6 August 2021

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Last week you should have received your child’s semester 1 report card via email. I would like to congratulate students for the tremendous effort that they put in throughout Semester 1. Overall, our school performance was spot on with state targets in all categories – our academic results showing 83% at A-C; behaviour results at 93% A-C and Effort at 85.7% A-C. We are a great school and as a community should be proud of our students and their achievements. Students and parents were emailed Term 3 Assessment Calendars to ensure we are well prepared to continue these outstanding results.

The next step in our work to improve, is to spend time talking to every student in our school about their achievement and future goals. We have organised approximately 1200 appointments to occur with every child at our school as an opportunity to reflect on their journey at Mackay High, and to talk about supporting their learning and achievement. ‘Pathways’ planning is something that I greatly value and I am keen to have conversations with our students and their families at our EDUCATION AND CAREER PATHWAYS DAY on Tuesday 17th August. Listening to their needs helps a school plan future subject offerings and human resource requirements. We welcome every parent / caregiver to the Education and Career Pathways conversations but understand that many parents are working. We are happy to connect parents over the phone for the 10-15-minute conversation. This is an exciting process that we have implemented at the school and I am sure students will gain a lot from these conversations.

As discussed with students at their first parade this term, regular classes will not operate on the day, as all teachers will be involved in ECP conversations. Students must however, attend school for their appointment (this is not optional). Students will have the choice to work from home or at a supervised study hall on the day following their appointment. This flexible day has been endorsed by our P&C Association and I would like to thank them for their ongoing support. I would also like to thank the many parents who attended our Parent Information Nights for Year 8 and 10 students moving into subject selection last week.

We have so many wonderful achievements at our school and over the past three weeks I am been truly amazed by our students and staff. Last week we celebrated NAIDOC and I would especially like to acknowledge the work of our Community Education Counsellor, Jacinta Bobongie. We held a formal celebration parade, hosted an Elder’s High Tea, enjoyed the dance performances from our students (who have been working with Patrick Thaiday over the past term), and on Friday, every student engaged in activities to celebrate indigenous culture. From indigenous sport, arts, crafts and dance, the week had a wonderful feel and one I am sure our students will remember.

We also saw success from our talented Arts and Sporting students. Our Instrumental Music students performed and toured our Primary Schools and the feedback has been superb! We then took out 2nd place in Rock, Pop, Mime and won our Rugby League Cowboys Challenge game against Kirwan State High School! The other exciting work currently underway is our Primary Schools transition program. We already have over 150 Year 6s enrolled at our school, with a second round of enrolment interviews occurring later this term. Our Year 6s will be visiting us for the start of their transition to our school in Week 5, along with our Primary School Cadets doing another visit this week.

Book Week Event – Save the Date! Friday 27th August 2021

Book Week officially runs from the 21st – 27th August. This year, Mackay State High School is getting involved and celebrating the magic of reading. This year’s theme is “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds and we are encouraging all students to start thinking about their favourite book characters and how a creative costume might come to life for this celebration. Students and staff will be dressing up on Friday 27th August to celebrate Book Week and our Resource Centre will be coming alive! Prizes will be awarded to the best dressed in each year level.

Have a wonderful week and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our school office.

We Believe … We Achieve
Yours in Education

Felicity Roberts - Principal
#mackayhighpride

SAFETY WEEK

ACCESS CENTRE

Happy Birthday Daniel!

This wonderful young man celebrated his 18th Birthday last week in his class. A Free Frappe was made for him and cupcakes for all his friends. Happy Birthday Daniel Parker!!

Farewell Kimberly

Our Work Education class sadly say goodbye to Kimberly Doyle from Community Solutions. Kimberly has worked with students from Term 4 2020 through to Term 3 this year. Kimberly has given student invaluable information on career building skills, verbal communication strategies, mock and group interviews working 1:1 with students identifying their unique skills and telling them how to use these to ‘stand out’ in a job interview.

Thank you Kimberly for supporting our school and supporting students with disABILITY to have confidence and start preparing for the future.

ENGLISH

Heywire Competition

Heywire is an exciting competition from the ABC, calling for stories from high school aged students in regional, rural and remote Australia. And we want to hear from you!

Entries must be a true story about an aspect of your life. Stories can be in any format: text, video or audio — whatever form suits you best!

Most of our entries are text but feel free to be creative. The recommended length is 400 words.

If you need help deciding what to write about or how to start writing your story, you can take part in an online Heywire Storytelling workshop here.

Ready to enter?

Great! Head on over to our Enter Now page! We can't wait to read your story.

Teachers, check out  this page for some great resources available to use in the classroom.

Please get in touch if you have any questions at abcheywire@abc.net.au or phone 1800 26 26 46.

Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.

How Do I Enter?

When your story is ready, submit it by filling in our simple online entry form by September 16, 2021 to be in the running to win.

Somerset National Poetry Competition

The purpose of the Somerset National Poetry Prize is to encourage a love of writing poetry amongst secondary school students, to affirm it as a worthwhile literary pursuit, and to stimulate excellence in writing. It also aims to inspire and enrich youth literature.

Please see the following link for more details.

Our Story | Somerset Storyfest

SENIOR SCHOOLING

MATHS

JCU CAREER CONNECT

On Wednesday 120 Year 10 Students visited the JCU Career Connect which was held at Mackay Northern Beaches State High. Students had the chance to speak with local businesses from different industries as well as exploring pathways to study.

Reports from students that the afternoon was very informative.

Thankyou to the generous sponsorship from Mackay Regional Council and Mackay Transit Coaches.

ITALIAN

Speciale/Special.

It should be no surprise to learn that the Italian word for special is speciale /speˈt͡ʃa.le/. Both terms can be traced back to the Latin specialis. The word stays the same in its feminine form, whereas the plural is speciali. /spe·cià·le/.

In addition to meaning ‘out of the ordinary’ or ‘different to what is usual’, speciale can also refer to people or things with exceptional qualities or characteristics.

E.g.

Maria è una persona davvero speciale. Pensa sempre agli altri.

Maria is a truly special person. She always thinks of other people.

Some common terms in which speciale appears include:

• effetti speciali = special effects
• offerta speciale = special offer

Sig. Andrea Pozza
Italian Teacher

RATEP CERT III IN ATSI EDUCATION

MACKAY STATE HIGH SCHOOL P & C

The next P & C meeting is on Monday 23rd August 5pm.

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