17 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Mackay State High was honoured to host a Ministerial visit this week. Glenn Butcher, Assistant Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Member for Gladstone came to our school to review the progress in the Music, Hospitality kitchens and Dining room as well as the Junior Manual Arts rooms, refurbished and near completion. He was accompanied by his Press secretary, Julie-Anne Gilbert our local Mackay member, Jim Pearce Member for Mirani, Tanya Williams P&C President, School Captains and local media. Mr Butcher was very impressed with the facilities and programs offered to our students. He spoke of the Government focus on the improvement of school infrastructure in recent years, including our Gym area.

In February several of our senior ladies participated in the Zonta Club’s International Women’s Day brunch. Several student from other Secondary schools across Mackay region joined the members of the Zonta Club, celebrating the achievements of women across the centuries. A number of students’ achievements in community service were recognised at the luncheon. Thanks to Mrs Atkins who accompanied our nine students.

Recently twenty five aspiring school leaders convened at Ocean International Rooms, to build their leadership skills for the future in a Take the Lead program. Two of our students attended the opening of the conference, to deliver the Welcome to Country. Damon Erixson, a direct descendent of Yuibera Elders, and Siobhan Healy, who gave some recent history of the Yuibera people’s lands for our visitors from schools across Queensland.

Haard Shah, one of our School Captains, competed in the Divisional Final for Lions Youth of the Year on the weekend. The speeches by each of the students representing their schools, were of very high quality and Mr Pozza said that the judges had a very difficult decision. Haard was not selected to go to the next level, but like several other students, performed at a very high level.

On Friday evening about 1000 Year 12 students from as far away as Bowen, participated in the 25th annual Mocktail evening. The event is very well supported by students from across our region and the organising committee were again very impressed with the behaviour and engagement of our students. I also thank the staff from our school and many other schools who gave their time after a busy week of school, to assist with the supervision of the event.

Interschool debating has been re-invigorated in local schools in 2017. Three Divisions Yr7/8, 9/10, 11/12 will commence in Term 2 once nominations are finalised. The competition is planned to be held on Tuesday evenings from Mid Term 2 to Mid Term 3. If your child is looking to develop their persuasive speaking and team work, they should see Mr Pozza in A06 staffroom to register.

Interschool Netball and Rugby League competitions commenced in the last couple of weeks. Netball in a range of age and ability levels is played at the Abbott St Courts on Tuesday afternoons, while the Rugby League is generally played at Junior League fields, with a small number of games played at other venues. Thank you to the many staff and parents who assist the students with their games, played in excellent spirit.

Next week communities celebrate Harmony Day and in our school we will have a number of awards for students for projects that they have undertaken in classes. Our school lives the ethos of Harmony Day, but we live this every day, with the range of cultures working closely together for everyone’s benefit.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

JUNIOR SECONDARY NEWS

General News

Mackay High is busy building a Positive Culture or Positive Ethos in Junior Secondary. The aim is to work to a school wide consistent process of HOW we achieve our aims, and is built upon a culture of positive recognition and consistent approach to the language of success within the school. One part (and a very small but significant part) of this "Puzzle" that your son or daughter will see in their classroom right now is a poster outlining the expectation of ALL students and staff at school, every lesson, every day, no exceptions. I have included it in this newsletter for you to see, and PLEASE sit down at home with your child (any age) and DISCUSS it.

Many year 7 had their immunizations for HPV and Triple Antigen this week. Congrats to student for being "brave". Remember, it hurts 10x more to kick your toe than getting a needle in the arm.

What's On Soon

Exams - Assessment - Reporting - Mental relaxation (pick the odd one out). Crunch time for students to showcase their best, Please don't slacken off. Take pride in your education and produce your best at all times, especially at the end of a long term. Remember our Junior Secondary motto - "Strength and Courage Succeed". Resilience is also a keyword. Do you know what it means?

We are also planning our annual Year 7 leadership day full of engaging activities. We normally run this toward the end of term 1, but have postponed to the stat of tern 2 due to high heat and humidity. Keep tuned for more details!

Dodgeball

Year 7 dodgeball completion starts this week. Be part of a vindictive, aggressive, spiteful and totally fun game of throwing a ball at opponents. Rules DO apply. This is an annual favourite for students. Year 8 will be invited to participate in term 2.

Staff have also been invited to attend games and promise to be "nice"!!

Bring it on!!!!

NAPLAN

Everyone's favourite national testing program, NAPLAN occurs this year in week 4 of Term 2 - 9-11 May. NAPLAN, whether we like it or not, is a measure used by governments to judge school and educational performance. It is important that students take the testing seriously and try their very best. We will send home some advice about the running of NAPLAN soon, but if you have any questions or concerns regarding NAPLAN, or do not wish your child to sit the exams, please Contact Mr Skinner via the school contact number 495 9179.

Good News Stories

Year 7 have had attendance above 90% for each of the first 5 weeks of the term. Year 8 have only slipped below once and whilst Year 9 have not always been green (above 90%) it has been close to the 90%. There is no such thing as "just having a day off". School is a great place to be! Overall a great attendance attitude by the Junior School.

Also. I'd like to recognise the efforts of staff and students who continue to make the Breakfast Club such a success. Chappy Phil and his team have been making this a success for over 10 years, with over 120 students a week accessing the service to ensure they have some tucker in their tummies for a quality start to the day. The Brekky Club is also a great way for kids to socialise and make new friends!!

Thought of the Newsletter

"People often tell me that motivation doesn't last, and I tell them that bathing doesn't either. That's why I recommend it daily."

American motivational speaker Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar

Year Coordinators

Mr West has moved from being a Year 9 Coordinator to joining Mrs Leon-Mason as a Year 7 Coordinator. Year 7 students will meet "the Sergeant Major" - Mr West has a booming voice. They will make a great team to coordinate all issues relating to Year 7.

I'd also like to make a timely recognition of the hard work that Miss Nutt and Mr Neill make as Year 9 and 8 coordinators respectively. They (and Mrs Leon-Mason and Mr West) put in far more hours and "Blood, Sweat and Tears" than they are provided by the school. Please take the time as either a parent or student to physically thank them for their efforts, and support them whole-heartedly.

Matt Skinner
Junior Secondary Head of School

FROM THE DESK OF A DEPUTY

Mackay State High School Term 1 Report Cards

Some important dates around our Term 1 Reporting for students in Years 7 – 12:

• Wednesday 19th April – Reports distributed to students to take home.
• Wednesday 19th April, 4.00 pm – online environment opens for parents to make Teacher Interview bookings.
• Wednesday 26th April, midday – online environment closes for making interviews.
• Wednesday 26th April, 3.30pm – 7.30pm – Parent / Teacher Evening in Mackay SHS Hall

The purpose of this interim report is to:

• invite parents to participate in the upcoming Parent / Teacher Interview evening
• provide parents with a summary of their student’s progress for the year-to-date, and
• to provide school based Achievement Data for analysis.

We are planning for some changes with our reporting processes this year – namely emailing out reports to parents rather than printing. Please watch our Newsletters and P&C Agendas so that we can keep you up-to-date.

Ms Tania Cheers
Deputy Principal

THE ARTS

IGNITE!17 ARTS TOUR

Second round offers have now been distributed for high achieving Arts students to attend the IGNITE!17 ARTS TOUR to Sydney in September!

Following a well-attended parent night on March 6, all invited students received an extensive email with revised deadlines made necessary to secure to secure cost-effective flights.

We are pleased to announce that we have now added NIDA workshops to the list of amazing opportunities that will be made available to participating Drama students.

The Arts Department will commence fundraising in Term 2 to help subsidise the cost of the trip. Thank you to those parents and students who have pledged support for fundraising activities. Please contact Arts HOD, Glenda Hobdell at ghobd1@eq.edu.au if you wish to be involved.

Further details will be delivered as the Tour rolls out, with an information package sent to all Round 2 parents soon.

HOODS PRODUCTION

Each night two hoods ride a train to a wrecking yard on the outskirts of the city.
Here, in this cemetery of stories, they are storytellers with the power to fast forward, pause and rewind.
Tonight, they tell the story of three kids left in a car.
Rewind. It’s Friday, KFC night and the last day of school before Christmas.
Kyle, Jesse and baby brother Troy are waiting in the car for their mum.
As night approaches the car park takes on a dark and sinister aspect filled with strange and familiar characters.
The shopping centre closes, Mum still hasn’t returned and the baby won’t stop crying.

Hoods is a suburban tale of survival and solidarity against the odds.

Mackay State High School presents Hoods by Angela Betzien
Directed by Sam Neill

The cast have been hard at work this term, exploring the play and creating a world for our story to take place. This story tackles themes and ideas of a dark, yet real nature. The development process has been sympathetic of this and the students have brought a maturity to their work.

On March 11 and 12, we had a visit from Steven Mitchell Wright, who consulted and workshopped with the cast and crew.

The after-hours photo shoot was a success, providing plenty of amazing shots for our promotional material, as seen in the teaser image above. The students were exceptionally professional in their involvement and the quality of work speaks for itself.

Watch this space…tickets on sale soon!

Performances will be staged in our Drama space, the Box Theatre, from 1 to 3 June.

YOUNG AUSTRALIA PERFORMANCE

On Monday March 6, the Year 10, 11 and 12 music classes attended a performance in the Box Theatre — a one-man performance by Lionel Robinson about the history of the keyboard and synthesiser.

Some of the topics from “Synth City” directly linked with units the Music classes have been studying.

Holly Gething, Michael McKechnie, Tanya Dator and Julian Beavis got a chance to enter the stage and contribute their talents to the performance. The students were very entertained by the performance.

We look forward to more engaging learning opportunities from Young Australia ahead — they are an important part of our Arts Extension program.

MECC YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

L to R: Kiahni Gaffney, Simone Muirhead, Michael West, Mikaela Fair, Marnie Bugeja absent Jessi-Ann Glassop

Mrs Glenda Hobdell
HOD The Arts

SPORTS WRAP

NETBALL ACADEMY

It has been a very busy year so far with the girls working hard in class during practical and theoretical lessons. The level of commitment has been excellent this year with the girls supporting each other when learning new skills and concepts. Morning training and the interschool competition has allowed the girls to get to know each other while gaining greater skills and fitness. I can proudly say that the girls are wearing their academy shirts with pride and to keep up the hard work.

Alex Procter
Netball Academy Coordinator

SPORTS ACADEMY

Mackay State High Sporting Academies are pleased to announce a new partnership with BCC Cinemas and Mass Nutrition. These two wonderful local businesses are the sponsors of our new concept, Academy Students of the Month.

Senior Academy

Congratulations to Year 11 students Daniel Kelly and Emma Watts who have been awarded our Senior Academy & Fitness students of the month for February. Both Daniel and Emma were nominated by their teachers for their outstanding efforts and contributions in their Certificate III in Fitness class. Daniel and Emma both received a $50 voucher to spend in store at Mass Nutrition Mackay.

Well done Daniel & Emma!

Junior Academy

Congratulations to Destinee Whirisky (Year 10) and Damon Lock (Year 7) who are our Junior Academy students of the month! Destinee has worked extremely hard in her netball classes and has been outstanding in her coaching sessions to our Year 9 students as part of her Certificate II in Sport & Recreation. Damon has had a great start to his first year at Mackay SHS, putting in 100% on and off the field since Day 1 and has been a great representative for the Rugby League program.

Both students received a ticket to BCC Cinemas.

Congratulations Destinee & Damon!

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

The Year 8 Academic Excellence Academy have a LOT to look forward to this year. Firstly, having the new class of Year 7’s introduced into the academy has been very exciting for our class and we are so happy to be able to work with them and mentor them through the second annual STEM fair that will be held later on this year. Also, we are excited about the new opportunities our subjects will bring and being able to investigate new topics and learning with the new technology going into H block. We are also enthused about aspects of everyday school life such as sport and the instrumental program that most of us are a part of.

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, Mr Baxter and Mrs Baxter

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

BLUE CARD WINNERS - WEEK 8.

JUNIOR SCHOOL

Amber EDWARDS was nominated by Mrs RUHLE for working without being asked to. Congratulations Amber - $10 Tuckshop voucher.

SENIOR SCHOOL

Alexandra CAIRNS was entered into the draw by Mrs Gibson, for “Huge help with preparations for the Anzac Day Ceremony. Great Work Alexandra – Best of Luck with ANZAC Day!

P & C NEWS

The P & C has the following surplus items for sale following the recent refurbishment of the

• 2 large tuckerbox freezers
• 2 pie warmers

If you are interested in purchasing any of the above items please email pandc@mackayshs.eq.edu.au with your offer by Wednesday 8th February. If your offer is accepted you will be advised by Friday 10th February. You will need to make full payment and collect the items by Wednesday 15th February 2017.

COMMUNITY NOTICES