8 December 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Friends of Emerald High,

Another amazing year has rolled to an end!

I have again been very impressed with our students this year - their work ethic, maturity, courtesy and support of one-another. I have very much enjoyed the numerous chats and discussions on a multitude of topics I have had during the year. They are a sensational group of young people with endless talents that they display in so many way - academically, culturally and on the sporting fields. I am very proud of them all.

I wish to thank our parents, carers and families for your support this year. Quality schooling is a complex and often emotive business and I have been impressed from my first day here with the high level of support and cooperation we receive from our families, whether things are going smoothly or when we hit some turbulence. We truly do get the best results when we all work together to support our young people on their journey. Thank you, parents, carers and families.

Of course, I would also like to thank our sensational staff. I have rarely come across a group as professional, caring and dedicated as the staff of Emerald High. There is a great sense of teamwork and a willingness to help one-another to achieve the common aim of supporting our young people to achieve their dreams and be the very best they can be. It is a joy to work with them.

Our P&C, very ably lead by Renee Firth, has also been outstanding this year. They are very active, collaborative and supportive and are making a real difference in our school every day. As you walk around the school, the products of their hard work and commitment are evident everywhere - from our world-class, award-winning tuckshop to our amazing gardens along with their support of many other projects around the school. They are an amazing team and I very much look forward to working with them in the future.

Now the sad news as I announce the names of the staff who will be leaving us this year and thank then sincerely for all that they have done in our school. They are:

• Kate Hume who is retiring after 23 years of service to our school
• Mary Dillon who is also retiring after 9 years' service
• Callum Tyack who is transferring to the Sunshine Coast
• Sam Hokins who is moving to Mackay
• Chloe Prior who is transferring to Brisbane
• Maggie Pembroke who is moving to Toowoomba
• Kathleen Wise who is transferring to Rockhampton
• Jemimah Johnson who is transferring to Maryborough
• Deb Cognet and Bridget Ryan who will be on leave next year

I thank then sincerely for all they have done - they are amazing people!

I am also pleased to announce that we are fully staffed for next year with 14 new teachers commencing with us (we need more as we are growing). We are ready for 2022!

We do indeed have a fantastic school, but the task of getting better never finishes.

Over the holidays we will see some work done to make our school an even better place to learn - more shade shelters will be constructed, classrooms painted and work will commence on the new bus interchange on Moody Street (see the diagram below).

A final reminder again that all students will be back at school on Monday 24 January.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a safe and relaxing break and look forward to seeing you all back in 2022 for what will be another super year!

Have a fantastic fortnight and a great break
Mr. Sean Maher
Principal

From the Deputy Principal – Middle School

PBL Focus

Our current focus is “Be an active and positive member of the local community”. Students and Staff have been donating goods for families in our community, which will be dispensed by the Neighbourhood Centre. Thank you to all of you who have donated a little something.

RIPPLE EFFECT Awards

This initiative of the Student Council has been well received and students can nominate their peers for following the 3Ps here at school. These are given out fortnightly by the student leaders on Year level assemblies.

End of Term Rewards

At the end of each term, students are rewarded for excellent behaviour, outstanding attendance both on their report cards, but also as part of our PBL initiatives.

Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 who have no misbehaviour in Term 4, will be invited to a celebratory event to be held on Wednesday 8 December, 2021. They will have the choice of either attending the pool or the movies from 12pm to 2:30pm. Permission notes must have been returned by the Tuesday 7 December in order to secure their spot. These notes were sent home with eligible students at the end of Week 9.

Students in Years 10 and 11 who had no misbehaviour received vouchers from Dominos Pizza Emerald. We were able to reward 172 students across the two year levels, thanks to the very generous donation from Dominos Pizza Emerald!

These can’t be used ONLINE, and you must present them in person at their store in Clermont St, Emerald.

Students in Years 7, 8 or 9 who have almost perfect attendance for the year were also be rewarded with a voucher on assembly on Tuesday of Week 10. Unfortunately, this year, no student has had 100% attendance.

Report Cards

Year 7, 8 and 9 report cards will be emailed to parents this week. If you have changed emails, please ensure that the office has this information.

Continuing Enrolment Packages

By now, all students who are currently enrolled should have returned their continuing enrolment package to the office. If you are leaving our school, please ensure that you have completed a “leaving clearance form” and submit this to the office.

Merry Christmas from both of us to you and your families.

Regards
Mrs. Gaye Saunders
Deputy Principal – Middle School

From the Head of Year 10

As 2021 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on what has been a very busy year for this cohort. Students have conducted themselves in an exemplary manner, both inside and outside of the school. It’s time to celebrate the success of the cohort as they transition into senior schooling.

This year has seen students strive to complete their Cert II in Skills for Work and participate in work experience with resounding success. It was great to hear glowing reviews from workplace facilitators about how our students engaged in this week off campus. This year has also seen Year 10 students have a taste of senior subjects in order to be able to select appropriate subjects for Year 11 in 2022. Students participated in Love Bites and in a range of other extra-curricular activities. They also received an outstanding number of Gold, Silver and Bronze academic awards on awards night. They have never been afraid to throw their hand up at any opportunities that come their way.

I would like to say thanks to all of the Year 10s for this year. It has been great to work with you all again and see you all grow and mature. I look forward to following the cohort through to Year 11 in 2022 and seeing further growth. For those not returning in 2022, I’d like to wish you the best of luck with your future endeavours, you have been valuable members of this cohort and will be missed. For those who are, stay safe over the holidays and I can’t wait to see everyone refreshed and ready to go for a new year!

Regards
Miss. Kate Deighton
HOY – Year 10

From the Head of Year 11

We have made it and holidays are here. I would like to say a massive congratulations to all Year 11 students for the hard work and dedication they put into this year. They are now about to embark on their final year of schooling, what an exciting time.

I would like to formally congratulate our Leaders for 2022:

• Female School Captain – Crystal Leo
• Female Vice School Captain – Charlotte Paxton
• Male School Captain – Diolo Dailo
• Male Vice School Captain – Zac McDonald
• SRC President – Meisha Greentree
• SRC Vice President & SRC Publicity Officer – Sophie McKenzie
• SRC Secretary – Claudia Firth
• SRC Treasurer – Will Challacombe
• Indigenous Leader – Eli Lohse
• Senior Leader – Ashlee McDonell
• Sapphire House Captain – Mitchell Brewer & Tamsyn Bock
• Garnet House Captain – Tiarrie-Lee Fanuatanu & Blake Shield
• Topaz House Captain - Xavier Samson & Jaxson Rugendyke
• Zircon House Captain – Rian Pout

Again, it was so wonderful to see how many students put themselves out of their comfort zone to apply to become our Leaders for 2022. I am really looking forward to seeing what this cohort brings to ESHS next year!

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday break. On some personal news, I am venturing off on a new adventure to Brisbane and therefore will be passing on my role of Head of Year to Mr. Jaksen Brose. I have absolutely enjoyed every minute with this crazy, fun, smart and caring bunch of students and look forward to seeing what great things they come up with next year and into the future.

Merry Christmas.

Regards
Miss. Chloe Prior
HOY – Year 11

From the Cooee Corner

It is the last week of the 2021 school year and it is hard to believe how fast the year has gone! It has been another productive year at ESHS, celebrating the many successes of our students. I was very proud to witness some of these successes, with our students and their families, at the opening of the ESHS Art Show. The quality of work produced was outstanding and I have enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm of students before and after each one of their art lessons. A big thank you goes out to all the teachers of ESHS this year who have provided authentic opportunities for students to access the curriculum at their individual levels and for the support our students and staff receive from their families.

This term we have begun to welcome our new Year 7 cohort for 2022, through our transition process. We welcome our new students and their families and look forward to working together to support each student’s success, as they transition into their next stage of learning.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say farewell to two of our valued support team members, Mrs. Samantha Hokins and Mrs. Jemima Johnson. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours, you will be missed here at ESHS by staff and students.

From the Cooee Corner and Learning Support teams, we wish you all a wonderful Christmas! Have a safe and relaxing break and we look forward to working with you again in 2022.

Regards
Mrs. Sarah Somerville
HOSES

From the Science team

Term 4 is always a busy time for all subjects with Years 10, 11 & 12 working on tight timelines as they have a shorter term. They certainly achieved a lot this year, and deserved an early rest.

• Year 7 – The Year 7s are looking at classification systems, dichotomous keys and food webs/chains. Students have completed their assessments and have been completing further activities based on classification in the final weeks of Term 4.
• Year 8 – This term the Year 8 classes have been studying plant and animal cells, comparing cells, components and reproduction processes. Students have spent their last few weeks of Term 4 investigating reproduction in plants, and carried out a flower dissection.
• Year 9 – The Year 9s have spent Weeks 9 and 10 of the term learning about natural disasters, and applied their knowledge in a STEM activity to build earthquake resistant buildings.

It has been a wonderful term in Science and we are all looking forward to rounding out 2021 completing some fun and engaging STEM activities.

Regards
Miss. Annabel Paul
Teacher

From the English team

It’s been a busy year in the English department, but things are winding down now. All classes have completed their last assessment pieces and we are working on some great projects to finish the year.

Our Year 7 classes are getting creative by writing fractured fairy-tales, based upon some of the most popular fairy-tales out there. They’re taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.

The Year 8s are completing a mini persuasive unit, about the importance of protecting our Earth. They’ll be creating visual displays this week to convince people that the environment should be protected.

The Year 9 classes have been hard at work trying out a range of poetry types. They’ve completed haiku, black-out and collage poetry. We’re excited to see the creative poetry they come up with next.

Regards
Miss. Katelyn Bygrave
Teacher

From the Hospitality & VET team

The kitchens have been busy this term, with an attempt to thank our local businesses who support the school through apprenticeships, traineeships and work experience.

Year 10 Food Specialisation classes have been designing, creating and baking gourmet Christmas themed favourites to thank these group of people. These outcomes were beautifully presented in our custom gift boxes. Well done to the Year 10s for their great efforts and dedication towards this project.

While the Year 10s has been focusing on their projects, our Year 9s has been working on a street food challenge. The students involved a stakeholder to get a critical feedback of their choice of street foods, creating an environment of realism where they had to consider the following attributes of their: food, taste, aroma, size, quality, fit for purpose, sense of appeal and harmony of ingredients.

The term has ended with great achievements and high standards set for 2022.

Regards
Ms. Anush Sharma
Teacher

From the ITD team

Semester 2, finally we’ve made it.

DAT 7 & 8

This term has been the first time the Year 7 and 8 classes entered the workshop as part of their curriculum. They were asked to produce a pencil box out of pine. The learners loved working with their hands and creating something that can be used at school or home. Well done Year 7s.

DIG

This term the Year 7 and 8s focused on Problem Solving Process and ‘HTML’. The Year 9 students worked on solving coding problems with ‘Python’, whilst the Year 10 group created databases. The Year 11 and 12 ICT students finished out their year exploring hardware inside of computers.

TMT 9

This term, the TMT class had to build a step stool. A set design was given and the learners had to replicate the design. Some learners, as they do, got really creative.

DAT 9 & 10

This term the design and technology classes furthered their knowledge of design by recreating an existing furniture item in the Autodesk program, called ‘TinkerCAD’. Most learners enjoyed the nice bright colours and found it an easy program to use.

TES 9 & 10

This term, we researched and produced catapults as a way of teaching levers and mechanical advantage to the learners. The learners were engaged and we even had a competition in Week 8 to see which catapult is the most accurate in launching an object…don’t worry, PPE was worn at all times.

GSK 11 & 12

The senior Graphics students finished with their projects and practical demonstrations respectively. The Year 11s designed an ‘adirondack chair’, focussing on the marketing aspect, whilst the Year 12s designed a car jack. Judging by their previous three terms, they should have great success with these.

Furnishing 12

Our Year 12s this term focussed on using the lathe and produced some candleholders and wine glasses. As you can imagine, coming back in Week 7, the Year 12s were not in a productive mood. Luckily, we got all the projects in. Well done boys, you are a bunch of excellent young men. Good luck with your future endeavours.

Design 11

The Year 11 Design team focused on design styles. Students engaged with a more comprehensive design process that includes the explore phase and the influence of stakeholders.

Build your own device workshop

On Saturday, 27 November, learners from ESHS took part in a workshop that exposed them to the elements of building their own pc. The learners had the opportunity of also keeping their built device for future reference. This was a great introduction to the world of IT.

End of year and data management

With the end of year upon us, it is important that students who are exiting the school have backed up their files from their Student Home Drive onto an external source. By the end of the school year, students that have left the school will have their data removed from the server, to allow space for the new year.

Regards
Mr. Bennie Olivier
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.

Student of the Week

Week 8

Zane Bergerson For being respectful to his teachers and peers through showing positive sportsmanship.

Bailey Henry For being a kind, polite and courteous students who strives to do his best in all tasks.

Luke Barkley For making positive choices in class and trying his best to complete assessment and curriculum tasks.

Week 9

Kiana Glidden For being a positive exemplar of the 3 Ps all year.

Sophie Wass For having a positive attitude and showing great dedication to her studies over her time at ESHS.

Donovan Hokins For demonstrating maturity beyond his years. He is always respectful to staff and is a role model for his peers.

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