15 September 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Term 3 draws to a close with students busily completing assessments and teachers busily marking and then completing Student Report comments. With the Year 12 teachers needing to prepare submissions for Verification of the ratings proposed for all students in Authority subjects, these students finished their exams in Week 9. These submissions will be directed to QCAA Office on the last day of term 3.

Cyber safety talks were presented to our Year 7 & 8 students last week by presenters Sgt Nigel Dalton and IT Scientist Brad Huddleston. The messages shared with the students were very informative and made the students aware of the implications of unmanaged use of electronic devices and the impact this can have on important sleep and general health. Brad and Nigel were very impressed with the very responsive students and the follow up questions that they posed.

A team of staff have now interviewed over 140 of our new Year 7 students for 2018 with their parents. Some catch up interviews were held in Week 9 and we are keen to have all of the students intending to enrol for 2018 to contact the office to arrange for an interview. These enrolment interviews allow us to set up our class groupings for our Orientation Day to be held on Monday 4th December 2017. All of our new Year 7 students will attend on this day and spend the day with their class group, meeting their Buddies and several of their teachers. Their booklists for 2018 will also be distributed on this day. In addition on Wednesday 4th October in week 1 of next term, parents and students will be invited to the BYOx Information evening. On the evening, information about laptop options for students will be outlined, even if students already have a laptop.

Our school was recently recognized for its leading position with technology in student learning, being accepted as one of the trial schools testing the Queensland Technology curriculum initiatives across our Junior secondary levels. A number of staff will be involved in training early in term 4 and then look at our implementation into our student curriculum.

In the final week two groups of students and staff are making final preparations for their excursions. The Ignite Arts Tour is off to Sydney to explore and experience music, drama, performance and the Arts in the cultural centre of Sydney for over a week. The students are divided into 6 teams which will experience all aspects of the Arts and bring their learnings back to Mackay to share with other students. Our Rugby League Academy tour to northern England will engage 26 students and 4 staff for the tour, playing games against the usual schools including Castleford Academy, Outward Grange and also Hull. Ten of the students are remaining for long stays for an additional 5 weeks into Term 4.

Report Cards will be distributed in Week 1 of Term 4 and parents will be invited and encouraged to book times for Parent Teacher interviews on Tuesday 10th October between 3:30pm and 6:30pm. All parents are encouraged to book interviews with details released with Report Cards.

Our Girls Rugby League teams were very successful this year with both our U15 and Open teams earning places in the Grand Finals. Our U15 Girls won a close fought match against Mercy College 6 – 4, while our Open Girls went down to St Pats College 14 – 10. All games were played in great spirit and coaches Alex Proctor, Samantha Nutt, Alex Nicholson and Rowan Graham were very proud of their effort during the season.

I wish all families, students and staff a relaxing and safe holiday and look forward to your readiness to commence the final term on Tuesday 3rd October. Like all final terms it will race through.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

JUNIOR SECONDARY NEWS

General News

This week is RUOK week - a time to do a double take and see if we are checking on our family and friends to see if help ensure everything is going well.

Chappy Phil is running some activities at school to help promote this. One of our favourites is the paper plane competition. Here are some photos of our year 7's having a go.

We also had a very important Cyber-safety presentation from Sargent Nigel Dalton of Mackay Police and Brad Huddleston, a world renowned expert in digital addictions.

Brad spoke to Year 7 and 8 students about the addiction that forms with electronic devices. It is the same type of addiction people have with substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and food. The more you enjoy it, the more your body needs to feel pleasure, and the more you need. In many countries, young people are so addicted that they do not eat and sleep for days, and die. South Korea (home to Samsung) has over 400 rehab centres treating digital addictions.

Students need to have a break from their gadgets at least 2 hours before bed time, otherwise their brains and bodies do not sleep properly and repair. This is a FACT. They spoke about good habits with all forms of electronic devices and the self-discipline involved in being a responsible person.

The same applies to television shows that provide high level stimulation to the brain. The example he gave was student who watched SpongeBob Square pants in the morning before school took 3 HOURS to settle into a normal brain pattern. When at school, they could not concentrate.

Add to this a high energy diet for breakfast (energy drinks, fast food etc), and there is a recipe for complete disaster at school. Please ensure your children do not live on digital devices and a poor diet.

What's On Soon

Enjoy your school holidays and stay safe. See you all back in term 3.

We hope all students lend an extra big hand at home with the chores since they will have so much free time. :)

Thought of the Newsletter

Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it.

Silence and smile are two powerful words. Smile is the way to solve many problems and Silence is the way to avoid many problems.

Mr Matt Skinner
Junior Secondary HOD

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE ACADEMY NEWS

As term 3 draws to a rapid close students in the Year 9 Academy program are working tirelessly putting together their proposals for the Academic Academy Personal Pursuit. AAPP is a new initiative offering Academy Students the chance to participate in an independent learning program suited to their interests. The Personal Pursuit allows Academy students entering year 10 in 2018 to undertake a pursuit of knowledge other than that which is packaged within the traditional subject offerings and will be offered for the first time as a discrete elective next year. This program enables students to pursue an area of knowledge determined individually by them. It is essentially a program unique to each student, based on their personal interests. In order to assist preparing their proposals and to perhaps trigger some ideas, Academic Excellence students in year 9 recently attended a Technology session co-ordinated by Mr Schmidtke and Miss Stangar. The students relished the opportunity to engage with the range of technologies available at Mackay State High School.

The Academic Excellence Academy Cadet program doubled in size during term 3 with the addition of Year 5 students to the program. In recent weeks sixty eager Cadets have participated in sessions focussed on Agriculture, Art, Drama and Media. Next term will see students embrace Information Design Technologies and Home Economics. Their last visit on Monday the 20th of November culminates with their involvement in the Mackay State High School STEM Fair. The first STEM Fair in 2016 was a huge success and I have no doubt it will be bigger and better this year.

Kellie Bryan
Academic Excellence Academy Co-ordinator

YEAR 9 PLEDGE

SPORTS REPORT

T 20 Cricket Blast

MSHS sent a team of Year 7 & 8 girls to play in the T20 Cricket Blast. The competition took place on Friday 8th September, 2017 at Harrup Park Country Club. It was also confirmed that our Mackay Whitsunday winners will attend the State Final in Brisbane in December – flights and accommodation are payed for!

Our girls came away with a win!!! All the girls played a valuable part in the team. Congratulations to Charley Lee for being named the best & fairest player for not only her skills but her continual encouragement on and off the field. Ella Anderson and Ryleigh Wotherspoon were outstanding with their bat and ball skills displayed.

The girls will now travel to Brisbane next term to compete against other teams from around Queensland at the T20 Blast. Well done girls, such a fantastic result.

Girls Rugby League

Our two girls rugby league team played in their respective grand finals on Friday night. Our 9/10 students competed against Mercy College and came out champions winning 6-4 (it was a very tough and exciting game to watch). Destinee Whirisky was named player of the match a big congrats to her.

Our 11/12 team competed against St Pats in a very challenging and tough game - unfortunately the girls went down 14-10. It was great to see that our school collaborated with 4 other schools to allow girls to play in the competition as their schools were unable to put in teams - these girls were amazing and it was such a great opportunity to work with them.

Congratulations to all those who helped out with the competition - running water, coaching and attempting coaching. I know I had a great time with you and watching the girls play.

Year 11 Recreation

In Year 11 Recreation classes students assessment was to work in small groups to design and run tournaments for Junior HPE classes. The students have done an amazing job, they have shown skills in coaching, speaking/presenting, timing, scoring, refereeing and overall tournament organisation. Each class should be recognised and congratulated for their hard work in this assessment task.

Year 10 VSR/Junior netball, Soccer and NRL

In Year 10 VSR/Junior netball, soccer and NRL classes students assessment has been to work in pairs to create and design and coaching sessions for various aged classes. The students have done an amazing job, they have shown skills in coaching, speaking/presenting, timing, scoring, refereeing and overall coaching organisation. Each class should be recognised and congratulated for their hard work in this assessment task.

Vicki Wilson Cup

The junior team played in the Vicki Wilson Shield tournament a few weeks ago against Rockhampton in the regional finals. Our MSHS team has been crowned the Capricornia Regional Champion winning 32-16. We now travel to the Gold Coast on the 6th-8th of October to compete in the Queensland finals. This group of girls have so much talent and it has been a pleasure to coach each and every one of them – well done ladies keep up the good work.

ACCESS CENTRE

MATHS TUTORING

ENGLISH TUTORING

CHAMPION OUR CHAPPY

Becoming a Chappy Champion is simple and easy!

• Visit www.fundraise.suqld.org.au
• Enter your local school’s name into the search field Mackay State High School
• Click More Details Champion Your Chappy
• Click Donate Now
• Choose to set up a recurring gift or a one-time investment
• Enjoy knowing that you are making a difference in your local community.

All funds raised will go directly to supporting Chappy Phil at Mackay State High School

Thank you for your valuable time and for considering this vital investment in our children’s future.

Philip Hall
(Chaplain Mackay State High School)

UNIFORM SHOP

TUCKSHOP

We are changing the menu slightly for Term 4 and include more salad options. Please see the menu attached.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS!

We invite you to become a Volunteer in the tuckshop. By giving your time you meet others in the school community, share or develop skills in food preparation and deliver customer service.

We are creating an exciting new menu that incorporates home cooked hot and cold meals, fresh baked snacks and an ability to offer catering to our school community.

We understand time is precious, and value any amount you can contribute. You may like to do a morning shift 9am—12.30pm or a full day (9am—2pm). We enjoy a cuppa in between the lunch breaks. Please send me an email mshstuckshop@hotmail.com with your interest or call the tuckshop on 4957 9127.

Be assured that your volunteer hours will be very much appreciated. You will be notified of your rostered days via email or text.

NB! Profits generated through Tuckshop are contributed to the school benefiting our students.

Thank you for supporting MSHS Tuckshop.

Mella Partmaa
Retail Manager- Food Supervisor
Mackay State High School Tuckshop

COMMUNITY NOTICES