31 March 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report.

Dear Friends of Emerald High,

End of term has arrived and we have finished on a high with an amazing swimming carnival with some sensational competition and great participation from all. My very sincere thanks to Maggie Pembroke and her team for running such a super day.

Reports for Term 1 are complete and will be emailed out shortly. Please note that they are interim reports and provide an indication of progress to date based on assessment and teacher observations. Reports also include information regarding parent-teacher interviews - it would be sensational to see as many parents as possible at the interviews, to reflect on how students are progressing and to work with us to support our young people in their studies.

Our Year 10s completed their Work Experience last week and I would like to congratulate them on the many positive reports we received about their conduct and work ethic from many employers. Well done Year 10s!

Last week I reported that 2020 Year 12 student, Bridget Mackay had won a writing award. I now have some more information and can advise that she is the Queensland and Northern Territory winner of the 2021 National Novella Writing Competition which puts her in the top 4 students in all of Australia! An amazing effort!

School Captain, Madi Iles, recently participated in the Regional Finals of the Lions Youth of the Year and was very competitive amongst some very talented speakers. Great work Madi!

Over the past few weeks we have had a number of students attend the 'Wonder of Science" program at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, sponsored by BMA's Bright Minds program. This was an amazing opportunity for our students and my sincere thanks go to BMA for their support and to Mrs Wyatt for leading the excursion.

Our senior Geography students also had an amazing opportunity attending a camp on North Keppel Island to experience practical geography in the field. Thank you Mrs Van Hees and Mr Praed for leading the opportunity.

On assembly this week I talked with the students about the value of perseverance - working tirelessly to overcome adversity and find ways to solve problems in school, work and in life in general. It is often those young people who persevere and continue trying, despite adversity, who succeed and reap the rewards.

It has been a big and tiring term for students, staff and parents alike. I would again like to thank everyone for your contribution in making our school the special place that it is. Have a fantastic Easter break and I hope that the Easter Bunny is very generous indeed with all of us this year - we all deserve it.

"Friends are those rare people who ask us how we are and then wait to hear the answer."

Ed Cunningham

Have a fantastic fortnight

Mr. Sean Maher
Principal

From the Deputy Principal – Middle School.

Student Attendance

Please ensure if you collect your child/ren during school hours they sign out electronically and are issued a note. In the event of an emergency evacuation or lockdown everyone is accounted for.

Reporting Changes

The school has a responsibility to provide twice-yearly reporting to parents and carers to support student achievement. In reviewing our current practices, we have decided to change the timelines for reporting to ensure timeliness and accuracy of information. This change mainly affects our senior schooling students, as we align reporting to completion of units and our Year 7s and 8s, whose core subjects are only reported on in interim reports. The following is a summary of the what is reported and when for each year level.

Students in Years 7 and 8 will receive:

Students in Years 9 and 10 will receive:

Students in Year 11 will receive:

Students in Year 12 will receive:

If you have any questions regarding this please contact the relevant DP.

Year 10 Work Experience

Monday 22 March – 26 March: 148 students have been able to experience working in the “real” world. Our school is very thankful for the support offered to our students for this invaluable experience. The log book that they have to complete whilst on work experience is part of their assessment in the subject: Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways.

Accessing School Student Portal At Home

1. Go to ESHS website www.emeraldshs.eq.edu.au
2. On the home page of website drop down to where it has the Student Portal and click on this.

1. Once they click on this, they will be prompted to enter their username and password (the same that is used at school)

Students can then access:

• Student notices
• Student curriculum
• Quick links to
  - OneSchool (timetable and assessment plan)
  - Webmail
  - The Learning Place
  - Wellbeing and Support
  - Cybersafety
  - QCE (for seniors)

NAPLAN

Students in Years 7 and 9 at Emerald State High School will sit paper NAPLAN tests in Term 2, from 11 to 13 May.

Student Participation:

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to sit the NAPLAN tests.

However, there are some instances where students may be exempted from one or more of the NAPLAN tests or marked absent (for the purpose of the tests) or withdrawn from the tests. The National protocols for test administration provide the framework for understanding student participation.

Exemptions:

Exemptions may be granted for students with a language background other than English or for students with a disability. In both cases, schools need to discuss the proposed exemption with the student's parent/carer and gain their permission prior to testing.

English language proficiency: Students with a language background other than English who arrived from overseas and have been attending school for less than a year before the test may be exempted. However, these students are not automatically exempt and should be given the opportunity to participate in testing. Principals can expect information from test administration authorities on the preferred method for collecting and recording this information. Students may be exempt from one test (e.g. reading) but still be able to participate in another test (e.g. numeracy).

Students with disability: Adjustments are provided to students with disability to support access to the tests and encourage maximum participation. Students with significant intellectual disability and/or those with significant co-existing conditions which severely limit their capacity to participate in the tests may be exempted from sitting the national tests. This is determined after consultation has occurred between the principal and the relevant parent/carer, and if it is decided the student is not able to access the tests with adjustments. For more information on the types of adjustments available, see the section on Adjustments for students with disability.

Withdrawals:

NAPLAN tests are a routine part of the school calendar. However, students may be withdrawn from the testing program by their parent/carer if there are religious beliefs or philosophical objections to testing. This is a matter for consideration by individual parents/carers in consultation with their child’s school. A formal application in the manner specified by the relevant test administration authority (TAA) must be received by the principal prior to testing.

Absences:

Students are considered absent for test purposes in the following instances:

• They did not sit the tests because they were not present at school when the test was administered.
• They were unable to sit the test as a result of an accident or mishap.
• They were at school but were too ill to participate.

Students are encouraged to enable to participate in the tests if they were absent on the day of the test but who return to school within the week scheduled for NAPLAN testing.

Regards
Mrs. Gaye Saunders
Deputy Principal – Middle School

From the Head of Year 9.

Dear Parents/ Carers,

It has been a fantastic term and a great start to the year. It has been great to see the junior leaders getting involved with school and extra-curricular activities. The junior leaders have facilitated a number of events including Clean-up Australia Day and Bullying No-Way Day. In addition to this, the junior leaders have assisted Mr Cox with the junior school Dodgeball competition.

Term 2 will be another busy and productive term. Report cards will be emailed home later this week. Please take the time to discuss your child’s results with them and reflect on their progress this term. Please use this feedback as feed-forward and discuss areas your child can improve in. At this stage parent teacher interviews are currently scheduled for Term 2. Please use this opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with their teachers. A reminder too, that Homework Club runs every Monday and Wednesday in the library from 3-4pm. Please encourage your child to use this time to consolidate their knowledge and understanding in order to support their learning outcomes.

A reminder that the PBL focus for Weeks 9 and 10 has focused on supporting the P&C. Please consider joining the P&C, or taking a role on the executive, to support the wonderful work the P&C do for our school and within the community.

As we go in to the term break, I hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable break and please ensure you stay safe!

Regards
Mr. Peter Sanson
HOY – 9

From the Science team.

Curriculum news

Students have had a busy Term 1, completing at least one summative assessment item this term. For most cases, the results from this summative assessment item will reflect in their interim reports. I thought I would give a quick heads up for Term 2.

The table below contains the list of the type of assessments instruments students will be doing in Term 2 in Years 7-12 Sciences.

World Science Festival Brisbane (WSFB)

Week 9 saw eight Year 10 students travel to Brisbane to participate in the World Science Festival Brisbane. Over the three days at the festival students participated in interactive activities where they modelled tectonic plates, designed their own circuits in the Queensland Museum’s SparkLab and watched baby turtles hatching. The students also had the privilege of hearing from leading scientists (including a Nobel Prize Laureate) in the fields on Biology, Chemistry and Physics about the origins of the Universe, how life has change over millions of years and how Chemistry is part of our everyday lives. It was a fantastic experience for the students who are excited to continue developing their knowledge and skills in STEM over the course of the year. A big thankyou to BHP and the Queensland Museum for making this event possible!

Wishing everyone a well-deserved, relaxing and restful Easter holidays!

Regards
Mr. Aneel Dewan
Head of Department

From the English team.

Nearing the end of Term 1, students are busy finalising assessments and beginning their new units for English.

Year 7 English students have just completed their persuasive speeches – with some very convincing arguments. Year 7 English teachers have listened to fantastic presentations detailing how homework is a health hazard, how the country is far better than the city and how social media is addictive. Students are now engaging in their new unit on myths and legends.

Year 8 English students have also submitted their analytical essays on the film, ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. Students analysed the themes of hope and survival or grief and loss by discussing the film techniques used throughout the film to influence the audience. Starting in Week 9, students are exploring their new unit on figurative language in poetry and music.

Year 10 English students have finished their presentations on bias in the media using the documentary, ‘The Social Dilemma’. Upon their return from work experience, Year 10s will begin investigating their new unit on the depiction of Australia’s involvement in war, using the films ‘Gallipoli’ and ‘The Water Diviner’ as well as some Australian war poetry.

In Year 11 Essential English, students are presenting their career pitches for IA1. This unit has a focus on skills for work, and has enabled students to explore potential career pathways.

Regards

Miss. Kayla Franklin

Teacher

From the Hospitality & VET team.

Our VET department has had a very busy Week 9, as we were able to have most of our Year 10 students out in the community on their Work Experience week. This was our largest cohort to date to be placed in the community. We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community and we are very impressed with our Year 10 students. They were fantastic ambassadors for Emerald State High School!

Our Hospitality students in Year 12 have been busy making coffees and perfecting our barista skills. In the coming term our hospitality students will hopefully be running their coffee shop on a consistent basis and will have a few events showcasing their customer service skills as well as their sustainable hospitality practices.

Regards
Miss. Katelyn Aubry
Teacher

From the Positive Behaviour for Learning Team

At Emerald State High School we are:

• Polite,
• Prepared, and we
• Participate.

Please see the attached power point of the lesson taught on parade and throughout Weeks 9 and 10 of this term.

Behaviour Focus

Our current behaviour focus is “Be an active and positive member of the local community.”

Student of the Week

Week 9

Lincon Renwick 7E For being an enthusiastic student who is always eager to learn.

Sebastian Blackley 8A For excelling in Maths! Working independently and demonstrating the 3P's.

Tim Cunningham 9E For always demonstrating maturity beyond his years.

Summerlynn Clark 10F For showing a positive attitude in her classes and participating to the best of her ability.

Jackson Kelly 11A For always being polite and taking a genuine interest when speaking with adults in the school.

Zara Smith 12B For being kind and inclusive to all of her peers.

Community Notices

2021 Next Step survey

The Queensland Government is conducting its annual statewide survey of all students who completed Year 12 in 2020. The Next Step survey is a brief, confidential survey that gains a comprehensive picture of the employment, study and life choices made by Queensland school completers in the year after they finish Year 12.

Between April and June, all our students who completed Year 12 last year can expect to receive instructions to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office. Please encourage them to take part. If their contact details have changed, please assist the interviewer with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate.

Thank you for your support of the Next Step survey in 2021.

Further information on Next Step, including results from previous years, is available online at www.qld.gov.au/nextstep or on toll free telephone 1800 068 587.