3 March 2023

Newsletter Articles

From The Principal

Let me start out this letter by celebrating success! The P&C AGM was a great success, with many parents and community members attending to hear about the school's progress and to offer their support. We are grateful for their involvement and contributions to the school community. I encourage all parents and community members to consider joining the P&C and attending future meetings, as it is an excellent forum for sharing ideas and concerns, and for working together to support our students and school.

We have also seen students showing up. We have seen improvements in attendance for some students and engagement in the classroom for others. We have active participation from carers who are actively supporting their students to be successful learners.

We have been trying to show up for the community as well! In line with our commitment to transparency and communication, we have been updating our school website. We are continually updating the website to ensure that the latest news and information about the school is available to all. This includes updates on the GP in schools pilot and the Agriculture program, information about NAPLAN and OneSchool at home, as well as important news items such as Triple P and Everyday Counts.

We encourage everyone to take advantage of the website's features, including the calendar and newsletter updates, to stay informed and engaged in the school's activities and events. We believe that by working together and staying connected, we can create a vibrant and inclusive school community that benefits all students.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to St. George State High School. We look forward to seeing everyone showing up and being involved in the school's future.

Thomas J. McKenna
Principal

From Acting Deputy Principal
Senior School

Over halfway through Term One!

We are starting to get into assessment time at school and with that comes some anxiety and stress. This shows in different ways for different people. Some will become quiet and withdraw from class, while others act out. As a parent or carer, you could be having conversations regarding what is coming up at school and remind students that they have support at school, including Homework club every Monday and Thursday until 4pm. As a school we are here to support all students in their learning. This is where our PBL lessons and focuses are important.

This coming fortnight our focus is Be Safe: We know and follow expectations.

Being safe at school is extremely important and students need to remember that this expectation is not only during class time but also during the lunch breaks and before and after school. Knowing the school expectations and following them looks like students engaging in lessons, talking appropriately to staff and other students, telling staff of concerns they have and playing safely at lunch times.

We are looking forward to seeing more students banking their Zingers and getting prizes on Wednesday (Seniors) and Friday (Juniors).

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.

Deb Addison

From Acting Deputy Principal
Junior School

Assessment Calendar

Student timetables, course and assessment calendars can be accessed through OneSchool. Instructions on how to access these resources can be found on our school website.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. As students progress through their school years, it’s important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy.

NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

Students at St George State High School will complete online NAPLAN tests from Wednesday 15 March to Friday 17 March. Catch up sessions will be completed between Monday 20 and Wednesday 22 March.

Forms for adjustments and parent withdrawal are available if needed. Parents must complete these forms and submit to the office by Wednesday 8 March.

Donna Potter

From HOD Agriculture

The Year 9 Agriculture class have been studying cotton production in their unit this term. To support their learning in the classroom, the Year 9s were lucky enough to take two excursions with another to occur next week. The first excursion included the students travelling out to ‘Cooinda’ where they were lucky enough to have Alan and Kerry Neale discussing the cotton growth process and the value that diversifying into growing hay has had on their business growing. Mrs Neale had the students engaged in a matching activity where students had to find the card matching a question they were given about growing cotton and processing cotton. Students also loved being able to get into the field where Mr Neale taught the students how to start siphons. The students loved being able to practically apply knowledge they had learnt that week about irrigating.

The second excursion took the students out to Todd Farming, where students were able to inspect the pump station and were given a tour around the cotton farm by Mr Ian Todd, highlighting the three different types of irrigation on the property: siphons, bankless and overhead lateral irrigation. Students were amazed at the scale of the property and had lots of questions to ask Mr Todd.

Our appreciation goes to Mr and Mrs Neale and Mr Ian Todd for taking time out of their busy schedules and allowing our students onto your farms. A huge thank you also goes to Mrs Sally Rigney (Regional Manager Cotton Australia) for her assistance in organising these excursions and attending them with us!

In other news, development for new infrastructure has started down at the Ag plot. We are very excited for the upgrades and can’t wait to use the new facilities! Students are reminded to stay clear of all construction work and be mindful of equipment and uneven ground.

Caitlin Crowe

From Acting HOD Senior Secondary

The Lions Youth of the Year evening occurred last Saturday, with five students from St George SHS nominating to participate this year. Our students delivered both impromptu and prepared speeches successfully, engaging with their topics and charming the audience. All five girls, Sienna Beardmore, Lillian Stenhouse, Josie Small, Grace Waters and Ashleigh Ferguson should be exceptionally proud of themselves. All entrants spoke confidently and with very little reliance on notes or palm cards. Congratulations to Grace Waters, the winner of the public speaking element, and Ashleigh Ferguson, the overall Lions Youth of the Year winner for 2023. Ashleigh will now go on to compete at a regional level in Goondiwindi next weekend. Thank-you to all staff, families and friends who attended this fantastic evening and supported our students.

Last Tuesday, CUC Balonne hosted a Cultural Blessing Ceremony for Year 12 students at the high school and Year 6 students in the community. The seniors of our school immersed themselves in the experience, and gained valuable knowledge into the importance of smoking ceremonies in traditional culture. This gesture brought the community together and was both recognition and well wishes for the educational journey our students continue on this year.

Jessica Embrey

From Acting HOD Junior Secondary

DEAR – Drop Everything and Read

All students in Years 7-9 participate in ‘DEAR’ for the first 15 minutes of period three every day. Students engage in reading texts during this time to support their literacy skills, regulate after the lunch break and help create calmer classrooms. Silent, independent reading is great for all students and allows teachers to read to their class, and also listen to individual students read. It is our goal to foster a love for reading in all students.

Year 9 Laptops

All Year 9 classes were allocated student laptops this week. Students have been working with their teachers to set up class OneNote to allow class work to be completed digitally. All students have been allocated their own laptop to use during class time. At this stage, Year 9 laptops will remain at school and will not be taken home. Students will still receive paper-based homework to complete. It has been great to hear students enjoying their time on laptops and modelling appropriate behaviour when working online.

Laura Sherriff

From Acting Junior Level Co-ordinator

Junior Year Level Co-ordinator Awards

2023 has brought the reintroduction of Year Level Co-ordinator Awards to both our Junior and Senior School.

These awards were introduced to celebrate the successes of our students. This includes in school, extra-curricular and community success.

This weeks recipients for our Junior Year Level Co-ordinator Awards were:

Sam Small: Outstanding behaviour on Year 7 Camp
Eli Champion: Academic excellence in Japanese speaking exam
Taylor Fisher: Excellent effort and behaviour across all of his classes.

Rebecca Herrmann

School News

• Website is being reviewed and rolled out. Some pages may be blank as we prepare the material to present to the community.
• If you have previously loaned the Agriculture department equipment and would like it back, please make contact before Term 2, 2023.
• Office Hours – From Term 2, 2023 – Office Hours will be:
  O. 8:00 - 3:15
  O. 3:15-4:00 Phone only
  O. Mondays – Office closed 8:15-8:30 for staff briefing

Hospitality

Year 11/12 Hospitality Practices students have continued their work on Food Trends. Last week they investigated the meat free trend by taste testing plant based meat substitute products. Plant based 'chicken' tenders, 'hot dogs', 'sausage' rolls and 'bacon' were all sampled. There were definitely some winners, and some that not one of our 100% meat-eating cohort wish to try ever again!

Jodi Hyland

Early Childhood Studies

11/12 ECS students completed an induction at their first visit to Balonne Kindergarten on Wednesday 22 February. Students travel by bus to and from Balonne Kindy and NCC Early Learners alternate weeks, to experience the practical side of Early Childhood Studies. On our first visit, students interacted with kindergarten children and explored the outdoor play area developing relationships and having quite a lot of fun!

Lucille Acton

Year 9 Respectful Relationships – Guest Speaker Visit

All students in Year 9 were lucky enough to have a visit from the Mobile Sexual Health Nurse, Sharon Young on Friday, 24 February as part of their Respectful Relationships unit. Sharon addressed topics including sexuality, consent and STI’s from a clinical perspective as a recap of what they have been learning in class.

Year 7 History

Students in Year 7 are currently exploring the history of Ancient Egypt. They have looked at a wide range of sources from different times in history and investigated how these artefacts inform us about the past.

As a part of their investigation into ancient cultures, Year 7 students conducted an archaeological dig to deepen their understanding of how we discover ancient artefacts and evidence of cultures.

Jake Phelan and Ella Harrison

Getting To Know……...Miss Robinson

Past Student Spotlight

Carolyn Nikoloski, nee Salmon.

Carolyn graduated in 1999 as DUX of St George SHS. Since graduating she attended UQ and gained her degree in Psychological Science. Carolyn has since completed her Masters in Public Health and Public Policy and Management.

Carolyn has recently been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Mental Health Australia. This is a wonderful achievement after gaining over 15 years’ experience in the mental health sector, having held the position of chief strategy officer at Beyond Blue, and serves as a Director of national health promotion charity Prevention United.

Congratulations to Carolyn for all of her amazing career achievements.

If anyone has any other stories from past St George State High School students please forward to admin@stgeorgeshs.eq.edu.au

School Calendar

From The Guidance Officer

Encouraging students to report incidents to adults is a preferred option however this is sometimes difficult for students to do. As a parent or caregiver you can also help discuss online safety with your young person. The links below provide some valuable information on how to support young people in developing the skills to keep themselves safe online and to promote healthy respectful relationships.

The following link to esafety commissioner site provides information for parents on how to encourage students to be safe online and how to report incidents.

The online parent/ Carer guide has information on the following topics :

Cyberbullying

Online pornography

Sending nudes and sexting

Time online

Online gaming

Unwanted contact and grooming

Reporting abuse

Access the guide by clicking on the following link

Annette McLean
Guidance Officer

Sport

New Uniforms On The Way

Exciting news, new netball and rugby league uniforms will be hitting the courts and fields soon!!

South West Rugby League Girls

Congratulations to the following students who were selected in the South West Rugby League team. The senior students this week travelled to Toowoomba to now try out for the Darling Downs Team (yet to be advised of outcome) and the juniors will head straight to the Qld trials at the Gold Coast.

Junior - Sophie Kings, Danii-Elle Mellifont, Bianka Oliver, Kahlela Prince, Madison Hiles, Zinema Collins.

Senior – Emalie Hams, Nequwa Collins, Kelsey Weribone.

South West Swimming

Monday saw a group of swimmers head to Charleville for the South West swim trials. Swimmers were selected from the high school carnival based on their times. Students who represented the Balonne team were Andrew and Daniel Sheedy, Josie Small, Georgie Nelson, Claire and Lillian Stenhouse.

The following students were awarded SW Age Champions:-

16 years girls – Lillian Stenhouse
15 years girls – Josie Small
13 years boys – Andrew Sheedy

Congratulations to Lillian Stenhouse who was selected in the South West Swimming team for Freestyle. She will now head to State Titles in Brisbane.

South West 16-18 Basketball

Congratulations to Jackson Halliday and Amdes Saunders who were selected in the South West Basketball team. The students will now try out at the Darling Downs trials later in March.

Balonne 10-12 Basketball

Last week the 10-12 years Balonne Basketball trials took place at St Patricks School. Congratulations to Izaiah Weatherall and Rhyder Hooper who will now travel to Roma in March for the South West trials.

Balonne 10-12 Netball

On Monday the 10-12 years Netball trials took place at the St George Netball Courts where students from all the Primary Schools including some students from the high school trialled for the 10-12 years and 11-12 years Balonne Team. Congratulations to Keeana Saunders, Rhyder Hooper and Riley Robertson who were selected in the 10-12 years netball team.

Sports Calendar

P&C News

The Annual General Meeting resulted in the return of President Julie Davies, Vice President Nicole Proud, Treasurer Ruth Beeson and welcomed Secretary Bec Halliday. Thank you to all who showed up on the night! We look forward to working with you all this year to raise money for our school.

Anyone wanting to be members please touch base with the committee for a new membership form.

Please watch out for updates and weekly Tuckshop Specials on our St George SHS P&C Facebook page.

Next meeting will be held at 6pm on 20 March in the school library. All are welcome to attend!

Julie Davies
President P&C

Community Notices

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