23 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

Vietnam Veterans Day 18th August 2019

School Captains Courtney Spackman and Georgina Speedy proudly represented the St George State High School and presented a wreath at the ceremony on Sunday. Vietnam Veterans Day is commemorated on 18 August every year. The day was originally known as Long Tan Day, chosen to commemorate the men of D Company, 6RAR who fought in the battle of Long Tan in 1966. On this day, 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers fought a pitched battle against over 2,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in a rubber plantation not far from the small village of Long Tan. The Australians prevailed, but only after fighting in torrential rain for four hours. They were nearly overrun, but were saved by a timely ammunition resupply, accurate artillery fire from the nearby Australian base, and the arrival of reinforcements by armoured personnel carrier. Eighteen Australians lost their lives and 24 were wounded, the largest number of casualties in one operation since the Australian task force had arrived a few months earlier. In 1987 Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced that Long Tan Day would be known as Vietnam Veterans Day. Since then, it has been commemorated every year as the day on which the service of all those men and women who served in Vietnam is remembered.

From the HoD Senior Secondary – Mrs Deborah Addison

We are just over half way of an extremely eventful term. We have had camps, free dress days and Formal is almost upon us.

Year 10

Students have volunteered at Warrawee as part of seniors’ week. The students had a lovely time helping with some games and food.

The year 10 students have been going well in their introduction subjects and the students are getting a taste of what some of their senior classes might be like. There are some students struggling due to attendance and I would like to remind everyone that everyday counts at school and that missing one or two days a fortnight can extremely hinder your students’ chance of learning.

Year 11

Year 11 students are getting into assessment time with all of their subjects. Students have been travelling well with assessment but are reminded again how one day away can affect their progress in a subject. The majority of our senior teachers now have OneNotes which students can access from any computer, if your student is absent they should be able to access the lesson on their OneNote or they can email their teachers.

Year 12

This Term the year 12 students will have an exam block from Tuesday to Thursday of week 10. Students are required to be at school only for their exam sessions. If students are at school outside of these times they are to be in the Library or tutorial room in the skills centre. All exams will take place in the Skills Centre.

On Thursday afternoon and Friday morning students are required to help with the set up on the Cultural centre for the Formal. They must all attend Friday morning from 9.00am at the cultural centre and will be released from there at 10.30am.

Please find below the exam schedule.

Exam block expectations

• You are expected to sign in and out of school if attending outside of an exam session.
• You should be studying at home, studying quietly in the library or completing an exam during exam block.
• Exam block is not free time.
• When studying in the library, please be mindful of noise levels.
• It is expected that you wear your school uniform when completing exams during exam block.
• If you are absent for an examination, a medical certificate must be given to Mrs Addison.

• A parent/guardian should also inform the Office if you will be absent from an exam.
• Any students who are not up to date with their Certificate II in Rural Operations/Art/Links/other subjects/modules will be required to attend school during exam block.

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 – Mr Ben Lawson

Student Resource Scheme – Final Payment Now Due

All outstanding items on monthly statements posted 1st August are now overdue unless a payment plan has been arranged with the school.

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.

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

I hope that everyone is settling into T3 well. I wanted to share with you our Random Health Fact for this fortnight. RHF #2: “It takes an interaction of 72 different muscles to produce speech. You can imagine the automatic body systems that happen to allow speech to be formed. It’s pretty complex, and therefore speaking to someone isn’t always easy. Especially when the content of what you want to share is sensitive in nature. I just wanted to let you know that within the school community that there are a number of people to assist students, teachers and family members talk about a concern you may have. In regards to promoting health and wellbeing, connecting people with support services, healthy eating and physical activity, feeling happy or stressed, relationships, healthy skin, sexual health, smoking, alcohol and other drugs, personal and family problems, growth and development – I am happy to have a chat. Just let the school office know that you would like to speak with the School Nurse and they can forward your contact details to arrange a confidential appointment.

We have been running prize draws for students who are able to accurately recall the RHF’s displayed on the school notices. Congratulations to the winner of our first RHF competition. Thank-you to everyone for keenly participating!

Ms Jodie-Lee Lawless

What Is Happening in Year 9 Science

Students during August have been learning about how the human body works to keep everyone healthy. To assist, the Year 9A Science class completed two practical investigations. One of the experiments is where enzymes such as those found in the human body to help break down foods are affected by temperature. The second experiment is where microbes grow in an incubator and how common household chemicals such as disinfectant and bleach can assist in preventing the growth of bacteria.

Mr Phil Carrello

Busy In Year 11 Science

The Year 11 students in Chemistry are currently investigating the factors that affect the rate of reactions. Hydrochloric acid reacts with magnesium metal to form hydrogen gas – this can be observed as ‘fizzing’ as the magnesium is changed into magnesium chloride and dissolves. Joe Ricketts and Cameron Moloney used stopwatches to measure the time taken for the magnesium to completely react for six different concentrations of hydrochloric acid. The lowest concentration took over 40 minutes, while the reaction in the most concentrated solution was over in less than one minute.

The gas was identified using the ‘pop’ test in which the gas was prevented from escaping from the test tube and then ignited by a flame placed at the mouth of the test tube. The mini-explosion that occurred produces a loud ‘pop’ sound confirming that the gas was hydrogen.

Did you know that hydrogen is the smartest gas? Yeah, the rest are a lot more dense!

Mrs Karen McKechnie

Year 7 Geography

This term in Geography, Year 7 have been looking at all things water! On Friday they had the chance to get outside and see how the ‘rain shadow’ effect impacts the climate in regions either side of a mountain range!

Mr Callum Gordon

Vicki Wilson Cup

Last weekend, our senior netball team went away to play the Vicki Wilson carnival in Toowoomba. It was an extremely cold day so we were thankful that it was held at the indoor Glennie School courts.

We played against several competitive teams, coming away with wins over Oakey State High School and Wilstonton State High School. We played well considering we have only had a few training sessions this term, and just went down to Goondiwindi and Centenary Heights, with St Johns Roma, Fairholme and Downlands being too strong this time.

All of the girls conducted themselves with grace and sportsmanship, despite some tough games and a few elbows to the face! Thanks to Kelly Whitaker, Sarah Whitaker, Paige Clark, Paige Houlahan, Taeah Hiles, Anna Moloney, Haley Moloney and Hayley Nolan for their hard work on the day, as well as their parents who travelled an eight hour round trip for the girls to be able to play. Most of all, a big thank you to Miss Weatherall, who coached our team and umpired every single one of our games. It was much appreciated.

Miss Amy McKenna

Year 9 Touch Football Tournament

Next week on Wednesday 28 August, the Year 9 HPE Class is running a Touch Football Tournament. Year 9 HPE class are battling it out against teachers in a game of touch football, we would love it, if you could come down and watch us play!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Mr Jarrad Ward

Book Fair

This week 19-23 August SG SHS P&C held the annual Book Fair with the theme of “Reading is my Secret Power”. This fun reading event brings a wonderful selection of books right into our school.

The highlight of the week was Dress Up Day with staff and students dressing up in costumes of their favourite book character or super hero. Prizes were awarded to the best costumes of each year level and the judges had a tough time deciding on who were the winners as they were all so creative. Thank you to all students, staff and families that supported our Book Fair.

Mrs Melissa Scriven

Zinger Awards – August 2019

Car Wash – Home Bake Sale

The Student Council will be holding a car wash/bake sale Saturday 31st August 8am-12pm at Caltex Service Station. All proceeds are going towards the St George Show Team.

Insert Colour Table

The phone policy at St George SHS

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