8 June 2018

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Last week our Instrumental students showed their excellent qualities in the local Fanfare finals, competing against other State High Schools in Mackay. Our Strings Ensemble and Middle School Concert Band were awarded a Silver for their performances, while our Senior Concert Band and our Stage Bands were awarded Gold Awards. The Stage Band were advised this week that they have been asked to perform in the Regional Fanfare finals at the North High Hall on Tuesday evening. All of our Instrumental team are very excited and Mr Johnston preparing the students for a stellar performance.

As we come towards the end of Semester 1, students are gearing up for the June Exam block for Year 11/12. Assignment are having drafts being submitted and final exams for Year 11/12 students will commence on 20th June through to 26th June. Detailed Semester Report Cards will be made available early in July, after marking and entering Report comments and results are added.

Last week Principals from schools across our Central Queensland Region met in Longreach to receive directions for our schools for the next 10 years. The theme of the conference was “Every student needs their Champion”, focusing on the specific needs for every child to succeed on their pathway and become positive, contributing members of our society. There were several showcases of learning programs unique to these rural and remote schools.

Our First XIII Rugby League team took on the Kirwan SHS Open side on Tuesday in Townsville, the match between the two leading sides in the Aaron Payne Cup in 2018. Our side has a number of key injuries to players, but those in the team are determined to cover those players unable to play this game. The team played gamely, however could not hold the very strong combination from Kirwan, Open boys R/L 38 - 8 to Kirwan and Netball girls won 43 - 3 to Mackay. The team will need to bounce back in upcoming Round Robin format.

To parents of Year 6 students seeking to join our very successful school are reminded to look up the Scholarship forms for 2019, on our school website. Forms are to be completed, then pass on to your Year 6 teacher before 23rd July 2018.

Our fridge magnets with the dates of our 2018 dates for Year 6 transition to Year 7, have been distributed to Year 6 students in their Primary schools. Roadshow visits will occur in Week 5 Term 3, and Information Meeting at 6pm on 22nd August. There are no charges for our enrolment interviews and your enrolment is confirmed once interview is completed, if the child meets the condition of our Enrolment Plan.

Thank you to the many parents and carers who attended SET Plan meeting to gain information about the student’s career interests and the subject required to pursue their pathway. An online tool allowed students seeking an ATAR, informed our students to target the correct subject pre-requisites. Parents and students spoke very positively of their interviews.

Our Cattle Show Team members have spent many hours working with cattle .making them ready to be led by our students around the local Shows. Drop in and see the team at Shows.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

IMPORTANT READING FOR YEAR 10 PARENTS AND STUDENTS

The New QCE - How will Year 11 be different next year?

Year 11 in Queensland is changing to help give students the skills for success in work and life in the future. These changes will only affect current year 10 students (not our year 11s who will remain on the old system). These are some of the main changes:

• The OP system we currently have for students to apply for university will be changed. The ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) which is common across Australia will replace it. For more details and short video explanations click here
• Students will sit external exams for subjects at the end of year 12 (2020). These will either be 25% or 50% of their final mark. There will still be school run assessment in year 11 and 12 but there will be fewer of these than the current system.
• The QCS (Queensland Core Skills) test that year 12 students currently do, will not happen.
• While many subject names remain the same, there are a few new subjects. Year 11 Subject Guide 2019

If you would like some more detail on the new QCE click here

What is a QCE & why is it so important?

The Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) is Queensland’s senior secondary schooling qualification.

Students don’t get a QCE simply by “finishing” year 12 they have to earn it by successfully completing their chosen course of study.

Some important QCE information:

• The flexibility of the QCE means that students can choose from a wide range of learning options to suit their interests and career goals.
• Most students will plan their QCE pathway in Year 10 when choosing senior courses of study.

If you would like some more detail on the new QCE click here

SENIOR SCHOOL

Annamaria Esau
Senior Phase Officer
49 579152

SELF-ESTEEM

Raising Responsible Teens – Part 1

By Professor Matt Sanders

Time and time again, I am approached by exasperated parents who say their teenager seems to have turned into a different person almost overnight.

As children become teenagers they usually want more independence from their parents. But at the same time, parents often expect more responsibility from their teenagers. This is a normal part of growing up, but there can be problems if these changes in demands and expectations are not well managed.

It’s important to link independence and responsibility as difficulties can arise if one gets out of step with the other.

For example, parents who allow their teenager extra independence without requiring increased responsibility may find them becoming unhelpful, inconsiderate, and ill-mannered. Some parents discover that a previously well-behaved child turns into a badly behaved or rude teenager.

On the other hand, if parents demand increased responsibility from their teenager without encouraging independence, their teenager may become resentful and angry, and socially isolated.

In a nutshell there are six key ingredients for teenagers becoming mature young adults who are valued and healthy family members:

• taking part in family decision making
• being respectful and considerate
• being involved in family activities
• developing a healthy lifestyle
• being reliable
• being assertive.

In my next few columns, I’ll give you some handy tips to help you encourage both responsibility and independence in your teen. This will be your formula for success.

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

HOME EC

“We would like to extend our congratulations to a team of Year 12 students who operated an exceptional café lunch catering service on Thursday of week 6. The team of 24 students have spent weeks preparing food items and practicing their barista skills in anticipation of serving a selection of sweet and savoury food items alongside freshly prepared espresso coffees. The group were able to delegate roles, demonstrate effective teamwork and communication and built on food preparation and presentation skills well through the assessment task.

Special mention goes to Eden Dwan-Dillon who took on the role of head chef for the kitchen operations and Emily Shepherd who took on the role as head of service for the café. Both ensured the café operations went smoothly and that all students had a part to play in the success of the event.

Congratulations again Year 12’s.

Miss Michelle Hoffman and Ms Margaret Scott
Hospitality Teachers

STYMIE

THE ARTS

Instrumental Music Camp

On the 22nd of May 79 instrumental music students and 6 staff went to Yeppoon for a 4-day rehearsal camp. Students worked intensively on their performance for Fanfare the following week. The students also participated in group challenges that helped develop their leadership and teamwork skills. On the last night, the ensembles put on a concert for each other and received feedback for their performances. We have received a lot of feedback from parents and students and staff and it is safe to say the camp was a very rewarding and positive experience for everyone evolved.

Troy Patti
A/HoD The Arts

Fanfare 2018

Fanfare is a state-wide festival for bands and orchestras from Queensland state schools. Our Regional heat was held on the 29th May at the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre. The hard work from the camp the previous week payed off with these fantastic results:

String Ensemble conducted by Kristen Pengelly- Silver Award
Middle School Concert Band conducted by Yvonne Bell- Silver Award
Senior Concert Band conducted by Matthew Johnston- Gold award
Stage Band conducted by Matthew Johnston- Gold Award

Huge congratulations to the Stage Band who have been selected to play in the regional finals on the 12th June at Mackay North State High School.

Nicole de Brueys
Instrumental Music Coordinator

YOUNG CHEFS COMPETITION

Saturday 19 May turned out to be a tough, but extremely rewarding day for our 2 senior teams at the 2018 Young Chefs final. The finals took place at the city campus CQU TAFE. The two teams that took part in the final were: 1.Brianna Skinner and Candace Blake and 2. Jaimee Kiley and Taylor Parmenter.

Table setting and basic preparations started at 12:30 after which the cooking started at 1:00. When the main dishes were served at 2:15, there was a lot of excitement in the dining room. It was clear the MSHS did great and it was going to be a difficult job to pick a winner! The judges enjoyed the judging so much, that they ate a fair bit of the food on the plates. Dessert proved to be just as successful.

After a nervous wait, the judges declared that MSHS got first and second place. Brianna and Candice were the winners and Jaimee and Taylor the runners up. The judges made it very clear that it was really difficult to pick between the top 2 teams. Both teams were commended on their teamwork and time planning.

Our junior team that took part was Jordan Plath and Tyshanna Leijen. They did a great job and did MSHS proud.

Well done to our MSHS Young Chefs!

BUSINESS EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Equity Committee Meeting

The equity committee met in week four to assess the eligibility of equity applications submitted to date. Students will have received a letter regarding the outcome of their application from ICT Services.

Students who have applied previously can see ICT Services regarding the outcome of their application, however many are awaiting the formalisation of a payment plan. These can be formalised through either CentrePay or BPoint, please contact the general office to arrange.

The next meeting is planned for week four of next term. Application forms can be collected from ICT Services.

Robotics Competition

The Mackay Robotics Competition is on 22 June 2018 at the CQUniversity. We have some very eager students quickly picking up the skills of robotics so that they can participate for the first time this year. Our junior students are quickly developing not on the ability to use a Lego EV3 robot but to work together as a team and to problem solve. Keep posted for more updates as we get closer!

Sphero Club

Six junior students have been attending a lunch time Sphero Club to learn some basic coding and have some fun. The little robot balls are an exciting way to teach the basics of coding and algorithms and allows the students to interact with like-minded students to learn a new skill. It is the girls aim to eventually share their skills with perhaps some of the local primary schools if we get the opportunity. Watch this space.

Typing Tournament

A big congratulations to two of our classes who received trophies for their participation in the Term One Typing Tournament. Congratulations to the Year 9 Digital Technologies class of Miss Stanger who achieved a Silver for their typing speed and to the Year 7 IT4U class of Mrs Barnard who achieved a bronze for the Most Typed Words. Mackay State High School (along with our feeder primary schools) has frequently appeared in the leader boards on the Typing Tournament site which can be viewed here:

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

Kinchant Dam Excursion

Excellent! Fantastic! Amazing! All words to describe our trip last week to Kinchant Dam. We all had a great time testing our fear of heights on the giant swing, working as a team to succeed at difficult challenges and trusting each other on the low ropes. Look at our pictures from the day and read about our experiences.

The swing was the best part of the day because we went up super high and you felt like you were falling

Ryan Vincent (Year 7)

The best part of the day was going on the swing because it was so much fun.

Seth Lester (Year 7)

I love the G swing because it was really high and we had to yell like pirates. I was screaming really loudly get me off, get me off but it was still heaps of fun.

Daniel Parker (Year 8)

My favourite was the G swing because I got to go high and swing back and forth.

James Borg (Year 8)

The giant swing was the best part of the day because it was fun and I enjoyed it.

Chloe Walsh (Year 8)

I loved the group challenges because I got to work with people I did not know. I also like it because I had try out new things and new strategies. It felt good to work as a team and accomplish things.

Holly Cooper – (Year 8)

My favourite part was the G swing because you got to go up high and swing around.

Connor Dickson (Year 8)

I liked the giant swing because it went high. I was proud of myself for doing it

Tamika Walsh (Year 8)

WE HAD A WONDERFUL DAY!!!

Some photos from Chappy Phil on the Giant Swing!! Nearly ALL students went on this challenge! They overcome fears and hit goals!!!

CONTACT DETAILS

Parents and carers – do we have your latest contact details?

There are times when we may need to get in touch with you. Do we have your most up to date details? If not, please contact the general office on 49579179 or email admin@mackayshs.eq.edu.au so we can update our records. These details include your name, address, phone numbers, email address and emergency contact details. Please remember to let the school know if any of these details change.

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 DEPARTMENT

McDonald’s Mathematics Team Challenge

On Tuesday 22 May, five of our year 8 mathematics students from the Academic Excellence class attended the McDonald’s 2018 Mathematics Team Challenge. This event was held at Whitsunday Anglican School, and teams from most schools in the Mackay region came together to compete with each other, testing their combined mathematics skills.

The five students that attended were Tyke Smith, Brayden Greskie, Juliana Delmo, Ariane Molina and Kristine Ganalon. They were accompanied to the event by their maths teacher, Miss Gillian Stork. Although our team did not place, they performed very well on the day and participated with much enthusiasm. Well done team!

Here is a sample question to test out your maths skills:

The area of the floor of a water tank is 10m2 and the height of the water is 120cm. What is the height of the water after a solid 1 metre cube is submerged in the tank?

Jim Laidlaw
Head of Department - Mathematics

ENGLISH TUTORING

HEALTH NURSE

On your mark….

Yes I know June has only just started but we need to get ready for DRY JULY – who is up to the challenge?

This is a little bit of preparation and a little bit of information to get you started thinking about it.

About Dry July

In July, an average of 11,526 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer. No one asks for cancer, so we're asking Aussies to help, and go Dry this July to raise funds for people affected by cancer.

Funds raised through Dry July go towards cancer support organisations across Australia, to help improve patient comfort, care and wellbeing.

Having a month off alcohol also has great health benefits, such as sleeping better, having more energy and of course, no hangovers! So you're not only helping others, you're helping yourself. It's a win-win!

For more information go to:

APPS FOR EMOTIONAL HEALTH

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

COMMUNITY NOTICES