19 March 2018

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

One of the highlights for students attending Mackay State High is the range of opportunities presented to students during the year, in the areas of interest and passion. One of these successes is for Year 12 student Isi Uluiviti he has recently returned from auditions for the 2018 Creative Generations Musical Extravaganza in July 2018. He has been selected to return for final selection in the Feature Vocalist sector, needing to learn to perform a further 7 songs in a couple of weeks. Education Queensland receives over 1000 applications from musicians, singers and stage management students from schools in Queensland and select about 100 students to participate in this week of training and coaching by professional performers in Brisbane. Those students later perform at the Brisbane Entertainment & Cultural Centre in July. Mackay State High has proudly had at least one of the students in our Music program for the past 6 years and we look forward to Isi’s performances.

On Friday 16th March schools and communities across Australia engage in the National Day of Action against bullying and violence. Our school has had a number of activities during the week to highlight this event and students encouraged to wear an orange accessory on the day. In Form Classes, students are making a “hands on commitment” which after discussion, is written on a Paper Hand to be displayed in their room, while other smaller hand messages can be done by individual students. A short video featuring “Kid President” was to be shown in Form Class during the week. This special focus was on the Friday, however continued emphasis is given to eliminating bullying and all violence, following our Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students.

On Monday 26th March our Parents & Citizens Association will hold the 2018 AGM with the committee for this year to be elected. As always we are very keen for new faces to become involved and bring new ideas “to the table”. Our meetings always commence at 6pm and generally they end at or before 8pm. Please come along and become involved to support your children.

Interschool sport has commenced recently with competitions commencing for Netball and Rugby League Interschool fixtures on Wednesday afternoons. These enable students to learn new skills and meet new students through their teams. There are nine netball teams this year with a wide range of ability from beginners to experienced. I also thank our staff as coaches, who also have range of ability, but a keen interest in supporting our students. In League there are two divisions with the Div 1 games for the higher level students, while the Div 2 competition allows students to participate to learn the game as the competition goes on, some graduating in later years to Div 1.

A large number of our Year 11/12 students were involved in Work Experience both through our school and some students at Mackay Engineering College. This is a great opportunity for students to see the real workplace situations, while learning some key skills especially in communication. Some students gain part-time work through successful placements, with one student even gaining full-time apprenticeship. We sincerely appreciate the generosity of local employers in placing our students and thank them as always.

Our BYOX program has seen very large numbers of our students being On-Boarded to access the in-school internet in recent weeks. Students are encouraged to have their laptops at school for use in lessons, whether for notetaking, researching or accessing software programs for classwork. Parents can assist by reminding students to bring devices daily to school. At present over 70% of students are connected with 80% of Year 7s.

Our teaching staff were recently involved in after school training which offered 26 different training sessions on a wide range of topics, with over 400 teacher from High schools attending. This event is held each year, providing links for staff between schools also.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

TEACHER PROFILE

Miss Ella Barresi

My name is Ella Barresi and I am very excited to be on board in 2018 teaching Drama. I moved to Mackay from Melbourne in 2013 to pursue a Bachelor of Theatre (Specialisation Music Theatre) from the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music. This lead to me completing my Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching to begin my journey teaching Drama in schools. Over the last five years I have been lucky enough to be involved in the amazing arts community within Mackay. My experiences have had me working with many local dance schools, choreographing community musicals and working for Central Queensland University. I am now excited to begin working with the talented students of the Mackay State High School Arts Department. I have been greeted with enthusiasm and energy from all of my classes and I am looking forward to seeing what achieve over the year.

Ms Janna Lynam

Hello! My name is Janna Lynam and I am very excited and proud to be a part of the Mackay State High School community. I was born and bred in Mackay and worked in the medical industry for about ten years after finishing school. During this time, I was able to travel frequently overseas and visiting places like London, Paris and Rome truly ignited my passion for history. It was then that I decided that I wanted to become a teacher in order to share my knowledge and love for all things historical with eager young minds. After graduating from Central Queensland University in 2016, I spent my first year doing short term contracts and relief work for many of the local schools (this flexibility also allowed me to squeeze one more overseas trip in!). I was always excited to come to Mackay State High School as I felt that I truly belonged here and I could see the pride that both teachers and students alike had for the school. With my new position as a full time teacher I am kept busy with my Year 7 History and English class and my Year 10 History and English classes. I look forward to meeting as many members of our fantastic community and wish everyone a great year ahead.

Mr Stephen Ross-Bryant

Hello Mackay State High students, parents and staff, my name is Stephen Ross-Bryant.

I began teaching here at Mackay State High School this year and I teach agricultural science, general science and junior maths.

I have a vast background in a variety of fields including the Australian Army, Corporate Facilities Management and more recently Geology and Palaeobiology.

One interesting fact about me is that my wife and I lived and worked in the UK for 10 years after which we rode motorcycles back home to Australia from London. This trip took us a year to do and we rode through such places as Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India. We saw some amazing sights and met some very interesting people.

I am looking forward to watching the students in my classes progress and develop into proud young adults.

SENIOR SCHOOLING NEWS

Work Experience

Every student who participated in Work Experience from 5 – 9 March is required to return their completed Workbook and Evaluation Form to Mrs Esau in E6 as soon as possible.

USI (Unique Student Identifier)

A Unique Student Identifier (USI) is a reference number unique to each student.

All Year 10, 11 and 12 students are required to create a USI and this number stays with the student for life. All students are required to have a USI number by the end of Term 1.

Students will need ID such as a birth certificate, passport or medicare card to be able to create their USI. Go to the link below and select ‘Student Login’ and follow the steps from there. Anyone needing help creating a USI can bring their ID to Mrs Annamaria Esau in E6.

SPORTS NEWS

A message from the HOD

The year has started off well with a big influx of new Year 7 students into all our Sporting Academies. The start of the year has been quite warm but all students across all academies have been putting in a great effort by learning new skills and adapting to new staff under trying conditions. This year the Football Academy welcomes a new teacher into their fold – Miss Monica Tracy. Monica has a wealth of experience playing Football at a high level whilst also running the Clayfield Girls College program last year. Under the guidance of very experienced coach, Brad Radunz, she will continue to grow. Our Netball Academy has also a two new faces in charge. Miss Emma Forster is our new Netball Academy Co-ordinator and has a wealth of experience in Netball and Fitness. Joining her this year is Miss Hannah Koko. She joins as a fresh-faced first year teacher. These two ladies have hit the ground running by co-ordinating the teams for the interschool Netball competition as well as running before school fitness sessions for the girls. The Rugby League Academy staff of Andrew Gercken (Co-ordinator), Rowan Graham and myself have been working really hard to get our boys prepared for a big year of Rugby League. The division 2 competition finally started after being delayed one week due the wet. I would like to thank all teachers involved for a productive start to the year.

Back Row: Rowan Graham, Andrew Gercken, Nathan Doyle, Kevin Blakey, Brad Radunz
Front Row: Kellie Biddle, Monica Tracey, Jacqui Kelly, Emma Forster, Kelly Russell absent Hannah Koko

Nathan Doyle
Head of Department Physical Education

Football Academy

Before School Fitness Program – 7:00am till 8:00am every Wednesday morning (weather permitting) If it has rained overnight there will be no training so not to chop up our fields. This is to improve our overall individual fitness levels to allow better team play for our competitions and club football. For those students who live out of town a text message / messenger system is being put in place to help out with cancelation.

Practical Program – This term we are working on the Technical side of Football, revisiting and refining the individual skill required in our game as well as placing them into a game situation to prepare for upcoming competitions in Terms 2 and 3.

Football Academy Gear is handed out to those students that have paid their fees on Friday’s Second Break in our J Block Football Room. Please have an idea of the size you may require.

Yours in Football

Mr Brad Radunz
Head Coach Football Academy

Rugby League Academy:

The 2018 Mackay State High School Rugby League season is well underway and the boys have been working hard in their early morning sessions and in their Academy classes in readiness for the season ahead. The local division 2 competition has kicked off and has seen our new Year 7 students represent Mackay SHS for the very first time. The Year 7/8 Ponga and Gagai sides (seen in attached photos) have worked well to gel as a team and are looking forward to a successful year. Our First XIII squad has been preparing for their upcoming North QLD competitions with our first game of the season this week against our old rivals St. Patrick’s College in Round 1 of the Aaron Payne Cup. The Under 15 Division 1 side have a wonderful opportunity later this term to play against Mercy College as a curtain-raiser to the North QLD Cowboys on 1300 Smiles Stadium. Good luck to all boys this year, your efforts in the Pre-Season will pay dividends later on in the year.

COLES SPORTS FOR SCHOOLS

Our school has taken the wonderful opportunity Coles is providing to acquire new sports equipment through the 2018 program. How this program works, Every $10 spent at Coles* during the program, will earn a Coles Sports for Schools voucher. The more vouchers we collect, the more gear our school can receive. These vouchers can be dropped off to any of the following locations; School Office, HPE Staff Room or to our Mackay (Parkside) Coles Store at 245 Bridge Rd (cnr Paradise St). Please support us by collecting as many vouchers as you can and drop them off to one of the above locations.

JUNIOR SECONDARY NEWS

We held our first Junior Secondary disco for the year recently which also was an opportunity for Mums and Dads of Year 7 students to come along before hand for a free sausage sizzle and meet some teachers.

The disco was very well attended by over 150 students.

Many thanks to the teachers who attended for their time and organisation, to Aiden Watt of Year 11 for DJ'ing, Mr Hobdell for setting up lights and sound, and to the many senior buddies who came along and helped run the evening.

Please see some of the attached photos.

We also recently held our Year 8 camp. 86 students travelled out to Fairbairn Dam near Emerald to battle mozzies (we don't normally see many out there), humidity and some heat. Camp is a chance for those who attend to develop some teamwork, leadership and communication skills. It sounds simple, but when you put students in an unfamiliar environment, it' not so easy. Anyone can identify that they need to communicate better in a team, but just what is communication? It doesn't mean just talking more. These are the sorts of concepts we will endeavour to work with in Junior Secondary - building skills and meaning, not just parroting jargon and actions.

Having said that, I think every student who attended learned a lot of skills, met new friends, came out of their shells. Rather than put photos in the newsletter, check out the photos album of camp on the schools facebook page

Students in Year 7 will soon receive a letter advertising our Year 7 camp for this year. We are transitioning year 8 camp to year 7 and after this year, will only run for year 7.

We are also looking at a wide range of opportunities to develop leadership skills across Year 9 to help lead those students into their senior years.

What's On Soon

Our annual Year 7 Dodgeball competition will be starting next week. It's one of the highlights of the year for Year 7. Buddies and myself will be hosting the competition. I have personally challenged all competitors to show me no mercy, as I won't be showing them any.

NAPLAN will be held in May. We will shortly be sending explanation letters home to parents of year 7 and 9 students.

Student News

The 2018 Junior Secondary Leaders and Student Council will be formalised within the coming week, and leaders will start their duties for the year. Our intention this year is to run a formalised leadership training program for our Junior Secondary leaders, to help them develop their skills leading into their remaining years at school.

Thought of the Newsletter

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back - Charlie Brown

Mr Matt Skinner
HOD Junior Secondary

CONGRATULATIONS

2ND HAND UNIFORMS

We are always in need of any 2nd hand uniforms, for students that have the incorrect uniform, we can do a quick fix with a loan uniform through the Year Coordinators room. The loan uniform is then returned to the school in a clean condition. If you have any Senior or Junior shirts and shorts we would be most grateful, just bring into the General office.

MATHS TUTORING

ENGLISH TUTORING

HEALTH NURSE

Ann-Maree BRIGHTMAN
School Based Youth Health Nurse

BULLYING NO WAY

TUCKSHOP

FLEXISCHOOL INFORMATION

A great start to our year with the introduction of registers to our tuckshop. We now have eftpos available at both the junior and senior service lines. The introduction of our cashless card system will also move the service lines at tuckshop quicker.

If you have a student in Year 7, 8 or 9 they will be able to use their school ID card for purchasing after you set up a FLEXISCHOOL account.

Cashless Cards

Stay in control of your high school students' lunches with the Flexischools cashless card system.

The Flexischools cashless card system links a students' existing school ID card to their Flexischools account, allowing them to purchase securely on the school grounds without the need for cash.

Student lunches have never been easier for parents:

• Top up account with funds at a time convenient to you
• Email when account is running low of funds
• Monitor spending and see what your child is purchasing
• Set daily spending limits
• Ensure the money is spent at school
• Safer than students carrying cash

The cashless card is also great for students:

• Reduced bullying associated with cash at school
• Reduced queueing times
• Never be short of cash at the cash register
• On-screen photo ID security protects your account from lost or stolen cards

COMMUNITY NOTICES