17 September 2021

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Term 3 Wrap up!

It has been a very busy term and time seems to be flying by. Every day, I am fortunate to witness the wonderful achievements of our students across all areas of the school. I have had the pleasure of teaching some junior science classes this term and I have loved being back in the classroom and connecting with our amazing students. We have beautiful children at Mackay SHS and I would like to thank our parents for being wonderful partners in their learning.

Farewells and Staff Changes from Term 4

We are farewelling a very special staff members at the end of this term, our Deputy Principal, Mr Michael Young, who is taking leave for the remainder of the year. I would like to personally thank him for his tireless effort and passion for our school and the education of our students. Mr Young has been instrumental in setting up our school’s Positive Behaviour for Learning committee, has led the development of a renewed House system and his support for students is unwavering. We wish him all the best while on leave next term.

With every farewell, brings new welcomes to our school.

I would like to announce that Mr Matthew Greiger will be our Acting Deputy Principal of Years 9 & 10 for the remainder of the year. Mr Greiger is coming to us from Mackay Northern Beaches SHS, where he has been an Acting DP since 2020. We look forward to Mr Greiger joining our team.

Finally, we are farewelling Mrs Marissa Van Zyl from our Home Economics department at the end of this term. We would like to thank her for the many years she has worked at Mackay State High School and wish her all the best for the future.

Students will be issued with new timetables via email prior to the start of Term 4.

A look back at a couple of the highlights from Term 3:

Our Education and Career Planning Day took place in August, with outstanding parent support (thank you). It was a wonderful opportunity for us to individually connect with every child to reflect on their progress so far, and make plans for the future.

Our NAIDOC celebrations this year focussed on connecting with community and celebrating indigenous culture. We held a whole school parade and celebrated with activities on our oval, which included dance, sport and arts. A special thank you to our CEC, Ms Jacinta Bobongie for her making this a special event on our school calendar.

Our focus on positive mental health has been seen through many aspects this term. From continuing to work in every class on The Resilience Project, to our Mullets for Mental Health campaign (which has seen us raise over $9000 as a school so far with the support of local barber Heath Paton), to Wear it Purple Day, R U Ok Day – our students know we are here to support them. I would like to acknowledge the outstanding Student Support Team we have at this school (one of the best I have ever worked with!)

Book Week was another highlight this term. It was great to see staff and students get behind Book Week, which focuses on the magic of reading and literacy. From teachers reading their favourite novels to our students, to activities each day in our Resource Centre, to the costumes that were worn to school – our school spirit is certainly growing.

Sport, Instrumental Music, and the Arts continue to amaze me, with so many successes throughout the term. I hope you have been keeping up on our Facebook page!

And finally, our students would be remise not to notice the House spirit and motivation for the Pride Cup. Every week on parade there has been a points update and we are working towards announcing the winners of our Pride Cup in Week 1 of next term

THIS IS AN AMAZING SCHOOL and I am so privileged to be leading our staff and students. Thank you for your continued support.

I am sure our students are looking forward to rest this holiday – it is certainly well deserved. Term 4 recommences on Tuesday 5th October, following the Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday on the Monday.

We Believe … We Achieve
Yours in Education

Felicity Roberts - Principal
#mackayhighpride

ENGLISH

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

SPORT

Vicky Wilson Cup

On Wednesday the 31st of August our MSHS Vicki Wilson Cup team travelled to Brisbane to compete in the Vicki Wilson championship.

This competition was no easy feat with the top 20 schools in Queensland representing their regions. The girls, led by Miss Forster and Miss Cody Davis, showed enormous pride in their performances on and off the court. Although competing against some very challenging teams, the girls secured a brilliant win over St John Fisher College by 10 goals. They showed true resilience when some players sustained injuries and played their hearts out until the final buzzer. The girls were lucky enough to enjoy a night at Garden City and the DFO and made some wonderful memories never to be forgotten.

Thankyou to everyone who made this trip possible, all your hard work does not go unnoticed.

Amity Bugeja

Football

Congratulations to the Open Boys Football Squad. They defeated St Patrick’s College 3-0 in the Interschool Football Grand Final.

Hockey

Congratulations to both the boys and girls school hockey teams for their Grand Final wins. The Boys fought hard with the game going into a shoot-out and coming away with the win 2-1 against Mercy College. The girls played a great game winning 9-1 against Holy Spirit College. Congratulations to all involved in the competition.

Girls Rugby League

Mackay SHS had 3 girls rugby league teams participate in the High School Cluster Games. This competition ran over 4 weeks this term playing against schools throughout the Mackay region.

Our year 7/8 girls team finished the season in 3rd place. Although they didn’t make the Grand Final, they played their final game as if they were. The girls put their heart and soul on the field and finished on a high note winning their final game.

The year 9/10 girls finished the season in 1st place, which led them into the grand final against Holy Spirit College. The girls fought hard and came out on top winning the grand final, making them the 2021 champions.

Our senior girls also finished the season 1st place, getting them into the grand final against St Patricks College. Unfortunately the girls didn’t come away with the win, but they fought hard throughout the game and didn’t give up until the final buzzer.

Congratulations to all students, staff and parents involved for this competition. All the girls showed strength, respect, pride and resilience in all the games they played over the 4 weeks and we are proud to have you represent Mackay SHS.

MATHS

SCIENCE

Week 6 was Science Week at Mackay State High School!

National Science week is Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology. This year’s theme, Food: Different By Design, encouraged students to connect and develop an understanding of the different manufacturing processes of food and sustainable agriculture.

Students and staff were given the opportunity to participate in a number of fun science activities throughout the week. This included the daily Science Quizzes led by Mr Mather in the Daily Notices, Catapult building activities at lunch and our annual Science Week poster competition. Congratulations to the two winners of these respective competitions, and thankyou to everyone who took the time to participate. Our winners included:

• Science Quizzes: Roman Nikolic (7F2)
• Poster Competition: Colby Threadgate (12C2)

A big thankyou to all the Academic leaders and teachers (especially Ms Anthes) who assisted with the coordination of this years Science Week, your assistance was greatly appreciated!

ITALIAN

Now in its second fantastic year, Pizza Day was held in Italian classes this week in years 7 and 8. This excellent hands on activity saw about 400 of our students in Italian become Pizzaioli- Pizza Makers. Many thanks to our fabulous teacher-aides for their invaluable assistance and our Italian teachers for their coordination.

Complimenti a tutti!- Congratulations to all!

JUNIOR SCHOOLING

Twelve Year 8 students attended the Pit to Port workshop at the Resource Centre of Excellence along with students from four other schools in Mackay district. The day was run by QMEA with industry professionals from BHP/BMA. The students gained an insight into the supply chain involved in the safe and logistical management of mining and exporting coal.

They worked in teams as Mining Professionals for a day to ensure the effective, safe operation and management of a given “mine site”. The students participated in challenges based around fleet management as well as export and harbour operations that involved mathematics, logistics, communication and collaboration skills. The day cumulated in each team providing a presentation of their Pit to Port operations to ‘The Board’ to demonstrate how they managed the variations of their sites effectively for the best outcomes.

SENIOR SCHOOLING

Designer Cadet / Student Engineer

Aurecon is a global engineering, design and advisory company with an office located here in Mackay.

We are excited to offer an ambitious and enthusiastic student a full time, 5 days a week position as a Designer Cadet or a Student Engineer to join our team in January 2022.

This great opportunity will kick start and develop a career path of a current Year 12 student nearing completion of their high school studies.

To apply for this position the student is required to be on track to successfully complete Year 12.

Designer Cadet - You will need to be eligible to enrol in an Associate Degree of Engineering (Civil) - (ATAR score of 62.70 (adjusted) or 57.75 (unadjusted)).

Student Engineer - You will need to be eligible to enrol in a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) - (ATAR score of 74.15 (adjusted) or 65.60 (unadjusted)).

Applications are now open if you are keen to forge a pathway in engineering or design.

For more information contact mackay@aurecongroup.com or 07 4977 5200.

To apply please Click here

MACKAY STATE HIGH SCHOOL P & C

The next P & C meeting is on Monday 25th October 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