14 June 2019
Newsletter Articles
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
2020 Scholarships are open. For students in Year 6 seeking to enrol and join the successful and high performing students at Mackay State High, check on our school website for the applications forms. Complete the details and pass on to your class teacher to complete and submit before 22nd July 2019.
The Parents & Citizens Association oversees the successful operation of our School Tuckshop and the Uniform Shop providing important services for the students and families at our school. The group also provided outstanding support to students through donations of funds to support school programs and students representing our school and region. The numbers of parents who are actively involved in our P&C has dropped and we need parents willing to contribute positively and attend our monthly meetings, to make the effort and join the group urgently. Make the decision to come along to the next P&C Meeting on 22th July in the school library at 6pm to support your child.
On the last two days of this Term, the Interhouse Athletics Carnival will be held at our school oval. This is an important event every year, with athletes displaying their competitive skills and importantly many more students participating in athletic and a range of novelty events to contribute points to their House total. We encourage all of our students to attend and enjoy this positive and active finish to the first Semester.
Parents and students in Year 10 attended the Subject Information evening, introducing the range of subjects and VET offerings offered at school as well as special options at Mackay Engineering College and offerings through Central Queensland University. Students received a comprehensive booklet, outlining the subjects offered from which the Year 10 students can select. The yellow form is to be returned to Ms Veney at the Office and subjects entered onto OneSchool by students by 26th June. Important SET Plan interviews for every 2020 Year 11 student and at least one of their parents will be held in Week 4 of Term 3, to confirm subject selections using the Line structure that best fits the initial selections.
The success and quality of our Instrumental Music Program has been recognised with the Queensland Youth Orchestra approaching our school to host a Strings workshop on Sunday 23rd June. The students will receive training from talented performers. Students from other High Schools are also being invited to join our students in this very special opportunity to grow their skills.
Mackay State High has been selected as one of 20 schools across Queensland to trial a pilot program for Clean Energy options to be funded through the savings generated through the program. Taem members this week have reviewed the lighting throughout the whole school to look to replace with more energy efficient LED lighting. Our school already has some solar panels, however these are to be replaced by new and enhanced panels of units to provide power to reduce the electricity costs for our school.
Mr Steve Paulger
Principal
STYMIE
Staff Recognised
Pictured below are Jacqui Kelly (Sports Administration Assistant) and Teacher, Nicole Althaus. These Staff members are the June recipients for our P & C Staff Recognition Awards.
Nicole is a true professional in all aspects of teaching. She endeavours to support, lead, encourage, coerce and challenge every one of her students towards achieving their best. She takes senior responsibility roles when required and shows confidence in these roles. Nicole relates well to students and they respect the efforts she makes on their behalf. She is a great asset to our school and teaching staff.
Jacqui goes beyond in every capacity of her role. There is nothing that is too much trouble or too hard. She assists with sporting trips (travel, accommodation, uniforms, chases payments and notes from students) and she gives much of her own time (washes uniforms). Jacqui is a wealth of knowledge and is an asset in holding the HPE faculty together. She is well respected and often the face of the faculty for parents and community groups. Jacqui has great relationships with students, staff, parents and our community. She has passion and vision for opportunities for students and is a great asset for the school.
Congratulations to these two staff members and thank you to them and all of our nominees.
Tania Cheers
DP Performance
SENIOR SCHOOLING
CQU Experience Day
A group of our year 12 students recently attended the CQU Experience Day where they were able to experience a day in the life of a Uni student. Students were able to choose two study areas of interest and then participated in interactive, hands on sessions delivered by CQUni teaching staff. The feedback from the students was very positive.
Year 10 Work Experience
Year 10 Work Experience will take place from
14 – 18 October (Week 2 of Term 4).
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.
Students have been advised of the dates for Work Experience and application forms were handed to interested students. Application forms can still be collected from Mrs Esau in E6.
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 21 June.
Try Trades
Year 10 students were advised of the Try Trades Program on parade on Tuesday 4 June and interested students collected forms to be completed. Successful students will be notified and payment will then be requested.
Annamaria Esau
Senior Phase Officer
Youth Survey
Mission Australia are currently conducting their 2019 Youth Survey. Young people aged 15-19 years are encouraged to participate to have their say on their values, concerns, challenges and ambitions. Please read the Plain Language Statement, Letter to Parents and return the Consent Form. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and closes on the 31st July, 2019. Please ensure that students enter the unique code of 45523 on the second introductory page when prompted online.
Jenny Hocking
Youth Support Coordinator
JUNIOR SECONDARY NEWS
General News
I don't normally start my newsletter articles on a negative note but this time must express my disappointment with our year 8 and 9 body. Our 8's and 9's were presented with the opportunity to participate in a fun extra-curricular activity, a trivia evening, full of challenges and games. All students received a promotional letter to take home to parents. Out of about 400 students, only 6 formally returned notes saying they would participate.
It is very discouraging for staff to give up their own time planning activities for students to help engage them in school life and build a culture of peer support only to have a very apathetic (to say it nicely) response from students. There is no value in students saying after it was cancelled "I was gunna attend". His is the second event we have cancelled this year due to a poor response.
You only get out of life what you put into it. I ask ALL parents reading this to discuss this concept with their child, irrespective of their age.
What's On Soon
Students attending Year 7 camp will very shortly receive their formal permission and medical notes to take home. These MUST be returned by the end of week 9.
You would have read many times that athletics days are the last 2 days of the school term. PLEASE do NOT let your child truant this day. Encourage them to attend and participate.
Good News Stories
Year 7 students this week participated in a "Teamwork, Leadership and Communication" day. This was designed to provide students with a range of fun activities where they could practice participation, communication, teamwork, friendship, self and group leadership, resilience skills etc. Activities started off with simple events such as tunnel ball and egg and spoon race, but involved coordination skills, encouragement, observation of others. We progressed to more challenging events such as human words, human pyramids, Line swap strategy challenge and "protect the egg" challenge. All these involved more advanced coordination and communication skills to succeed.
Our year 7's were FANTASTIC to work with. We hope the skills we practice can be further developed in the classroom environment.
Some of the key concepts covered include:
- RESPECT everyone’s input. Don’t think you know best all the time. LISTEN to others.
- THINK about what others say.
- DON’T CALL OUT every time a thought pops into your head.
- DETERMINE who has the best skills in a certain topic/activity and HELP them lead the team.
- DONT GIVE UP if things are not going well.
- USE people’s names.
- POSITIVE encouragement is effective. Negative put down’s don’t work. COMPLEMENT each other.
- DO NOT exclude people because they are not like you.
- Give CLEAR instructions using GOOD English skills. Shorter communication is better.
- Give people in your team MEANINGFUL roles.
- Use good NON-VERBALS, for example, eye contact, body language.
- Be CONFIDENT, even if you don’t feel it.
ALL the photos from the days are now on the school Facebook page. Check them out now.
A huge thankyou to Mrs Hardy for her support organising and running this day, and to a number of our buddies who gave up learning time to help support the year 7's.
Student News
The Student Council is in full swing with its operations. Junior members have produced some special recycling bins which will be in use very soon. They have also placed a suggestion box in the library complete with some forms to complete for all students at school to use. This is an opportunity for students to have some sensible and practical input into school improvement. They will also soon be announcing a very special charity drive for the school to participate in. Stay tuned.
Thought of the Newsletter
As I said earlier 'You get out of life what YOU put into it"
Mr Matt Skinner
Junior Secondary HOD
SPORTS REPORT
Netball Academy
Netball Academy has continued to play in the Interschool Netball Competition on Wednesday nights with the Season finishing up last week and heading into finals this week. 4 teams were successful in making it through to finals including MSHS 2, Firebirds, Vixens and Giants. We wish them all the best in the finals. Our morning fitness has continued in Term 2 on Friday morning focusing more on skills and drills. Numbers are slowly dropping of so a push to get a numbers back has been a priority. Vicki Wilson Trials commenced this week and we are looking at picking a Shield and Cup side by the end of Term to compete at the trials in Term 3. Going into Term 3 we will have a rest from morning fitness but we will look to add some other projects for the girls including Relay For Life and some fundraising opportunities. A reminder to all girls who were invited to the Bundaberg Trip for Term 4 to have their deposits paid up. Keep up the good work. Go Wildcats!
Football Academy
Football Academy Teams have busy time for the run to the end of the term. Open Girls have their Grand Final for the Mackay School Girls Competition, Under 15 Boys have their Grand Final for the Mackay School Boys Competition, Under 15 Girls have Northern Final against Townsville team in the Bill Turner Plate Competition, Under 15 Boys have a Northern Final against a Proserpine School in the Bill Turner Cup Competition, Year 7 and 8 Academy Teams are preparing for next terms Mackay Schools Year 8 Mixed Competition and the Open Boys are also preparing for term 3 Open Boys Competition.
Congratulations must go to Ryleigh Wotherspoon, Ryleigh recently competed in the U13-U15 State Football Championships in Toowoomba as a member of the Capricornia Team.
Ryleigh was selected in the Queensland Team and also received the player of the Championships.
Rugby League Academy
All Rugby League Academy classes continue to work hard both on and off the field. Practical lessons focus on technique and skill development and the occasional games lesson to keep the boys fresh. All classes are working towards completing assessments tasks required by the end of the term.
The local schoolboys rugby league competition came to an end a few weeks ago. A big congratulations goes out the all the students that represented our school throughout the 8 week competition. Special mention to our Opens team for making the semi finals and our year 7/8 Ponga team for claiming a minor semi final position. Both teams were beaten but we look forward to next year.
Our division 1 rugby league continues in June with final round games being played here in Mackay against The Cathedral College of Rockhampton. Our Open side is looking to secure a North Queensland semi final with a win. Our Cowboys Challenge team is hopeful of claiming a second victory for the season and finish the competition on a high. Our focus will then shift to reclaiming bragging rights over our close rivals St Patricks College and Mercy College in our local division 1 finals on June 19 at the MJRL grounds. Best of luck to our 3 teams competing on that evening.
Recently we had the NRL visit our school to deliver a presentation called “Voice Against Violence” to our academy students. Past NRL stars David Shillington and Antonio Winterstein along with local Jillaroos star Renae Kunst delivered the presentation. The presentation was well received by the students and we are hopeful these boys will help spread the message that violence is not acceptable.
Congratulations to the following students for being selected for Capricornia Schoolboys Rugby League and representing our school with pride:
Henry and Harry Thorpe – U/15’s
Kane Simon, Herni Stocks and Jack Hoffmann – Opens
Special congratulations to Jack Hoffmann for being selected in the Queensland Open Schoolboys side to play in the National Championships in Canberra.
A sporting academies tour has been confirmed for October. A rugby league side consisting of a mixture of year 7 and 8 students will represent our school against 2 schools in Bundaberg. This trip will reward students for their great effort and behaviour.
Touch Football:
Our students involved in the Touch Development program have been working well in their weekly training sessions. Last week we received our playing shirts thanks to funding from Mackay State High’s P and C committee and Jacqui Kelly who designed the shirts. These shirts will be worn for the Friday night Junior Competition held by the Mackay Touch Association. At this stage we will be having a grade 8 and under boys team and grade 10 and under girls team. If any student is interested in playing please see Mrs Biddle in the PE staffroom.
Staff Profile
- Name: Emma Forster
- Your position / role(s) at MSHS: – HPE Teacher, Netball Academy Coordinator
- Nickname: – Foz
- How Long you have been employed at MSHS: – This is my second year at MSHS
- Hobbies: – Sport – Netball/Triathlon & Travelling
- Interests: – Spending time with family
- Favourite travel destination OR where you would like to travel: – Favourite: Barcelona, Spain- Tapas & Siestas. Where I’d like to go if I had the money would be Mount Everest
- Highlight at MSHS: - MSHS winning Open Division in Netball and coming to work everyday to spend time with the PE Department.
- Passion in relation to MSHS / why you do what you do: - My passion lies in educating students on how to live a healthy and happy lifestyles
- An animal that best represents you and why: Koi Fish - Perseverance
- Favourite Quote: “It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.” ― Hugh Laurie
ACCESS CENTRE
Queensland Ready Reading
The Ready Reading program invites parents and community members to make a difference in their local community by volunteering in schools to support children’s reading.
Reading is a powerful tool to help children grow their vocabulary, language skills and imagination. It helps them to develop life-long skills that will support their future growth and learning.
The Department of Education’s Reading Centre and Volunteering Queensland are working together to help improve literacy for children in Queensland by training up to 3000 volunteers to share their knowledge and time to foster a love of reading.
Register your interest to become a Ready Reading volunteer.
AG DEPARTMENT
Year 8 students are doing a great job of looking after their gardens. 8B has the most perfect, weed free garden – well done!
The year 9s did a great job of planting sunflowers, chickpeas and Lucerne.
Year 12s raided one of our beehives. It tastes completely different to the last batch – lovely.
Cattle Show Team members are working hard at getting ready for the shows.
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.
YEAR COORDINATOR
Year 7 News
UQ visits
Over the past 3 weeks, Year 7 students have had university students from University of Queensland, visiting their classes once a week. One of the UQ students is a past student from MSHS.
The presentations were designed to encourage our students to look toward further study after high school, the opportunities ahead at TAFE or university. Integral to the presentation was the challenge to look at personal and leadership strengths.
The presenters were very appreciative of the respectful students at MSHS, who listened, interacted and participated with enthusiasm in the activities offered.
LOST PROPERTY
Parents and students are reminded that Lost Property is kept at the Coordinators’ Office, or the General Office. There are hats, pencil cases and lunch boxes. We have a very open school, so it is important that laptops, wallets and phones are not left in students’ bags. Phones should be turned off, in a pocket, or handed in the General Office for the day.
Activities up coming
Each Form Class will be “introducing their Form Class” at our weekly parade each Monday. We want the students to use their public speaking skills, as well as getting to know each other better.
Assessment tasks
It has been a couple of busy weeks with students having to complete a number of assessment tasks at the same time. Thank you to families for supporting your students through this period. All assessment tasks are designed so that they can be done during class, with minimal work at home. If a student is doing an unreasonable amount of homework, please contact us to see why this is happening. Sometimes it will be that class time is not being used effectively, or a student does not fully understand the task. We do not want our students exhausted: this is unhealthy and counter-productive to learning.
Mrs Lynne Hardy
Year 7 Coordinator
Year 8 Update
I would like to congratulate, firstly, the year 8 cohort on consistent and above average attendance for the term. So far, we have celebrated six weeks achieving above 92.5% attendance across the cohort and we look forward to celebrating many more weeks reaching this milestone.
I would like to take the opportunity to reinforce that every day counts here at school for our year 8s and that our students should be consistent with full attendance right through to the end of semester, especially with end of term assessment approaching.
We also have two days of our athletics carnival in week 10 to look forward to, and I am excited to see all of our year 8s attending and participating to collect house points for their teams! It will be an exciting two days of events and I encourage all year 8 students to challenge themselves and participate in as many events across the two days as possible.
Congratulations again on an excellent term thus far, let’s finish it off strongly!
Miss Michelle Hoffman
Year 8 Coordinator
MATHS DEPARTMENT
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES
Guidance Officer
My name is Margaret Deuhof and I am looking forward to working as your Guidance Officer until the end of term.
I’ve been a guidance officer for around 20 years and have worked at a number of schools in the Mackay area. Before that I was a teacher in Yeppoon.
Although I am her for only a short time, I will be available every day in the Student Services Centre to provide individual student support for school and personal issues.
Breakfast Club
School Based Youth Health Nurse
Exercise, sleep, and screen time – what do kids need?
Physical activity isn’t just about sport – anything that make kids ‘huff and puff’ counts towards the 60-minute daily target.
When it comes to better health for our kids, the whole day matters. Balancing time spent being active, sleeping, and sitting is vital, but striking that balance can be tricky – and it can be hard to know just how much of each activity is enough.
That’s where the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Young People come in. Recently released by the Australian Government, the new guidelines provide parents, carers, and educators with tips to support healthy daily practices and routines for children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years.
We’ve broken these guidelines down so you know exactly what your child needs, and how to achieve it.
Physical activity
Children and young people should aim to get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Anything that makes kids ‘huff and puff’ counts. It doesn’t have to be all at once though; smaller bursts of activity during the day count towards the 60-minute daily target.
At least three days per week, activity should be vigorous – think basketball, soccer, netball, and swimming laps, or any other activity that gets the heart pumping! Activities that also strengthen growing muscles and bones include skipping, running, jumping, climbing trees, swinging on monkey bars, sit-ups, push-ups, and yoga.
Moderately-intense activities like bike riding, walking, skateboarding and scootering also add to the 60-minute daily target.
Light activities such as leisurely walking and playing handball keep kids moving and are also an important part of the day, but don’t count towards the 60-minute daily target.
Any type of physical activity is better than none. Swapping sitting activities for being active can support better health for kids. Try these tips:
- Swap a drive to the local shops for a bike ride
- Get off the bus a stop earlier and walk
- Meet friends for a game in the park
- Be active as a family, like going on a nature walk
Check out these 23 free ways to get kids active this weekend.
At least three days per week, children and young people should take part in vigorous physical activity.
Sedentary behaviour and screen time
Sedentary behaviour refers to prolonged time sitting or lying down (excluding sleeping).
Playing video games, watching TV, and other recreational screen time activities should be limited to two hours per day, and time spent sitting should be broken up as often as possible.
For children and young people, screen time is a major contributor to sedentary behaviour. Long periods of sitting can counteract the benefits of physical activity, so reducing sitting time is important no matter how active our kids are.
To achieve a healthy balance, parents and carers can:
- establish boundaries by setting screen time limits
- encourage positive social interaction and experiences when using screen-based electronic media
- set a positive example by minimising your own screen time.
Sleep
Each night, children (5-13 years) should have 9 to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Young people (14-17 years) should get 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night.
Children and young people need quality sleep to recover, repair, and rest after a day of learning and being active. Getting adequate sleep helps kids to wake up and participate fully in in their school day and after school activities. It gives them the energy they need to play sport, be creative, socialise, tackle their homework, and stay off the couch! Likewise, being active during the day helps kids to sleep better.
Follow these tips to support healthy sleep patterns for children and young people:
- Have a consistent bedtime routine – try not to vary bedtime and wake-up times by more than 30 minutes
- Avoid screen time for at least one hour before bedtime
- Make bedrooms screen-free zones
- Consistent sleep routines are important for children of all ages.
Why balance matters
Striking the right balance between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep can help children and young people to:
- improve cardiovascular fitness (healthy heart and lungs)
- improve strength and posture (healthy muscles and bones)
- maintain a healthy weight
- support better mental health, self-esteem, and confidence
- do their best at school and in other learning activities
- better regulate their emotions
- enhance their social skills.
We know changing routines can be challenging at times. Remember that every step taken to achieve the right balance will help your children be stronger, smarter, healthier, and happier.
About the guidelines
The Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Young People (5 to 17 Years) are relevant to all apparently healthy children and young people. They may be appropriate for children and young people with medical conditions or a disability, however we recommend speaking with a health professional for additional guidance.
Your health matters…
Ann-Maree Brightman
SBYHN
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 24th June 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
