2 February 2023

Newsletter Articles

From The Principal
Mr Thomas McKenna

Hello St. George State High School Community

Welcome to the 2023 school year. We would like to personally thank everyone we have met so far who have given us such a warm welcome. We have some new experienced staff joining us this year in both teaching and leadership capacity. Personally, I am eager to work with this team to keep our students on track for success so they are ready for the future.

I spoke to the students on Day 1 and told them that our new leadership team is ready to listen to them. We want to hear ideas from the students on how we can improve our school to make it more enjoyable (and of course educational) for them. It all starts with showing up.

As with any change in personnel, there will be changes in ways of working. We will continue with the school newsletter and publishing on the St George State High School Facebook site. However, we will also be updating our website, linked below, to ensure you, the community, has a “Point of Truth” for readily accessible information. Together, with the P&C, we will be updating the information on the website over the coming weeks.

We also value your contribution to your child’s education. A student will spend 13% of their time at school and 87% of their time at home and in the community. Your contribution is essential. With that, St. George State High School is happy to listen if you have feedback. Feel free to e-mail us at admin@stgeorgeshs.eq.edu.au .

Mr Thomas McKenna

New Staff

Mrs Laura Sherriff

My name is Mrs Laura Sherriff and I am the acting Head of Department: Junior Secondary. I have been teaching at St George State Primary School for 6 years, and I am very excited to join the team at St George State High School. I am very excited for the year ahead and to be working with so many students I have taught over the last 6 years. I am very passionate about building positive relationships with students an ensuring they feel included and valued in their education journey. In my down time I love to watch rugby league and enjoy being part of our local JRL club. I love our St George community and enjoy helping as much as I can. I also love spending time with my family, and my dog Lewis. I am looking forward to the year ahead at St George State High School.

Laura Sherriff
Acting Junior HOD

Mr Michael Bermingham – Teaching Maths & Science

Mr Nathan Brock

My name is Nathan Brock, and I have moved to St George SHS from Ferny Grove SHS where I have spent the past three years teaching HPE and English across Years 7-12. I am currently teaching HPE, English, and Geography in the Junior School and Essential English for Year 12. I hope to form positive relationships with all students and parents/caregivers in the St George SHS community, and I am looking forward to meeting all of you during my time here. I will be involved in many sports and community activities throughout the year, including club and representative sport. I hope we get the chance to meet and chat during the year through school and community events.

Nathan Brock

Miss Lauren Robinson

My name is Miss Lauren Robinson and I have just joined the St George community and high school in January this year. This year I am teaching the junior grades in science, maths, digital technologies and HPE. I also have the Leichhardt A care group and have enjoyed meeting some students from the older grades and various classes as well.

A bit more about me is that I have always enjoyed playing rugby union either 7s or 15s for the last few years and hope to continue this hobby in St George. I am managing the girl’s rugby league heading to the south west trials in Roma this year and I look forward to learning more about the rules and game of league. I also have a keen interest in learning the game of squash because I haven’t previously had that opportunity.

I look forward to being involved in multiple aspects of the St George community and always happy to say hello.

Miss Lauren Robinson

Mr Jake Phelan

My name is Mr Phelan and I have just joined St George SHS from Redbank Plains SHS in Brisbane. This year I am teaching Year 7 Geography, English, and HPE. I am also teaching Year 9 and 10 HPE as well as taking the Mitchell C Gundi group. My first key focus is forming positive relationships with students, families, the community and fellow staff. As a PE teacher I will be involved in many school sports and will take any opportunity to get involved in both during school hours and outside school hours sporting activities. I have joined the Frillnecks Rugby Union squad and will also be joining the Spartans cricket team for trainings. My hobbies obviously include sport, but I am also passionate about fitness, food, music, fishing, and gaming. I look forward to hopefully meeting you and all having a chat as the year progresses.

Mr Jake Phelan

Gregory Pitcher – Teaching Manual Arts

From Acting Deputy Principal
Mrs Deborah Addison

2023 has had a flying start. I am excited to be taking on the role of Deputy Principal with my main year levels of 10, 11 and 12.

It has been wonderful to see Year 10 students getting into classes and thinking about their future pathways. Miss Embrey, Senior Schooling HOD, and I are looking forward to meeting with Year 10 students and parents next term to complete their Senior Education and Training (SET) Plans. More information will be sent home soon.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

As a PBL school we are always working to keep positives at the forefront of our teaching and maintaining positive relationships with students and their families.

Parts of PBL to watch out for and talk about with your student.

• Zingers, which can be used to purchase items from our Zinger bank/store on Fridays.
• Postcards home
• In class rewards systems and certificates
• Positive phone calls home
• Fortnightly focus of school expectations

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, Acting Deputy Principal Senior Schooling

From Acting Senior HOD
Miss Jessica Embrey

What a great start to Term 1 for 2023! There are some exciting things happening in the school and community approaching.

A reminder firstly that our Senior Induction will be happening on Wednesday 8 February between 10:30am-11:30am.

This is an opportunity for our seniors to participate in a symbolic welcome to Year 12 here at St George State High School and is a tradition that has been passed down through the years. Thank you to Nichole Taylor for your work behind the scenes organising this event.

Lions Youth of the Year is an opportunity for students at St George SHS ages 15-19 years at 30 June 2023.

This program has a history in encouraging and fostering leadership skills in Australian students approaching the end of their high school years.

Some key dates for this program are:

Entries closing Wednesday 15/02/2023
Interviews hosted Sunday 19/02/2023
Finals Speech Night hosted at the HUB Saturday 25/02/2023

Students that expressed an interest in this program have received an application. If your student is interested and has not received this please contact me via email or through the school at jembr14@eq.edu.au .

The Year 12s are invited to a Cultural Blessing Ceremony hosted at the HUB on 21 February. This ceremony is run alongside Elders and Traditional Dance Group to rejuvenate and refresh our mind, body, and soul for the new year. CUC Balonne are hosting this event and are eager to provide our Year 12s a fresh start into a positive educational year.

Please get in contact if you have any questions in the senior schooling. Looking forward to a fantastic Term 1!

Jessica Embrey

From Acting Junior HOD
Mrs Laura Sherriff

Junior School Leaders

Meet your junior school leaders for 2023. Our leaders have answered a few questions to allow their peers to get to know them more! Make sure you familiarise yourself with Safina and Danii-Elle around school.

Safina:

What will you do to help your peers?

“I would help peers if in need or anything and they can have their say and much more”

What do you love to do in your free time?

“In my free time I love to ride my motorbike, swim, fish, ski and many more fun things”

What do you hope to achieve as a junior leader?

“As a junior leader I want to help my peers throughout their schooling and be a role model to the school”

Danii-Elle:

What will you do to help your peers?

“as a junior leader I want to help my peers throughout their schooling and be a role model to the school”

What do you love to do in your free time?

“In my free time I love to have fun with my friends but I also just love to watch movies and hangout with my family”

What do you hope to achieve as a junior leader?

“I hope that being a junior leader helps me to improve my public speaking and gives me an idea of how to be a good role model for my peers”

Laura Sherriff

From Agriculture HOD
Miss Caitlin Crowe

Welcome back to 2023! I am very excited to be taking on the role of Head of Department for Agriculture. The year is and off and running with show team sign up and trainings getting underway. It was excellent to see lots of new faces from our junior school signing up and showing lots of enthusiasm. Our students are looking forward to working with our new Droughtmaster Heifers that were introduced into our Ag plot this week.

The year has started off with some exciting news as we were successful in obtaining an Agricultural Gateway to Industry Schools project Grant of $3000 to put towards building Agribusiness within our school program. We are also eagerly awaiting the delivery of our very own IFarm – worth $20000 – after being one of the successful 25 schools from across Australia selected to receive an IFarm. An IFarm is an interactive research station where students are able to conduct plant trials using a range of sensors to collect data and compare results. This will help to improve understanding of the resources required to produce food and fibre as well as stimulate interest in potential careers within agriculture. This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as part of the Educating Kids About Agriculture.

If you would like to know more about the IFarm, you can visit the link below to view a video.

Preparations are also underway for our shearing program continuing in 2023. Our shearing students will continue their Certificate II in Rural Operations and attend a shearing camp at Dunwold (Dirranbandi) in week 10. After the positive response from the media teams that interviewed our students last year, they are very excited to get back into it and build their shearing and shed skills.

As always, I am looking forward to working with the students and community to increase engagement and develop links with local Agricultural industry representatives.

Miss Caitlin Crowe

From Senior Year Level Co-Ordinator Miss Vanessa Beavan

Hello Families and Students

I will be moving up into the position of Senior Year Level Coordinator. I am very excited to take on this role and support the senior students throughout the year. This is my third year working at St George SHS where I began my teaching career. I love the town and community, and am very passionate about helping to continue building our positive school culture. I am eager to continue my work with your children and to help them succeed in their final years at our school.

As Senior Year Level Coordinator, I will be working closely with the senior students to help them navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with being a senior. I will also be available to support their academic, social and personal needs, and to provide guidance as they prepare for the next steps in their lives.

I am committed to creating a positive and supportive environment for our senior students and I am looking forward to working together with you to ensure their success. I will also be looking to reward our seniors for excellence in many areas, including attendance, behaviour, effort, sporting success, cultural achievements, and academic achievements within our school as well as in the St George community.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact me via email (vbeav0@eq.edu.au) or via the school number (07 4620 8222).

I look forward to a successful year at our school!

Vanessa Beavan

From Junior Year Level Co-Ordinator Miss Rebecca Herrmann

Welcome to the 2023 school year!

I am excited to be continuing in the role of Junior (Year 7,8,9) Year Level Co-ordinator this year.

For those of you who are new to our school community, I am originally from Boonah, QLD and moved to St George four years ago to begin my teaching career. I soon realised how much this town has to offer and quickly decided that this is where I wanted to stay. I teach English and Humanities, with a passion for History! I also love getting out and about at lunch times playing handball and other various activities with students.

This year as Year Level Co-ordinator I am looking forward to continuing to build our positive school culture through our Gundi Group competitions, and other school activities. I am also looking forward to celebrating the success of our students across all areas of school life.

Additionally, I will be helping to support student wellbeing. If students are not feeling themselves or just want someone to talk to, I will be available throughout the day in G-Block staffroom and will be out and about during lunch breaks.

Parents and carers, you can also contact me via the school (07) 4620 8222 or email bherm23@eq.edu.au with any questions you may have.

I look forward to an exciting year ahead!

Miss Rebecca Herrmann

Year 11/12 Hospitality

Year 11/12 Hospitality students have been learning about food trends. Last week we investigated the trend of 'gut health' and invited Mrs Sheila Marshall to our classroom. Sheila runs 'Grow Eat Learn' and is passionate about spreading her message of probiotic foods to combat common lifestyle diseases.

Sheila spoke with the students about what has changed in health and wellness in the last 20 years and how the body responds to gut healthy foods.

Sheila taught us how to make our own kombucha, and we sampled some of her own cherry and ginger kombucha. She made us a mango smoothie using milk kefir and brought us some sauerkraut to sample.

I was very impressed with how keen the students were to try these foods.

Thank you Sheila for spending some time sharing your knowledge with us.

Mrs Jodi Hyland

From School Based Nurse
Mrs Gemma Chew

School Based Youth Health Service 2023

Welcome back from school holidays to all the students, school staff and parents! I trust you all had a wonderful break and are looking forward to 2023. For those of you who are new to the school, my name is Gemma (this is also what I ask the students to call me) and I am the School Based Youth Health Nurse. The SBYHN is a Clinical Nurse employed by Queensland Health and provides whole of school health promotion, supports classroom education and provides individual student consultations that are confidential and voluntary within school hours. Students can self-refer, or be referred by peers, school staff and parents. I hope you all have a great Term 1 and I look forward to working with you all over this year to support the young people within the school community.

Slip, Slop, Slapping in South West Queensland

With school returning and getting into full swing for the year, it’s important to make sure that all our students, staff and school community members are properly protected from the sun. Sun protection is important, as nearly all skin cancers are preventable. We also know that spending extended time in the sun and getting sunburnt, especially in the first 15 years of life, increases the risk of developing skin cancer. To reduce the risk of skin damage and skin cancer, Cancer Council Queensland reminds us that it’s important to think UV, not heat- when the UV is 3 and above:

Year 7 & 10 Immunisation Program

Queensland’s School Immunisation Program is a safe, effective and free way to protect your child and their peers from vaccine-preventable disease. In Year 7, vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough) is offered. In year 10, vaccination against meningococcal ACWY is offered. These diseases can cause serious harm to your child.

Year 7 and Year 10 students will receive a consent form and information pack for details on the vaccines offered and the diseases they prevent. A consent pack will be given to your child to bring home.

Please read the information booklet carefully - simply complete, sign and return the consent form to the school so your child can be vaccinated at their school by a qualified immunisation nurse.

If you've lost the consent form, you can reprint it here:

For more information about vaccines or the School Immunisation Program, visit:

or call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).

Getting To Know……...Mrs Laura Sherriff

Balonne Shire Australia Day Winners

On Australia Day the Mayor Samantha O’Toole presented awards at Balonne Shire Australia Day Ceremony held in Bollon. The Awards were also presented by Australia Day Ambassadors Dr Dimity Doran AO and Peter Dornan AM who are both high achievers in their respective fields of hearing and bionics, physiotherapy and men’s health. St George State High School are very proud of our staff member Miss April McLaren and two students being Nate Davis and Sienna Beardmore being awarded winners in their nominated category.

Miss April McLaren – Winner of Sports Administrator Award

Nate Davis – Winner of Senior Sports Award

Sienna Beardmore – Winner of Junior Sports Award

Thomas Kunde also had the privilege of meeting Dr Doran and Mr Doran and playing at the Australia Day Ambassadors morning tea.

South West Tennis

Congratulations to the following students who were selected in the Balonne Tennis team and good luck competing at the South West trials in Roma on Monday.

Mia Anderson, Will Anderson, Tyson Lawson, Tye Clarke, Kelsey Weribone and Seth Ryan.

Calendar

P&C News

More uniforms have arrived this week. Reminder that we are fully stocked on formal grey skirts ($45-) and formal grey shorts ($40-) for females.

The next P&C meeting is 20 February in Library 6pm – all welcome.

Community Notices

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