27 April 2018

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Term 2 has started with a rush and .I hope that you all had a safe and relaxing Easter Vacation.

Students in all year levels were issued their Term 1 Report Cards during the first week. There were a range of Outstanding Results across each year level. These are recognised by letters home and certificates for effort and behaviour. The majority of our parents received the report cards via email. This process will be changing for the End of Semester Report Cards. Our Report Cards will no longer be emailed to parents, parents will be able to access all report cards through the QParent App.

Email invitations were sent to parents during Term 1. Parents need to ensure that they have the documentation with them for the 100 point check before you can be made active in QParent. If you have any questions or concerns please contact the General Office and the staff will be able to assist you.

Mr Paulger and his wife are enjoying their travels and Steve recently emailed us photos of his visit to the Adelaide Cemetery at Villers-Brettoneaux. He visited the headstone for William James Archbold who was the first student enrolled at Mackay State High School in 1912. This was Mr Paulgers’ comment in the email:

“Yesterday we visited the site in Adelaide Cemetery at Villers-Brettoneux where William James Archbold is laid to rest. The plaque which Mick Goodwin and his Mackay North SHS students placed at the grave on our School Centenary in 2012, still sits against the headstone and .I have placed another poppy on the plaque.

Our guide Annette said that from her research, he was killed only about 200m up the road near the rail crossing. The immensity of the experiences here is so hard to reconcile with the calm and beauty of the area in Spring.“

We held our school ANZAC DAY parade on Tuesday 24th of April it was an amazing ceremony. Our guest speaker Sergeant Kelly Harding engaged the students with her account of relief work in cyclone affected areas and the role she played as part of the military. A tribute was made by Mr Col Benson for Lieutenant Frank Marchetti , a past Mackay SHS student who tragically passed away in 2017 attempting an ascent on Mt Everest. I would like to thank Mrs Jacqui Gibson and her team of staff and students for an outstanding event. Each year the school marches together as part of the community ANZAC Parade. I look forward to marching with our students on ANZAC Day.

“Every Day Counts is an initiative of the Education Department around school attendance. Our 2018 school Attendance Target is 90%. Our overall attendance data for Term 1 saw each year level achieve this attendance target. Year co-ordinators have identified students with 100% attendance for the term and also a number of students whose attendance data is a cause for concern We ask for your support to ensure that your child is in attendance every day, right up until the last day of each term, maximising their opportunities to improve their achievement.

Ms Donna Drinkwater
Acting Principal

NAPLAN 2018

NAPLAN is a national test run each year in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Your student will receive an individual report on their performance and our school will also receive various ratings that represent our students’ performance.

NAPLAN will be conducted on the 15th, 16th and 17th of May, in lessons 1 and/or 2 each day (week 4). A room schedule will come out for students closer to the date.

Should you have any concerns or queries about the testing, or if you choose to withdraw your student from NAPLAN, please contact the school immediately on 4957 9179, or see Mr Skinner or Ms Veney during school hours.

TRIPLE P PARENTING

Getting Results

By Professor Matt Sanders

It’s natural to want your teen to do well at school and some parents use a reward such as money to encourage their teenager to get better grades. I’ve often heard of parents offering their child $20 or $30 for every “A” on their end of term report card.

One of the problems with giving teens financial incentives for good end-of-term grades is that the reward comes too long after the effort is made.

Rather than waiting till the end of term, it’s much more effective to set up a system of rewards which are brief and frequent and which encourage positive daily habits. These daily habits then build towards an eventual outcome, such as a good homework and study routine.

However, you can encourage teens to build good study and homework habits without having to resort to offering money.

Why not try a reward such as an activity they really like? Or you could offer a special treat you know they’ll enjoy. The object is to encourage good routines by giving extra attention and praise or small frequent rewards when they are doing the right thing.

When teenagers are struggling that little bit of extra attention can encourage them into new patterns of behaviour – and they may end up getting that A after all!

Professor Matt Sanders is founder of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program®. For more information go to the link below.

JUNIOR SECONDARY NEWS

General News

Year 7 camp

A reminder to parents that a deposit for students wishing to attend camp must be paid by Friday 11th May. Whilst camp is not until near the end of term 3, a lot of preparation is required and we need to know that we have the minimum quota of students paying. If we don't, we will have to cancel our camp. Students cannot suddenly decide a few weeks before that they would suddenly like to attend camp.

Dodgeball

Year 7 Dodgeball is continuing this term, with the winning team to be determined in the next couple of weeks.

Some other activities we are introducing soon will include:

A caption competition (like a meme challenge)
Speedball - How fast can you throw a ball accurately at a target (we have a radar gun to measure this)
Both of these will be open to years 7 - 9. I encourage or year 8 and 9 students to participate.

What's On Soon

NAPLAN

A letter has been sent home outlining our running of NAPLAN this year. All year 7 and 9 students are, by default, required to sit this exam. If you do NOT want your student to sit the NAPLAN exam, you need to obtain a withdrawal letter from the school as per the instructions in the letter. It is too late on the days of the exam to suddenly decide you do not want your son/daughter to sit the exams.

Good News Stories

JS Leaders

The Junior Secondary leaders are enthusiastic about their new role and will be working hard to represent Junior Secondary students. Please take the effort to support them in their efforts.

Thought of the Newsletter

Matt Skinner
HOD Junior Secondary

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION FOR ATSI

Hannah Ramsamy, Ezekiel Corowa, Tara Cortis and Henri Stocks attended North Queensland Zone Schools Constitutional Convention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students held at James Cook University Campus Townsville on Friday 20 April. Hannah spoke on the Theme-“Should the Australian House of Representatives have one allocated Indigenous seat from each State and Territory?”

SENIOR SCHOOLING NEWS

Senior Schooling

Year 12 QCS Workshop Monday 30 April 2018 – all Year 12 OP eligible students will be participating in a workshop with Bill and Chris Gilmore next Monday. Students will be in the auditorium for the day. They will need to bring a pencil case, writing paper and the QCS Success textbook. This is a compulsory workshop for all OP eligible students. Any questions, please contact Mrs Barnard.

Year 11 Leadership Camp

This year’s camp has been moved to the first week in term 3. We encourage Year 11 students to attend this camp as they participate in a range of leadership activities to help prepare them for Year 12. Students travel to Magnetic Island by bus and ferry to attend the camp over 4 days. All Year 11 students were given an expression of interest form in week 1. These forms are due back to Mr Jackson by Friday 27 April. For those students who intend to attend the camp, invoices will be issued and then payments can be made. Any questions about the camp should be directed to Mr Jackson.

Subject Information Evening Year 11 2019

This will be held on Wednesday 9 May 2018 starting at 6pm in the Hall. It is very important to students and their parents to attend to find out latest developments with the new QCE system. Subject area HODs will be displaying information about the requirements of subjects to be offered for Year 11 2019. This evening is vital to help students and parents prepare for SET Plan interviews from 28 May 2018. Any questions, please see Mrs Barnard

Annamaria Esau
Senior Phase Officer
49579152

SPORTS REPORT

Cross Country

On the last day of term one, our schools annual Cross Country carnival was held. Thank you to all of the staff who helped run this carnival and to the students who participated. Students, who ran competitively and placed in the top six, will be invited to attend the Mackay District Cross Country and are able to collect the specific trial paper work from the HPE staff room. The U12 students represented our school last Friday at Southern Suburbs. Congratulations to Noah Levitz who placed 1st and ran a time of 11.42 and Hayler Draper who placed 3rd and ran a time of 12.58. This is an excellent achievement by both of these students and will now proceed to represent at Mackay District Level.

Congratulations to the following Age Champions, recognition with your medallions will occur at the annual sports award night later in the year.

18 years – Olivia Shailer & Ryan Collins
17 Years – Charni Bloxsom & Alec Scott
16 Years – Rebecca Kucks & Connor Seymour
15 years – Elise Crew & William Morgan
14 Years – Ryleigh Wotherspoon & Jack Gallagher
13 Years – Lily-May Carige & Oscar Filmer
12 Years Hayley Draper & Noah Levitz

The overall house champion points are as follows. As you can see it was very close between 2nd and 3rd. This came down to two people participation in the carnival. Please ensure that your child is present at school for all sports days to work with their house to accumulate as many points as possible.

4th – Forgan 134
3rd – Mackay 213
2nd – Dennis 215
1st – Chataway 262

Upcoming Sports Trials

The following information outlines a range of alternative sporting options that are offered at MSHS during Term 2 for Students to participate in. If your son or daughter would like to know any further information, please send them to the HPE Staff room to see Miss Russell the sports coordinator.

MACKAY & DISTRICT SCHOOLS MTB RELAY

Date: Friday 25th May 2018. 9am – 2pm. Cost: $10 Payable on the day

• Relay Teams of 4
• Lap Based format
• Total ride time for the event for each student approximately 1 hour (eg. Teams of 4 for a 4 hour event).
• XC course to be 1.5-3km in length for safety, spectator and marshalling purposes
• Obstacles on course to be Green-rated by MTBA standards (Easy Course)

Nominations: Parental Permission/Medical Authority and Relay Team Nominations must be returned to Mackay Christian College by Friday 18th May 2018.

Queensland Schools Championships Table Tennis

The championships are open to all students from State, independent, Religious and Home Schools in QLD.

Divisions

Open Division Male (18 or under) player born in 2000 or later
Open Division Female (18 or under) player born in 2000 or later
Junior Division Male (15 or under) player born in 2003 or later
Junior Division Female (15 or under) player born in 2003 or later
Hopes Division Male (12 or under) player born in 2006 or later
Hopes Division Female (12 or under) player born in 2006 or later
Ages determined by the competitors age at the end of 2018
Cost $35s per team (lnc. GST) for all events (additional $35 per team for State Final).

Interschool Volleyball

Venue: Whitsunday Anglican School – Ron Bourne Hall
Date: Tuesday May 1st (week 3) then every Tuesday Night onwards
Competitions: 1. Boys, Girls and Mixed
Uniforms: School sports uniform is sufficient. Numbered uniforms optional.
Teams: 6 players on court. Reserves allowed. Fill in players allowed.
Referees / Duty Teams: Supplied by WAS
Game Times: Depending on number of teams – 5.30pm (if needed), 6.30pm, 7.30pm, 8.30pm (if needed)
Finals: Will be played on the 12th or 19th June (dependent on number of teams) followed by presentations.
Cost: $100 per team per season. Team captains to sort out and pay by Round 3.
Schools can request a tax invoice if they prefer that method.
Game Dates: 5 Rounds including finals.
Tuesday Nights: 1st May, 8th May, 15th May, 22nd May, 29th May, 5th June, 12th June (Finals)

Soccer

The Yea 9/10 Competition and Open Girls Competition (Mackay School Football Competition) starts this Thursday for this Term. Kick off’s at 4:15pm at Football Venues Year 7/8 and Open Boys starts Term 3.

Interschool Soccer:

We have two teams this term in the interschool competition:- Open girls and Year 8-10 Boys. Games will be played at Brothers Football club or designated school fields. Next term it will be Open Boys and Year 7/8 mixed comp.

RUN for MI LIFE

As a school we will be participating in Run for Mi Life again this year, for the last 2 years we have had really good numbers by both staff and students attending this worthy community event, if you would like to attend please see Ms Forster in R Block staffroom

ACCESS CENTRE

April is Autism Awareness Month

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

SCHOOL BASEDYOUTH HEALTH NURSE

It seems head lice have reared their head’s again, here is some information that may help you get it under control.

Head lice are small, wingless insects that live, breed and feed on the human scalp. They do not generally carry or transmit disease. Direct contact is required for transmission from person to person. Lice will crawl from head to head without discrimination.

Head lice facts

A female louse lays three to eight eggs (nits) per day. The eggs are firmly attached to the hair fibres, within 1.5 cm of the scalp, and rely on warmth from the head to hatch. Head lice do not have wings or jumping legs, so they cannot fly or jump from head to head. They can only crawl.

People catch head lice from direct head-to-head contact with another person who has head lice. This can happen when people play, cuddle or work closely together. Head lice are most common among children and their families.

Concentrate on treating the affected person’s head. There is no evidence to suggest that you need to clean the house or the classroom. The only linen that requires changing is the affected person’s pillowcase. Wash it in hot water (60 ºC) or dry it in a clothes dryer set to warm or hot.

Itchiness may not disappear immediately after treatment. Persistent itch without evidence of persistent infection is not a reason to repeat the treatment. There are other reasons why your scalp might feel itchy.

Finding head lice

Some people who have a head lice infestation do not itch. It is possible to have head lice and not feel the need to scratch your head. This means that absence of itch is not a reliable sign that you do not have head lice. If you suspect someone might have been exposed to head lice you will need to closely inspect that person’s hair and scalp. So what are you looking for? Head lice eggs are oval, and the size of a pinhead. They are firmly attached to the hair shaft and cannot be brushed off. (A live egg will make a ‘pop’ sound if you crush it between your fingernails.)A louse is a small, wingless, whitish-brown to reddish-brown insect. They have six legs, which end in a claw. The easiest and most effective way to find head lice is to use the conditioner and comb treatment weekly. This includes:

Step 1. Comb hair conditioner onto dry, brushed (detangled) hair. This makes it difficult for lice to grip the hair or run around.
Step 2. Thoroughly comb sections of the hair with a fine tooth head lice comb.
Step 3. Wipe the conditioner from the comb onto a paper towel or tissue.
Step 4. Look on the tissue and on the comb for lice and eggs.
Step 5. Repeat the combing for every part of the head at least four or five times.
Step 6. If lice or eggs are found, the person should be treated.

Note: If the person has been treated recently and only hatched eggs are found, you may not have to treat them again, since the eggs could be from the old infection. A hatched egg looks like an egg with its top cut off:

Treatment for head lice

The two preferred treatment options available for initially treating head lice are the ‘conditioner and comb’ method, and the use of an insecticide.

Using insecticide products

Any head lice treatment product you choose should carry an Australian Registered (AUST R) or Australian Listed (AUST L) number on the outer packaging. These numbers show that the product is accepted by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for supply in Australia.

If you use a lotion, apply the product to dry hair. For shampoo products, wet the hair, but use as little water as possible.

Head lice live in the hair and go to the scalp to feed. Therefore, head lice products must be applied to all parts of the hair.

Once the treatment has been done according to the instructions on the packet, comb through the hair again with the fine tooth head lice comb. This will help to remove the dead eggs and lice, and possibly any eggs still living.

This is also a good time to check whether the removed lice have been killed by the treatment or are still alive. (If they are still alive this probably means that they are resistant to the insecticide.)

Care should be taken when using head lice treatment products:

if you are pregnant or breastfeeding
in children less than 12 months old
in people who have allergies, open wounds on the scalp, or asthma.

All products can cause reactions. If you are unsure, check with your pharmacist or doctor.

No topical insecticide treatment kills 100 per cent of the eggs, so treatment must involve two applications, seven days apart. (This kills the lice that hatched from the eggs that didn’t die the first time around.)

If you choose not to use an insecticide, the comb and conditioner method described above can be used every second day until no live lice have been found for 10 days.

Insecticide resistance

Insecticide resistance is common, so you need to check that the lice you comb out are dead. If the insecticide has worked, the lice will be dead within 20 minutes. If the lice are not dead, the treatment has not worked and the lice are resistant to the product and all products containing the same active compound.

Treatment failures

If the initial treatments have failed and live lice are still being removed with the conditioner and comb treatment, see your doctor for a referral to a dermatologist for specialist treatment.

Head lice combs

Head lice combs with long rounded stainless steel teeth, positioned very close together, are the most effective. However, any head lice comb can be used. A plastic head lice comb is often provided when you buy a head lice insecticide product (in the packet with the shampoo or lotion).

P & C NEWS

How can I get involved?

Volunteering is time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain.

The parents and citizens’ association at Mackay State High School appreciate any volunteer contribution that you can make. Can you help at tuckshop? Do you like planning or assisting at functions and special events? There are so many ways in which you can help our P&C email pandc@mackayshs.eq.edu.au for more information

TUCKSHOP

Greetings from the Tuckshop!

We have changed the menu to include the preferences from the school community.

What's new!?

We are now offering new foods such as potato wedges, meat pies, meatball subs and cheesy garlic bread (bigger serving) which have proven to be popular. Bacon & Egg wrap, Hash brown and various toasted sandwiches will be available during breakfast service starting this term. Please see the menu for more details.

Price adjustments

Several menu items are now more affordable and some foods have slightly gone up in price.

Please visit us to try out our the new food.

COMMUNITY NOTICES