26 October 2016

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome to the second newsletter edition of term 4. The past two weeks have seen our school focus on its improvement agenda which include 2 key areas of student education, namely behaviour and classroom learning. Our staffs have commenced a journey of development in these two areas since the commencement of the year. They have participated in professional development on a fortnightly basis. They have changed their processes to all give the same message and have the same standard of expectation in behaviour. They have also participated in professional development to apply the same standards of teaching practices to ensure high quality teaching occurs every lesson, every day.

To see how effectively we have progressed in these two areas, school auditors will be here within a fortnight to assess how consistent staffs are in applying the same standards and in behaviour and in teaching practice standard. This is our 12 month review after we started this review. I recently alluded to staff that this review is our grand final in a lot of ways. It is where outsiders compare us to a set of standards that guarantee school improvement.

Our “grand final win” will occur when the auditors conclude that yes the school does have highly consistent practices in teaching standards of practice and in behaviour. For me, anything less will not constitute a win. One thing I can guarantee you is that we will continue this focus in these two areas over the next three years. Why? Because with consistency comes success, and both areas are vital to student academic improvement and continued success!

Special Mentions

• Mrs Van Hees, Mrs Carter and Mrs Gibson took our Year 11s on a leadership camp for 4 fantastic days of team building and self-discovery. Well done all!
• Mr Currington, Ms Comallatti, Mr Ryan and the 20 other teachers who all assisted with the coordination of the Western 7s tournament which our school hosted. By the time you have read this they will have worked 12 days straight .Awesome effort!
• Thank you to Mr Ryan who organised the cyber safety sessions early last week. They were very worthwhile sessions.
• A huge thank you to the P&C for building a new shade structure on the oval and for the preparations of the Octoberfest, coming up on the 29th of October

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” E.E. Cummings, 1955

Have a great weekend,
Ray Clarke
Principal

From the Deputy – Junior School

Western 7s

We saw a fantastic weekend of competition from our students over the Western 7s weekend. A huge amount of planning and preparation goes into the weekend to ensure that our students are given the opportunity to compete against the best teams in the region. The results were a reflection of our students’ eagerness to participate in school events and to show off the results of all of their training. A big thank you to Mr Currington and Miss Comollatti for their tireless efforts in ensuring the weekend ran smoothly. A special mention also to the coaches and support staff who were at school at 6am each morning making sure the grounds were in shape for the carnival.

Year 7 Honours 2017

This week we have finished mailing out letters to all of our Honours Program applicants for 2017. We had our largest ever application pool with over 40 students from our feeder schools applying for the program. It was fantastic to meet and speak to so many young people keen to join this class. If your child was unsuccessful in their application, or didn’t apply but may be interested in the program, there will be a midyear intake in term 3 2017.

2017 Scholarship Recipients

A big congratulations to our Year 7s for 2017 who were successful in winning a scholarship for next year. Scholarships include school fees for the year and one complete school uniform. This year our winners were:

Academic Scholarship

• Krystal Clark
• Georgia Ellerton

Sporting Scholarship

• Emma Spires
• Jett Williams

Cultural Scholarship

• Mia Gigante
• Zac McDonald

Hayden Ryan
Deputy Principal – Years 7 & 8

Year 11 News

A group of year 11 students participated in our senior leader program from the 18th to 21st of October at the Fairbairn Outdoor Education Centre. This program is to assist our prospective school leaders to develop a variety of leadership and team work skills that will be essential in helping them to represent our school in 2017. The students who attended did an amazing job with so many kids pushing themselves and stepping up to show initiative in the various activities they participated in.

Student leaders will begin the application and interview process on the 25th and 26th of October which will include the presentation of senior leader speeches on parade on the morning of the 25th. The 2017 senior leader team will be announced at the annual school awards night on the 31st of October. I wish all the students the best of luck as they go through this process.

Senior jerseys will be ordered before the end of this year therefore invoices will be sent home shortly and all payments must be received before any order can be placed. The deadline for this will be 21st of November. If payment for a student jersey is not received a jersey will not be ordered. Students will also be able to purchase jerseys next year around the end of term 1. Students must ensure all absences are explained and fees are up to date if they wish to be eligible to purchase a senior jersey.

Regards

Kaz Van Hees
Head of Year 11

From the Head of Department: Mathematics

There is >1 term left!

This year has flown by and our seniors are in the final grips of their education. This term will wrap up quickly for them and soon enough they will be studying hard for their final exams. All year 12 classes this term have an end of year exam. Please remember that this final assessment does count towards their results. Two simple study tips are below to assist with final preparations:

In regards to the year 11 students, this is an exciting time as much of the content being taught across the maths classes is brand new to them and things they have never come across before. Such topics are ‘trigonometric functions’ for mathematics B and ‘fitting out’ and ‘networks’ for mathematics A. As a reminder, it is crunch time for them to put in everything they can to this final term of the year. Ensuring they are working hard now will put them in good stead for next year when the effort and dedication has to begin from day one. Furthermore, now is the time to evaluate the success achieved in their current maths subject. If they think that it may be in their best interest for a subject change, please see their teacher, myself as the Head of Department and the Guidance Officer.

As for our junior students, the year 7s are currently learning about geometry involving angles and parallel lines and following with symmetries while the year 8s are doing probability with algebra at the end. Our year 9s students have begun something new with their exploration of similar triangles and Pythagoras’ Theorem with their final unit being on trigonometry. There is still time for each student to improve on their achievement, effort and behaviour before the end of the year.

For the last time this year I will leave you with a riddle. It is a good problem solving one as it can be solved in many different ways.

Good luck.

Tiff Beck
Head of Department – Mathematics (Acting)

From the Head of Department: Vocational Education & Training

As we get closer to the end of yet another busy year, both students and teachers are still hard at work ensuring we produce the best possible results in all subject areas. For our year 12 students who are on the verge of completing their senior year, this is a crucial time for them to be taking responsibility for their futures and ensuring they are finishing school with the results they desire. Specifically for those in VET subjects, they should be checking with their teachers to ensure that they have completed all the competencies they need for their qualifications and that they will receive their certificates and attached QCE points before they graduate. Further for our seniors this time is crucial in finalising their first pathways and future career options. At present there are a large number of job and vocational opportunities that are becoming available to our graduating students to apply for. All of the opportunities that are currently available can be seen on their student notices page and they can approach Mrs Alarna Wills in SupportWorx for more information.

For our year 10 and 11 VET students, they too will be busy working on completing the various requirements for their certificate qualifications for the year. There are also a number of school-based traineeships and apprenticeships still on offer that would be suitable for our year 10 & 11 students; they too can see Alarna in Supportworx for more information. We look forward to continuing to offer all our students great opportunities in vocational pathways and are excited for the new and upcoming opportunities that will be coming to our school in the VET department for 2017.

Finally there are still a large number of students in years 10 to 12 who have not given the school their USI number. The USI allows us to link information about a student's VET achievements, regardless of where they studied, therefore making it easier for students to find and collate their VET achievements. It is very important that every student provides the school with their USI as certificates cannot be issued without this. This is crucial especially for our Year 12 students who soon will be leaving so we can ensure they receive their certificates. If you require more information for assistance in completing the USI application process feel free to contact us here at the school.

Regards

Harley Kowald-Dawson
Head of Department – Vocational Education and Training (Acting)

Sports News

Western 7s

Emerald State High School hosted Western 7s during October with record numbers of teams competing. Emerald SHS entered a team in every age division but was unable to come away with a first placing despite some great skills on show from both the boys and girls. A huge thanks goes to all the teachers, parents and volunteers that make this carnival a success every year as our students wouldn’t have the opportunity to compete without your many hours of help.

Rugby league against Marist College

During the end of term three Emerald SHS played a game of rugby league against Marist College to help them prepare for the annual tour. Some excellent skills were on display during the game but Marist College were lucky to come away with the win against a gallant Emerald SHS team. It was great to see the younger students (some year 7) holding their own against the well trained year 10 Marist team and winning the first half but Marist was able to bring it home at the end to get the win.

“No matter how good you get you can always get better and that’s the exciting part.” – Tiger Woods

Library News

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Certificates of Achievement signed by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk have arrived for students in years 7-9 that completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge earlier this year. Students opted to meet the challenge of reading 15 books between May 16 and August 26 and succeeded. Congratulations to those who met the challenge! Keep reading!

Oktoberfest

Our Rainbow House Fundraisers

Emerald State High School supports Our Rainbow House through our Student Representative Council. Below are some upcoming fundraising activities that they’re organising to raise funds for their school in Zambia.

Exchange Students

BRING FRENCH CULTURE TO LIFE!

Why not volunteer to host an international student from France next year? We have a small group of delightful French students coming to Australia for 10 weeks to immerse in local culture, experience our schools, sports, environment and lifestyle. All students speak excellent English, have their own spending money, cover all school expenses, and we arrange all aspects of their program. It’s fun and interesting to help these young people achieve their Australian dream. If you’d like know more, please email your interest to rl@scce.com.au

BMX Club

Emerald State School Fair

We have fantastic prizes this year for our Multi Draw Raffle! Tickets are $2.00 each but the coolest prize is a Custom Scooter worth $625 – alone the Kids Fun Package is worth $1000.

Tickets are being sold at Mitre 10 on 29th & 30th October, Big W on 5th & 6th November and also at the ESS Christmas Gift & Craft Fair on 18th & 19th November.