1 April 2022

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Term 1 Wrap up!

It has been a very busy term and has gone by quickly. Every day, I am fortunate to witness the wonderful achievements of our students across all areas of the school.

Farewells and Staff Changes from Term 2

This week we farewell Ms Jessica Gould (Science teacher) and Ms Kyree Mezzan (Maths teacher). Both Jessica and Kyree have done a wonderful job with their classes and I know that they will be missed. On behalf of the school community, I thank both of them for their efforts and wish them well in their future.

Next term we are welcoming back Mr Joe Slack, our Technology Head of Department and have appointed a new teachers to our school, Ms Karina Perkins who is joining us in the Maths department. Students will be issued with new timetables via email prior to the start of Term 2.

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce some changes in positions:

• Congratulations to Miss Stephanie O’Dolan, who will be taking on the role as our Year 10 Coordinator. Miss O’Dolan has wonderful relationships with students and parents and I know she will be fantastic support joining our Year Level Coordinator team.
• Congratulations also too Miss Chyba who is taking over the role of Chataway House Master. Miss Chyba is very excited to take on this role and has been a keen promoter of our Pride Cup and Carnivals.

Term 1 Student Results and Parent-Teacher Interviews

Our teachers are in the progress of finalising term 1 student assessment. Student results will be entered into a program known as TrackEd and all students will be issued an individual profile card in Week 2 next term. We have scheduled Parent-Teacher Interviews for Tuesday 3rd May (Week 3), with our booking system opening up for parents on the first day back next term (Tuesday 18th April). We are using a new booking system known as SOBS, which is the system most commonly used in schools across Queensland, to improve the ease of online interview bookings for parents. Detailed instructions will be emailed to you once the system opens up on Tuesday 18th April.

2023 Enrolments will commence in Term 2

A quick notice to families who have siblings entering Year 7 in 2023. We are starting our 2023 enrolment processes early next term with information packs going to all feeder primary schools early next term.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very safe and happy Easter break. We recommence on Tuesday 18th April (following the Easter Monday Public Holiday).

Thank you again for your support. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at frobe24@eq.edu.au

We Believe … We Achieve
Yours in Education

Felicity Roberts - Principal
#mackayhighpride

SAVE THE DATE

SENIOR SCHOOL

Year 11 & 12 - Flexible Attendance Option for Term 2

Across Term 1 our school has been proactivly managing staffing arrangements with a flexible attendance arrangement for some Year 11 and 12 students, across two lessons.

Commencing Term 2 we will be adjusting the flexible arrangement to a single lesson.

How does it work?

Students with FPP (Future Pathways Program) on their timetable will be allowed to ‘flex’ for one lesson a week but will be expected to attend for the other timetabled entry for this subject.

Year 11 FPP Students, only:

On Wednesday mornings students will not be expected to attend Form or period 1. They can choose to start their day by attending Period 2, commencing at 10.10 am.

On Friday afternoons, during period 4, students will be expected to attend a group presentation lesson on Respectful Relationships, Drug and Alcohol Education and the Resilience Project.

Year 12 FPP Students, only:

On Wednesday mornings, during period 1, students will be expected to attend a group presentation lesson on Respectful Relationships, Drug and Alcohol Education and the Resilience Project.

On Friday afternoon, period 4, students may choose not to attend. They may depart from school at 1.25 pm.

• Please note that this arrangement is optional and requires completion of the parental consent form.
• These new Flexible attendance arrangements will commence on Wednesday 20th April up to 24th June, 2022.
• Supervision will be provided for those students who do not take-up the flexible attendance option – or for those who are not able to provide parent consent.
• This flexible arrangement does not impact the curriculum delivery or assessment for any other timetabled subject.
• The lessons being conducted on Respectful Relationships, Drug and Alcohol Education and the Resilience Project are required curriculum elements of the Year 11 and 12 program.

Students not enrolled in FPP classes.

Students enrolled in classes other than FPP, such as Sport Academy classes (SAF, SAN, SAR), or Certificate courses (CSW, MSL) will not be able to access the flexible attendance option and are required to stay at school to attend classes.

All eligible Year 11 and 12 FPP students wanting to participate in the flexible arrangement must hand-in a completed and signed Consent Form to the Senior School Office in P Block (formerly the Attendance Office) by 31st March. These forms were emailed to parents but are also available from the school’s Office.

Parent Teacher Interview Evening

Our school will be using a new Schools Online Booking System (SOBS) to manage bookings from parents, for Parent Teacher Interviews. Parents will be emailed at the start of Term 2 with instructions and the opening of the booking environment. Parent Teacher Interviews will take place on Tuesday 3rd May (Week 3), from 3.30pm – 7.00pm with 10min Interview Sessions.

Our school will not be doing a Report Card from Term 1 but we do expect to be emailing home TrackEd Reports, to families, showing Levels of Achievement (LOA) from Term 1.

QMEA All Female Tradies for a Day

On the 10th March, 5 of our YR 10 girls participated in the QMEA All Female Tradies for a Day event hosted by Pioneer High School.

These students received the opportunity to work with BHP BMA tradespersons and apprentices from Hay Point on a variety of activities throughout the day. It was great to see our girls get involved and participate, well done Sumah , Jaymi , Jayda, Olivia and Caprice

THE ARTS

CREATIVE ARTS ACADEMY

Drama Excellence students critically evaluate peer performances and provide feedback to each other in a workshop situation. They have been working hard on their performance skills and building resilience by taking on peer feedback to improve their stage craft.

Teacher Profile

Name: Aaxle Carpenter
Arts Area: Music, Instrumental music
Favourite genre: Jazz, Punk, D’n’B
Favourite musician:
Listening at the moment to Larnell Lewis and Hilltop Hoods
What are you most excited about this year in the Creative Arts Academy:
Working with IM and big band this year towards the event coming up and to see the CAA begin to flourish

Creative Arts Academy – Program Timetable

NAPLAN 2022 - OnLine

Parents of Year 7 & 9 Students: This year, in the 2nd and 3rd Week of May, NAPLAN Testing will be occurring.

This testing will be in the Online mode, so ALL students will require:

• BYOx devices, charged (or equity devices)
• Headphones (mandatory)
• Lockdown Browsers installed – this will be done at school in the weeks leading up to the testing window

See the proposed testing schedule below and the simple, explanatory flyer attached. Please contact your Head of School (Year 7 – Mr Matt Skinner; Year 9 – Mrs Liz O’Neill) or Mrs Watt for more information or queries.

ACCESS CENTRE

WOW what a TERM!!!

The year has started with a BANG!! Work over the holiday’s started with fixing existing rooms/aircons/ceilings – so we just added a fresh coat of paint as well!! We started by merging specialist staff within faculties and provided the TA’s with their own lunch area, which allowed F block to have another learning space for our diverse learners. With the introduction of personal care to our team there was a LOT of training and upskilling of ACCESS staff to allow a smooth transition of our high needs students to the school. Our goal being to build relationships, set routines and allow our students to transition into a safe learning environment. I would like to acknowledge and thank our parents, external agencies and staff for their support over the term.

Not only do we cater for our diverse learners we also run alternate programs that allow students to build resilience, create friendships and provide skills in our Café Program – ‘The Ugly Duckling Café’ just like to story of the ugly duckling, with barriers and obstacles that got in the way, comments and hardships that the duckling faced in the end they grew to be a beautiful swan that forged it’s own path….. Planning, catering, cooking and delivering a great service to students and staff allow students to feel and have great success in their everyday life.

Future programs throughout the year will build on this, we will keep you posted:

• Walk for Autism – We will be walking with the Mackay Cutters and representatives from Mackay Autism around the oval to raise awareness of all people with Autism.
• KIT Day – Virtual wellbeing program for AUSLAN students in the region
• Camp Eagle – Junior development camp for year 7 and 8’s
• Kinchant Dam – Resilience Day trip Term 2 and Term 4.

Signing off for TERM 1, enjoy your holidays and have a wonderful Easter with your family and friends.

Majella Hoffmann
Head of Special Educational Services (HOSES)

YEAR 10 IMMUNISATIONS

Consent forms have been distributed to all year 10 students in Form class, for the meningococcal vaccination.

The vaccination date is scheduled for the 6th of May and will take place in our school library.

All consent forms must be returned ASAP to Form teachers or to the admin office.

Additional forms are available on request.

If you have any questions please contact lonei76@eq.edu.au directly.

ENGLISH

ITALIAN COMPETITION

The Italian Language Centre’s 2022 Italian Calligram Competition.

• Draw with words • No outlines • No colouring–in.

Theme: Le Meraviglie del Mare/ The Wonders of the Sea.

Cost to enter: Free.
Open to all students in Years 7 and 8.

Competition for Yr7/Yr8: Create an OCEAN SCENE using A minimum of 10 different Italian words of your choice.

If you have brothers or sisters in Primary School that wish to enter, see your Italian Teacher for details.

Conditions:

• No colouring in.
• No outlines. Ensure any outlines are erased from calligram before submission
• All words must be in Italian.
• Correct spelling of Italian words must be used Judges penalise spelling mistakes
• All entries must be on A4 paper and artwork must be large to fill the page.
• Entries must NOT be framed / must not be mounted on backing.

JUDGES LOOK FOR :

• Correct spelling (in Italian)
• Clearly legible words
• Creative use of Italian words to form shapes and texture.
• Colour variation of written words to create shading and highlights.

PRIZES 1st, 2nd, 3rd places in each category receive a medal and a certificate. Highly commended receive a Certificate.

Hand in your hardcopy and handwritten entry to your Italian teacher Monday 13th of June (Week 9 Term 2).

Example of winning entries from 2021 with the theme: Navigando nello spazio/Navigating in space attached for reference and inspiration!

In bocca al lupo!

Sig. Andrea Pozza
Italian Teacher

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

Breakfast Club

Brekky is served each morning 8am to 8:40am
Monday to Thursday in the Hall Kitchen
Friday’s outside Clontarf

A huge Thankyou goes to Brumby’s Sydney Street for donating bread for the past 10 years to our Brekky club

Helping families through life’s ups and downs

Family and Child Connect is a free, confidential service that can connect families to the practical support they need to bounce back in tough times. Family and Child Connect can connect you to local services that help with:

• managing your child’s behaviour
• building better family relationships
• stopping violence at home
• budgeting and managing money
• alcohol, drug or gambling problems
• accessing housing, health care or other community or government services.

Family and Child Connect services are provided by trusted, local organisations who are experienced in working with families.

To find out more about Family and Child Connect, call 13 FAMILY (13 32 64) or visit the link below. Access to interpreters is available.

MACKAY STATE HIGH SCHOOL P & C

The Annual General Meeting was held on 28th April, we are still looking for someone to fill the Presidents’ position. Being a part of a P & C is a way to keep in touch with your child’s school and rewarding at the same time. Meetings are held once a month, as a P & C we don’t do fundraising our revenue comes from our Tuckshop and uniform shop. So this position wont take up a lot of your time. If you are interested or would like to join our committee the next meeting will be held Monday 23rd May in the school Administration building at 5.00pm

2022 Executive Committee

President – Vacant
Vice President – Majella Hoffmann
Treasurer – Mel Hall
Secretary - Nichole Hood

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