13 May 2022

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome to Term 2 – the year is certainly ticking away quickly.

The term has commenced with a flourish of activity. We have students currently out for the Band Camp, many Sporting events, Year 9 Academic Academy students have returned from 3 days in Brisbane and we are currently running the National Literacy and Numeracy Tests – which is NAPLAN. These tests are being conducted online this year and so it has been a change for all involved. Some Year 12 students have also been participating in State-wide Common Assessment testing and Year 11 Hospitality students are prepping to deliver a ‘High Tea’ as part of their assessment next week. All up, there have been many great things happening for our students.

Farewells and Staff Changes

It is with a heavy heart that we say farewell to Cin (Jacinta) Bobongie. Cin is our Community Education Counsellor (CEC), working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families. Cin has been the driver behind many cultural celebrations, education for kids and education on inclusion. Cin is an example of one of those ‘right people in the right job’. She has shown significant empathy, passion and commitment in the support of our students. Whilst we wish Cin all the best in her new career pathway we will be advertising for a replacement and hope to attract another wonderful staff member to fill the very big shoes being left behind – we will all miss her.

We will say goodbye to Darren Shepherd at the end of Week 5. Darren has been working in the Science Department of our school. We very much appreciate Darren coming and offering his experience and enthusiasm to our students and our school. We have been able to secure another science teacher, Daniel Firth, who will take over these classes. Whilst these contracts mean some changes for our students it is ensuring that suitably qualified and experienced staff are able to deliver the full curriculum to our students.

Our school would also like to welcome James O’Brien. James is working 2 days a week with us and then as the Acting Principal of Calen College for the remainder of the week. Jim will work as a student support officer and is going to delivery Literacy and Numeracy programs to students participating in the Booyah Program, as part of his role.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Thank you to the many parents and carers who attended our Parent Teacher Interviews, held on the 3rd of May. The night was really well attended and comments from parents were favourable about the details that they were able to gather from teachers to help them support their child and their learning. If parents were unable to attend on the night but are seeking feedback then please contact the school Administration Office or email the relevant teacher.

A second round of Interviews will be conducted in the middle of Term 3, following the distribution of Semester 1 Report cards.

2023 Enrolments – Parent Information & Twilight Tour

We are hosting our Parent Information and Twilight Tour, for 2023 incoming Year 7 students and their parents, on Wednesday the 18th May, from 6 pm, starting in our School Hall. RSVPs are not required – just come along. Take a tour of our school facilities and meet some of our wonderful teaching and support staff.

Our school has already commenced our ‘2023 Roadshow’ – visiting Year 6 students in our feeder schools and handing out information packs. If you are yet to receive your pack then please ask at your primary school and then contact our school Office if they are not available.

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

OFFICE UPDATE

2021 School Magazine

School Magazines have arrived and ready for distribution, if your child paid for a magazine in Term 4 last year they can be collected from the student counter in the main office. Alternatively, if you didn’t purchase a magazine and would like a memorable keepsake, it can be purchased at a low price of $15 from the main office

School Photos

2022 School Photos have arrived if you ordered professional photos of your child these can be collected from the school office. ID cards are also available for collection.

Appointments

If your child has to attend an appointment during the school day, the preferred process is:

• Write a note
• Your child takes this note to the Attendance Officer and is issued with a leave request
• Your student can then be collected from the school office
• This way your child will be waiting for you for collection with no delays

SENIOR SCHOOL

Defence Force Talks

Recently we had the Australian Defence Force visit our school and speak to students on careers in the Defence Force.

Anyone interested in this pathway please come and see Mrs Veitch in P Block Senior Hub for more information.

White Card

Mackay SHS had 27 students complete their White Card Training last month. A huge thank you to Bill and the team at Qld Training Solutions for the delivery of this course, also Thankyou to staff Mena, Zac, Cin and Julie for assisting on the day. Rudy kindly displayed the PPE equipment for the class.

ACCESS CENTRE

Mackay Regional Council, Emergency Management Team invites you to:

Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness Workshop

Find out more about how you can make a plan & stay safe in a disaster

Join us for this practical and interactive session for people with disability, their carers and supports, to start a Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) plan.

Facilitators:

Carla Duck – Emergency Management Coordinator, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Central Region
Bob Khalsa – Emergency Management, Mackay Regional Council
Davina Harrison – Emergency Management, Mackay Regional Council

• Learn about disaster risks in the Mackay area, and where to go for information
• Learn about the four steps to increase your preparedness
• Start your own plan using the P-CEP Workbook

Date: 6 July 2022
Time: 10.00am
Venue: Jubilee Community Centre Mackay
Lunch provided. Please register at the link below:

For more information contact the Emergency Management Team at Mackay Regional Council on emteam@mackay.qld.gov.au or 1300 MACKAY (622 529).

Form fillable PDF and screen reader enabled versions of the P-CEP Workbook are available to download from

CREATIVE ARTS ACADEMY

Teacher Profile

Name: Mia Luxford
Arts Area: Drama
Favourite style of within your area: Physical Theatre
Favourite artist/playwright/musician/director: Tennessee Williams
What are you most excited about this year in the Creative Arts Academy? Getting to work with students who are passionate about Drama and seeing their skills develop.

Name: Michelle Ribot
Arts Area: Film/Media
Favourite type of film: Experimental and Creature Feature
Favourite director: Luca Guadagnino and Peter Jackson
What are you most excited about this year in the Creative Arts Academy? Working with students who are super passionate about Media and photography

THE ARTS

Noosa Film Academy

Students from Senior Film, Television and New Media classes and XL Media (Creative Arts Academy attended the Noosa Film Academy workshop on Thursday 28 April. Professional director, Greg Huglin and producer Andrea Huglin taught students the process for creating a film from pre- to post production using a Red Dragon camera (the same type used to film The Hobbit films).

XL Art

Creative Arts Academy - XL Art students have been successful in their Wonder Rooms application to convert the inside of a shipping container into a vibrant and unique art exhibit for the community to explore as a “selfie museum”. Students design and create the space to become the ultimate backdrop for photos as part of the Wonder Rooms project for the 2022 Mackay Festival of Arts.

Congratulations, Brooke, Kaylani, Neah and Celice for leading the XL Art team with this exciting project.

ENGLISH

SPORTS UPDATE

Bangarra Dance Theatre- Rekindling Mackay Gathering One

CLONTARF CATCHUP

QLD Parliament House – Celebrating the QLD Clontarf Journey

Over 180 attendees filled the halls of Queensland Parliament House in late March to celebrate the journey of Clontarf in the state since the opening of its inaugural academy in 2015. Clontarf CEO Gerard Neesham said, “it was a moving experience to hear from so many people who’ve been positively impacted by our programme.” The Mackay Academy would like to thank all who attended to celebrate this incredible milestone with us. We’d also like to thank the Honourable Member for Mackay, Mrs. Julianne Gilbert for the guided tour and history of QLD Parliament House. The Mackay delegation were as follows:

Mrs. Julianne Gilbert – Member for Mackay
Felicity Roberts – Principal Mackay SHS
Leah Scheepers – BHP Principal Corporate Affairs
Seini Willet – Indigenous Pathways and Partnerships Officer
Oscar Conlon-Filmer – Student Mackay SHS
George Tonga – Community Elder
Gordon Quakawoot – Community Elder
Marion Healy – Community Elder
Deb Netuschil – Community Elder

Follow the link to read the full story:

Clontarf Employment

There has been a lot happening in our employment space, we acknowledge the support provided to each participant by our team. Andrew Zaro – Employment Officer, Dianne Veitch – MSHS Transition Officer, Zac Seden – Operations Officer (Year 10 to Year 12). The Mackay Academy would like to thank our Partners and Supporters for providing the opportunities for our young men through work experience, traineeships/apprenticeships, worksite visits and Academy Interactions.

Andrew Cole (Year 10) has been given an opportunity for work experience through Hitachi and attends every Wednesday for Term 2. Andrew has been enjoying his Placement and loves being on the worksite gaining valuable lessons in the trades.

Angus Davidson (Year 10) has been accepted to participate in work experience with MI Scaffolding. He has had a family history in the trade and would like to explore more about where this could take him in the future. He is looking forward to a bit of hands-on learning and being outdoors.

Naseli Nomoa (Year 11) has accepted an offer for a school-based traineeship with Bullivants. He will be completing his training in the next two years and hopefully can gain fulltime employment when he graduates next year.

Fulton Hogan have engaged with our Academy to put on a Year 12 Civil Construction trainee to complete their training whilst working on the extension of the Ring Road. Nasziah Sewell-Gardner has been successful in his application and will commence his traineeship with Fulton Hogan later in the term. We want to thank the Fulton Hogan team for visiting our Academy and making a presentation.

BUNZL have gained the services of Ty and Jai Ison, the brothers will commence their traineeship this term. BUNZL hosted a worksite visit where the young men were able to express their interest and have been successful in their application.

NRL Round 9 – Roosters vs Titans

The East Sydney Roosters have come through for our Mackay Academy lads donating 20 tickets to the round 9 fixture hosted at BB Print Stadium here in Mackay. The tickets were offered to the young lads to encourage them in their attendance. We were able to raffle two tickets that were an incentive for the older boys in getting their employment ready documents in ie ID’s, resumes etc. The winner of the raffle was Oscar Conlon-Filmer. The young men enjoyed the evening and for one in particular it was their first NRL game to watch live and so it was very memorable to say the least. A big thank you to the team at East Sydney Roosters for your support of our young men.

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

I hope that all students and families have settled in to Term 2 well. It is a big term for the Student Support Services team with lots of programming occurring.

PROGRAMS TERM 2

Drum Beat: Drumbeat is a powerful and effective program incorporating hand drumming, behavioural therapeutic principles and cognitive and dialectical elements. We use this program in two targeted small groups.

Feeling Fantastic: Feeling Fantastic is a course that helps young people understand their emotions, feelings and moods. The course focuses on managing and expressing feelings of depression and anxiety in healthy ways. We are running a junior and senior girls group this term.

Strength: Strength program is for adolescent males. It is a vales forming, life equipping course based on life principles. The goal of Strength is to change mindsets, instill qualities and empower young men with the ‘right tools’ to succeed in school and life.

R.A.G.E: Re-Navigating Anger and Guilty Emotions is a program for people who need help and support for their anger-related issues. It teaches students to identify the signs of anger and help them learn how to manage their own anger, as well as anger from others.

STAFFING

We have the most effective team at Mackay State High School that includes;

Guidance Officer – Cicely Baira
Youth Support Coordinator – Megan Geoghegan
Youth Worker – Zac Patch
School Chaplain – Phil Hall
School Based Youth Health Nurse – Ann-Maree Brightman
Clontarf Support Workers – Mena Tuibua, Zac Sedan, Marmin Barba

It is with a heavy heart that we tell the Mackay State High School Community that our Community Education Counsellor Jacinta Bobongie will be finishing with us on Friday May 20. Cin is a massive part of our team and a massive loss. If you are interested or know anyone that is interested in Indigenous Education and outcomes, please keep an eye out on Facebook for applications.

JCU Experience

Year 12 students will have the opportunity to live life as a University student for a night at the start of Term 3. The experience is designed for students to explore the Townsville campus, meet current students and engage in small learning opportunities in fields of interest.

Expression of Interest and permission forms are available at the Senior School Hub administration desk.

Members of Support Services can be found in E06 before school or breaks. Appointments can also be made at the front office.

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

School Based Youth Health Nurse

Time to dust off the winter recipe books, cause it is nearing soup season.

When prepped with the right ingredients, soups are a great way to add more nutrients to your diet.

Vegetables are normally the base ingredient for most soups, which is great because they provide nutrients including potassium, dietary fibre, folate and vitamins.

If you're looking to level up your soup game, try our healthy tips below.

What are your favourite soups?

Source: Healthline (2021). Is soup healthy, and which types are best?

Your health matters

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 won’t 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