22 November 2017
Newsletter Articles
From the Principal
Welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter edition. As we move towards the end of the year I wish to tell you about how amazing the Year 12s formal function and graduation were as well as their results. Firstly, their results: 100% of Year 12 s including the Agricultural College Students achieved a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). That’s three years in a row where every full-time student graduates with a QCE. Also, 50% of our Year 12 OP students achieved either an A or a B in their core skills test for the first time ever. This was a 4-year goal which we achieved in our second year of our school plan. Well done to the Deputies, the staff and the year 12s!
Well, if you attended the Year 12 Formal you would have been really impressed like I was. It was a wonderful occasion and run so well by the staff and year 11s. Our year 12 s were outstanding! Great speeches and great atmosphere. Our graduation also saw many parents and community turn up. We had to bring extra chairs form the school. It was huge! Again the band was outstanding as was the whole ceremony. Mrs Firth gave the best speech I have ever heard on behalf of the parents. That one was a keeper!
Folks I wish to take out time to thank Mr Ryan and Mr Shannon. Life as a secondary deputy principal is a tough gig! They start early in the morning and organise the teachers for supervisions for teachers sick or away. They organise school operations events on a daily basis. They hand out penalties and feedback on a daily basis to students and sometimes staff. They take criticism for that thankless job and for not much more pay than a Head of Department. They work long hours and are always there for an emergency. They are the heart and soul of the school. If you have weak deputies you can often have a weak school, alternatively, if you have strong deputies, your school can be strong. I wish to congratulate Mr Ryan who will be taking over as principal at Miriamvale State School, and Mr Shannon who will become substantive deputy principal at Urangan State High School. Both deserve these promotions as they have worked very hard at providing all students with a good education. They have committed much to the ESHS improvement agenda. On behalf of the Emerald School Community I wish them well in 2018 and beyond.
Special Mentions
- A gigantic thankyou to Mrs Shaw who came in from sick leave to help our Year 12s achieve their good results.
- Thank you to Mrs Hume and Mrs Van Hees and the Home Economics ladies for leading the seniors’ events last week.
- Thank you to the many staff who assisted with formal and graduation, they were large community events
- Thank you to the year 11 students who assisted last week
- Congratulations to the Class of 2017, you achieved very well and are great group of young men and women.
Road safety
A concerned parent called this morning after dropping her children off at school at Fraser Street. As she was then driving down Old Airport Drive, another car stopped in the middle of the road and dropped his/her son off. The car did not pull over to drop the boy off. The boy (described as a tall, skinny boy with red hair), ran across the road and this other parent is pretty sure she has touched him with her car as she had to hit the brakes. The boy then kept going into school. When mum called, she was still very shaken and said the boy must have been too. She wants to see if we can get the message to parents and students about basic road safety as she has seen this happen before (where parents don’t pull off the road to drop their children off). Please think it through … the consequences of unsafe driving and stopping in the middle of the road can lead to life changing circumstances.
“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire—then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems. You will live longer”. – Sigmund Wollman, quoted by Robert Fulghum, Uh-Oh, 1991
Have a safe weekend,
Ray
Ray Clarke
Principal
From the Head of Department – Arts & Indigenous Education
Wow! Term four, week eight – already? The year has flown, and we are so very appreciative to all who have gone above and beyond to make it so successful.
Arts
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Arts staff – Ms Royal, Mrs Blignaut, Mrs Jones, Ms Prior, and Ms Fehlhaber – you have all committed so much time and effort into creating positive opportunities for our students both curriculum and extra-curricular related; thank you. To our Year 12 graduates – you made it! You have all worked so tirelessly to produce your final products and we are so very proud of you and all that you have achieved. We wish you all the very best for your next journey.
Indigenous Education
We congratulate Daniel Adams, Layne Poke, Michala Huet and Tyreek Tatow on successfully obtaining a QATSIF grant that will financially assist them with their senior studies. To be eligible, they were required to have attended at least 85% of the time and were passing all of their subjects. Well done students.
We have lots in store for 2018, so make sure that you are keeping up to date with Facebook and our newsletters to ensure that you are getting involved with the wonderful opportunities that our school provides. We wish you a very safe, happy and festive season ahead.
Rachelle Wilcox
Head of Department – Arts & Indigenous Education
From the Head of Year – Year 9
What an exciting and jam-packed year the Year 9s have had. Students will be approaching the finality of their assessment, which must be a wonderful feeling. Please talk to your child to ensure that they have completed all course requirements and if there are any questions and/or concerns to contact their subject teacher.
Even though assessment is coming to an end, a quick reminder that all students must comply with the behavioural expectations of our school. If you would like to revise the expectations which are endorsed by our P&C, they are published on our website and printed in the student diaries for ease of access.
Uniform Policy – Students are expected to be wearing their school shirts and shorts, which can be purchased from the tuckshop. If your child is not wearing the correct uniform, they must have a signed note from their parent and/or guardian for that day and report to Uniform Room. If they do not have a signed note, they are required to meet with the deputy for further discussion.
Absentee Policy – If your child is going to have a planned absence, it is expected that they will discuss it with their subject teachers. If the absence is unexpected, contact with the school is required by either phone call, return text or email. Another option is to bring a signed note from parent or guardian on the day that they return to school.
Junior School Leaders – Our Junior Leaders have had a massive year of volunteering, organising and helping out. They have been responsible for lots of different ventures around the school and have done so with big smiles and generous hearts. They have committed much of their own time to such events and I am very proud of how they have approached their duties. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this wonderful group of students who are excellent role models.
If clarity is needed on any of the above policies, please do not hesitate to contact the school or myself to discuss further. I hope that everyone has a safe, enjoyable and restful holiday spent with family and loved ones.
Claire Prior
Head of Year 9
English News
Heads full of kelp or matted locks of snakes, everybody- even monsters – need a little attention once in a while! Gods, Goddesses and Greek mythology have been key areas of study in year 7 English as students discovered Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief. Students have followed Percy’s journey as a hero to prevent a war between the gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Students channelled their inner Percy Jackson as they explored Greek mythology with a 21st century twist during their novel study and monologues.
Surf, sand, Sarge and sewage have been cool topics explored by the students in year 8 during their study of Lochie Leonard. The popular teenage book written by Tim Winton has been a source of classroom giggle and chatter as students follow the exciting adventures of Lochie, as he attempts to come to terms with his teenage emotions and the feeling of falling in love at twelve-and-three-quarter-years-old.
Year 9 have explored dystopian and utopian ideals through their study of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Students have enjoyed the popular novel and the way it highlights power and resistance. It has been great to refer to the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault in class “where there is power there is resistance”. Students have analysed the notion of resistance becoming a form of agency against those in power and ultimately allowing good to prevail. This is highlighted in the climactic event at the end of The Hunger Games, but I will not spoil that for you.
Classic English literature, namely the work of William Shakespeare has been the focus for year 10 and 11 English. Students in year 10 have toiled with the timeless classic Romeo and Juliet. Exploring the emotions, enthusiasm and epiphanies of Shakespeare’s work captured in the following quote from the play,
"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1.5
Students in year 11 have explored the physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who above all desire power in Macbeth. This tragedy by Shakespeare is a classic piece of literature that captivates students from the opening act of thunder, lightning and the three witches. “Where shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly 's done, when the battle 's lost and won” ― William Shakespeare, Macbeth
The year 11 English Communication students have created their own Australian board game and then sought funding for its production in a Shark Tank scenario with the English teachers.
Finally, year 12 students focused on reflecting on the ways texts position viewers. Students viewed a number of modern documentaries that encouraged them to reflect on their own ideals and the way the documentaries influenced those ideals. Meanwhile year 12 English Communication students reflected on their personality traits and ways that they could represent them.
Indeed, it has been a fun filled fantastic festival of literature this term in the English department. With the year almost at an end, it is great to reflect on student success and the excellent effort of students and staff.
Learning Support News
Just a quick update from our department. Over the next few weeks we will be reviewing our students on Individual Curriculum Plans (ICPs) for 2018. We welcome contact from parents if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s progress or support needs.
Students in Year 7, 8 and 9 Extreme Literacy have now been working on the Corrective Reading Program for several terms. It has been exciting to see improvement in students’ phonetical awareness, their pre-reading strategies and their comprehension of texts. This program will continue into 2018.
We are very fortunate to have a dedicated team of teacher aides who are strongly committed to working with our students in classes. We take this opportunity to recognise and thank them for their hard work in supporting students in their learning and ensuring every student succeeds every day.
Regards,
Elyse Gilbert and Gabrielle Hunt
Learning Support Team
Library News
Textbooks
As students finish their school subjects, they are reminded that they need to return all school resources to the library. For students in Years 10 & 11, by November 23rd and for students in Years 7-9, by December 1st. This includes graphics calculators as well as textbooks, novels, graphic novels, magazines and other research texts.
New Books
Last week, Ken O’Dowd accompanied Everald Compton to donate 2 copies of his book Man on the Twenty Dollar Notes: Flynn of the Inland to our school library. Mr Compton gave students a summary of John Flynn’s life and achievements, which they found very interesting. Thank-you to both guests, I’m sure the books will be of interest to our students when studying Australian history.
The TUH ‘Big Thank You’ Giveaway
Just by saying a ‘Big Thank You’ to our teachers and librarians, you can help our school/early childhood centre win one of five $1000 prizes. Your child can also win one of 100 $50 gift vouchers just by entering. All they have to do is visit bigthankyou.com.au and say in 50 words or less how their teacher or librarian helps to inspire a love of reading (parents can help younger students with their entry). The ‘Big Thank You’ Giveaway is proudly sponsored by TUH, a health fund that was founded in Queensland 45 years ago to serve the education community. TUH is also the proud principal sponsor of the 2017 Premier’s Reading Challenge.
PBL News
At Emerald State High School, we are P olite, we are P repared and we P articipate.
As the year comes to an end, it’s truly wonderful to see all the achievements from our students and to celebrate such successes. We have also seen great progress in tackling different behaviours from our data team within the PBL committee. The committee has definitely found some momentum and is in a great position to see the end of 2017 and get prepared for 2018.
PBL focus for the Week:
Students have been exploring different expectations from our behavioural expectation matrix (which can be found in student diaries as well as on our website – Responsible Behaviour Plan), and explicitly teaching what that expectation looks like in different learning contexts, classrooms and situations.
The focus for this week is to, “Engage willingly and actively in independent and collaborative activities”. Students will be exploring what this means at Emerald State High School as well as examine the implications if this expectation is not followed.
VIVO Rewards
In order to receive rewards, students need to earn a certain number of points. Congratulations to those students who demonstrate our 3Ps, we hope you enjoy your rewards.
VIVO Product of the week – Pool Voucher
Beat the Heat with VIVOs.
There are a variety of great prizes in the VIVO shop. This week’s product of the week is a pool entry voucher with 400 VIVO points. This is a great way to stay cool over the summer months.
If you have any ideas or suggestions for prizes to add to our VIVO shop, we would love to hear them.
Student Council News
My name is Britney Smith and I am proud to stand here as the Student Representative Council’s President to report on our busy 2017 year with my vice president Abbi Ryan alongside me. As always, the council’s executive leaders including myself, Abbi, Secretary Dinah T, treasurer Heloise Fouche and publicity officers Hayley Pike and Alex Cavenagh were ably and enthusiastically supported by the school captains, senior leaders and some generous and reliable seniors who always helped, volunteered and cooked. As usual, our teachers extensively helped us and they were sweet-talked, nagged and pushed into participating in a variety of activities. We fulfilled our aims to be part of our school to represent Emerald State High School with pride, dignity and enthusiasm in our wider community. We were committed to help raise awareness of those who need a little help along the way. I’m not sure if you are aware but our student council has always funded students who require help financially by providing funds for uniforms and excursion fees with complete discretion and generosity. As always, the administration team were always there with wise words and patient understanding to some of our wider schemes. A massive thank-you to our BSM Helen Markey and our office staff: Karen Bowyer, Katelyn Carvosso, Naomie Lawler, Yvonne O’Neill and Gai Van Hees where their commitments were to mainly organise Mrs. Hume by arranging last minute floats, managing our transactions and making many phone call reminders to her. Thank-you Mr. Clarke and Mrs. Shaw for breakfasts and attention and lately we have had Mr. Shannon to add to our crew.
Through this challenging yet eventful year the SRC managed to successfully work together cohesively to run and take part in a range of different events and fundraisers. We represented the school at every opportunity presented. Overall Emerald State High has supported the Cancer Council, Our Rainbow House, Shave for a Cure, the Heart Foundation and supported genetic research for childhood diseases. Our first major event for the year was Valentine’s Day where we were lucky enough to be given an entertaining performance staring our captains Jacob and Alex. We also ran the Jeans for Genes Day fundraiser where students wore blue. Money was kindly donated for Shave for a Cure in support of Mrs. Weis who was brave enough to shave her hair off on parade for such a significant cause. The student council was also very privileged to welcome the Japanese students to our wonderful school by providing them with a gift and the experience of an Aussie barbeque upon arrival. We also have been involved in ANZAC Day, Clean-up Australia Day, organised the schools’ first Book Week enthusiastically attended by over 70 colourful characters from literature, we participated as one of the teams for Relay for Life lead by Mrs. Ross and held a barbeque at the colour run. Members of the SRC and school captains also had the privilege to represent the school at International Women’s Day and the 2017 Youth Summit.
The hard work and contribution of the junior leadership team must also be acknowledged as they assisted with setting and packing up multiple events, supported our Valentines Day’s fundraiser and helped cater for our visiting Japanese students. After working to raise money and approaching the P&C they were also able to improve our school’s drink taps and conducted enjoyable challenges at the end of each term. Last but by no means least the SRC have funded three bursaries worth $250 as well as gifts for students at Emerald State High School.
The SRC would generously like to contribute to the Neighbourhood Centre and Central Queensland Pet Rescue as well as kickstart 2018’s SRC by providing several thousand dollars.
On behalf of the executive committee I would like to express a heartfelt thank-you to Mrs. Hume for all of her time and dedication she put into the student council to ensure everything ran smoothly. I definitely don’t think we would have achieved as much as we did without all of her help and passion for the council. Finally I’d like to reiterate our appreciation for all the support we received and we thoroughly wish next year’s Student Council and leaders the best of luck for their busy yet exciting year ahead.
Britney-Jayne Smith
Student Representative Council President
Sports News
CH School Sport – The dates for CH School Sport are locked in for next year. They can be found on the schools webpage in the calendar for parent information.
Emerald SHS Swimming carnival will be held on Monday the 5th February 2018, it will be great to see all students down at the pool competing for their houses in the school’s first sports carnival for the year.
The school is still missing a number of Rugby jerseys from western 7s. If you have one of these can you please return it to the school office.
“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them” – Michael Jordan
Happy Volleydays.
Community Events
Scripture Union Wet n Wild water ski camp
What a way to kick off the new year in style! Water skiing, tubing, knee boarding and wakeboarding to your heat’s content! Meet new people and learn about Jesus in the process.
When: January 8-12, 2018
Where: Fairbairn Dam, with accommodation at
Emerald Christian College
What: a week to learn about Jesus, and to improve
or learn how to ski, wakeboard, tube, or kneeboard!
More info: See link below
Who: high school students who’ve finished grade
7-12 in 2017.
https://sucamps.org.au/camps/cq-wet-n-wild-camp-2018/