28 February 2018

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome to this week’s newsletter. Much has occurred in the last two weeks and fortunately we were able to open our hall (the under-covered area has been upgraded). We just completed our first whole school assembly for 2018. It was most relieving to do this as we had some clear messages that needed to be sent out to the student body. These messages centred around our 3Ps of being Polite, Prepared and Participating. With camps, teacher professional development, poor weather and construction there have been a few disruptions, however that is now in the past and another key message was about being on time to class and keeping the school clean. We are aiming for a strong finish to Term1, 2018 now that we are halfway through it

Assessment calendars for Years 7 – 12 have been distributed and are now individualised for each student thanks to Mrs Saunders. They are a great resource for parents to keep your child’s workload on track. Please contact the school if you haven’t received one from your child. They are also available via the QParents portal. If you have not registered – see below for details on how to do so.

Reminders:

• Student Leaders Investiture: 8.45 Tuesday 6th March

Special Mentions:

• Mrs Markey who has overseen the renovations of our new hall and done a wonderful job.
• Mr Masters and Mr Meeks for a fantastic job in cleaning and maintaining the school grounds after all the rain and the construction.
• Our P&C executive who have a great job with their “projects “over the past two years.
• All the volunteers who are now planning the 50th Jubilee celebrations for 2019.
• Mr Deffner who is our new sports coordinator and has been doing a wonderful job this year.

Please note a message for our Year 11 and 12 students

Some of our senior students are permitted to a late arrival and early departure from school during Periods 1 and 4 only, for specific subjects. This time is not to be used for non-purposeful activities such as visiting fast food outlets, shopping or visiting recreation facilities i.e the skate park. N.B. This arrangement is conditional and will be retracted in the instance that academic requirements for subject areas are not being fulfilled.

About QParents

What is QParents?

QParents is an online portal that is free for Queensland state schools to use, and allows parents at your school to:

• view attendance details, behaviour information, report cards, timetables, invoices and a history of payments;
• provide reasons for unexplained absences and to notify the school of future absences;
• view and pay school invoices online; and
• update student details including residential and postal address as well as medical conditions.

What are the benefits of joining QParents?

QParents provides a more convenient way for parents to interact with their school and will help streamline school administrative processes. It is hoped that QParents will encourageand support parents and care givers in the active role they play in their child’s learning journey. The key benefits of QParents include:

Greater transparency of information

• Improves accountability between parents, caregivers and schools by providing timely access to their child’s information online.
  Secure 24/7 access online.

Contemporary state-wide solution

• Anytime, anywhere accessibility — access QParents on your smart phone, tablet or computer. QParents is a scalable solution that has the potential to become a centralised information hub for parents and carers to help them manage their child’s educational journey and achievement.

Improved administration efficiencies for schoolz

• Allows schools the opportunity to streamline their administrative processes and cut down on information requests received from parents and care givers.
• Potentially reduces the need for printing and mail-outs of thousands of pieces of paper each year.

Convenience and time savings for parents

• Parents and caregivers can simply login to QParents anytime anywhere and view or request a change to their child’s details
• Parents and caregivers can download report cards, timetables and invoices instantaneously.
• Parents can pay invoices online at any time of day.

“Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have a cool weekend

Ray

Ray Clarke
Principal

From the Deputy Principal – Senior School

Term One to date has been extremely busy for our senior students with exam block fast approaching. All students will receive their individualised Exam Block timetable within the next week. Thank you to all students and guardians who have submitted the Senior Agreement Expectations that clearly define the roles and responsibilities of a Year 11 and Year 12 student.

Head of Year 11 Mr Adam Heath and Head of Year 12 Mr Callum Tyack have been tracking student attendance and meeting with selected students to identify and improve upon their attendance habits. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the general wellbeing, attendance or academic/QCE outcomes for your child in Year 11 or Year 12, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Deb Lawson
Deputy Principal – Senior School (Acting)

Year 9 News

A massive hello to all year 9 students and of course the whole community at Emerald State High School. For those who might not be aware, my name is Cheryl Bland and I am the Year 9 Manager having taken over the role from Mr Andrew Gardiner. My role as Year Manager is to monitor student attendance as well as monitoring student welfare. It is my aim and hope to see all Year 9 students, not only attend school daily but to use their words to promote kindness and to always believe in their capabilities.

This year will see our Junior School leaders undertake numerous leadership activities as a means of building their leadership skills. Our two Junior School Captains, Darci Ryan and Paxton Hayes, recently attended the GRIP leadership conference in Rockhampton Friday 16th February. This conference saw them engage in leadership building activities that included transforming their integrity and fostering school pride.

Each week students are reminded of our school’s expectations regarding positive behaviour for learning. In all student diaries the schools positive behaviour for learning matrix can be located on page 11 and it is beneficial for students to continually review these expectations.

Cheryl Bland
Head of Year 9

Year 11 News

We are well on the home stretch of Term 1, however there is still a lot to complete in the last half of this term. Earlier this term students received their senior agreement, which were mostly returned promptly, back to students’ PC teachers or myself. This agreement outlined the expectations of our senior students to ensure they have clear and reasonable guidelines to follow if they wish to attend extra-curricular activities.

Our behaviour focus this term has been students complying with school routine. Each week a brief lesson is taught to students about our school’s expectations. This is taught explicitly to ensure our rules are transparent and clearly displayed. When students display behaviour within the expectations, they can receive VIVO’s, positive postcards and positive parental contacts as some of our positive behaviour strategies. Students can use their VIVOs to buy various items including discounts on their senior jerseys.

ESHS aims to have students attending school 91 percent of the time. If students have been absent, it is an expectation that this is explained by a phone call or text message to the school. If these have not been explained a blue note will be sent home and parents/guardians are required to provide an explanation of why students have been absent. Thank you for your assistance with this, as it is very important that we monitor student attendance closely as research has shown higher attendance rates increase academic achievement.

Later this year students will have the opportunity to attend leadership camp, purchase senior jerseys and apply for leadership positions. If students want to be part of any of these opportunities they must be following the guidelines outlined on their senior agreement. As these draw closer students will receive further information.

Adam Heath
Head of Year 11

From the Head of Department – Vocational Education & Training

The beginning of 2018 has seen the VET department very busy and I am excited about the many opportunities our students experience through their certificate courses. Vocational Education and Training certificates are nationally recognised qualifications and here at Emerald State High School we offer a great selection of courses.

All students year 10, 11 and 12 must have a USI number provided to the school. A USI is effectively an account with the students being assigned a unique identifier that will track all of an individual’s VET training records that will stay with the student for life. Students should note that they will be unable to undertake a VET qualification without a USI, so it is critical that they register for one as a matter of urgency. Please remember that we cannot issue certificates and statements of attainment for students without USIs and that will impact on their QCE and student records if they transfer. If you have difficulties registering for a USI, please see Mrs Carter or Mrs Wills in the library staffroom.

Every year 10 student is enrolled in Certificate II Workplace Practices. The certificate was due to expire last year but was extended for 2018. This certificate prepares students for work and includes topics such as workplace health and safety, resume writing and business communication. It is a requirement of this certificate that students complete 80 hours of work experience. These hours may be logged using a part time job, traineeship or work experience during week 9 of terms 1, 2 and 3. Planning for this term’s round of work experience is well underway with many students now receiving final paperwork and looking forward to their placements during week 9. Please talk to your year 10 student about how they will complete their 80 hours of work placement so they have a plan to have it completed before the end of the year.

Once again we have an enthusiastic group of Year 11 and 12 students enrolled in several different certificates at CQ University Emerald through the Vet in Schools programme. These students attend the CQ University Emerald Campus one day per week. It is important that students are keeping up to date with any school subject work they miss while away.

Year 11 and 12 Early Childhood Studies students have had a wonderful start to the year! Our senior class have been enjoying visiting Emerald Community Kindergarten each Thursday. During this excursion the students have been very helpful to the kindergarten staff, playing with the children as well as assisting in settling children who are experiencing separation anxiety. The students have been given their assessment tasks and they will be investigating the physical spaces of the sandpit and nature walk area. Thank you to the students who have represented our school in such a positive manner. It has been a pleasure to take you into the community.

Levy letters are currently being issued across many VET subjects. Payment can be organised for these levies at the school office. Subject levies cover the extra consumables used in many practical subjects such as ingredients in Hospitality and Home Economics.

If you require any further information regarding what has been discussed, please do not hesitate to contact me through my email: acart163@eq.edu.au or phone 4988 2222.

Kind regards,

Annette Carter
Head of Department – Vocational, Education & Training (Acting)

From the Head of Department – Humanities & Honours

Humanities

This year in our junior school, students will do a rotation of History and Geography. Students will do each subject for a semester with dedicated History and Geography specialist teachers. Geography students are beginning their first lot of exams. The junior history classes are doing a variety of topics ranging from ancient through to modern history.

In the senior school, our year 10 Modern History students are in the process of designing our WWII exhibition items that can be viewed in our school library. These students will also be heading to Townsville in week 10 to visit a variety of WWII military sites and a quick stop over in Charters Towers to see the old bunkers. In 11/12 Geography, our students have just been to Brisbane to assess the health of Moreton Bay and have just begun collating the data that was collected whilst we were down there. This data will be used in their field reports, which are due in Week 10.

HONOURS

The honours program is travelling along very well this term and in exciting news our students from 2017 will shortly be published authors as their collection of short stories are being made into an anthology that will be available for purchase at $10 a copy. The editor was very impressed with the quality and creativity of our students. Well done to all those students who participated in last year’s Literary Festival.

We have many opportunities for our junior honours students this year and we will be running another literary festival in September. We are also looking to run a Forensics Day during the year as well as a way of extending our students in the Science field. In English our 7-9 honours students are also participating a variety of projects with their teachers so stay tuned for some exciting details later in the year.

A reminder to all our honours students and parents that participation in our extra programs such as Literary Festival, Forensics, ICAS tests and any other programs we are able to secure are compulsory and part of students’ commitment to being honours students. We expect our honours students to demonstrate high levels of participation and exemplary behaviour in all class and at all times.

If you have any queries or concerns regarding your child’s progress in the humanities or honours please feel free to call the school on 49882 222 or email kvanh4@eq.edu.au

Kerrie-Ann Van Hees
Head of Department – Humanities

Science News

In science over the last few weeks…

Before attending camp, year 7 students were examining the water cycle from a chemistry perspective. Students have learnt about pure and impure substances, methods to separate mixtures and why separation of mixtures/solutions is important to everyday life.

The year 10 physics students have been studying displacement, velocity and acceleration and then linking these concepts to the forces involved. This then lead onto examining Newtons laws of motion. Feel free to ask your child to describe the concept of inertia and how this relates to road safety!

The year 11 chemistry students are examining fundamental chemistry concepts including atomic orbital theory, metallic, ionic, covalent and polar covalent bonding, periodicity and the influence of isotopes on relative atomic mass. The next few weeks will be revision of these concepts in preparation for their upcoming exam.

The year 12 chemistry students are working on their assignments in organic chemistry; the analysis of a pharmaceutical drug. Students have gained the ability to conduct IUPAC naming on a variety of branched chain alkanes, some of which include multiple functional groups. This skill will assist the students in the naming of isomers of their chosen drug. Students have researched infra-red spectra of their chosen drug and a competing drug. The I.R. spectra are being analysed and subsequently linked to the structure of the organic molecule.

Maths News

Year 8 students did their exam on Friday last week. Please ask them how they went. The key to success was to complete the revision sheet. Year 9 students will complete their exam on Thursday this week. Again the revision sheet, which has already been given out, is key and should be completed before Thursday. Year 11 and 12 students will have exams within exam block over weeks 8 and 9 with revision sheets due out shortly. Year 12 exams count towards a student’s O.P. (overall position) and it is important for them to start strongly.

Relevant senior maths teachers have received a day of training at Rockhampton for the upcoming SATE (Senior Attendance and Tertiary Entrance) system due to commence in 2019. Additionally, teaching teams have been volunteered to organise and write assessment for new syllabi. There are significant changes and increases in difficulty to subject matter across all new syllabi.

More information can be found below

Special Education Program News

This year is off to a flying start. We have only just begun and yet Easter holidays are just around the corner. Our teachers and teacher aides would like to extend a special welcome to all of the new students and families who have joined us in 2018. Any new start can be daunting, and transitioning to secondary school or moving to a new town can be as scary as it is exciting. Luckily at Emerald State High School there are lots of people ready to help you out. Our teachers, aides, students and other families are happy to help you in any way we can.

Should your student need help of any kind during the day, they are able to approach their classroom teachers, their Year Level Manager, Deputy Principal or any teacher on playground duty. We also have “Support Works” where they can speak with the Guidance Officer, a School Nurse, our Community Education Counsellor or a Chaplain. In addition to all these, each student in the Special Education Program is assigned a Case Manager who is often the first point of contact for the student and the parents.

The Case Manager is the teacher who is most aware of your child’s particular needs and will look out for the student’s well-being at school. They will “check-in” with your student on a regular basis and often be a support teacher in your child’s class. The Case Manager can assist in the development of educational programs through consultation with the student, classroom teachers and parents. Your child’s Case Manager can gain information on student progress and ongoing issues/concerns and support their teachers to make reasonable adjustments for learning needs in the classroom.

As the year progresses, we hope to see you all here at the school at our various functions. Until then, should you have any questions or concerns, we are only a phone call away.

Deanne Lucht
Head of Special Education Services.

Guidance News

Student Representative Council News

Only 6 weeks in and the students of Emerald State High School have started off 2018 with a bang! Kick starting our events for the year was “Day for Dolly” fundraiser, held on Friday 9th February. Along with the dedicated students of ESHS, schools across the nation wore blue in support of bullying victim Amy “Dolly” Everett. Money was raised through gold coin donations from students, with all of the collected funds going towards the Dolly Dream Foundation to raise awareness of the impacts of bullying and cyber bullying.

February, also known as the month of love, heralded the much-loved and anticipated Valentine’s Day celebration, held on the 14th of February. Students and staff had the opportunity to purchase beautiful roses, chocolates and a song for their special someone. The day was a smashing success, from the triumph of selling all of our hand-wrapped gifts, to the enthusiastic senior leaders dressing up in red and white togas and serenading each lucky individual who received a loving gift from their valentine. Our leaders’ last act of Valentine’s Day celebration culminated in casting cupid’s arrows through a public serenade of those who received a song. Featured songs included “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran and a true valentine’s classic, “Can’t Take My Eyes off You” by Frankie Vallie.

Emerald State High School’s most recent event was the GRIP Leadership Conference held on the 16th February in Rockhampton. Our School Captains, Vice Captains, Junior Captains, SRC members and House Captains were accompanied by Mr. Sanson and Mrs. Sheppard on a bus trip to Rockhampton early Friday morning. How early you ask? 4:30am to be exact. And yes, there were numerous complaints from our weary students. However, through their 4:30am delirium, they successfully made it to the Rockhampton Leagues Club where the conference commenced at 8:30am. After a brief introduction, students were given two options for an in-depth session regarding leadership qualities and team-building skills. These sessions proved to be of immense benefit for the students as GRIP Leadership is an organisation that exists to specifically train and develop exceptional leaders. The conference was not only informative, but also highly interactive. Our students, along with dozens of other leaders from the numerous schools who joined the seminar, were involved in multiple activities whereby random items in the room had to be scavenged and judged to find a winner. The enthusiastic involvement from the wide range of leaders was greatly received by all. The day ended with a final summative speech from our seminar organizers and a short bus ride home to Emerald, where, of course, most students slept. Overall, our leaders were very pleased with the conference and left with a new sense of understanding and knowledge of what it means to be an exceptional leader.

“The conference held great educational value for our leadership team, I quite enjoyed it, and found the day very rewarding.” – Jasmine Walters, House Captain, Garnet.

“It had an inspirational concept and taught school leaders how to work as a team to build school pride”. – Taryn Spacie, House Captain, Sapphire.

“Although it was an early start, the day was fun and informative and as a school leader I gained many insights into how to transform my own leadership skills to benefit ESHS and help enact change.” – Jamie Whittington, School Vice Captain.

ESHS will continue their busy start to the year with Clean up Australia Day, Sunday 4th of March.

Peter Sanson,
Student Representative Council Co-ordinator

Library News

Library Lover’s Day

February 14th may be known to most as Valentine’s Day, but it’s also Library Lover’s Day! For the week of February 14, students were rewarded with bookmarks for borrowing from the library and VIVO points for sharing their favourite book on heart-shaped post-it notes.

Community Events

Emerald Photographic Club is celebrating its 35th Birthday in 2018. To help commemorate this event Emerald Photographic Club is hosting the Photographic Society of Queensland’s Annual Conference from 5th to 7th May 2018. ‘Gems of the Outback’ will be an exceptional event for photographers and creatives throughout the Highlands and beyond. We have in place an outstanding line up of national and international award-winning presenters, who will also conduct workshops and share their extensive knowledge.

STUDENTS CAN WIN A FREE CONFERENCE ENTRY VALUED AT $250

As part of the event, various partners have sponsored the youth of the Central Highlands and are offering high school students invitations to attend ‘Gems of the Outback’ PSQ Conference 2018. The ‘GOTO’ Youth Photography Competition will give entrants the chance to win one complimentary entry to the conference. This competition is for Central Highlands high school students only. Below are the entry requirements and an entry form for any student wishing to participate. This is an exciting opportunity for students to attend a world class event in our own region. For further information please contact emeraldpsq2018@gmail.com or phone 0499 779 946.

ARMY CADETS

14ACU BLACKWATER IS TAKING EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR NEW RECRUITS FOR 2018

Blackwater Army Cadet Unit located at Turpentine Street in Blackwater, is excited about new opportunities and initiatives being run by the Australian Army Cadets (AAC) available to students in years 8 to 12 in 2018.

The Australian Army Cadets (AAC) is a Commonwealth national strategic youth development program for adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 years. It is conducted in communities and schools across Australia by the Australian Army (with support from the Department of Defence) in partnership with these communities and schools. In Blackwater the Army Cadet Unit is community based and therefore attracts cadets from neighbouring towns providing opportunities for cadets from Blackwater State High School to meet cadets from other schools and broaden friendship networks across the region. The Blackwater Army Cadet Unit participates in regional School, public Blackwater and Bluff Anzac Day parades each year.

What do Army Cadets do?

As an Army Cadet your child will be offered challenging and inspiring experiences. They will learn valuable life and work skills. As a cadet they will experience some or all of the following:

• Have fun;
• Make new friends;
• Wear a uniform similar to that of the Australian Army;
• Be part of a team;
• Learn to take responsibility;
• Gain leadership skills;
• •Learn bush and camping skills like canoeing, communications, abseiling, field craft, orienteering and map reading;
• Undertake tough adventure training and participate in bush camps;
• Learn to safely use civilian firearms and Defence weapons (older cadets with rank)
• Participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme;
• Visit Army bases, do activities with Army personnel, and use Army equipment; and
• Attend annual camps and participate in challenging opportunities during the school holidays and on weekends.

What will this cost?

The Australian Defence Force provides uniforms, including boots and most equipment, and when you go on annual camp they provide the accommodation, food and travel. Each Army Cadet Unit has its own fee structure or charges for certain activities like bivouacs. Cadets are issued with some equipment including:

• Boots
• Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU)
• Basic bush camping gear

To join Army Cadets a youth must:

• Be a resident of Australia.
• Ages For Joining the AAC:- From 1st January 2018 - must be at least 13 years of age, and must be in Year Eight (8) of school (or a higher school year) or would normally be in Year Eight (8) of school (or a higher school year) if he / she attended school; and Not have reached the age of 17 years.
• Be physically and psychologically able to participate in cadets activities; Cadets learn from civilian Cadet Officers and Instructors who conduct senior instruction or directly instruct and supervise Cadets. Army Cadets is strongly supported by serving military personnel who work hand in hand with the organisation on cadet activities. In some cases, civilian volunteers with specialist skills help Cadet Officers and Instructors.

For information about joining the Blackwater Cadet Unit in 2018 please contact Mrs Downey at Blackwater State High School. Army Cadets are located at 3 Turpentine Street Blackwater and meet each Monday night from 4pm to 6.30pm.