Mr Scott Brimblecombe, President

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