2 September 2022

Newsletter Articles

From The Acting Principal

Welcome: Welcome to our school newsletter. We are in Week 7 with only two more weeks of Term 3 to go.

School Mantras: Be Safe / Be Respectful / Be Prepared / Be Responsible.

High Profile Visit: This week we welcomed Mr Liam Smith Deputy Director of Qld Education, Ms Leanne Wright Regional Director and Mr Adam Myers Assistant Regional Director to the school. I had the pleasure of walking Liam around the school through the classrooms and over to the Skills Centre. He was most impressed at the learning opportunities and facilities our school can offer students and very appreciative of the obvious efforts staff, parents and students make to ensure our school maintains the highest of standards.

ATAR Data and Celebration of Success: The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) is the academic pathway chosen by students to gain entry into a specific course at University. A student on an ATAR pathway would chose mostly academic subjects in their Year 11 and 12 years.

The ladies in the executive at school have informed me that in 2021, three of our students achieved an ATAR of 90 or above and one student achieved 98 out of 100. What an excellent achievement and a wonderful celebration of another of the school’s successes.

To give you some idea of how big an achievement this is, I taught at a large suburban school with over 1400 students in those days it was the OP system. Unfortunately for the school they did not get any OP 1s and very few 2s which would be an equivalent of an ATAR of 90.

We Are Respectful: We respect the rights of others to learn. One of the most tragic occurrences I find in education is the selfish attitude of a small cohort of our student group who do not respect the right of fellow students to enjoy a safe and respectful learning environment. Unfortunately disruptive student behaviour often stems from a lack of respect for the opportunities education can offer a student. The sources of this lack of respect are many and varied. Our school actively encourages students to set high standards for themselves in the classroom. To their credit, our teachers and other staff often spend many hours preparing lessons, giving feedback to students or helping out at homework club for example to afford students the greatest opportunity to achieve in the academic environment.

A student however, who is disrupting the learning environment or breaking the school’s code of conduct (which are clearly displayed within the classrooms) will be given other options for learning as well as a learning environment within the school that does not allow any further interference to the classroom learning environment.

Truck Pull: A big thankyou to all who contributed to the P&C’s efforts at the Truck Pull. Mrs Davies tells me the event was a great success for the P&C.

Doctor’s Surgery: Please ensure if your child needs medical attention you avail yourselves to the opportunity of seeing our friendly Doctors Karen Benn and Ben Brimblecombe. One of them attends the school practice on Thursday morning. Bookings are however essential.

Camp Draft Bar Catering: The P&C are catering for the bar at the upcoming campdraft. The P&C will need help with shifts on the bar on Friday afternoon and evening 16 September and Saturday afternoon and evening 17 September. All help will be greatly appreciated.

Under 16’s and Under 18’s Rugby League Celebration of Success: Both the Under 18s and the Under 16s St George Rugby League achieved the enormously difficult goal of making the Grand Final at Roma on Sunday. I had the privilege to be involved with some of the boys most of whom attend St George State High School doing a few skills drills with them during the year. All the boys were a privilege to work with and a credit to their families and the community. Unfortunately the Under 18s didn’t prevail on the day, however the Under 16s played one of the best games of football I have ever witnessed in terms of a spectacle (with many heart stopping moments) eventually overcoming a desperate and determined Roma side by two points in overtime. Congratulations to both teams and the opposition they were matched against on the day.

Rob Nowlan.

From HOD Senior Secondary

The year is flying past at such a quick pace. I’d like to say a massive thank you to my Year Level Coordinator Miss Jess Embrey for all of her hard work. It has been wonderful to have her working so well to make sure that our senior students have access to such wonderful experiences. The Year 10 camp, Senior jerseys and Formal are just a few of the great things that Miss Embrey has done.

Senior Leadership Applications have gone out and are due in by the end of term. This year the applications are open to our current Year 11s for all positions and Year 10 for sports captain positions.

YEAR 10

SET Plan interviews had to be postponed for some due to absences. Please know that I will be following up with parents and caregivers to book in for a meeting. If you would like to book in please call the office and Sal or Nichole will be able to book you a time. The meeting shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes.

YEAR 11

Students are finishing off the term strongly making sure they are up to date with knowledge and assessment for Unit 2. For some General subjects this may mean doing revision of the whole year’s learning for an exam that will mirror external exams in Year 12. If your student is not doing well in a particular subject now is the time to discuss possible subject changes. These should all be made by the end of this year so that if students require to catch up on any content from Year 11 they can do so before the start of Year 12.

YEAR 12

It has been a quick term and Year 12 students and teachers have been kept very busy. All general subjects have completed their three Internal Assessments and are now starting to prepare for their external exams. These will vary from 25 – 50% of students final grade.

Students have also had meetings with the Guidance Office, Annette McLean, to discuss their options for 2023. It has been wonderful to see students excited about their future and have already had a student gain early acceptance into their university course.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me via the office or at daddi4@eq.edu.au

Mrs Deborah Addison, HOD Senior Secondary

From The Year Level Co-Ordinator

Lateness

A reminder to all Parents, Carers and Students that every day and every lesson count.

The school day begins at 8:45 with the first class starting at 8:50.

Students who are late to school should present themselves to the office with a note explaining their reason for being late. They will then be given a late note by the office staff to take to class and present to the classroom teacher.

Students who are persistently late will be investigated and disciplinary action may be implemented.

Rebecca Herrmann

From The Guidance Officer

Getting To Know………

Vietnam Veterans Day

School Captain Josiah Timmer proudly represented St George State High School reading a poem at the ceremony last week. Tomas Kunde from Year 9 performed “The Last Post, Rouse and the National Anthem” for the ceremonies at the Cenotaph and the Cemetery. 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.

Australian Army Band

On Thursday 25 August, we were lucky enough to have the Australian Army Band Brisbane Division come and do a performance for us. They had students up dancing and singing and our music teacher Miss Nia even performed with them. What a treat for the whole school.

Showcase Night

A few weeks ago we had a showcase night for the school. We focussed on Year 6 coming up to high school and also the Year 10s heading into their senior years. It was lovely to see students taking part in the activities that our teachers had prepared. The parents also got to hear from Kym Weatherall the Acting JS HOD about Year 7 2023 and from Deb Addison the SS HOD regarding the QCE and ATAR in senior.

Sunrise

On Weekend Sunrise Miss Crowe and students were featured as part of the Shearing Program run by Constable Laurie Bateman from Charleville. It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Well done!

Academic Rewards Trip

A group of junior students were rewarded with a trip to Stevie Jeans to acknowledge the excellent academic achievement results from Semester 1. Students needed to have all As and Bs with an exception of one C.

Year 7 French

Students have been learning about the French names for each family member and common household pets. To practice our French vocab and listening skills, we have been playing a class favourite, Lotto (French for Bingo). Every student has come a long way since the beginning of term and I look forward to watching their progress as we move on to learning about hobbies and school life.

Miss Tatham-Joyce

Year 7 Digi Tech

Students have spent the past couple of weeks building an online platform game using the coding program Scratch. They will finish this in the next three lessons as part of their assessment. As a side project, students were challenged to build an online maze last week. They enjoyed creating their own character and maze with built in challenges (including a return to the start when a wall was touched). If accessible, have your 7 Digi Tech show you their maze at home using scratch.mit.edu.

Miss Tatham-Joyce

Year 8 French

Students have been learning about the French words for various places in town while improving on their direction-giving skills. Last week students were challenged with a scavenger hunt that saw them split into teams and find cards hidden across the back oval. Each team was required to find 10 locations across town on their cards and then put them on a map before racing against each other to translate each location. In the end, the green team won closely followed by the orange. Students said they enjoyed taking their French lesson outside of the classroom, and as always, loved a bit of competition.

Miss Tatham-Joyce

Year 10 ITD

Year 10 students have been busy completing their rakes and pitchforks. The students are now starting on their native bird boxes for the Balonne Shire Council to place around our community.

Year 10 & 11 Hospitality

This week in our 10/11 Hospitality class, students were introduced to the influence of Italian migration to Australia in our food. Post Word War 2, Italians were responsible for introducing many staple ingredients to Australia such as olive oil, garlic, pizza and, of course, pasta. The students had a go at making their own fettucine pasta served with an arrabbiata sauce. There is certainly some skill involved in rolling fresh pasta but everyone had some success and enjoyed their dish for lunch.

Year 12 Social & Community Studies

This term Social and Community Studies Year 12 students have been investigating how the law is a part of daily life and can influence personal choices. As part of this Unit students completed a Mock Trial last week, to understand how legal systems can impact on students in a ‘school context.’ Students in particular investigated Cyber safety issues and Assault. They took on the roles of Plaintiffs, Defendants, Lawyers, Witnesses and Jurors, which helped to highlight the importance of perspectives and evidence.

Rebecca Herrmann

Balonne District Sport

There is now a Facebook page dedicated to providing information about district sport. Please like and follow Balonne District School Sport Noticeboard for updates.

State Titles Softball 12 & Under

Last week Josie Beeson was part of the South West Softball team to play at the State Titles in Ipswich. Well done Josie!

Sports Blast From The Past

St George State High School Senior Sportsman Of The Year 1980 to 2021

St George State High School Senior Sportswoman Of The Year 1980 to 2021

Calendar

YEAR 6 TRANSITION DATES

Please be aware of the Year 6 transition dates.

The parent walkthroughs are for parents to see the school and how we operate.

To book an Enrolment Interview

P&C News

St George SHS P&C had a great day feeding those attending the Thallon Truck Pull last weekend! Hugh thanks to the Thallon State School P&C for inviting us along to fundraise for our school. We’d also like to sincerely thank the St George Lions for donating all the proceeds from the hot chips on the day. A HUGE thank you to Candice Cross, our fundraising maestro for organising such a successful feeding station for the crowds. Many thanks to the many volunteers – you know who you are and we love each one of you - who gave up their time on Saturday to help us out! Without volunteers we wouldn’t have been so successful! Early indications are that we raised quite a bit for our school so it was definitely worth it.

Our next fundraiser is working the bar at the St George Campdraft on 16-17 September at the St George Showgrounds. If anyone is able to give us a hand please contact President Julie Davies on 0418 739 411 or email pandc@stgeorgeshs.eq.qld.gov.au as soon as possible so we can sort out rosters.

The St George SHS P&C now has a Facebook page to keep you up to date on what is available from Tuckshop, information on fundraisers and when meetings are on. Thank you to all those who have already followed and liked the page – make sure to share it with your FB friends!

The next P&C meeting will be held on Monday 12 September at 6pm in the school library. We’d love to see some new faces and listen to any new ideas on how we can help our children at the high school!

Julie Davies

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Balonne Shire Youth Council

The Balonne Shire Youth Council is a team of young men and women aged from 12 to 25, who are responsible for bringing the voice of our young people to the Balonne Shire Council. The Youth Council has been actively designing and running many major and minor Council projects and events. Our most recent event was waitering at the James Bond themed Mayoral Ball.

Some of the Youth Council’s upcoming projects include:

1. A full basketball court
2. Extensions to the skate park
3. Movie nights
4. Conducting a colour fun run

The Youth Council currently has nine members from the St George community, with many more spaces available. We meet after school at 3.15 in the town Library every fortnight. If you have any ideas that could make this town a better place, then join the Youth Council today to have your say in our community!

For further enquires please contact Gail at the Council via phone: 46208842, work mobile: 0436 422 623 or email: cdo@balonne.qld.gov.au

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