3 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Term 2 is now well underway with the School ANZAC Ceremony held on Wednesday 24th April, being an excellent showpiece of the quality of the students here at Mackay State High. Our Guest speaker, Terry Hayes, a veteran from WW2, was so thoroughly impressed with the respectful silence and interest shown during the ceremony and also as he spoke about his mates, some of who are remembered in our school community. He mentioned in his talk, the Chataway brothers, after which the Sports House is named, and Charlie Penn (Penn St). He commented after the assembly on how reassuring he found it as a veteran, that the students and young members of our community recognise and honour the efforts of service personnel involved in past and present conflicts. It was so rewarding to have several of our students, in their Cadet Uniforms, involved in our ceremony and several later attended the ANZAC Service at Victoria Park SS.

On ANZAC Day we again had a strong representation of staff and students involved in the ANZAC March, with our Academy students prominent in these numbers. Our Captains layed a wreath on behalf of the students and staff of Mackay State High School. It was also pleasing to receive a photo of the students who marched at the Walkerston Service as well.

Pushti Shah attended as one of fifty-nine Year 10 girls selected to participate in the Department of Education’s 2019 STEM Girl Power Camp, which was held on 19-23 March to coincide with the World Science Festival Brisbane. Students travelled from all over Queensland, from Cooktown to the Gold Coast, to represent their school in Brisbane, where they participated in a variety of festival events, innovative STEM workshops and networking opportunities with experts from science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Students met inspiring role models from diverse fields including astronomy, Antarctic ecosystems, theoretical physics, ecology, mathematical modelling, engineering, marine science and the nature of sound.

Student Report Cards were distributed via email, early this week for all students for Term 1. Include with the Report is information for the booking for Parent Teacher interviews, which will be held on Tuesday 7th May between 3:30pm and 7pm. Note on the Report if there is a request for an interview by your child’s teacher and book in for others as you can.

Thank you to the Mocktail organising committee who as well as arranging the wonderful evening for the Year 12 students each year in March for over 25 years now, we receive a donation from the remaining funds this week. Each of the schools who assist and have students attend receive $500, to support the education of some students who come from a less fortunate background that others. We are looking to work these funds into our welfare programs like our Equity Laptop program, as the available resource of 2nd hand laptops is becoming very small.

A couple of special programs for our students seeking pathways into trade fields are commencing soon. Toolkit for Girls on June 5th provides girls from Year 10 & 11 the opportunity to gather at the Mackay Engineering College for a day and receive some introduction and ‘hands on” experience. The Year 10 girls who are involved can then lead in to Try a Trade in Semester 2 along with the boys. Interested girls should see Mrs Esau soon to register.

Our Year 7 & 8 classes received a special presentation by Brad Huddleston and Sgt Nigel Dalton this week on the topic of Impacts of technology use on our young people. He discussed with our students the social and behavioural influences of students’ use of electronic devices. Brad also convened a Parent Session on Tuesday evening where he shared research findings on impacts on health, learning and brain function with a good number of interested parents from our community.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

FROM THE DESK OF A DEPUTY

School Report Cards

Term 1 2019 Interim Report Cards were made available on Tuesday 30th April. For all but approximately 50 students these were sent out via email. If you did not receive the email then please contact the school Office and allow us to check your contact details. We can also re-send the email, if required. If you are to receive a paper copy and your student was absent on this date, then please direct them to the school Office to collect it. Parents who are signed up for QParents will have access to their student’s report, along with any previous report. QParent is a very good environment for all parents to be attached to and supplies additional details about your children above report cards. Our school is hoping to move away from the emailing of reports and have all parents using the QParent option. If you need details on how to create a QParent account then please contact the school Office on 4957 9179.

Interviews

As a follow-up to out report cards we invite parents to participate in our first round of Parent & Teacher Interviews. Students are welcome to attend and also be part of the discussion. Our interviews will be held on Tuesday 7th May in the school hall, starting at 3.30pm and going to 7pm. Interviews are scheduled for 10min. Bookings for interviews are made with each of the desired student’s teachers. Bookings are made via the following online environment – which is new this year.

The following link will show you how to make a booking:

The following link will take you to the booking environment for our school:

A copy of the instructions for the booking environment were also provided to the students at school on Tuesday. The environment will close at 5pm on the 6th May.

Please call 4957 9179 and ask for Lis BALDOCK if you need assistance with making an interview booking.

We look forward to discussing your child's progress and improvement strategies with you.

Year 9 Junior Secondary Certificate

For students in Year 9 this report card will be the first opportunity for them to obtain points towards their Junior Secondary Certificate based on their Academic Reports and their demonstrated Effort and Behaviour. Students who participated in the ANZAC Day town march will also be credited a point for Community Engagement.

If you have any questions about the Junior Secondary Certificate then please contact Matt Skinner (HOD of Junior Secondary) or myself.

Ms Tania Cheers
Deputy Principal

STYMIE

SCHOOL SAFETY

NAPLAN TESTING

To Year 7 and 9 Students and Parents,

NAPLAN 2019

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 May 14, 15 and 16 (week 4), in lessons 1 and/or 2 each day. 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.

SENIOR SCHOOLING

White Card

Students who are wishing to do work experience in the construction area, e.g. Carpenter, Plumber, Cabinet Maker, Electrician, Refrigeration Mechanic, Concreter etc are now required to have a White Card before they can go onto a work site.

We are looking at having a trainer from Col Joy Training come to the school and run the course for interested students. The cost will be a discounted $70 per student and the course will run for a whole school day. Students who are interested in obtaining a White Card need to give their name to Mrs Esau in E6 by Friday 10 May.

JUNIOR SECONDARY

General News

Welcome back to Term 2.

I'd like to remind parents that deposits for Year 7 camp are due. We currently have about 20 places left for students, so get in quick. Permission forms and medical notes will be distributed to students when camp numbers have been finalised.

We will soon be recognising the efforts of our year 7 - 9 students based on term 1 reporting results. Of special importance is the awarding of certificates for effort and behaviour. Irrespective of a students' achievement academically, we especially value a culture of positivity reflected in classroom and schoolyard attitudes. Students putting in excellent effort and behaviour reflect and help develop a great school culture. I'd like to think that EVERY student in the school would be keen to achieve excellent ratings in this respect.

Student Council and Junior Secondary Leader members will be very active in the school this term. Please support them in their endeavours to enhance the school environment.

Congratulations to all Junior Secondary students who participated in the ANZAC Day march. It's great to see such a culture of respect for our country men and women who have served us in the past and present. It is still very empowering to see the remaining very old WW2 veterans (WW2 finished 74 years ago this year) at the marches. They are a "real" reminder of the nature of war that we now don't (fortunately) witness.

What's On Soon

NAPLAN (or is it NAPALM). Please see requests and information from Mrs Veney regards NAPLAN requirements and the process for parents to withdraw their student from the testing.

Junior Secondary Certificate

Now that term 1 results are available, Year 9 students will be informed of their progress towards their Junior Secondary Certificate. A reminder to parents that this is a new initiative this year designed to promote a positive ethos in year 9 and help them to think about the effort required to complete their 3 senior years at school, no matter what mix of subjects they choose to study.

The ONLY way to maximise your options for post school employment or further study is to do well at school. Perform poorly and your options plummet.

Thought of the Newsletter

Is there something you really don't enjoy doing but have to? Most people avoid these tasks or put in reduced effort. For example, many students struggle with their reading and comprehension skills. I use the following analogy when talking to students:

Training for sport can be very demanding - physically and mentally, but we do it to improve our ability and support our team mates, and enjoy success at game time. We actively engage in something we find hard.

So adopt the following motto (which can be changed to suit any difficult task or skill)

"Reading is my sports training at school"

All the Best until next time.

Mr Matt Skinner
HOD Junior Secondary

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, have been invited to attend the Mackay District Cross Country and are to return their trial paper work to the office by Monday 29th April. The U12 students who were selected represented our school on Friday 26th at Southern Suburbs.

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

18 Years – Mayson Armstrong & Alec Scott
17 Years – Shikira Elliott & Kori Mooner – Brayshaw
16 Years – Tilyana Nissen & William Morgan
15 Years – Ryleigh Wotherspoon & Darcy Crew
14 Years – Lily –May Carige & Oscar Filmer
13 Years - Hayley Draper & Noah Levitz
12 Years – Morgan Faulkner & Talen Graham

The overall house champion points are as follows. As you can see it was very close between 1st and 2nd. 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.

Capricornia School Sport Selections

Term One was extremely busy to say the least. There have been a total of 17 Mackay District School Sport trials for the 13-19 age group. Many of our students that have represented the school were selected to be a representative of our sports district at the Capricornia trials. This is a fantastic representation for Mackay State High School and highlights the sporting talent at this wonderful school. I believe that a round of congratulations should be given to the following students for their chosen sports.

Cricket

Year 10 students Ella Anderson and Ryleigh Wotherspoon have been selected to represent Qld School Sport in an inaugural 13-15years Girls Cricket team in September of this year. The girls were part of a Capricornia school representative team that played in last year’s 13-15 Years Schoolgirls State Championships at Maroochydore. The Capricornia team finished in a credible 4th spot. Ryleigh and Ella had an outstanding carnival with some fine individual performances with both bat and ball. The highlight being an unbroken partnership of 82 in the game against Metropolitan West for the tenth wicket. The pair came together in the 5th over with the team in deep trouble at 9 for 9, before batting out the remaining 20 overs of the innings and finishing on 40* and 32* not out respectively.

The girls continued that great batting partnership some months later representing Central Qld at the Qld Cricket U15 State Challenge when they put on an unbeaten 100 run opening stand that then saw them selected to represent the Qld Cricket Under 15 team at the national championships in Canberra in February. At that carnival the Qld team finished in 5th spot, narrowly missing the grand final when losing in the last preliminary round game to the ACT on the final ball of the match. Both girls once again performed very well and are looking forward to another Qld Cricket tournament together in April where a state Under 18 squad will be selected.

Staff Profile

The HPE Staff would like to introduce our staff members throughout the year. This is a way for our students and school community to get to know our staff. Introducing Mr Brad Radunz

1. Role - Football Coordinator/Head Coach
2. Nickname Dunzy :- Obtained through Football Academy Students
3. How long have you been employed at MSHS: 21 years
4. Hobbies: X-Box Gamer :- Call of Duty / Black Ops
5. Interests: Anything Football / Fitness
6. Favourite travel destination: The Gold and Sunshine Coast
7. Highlights at MSHS: Queensland Under 19 School Girls Football Coach
8. Passion in relation to MSHS: Football Football Football (Player Pathways)
9. An animal that best represents you and why: Blue Cattle Dog :- Loyal, Hardworking, Protective
10. Favourite Quote: Football is a Game of Mobile Chess

YEAR 11 CO-ORDINATOR

Year 11 Camp

An expression of interest went home last term regarding Leadership camp to Magnetic Island in Term 3 from Tuesday 16 July to Friday 19 July. A busy week is planned with activities such as Bush walks, Abseiling, Swimming, Beach Olympics a visit to the Reptile Park. Students will be bused to Townsville, then transfer over to Magnetic Island by ferry. We have filled 70 positions, the deposit of $100 MUST be paid by Friday 10 May to secure your place.

More information will follow closer to the date or you can give me a call.

Mr Kevin Blakey
Year 11 Co-Ordinator

ACCESS CENTRE NEWS

Kinchant Dam Day Trip – ‘Building Resilience’

Last Term week 10, 45 students visited Kinchant Dam for a ‘Resilience building’ day trip. Three groups each completed high ropes, building catapults, and the possum glider. 3 seniors and 3 juniors were chosen as they displayed outstanding leadership, encouragement and guidance to others in their group.

They are:

Junior- Isabel Dos Santos, Ezra Walz, Ryan Vincent
Senior – AJ Thomsett, Brandon Eyre, Clinton Ash

NAPCAN

Book now: free professional development

Children need safe and stable environments to grow and thrive. As adults we need to be sure that we are doing everything we can to protect children from harm.

NAPCAN is supported by the Queensland Government to run free workshops throughout Queensland to provide practical advice about how you can help prevent child abuse and neglect.

In coming months, workshops are scheduled for the following locations (see below for dates).

Springfield Lakes
Mundoolun
Jimboomba
Bowen
Mackay
Townsville
Toowoomba

NAPCAN is the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect and has extensive experience in delivering professional development. All workshops are run by industry professionals and all participants will receive a certificate to recognise their participation.

The workshops have been well-received by early childhood educators, schools, faith-based organisations, sports clubs, youth workers, and all levels of government.

To find out more and to book a place at a workshop visit the website below (please check regularly to see more workshops as they are added throughout the year.)

Workshops are open to anyone who works or volunteers with children or young people, and it is recommended that as many people as possible attend BOTH workshops. See below for an outline of workshops, dates, and locations.

MORE INFORMATION:

Please direct any enquiries to NAPCAN Queensland via email:

pypqld@napcan.org.au

FEROSCARE - Parenting a Child with Disability

In our work as Local Area Coordinators we have the pleasure of supporting many parents and carers of children with disability. We experience the ups and downs with them and witness their strength.

We've found there are some common questions parents have. We've collated them, together with answers and resources in the hope that this will assist them to realise they're not alone in their journey.

Read the article here, and please feel free to share with any parent you think could benefit from the resource.

Earn and Learn

The Access Centre is once again collecting stickers to gain some wonderful resources. Dates for sticker collection are between 1 May and 25 June 2019. Shoppers receive 1 sticker for every $10 spent. Last year (2018) we managed to collect 4740 stickers but have given ourselves a goal of 5000 stickers for 2019. A collection box will be placed in the student area of the office and another at Canelands.

Griffith University Experience

AG DEPARTMENT

Cattle Show Team

The Cattle Show Team has been working hard this year. There a number of new members who are going very well. The new cattle are very quiet and are showing great potential to do well at the shows.

Year 8

The Year 8 Agriculture students have started planting for their market garden. The plants planted so far are: Cucumber; sunflower; sweet pea; lettuce; tomatoes and carrot.

Q Fever

She Flies Excursion

MATHS DEPARTMENT

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Whitsunday Voices

Academic Academy students in Year 7, 8 and 9 will be invited to attend at Whitsunday Anglican School 19 July for the day. Letters of invitation will come out over the ensuing weeks. We are very excited that we have secured tickets to see Li Cunxin the author of Mao’s Last Dancer as one of the sessions. Keep an eye out in the bottom of your student’s bag for more information.

Whitsunday Voices would like to invite students to submit entries for the 2019 Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival Short Story and Slam Poetry Competition. Students can speak to their English Teacher or go to A06 Staffroom to find out more information.

The closing date for the competition is 3pm Friday 17 May 2019. All entries must be received by this date to be considered for judging. All entries must be received in hard copy, by post, using the address on the application form. See the link below.

SCHOOL BASED YOUTH HEALTH NURSE

This week is Heart Week 2019
HEART DISEASE KILLS 51
AUSTRALIANS EVERY DAY

DON'T BE THE NEXT VICTIM

When you know more about your risk of developing heart disease, you can act to stop the serial killer.

You can learn more about your heart health by using the Heart Foundation’s Heart Age Calculator; this online tool helps you to understand your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Try some heart friendly recipes this week:

BREAKFAST CLUB

MSHS has a breakfast club that operates Monday to Thursday which is open 8.00 am to 8.40. We would like to say a massive Thankyou to Brumby’s Sydney Street for donating the bread for our students to enjoy and also our wonderful P & C Committee. Thank you to the parents/carer’s that have already donated spreads, we are always looking for more spreads (in date) to feed our hungry students.

P & C

We are currently seeking a secretary and would also like to obtain the services of an assistant Treasurer, as our current Treasurer Sandy is in her last year with the school. You would work alongside of Sandy learning the role of Treasurer. All other positions are filled with the P & C. Our next meeting is Monday 27th May 6pm. If anyone is interested they can contact us through the P and C email. pandc@mackayshs.eq.edu.au

Tuckshop

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

COMMUNITY NOTICES