15 November 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

As our final term progresses, our Year 12 students move towards their Graduation Ceremony on Friday. Our Awards Night was held last week, recognising the outstanding efforts of our students in Leadership, Achievement and Academic Awards, while also rewarding students who are involved in a range of extra-curricula pursuits. Our guest speaker Priscilla Sutton (Senior 1995) gave a very interesting recount of her school experiences and the varied pathway that she continues to follow, chasing new challenges. Congratulations to our 2019 Dux Lauren Anderson for her outstanding focus and commitment to her studies and look forward to her further successes in coming years.

Academic Medals were awarded to Year 11 Thahn Huynh, Year 10 Erin Westcott, Year 9 Ariane Molina, Year 8 Charlize Altobar and Year 7 Kaylani Gorrion, each who have shown great commitment to their studies during the year. During the evening, we were entertained by our talented Instrumental Musicians and singers. At the end of the program our 2020 Prefects were introduced, with the School Captains Kara Boys and Henri Stocks and Vice Captains Lara Beveridge and Bernard Beji announced, with much excitement.

In a week of Graduations, Mackay Engineering College held Graduations for the Year 12 students successfully completing their Certificate 2 for Engineering Practices and the students completed their Certificate 2 in Automotive. These students have completed their quality training at the MEC, doing their work placements at local industries and businesses, keen to engage students from the MEC training and programs.

During the week, parents of our Year 11 students for 2019 were provided with a letter advising that there will be no Report Card for this term, under the new SATE program. Students in Year 11 completed their Unit 2 assessments at end of Term 3, so the ratings presented in this report have not been updated, as Unit three only commenced this term and very few subjects have completed any assessment in Unit 3, at this stage. Report Cards will be provided in 2020 for Term 1, 2 & 3. If you have any questions contact our Office.

On Remembrance Day, our 2020 School Captains accompanied me to the community ceremony at Jubilee Park Cenotaph. Kara, Lara, Henri & Bernard presented a wreath on behalf of the students and staff of Mackay State High School. In school students and staff held their silent Remembrance, while viewing the photos of soldiers from Mackay, after whom some of our city streets are now named. Thanks to Ms Aprile, Mr Schmidtke and Ms Boyd for the arrangements of the presentation.

Students in Year 10 and 11, who are yet to complete their Certificate 2 in Skills for Work & Training are required to complete their final modules and the test items, to allow them to receive credit for these Certificates. The completion gives students 4 points towards their QCE. Most students only have limited work to complete, so must complete it before the year ends.

Road works will commence nearby our school by Mackay Regional Council to construct a parking drop-off for parents on the city side of Evans St beside the Skatepark and install traffic lights on the intersection of George and Milton Streets. Evans St work will commence about 9th Dec, while the street light will occur in March 2020. Pictures from MRC, showing the works proposed will be included in later newsletters this year.

Mr Steve Paulger
Principal

STYMIE

P AND C STAFF RECOGNITION AWARDS – NOVEMBER

Staff Recognition, for the month of October, has been afforded to Roxanne Aprile (Teaching Staff) and Rosemarie Thompson (Support Staff).

Roxanne Aprile has been nominated for the amazing work she has undertaken through taking on the role of Deputy Principal in Term 3. She has gone above and beyond in fulfilling this role as well as continuing with her other duties at our school. Roxanne has such a pleasant, kind and caring personality that is truly reflected through her interaction with students, parents and staff alike. She has been a fantastic addition to the Support Services Team and really strives to help make a difference for the students. Roxanne is a fantastic and well respected member of our school who is always willing to help others.

Rosemarie received 2 nominations, both for the wonderful job that she did in the preparation of the Netball/Tennis Court surface. This job meant a lot of back and forth work getting the right equipment and dealing with water dilemmas. The cleaning of the courts was done in 60cm sections so as you can imagine it was a long and tedious task. This task has allowed our netball students to return to the courts which were too dangerous to play on prior to cleaning the surface. I know the HPE staff as well as the PE students are grateful of the time and hard work that was put into cleaning these courts over the school holidays.

Congratulations to both of these amazing Staff Members.

ACCESS CENTRE

Transition Days

Attention All Feeder Schools – Transportation to and from school is to be organised by Parents or Feeder Schools.

Year 6→7 TRANSITION for all diverse students (LS/SWD) 2019

• Parents please come to morning tea in the ACCESS Centre after session 4, week 9 - 7th December at 11:00am.
• Whole school Orientation full day 9th December 2019.

STUDENTS NEED TO BRING THEIR SCHOOL BAG WITH WRITING EQUIPMENT

Parent Appointments if required:

Please phone to arrange an appointment.

Any queries please contact Majella Hoffmann HOSES on 49579128 during school hours.

Attention All Feeder Schools – Transportation to and from school is to be organised by Parents or Feeder Schools.

POSITION VACANT

Mackay State High School would like to call for any expressions of interest in a 2020 future vacancy for the Temporary role of A02 Administration Officer (AAEP) in January 2020 for 30 hours per week. This advertisement will also be posted shortly on our website and newsletter platforms.

The future position requires excellent organisational skills, the ability to prioritise a diverse range of administration tasks, and the ability to work as part of a dynamic school administration team. The role also calls for the ability to communicate effectively with staff, students, parents and members of the wider community.

How to apply:

Applications should be submitted in writing by COB 15th November 2019 in person at the school office or via email directly to bsm@mackayshs.eq.edu.au.

SPORTS CORNER

SPORTSAWARDS 2019

Mackay State High Schools Sports Awards evening was held on Tuesday 15th October at the Mackay Turf Club. Sports Awards is an evening where we congratulate all of our individual and team sporting endeavours from the 2019 sporting calendar. The night awards students who have represented our school at Mackay, Capricornia and Queensland level across a wide range of sports. Along with all of our Mackay and Capricornia representatives we would like to make a special mention to Ella Anderson (Cricket), Dawson Harch (Athletics) and Jack Hoffman (Rugby League) for representing at Queensland Level for their chosen sport. Well done to all of our three sporting academies award recipients on an outstanding year. Along with our additional sporting programs in Volleyball, Girls Rugby League and Touch Football. Our Age Group Champion that won across the three carnival throughout the year are also recognised. The big award of the night is the Junior and Senior Sportsperson of the year. This year we would like to extend our congratulations to the Junior SPOTY to Karmichael Dee and our Senior SPOTY was William Morgan. A big thank-you goes to Jacqui Kelly for helping to make the night run smoothly. Also thanks goes to all students, teachers and families that come along and support the night.

RUN for MI Life

Sunday 20th October our students and staff had an early start out at Walkerston to support the Run for MI Life run/walk. A large focus of Run For MI Life is to ensure that the SafeTALK course is able to be offered for FREE within the communities that run, to make them suicide safe. This year, the proceeds are going to the Grapevine Group, it is their goal to raise $100,000 and donate to this organisation. Congratulations to all of our walkers and runners for supporting such an amazing program. See you all again next year.

Bundaberg Sporting Academies Trip

A return to the Sporting Academies calendar was the Sporting Academies Tour. This year we have changed it from a Brisbane tour to a regional tour of Bundaberg. 43 students and 5 staff left MSHS at 5am on the pupil free day. Headed straight for Bundaberg with a few stops along the way. The students headed straight to Bargara to hit the surf. Students and staff were taken through a lesson in surfing by one of the local guides, with everyone standing up at least once. The next day the students served themselves breakfast and made got themselves ready for the day. First we were off for a tour of the Bundaberg Soft Drink Factory. This gave everyone the chance to sample all of the soft drinks and walk around in the factory to see how the drinks are made. Most students enjoyed it that much that they made a few purchases to take home. Then off to North Bundaberg High School for a first game of the tour. All three academies were spread over the sporting facilities. The Rugby League boys had a convincing win with the Football and Netball both having a draw. Great to get all of the three academies together at the end to get a group photo and make presentation to each team with the exchange of shirts. The afternoon was spent recovering by the pool with a quick BBQ dinner and then off to the Leisure centre to play Ten Pin Bowling, Laser Tag and Mini Golf. Some exceptional play in Ten Pin Bowling by Mr Miles and Taylah Kennedy. The next day was a second round of matches playing Shalom College. What a great experience with some fantastic facilities. The Rugby League and Football were out on the fields where the girls played indoor in the sporting hall. The Rugby League and Football had losses to some bigger and more experienced players. The netballers were able to come away with a convincing win after gelling really well as a team after the previous match. The afternoon was spent down at the beach recovering in the salt water and back for a dinner before heading to the movies. Thursday everyone was up early and packed ready to make the trip home. Arriving back at the school at 4.30pm tired and ready to go home to their own beds. A fantastic trip where all 43 students representing the school with pride and showed great sportsmanship to the opposition. We are already looking forward to next year to try and make this an annual cup against the two schools. Thanks to all of the staff who came along the trip with both Mr Miles and Ms Tracy celebrated birthdays whilst we were away.

Miss Forster
Sports Coordinator

SENIOR SCHOOLING

Mackay Engineering College Graduation

The Mackay Engineering College held a graduation ceremony for students who have completed either a Certificate II in Automotive or a Certificate II in Engineering. Congratulations to all the students on completing their course.

Certificate II in Automotive

Left to Right: Shane Worrell (Trainer), Blake Ireland, Damon Watson, Ben Dodd, Mr Steve Paulger (Principal)

Certificate II in Engineering

Back Row: Jayden Rodwell, Daniel Archer, David Dauvere, Jayden Muir, Jason Newberry (Trainer) Front Row: Hunter Ford, Cody Sorensen, Griffin Mietzel

Daniel Archer received the Trainer’s Choice award for the year. Daniel received a drill set and engineering ruler sponsored by Wallers Engineering and Whitelaw Tooling Supplies.

Congratulations Daniel.

Casual Position Available

A junior shop assistant is required for after school hours and some weekend work at Crustys Bakery.

Applications can be submitted by email to crustysmackay65@gmail.com or a resume can be dropped in to Crustys Bakery at 65 Milton Street Mackay.

F1 IN SCHOOLS

This year MSHS took a cadet team ‘Menzies Racing Team’ to the F1 in schools state finals. The event was one full day of scrutineering and one and a half days of racing, including automatic, reaction and knockout racing. Each team gets judged on the manufacturing and engineering of the car as well as the design process taken to produce the car. Jack Menzies and Bradley Williams did extremely well achieving fourth overall, only missing out on third place by 2 points (out of 200). This is the best result of any team MSHS has entered into this competition. Well done Boys!

MATHS DEPARTMENT

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

STUDENT SERVICES

Chaplain

Families, Students and Staff are being asked to bring along food and grocery items in the next few weeks to Form Class for the Annual Christmas Hamper Appeal.

There has been a long tradition at Mackay State High School to support families in need by collecting food items for distribution by the local Salvation Army

Once each student brings in the items to their Form Class they will then be stored in Chappy Phil's Office in E5.

The Form Class with the most items will win a prize.

All collected items will be presented on Wednesday 4th December Parade to the Salvation Army representative and then given to needy families in Mackay.

Please support and make this a great Christmas for families in Mackay.

Chappy Phil

School Based Youth Health Nurse

P & C

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