9 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Welcome to the 2016 school year. What an outstanding start to 2016 with the students and staff settling quickly into the New Year.

Celebration by our 2015 Year 12s with the Tertiary offers being released a few weeks ago and many of these students receiving their first preference. Four of our students achieved the OP 1, recognising the outstanding work ethic, support from family and efforts of the staff. There were many happy students from Mackay State High in the week prior to Christmas, when their OP scores were released. Congratulations to all students and special mention to Tran Huynh, Alice Liu, Tea Vella and Tom Talocod on their OP 1s.

This class of 156 Year 12 students also achieved 99% attainment of QCE or QCIA, which is outstanding for these students and recognition of the efforts by students and staff in the final weeks of 2015. In Semester 2 the Year 12s attained 93.8% achievement rating of C or better. With the performance of our students at Mackay at all levels, continuing to improve, the standard has been set high for our 2016 students and staff. The 2016 Year 12 group have made a positive start to the year with over 70 students completing the remaining modules of the Certificate 2 in Work Practices, allowing them additional time for QCS prep and to complete assignments for other subjects.

As well as many new students, 2016 sees the arrival of several new teaching staff. All have been engaged in their faculty teams and been allocated peer mentors to assist in their first few weeks. In each of our Term 1 newsletters, each of these new teachers will give some brief information on their backgrounds and expectations as their introduction.

Congratulations to Marnie Bugeja in Year 8, who entered a Writing Competition run by the University of NSW. She is selected as one of ten students from across Australia to travel for two days in March, in Sydney for a thinking workshop. The purpose of the Ideas & Opinions Days is to get smart young people from all over Australia, with big ideas, together in one room to create a workshop that will help other young Australians make more positive decisions based on values they feel good about. The workshop is a learning opportunity where participants interact with each other, take part in challenging activities and learn from a facilitator while also helping each other learn. I am sure that Marnie will contribute and benefit from this opportunity.

With many new parents in our school, I ask that if you can assist by volunteering for a day in our tuckshop, this will be greatly appreciated by students, staff and our P&C Assoc. Give Sharon a call in the Tuckshop on 49579127 between 8am and 1pm to talk about your offer. Thank you.

Finally, to our new Year 7 students. I visited a number of classes and spoke with students and although in the first days they found the locating of rooms a challenge, they now are very comfortable and settling into their learning commitments and making new friends. In no time at all, they will be walking across the stage in their graduation from our great school.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

2015 OP 1 STUDENTS

NEW TEACHERS

Lydia Burns

Hello students and staff at Mackay SHS. My name is Lydia Burns and I am a science/math teacher who loves both subjects! I learned to love math from a young age from my father, a mathematician. My love of science comes from my own studies (B.Sc. and M.Sc. from York University in Toronto). I am originally from Canada but have personal ties to Australia. My dad is an Aussie from Gatton and I have lots of relatives here Down Under. I have an uncle in Brisbane and an aunt in Bundaberg running an avocado farm. I am loving the weather, beautiful ocean walks and uniquely Australian wildlife. I have experienced possums in my roof and attacking magpies while riding my bike. I brought my husband and my three year old son Daniel here from Canada in 2013. Last year I had another son David. It felt very special to have a child born here. I am looking forward to being part of this vibrant school community this year.

Sam Chai

A big hello to everybody in the Mackay State High School community. My name is Sam Chai and I have recently relocated from the Gold Coast and am very excited to be working alongside the not only welcoming but very talented staff here. I will be predominantly teaching Mathematics with a little bit of Physical Education to the children of this wonderful school. I look forward to working alongside the students, fellow teachers and parents to facilitate the best of this learning opportunity for the children. I wish the very best to all the students and look forward to the many fruits this year will bear!

Kira Bauleka

Hello Mackay State High School newsletter readers! I’m Kira Bauleka, a newly transferred Humanities, English and Art teacher from Moranbah State High School who might be teaching one or more of your Year 7, 8 or 10 students. Moving from a small school where I knew almost every student’s name to Mackay has been quite a smooth transition, however I have gotten lost between upstairs and downstairs classrooms before! This community is so warm and welcoming, and that has included the students and staff too at Mackay State High School in the first few weeks with helping me navigate the school and where to plug in the projector cords in different classrooms – a big thank you to my Year 8s and 10s for helping me out in the first few lessons. I’m looking forward to meeting parents and carers of our students throughout the year, and encourage contact through your student’s diary or email.

HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT

The new and exciting Home Ec department team welcome students of 2016 with open arms.

We are proud to announce that the Home Ec department will be commencing major kitchen renovations early this year in J-Block. The renovations will include an industrial kitchen that will allow us to offer senior students a certificate in Hospitality which has never been offered at MSHS in the past. The Hospitality students will also participate in several functions this year including a Soup Kitchen, High Tea, Coffee Shop and our traditional Melbourne Cup event “which stops a nation” surely not to be missed.

The Home Ec Department this year includes Year 8 to Year 10 Food and Textiles, Year 11 & 12 Hospitality, Early Childhood and Senior Home Ec. We are thrilled to invite students again this year to participate in our extra-curriculum activities including Young Chefs and Festival of Fashion of which we were proud to have won several 1st and 2nd prizes, both juniors and seniors (Mackay district).

Due to the overwhelming participation in our craft group of 2015, we will be running another craft group this year for all students with all proceeds kindly donated to a local charity organization.

I would like to introduce our new Home Ec team consisting of enthusiastic, experience and dedicated teachers who aim to promote positive learning outcomes.

Mrs E Chambers (aka Ms Crunchie)

I am very fortunate and honored to be teaching Home Economics, Hospitality and Early Childhood at MSHS. I am also priviledge this year to have taken on the role of Subject Area Co-ordinator for the Home Ec Department. I started my teaching career in MSHS after I graduated at CQU in 2010. I have also completed my Masters in Education major in Guidance Counselling in 2015. One of my many passions in life is teaching nutrition, food, textiles and hospitality. I am looking forward to share my knowledge, skills and experiences to all my new students in 2016.

“…Words with out ACTION is just hallucination” Jimi Hendrex

Mrs Ruth Borg

Hi! My name is Ruth Borg I’m the Teacher Aide in the Home Ec. Area, I work Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Home Ec. is a very busy area and you will see me running back and forth from the Kitchens in J Block to the B3 staffroom.

I enjoy ordering and preparing the ingredients for the students in Years 8,9, 10,11 & 12 cooking classes and keeping the kitchens in order.

I also order the material and sewing needs for all classes and pre cut the year 8’s cushion material ready for sewing. I love to help out in the classrooms when required.

Mrs M van Zyl

One of the biggest privileges in life is to do a job that you are passionate about. Home Economics and especially sewing lies very close to my heart and there is nothing that makes me happier than sharing the skills that I have acquired over time. We have so many talented young people and MSHS and to assist them on their journey to become the best they can be is all a teacher can ask for. I am looking forward to teaching Home Economics and Early Childhood to our students this year.

Mrs M Scott

I am teaching Senior Hospitality and Year9 Home Ec food this year. My focus is to assist our department with the set-up and smooth running of our new coffee shop as part of our curriculum. This will also give me an opportunity to utilise my catering skills and experience I gained from my catering business some years ago. When I am out of the kitchen I swap the duty shoes and aprons for dainty, diamante studded high heels, fish nets and flashy fascinators so I can dance the night away…..

Mrs P Smith

Hello MSHS, I am very happy to be taking a couple of Year 8 Home Economics classes this year. I haven’t taught in the subject for a few years but I did train in this area - many years ago! It’s a little bit embarrassing … but … I am teaching in the same room where I decided to become a Home Ec teacher. I have had a fabulous career teaching around Queensland – Brisbane; Bamaga; Atherton; Bowen and Mirani (as well as 12 months in London) – I have been enjoying the company of the young people at Mackay SHS since the beginning of 2015 and am looking forward to teaching the valuable life skills to the Year 8 kids this year.

Mrs K Leon-Mason

My name is Kate Leon-Mason. I have been teaching for 13 years in various schools around Australia. My first position was in Western Australia teaching English, SOSE and Drama. I then took up a position in the Pilbara working for District Office assisting with the orientation of One School in remote schools mentoring local teachers. I moved to Qld to be closer to family where I taught in the private sector then later 5 years in Ipswich State High School teaching Hospitality, Home Economics, English, a variety of VET subjects and Wellbeing. 3 Years ago my family and I moved to Mackay to settle.

I am also the Year 9 Co-ordinator and teach Home Economics, History, VET and Literacy. I look forward to working with you and your child.

JUNIOR SECONDARY NEWS

Welcome to 2016. I'd wish you a "Happy New Year", but it's a bit late. My welcome message to ALL Year 7-9 students is simple:

• Have PRIDE in yourself and always do your BEST
• Don't FOCUS on the bad thoughts
• Always be POSITIVE
• SHARE the good things
• PARTICIPATE in school life

Some of you may think we focus on the small things - uniform for example. The school has a uniform policy developed by our P&C and fully supported by staff and students. I encourage all students to show pride in our school. Interestingly, we also encourage individuality, which makes us all interesting (I know if everyone was like me the world would be a boring place) Diversity is fantastic. This is not to be confused with self-respect and respect for your school. This applies to everything we do.

I also ask ALL Junior Secondary students and their families to share their thoughts with me in a positive manner. Say hello in the school grounds. Raise ideas with me. Share a joke. Be Proactive.

School is a great opportunity to experience life.

I also want to take time to ask you all to think about the dedication put in by our Year Level Coordinators, especially as the team I work with closely in Junior Secondary:

Year 7 - the ham actor Mr Sam Neill
Year 8 - the dynamic duo of Ms Sam Nutt and Mr Simon West (no reference to any Marvel Comic)
Year 9 - the adorable Mrs Kate Leon-Mason (see below)

I want to publicly express my appreciation of their dedication to the pastoral role of making Junior Secondary a great foundation for students and their future efforts and goals.

What's On Soon

• A reminder to Year 8 students about Year 8 Camp. Read the latest letter sent home.
• Year 7 "Getting to Know You days" - 15 and 16 February - days for students to have fun fun fun and learn more about student starting their time at Mackay High. MAKE FRIENDS!!
• Week 6 - a year 7-8 disco, with many challenges - see if you can look more coordinated on the dance floor than Mr Skinner, Mr Doyle and Mr Neill.

Year Coordinators

Welcome Year 9, parents and guardians,

I hope that you had a relaxed, fun-filled summer. It seems like everyone has grown centimetres since last year! I’d like to extend a big welcome to all of our families and community as we begin an enriching and exciting new school year 2016 with your child at Mackay State High School.

I am thrilled to see so many new and old faces - students and teachers alike - filling the classrooms with fun, contagious energy. Each new school year we watch enthusiastic students arrive to school and walking proudly down the hallways to their classrooms.

As our young adult’s confidence grows new and old routines are established, as we watch in awe our young adults eager to start their day at MSHS!

We realise how important it is to be confident that your children are not only actively learning, but are also happy and safe. We can assure you that as a team at MSHS, we will do everything we can to provide that safe, happy, and nurturing environment to make sure your child’s year at Mackay State High School is positively memorable.

In general homework should be 1.5 hours per night which may include watching the news, revising work studied during the day or reading a book.

Diaries are a key source of communication between parents and teachers. Teachers will check these diaries on a regular basis.

We offer free tutoring for English and Maths after school. Please contact the school for more information.

If you have any queries regarding your child’s learning please contact their learning area teachers or email me at kmaso57@eq.edu.au or alternately contact the school.

Welcome everyone!

Sincerely

Ms Kate Leon-Mason
Year 9 Co-ordinator

General

Buddies have commenced their role for this year, supporting our year 7 and 8 students. We have just completed our first meeting for the year to outline our support strategies. They are a great bunch of students and you will hear from and see more of them during the year. I encourage students to make close ties with their class buddies. This is our first buddy meeting - the best thing is the catering!

Next newsletter I will introduce our Junior Secondary logo and motto and how it feeds in to our school ethos as a whole.

All the best

Matt Skinner
Junior Secondary Head of School

NZ SKI TRIP

Year 11 and 12 students at Mackay SHS have the opportunity to be involved in the 2016 New Zealand Ski Trip! Planning has been underway for 18 months on this trip and we are under 6 months away from our departure day. At current time we have 23 students and 3 staff who will be on the trip. If there are any students who are still interested in attending, please get in contact with Mr Gercken in the HPE Staffroom ASAP. Most families have paid approximately 50% of the cost, with the remainder to come in over the next couple of months. The trip will cost $2850 for 10 days in New Zealand. If you can commit to this cost, again, please get in touch with Mr Gercken.

For those students that are going on the trip, there is an Information Night on Monday 15th February. This will be held in the School Auditorium and commence at 5:30pm. Please let Mr Gercken know if you can’t attend the evening by either email (agerc2@eq.edu.au) or by phone (07) 4957 9139. I look forward to seeing everybody there.

SPORTS WRAP!

Welcome to the 2016 School year! From everyone in the HPE Department, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year period with your loved ones. To our new Mackay High students and families, welcome to our wonderful school. Hopefully the first week has been an exciting time for your son/daughter. To our returning families, we are so glad to have you back again at Mackay High. Your support of our students and sporting programs at our school has been tremendous in the past and 2016 is looking to be a busy year yet again!

There are a few changes in the HPE Staffroom since the end of 2015. It was very sad to see Mrs Jody Dell leave our staffroom at the end of last year. She has returned back to her home in New Zealand with her husband and by all reports, she is loving being back closer to her friends and family. Mrs Courtney Maskell also left the HPE Department at the end of 2015 and has since moved out to Dysart SHS where she is continuing to teach. Mr Nathan Doyle has left the HPE staffroom at least for the first term in 2016. Nathan has stepped up to Acting Deputy Principal of Mackay SHS and with that change, Mr Craig Monaghan has taken up the role of Acting Head of Department for Health & Physical Education.

With these departures and promotions, the HPE department of Mr Andrew Gercken, Mrs Kellie Biddle and Ms Amanda Dick have welcomed in 3 new staff members this year. Our staffroom ‘newbies’ are Ms Alexandra Procter, who has joined us after completing a number of years at the Kinchant Outdoor Education Centre, Mr Alex Nicholson, who has joined us from Brisbane and has only just begun his teaching career, and Ms Kelly Russell, who has joined the team all the way from Tasmania! Keep an eye out in future newsletters for some more information on our new staff in the HPE Department.

As the school year has kicked off, so has the representative side of school sport. Already we have had a handful of Mackay District Trials and in the coming weeks more and more sports will hold trials. Students are urged to listen to the Daily Notices to hear about upcoming trial dates. It is the responsibility of the students to collect notes and information about trial days. In further editions of Sports Wrap, we will celebrate the success of our students who gain selection in Mackay, Capricornia and Queensland teams.

Enjoy the start of the school year, Term 1 will be over before you know it! (It’s only 9 weeks long!!)

SAVE THE DATE – MSHS CROSS COUNTRY THURSDAY 24TH MARCH!!

MACKAY DISTRICT SCHOOL SPORT TRIALS CALENDER

YEAR COORDINATORS

YEAR 7 COORDINATOR

I am excited for the opportunity and look forward to working closely with the Year 7 cohort for 2016. I have a lot of ideas and challenges ready to kick off the year. Some activities to look forward to in the near future are the Year 7 Leadership Days with lots of fun, team building activities to help build confidence and encourage participation and our Junior School Disco.

I am always happy to assist with any queries, concerns or feedback in regards to uniform, attendance and the overall wellbeing of the year 7 students throughout the year and I look forward to the year ahead. We have a great team of Form teachers on board for Year 7 who also play a key role in the development and wellbeing of the cohort.

I wish the Year 7 cohort an excellent start to High School and I look forward to getting to know you. Please phone me on 4957 9122 or email sjnei0@eq.edu.au

Sam Neill

YEAR 8 COORDINATOR

Our role as year coordinator is to facilitate a working relationship between you and the school with regard to your student's welfare and overall academic progress in Year 8. I would encourage you to read the current Homework and Assessment Organiser and the junior handbook which will provide you with information regarding homework, dress codes, attendance policy, rights and responsibilities etc. Year 8 is a very significant year in a student’s school life with new friendship groups emerging and increasing rigour in their academic studies at Mackay State High School. If you have any concerns regarding your student, please don’t hesitate to call either myself or Simon West.

Samantha Nutt

YEAR 9 COORDINATOR

My name is Kate Leon-Mason. I have been teaching for 13 years in various schools around Australia. My first position was in Western Australia teaching English, SOSE and Drama. I then took up a position in the Pilbara working for District Office assisting with the orientation of One School in remote schools and full filling the teaching needs of the local teachers. I moved to Queensland to be closer to family where I taught in the private sector then later 5 years in Ipswich State High School teaching Hospitality, Home Economics, English, a variety of VET subjects and Wellbeing. 3 years ago my family and I moved to Mackay to settle. I am the Year 9 Co-ordinator at MSHS and teach Home Economics, History, VET and Literacy. I look forward to working with you and your child.

Kate Leon-Mason

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

On Tuesday 2nd of February six Year 12 students from Mackay SHS, Megan Antcliff, Praise Chabata, Monalisa Chokuda, Chereece Jocumsen, Caitlyn Mittelstadt and Kayla Walz represented Mackay SHS at the Mackay Region School’s Constitutional Convention at Ocean International Resort. Every year at the convention, senior students from private and public schools around Mackay engage in a day of debate and discussion regarding issues to do with civics, politics and current affairs. This year’s topic discussed the proposal of the republic; whether Australia should become one and if so, what form it should take. Chereece was our schools speaker and delivered a confident, well researched and persuasive speech in favour of an Australian republic. The day culminated with a vote, with the students themselves choosing one of their peers to represent Mackay at the national convention in Canberra. In a very tight vote, the republican speaker from Mackay North State High School was chosen. I am very proud to report that our students demonstrated to both their peers and the wider community an embodiment of our schools core values, respect, consideration, dedication and pride.

Andrea Pozza

SAFETY AROUND OUR SCHOOL

All people dropping off and collecting students from around schools are reminded to be very cautious and ensure that speed limits and parking regulations are closely adhered to. Local Police are monitoring school areas very closely to support the safety of all near our schools.

In the afternoons, I recommend that parents arrange to pick up their children from a set place in Penn St, English St or Kenilworth St as the school frontage is congested with other cars and buses until 3:30pm.

MATHS TUTORING

ENGLISH TUTORING

Tutoring

Every Monday 3- 4pm in A08
Students can get help with assignments, exam preparation, oral presentations etc.

EALD

ARE YOU AN EALD – Is English and additional language or dialect for you??

Student Who Needs Some Extra Help With Assignments? You are eligible for:

What: Extra FREE tutoring for EALD students
WHEN: Every Wednesday 3pm to 4pm
WHERE: D05 classroom
WHO with: Mrs McGuire and Mrs Baxter

Bring along your assignments or homework for help with grammar and vocabulary; or to understand the task requirements.

MESSAGE FROM NURSE TRIXIE

Would you like to:

• Forget information?
• Make your skin acne prone?
• Have mood swings?
• Become aggressive?
• Eat too much?
• Have low energy?
• Contribute to accidents?
• Become ill?

It’s easy, sleep less than 8 hours most nights!

Sleeping Beauty was on to a good thing. A good night’s sleep is important for looking and feeling good. Sleep is when the body does it’s maintenance.

If you want sweet dreams make sleep a priority, have a cool, quiet, dark bedroom. Establish a bed and wake time routine. Avoid TV, phone, and computer use an hour before bed. Try not to eat or exercise too close to bed time. It is best to do homework and study earlier in the night and not at the last minute because a busy mind makes sleep difficult.

A good sleep each night is not only important for our physical health but also our mental health. This is especially important for children and adolescents because their brain is still developing and their body growing.

If you have any concerns about your child’s sleep or any health issues (physical or mental) please do not hesitate to give me a call. I am at Mackay State High School Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

MENTAL HEALTH

Whole School Approach

We are developing and implementing a Whole School Approach to Mental Health using the MindMatters resources which are described below. We have put together an Action Team with Teachers, Students, Student Services and also one parent who is also a staff member. If you would like to find out more about this program you can do any of the modules on this website (www.mindmatters.edu.au) which take about an hour and each one has an animated video and a panel video. The link to the first video of a panel discussion is also below.

MindMatters is not a ‘one size fits all’ program. MindMatters provides schools with a systematic and comprehensive approach to supporting student mental health and wellbeing through the implementation of mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention strategies.

MindMatters consists of four components:

• Positive school community
• Student skills for resilience
• Parents and families
• Support for students experiencing mental health difficulties.

Each component consists of a set of target areas and objectives.

If you would like to find out more click on the following link

P & C NEWS

TUCKSHOP

We are excited to introduce an EFTPOS machine to MSHS Tuckshop. The Eftpos machine will be accessible before school and during breaks. It is solely available for purchases NO CASHOUT allowed.

TUCKSHOP SURVEY

Mackay State High School P&C Association are reviewing the tuckshop business. We would love your feedback and invite current parents, staff and students to use the most appropriate link. The survey has been produced with the help of Nutrition Australia Queensland.

Students Survey Link

Staff Survey Link

Parents Survey Link

COMMUNITY NOTICES