6 November 2020

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents,

My name is Bruce Heggie and it is a pleasure to serve as acting principal of Mackay SHS from 23/10/20 to 6/11/20 whilst principal Felicity Roberts is on leave. Felicity is an astute, committed principal and I know that she will be leaving a very well run focused learning environment for me to lead in her absence.

This is something of a homecoming for me. I attended Mackay SHS as a student in the late seventies, returning to teach here from 1982 through to 2008. I held HOD and Deputy Principal position’s during that time. Since then I have been principal of Clermont SHS, Sarina SHS and since my retirement in 2018, have filled acting principal positions at Alpha SS and Moranbah SHS.

I know that Mackay SHS has a proud history, with a reputation for providing quality teaching and learning across all areas of the curriculum and providing opportunities, supporting the needs of individual students and encouraging them to be the very best that they can be. During my short time here, I look forward to meeting as many students as I can and to support the school staff during this busy time.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the Year 12s the very best of luck in the formal exams. I hope that they will all get to the end of the exam period content with their performances. I know that school staff will have thoroughly prepared them for the tasks ahead. Getting to this point is in itself an achievement and I hope that they are feeling proud of how far that they have come.

I welcome the new school Business Manager, Kathryn Bull to the Mackay SHS community. Kathy has had extensive experience in schools and will be a wonderful asset to Mackay SHS.

Regards

Mr Bruce Heggie
Acting Principal
#mackayhighpride

STYMIE

SENIOR SCHOOLING

QMEA - STEM Unearthed

A group of Year 10 students participated in the STEM Unearthed program run by QMEA (Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy). The STEM Unearthed (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program provided the students with an insight into the important role that STEM and the associated skills play in the resources sector. Students participated in three activities over the course of the day and had the opportunity to hear from an industry professional from a sponsor company. The students really enjoyed the day and learnt a great deal from the program.

Certificate II in Automotive

The students below completed a Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation at the Mackay Engineering College. The course covered the skills and knowledge required to perform tasks related to familiarisation and inspection of mechanical and electrical components, systems of vehicles and powered equipment. The course is a pathway into employment in the broader automotive industry.

Congratulations to all of the students.

Back row: AJ Thomsett, Keith Sichter, Jordan Plath, Ross McCubben (Trainer)

Front row: Tyler Stafford, Ben Jacobson, Rory Kempin

Certificate II in Electrotechnology

Kodie Stebbings has completed a Certificate II in Electrotechnology at the Mackay Engineering College. This is an 18 month course and it gives students an insight into the electrical industry and includes problem solving and working with technology. It is a pathway into the Electrotechnology industry. Congratulations Kodie.

Certificate II in Engineering Pathways

After two years of hard work and study attending the Mackay Engineering College, seven Year 12 students graduated with a Certificate II in Engineering Pathways. The students attended the MEC one day each week and completed three weeks of work experience each year.

Congratulations to all of the students.

L to R: Alex Marshall (Trainer), Eddie Blines, Tyreeq Salleh Meadows, Tia Leeson, Carlin Bennett, Hayden Pullen, Bailey Davidson, and Jacob Thyer

Trainer’s Choice Award

Hayden Pullen was the winner of the Trainer’s Choice Award.

Hayden was chosen by the trainer for his dedication to his work and his positive attitude. Hayden received welding equipment including a welding mask.

Try Trades

The students below participated in the Try Trades program run by the Mackay Engineering College. The students attended the MEC one day a week for three weeks where they experienced hands on activities in the different trades. They also did workshop tours through some of the large businesses in Mackay. Due to COVID the students missed out on the day trips to Hail Creek Mine and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal this year, however, they still enjoyed great experiences participating in the other activities organized by the MEC.

Back row: Stephen Whitmore, Beau Jones, Brock Crawley, Bill Flynn, Liam Doherty

Front row: Will Gething, Paige Dodd, Thelma Ndhlovu, Jordan Sleeman, Emily Hearne

Women Who Weld

Mackay Engineering College along with QMI Solutions held a one day ‘Women Who Weld’ program at the Ooralea campus. Fifteen students from across Mackay Secondary Schools were selected to attend the event. Students explored the skill of MIG welding and trade skills which could lead to a possible pathway into the advancing manufacturing sector.

Students from Mackay State High School are:

Jacinta Aicken, Paige Dodd, Jasmine Donaldson, Jamie McNally, Thelma Ndlovu, Halle Parter-Brady and Letticia Parkins

Positions Vacant

NEW ACADEMY’S FOR MACKAY SHS

It is with great pleasure that we formally advise that Mackay State High School is now a Queensland Mines and Energy Academy and Clontarf Academy.

QMEA

QMEA is a highly successful program placing students onto pathways into the resources sector and other science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) industries.

Australia’s largest and most successful industry-led, schools/industry initiative, the Academy’s programs and experiences broaden students’ and teachers’ knowledge of the resources sector and provide a talent pipeline of employees into VET and STEM-related careers, with a strong focus on female and indigenous students.

QMEA constantly develops and refreshes exciting hand-on programs to keep pace with the skills needed for the careers of the future in trades and professions. We also support teachers to ensure they are confident to bring STEM-based topics to students in an engaging way.

The QMEA is a partnership between the Queensland resources sector represented by the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and the Queensland Government, through its Gateway to Industry Schools Program

We are pleased to announce Kaitlin Scott of Year 11 has been selected as a 2021 Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) Student Ambassador. There were only 20 Student Ambassador roles awarded for 2021. The standard of applications was extremely high this year and the deliberation process was lengthy.

Congratulations Kaitlin!!

Clontarf Academy

Mackay SHS has joined partnership with The Clontarf Foundation, we are taking enrolments for 2021 for the Mackay Clontarf Academy.

So what is Clontarf??

The Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, discipline, life skills, self esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and by doing so equip them to participate more meaningfully in society. Any Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander boy enrolled at Mackay State High School can apply.

The Clontarf Foundation conducts a variety of activities, camps and workplace visits aimed at developing the capacity and life skills of participants. Locally based Clontarf staff mentor and counsel students on a range of behavioural and lifestyle issues while the school caters for the educational needs.

We are very excited about our new Academy at Mackay State High and can’t wait to see these young boys develop into the best version of themselves!!

TRANSITION / ORIENTATION DAYS

We look forward to meeting students from Year 6 going into 7 students for our upcoming Transition Program and Orientation Day.

ACCESS CENTRE

SPORTS REPORT

TERM 4: ACADEMIES

Netball:

Netball Academy now heads to the off-season with a big focus on mentally and physically recovering from the year that has been. The girls are slowly getting back into their transition phase with a goal of coming back stronger than they were this year. The girls are following a structured strength program in class with a conditioning early morning fitness session every second week. The girls will be given a summer program to follow that will allow them to stay on top of their foundation fitness over the holidays.

We hope that in 2021 we have the chance to get back to more games of netball for our girls in both the Interschool Netball competition but also our chance at playing in the Vicki Wilson Titles. The girls have endured a very long season with not a lot of game time but this has all helped to build stronger and more resilient young women.

Great work girls!

Rugby League:

Our rugby league academy students have been involved and several games of footy over the past couple of weeks which has made for a very busy start to term 4. Some of our year 7 rugby league students represented our school in Bundaberg during week 1 and played games against some quality opposition. It was a good experience for the students and an opportunity to play against schools from well outside out region.

In weeks two & three, our year 10 & 11 male students played against Northern Beaches and recorded a 20-10 win and a close 22-20 loss. Our female students from year 9, 10 & 11 also participated and recorded a draw and a convincing win. These games provided and opportunity for students both in and outside our academy to show their skills for possible selection in our Aaron Payne Cup side and open girls team for next year. Week three also saw our year 7/8 students host Mercy College. The end result was a loss for our students however they can take a lot from the experience.

During week three representative from the North Queensland Cowboys and NRL development staff ran a coaching session for our year 9 academy students. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and participated extremely well.

In week five our school will contest the Br Rochford Challenge in Bundaberg. This team will consist of our current year 8 & 9 students looking to press for positions in the Cowboys Challenge team for next year. Good luck to all students travelling to Bundaberg.

Post season training will now be a focus for all academy classes with some morning or afternoon sessions in full swing for students still involved in future games. Keep up the hard work everyone!

Football

Term 4 sees the Football Academy go into the Futsal section of their Practical Program.

Students will use these lessons to formulate their competition teams for 2021 as well as improve their skills in decision-making, touches, passing accuracy, attacking, defending, communication and movement on and off the ball. The theory undertaken this term for the 9/10’s is Organisation of a Futsal Tournament and the 7/8’s is My decisions for Life. Preparation also starts for next year’s Football Teams in all age groups, so students are now sizing up their competition within the group to make the starting teams and the bench. Good Luck to all Football Academy Students.

X Country Race / Pride Fun Run

We are very excited this year to announce the upcoming ‘MSHS Pride Fun Run’ which will be held during Week 7 on Tuesday the 17thof November.

Competitive runners from all age groups will race to claim their place as age champion during period 1 only. To nominate, students will need to sign-up on the boards outside of HPE staffroom by Friday Week 5 and will need to collect a permission form for this.

Training for x-country commenced in week 4 and will continue until week 6 at 3.10pm Wednesday’s. Students were also given maps of the course in order to begin their own training.

The inaugural ‘MSHS Pride Fun Run’ will include a little bit of water, a few inflatable obstacles, plenty of mini challenges to make for a whole lot of fun. Permission forms will be out this week and will be due back ASAP (early week 6).

Sessions

Period 2: Year 7 & 8 students
Period 3: Year 9 & 10 students
Period 4: Year 11 & 12 students

Students will be required to arrive at school in school uniform and may change into house colours/ clothing that is sunsafe but appropriate for a fun run. Students will be required to remove their shoes for the obstacle portion of the run.

Fun Run Feels

ITALIAN LANGUAGE WEEK

Last week marked the twentieth annual World Italian Language Week, and the first observed at school. It was pleasing to see so many enthusiastic students answering the daily Italian culture themed questions and receiving their prize. It was during Italian Language Week that the overall winners of the Italian Speaking Competition sponsored by the Mackay and District Italian Association were announced, Congratulazioni Nicole Librero (Year 7) and Timofey Craig (Year 8) on being the inaugural winners!

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SCHOOL BASED POLICE OFFICER

Covid 19 Restrictions Group Gatherings.

Hosting after parties for graduation, schoolies and celebrations.

Parents hosting after parties for graduation, schoolies and celebrations are trying to do the right thing. However, some parents of these events have had upwards of 50 people or the extra guests turning up “out of nowhere”.

This is in contravention of the Covid Movement and Gathering direction number 4 (part 2, 11). This direction allows outdoor gatherings of up to 30 persons to gather publicly or up to 30 people

(including the members of the persons households) to gather at residence that is in a non-restricted area (Mackay is non-restricted).

A friendly reminder from School Base Police Officer ‘Eggy’ that students and parents considering hosting a celebration should already be aware of the laws and restrictions and the penalty fines and consequences of breaching the law.

6 REASONS TO PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY

A recent study found that banning mobile phones at schools improved student performance. This effect was most pronounced for struggling students. The rise of smartphones means people can be contacted by others at any time, anywhere. But is this connectivity always good? What happens if you are on your mobile phone too much? Here are some reasons to put your phone away.

LOWERS CONCENTRATION

Excessive mobile phone use leads to poor concentration. Having your phone out whilst doing homework or revision can make students perform 20% worse. The authors of this study go on to state that “the mere presence of a cell phone may be sufficiently distracting to damage attention".

FOMO

Adolescents often experience Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO). This is made worse with mobile phones and the rise of social media, driving the compulsive need to know what others are doing. Those who develop FOMO will experience lower overall mood, increased anxiety, and are more likely to check their phones during lessons or study time.

Thankfully, there are ways to overcome this FOMO, such as focusing on the present moment, avoiding multi-tasking or limiting social media time.

REDUCES MEMORY

Phone messages and notifications are distracting and disrupt tasks, such as studying, causing goals of the tasks to be forgotten. This is apparent to anyone watching a student revising or doing their homework with their phone next to them. A different school of thought suggests that a reduction in memory may be due to the waves emitted by mobile phones.

This would explain why participants in this study who used mobile phones excessively had slower response times in memory tasks. These other studies here and here also make interesting reading. The authors of this meta-analysis confirmed that the waves of mobile phones do have an impact on memory, though noting that the effect sizes are small.

WARPS VIEW ON REALITY

Social media presents a distorted view on reality. No-one is as happy as they seem on Facebook or as wise as they appear on Twitter. By nature, we then compare our lives to these false realities. This comparison to others can be stressful, promoting a fear of failure. It can also encourages FoMO.

STRESS AND ANXIETY

Excessive use of mobile phones is bad for your psychological health. Constant over-use of mobile phones leads to increased anxiety, feelings of loneliness, and low self-esteem. Reliance on mobile phones can also cause irritation, frustration, and impatience when they cannot be used.

MAKES YOU SLEEP WORSE

Phone use every day and for longer than 20 minutes at a time will lead to poor sleep quality and duration. Those who have their mobiles in the bedroom sleep for shorter durations than those who don’t. One possible reason is that the brightness of the backlight on your phone delays the sleep hormone, melatonin, from being released, keeping you awake for longer.

Ways to fall asleep more easily include having a regular sleep schedule, exercising a couple of hours before bedtime, a hot bath or, obviously, avoiding screens at night.

ENGLISH TUTORING

MATHS TUTORING

BREAKFAST CLUB

We desperately NEED volunteers to help in our Brekky Club, Brekky club operates Monday to Thursday 8am to 8.30am. There are no prerequisites required to help only that volunteers need a Blue card.

Every day: “Fresh Fruit, Cereals, Toast and spreads”

Students can take a piece of fruit (Apples, Oranges), make their own toast (fresh Brumbies bread) with a full range of spreads. Also enjoy a glass of milk with the option of making a takeaway sandwich for lunch later.

Monday: “Milo Monday”

Students can make a cool refreshing drink with one scoop of Milo and fresh Milk.

Tuesday: “Toasty Tuesday”

Hot yummy cheesy Toasty’s served up by our lovely volunteers.

Wednesday: “Pancake Wednesday”

We are serving up hot soft delicious Pancakes with syrup, fruit, cream, berries and all things yummy

Thursday: “Smoothie Thursday”

The “Smoothie Bar” serves up blended “Chilly Chock Berry Banana Smoothies”. A real hit and a cool start to a big day.

STUDENT SERVICES

School Based Youth Health Nurse

Sun Protection

Did you know that sun protection is especially important during childhood and adolescence?

Sun damage in the early years of life greatly increases the risk of developing skin cancer (including deadly melanoma), skin and eye damage. Queensland has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, so it is so important to try every day to follow these simple sun safety precautions:

Slip on protective clothing that:

Has long sleeves and high necks/collars with material made from a tight weave.

Is dark in colour to absorb UV radiation (white and lighter colours reflect UV radiation onto skin).

If used for swimming, is made from materials such as lycra, which stays sun protective when wet.

Slop on SPF30 or higher sunscreen that is:

Broad spectrum and water resistant.

Applied to dry skin at least 20 minutes before going outside and reapplied 2 hourly

Slap on a hat that is:

Broad-brimmed and provides good protection for the face, nose, neck and ears, which are common sites for skin cancers (caps and visors do not provide adequate protection).

Worn with sunglasses and sunscreen to increase your level of protection.

Seek shade by:

Making use of trees or built shade structures, or bring your own pop-up tent or umbrellas. (You will still require protective clothing such as hats, sunglasses and sunscreen).

Slide on sunglasses that are a close-fitting wrap-around style that meet the Australian Standard AS 1067 and provide an Eye Protection Factor (EPF) of 9 or above.

Don’t forget - you are your child’s most important role model, and your child copies what you do. If you take sun safety precautions yourself, your child is more likely to do it too.

Chaplain

Mackay State High School students in Year 7, 8, 9 will be participating in the Healthy Youth Relationship Workshop “Good Ways Campaign”

When

WEEK 7: Thursday November 19
Period 1: Year 8
Period 2: Year 7
Period 3: Year 9

Duration

70 Minute Workshop

The Healthy Youth Relationship Workshop is designed to assist young people with:

1. Establishing their identity as an individual.
2. Instilling how to develop healthy relationships by presenting respectful and culturally appropriate decision-making in all forms of future relationships.
3. Anti-Bullying message

Program

In conjunction with the Neighbourhood Hub and Reconcile Life a team will be presenting from JC Action Sports.

• BMX and Skateboard Tricks and Demos using BMX Half Pipe
• Hip Hop Music Against DV performances.
• Guest Speaker Namarca Corawa from Reconcile Life Pty Ltd.
• Question and Answer Time
• Handouts and Questionaires

Where

Students will under several Marquees and the concrete Undercover Area at Shed on the Oval

Students will need to come prepared with a hat and water to participate in the presentation.

Cost

Free event sponsored by the Queensland Government

MACKAY STATE HIGH SCHOOL P & C

Next P and C meeting is on Monday 23rd November 5pm.

Guidance Officer

P & C Association

Next P and C meeting is on Monday 23rd November 5pm.

Uniform Shop

To beat the 2021 school rush, for the month of November the Uniform Shop in offering a 10% discount for any instore purchases. Get in and avoid the back to school mayhem and grab a discount.

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