15 March 2017
Newsletter Articles
- From the Principal
- From the Deputy Principal – Middle School
- From the Head of Department – Technology
- From the Head of Department – Health & Physical Education and Languages Other Than English
- From the Head of Year – Year 9
- English News
- Home Economics News
- Learning Support News
- School Based Apprenticeships & Traineeships News
- From the Library
- Positive Behaviour for Learning News
- SRC News
- Payments News
- Sport Sign-ons
- Community Events
From the Principal
Welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter. I’d like to say a big thankyou to all the parents and students who turned up to “Meet the Teachers” evening last week. The tours and walk throughs appeared to be very popular. At this time of the year I generally advise parents that NAPLAN testing is on the horizon. The best thing you can do to assist your child preparing is to encourage them to read something they enjoy, for 30 minutes every night. Completing Maths homework is also crucial.
This year we continue to focus on positive behaviour for learning and emphasise our 5 core classroom teaching and learning practices. One of the 5 core practices is including literacy in each lesson. Last year we included vocabulary and word walls and this year we are adding paragraph writing to the literacy practice. This involves professional development for all staff to deliver the same literacy practice of how to write an effective paragraph. In turn that involves elements such as the paragraph structures as well as spelling, vocabulary and also complex and compound sentences. The end result, we believe, will a greater emphasis on both reading and writing especially within the junior school. This is a very worthwhile endeavour which, if completed consistently over a prolonged period, will surely improve our students’ results.
Coming Up:
- 16th-21st Exam Block for Year 11
- 17th-21st March: Exam Block for Year 12
- 20th – 24th March: Year 10 Work Experience
- 27th – 29th March: Year 7 Camp
- Friday 31st March: School cross country
- School Holidays: 1st April – 17th April
- Wednesday 3rd May: Year 12 Driver safety program
- Wednesday 3rd May: Parent-Teacher interviews
Special Mentions:
- All the student who gained honours to represent at CH and Capricornia levels in sport.
- Mrs Gibson for organizing the Year 7 camp.
- Mrs Wilcox and the musical team for their preparations so far … yes we have a musical this year near the end of term 2
- Mrs Hume and our students that represented our school at Clean Up Australia Day.
- Mr Currington for coordinating all the sports events this term – great job!
“Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” Vince Lombardi
Have a cool weekend,
Ray Clarke
Principal
From the Deputy Principal – Middle School
I thank all parents who attended the Meet and Greet on Tuesday. Staff enjoyed the opportunity to talk to parents and showcase the work that they students are doing and the fantastic opportunities that all students have at Emerald State High School.
Throughout this term we have been focusing as a school to be prepared to learn for every lesson. Our students have all demonstrated a greater understanding and an improved capacity to be prepared for the lesson by:
- Having their books and diary for every lesson
- Being on time for class
- Lining up in front read to learn
As a school we are still working on students getting a drink and filling water bottles during lunch time so that we do not waste vital learning time. As a whole, our student body has shown a significant improvement in being prepared to learn and will continue to progress throughout the year.
Our Year 9 Human Powered Vehicle students have been doing an amazing job fundraising for their two cars and the associated competitions. They have organised and run a sausage sizzle at Super Cheap Auto on a Saturday and are running multiple raffles in order to make this brand new exciting project a reality. Well done students and keep up the good work!
Next week we have sixty-one Year 10 students participating inn work experience. These students have been accepted for placements in a wide range of workplaces voluntarily. Work experience is only possible through the good will of these businesses, much hard work from our work experience coordinator Mrs Alana Wills and the fantastic reputation of our previous students. I know that these students will represent Emerald State High School with distinction and look forward to hearing of their experience.
This is a busy part of term with assessment due dates and exams all occurring by the end of next week. Students should all be busy revising and finalising assignments to the best of their ability to achieve results that they can be proud of and deserve. I encourage parents to talk to their students about upcoming assessment and get them to explain to you what they need to complete and know to be successful. All of this work will be reported on by week 10 with report cards that will be emailed on the Thursday.
Thanks one and all for the busy, productive and enjoyable first term
Brendan Shannon
Deputy Principal – Middle School
From the Head of Department – Technology
Human Powered Vehicle
The Industrial Technology & Design team are embarking on a new and exciting challenge in the form of the Human Powered Vehicle competition. The regulations for this event require the students to research, design, develop, produce, and test/participate in the Technology Challenge, twenty-four-hour race in Maryborough. They are also required to give a presentation on the entire process, from design to race. The twenty-four-hour challenge is held on the weekend of 8th, 9th and 10th of September 2017. A closed-street circuit in Maryborough's CBD, centred around the pit straight on Kent Street Maryborough, is used for the event. We have an enthusiastic class of Year 9 Students who are busy researching & designing the ultimate Human Powered Vehicle. To top this off our dedicated students have also started volunteering their time outside of class and school to raise the much needed funds to help support this project.
ICT
Gaming fever has taken over our Junior ICT subjects this term. Both our Year 7 & and Year 8 classes are taking quite different challenges of designing and developing games for various audiences. Our year 7 classes have been venturing into Kodu gaming which is a free Graphic Interface Coding System that allows the students to engage with coding on a simpler level without writing lines of code. These students have been successful in make a variety of game styles including capture the flag, racing and battle games.
Our year 8 students have been engaging with Gamemaker, another free game creation software that uses both graphic and physical coding to make various game styles. Our students are challenging themselves to make use of bother coding styles to create games such as mazes and platform games. They have also gone to the lengths of identifying intended audiences an ensuring their games meet the requirements of these audiences.
Harley Kowald-Dawson
Head of Department – Technology
From the Head of Department – Health & Physical Education and Languages Other Than English
Ichinoseki High School Student Visit
Emerald State High School had the privilege of hosting students from our sister school in Japan for a week at the end of February. The students stayed with host families during this time and experienced lots of different cultural activities. Some of the year 7 and 8 students had the privilege of listening to the Japanese students present about Japan, their school and snacks that they enjoy. The students all enjoyed the experience and had a fantastic time. In September holidays a small group of students will be going to Japan to visit Ichinoseki and tour Japan The students will later this year be doing fundraising to help cover the costs of the tour.
Health and Physical Education and Sport
The year 7, 8 and 9 students are all participating in ultimate frisbee every two weeks against each other. By the end of the term there will be an overall winner for each grade. It is encouraged that all student bring a hat and participate in all physical lessons.
Students who are attending Central Highlands Sport trials need to ensure that notes and payments are returned on time.
Intercultural Studies
The year 7 Intercultural studies students have this term been learning about Australia and its relations to Asia. They had the chance to cook this week and create an amazing chicken and noodle dish. After first semester, the students will swap between Japanese and Intercultural studies. The year 8 students have been learning about the culture of North-America.
Bek Comollatti
Head of Department – Health & Physical Education and Languages Other
Than English
From the Head of Year – Year 9
We are now on the home stretch for term 1, however, there is still quite a lot to fit into the next couple of weeks. I would also like to welcome everyone back to 2017 and also the new families who have joined our year 9 community. It has been great to touch base with many of you already to see how our students have been settling in. I thank you for this contact and insight.
PBL Focus
As has been mentioned already this year, our focus is being prepared. Thank you for your support in ensuring that your child is prepared for their learning. It is an expectation that they bring to every lesson their diary (which is used to record assessment, important events, reminders, homework etc.), a pencil case with all necessary requirements and a subject-specific notebook.
Assessment
As you would be aware, your child would be working on a range of assessment items. This may either be assignments (which they will need to work on at home), in class exams (which they can revise and review their work) or even performance based tasks (where they may need to practise or rehearse). It is very important that the students spend some time at home working on their assessment (which is on top of their homework).
If your child is experiencing difficulty accessing the assessment work or needs greater assistance, may I encourage Study Club, which is held in the Library every Monday and Wednesday. This is a great opportunity to pre-arrange a time with their subject teacher to meet them there.
Uniforms
The year 9s are looking great in their correct and appropriate uniforms. I would like to reiterate our uniform policy which is endorsed by our P&C. Students are expected to wear an ESHS shirt and shorts. If a child is unable to wear these particular items, our uniform policy states that they must bring a note explaining the reason with a parent/guardian signature. If a student does not have a letter from home, they will be required to have an interview with the Deputy Principal.
Attendance and Absences
A quick reminder that if your child is absent from school, parents/guardians are to contact the school via phone or text message, or they are to send a signed note to school with the student explaining their absence on return. All absences from school need to be explained, as every day counts and provides students with opportunities for learning. Research shows that higher student attendance is generally associated with higher student achievement.
Junior School Leaders
Our Junior Leaders have been representing our school in a range of events already this year. They have helped out with Welcome BBQ for the Japanese Students, Clean up Australia Day, and School Tours during our Meet and Greet. Our Junior Leaders have also begun our ‘Friendly Friday’ where they visit the year 7 and 8 PC classes to make themselves familiar and more approachable. This is proving to be a wonderful opportunity for the students to get to know these students and listen to their opinions. The Junior School Leaders meet on a weekly basis and are very excited about a number of events that will be happening throughout the year.
If there are any questions, concerns or queries of anything mentioned above, please do not hesitate to contact me either by email on cdpri0@eq.edu.au or on 4988 2222.
Claire Prior
Head of Year 9
English News
We are now only 2 weeks away from holidays and English students have been working extremely hard this term. Junior English have been working on building their narrative writing skills and have just completed their first assessment for this unit. Genres for narratives included Fantasy, Horror or Science Fiction. Senior English students have been working on newsletter articles, novel studies or teen health issues.
Next term Junior English students will be undertaking a persuasive writing unit, as well as preparing for NAPLAN. In week 5, years 7s and 9s will be completing the official NAPLAN test. All Junior English classes have been completing practice NAPLAN tests to help determine their current skill levels. The upcoming Junior English persuasive writing unit will see students writing persuasive texts, as well as presenting persuasive arguments in class. Senior English students next term will be undertaking either persuasive writing or letter writing skills.
Each week all English students continually develop and enhance their skills in reading, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. We are looking forward to another action packed term filled with engaging English activities!
Home Economics News
March 20th is World Home economics day. Home economics is alive and well at Emerald state high school and many students find it one of their most exciting subjects to attend in the week. We incorporate many subjects under our banner, including food studies, home economics, hospitality and early childhood studies. The central focus of home economics is the wellbeing of individuals and families in their everyday living. A unique strength of Home Economics is that it prepares students to respond to a range of real-life challenges. Here in the Home Economics Department we will be in full swing of assessment and reporting so we are choosing to delay our HOME ECONOMICS DAY CELEBRATIONS until week 10 of term. Watch this space for exciting cooking demonstrations, taste tests, tray handling races and a display of year 9 sewing skills. Parents and carers are welcome to attend too!
Our Hospitality classes have a number of functions coming up which we would love you to be a part of. If you are free on the following dates please email department HOD, Annette Carter for a reservation, on acart163@eq.edu.au.
- Thursday 16th March – salad bar, $10 pp
- Monday 20th March – two course lunch $15 pp
- Tuesday 21st March – salad bar, $10 pp
- Wednesday 22nd March – Trivia night fundraiser for the formal committee. See them for times and pricing. Finger food will be served and a mocktail on arrival. More for sale throughout the night
Many of our practical subjects have had their levy letters sent home recently or are just about to. Please check with your child to see if they have one hiding in their bag.
The year 11 and 12 Early Childhood students have done an outstanding job of representing the school in a positive and thoughtful manner while volunteering at the local community kindergartens. Each class has attended one of the kindies in town once a week where we have interacted with the children and engaged in professional conversations with the staff. A thoroughly enjoyable experience and one we hope to continue to offer in term 2.
Learning Support News
We would like to take this opportunity to introduce our department’s staff and talk a little about our roles within the school:
Teachers: Gabrielle Hunt –
Literacy, EALD students (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)
Sharon Cooper - Numeracy, ICP students
(Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)
Teacher aides: Natalie Barsby, Michelle Byrne,
Estelle Earl, Elizabeth Fisher, Delores Sheppard and Janene Vale
We are currently implementing some changes in our department in 2017 and are currently reviewing all of the learning support students to ensure that their individual needs are being met. To help us with this we welcome Angela Gilbert, Vivien Blignaut and Judy Masters who will be working with us in a range of different ways, particularly with data and our EALD students.
Over the next few weeks Sharon Cooper will be continuing to make contact, either by telephone or letter, to parents who have a child in Year 8, 9 or 10 and were previously on an Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP) in 2016. If you have already received a letter, please return it to the school office as soon as possible or contact the Learning Support Department. We are requiring approval to continue to provide support for learning and assessment in Maths and/or English for your child in 2017.
Data is continuing to be gathered on current Year 7 students to identify those who may need to access Learning Support for 2017. Letters will then be sent home to organise a meeting to discuss the individual learning needs of the student and the possibility of implementing an Individual Curriculum Plan at the recommended curriculum year level.
We are currently in the process of implementing The Corrective Reading Program into our Extreme Literacy classes (which run from years 7-9). This program has had much success in a number of schools within our area and we are excited to see the benefits this will have on our students.
We have also been working on improving our students’ writing skills and have been busily creating an intensive literacy support program, working specifically with year 7 and 9 students that are in the upper two bands of NAPLAN. This term the focus is on the narrative genre. Term 2 will have a persuasive writing focus. In semester 2 we will do this with our Year 8 cohort.
If you have any concerns about your child’s support needs please do not hesitate to contact us. We also encourage any students to come and speak with us. Our door is always open and we are more than happy to help with any of your curriculum and learning needs.
Gabrielle Hunt and Sharon Cooper
Teachers – Learning Support
School Based Apprenticeships & Traineeships News
During the summer holidays the following Emerald State High School students have signed in a School Based Apprenticeship/Traineeship. Congratulations to the following students.
Week 9 will see year 10 students entering the workplace to complete work experience as a part of the VWP Class. This gives students the opportunity to see what the industry of their chosen field is like to work in. This will assist with choosing the subjects they would like to study over years 11 and 12.
Emerald State High would like to thank the following businesses for their assistance with the work experience program for Term 1.
Alarna Wills
Work Placement/SATS Coordinator
From the Library
ICAS Tests
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 23th. 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 29th.
BILBY Awards
The BILBY (Book I Love BEST Yearly) Awards are open for nominations. At the link below, until March 31st 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. It is suggested that students read through the shortlist and then cast their vote for their favourite later in the year. Happy reading!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HBF7F83
Positive Behaviour for Learning News
At Emerald State High School, we are Polite, we are Prepared and we Participate.
It’s almost the end of term 1 and it is great to see so many students being rewarded for following the ESHS 3Ps and making good choices whilst at school and participating in extra-curricular events. Most recently, we recognised our Junior School Leaders who participated in showcasing our school to parents at the “Meet and Greet” evening. These students gave up their own time to show parents around the school and introduce them to teachers in a social and positive environment.
Each week we continue to celebrate students from each year level who exemplify the 3Ps. To maintain our positive environment students should consider how they want to feel each day they come to school and what they can do to ensure others feel that way too. By respecting each other, we can ensure a positive environment for student learning.
PBL Focus for the term – PREPARED
With exam block approaching for our senior students and assessment dates looming for our junior students, it is apt that we remind students of the importance of being prepared. Regular study for homework will help to reduce the stress students often feel at this time of the term. We expect that students will be prepared for their learning and submit both draft and final assignments in on the due date. Student diaries are a useful resource for students to organise and plan for upcoming assessment and exams. As parents and guardians you can support your child by monitoring due dates for assessment across student’ subject areas.
If your child has been ill s/he may be eligible for an extension of the assessment date. Students are required to collect extension forms from the office and parents or guardians must state the reason for the extension request and sign the form. Students submit extension requests BEFORE assessment is due to their teacher and HOD for approval.
‘Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” Alexander Graham Bell
Mia Gibson
PBL Team
SRC News
Through our Student Representative Council, our school community supports Our Rainbow House. Below is their latest newsletter, which includes images of the student that we support.
Payments News
The school office now has access to Centrepay online. If you are interested in having your school fees deducted directly from your Centrelink payments, collect a form from the office.
The tuckshop now has EFTPOS for the purchase of uniforms only.
Sport Sign-ons
Community Events