5 April 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

As Term 1 comes to a close, students have completed their assessments and teachers are busily completing marking and preparation of Term 1 reports. Parent Teacher interviews will be held on Tuesday 7th May in Week 3 after reports for Term 1 are distributed early next Term. This is a very important time to gain some feedback from your student’s teachers and discuss how they are travelling with aspects of the subjects. I encourage you to keep this afternoon free to make a booking early next term.

Each month we present Staff Recognition Awards to a teacher and also a non-teacher in our staff, recognised for their outstanding work on behalf of our students and colleagues. The nominations come from our staff. This month our winners are Ms Mary Hau and our Guidance Officer MS Chloe Cuskelly – congratulations and thank you. Other nominees this month were Ms Hodby, Ms Ribot, Ms Buteaux, Ms Williams, Ms Michelle Hoffman and Mr Hobdell.

Mary Hau (Teacher Aide), Chloe Cuskelly (Guidance Officer)

Our Year 12 students in their final week were engaged in their Exam Block. It was very pleasing to have several of our Year 11 students be willing to volunteer to step up and assist in some key roles that would normally be covered by our Year 12s. Lawren Samon, Henri Stocks, Travis Blaik, Caitlin McLennan, Georgia Vella and Onaeda Parter have assisted at Tuckshop, while Lawren Samson, Henri Stocks, Natalie Sant, Ashleigh Carins and Onaeda Parter volunteered to assist at Assembly. It is great to see this initiative from these students.

Two of our Year 8 Classes received a presentation by Tegan Philpott, a local ABC Media reporter, sharing the skills in preparing media articles. This was very relevant and related to an upcoming assignment. Some of the students were then able to share their stories and then were questioned by Tegan on the credibility of sources, bias within their presentation and the audience take-up. Tegan hopes to return to hold a further session with some of our Year 11/12 Media students early next Term.

Welcome to our newest member of staff Mr Kim, who joined us in Week 7. He will be teaching in the Information Technology and Mathematics field and has already started to build some strong bonds with his classes. Ms Kylie Stanger will commence her Maternity leave in Week 2 of Term 2 and we are recruiting to find her replacement for the duration of her leave. We wish her all the best with the birth of their first child.

Students from our school have been very involved in sporting trials to reach Capricornia level to attend State Schools Carnivals next Term in a range of sports. I remind parents that if students are selected in CAP teams and attend State Carnivals, they are eligible for financial assistance through our P&C Assoc’n. Forms can be collected from the Office or Phys Education staffrooms to be submitted. Payments are made after the student returns from the event. Thank you to our P&C for this support.

The first week of Term 2 has a number of holidays with Easter Monday bringing the start of term to Tuesday 23rd April, with all students expected to be attending that day. ANZAC Day is on Thursday, so our school assembly on Wednesday will be our school ANZAC Ceremony. We encourage our students and staff to participate in the Mackay ANZAC March, representing our school with assembly in the car park behind the Town Library off River St from 8am. Our school assembly area will be marked and students in uniform are asked to bring hats and water bottles, to march to Jubilee Park for the Civic Ceremony.

I would like to congratulate our students for their strong attendance during this term and hope that we can build on this in Term 2. Our Year 11 students engaging in the new SATE curriculum have been accepting the increased accountability and the attendances of their assessments has shown their acceptance of the messages required if unable to attend. Medical certificates have been promptly presented and contacts made.

I sincerely wish all of our students, their families and our wonderful staff, a relaxing and refreshing Easter vacation and look forward to our return on Tuesday 23rd April.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

From the Desk of a Deputy

Mackay State High School Term 1 Report Cards

Some important dates around our Term 1 Reporting for students in Years 7 – 12:

• Tuesday 30th April – Reports emailed to parents / handed to those without email addresses to take home. Instructions for booking interviews handed to students to take home.
• Tuesday 30th April, 4.00 pm – online environment opens for parents and carers to make Teacher Interview bookings.

• Monday 6th May, 5pm – online environment closes for making interviews.
• Tuesday 7th May, 3.30pm – 7pm – Parent / Teacher Evening in Mackay SHS Hall

The purpose of our interim reports is to:

• invite parents to participate in the upcoming Teacher Interview evening
• provide parents with a summary of their student’s progress for the year-to-date
• provide school based Achievement Data for analysis.

Staff Recognised

Pictured above are Mary Hau (Teacher Aide) and Chloe Cuskelly (Guidance Officer). These Staff members are our April recipients for our P & C Staff Recognition Awards.

Chloe was nominated by two staff members. Although new to our school, Chloe is providing significant support to our students. The staff acknowledge the thoroughness and professionalism of the interactions that she is having with our kids – starting with prompt action, all the way through to feedback to staff. Chloe is also offering support to their families. Students have also commented on how they feel better after talking to her. Chloe has also been proactive in arranging for 12 staff (including herself) to participate in a Youth Mental Health First Aid program, with training by Headspace.

Mary is one of our very busy Teacher Aides and was recommended for this award by 3 staff members. She has been working in our school since 2015. Mary is acknowledged for going the extra distance for staff. She is an amazing support and really cares about the staff and our students. She is very diligent and has great IT skills to support the tasks she is asked to do. She is calm and professional and from what I hear, also a great cook. Mary is efficient and takes on any job that the teachers ask her to do, she is also seen as a great friend.

Other staff who were nominated include Catherine Hodby, Michelle Ribot, Rachel Buteaux, Michelle Hoffman Catie Williams and Perry Hobdell.

Congratulations and thankyou to all of our nominees.

Ms Tania Cheers
Deputy Principal

STYMIE

SCHOOL SAFETY

JUNIOR SECONDARY NEWS

General News

It's been a long term. Each year seems to bring more and more to the table. I want to start by congratulating our Year 7's overall for their behaviour and work in class. They have been setting a positive image and example for the rest of the school.

Our senior buddies are continuing to be very engaged with our year 7's. They are keeping their commitments to support students in class and the playground, and are helping with various activities. Currently we are running dodgeball for year 7, with some of our buddies helping to coordinate this at lunch times. Other buddies will be helping coordinate some new activities next term. We even had the buddies for a team to play against one of our year 7 classes. Photos are below:

Some of our year 7, 8, and 9 students have nominated to become Junior Secondary Leaders for 2019. These are students who volunteer their time and effort to represent Junior Secondary and the needs of the school. I am sure they will do a great job this year and gain a lot of leadership skills in the process.

Our Junior Secondary Leaders are:

Our student council has also started operations this year. Student council consist of students from years 7 - 12, including the Junior Secondary leaders. They represent the interests of the whole school and student body. I am looking for some more year 10, 11 and 12 students to be part of this team.

Students recently received a letter home regarding Year 7 Teamwork and Leadership Camp. This is a memorable and exciting opportunity for roughly 85 of our year 7's to develop skills and confidence in leadership that they can use in all aspects of their lives. Quite a number of students have already put their deposit down, so hurry to book your spot.

I will advertise some more about our camp next term, but check out our facebook site for photos of the camp from previous years. Please note that the letter home advertising camp had an error in it. It mentioned Year 8 student. NO year 8 students will be on camp, ONLY year 7.

What's On Soon

School Holidays!

Coming up soon will be ANZAC Day in week 1 of term 2. It would be great to see all our Junior Secondary students marching together, recognising and respecting our culture around ANZAC day.

NAPLAN is occurring in May. As previously promoted, if you DO NOT want your student to sit the NAPLAN exams, a withdrawal form may be obtained from the school and returned to either Mr Skinner or Mrs Veney.

Year 7 students will also be participating in a leadership and teamwork day early in term 2, to help promote key skills to transfer to the classroom. It will be a fun day full of opportunities to develop some extra school culture around positive peer support.

Good News Stories

One of our core philosophies at school is to recognise the good work students do. Last year we introduced postcards that we send home to students in Junior Secondary who have performed very well in class and set a great example. Staff are expected to send out 2 postcards per year 7/8/9 class per term. Hopefully a lot of students have received a postcard this term, with many more receiving recognition in coming terms.

We will also be recognising the effort of student's academic performance, and effort and behaviour achievements for term 1. This will occur early in term 2.

Student News

Junior Secondary Certificate

With term 1 almost over, we have been reminding Year 9 students about our Junior Secondary Certificate.

To recap for parents:

This is a recognition system for year 9 students. They earn points for:

The certificate is a mechanism we are using to promote a positive culture in Year 9, and down into year 7 and 8. The expectations around this certificate model the expectations and personal qualities required to successfully complete years 10 -12 and the new senior curriculum requirements.

PLEASE talk to your child about the certificate and the importance of their attitude to each category above.

Thought of the Newsletter

"You will do as you practice "

There is a quote by author Jeremy Schwartz which goes "Live every day as if it were your last, because one of these days, it will be" which I like for a number of reasons. The main one being that if you had a good ethical and spiritual foundation, you would be the best that you could every day, in every way.

Most of us don't bother to do that, because we foolishly believe that we will really behave differently when it counts. Even though we don't bother during our normal day-to-day activity, we will rise to the occasion when it is important. The reality is that what we practice every day is what you will do even when it really counts.

Practice being the best you can be every day, in every way - because every day is your training for the real situation, when being your best will be essential. Imagine the difference that would make!

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems” - Mahatma Gandhi

Year Coordinators
Year 7 News

Peer Mediation – We are very grateful to our Year 11 & 12 Buddies who have trained as Peer Mediators for our Year 7 students. Mediation aims to resolve interpersonal conflict at a low level, and to restore relationships among our students in Year 7.

If a student feels that they have been hurt, humiliated or teased, they can let a teacher or a Buddy know, and our Buddies will sit with our students and help our students resolve / mediate the problem. We particularly want our students to express how they have been hurt, so that the other party is aware of the pain and discomfort they have inflicted – purposely or unintentionally.

Year 7 Camp Notices – went out this week with our students. Have a look in student bags to locate these important documents. We want our parents to have time to plan for the expense involved. We encourage those who need it, to contact the school Business Manager to arrange a payment plan if that would help.

STYMIE – All our Year 7 students had the opportunity to hear the creator of a life-saving program called STYMIE this week. STYMIE offers our students – and their families – an anonymous and private site to express safety, emotional or family concerns, without being identified. If a student has an issue, or a friend has an issue, they can log onto STYMIE and document their concerns. The school will receive the anonymous message, and follow up the person being hurt – or doing the hurting. It would be a valuable family activity to log onto the site and see what STYMIE does to help others.

Uniform – Thank you to our families for giving our students in Year 7 a positive start to high school with their uniform, so our students may show their pride in their school and themselves - without the pressure of “looking the coolest” in school. Just a reminder that there is a jewellery policy – in the student’s diary which clearly lays out expectations. Leather / non-porous shoes are essential for safety in the Home Economics and Technology areas.

ANZAC Day – Our school marches proudly on ANZAC day in Mackay city centre. We would like to encourage all our students to participate in the march. It will be the first week in Term 2. We will gather near The Dome. Students will be given more details that first week.

Brekky Club – runs Monday to Thursday in the hall kitchen, thanks to some awesome volunteers. If your child needs to make a sandwich for lunch, or have some brekky, encourage them to visit before school.

PLEASE KEEP IN CONTACT – if you have family issues that may have an impact on your child’s well-being and education, please let us know. We can handle it discretely and gently. You may call the Guidance Officer- Chloe Cuskelly, Year 7 Coordinator, Lynne Hardy or Deputy, Lisa Veney. We want this year to be a great year for your child!

Mr Matt Skinner
HOD Junior Secondary

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

Year 11 Work Experience

Year 11 Work Experience will take place from 16 – 19 July (Week 1 of Term 3)

Students were advised of the work experience dates on parade last week and forms were handed to the students wishing to take part. The date for work experience is the same as the Year 11 camp so students wishing to do work experience as well as go on the camp, are able to do work experience in the July school holidays. Please change the date on the application form if doing in the school holidays.

KP Placements will arrange the location for the students in their preferred field. The cost for this service is $37.00 which is to be paid in cash to the school office prior to the application being accepted. To allow time for these placements to be made, the application and receipt of payment are to be handed to Mrs Esau in E6 no later than Friday 26 April.

These work placements allow students to experience the use of new and different equipment and technologies, and to develop a positive work ethic for future employment. Structured Workplace Learning also gives the student the opportunity to put into practice skills learned in the classroom. We have had many success stories from students participating in work experience with placements leading to part time work or school based apprenticeships and traineeships.

Urgently Required – Year 10 USI (Unique Student Identifier) and Student Enrolment Agreement Form for VSW

All year 10 students are required to have a USI (Unique Student Identifier) and a signed student enrolment form for their VSW subject.

Forms were given to all year 10 students in the first week of school. Thank you to those students who have created a USI and returned both forms. Students who have not created a USI or returned the signed agreement form were given new forms by their VSW teacher last week. Please check in your child’s bag to see if they need to complete these forms and have them returned on their first day of school in Term two.

A quick guide on How to Create a USI was also given to the student. The student will need ID such as a birth certificate, passport or medicare card to be able to create their USI. Anyone having trouble creating their USI can bring their ID to Mrs Esau in E6 and help will be given.

SPORTS REPORT

What’s happening in Certificate 3 in Fitness and Senior Recreation?

Sport & Recreation 3:

The Year 11 Rugby League class have commenced their Certificate III in Sport & Recreation with an NRL specialisation, delivered by Binnacle Training. The students have been busy working away on their Term 1 modules, learning about the ins and outs of the Sport, Fitness and Recreation Industry. This includes having the students understand the laws and legislation around delivering fitness courses and recreational activities. Combined with this, the students are hard at work in their practical lessons undertaking group sports programs with the Year 12 Rugby League class, in preparation for the 2019 Aaron Payne Cup season. Next term will see the students learn about workplace health & safety and will commence work on their First Aid certificate.

Recreation Year 12:

The year 12 students have been participating in golf this term. We started with some chipping and driving before putting and putting their skills to the test with some mini courses around the school. Some of us went to Harrup Park to play a game where we had access to a larger playing area and ‘real’ golf balls. The students had a blast (well most of them) and were looking forward to another round however the rain put a stop to it. For theory students have been working on their sports marketing skills – designing logos, sports uniforms and coming up with sponsorship proposals for prospective clients. Looking forward to lawn bowls next term!

Recreation Year 11:

Sport and recreation activities are a part of the fabric of Australian life and represent growth industries in Australian society. Sport and recreation activities can encompass aspects such as social and competitive sport, fitness programs and outdoor pursuits. These activities are an intrinsic part of Australian culture and for many people, form a substantial component of their leisure time. Participation in sport and recreation can also provide employment opportunities and make positive contributions to a person’s total wellbeing. The subject of Sport and Recreation focuses on the role of sport and recreation in the lives of individuals and communities. It is a subject that provides students with opportunities to learn in, through and about sport and active recreation activities.

Units 1 and 2 of the course are designed to allow students to begin their engagement with the course content, i.e. the knowledge, understanding and skills of the subject. Course content, learning experiences and assessment increase in complexity across the four units as students develop greater independence as learners. This first module develops students’ understanding of nutrition and nutritional requirements for performance in sport, particularly basketball. Students will demonstrate physical performance in basketball contexts.

Certificate 3 in Fitness:

The year 12 Certificate 3 in Fitness classes have just completed a 5 week peer fitness program and 5 week mobility program for their Term 1 Assessment. The aim was to give each student the experience of being a Personal Trainer (PT) with a peer. All students had to conduct a pre-screening assessment, consent checklist and obtain specific goals from their peer to work on during the five training sessions. This has provided them with an opportunity to work with a peer before working one on one with an adult client next term, which will provide them with an authentic learning experience, in the fitness industry. Each student had to be organised with a weekly program and arrange appointments and sessions to be conducted with their client.

The year 11 Certificate 3 in Fitness class have completed a range of units of work in Term 1. These have included learning about the Sport, Fitness & Recreation Industry which has embedded the foundations of this industry to the year group. They have also acquired knowledge in relation to Responding to Emergencies, which is a unit of work that will continually require knowledge updates in this course. The basic elements of Anatomy & Physiology have been covered, which students will gain a greater understanding over the two years of completing this course. Finally students have completed their Community Coaching General Principles & Blue Card requirements which will allow them to be certified when working with groups of students in Term 2. In the practical area students completed an 8 week group fitness program, this included a 5 week boot camp and 3 weeks of alternative activities including MetaPWR, Body Balance and Pilates which have all been structured for students to work on their technique and general fitness.

Sports Academies

Anzac Day Parades: Just a reminder it is a requirement that all academy students are to attend the Anzac Day Parade March on the first Thursday back in Term 1. A Letter has been distributed to all students from their academy teachers in relation to this expectation.

Breakfast Club Spreads: Thank you to the academy students who have donated a jar of breakfast spread already to the MSHS Breakfast Club. This has been an ongoing tradition where our Sporting Academies help the school community. There are however, a number of students who we would appreciate following through with this in Term 2 and donating a jar of spread. You are able to drop this off to the HPE staff Room and have your name marked off the list.

Sports Trials

Term one has been super busy!!! We have had a wonderful number of students represent our school at the Mackay and have made the Capricornia teams. The students who have made Capricornia teams will be recognised in our first Newsletter back in Term 2.

Processes – Can we please ensure that ALL students who wish to attend any sports trials for Mackay District & Southern Suburbs follow the correct process at MSHS. Here is an outline of the process that is to be followed.

• Students listen to the daily notices / parade notes or alternatively Newsletter where the trials are all outlined.
• Students come to the HPE staff room and sign up on the School Nomination Form. This is so the required information is recorded by each student and as the Sports Coordinator, I know who I am chasing to hand forms in.
• Students take the required forms printed and provided for them to take home to get signed.
• Students return the forms back to the main office, in the morning as Mr Paulger needs to sign and approve these before I as the Sports Coordinator can collect and scan, chase the students who have written their name on the signup sheet but haven’t submitted, then I sent to the convenor on the due date.

New PCF Requirements: If a student attends the Mackay or Southern Suburbs trail and is selected in the team, they will be given additional trail information by the Coach or Convenor. This will include a Medical and PCF. Students are to now RETURN BOTH of these forms to the main office as it is a requirement that the managers at this level require both forms. In the past the PCF has been required to be produced on departure to the Capricornia trail.

Interschool Volleyball

The Competition will run each Tuesday night beginning week 2 Term 2 at Whitsunday Anglican School. Times are 6, 7 & 8 pm. Students will need to find their own transport to and from the venue. A team of 10 is required with 6 players on the court. Cost will be $100 per team to be paid by the players of the team. Please see Miss Russell asap.

Interschool Touch Football Year 7 & 8

The competition will run on Monday afternoon's at the Mackay Touch fields. Approximate times would be 4.00pm, 4.45pm, 5.30pm and 6.15pm depending on the number of schools that are interested. Students will need to find their own transport to and from the venue. A team of 10-12 is required with 6 players on the field. Cost will be $5 a player. Please see Mrs Biddle asap.

Interschool Football

The competition will run on a Thursday afternoon from 4.10 to 5.20pm. Age groups for Term 2 will be Open Girls & Boys (Years 8-10). In Term 3 Years 7/8 mixed and Open Boys will compete. Please see Mrs Radunz asap to play.

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 Kevin Blakey

1. Your position / role(s) at MSHS – Year 11 Coordinator/Teacher HPE
2. Nickname: Snakey – rhymes with Blakey or I am grumpy
3. How long have you been employed at MSHS: This is my 7th Year
4. Hobbies: Fishing, camping and golf
5. Interests: Rugby League & my daughters sports
6. Favourite Travel Destination: Portugal
7. Highlight at MSHS: Seeing my 2014 - 2018 form class graduate Year 12
8. Passion in relation to MSHS: To see the students grow into young adults/graduate
9. An animal that best represents you and why: Dog (loyal but will bite if provoked)

Help Earn Sports Equipment for your School

If you shop at Rebel Sport, please sign up for free to join Rebel Active.

Then Support our school by linking your membership to Mackay State High School.

Then every time you shop in store or online not only will you receive the best pricing and deals

Rebel Sport is offering but a percentage of what you spend will go towards sports equipment for MSHS.

Together we can make a big difference!

THE ARTS

Performing Arts

KMEIA Choral Festival

On Sunday the 24th March our MSHS Vocal Group joined over 100 other high school students at the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre (MECC) participating in the annual Choral Festival.

They performed 6 pieces on the Monday night as a large ensemble and for the final piece they were joined by 400 primary school students that filled the stage and balconies, concluding the concert with a 500 piece choir.

It was truly an amazing experience and we are looking forward to participating again next year.

Art students go Dino-crazy!

Over the past few weeks several year 7 and year 12 students, with the assistance of Visual Art teacher, Anita Pritchard, have provided their artistic skills to develop a range of dinosaur themed decorations for the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre (MECC) and their upcoming “Kid’s Day at the MECC”.

Students had spent most of their lunch breaks working together to create the brightly coloured prehistoric creatures and the results speak for themselves. Telina James, the MECC’s Engagement Officer, was extremely excited with the results and couldn’t wait to display the student’s hard work straight away.

A Dino cut-out was also created by Mrs Pritchard, with the construction skills of senior student Daniel Archer and the MSHS Manual Arts Department. The Dino cut-out board was on full display during the Kmeia Coral Festival, with many students and their families stopping to get a photo with it. The MSHS Vocal group, who performed that night couldn’t resist getting a group photo with the dinosaurs!

Make sure you get down to the MECC and check out the amazing work!

Kids’ Day at the MECC – This Easter School Holidays!
Saturday 13 April
Session 1 – 9am to 1pm
Session 2 – 2pm to 6pm

Saturday 13 April, the MECC will open its doors for families with their very first Kids’ Day. The day will comprise of performances, workshops and tours all designed with young families in mind.

The main stage will be filled with wonderful performances from start to finish. Dinosaur Time Machine will incorporate up to date science and discoveries about dinosaurs and the world they lived in. The life-sized T-Rex will be a huge hit with young dinosaur lovers! Dandyman will create circus-inspired magical moments of mayhem, complete with goofy games, fun competitions and prizes. There will also be local talent entertaining the crowds in between!

The popcorn machine will fill the halls with the delicious smell of freshly buttered popcorn, the perfect addition to the cinema rooms! One of folklore’s great villains in a deliciously wicked spin on a dark and devilish tale – Rumpelstiltskin has been filmed live on stage and will be screening throughout the day.

Neon Junk Puppet workshops will get their creative minds running. Work with the professional facilitators and make crazy critters, luminous pets, and magical monsters from a crate of UV active recycled materials, and play with them in the interactive blacklight booths!

The Silent Disco phenomenon will join the day, and will be a memory they won’t forget. Guru Dudu’s Silent Disco Tour will take groups backstage and behind-the-scenes, this experience is completely surreal and totally fun!

The MECC are encouraging families to get in early and register for the workshops and tours, to avoid disappointment on the day! For more information visit themecc.com.au or phone 49619777.

XL:Art

Last Monday the 25thMSHS’s XL:Art group got the opportunity to collaborate with international artist duo Alfredo and Isabella Aqulizan in their cardboard sculpture workshop. Ms Hodby and the XL:Art team had a great time working with these inspirational artists, building miniature homes, dream homes and haunted houses from upcycled cardboard. These works with be incorporated into a large scale installation TAKE ROOT (COLONY) Project Another Countrythat will be on display at Mackay Artspace between June 14th and August 14ththis year .

ACCESS CENTRE NEWS

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.

EARLY CHILDHOOD “WORKING” EXCURSION

On Thursday 28 March, Mrs. van Zyl’s Year 11 Early Childhood class walked to Central State School to implement their Literacy activities with the Prep. class. The activities were developed as part of an assessment and was tried and tested by the little ones.

The activities ranged from “Fishing for letters” to “Build a word” and was so successful that we stayed for almost an hour. The teacher asked permission to borrow some of our ideas, as the children were engaged and learned new skills.

MACKAY FUTURE LEADERS ECO CHALLENGE

On Thursday in week 9, a group of 6 year 7 students attended the Mackay Future Leaders Eco Challenge day, with the theme for the day being “Protect Our Patch”, as part of our Reef Guardianship program.

The day was organised and run by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and it highlights to the students the importance of looking after the reef by looking after the waterways that feed into the sea.

The day started with a local elder Phil giving the welcome to country, followed by him talking to the students about the importance of the river and reef systems are to the indigenous peoples.

One of the activities that peaked the student’s interest involved making a model of the Pioneer Valley from a mound of earth, creating a river with bare banks and using a watering can to demonstrate how bare earth ends up in the river as sediment. They then used objects to replicate several initiatives used by local farming community to reduce the impact of sediment and fertiliser into the river.

The students were all completely engaged in the activities and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Local farmer talking about the importance of good soil health and the need to reduce the use of chemicals and fertilisers.

The day started off well when we were welcomed by a crowd of many primary school students and adults. The day started off raining, so of course the first activity had to be a walk, and getting soaked all the while. Then after learning about the wetlands, we headed over near the amphitheater, and participated in many fascinating activities. We learnt how we could reduce litter, how litter effects not just the reef, but the animals in it. We learnt about sugar cane, and nutrients to help it grow, and we learnt how to sort out items into three different bins; compost, recycling, and waste. We even made the pioneer catchment from a pile of dirt and other small resources. We topped the day off with a ride in the maxi-cab back to school.

Lachlan Peach
Year 7

AG DEPARTMENT

MSHS welcomes a new baby to our school. Ruby (mum) gave birth early this morning Wednesday 3rd April. At this stage we know it’s a boy and in the near future he will be named.

MATHS DEPARTMENT

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

ABC Tropical North Presentation to English Classes

On the 1st of April, a speaker from ABC Tropical North, Tegan Philpott, presented a Media Literacy Workshop to a group of grade eight English students from Mackay State High School. Philpott presented an engaging lecture and interaction with the ambitious teens.

She began the presentation by enthusiastically interacting with the students, brainstorming the foundations of journalism and discussing examples of how they spread rapidly across the world. The students were challenged to provide their own brief article on a relevant issue, incorporating all of the skills and abilities they were recently taught in the workshop.

The students were able to benefit from this opportunity, honing their writing skills and abilities and encouraging them to implement them in their future studies. The group of Year Eights fully enjoyed the experience and would love to have more similar opportunities in the future.

By Benica Solicar and Charlize Altobar

Whitsunday Voices

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

What is scoliosis?

Scoliosis is a lateral or sideways curve of the spine. The spine also rotates on its long axis as it curves. It usually develops during early adolescence (age 10-13 years) when growth is most rapid.

Why is early detection important?

While very small curves are common and of no significance, about 2% of girls have a curve which warrants medical observation during the growth period. Three girls per 1,000 will require treatment during the growth phase. If treatment is required, the earlier it is undertaken, the better the long-term result. This is the basis for screening since in the early stages scoliosis produces no symptoms. The way to detect scoliosis is to look for it!

For more information on the self-detection program go to:

Mrs Ann-Maree Brightman
SBYHN

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. Thankyou to the parents/carer’s that have already donated spreads, we are always looking for more spreads (in date) to feed our hungry students.

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

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