17 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome to our second newsletter of the new year. As I write this extract we have just completed an evacuation procedure and returned to normal school routine. Yes, like so many other schools this year, we received a bomb threat. We are thankful that the police arrived swiftly and in numbers to carry out their duties. All students, staff and visitors were safe and the whole school was back into its normal routine by period 2. We did evacuate our students to our nearby Emerald North SS neighbours. I wish to thank Mrs Harvey and her staff for accommodating our students and staff so well for the short time that we were there. Overall I was really impressed by our students and their behaviour as well as the staff for accounting for every child and their individual needs.

The other noticeable element of our evacuation was the amount of visitors that we have at Emerald SHS, which I am really pleased tell you is a great hub for community events. We had the rugby trials running and we have been facilitating OneSchool teacher workshops for the entire region during this week. I believe it is important our school holds community events because it strengthens a foundation for a deep underlying bond with our community.

On that note I wish to thank all the parents and students who attended our “Meet the parents and staff” evening last night. It was a really relaxed evening with some food and some very good presentations given by our staff. There was a wide range of topics discussed and parents commented on how informative it was.

Our Student Leader Investiture was held last Tuesday and it was a very well run program with an outstanding morning tea served afterward. I was very proud of our new leaders and I am sure they will serve us well this year.

Special Mentions:

• Thank you to Mrs Dyer, Mr Kurd and the team of teachers who organised the ESHS Student Leaders’ Investiture.
• Thank you to Mr Tuppack and all the staff who made presentations to the parents on Wednesday evening.
• Special thankyou to all of our teachers, especially the HPE department, who are furiously organising Central Highlands sports trials
• Thank you to those teachers who came in with Mr Ryan at 9.00pm last Thursday to update the school community on the cancellation of the swimming carnival. By the way it’s on this Thursday coming
• Thank you to Mayor Maguire and our other dignitaries who attended our leadership investiture.
• Thank you to our senior leaders and our Junior leaders for presenting so well last Tuesday morning

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.” Charles W. Eliot

Ray Clarke
Principal

From the Deputy

Year 7 Camp

Camp is fast approaching for our Year 7 students at Fairburn Dam Outdoor Education Centre. Final notes went home on Monday with the students including permission forms and final payment details. Whilst at camp, the students will participate in a range of outdoor education experiences that focus on teamwork and leadership. On returning to school, the year 7 students will vote on their PC captains for 2016.

Teamwork

As junior school students our Year 7s and Year 8s are in similar class groups for the majority of their lessons. This builds a sense of comradery and trust within the PC class that allows the students to foster a sense of belonging. It is critical that all students at Emerald State High School work to support their fellow classmates to achieve a sense of belonging within the school. Students are reminded that if they are having problems with their classes or with a person in those classes that there are a number of support people around the school to help. These people include:

All the best,
Hayden Ryan
Deputy Principal – Years 7 & 8

Year 9 News

Term 1 2016 has been an incredibly exciting and busy term for our Year 9 students. There have been inductions, parades, and school photographs. On the 4th of February, Emerald State High School held their annual photo day. I must commend all of the students for their impeccable uniforms, the cohort looked superb.

At Emerald State High School we are committed to achieving an average daily attendance of 90%. I would like to commend the Year 9s for their attendance this term. With an attendance rate of over 92%, it is clear that the Year 9 students and their families value every day at school. Just a reminder, if a student is sick or unable to attend school please call the administration department on 4988 2222 and report the absence.

The positive behaviour for learning focus for the Year 9 students at the moment is participate. Students have been asked to ensure that their behaviour in every class is of the highest standard, and they are giving their tasks their best effort. It is a tremendous feeling when you move throughout the school and visit the Year 9 classrooms and see all of the students engaged in their activities.

Year 9 camp is scheduled to take place in Week 7 of Term 3. The Camp will be held at Emu Gully Adventure Education Group. The aim of the camp is to strengthen students’ team work skills and increase resilience and leadership through team and individual challenges. A detailed letter will be issued soon to provide information about the camp including dates and costs. All of the Year 9 students are strongly encouraged to attend.

Regards,
Mrs Elyse Gilbert
Year 9 Manager

Year 12 News

Welcome back to the final year for the Year 12 Cohort! We have a very big year planned for the Grade 12s including senior jerseys, the opening of the Year 12 Common Room, fundraisers, formal and much more.

To quickly get formalities underway, my name is Kris Curd and I was the Year 12s Head of Year last year and I am following them through to their final schooling year for 2016. I am very excited in working with them all again to ensure we have a successful and hopefully stress-free year! If you are in any need to get in contact with me regarding your student’s wellbeing or any other happenings within the school, the best form of contact for me is via email – kcurd9@eq.edu.au .

A couple of the big talking points with the Year 12s currently are their Senior Jerseys and Senior Common Room. Information regarding jerseys will be provided to students and guardians in Week 4. This will include the requirements for obtaining a senior jersey, cost and payment options. Upon receiving the information, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact myself or Mrs Leigh Dyer. In regards to the Common Room – this was an initiative setup by a previous Year 12 cohort to provide seniors with their own designated room for multiple different purposes. Due to the high work demands of Year 12, we are looking to provide a room where students can study without the distractions of other members of the school, ensure they have ability to have a fulfilling morning tea and lunch and a general “stress-free” zone for them to relax and unwind if need be. Final preparations are coming together for the room and we are looking to have it up and operational as soon as possible.

I would finally like to say congratulations to the Year 12 students who were formally inducted as a Senior Leader on Tuesday’s special parade. This is a fantastic accomplishment and I have no doubt that the leaders chosen will provide a solid foundation for future growth at Emerald State High School for many years to come.

Good luck students and parents with the year to come and I look forward to working with you all in the future.

Kind regards,
Kris Curd
Year 12 Head of Year

From the Head of Department: English

Welcome to the 2016 schooling year. For those of you who are new to our school or have not had the chance to meet me, my name is Terri Weatherley and I am the Acting Head of Department for English this semester. My role within this position is to work collaboratively with staff to provide the best learning opportunities for all students in the curriculum area of English. As an English faculty, we work together to plan and create units of work, target areas of improvement through the teaching of literacy, assess and review work samples/assessments and provide valuable feedback to our students. The English faculty is made up of many passionate, enthusiastic and dedicated staff members. Many of you would have already had the privilege of meeting or speaking to some of our amazing staff. We have welcomed Cheryl Bland to our family this year and were all very excited when the very knowledgeable, Val Woodbridge, returned for another year.

Monitoring student behaviour and ensuring that all students are following our 3 P’s- being prepared, polite and participate is another area that I will be responsible for. Students who choose not to consistently follow our 3 P’s and demonstrate inappropriate behaviour will complete a behaviour improvement plan with me. This plan will include strategies that they will then use to allow them to participate more effectively in class. I will also be keeping in contact with you if this has occurred.

Curriculum News-

In Junior Secondary English, years 7, 8 and 9 are looking at the genre of narrative writing, within the contexts of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction respectively. Students are enjoying deconstructing the elements of stories; looking at plot, character, conflict, theme and exploring what it takes to create imaginative, exciting and enthralling pieces of writing. If you would like to support your student to achieve at their potential, encourage them to read at home. This will help build not only their vocabulary and improve their spelling, but also exposes them to a variety of sentence structures, ideas and different styles of writing.

Year 10 students are currently looking at how language persuades and positions the reader. They have been reading a number of different texts concerning animal rights. Students will be completing a written test at the completion of this unit.

Year 11 English Communication began the year by looking at various issues confronting teenagers. Students will be constructing multi-modal presentations which will serve as a community activism project to make the community more aware of their chosen issue.

Year 11 English students are reading the highly regarded novel Jasper Jones and exploring the issues and challenges that the characters had to face growing up in a small Australian town. Students will then write an intervention.

Year 12 English Communication will participate in an excursion to Fairbairn Dam and participate in team building activities. They will use their experiences to write a news article that will be featured in the school newsletter.

Year 12 English are currently constructing a novel intervention on the Book Thief. They are analysing characters, scenes and elements on history which relate to this particular point in history. They have followed the characters through their own personal triumphs and tribulations.

Assessment Schedule-

ESHS has an Assessment Policy that clearly sets out the procedures for handing in assessment items. If you are not a familiar with this policy then please ask Admin for a copy. An electronic Assessment Calendar will be accessible for all students and parents/caregivers on the school web page in the very near future. The assessment calendar provides important information about the content that is currently being taught and when assessment items are due. Students should receive an Individual Assessment Calendar in Week 4.

Resource Scheme-

It is essential that all students are able to have access to the teaching resources required in all of their classes. Invoices were mailed out to all families to inform them of the costs associated for each child attending school this year. The Resource Scheme provides students with their school diary, textbooks in all subjects, novels for English, log on access for Pearson Texts to use on their personal devices, photocopying and some excursions. I understand that it is a struggle for families to save money after surviving Christmas. If you are having difficulties paying your fees then please see the ladies in Admin and they will happily organise a payment plan for you. It is essential that all students have the same opportunity to learn, have access to resources and participate fully in each and every lesson.

Student Diary-

Every student will have their own student diary. This dairy needs to attend every class throughout the day. There are some fantastic features included within the student diary. Did you know that students can use their diary as a mini whiteboard or ‘show me board’? There are also red and green pages so that students can quickly reply yes or no when answering in class, thumbs up , thumbs down and also letter and number responses. These features allow students to participate in a variety of fun and interesting ways. Our school diary also includes information about wellbeing, school expectations, vocabulary lists and much more. Please take the time to have a look and check it out for yourself.

ESHS Homework Club

Wonderful staffs from our English Department are on hand in our Library every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3-4pm to provide support and assistance to students. It has been great to see how many of our students are continuing to utilise our Homework Club. Homework Club is helpful and welcoming, so why not go along and check it out?

I am looking forward to a very busy and productive term. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns or questions regarding the English Department.

Until next time,
Regards
Terri Weatherley
Head of Department- English (Acting)

From the Head of Department: Humanities

This year in the Humanities Department, which includes the study of History and Geography, we are focussing on alignment of our curriculum from Year 7 through to Year 12. This will include the establishment of a consistent approach to source analysis through the use of the acronym TADPOLE. This asks students to investigate the following aspects of historical sources: Type, Author, Date, Purpose, Opinion or fact, Language and Evidence. All of our History classes will be taught this method for evaluating sources over the next few weeks. Please ask your children if they have used and understand this approach. We will also be teaching students a number of complex vocabulary words associated with the study of history – this will also be consistent across all classes.

This year students will also be offered the opportunity to participate in the Australian History Competition in May this year – information regarding this will be delivered to students closer to the date. It will be a great opportunity to students to demonstrate their skills on an external test.

If you wish to have any further information about Humanities at the school please contact Ben Van Hees on bvanh2@eq.edu.au .

From the Head of Department: Science

New Staff

The Science Department welcomes two new teachers this year – Miss Fehlhaber and Mrs Wilson. Miss Fehlhaber is a graduate teacher with a Music/Maths/Science background while Mrs Wilson is a returning Maths/ Science teacher.

Curriculum News

As far as the junior curriculum is concerned the grade 7s are studying about solutions, mixtures and separation techniques during Term 1. Year 8 Science curriculum this term focuses on properties of matter and changes of states while the Year 9s are concentrating on light, sound and electricity. Genetics and Evolution is the course of study in grade 10 science. Mendel’s experiments and Darwin’s theory of evolution are closely examined in this unit so that the students can gain a better understanding of human evolution, genes and inheritance.

In the senior school, both the year 11 and 12 Science in Practice classes are focussing on ecosystems and organisms. They will soon embark on an exciting field trip to Fairbairn Dam where they will observe not only the flora and fauna but analyse the water quality as well. The Year 11 Biology students are currently learning about organelles, classification and population growth patterns while the Grade 12 Biology students are concentrating on homeostasis and the nervous system.

In the physical sciences a range of topics are covered this term. The Year 11 Physics classes are currently studying optics and waves while the Grade 12 Physics students are focussing on electricity and magnetism. In Chemistry, the year 11s are learning about atomic structure and bonding while the grade 12 students are studying about pharmaceutical drugs.

Science in the News

Scientists this week announced the discovery of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that were first anticipated by Albert Einstein, in 1916. These signals were detected by the Large Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO). This discovery has major implications for Physics and Science in general. The waves are believed to come from two black holes circling each other, coming closer and closer, until they finally collided. For more information on this important discovery you may visit :

Aneel Dewan
Head of Department Science (Acting)

Maths News

We are back again for another math-tastic year at Emerald SHS and in our department we are already in full swing with classes kicking off from day one. We welcome many new staff to our department this year and we are excited to see them contribute to our knowledge base and great teaching. We would like to mention that all students are required to have a scientific calculator with them for every maths class. This gives them the best opportunity to learn how their particular calculator works. It is also of benefit to note that each student is assigned a textbook. The Pearson textbooks are also available electronically and we are working towards getting logins as fast as possible. These resources are of great use in class and at home. When completing exercises from these books, we encourage all students to check their answers in the back of the book. This is an effective tool in providing students with instant feedback about the accurateness of their work.

In terms of the content that our students are learning about, year 7 is ready to go with their use of numbers and factor trees and currently preparing for their first exam. In year 8 we are currently learning about numbers and how we can manipulate them using our operations. Year 9s are diving into the measurement of complex 2D and 3D shapes while the year 10s are working on their trigonometry and the use of right angle triangles. Within our senior school we have the year 11 students getting a feel for their newly chosen math subject with Maths B starting by refreshing their essential algebra, Maths A doing financial maths and PVM are studying real life finance. The amped up year 12s are off and racing towards that finish line. PVM are going back to basics with fractions, percentages and decimals, Maths A are learning probability and statistics while Maths B are beginning their adventures of calculus.

Our goal is to make sense of maths and change student’s way of thinking. We will try to decipher the code in this image.

From all of us in the Maths Department, we look forward to the year ahead and working hard with both students and parents to achieve great results.

Tiff Brennan
Head of Department – Mathematics (Acting)

LOTE News

Irrashaimase!! Welcome to Japanese for 2016. If this is your child’s first year in Japanese, in no time they will be able to greet you, introduce themselves and discuss their age, where they live and their phone number. The Year 7 students are also expanding their cultural understanding of Japan, learning about bowing, politeness of speech and the various scripts Japanese people use in their daily life. All in all, this intercultural component is oftentimes, quite fascinating for our students to enter into a different world view, the Asian – Japanese world view, which also engenders a healthy, objective perspective of their own language and Australian cultural foundations. As part of the Year 7 assessment profile Year 7s shall be doing a spoken self-introduction and creating a “Passport” written in Japanese as an early demonstration of their understanding of words, sentences and written skills in Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji scripts.

Students in Year 8 are presently revisiting their Hiragana Skills, by completing a booklet entitled, “Writing Better Hiragana”. This fine attention to detail is a facet of normal Japanese culture and is a highly valuable and transferable skill for numerous subjects such as music, graphics, art and improvement of fine motor writing skills in English. For their writing assessment, Year 8 students will be demonstrating understanding and skills in decoding between the alphabets, comprehension of vocabulary and the traditional manner in which Japanese people write in vertical format, top to bottom, from right to left. During Term 1, Year 8 students are revisiting previously learnt vocabulary and accessing new vocabulary that deals with everyday classroom objects, instructions and other school information dealing with timetables and days. This term they shall also complete a Listening Test assessing their memory and developing comprehension of the above words and sentence constructs.

In closing, a wonderful hightlight to our Japanese school year is the hosting of Senior High Students from Ichinoseki 一関 in northern Japan. A heart-warming component is that our school too, shall likewise be completing a reciprocal visit in September this year, always a most worthwhile interculturally enriching activity for all people involved.

Douzo Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu for 2016!
Ms Kristine Holland – Japanese Teacher
Ms Rebekah Comollatti – HOD LOTE

Instrumental Music News

The Instrumental Music department is in full swing, with a busy start to the year. We have welcomed over 20 new students to the program. Many new students are learning instruments for the first time and are keen and enthusiastic.

The Symphonic Band had its first performance at the Senior Leader Induction Day. The students played well considering we only had one rehearsal before this performance.

The symphonic band has welcomed 10 new members. I am very encouraged by the dedication and enthusiasm of all of the new students, and hope they all have a fun and rewarding time as being members of the music program.

We have a number of students accepted to attend the regional ‘State Honours Ensemble Program’ (SHEP) to be held at Rockhampton in March. I congratulate these students on their achievement in being accepted into the program. I know they will learn plenty at this exceptional program.

There are still vacancies available for any student who would like to learn an instrument. Please come and see Mrs Jones in K Block on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Being in the band is great fun and has many benefits. Believe it or not it is a proven fact that music helps in all other school areas.

“Remember you don’t have to be smart to learn an instrument but you will be smarter if you do.” Joneda……(famous conductor)

Dana Jones
Senior Instrumental Music Teacher/Band Director

Technology News

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD/X) at Emerald State High School enables students to bring their personal devices to school. The emphasis is upon students having the opportunity to access digital technology and incorporate the advantage of this into their learning. It is always to be remembered that digital technology is a tool for learning, actual learning is your student engaging with content and mastering skills in a meaningful and effective manner.

Our plan for the school is to provide:

• access to classroom technology resources including interactive whiteboards, response gathering tools, digital cameras, ipods and listening tools to engage whole group activities
• opportunity to BYOD laptop or iPad with access to iPads in class when needed and subject to availability
• access to school owned laptops or desktops in class in a shared arrangement.

The school’s commitment to digital learning has not changed from that of previous years. Computers have been in classrooms for many years and over the past ten years the use of computers and Information Communication Technologies (ICT) has grown in their application within and outside the classroom.

Teachers as life-long learners will continue to focus on their curriculum and balance their pedagogical skills to best utilise ICT in an educationally purposeful way. ICT in a contemporary world is being reflected in blended learning environments.

Devices that are appropriate to the student educationally and developmentally and are able to transition seamlessly, learning from school to home and in between and take advantage of:

• evolving use of ICT for collaboration and creating of knowledge
• extensive ability to share information locally and globally
• online educational environments

eLearning Vision

At Emerald State High School technology is a tool that enhances pedagogy and allows differentiation in learning. Technology facilitates the creation and sharing of knowledge. Technology is more than a method of retrieving information.

Teacher emphasis is on Learning Intent and teachers use ICT in the classroom in an educationally purposeful way to convey this intent.

Students access technology at Emerald State High School as responsible users.

If you are considering purchasing a device for your student to use at the school, please keep in mind the school recommendations. These recommendations are for a general use device, if your student is wanting to study more computer graphics orientated subjects, they may need to look at a more powerful device that can handle the graphics load, look for a device that comes with a discrete graphics chip.

Regardless which subjects you will be doing, here are a few things to consider before you purchase your device:

• Battery Life: Your device should have enough battery life to last a whole school day, generally speaking this means at least 5 hours on a single charge.
• It needs to be able to output through a VGA port to a projector, this may mean on some devices you need to purchase an adaptor if a VGA port is not built in.
• Currently the school BYOD program only supports Microsoft Windows (7 and later) and Mac OSX. No Chrome OS or Linux support at present.
• It is recommended that you budget for a carry bag and an external hard drive for backup purposes.

Free Microsoft for all students

All state school students from Prep to Year 12 can now download multiple free copies of the Microsoft 2013 Office Suite to their personal home and mobile computer equipment.

Students who want the free software will need an active Managed Internet Service (MIS) login, school email account and password — those who don‘t have these should ask their class teacher to check their student profile or to contact their school’s MIS Administrator. The administrator will help students activate their MIS login.

If students have forgotten their password or needs to renew it, this needs to be done in one of our computer labs. Currently, the 2013 Office suite is available for students’ personal equipment only — not equipment which is part of a school network. For more information:

Connecting to the Wi-Fi Network at School

Once your child has the device, they need to make sure they have a current account at the school. Students have been updating their passwords during class in the school labs and we have been checking any students that have had their account disabled over the holidays.

The first step is to connect their device to the school’s Wi-Fi network. The instructions are below but how to sessions are run in the library during 2nd break on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for anyone who needs assistance.

Pearson Textbooks

Students who have paid, or are on a payment plan for the resource hire scheme will soon be given their unique username and password to download their textbooks. There are many benefits to having these textbooks, including note-taking features, extra videos and interactive tools to help with the work. For information about downloading the books so they can be used offline, please see the links:

Contacts

If you have any questions regarding technology and BYOX at Emerald State High School, please contact Samantha Elsden. Students can access the IT technician for support before school and during lunch breaks in B6.

News from the Library

February 14th, although commonly known as Valentine’s Day, is also Library Lover’s Day. To celebrate, this week all students who borrow a non-textbook will receive a free bookmark.

Art & Literary Competition

Rugby League

Community Grants

Tutors Wanted

Census