10 November 2016

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter. Last weekend we had Oktoberfest and I wish to thank all the P&C and staff who helped make it a good evening and fund raiser. Our P&C has been very active this year and they are making significant improvements to the school. Then on Monday evening we had our Awards evening. It was a wonderful evening and I congratulate every student who participated in the evening. We really did showcase the amazing achievements of many of our students.

One aspect that we will emphasise in the future is the publication of criteria to select awards winners. All students will have these distributed to them in the near future. All new enrolments will also receive the criteria as of December this year. I had several students and a parent query me about the school dux winner. Once I explained how the award was calculated they were satisfied a fair and transparent process was carried out. We had the rare situation where a student won 5 subject areas and the Dux only one. This might raise an eyebrow, but the simple facts were at the point in time the dux winner was actually coleader in 4 subject areas that are heavily weighted by QLD Studies Authority. The fact that we used 2 scaling systems and OP Analyser made the process complex yet very accurate and transparent.

Last Friday we had our Priority Support Review. The auditors gave us the best result one can achieve, “Option A”, carry on with what you are doing. This is really pleasing for our hard working deputies and Heads of Departments who lead this school. It is also a great credit to all the teachers who have worked together to play a mini grand final in teaching terms. It really was a team effort to achieve the Option A rating.

Special Mentions

• To our P&C Executive and tuckshop ladies for the hard work they have put in over the year.
• Tanya Shaw for organising Awards evening and leading our school pedagogical program review. What a week for Mrs Shaw!
• Cary Challacombe and Bede Horsfall who led the Oktoberfest community fundraiser

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude”.

Author Unknown

Have a great weekend,

Ray Clarke
Principal

Year 10 News

We are speeding toward the end of term and with the early finish for year 10 at the end of week 8 there is no time to waste. It is probably a good time to remind students and parents that the shorter term means teaching, learning and assessment will continue until the very last day of term. Students will be completing their Certificate II in Workplace Practices over the next few weeks and it is important that all outstanding work experience log books are returned as soon as possible.

It was great to see the many year 10s receiving awards and performing at this year’s awards night. Congratulations to those students and their families.

As this is my last newsletter for the year I would like to thank you all for the great year and wish you a safe and happy holiday. I am looking forward to 2017 and seeing student’s progress into the senior school.

Annette Carter
Head of Year 10

From the Head of Department: English

Welcome to term 4! What an action packed term that we are all experiencing in our English Department.

This term in Junior Secondary English students are engaging in novel studies. Our Year 7 students are enjoying the quest of Percy and his friends in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, our Year 8 students are exploring the adolescent life of a boy named Lockie in Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo and our Year 9 students are engaging with the post-apocalyptic world that Katniss and Peeta navigate in The Hunger Games. All year levels have completed an exam and are currently working hard towards planning and writing their end of year assessments. Year 7 students are planning and creating a dramatic monologue from the point of view of a major secondary character from the novel (not Percy Jackson). The monologue is to take place in response to a significant event that occurs in the novel. Throughout their monologue they will focus on the thoughts and feelings of the character in response to the event. Year 8 students are about to commence writing an internal monologue. This will require them to choose a time and place within the plot of their novel and express their thoughts, feelings and emotions. Year 9 students are currently working on a one person monologue OR a two person dialogue that fills a (gap or silence) in the novel. They will focus on a technique called ‘fill a gap or silence’ to reveal the values, attitudes and beliefs of a character during a significant event or relationship within the novel. All students in years 7-9 will be presenting their assessments in the form of an oral presentation.

Year 10 students are currently exploring poems and identifying the subject matter, mood, tone of voice, poetic techniques, and vocabulary choices and the theme or message of each poem. They have been focussing and reading poetry with teen issues and they will be completing a Poetry test this term.

Year 11 English Communication students have been busily writing a sales pitch to sell their board game as they will then be required to present a sales pitch to prospective investors in the ‘Shark Tank’.

Year 11 English are writing an analytical essay after completing their reading of Macbeth. Their essay is based on one of the following questions below.

1. How do the weaknesses in Macbeth’s character lead to his downfall?
2. How are women in Macbeth portrayed as dangerous or harmful forces?
3. How do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s decisions contribute to their descent into bloodshed?

Year 12 English Communication students have been reflecting on their own traits, positive and negative, and have been writing a reflection from experiences during their time at school. Within their reflection they will be presenting physical representations for their traits.

Year 12 English students have been writing reflections to demonstrate the validity of the statement that “no text is neutral” by deciding whether the documentary that they viewed was effective in changing or influencing your opinions on the issue.

I would like to wish our year 12 students all of the very best for their future and I am looking forward to attending their formal and sending them off at their graduation.

This will be my final newsletter item for this year. I wish you all a wonderful holiday and a joyous and festive Christmas.

Terri Weatherley
Head of Department – English

Computing News

Year 12 ITN

Year 12 students have been working on a multimodal electronic yearbook about the graduating class of 2016. The DVD contains: the names and photos of all graduating students and current staff of 2016; a farewell-message video from staff to play at the graduation ceremony; and a slideshow of photos from school events to play at the formal. Special thanks for everyone in the Year 12 ITN class for all their hard work as well as Mr Dawson for being so supportive throughout last 2 years. Roles filled to create the yearbook were:

User Interface Team – Mathew Bowyer
Slideshow Team – Reggie Lepuz
Audio Remix Team – Brittney Maguire
Profiles Team – Hannah Smith, Ebony Hick, Shayden Grindlay, Chelsea Rinon, Odin Wiringi, Dylan Manuel
Video Team – Hamish Woodham, Payton Buffington.

Year 10 & 11 Certificate II in Information, Digital Media and Technology

Year 10 and 11 Game Design is designed to enable students to gain knowledge and skill in:

• Interface design techniques
• Animation and collision detection
• Different game genres and game development theory

Year 9 Information Communication Technology

Year 9 Web Design is designed to enable student to gain knowledge and skills in:

• Creating a front/home page for the website
• Inserting a Banner, Buttons email links, hyperlinks and Navigation Bars.

Year 7 & 8 Information Communication Technology

Year 7 & 8 Computer Programming – play with Kodu and having some fun getting the games to run like they were intended.

Special Education Program News

Term 4, the year has flown by! Soon we will say goodbye to our group of Year 12 students and we wish them all the best in their future endeavours. Thank you to the staff, families and others who have supported these students throughout their schooling. The hard work has paid off and everyone is excited about graduation.

The Post School Options Expo was held at the Mayfair Tavern during October. The Expo is for anyone with a disability who is interested in exploring options after school. This was a valuable experience for our Year 12 students and showcased many opportunities in the areas of employment and further education.

A grant from Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has been received. The grant is to the value of $2500 to support an aquaponics program in collaboration with the Science department. Our gardening projects are continuing. Old garden beds have been repurposed and set up around the SEP building. We are looking forward to filling these with plants. Thank you to our groundsmen who assisted with this project.

Our entries in the Emerald Show earlier this year successfully collected some prize money. These winning have been used to set up another shade sail over the lunch tables in the SEP area. They are a welcomed addition with the weather becoming warmer.

Sarah Somerville

Health & Physical Education News

In HPE this term, our junior school students are participating in a range of sports. The year 7 students are enjoying playing basketball and netball; the year 8 students are participating in net based games (volleyball) and the year 9 students are playing touch football. Our year 10 students are developing their skills in speedminton, and the year 11 and 12 students are enjoying learning about and playing the sport of golf and lifesaving.

During this term for the theoretical component the students in junior secondary are learning about physical activity and family relationships (year 7), student welfare (year 8), and sports cultural diversity (year 9). The senior students are learning about biomechanics and physical performance across years 10-12. As term four is drawing to a close for a lot of our students, over the coming weeks the assessment schedule can become overwhelming. One of the best ways to reduce stress levels is to maintain a healthy active lifestyle. Thirty minutes of exercise alongside a nutritious meal can do wonders to clear the mind and maintain focus.

Samantha Hokins

Humanities News

It’s a busy end to the year with the junior years of 7, 8 and 9 all completing their last assessment items for Geography. Year 7s are designing their own cities while year 8s are surveying their families and researching Australian statistics on migration to Australia, Queensland and the Central Highlands. Year 9s are also surveying and researching statistics on tourism and the movement of people and ideas in Australia and the wider world.

Year 10 Geography is exploring both national and international natural disasters while the year 10 History classes are exploring the medieval world and the truth behind Custer’s death during the Indian Wars in America. The year 10s have also just been told about an exciting history excursion in September 2018 to Europe; although a history trip, it will be open to all students from years 10-12 in 2018. The excursion will be visiting Germany, Italy and Greece over 3 weeks at the end of Term 3 in 2018, in order to provide students with an amazing opportunity to experience firsthand some of the most important historical sites in both modern and ancient history. The goal of the study tour is to bring alive what they have read in textbooks and seen on screens during their time at Emerald High School. Letters regarding the trip with the full itinerary and breakdown of costs will be made available first week back in 2017.

The senior years are wrapping up their final assessment items, for many for the last time as students of Emerald SHS. Senior geography are exploring the issue of migration and the creation of shanty towns in developing nations while senior students of legal studies have been given the opportunity to choose an Australia legal case in order to explore the legal processes in our nation. Finally, in modern history students are comparing the facts and myths surrounding the Islamic faith in order to assess recent events in history and ancient history students are studying the burial practices of Ancient Egypt.

Leanne Ross

School-Based Apprenticeship & Traineeship News

Emerald State High School would like to congratulate the following students signing into a School Based Apprenticeship with the following local businesses.

Chloe Wolff, Emerald Agriculture College & Dane Hughes, CTC Electrical

Congratulation to Emma Kirby and Angel Bartido who have both completed Certificate III Traineeships this year, we wish them well in the future.

Emerald State High School annual Awards Night presented the following awards to the following Trainees/Apprentices:

MRAEL Vocational Education Award Wayne Hawke, Milne Bros Emerald
MEGT School-based Apprentice Award Kalli-Rose Nicholls, WOW Cuts & Colours
Busy @ Work Trainee Award Emma Kirby, Emerald Community Kindy
Kestrel School-based Trainee Award Angel Bartido, KFC Emerald

I wish all students a safe and happy holidays with a special mention to the current year 12s with only a few weeks to go until till they graduate. Congratulations and best wishes for the future.

Alarna Wills
Work Placement Co-ordinator

Library News

As we near the end of the school year students need to ensure that all library items are returned once they are finished using them. Deadlines for returning items are:

Year 12 – November 11
Years 10 & 11 – November 18
Years 7-9 – December 2

Positive Behaviour for Learning News

At Emerald State High School, we are Polite, we are Prepared and we Participate.

The Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) team would like to thank the ESHS community for their support regarding the process of behaviour management within our school. We would like to take this time and opportunity to clarify the process as stated in our Responsible Behaviour Plan.

Rewarding Positive Behaviour

There are many ways students can be rewarded for following the ESHS 3Ps and making good choices whilst at school and participating in extra-curricular events.

• VIVOs – The VIVO Rewards Scheme has been proving popular with a large number of our students. Students are able to purchase a number of different prizes/rewards ranging from key chains, handballs to more extravagant prizes like iPads, even to school specific vouchers (tuckshop vouchers, money off formal tickets and senior jerseys). Staff members are able to reward students when they see those making great choices around our school. If your child is unsure of their username or password, I would urge you to encourage them to see their PC teacher.
• Student of the Week – Students are nominated by ESHS staff when they see students who comply with the 3Ps consistently. From those nominations, a student is selected from each year level as Student of the Week. These awards are recognised on Full School Assembly every week. Each recipient receives a “jump to the front of the queue” voucher to the school’s tuckshop for that week, and goes in the draw to win a weekly prize – a $5 Tuckshop voucher. Each SOTW winner receives a bonus 100 VIVOs.
• Emerald SHS Positive Postcards – Staff members can complete a Positive Postcard to be delivered by mail to the student’s address to acknowledge their positive contributions to the life of the school.
• Other – Teachers and support staff may wish to communicate with parents by other modes, for example a positive phone call or positive email.

Consequences for inappropriate behaviours

Within classes and extra-curricular activities, students are expected to follow the 3Ps. When students do not follow the 3Ps there will be a consequence for their behaviour.

• A student may be given a formal warning, informing them of the inappropriate behaviour that they are demonstrating. If the behaviour persists, student may be asked to move.
• If the inappropriate behaviour/s continues, students may be required to go to a Buddy Class to complete a FORM 1 (a self-reflective tool, where students identify the inappropriate behaviours, which rule they have broken and how they could have handled the situation differently). Students need to attend a detention to make up the class time they have missed and to discuss the responses they have written.
• If a student does not attend the detention, they will be referred to the Thinking About being Polite, Prepared and Participating Room (TAPPP Room) where the student will complete a FORM 2 with two members from Administration (a Deputy Principal as well as a Head of Department).
• If a student continues to display inappropriate behaviours, or have numerous referrals to TAPPP Room, they will then be managed by a Deputy Principal.

Once again, we thank you for your continued support in ensuring ESHS is a wonderful place to learn.

Movie Premieres

Dam Safety

Tips for staying safe at dams, weirs and channels

• Look for hidden dangers – Check for submerged stumps, rocks or weeds before entering water
• Keep a safe distance – stay at least 200 metres away from dam and weir walls
• Read the signs – they contain important information about hazards and restricted areas
• Remain aware – stay alert to potential dangers and keep a close eye on friends and family

Our Rainbow House Fundraisers

Emerald State High School supports Our Rainbow House through our Student Representative Council. The Peruvian Party fundraiser has been postponed until next year.

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

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.

Christmas

University Accommodation