2 March 2016

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Emerald State High School – What we stand for

Emerald State High School continually invests in learning excellence, building capacity through our school and proactively engaging with the community. Last year we began a journey of reflection and planning to develop a strategic direction for the school over the next four years. This reflection included acknowledgment of our achievements and areas for improvement, in addition to consultation with the School Improvement Unit and Assistant Regional Director along with the school community to create a rigorous plan for improvement as an outstanding school. Our Strategic Plan is underpinned by three core planning areas:

• Engagement,
• Pedagogy and Achievement,
• Communication and Teamwork,

These three planning areas inform and set the direction across all operations of the school. Plans will be monitored regularly and reviewed annually to ensure we are meeting our targets, proactively addressing emerging issues, and taking advantage of new opportunities.

Parenting a Teenager – "It's all about sacrifice"

As parents we face many challenges in raising teenagers to be safe, happy, well-adjusted and able to deal with conflict and frustrations in non-violent and effective ways. Recently, I read an article on the sacrifices we make as parents for our children. The author pointed out that as parents of teenagers we constantly sacrifice our time to ensure that our children are safe. On top of the regular daily collections and drop offs to work, school and sporting event s we also need to sacrifice our social life to some extent , to be "on call" 24 hours a day should we get the call to collect a child from a teenage party. The second sacrifice he spoke about is much more difficult, that is, sacrificing our child liking us for a period of time. It is hard to have your child tell you that you're ruining their life, for our children to hate on us for a period of time. When we say "NO" in an effort to keep them safe and on the right track they will not always respond positively but it is essential part of being a responsible parent. Some sacrifices shouldn't be hard to make, while others will be difficult but it worth it when you consider the end result.

Better outcomes for students

I would like to congratulate Mr Nahroon Nazim for his selection on an advisory Maths B panel. Last Tuesday Mr Nazim had the opportunity to attend a meeting at QCAA office in Brisbane regarding Maths B external exams and syllabus. Attendance to the forum was by invitation only. There were 12 participants from QLD: 3 professors from QLD Universities, a P&C representative, a state school representative from North QLD and the remaining were from private schools in Brisbane. The meeting agenda included what the external exams would look like for Maths B, what kind of calculators will be used, how the questions would be structured, how we would align it to the syllabus, etc. Advice from the panel was sought and submission will now be presented as a paper to the parliament to be endorsed. Mr Nazim's selection to have input into the future direction of Maths B is not only a direct reflection of his competence and capability to teach Mathematics, but also how he continually inspires our students with his love of the subject.

We are focused at Emerald Sate High School on the teaching and learning of Mathematics. Recently we hosted 4 days of professional development with Dr Harry Kanasa, bringing research based practices into practice and developing excellence in Mathematics teaching.

Japanese Visitors

This week we welcomed our exchange students and their teachers from Japan. There were 10 students and 2 teachers. I would like to sincerely thank Miss Comollatti for organising the exchange and the parents and students who have hosted our visitors. This event provided another wonderful opportunity for our students to appreciate and value other cultures and diversity.

PACE program

We are indeed fortunate this year to have the students enrolled in the Emerald Agricultural College PACE program also enrolled in a flexible program allowing the students to participate in English and Mathematics lessons with us. We welcome the students and look forward to learning more about their agricultural studies provided by the college.

Respectful relationships program launched

The Department of Education and Training has developed the Respectful relationships education program as part of the Queensland Government's commitment to ending domestic and family violence. The program will give all P–12 students opportunities to learn the skills they need to develop respectful and ethical relationships free of violence.

Banned Items

I would like to thank parents/carers for their support as we enforce the banned items policy. Mobile phones cause a number of distractions during the school day. Mobile phones are on the banned items list. If your child brings their phone to school and is found to be in possession of it, on a first offence it will be held at the office until the end of the day when your child can collect it. On the second offence a parent/carer will need to collect it from the office. Whilst we appreciate that this can be an inconvenience for parents, it sends a strong message to our students that a banned item is a banned item and breach of such policy will impose consequences. Alleviating distractions such as mobile phones and ipods enables our staff to deliver on the core business of teaching and our students the best opportunity for learning.

Leigh Dyer
Principal (Acting)

From the Deputy

An excellent start to the year, our student attendance rate year to date is 92.2%. Our aim is to have over 91% attendance for the whole year. Those students who are going above and beyond Emerald State High School's attendance target of 91% are embracing the "Every Day Counts" initiative. These students embody the school values of politeness, participation and being prepared. These students are held as exemplars to their peers. Students with over 95% attendance rates for the term will be recognised at school parades and the like.

Parents/guardians of a student with an unexplained absence will be sent, via ID Attend, a text message stating that their student has an unexplained absence and to contact the school identifying the reason for the absence. A student is deemed to have an unexplained absence, if the parent/guardians have not given the school notification of absence by PC meeting 8:50 am on the day of absence. Each Monday, students will be issued a letter requesting explanation of the unexplained absence. Therefore, the school encourages parents and guardians to notify the school when a student is absent.

Every day Counts

Rob Tuppack
Deputy Principal – Years 9 & 10

Year 7 News

Hello and welcome to Emerald State High School! I'm pleased to introduce myself as the year 7, Year Level Manager for 2016. This year has started off with a BANG as we head straight into camp in week 6. We've had an amazing response, with 95 students heading out to Fairbairn Dam Outdoor Education Centre from Tuesday 1st March to Friday 4th March. We will be participating in group activities and challenges to get students working together as a cohort and get to know each other better. Students who are not participating in camp will still be participating in a normal school week with a focus on literacy and numeracy skills. After camp we will be voting for PC captains.

In our weekly year level assemblies students get updates around what is happening inside and outside of their classes. So far students have been showing maturity as high school students in meeting the school's expectations; however some are starting to push a few boundaries. The year 7 students have been reminded that the whole school expectations around the 3Ps (polite, participate and prepared) are essential for success for both themselves and their classmates.

At Emerald State High School we are committed to achieving an average daily attendance of 90%. Every day counts for year 7 as the students get into the routine of being at high school, with high school expectations. Being absent for just one lesson is missing at least one third of the teaching time for that subject for the week; therefore an entire day absent means being behind in one third of the work for four subject areas. Please remember if a student is sick or unable to attend school please call the administration department on 4988 2222 and report the absence.

If you need to contact me regarding your year 7 student's wellbeing please feel free to email me mshar155@eq.edu.au .

Megan Sharman
Year 7 Manager

Year 10 News

As the new year 10 Year Level Manager I would like to welcome both students and their families into year ten and the beginning of their senior school journey. I believe that year 10 is one of the most important years in secondary education. During this year students will participate in important decision making, leading to study and career pathways. As parents and guardians you play an important role in helping students make choices around their study and career paths. Take advantage of opportunities to talk to your student about possibilities for their future study and career paths and encourage them to investigate different workplaces through work experience.

One of the important tools for year 10 decision making is the Certificate II Workplace Practices which every year 10 student completes this year. This course includes important units such as workplace health and safety and career planning. Completion of the certificate also requires 80 hours of work experience. There are four ways students can complete this; they can log their part time paid work hours, they can log their school-based apprenticeship or traineeship hours, or they can participate in work experience on their holidays or complete two, one week blocks of work experience in week 9 of each term. Many students have already been placed for first term and are looking forward to the exciting opportunities this offers. If students are not completing any of their hours this term they need to plan how they will complete the 80 hours before the end of the year.

At Emerald State High School we are committed to achieving an average daily attendance of 90%. Every day counts for year 10 students as they prepare themselves for their senior years of schooling. Being absent for just one lesson is missing at least one third of the teaching time for that subject for the week; therefore, an entire day absent means being behind in one third of the work for four subject areas. Please remember if a student is sick or unable to attend school please call the administration department on 4988 2222 and report the absence.

If you need to contact me regarding your year 10 students wellbeing please feel free to email me acart163@eq.edu.au . I'm looking forward to helping make 2016 a great year for all of our year 10s.

Annette Carter
Year 10 Manager

From the Head of Department: LOTE, HPE & Wellbeing

LOTE (Languages Other Than English)

The LOTE Department this year have hit the ground running. We have just had 10 students and 2 teachers from Ichinoseki Daiichi High School come and visit us for 5 nights in a homestay situation. The students got to meet the mayor and do a tour around Emerald, a visit to Ensham and also participating in school lessons and homestay. All the families had a great time and it was a pleasure to see the students make lifelong friendships. We would like to thank all the families that hosted students and we wish them all the best as they return to Japan. The other half of this is that Emerald State High School students are getting ready to start immersion lessons before heading to Japan in September School holidays.

Year 7 LOTE students are getting ready to give their self-introduction speech at the end of this term and are learning how to write their names, date of birth and other information to make a passport in Japanese. The year 8 students are working through a Hiragana booklet taking the time to look at each letter and improve their writing skills while also learning about school and subjects.

Once again thank you to all those who helped with the Japanese host students.

Wellness

This term the year 7, 8 and 9 students have all been learning the same concepts in wellness classes. The year 7 students did an introduction to Emerald State High School before catching up to the year 8 and 9 students. They have learnt what a SMART goal is and have written a goal for English, Math, Science and History. The students have also looked at what it means to have a digital foot print and how to be cyber safe. The last topic they are looking at is cyber bullying; what it is, how to report it, and know how to be safe.

HPE

Congratulations to all the students who were age champions at the swimming carnival and to all the students who participated and gave it their best. All the students are coming up to assessment time for both their theory and their practical components in HPE. We would like to take this opportunity to remind all students to remember to bring their hat and water bottle for sport classes as it is hot in the sun and we want you all to be sun safe.

Kind regards,

Bek Comollatti
Head of Department: HPE/LOTE/Wellness (Acting)

From the Head of Department: VET

It has been a great start to the year within the VET department! We would like to welcome the year 10 cohort who are currently undergoing their first competency-based subject – Certificate II in Workplace Practices. This subject provides a great foundation for all students in providing them with information and real-life experiences for their future career path. As part of the course, it is a requirement for each student to complete 80 hours of work experience. This can be done through Mrs Alarna Wills who organises our work experience opportunities, or through the students' part-time employment. By now, students would have already been given their work experience forms and have handed them into SupportWorx. The week-long work experience opportunity is a great way for students to embed themselves within an industry for future deliberation on their career path.

There are another couple of messages we would like to give the parents and guardians of our Furnishings, Engineering and Hospitality students. Most of you by now would have already received letters regarding extra course fees (for materials, ingredients, etc). We would like to encourage parents and guardians to pay these extra fees as soon as possible to ensure that their students can start their practical components. If you have not received a letter in regards to these fees, could you please contact your student's teacher for further information and clarification. A reminder as well for the students enrolled in Engineering – could you please ensure that you are bringing the required workwear for your practical lessons. It is a part of the Emerald State High School's Workplace Health and Safety measures for students to bring the appropriate workwear and failure to do so will result in having to continue theory work, leaving you behind on your practical assessment of the course.

Lastly, any students who are interested in starting a School-based Traineeship or Apprenticeship, see Mrs Alarna Wills in SupportWorx for more information.

If you require any further information regarding what has been discussed, please do not hesitate to contact me through my email: kcurd9@eq.edu.au or phone: 4988 2222.

Kind regards,

Kris Curd
Head of Department: Vocational Education & Training (Acting)

English News

Exploring different worlds in Year 12 English

Our two Board English classes have journeyed through their novel The Book Thief in the first half of term, encountering the very confronting world of Nazi Germany. Students have been exposed to the brutality of the Reich and the daily struggles to survive as well as the constant threats to mortality of those unwilling to conform.

The challenging world of examinations is now looming large as students prepare to utilise their creative writing skills to portray their own version of an event during those tumultuous times.

Meanwhile the three English Communication classes recently moved out of the classroom into the natural world at the Fairbairn Dam Outdoor Education Centre in order to apply all those theories of team building they had learned about in class to real world problem solving. Learning to plan thoroughly, communicate effectively, revise thoughtfully and think innovatively all contributed to them being able to achieve success! Our students are to be commended on their enthusiastic participation and the cooperative attitudes shown on this excursion.

Hopefully students will be able to use these experiences to prepare themselves for building better teams in their lives beyond school.

Whatever the circumstances, allowing our senior students to read about, or participate in, situations beyond their everyday worlds allows them to broaden their horizons and develop deeper understandings – either of what it means to be human or the importance of working well with others.

Home Economics & Hospitality News

The central focus of Home Economics education is the wellbeing of people within the context of their personal, family, community and work roles. This year is the second time for the year 7 students to study Junior Home Economics focusing on the unit of Cooking for Health and Happiness. Cooking is a life skill and it is important to be able to choose the right recipe and cooking method that will optimize the properties of the recipe. Students at junior levels learn about the fundamentals of the importance of a balanced diet and apply nutritional concepts that promote healthy eating and the prevention of lifelong diseases. Specifically, they learn about personal hygiene, kitchen safety, measurement, handling basic utensils and developing their knife skills. This is an important grounding for them to have an ongoing development for nutritional understanding and wellbeing.

Home Economic students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have the opportunity to explore the exciting role that young people effectively play in changing social, cultural, technological and economic times. In order to capitalise on this potential, teachers and curriculum leaders effectively connect with students' worlds, use contemporary educational research as a guide to planning and develop practices that are empowering.

Home Economics sources the preparation and presentation of food that is fundamental to everyday life. At Emerald State High School, Junior students are provided with interesting opportunities to explore various influences affecting their food choices such as cultural beliefs, nutritional knowledge, trends in the food industry regarding food laws and regulations, advertising campaigns, food availability and budgetary considerations,

The practical component focuses on preparation and presentation techniques as students prepare an array of edible tasty, attractive and nutritious food products. This is an important grounding that prepares students to develop their own recipes by applying the technology processes and understand further the chemistry of food ingredients, the role different ingredients play in recipes and key steps when working through more challenging recipes.

At this stage, year 7 classes have successfully produced caramel-flavoured popcorn, chocolate weetbix slice, banana Smoothies and for their practical cooking assessment they will develop a product design of fabulous fried rice.

Our multi-cultural environment provides an excellent opportunity for these students to share their own cultural experiences and backgrounds with other students and showcase specific skills. A range of practical and theoretical activities and assessments are completed across the board giving students life skills for healthy living.

Students in Year 8 are exploring combining cultures to create fusion foods and for their assessment this semester, they will design a savoury parcel incorporating 2 to 3 cultures in one dish (e.g. meat pies, fajita, hamburger, calzone, tacos) using hero ingredients from various cultures. This term, they have produced healthy food products such as fruit salad, pancakes, scone-based pizza and sushi rolls.

The Year 9 students have demonstrated their theoretical knowledge and understanding in the production of tasty vegetable slice, lemon cheesecake, beef stir-fry and pasta bake and for their term assessment will complete a written examination focusing on the 6 food nutrients and the 5 food groups based on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

The senior students of Mrs Annette Carter in Year 10 are designing litter-free lunch boxes wherein they are examining the effects of processed and packaged foods on our body and the environment. The senior students in Hospitality Practices are engaged in practical activities wherein they will gain industry-based experience and develop a range of professional kitchen skills. They will display their creativity in the preparation of salads and sandwiches for a buffet salad bar function during their assessment in week 8.

The Year 11 students completing Certificate II in Hospitality will display their competencies in the production of non-alcoholic beverages and finger foods to be presented at a Mocktail Party whilst the Year 12 students in Certificate II Hospitality will demonstrate their practical skills in the production of non-alcoholic beverages (smoothies) and healthy snacks for a juice bar. These students are involved in a range of functions, both for the school and community. In addition, they work in Moustachio Restaurant (the student restaurant) by organising and managing cafes and luncheons for customers and have the opportunity to learn barista skills that mirror those needed in a commercial kitchen.

Last week the Early Childhood Class, accompanied by Mrs Angela Gilbert, walked to Borilla Community Kindergarten Learning Centre to observe the modifications the centre makes for their little learners. The students specifically focused on furniture, health and safety and lunch box policies. The class have also been eagerly completing practicals and constructing folios depicting various activities such as play doh, memory games, reading aloud tips, sensory bags. The year is shaping up to be an exciting one!

Sports News

This year's swimming carnival was a highly successful sporting carnival thanks to the help of all involved. The great participation of students meant that once again the winning house was only twenty points clear. Fourth place was taken by Sapphire, Zircon came third with Garnet in second meaning Topaz was the winner for the second year running. Age champions were Jhy Gilliland, Makayla Morgan, Eduan Ruthvern, Arni Barnes, Clay Catip, Gabby Firth, Lleyton Cave, Nicole Burley, Josh Kane, Fiona Stevens, Robert Burley and Sasha Kimber. Congratulations to all students that competed on the day and all the teachers for helping with the running of events.

Sports trials are currently happening with some Capricornia teams already selected. Congratulations to those students who have trialled for Central Highlands and especially those selected for their sport.

The Emerald State High School cross country will be held on the last day of Term 1 this year and students have started fundraising for this already. All funds raised will be used to purchase sporting equipment for students to use during lunch times.

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen." Michael Jordan.

From the Guidance Counsellor

Success for tomorrow's graduates

Dr Helen Street in 2014 notes that due to the prevalence of reported youth mental health problems, school communities in Australia in the last 20 years are incorporating strategies to improve social emotional learning. She poses the question of how important these skills are when determining life success, as most university admission centres look at academic grades before anything else.

Good high school results + motivation + effort correlate with good final university grades. However one needs to consider more than this when as an adult, one is determining an overall measure of life success. Academic results alone do not predict the quality of adult relationships, wellbeing, physical health and long term career success. It is social and emotional competencies that relate to long term professional achievement, relationship longevity and reports of personal fulfilment.

Today's successful schools are linking an academic focus with social emotional learning skills (Self Awareness, Self Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision Making Skills). Subsequently improvements are evident in students' attitudes, behaviour, cooperation with others and academic performance.

At Emerald State High the Junior and Senior Wellbeing programs are integrating an academic focus with social emotional learning. For students, the competencies gained will not only be useful during high school but a foundation to enhance success in their adult lives.

(Adapted from: The Positive Times - Positive Education for Positive Schools
December 2014 "A Recipe for Success" - Dr Helen Street
February 2016 "Improving Student Performance with Social-Emotional Learning" - Luke McKenna.)

Emerald State High Guidance Service

Working with the high school support services team, carers, teachers, health professionals and community agencies, the guidance officer provides professional expertise and support to assist students with concerns around personal, educational, social and emotional wellbeing and career development.

News from the Library

This year, students will once again have the opportunity to complete the ICAS Tests, also known as the University of NSW subject tests, for Digital Technologies, Science, Writing, Spelling, Mathematics, and English. The first of these is Digital Technologies. The Digital Technologies ICAS covers general technology skills from a range of curriculum areas and a variety of contexts. It is a multiple choice test which will only take 1 lesson on May 17th. From this, each student will receive a certificate along with an explanation of their results. If your Year 7 – 10 student is interested, they need to collect a permission letter from Mrs Galea in the library and ensure that it is returned to her along with the $8.80 to the office by March 16th.

The BILBY (Book I Love BEST Yearly) Awards are open for nominations. At http://www.cbcaqld.org/bilby-awards.html , until March 18 students can nominate their favourite individual book for their age group. The shortlist of 5 books for each category will be released a few days later on March 21st. It is suggested that students read through the shortlist and then cast their vote for their favourite by June 17th. Happy reading!

Art & Literary Competition

Emerald & District Athletics Association

Emerald and District Athletics Association Inc
2016 Season Sign-On
Sunday March 20
4.00pm—5.00pm
Club House - Marist College Oval
Athletes 5 years and over welcome
Sign on $100.00 per Athlete
Birth Certificates are required for new registrations only
Season commences Sunday April 10 with a Come and Try Day
1.30pm for a 2pm start
For more information, please contact us at Emerald Athletics Club Facebook page.

Debating

Emerald Art Gallery

Cricket

Emerald State School Easter Fete

Play 2 Learn Playgroup

Markets

Tutors Wanted

Census