26 May 2022

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report.

Dear Friends of Emerald High,

Over half-way through the term already!

NAPLAN is over for another year, and I am delighted to report that it went very smoothly and that the conduct of our students throughout was outstanding. Great work Years 7s and 9s.

Our Year 10s and many Year 11s and 12s attended the Careers Expo at the CQU Campus and from all reports it was a very worthwhile event. As usual, the conduct of our students was outstanding and we received an email from the bus company congratulating our young people on the manners and behaviour.

Athletics Carnival is on next Friday. Please note that students are only able to participate if they have submitted a signed parent permission note. We are looking forward to yet another amazing sporting event at the school.

Our Student Representative Council (SRC) did something special on Tuesday - they arranged for a 40-student strong 'flash mob' to perform the 'Nutbush' during the lunchbreak in the sails area outside the tuckshop. It was lots of fun and very entertaining. Well done SRC!!

A reminder again that students may wear our school jumpers, available at the Tuckshop, or plain black or dark green jumpers to school, provided they have no logos or hoods. The stores in town usually have suitable fleecy polo neck and crew neck jumpers for between $12 and $20. Students in incorrect uniform will be required to change into one of the pool of spare uniforms that we have available, all of which are washed before being loaned out.

In summary, I remain very pleased indeed about the progress of our young people this year and the effort and attitude in general. The vast majority of them are doing very well indeed!

Thank you again everyone for your ongoing support of our amazing school!

• If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.
• Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe
• Latin Proverb

Have a fantastic fortnight
Mr. Sean Maher
Principal

From the Head of Year 11.

Now that we are halfway through Term 2, Unit 1 has either been completed or is just about to be finalised. Mrs Shaw, the ESHS Guidance Officer and myself will be reviewing results and discussing with students if we believe a subject change would be advantageous for their future.

Students who have a spare/flexi on their timetable and passed their Term 1 subjects will have now been issued with a letter offering them to leave school early or arrive at school late if their timetable permits. If this has not been signed by a parent and handed back to Ms Kadel in the attendance office, students will not be allowed to leave during their spares.

Students have been given the opportunity to express their interest in a 2023 school leadership position. They are to answer a series of questions, in 100 words or less. This is to be returned to myself, by Friday the 3/6/22. Please encourage your student to complete this process, as it is great practice for future applications and the beginning of their school leadership journey. If a student has not completed this, they will not be eligible to attend Leadership Camp in Term 3.

As it is now coming into winter and some cooler weather, please ensure your student has the correct school jumper or a plain black or green jumper with no hood. The correct uniform is outlined in the student diary.

Should you have any concerns regarding the welfare of your child please do not hesitate to email me on ljarv26@eq.edu.au .

Regards
Mrs. Lauren Jarvis
HOY – Year 11

From the Head of Year 12.

I cannot believe we are already in Term 2. There has been some fantastic stuff happening with our seniors and even more to come!

Our senior leaders attended the CHRC Mayoral summit on the 5th of May. The Mayoral Summit provides our leaders an opportunity to engage with a guest speaker, as well as present to, and work with, other fellow leaders from around the region. This is always a great opportunity for our students to show their leadership skills and shine for the region.

For those interested, QUT is running a future options session for our school and bringing their student representatives up to address any questions our students may have about university. This will be on June 15th if you would like more information contact the ESHS Guidance Officer.

Formal prep has also begun! The formal is a huge event for the Year 12 students, so make sure you have kept 15th September free. So far, the formal committee have created theme options for the Year 12 cohort to vote on. Just a reminder as this is an extra-curricular activity, it is important that students are aware of the criteria for receiving an invitation:

• School fees must be paid in full
• Attendance rate must be 90% or greater
• All assessment must be completed

Once a student meets the above criteria, they will receive an invitation for themselves and 2 parent guests. Any changes to the guest requirements can only be approved by Mrs Shaw.

I encourage all Year 12 students to ensure they are keeping up with their studies and seeking assistance when required. It is important that students are preparing for the external exams held between 24th October and 16th November. More details in regards to the mock exam block timetable and external exam block timetable will be provided to students in due course.

On another note, if students are looking for early acceptance to university or wish to find out more information about university options, I encourage them to seek assistance and advice from the Guidance Officer.

I look forward to working with the Year 12 students for the remainder of the year, and should you have any questions, myself (jbros33@eq.edu.au) or Tanya Shaw (tshaw20@eq.edu.au) can be contacted via email or by phoning the school on 4988 2222.

Regards
Mr. Jaksen Brose
HOY – Year 12

From the English team.

Things are heating up in the English world, with some fantastic learning happening across the school. Our classes are gearing up for assessment and students are making the most of their lesson time.

Our Year 7s are finalising their portfolio of work based on the Percy Jackson novel series, with poetry, persuasion and social media profiles for the gods.

The Year 8 cohort are exploring racism and integration through the award-winning film Remember the Titans, and working hard on their analytical essays.

The Year 9s have gone back to the future and are exploring sci-fi and speculative fiction, preparing to complete their assessment in class.

Our 10s are putting the final touches on their persuasive speeches about bias in the media. And all of our senior classes are preparing for exams and drafting their assignments.

We also have three teams heading to the Reader’s Cup in Yeppoon next week - wish them luck!

It’s going to be a busy few weeks for everyone!

Regards
Miss. Katelyn Bygrave
Teacher

From the Hospitality and VET team.

The Hospitality and VET teachers have had a busy start to the term with lots of exciting learning opportunities, excursions and functions. Here are a few updates for some of our classes:

Year 10 Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Training

All students had an amazing time at Work Experience and some have even come away with offers of School Based Traineeships or School Based Apprenticeships. We are extremely proud of how the Year 10s conducted themselves whilst out in the community.

Friday 20th May saw all students go to CQU – Emerald Campus and participate in the Careers Expo. Students were able to chat with various industry representatives, as well as TAFES and Universities, to explore post-school options. It was a great opportunity for all and a great introduction to our next unit of work – investigating careers.

Year 10 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education

The Year 10 Certificate III Early Childhood Education students are working hard on their course booklets. They have completed the first booklet, ‘Identify and Respond to Children and Young People at Risk’, and nearly finished the second one, ‘Work with Diverse People’. Students had the opportunity to attend work experience at an early childcare centre in Week 3, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is great to see them learning and immersing themselves into something they love.

Year 10 Certificate I in Workplace Skills

The Certificate I in Workplace Skills focuses on basic business skills. Students have completed Project 1: Operate Digital Devices and are currently working on Project 2: Apply Communication Skills. Students have been able to use skills developed on work experience earlier this term, to assist in gaining a more in depth understanding of the requirements of the certificate.

Year 11 and 12 Certificate II in Hospitality

The Year 11 and 12 Certificate II in Hospitality students were involved in catering for a local event last week. All students assisted in making the food and the Year 11s had the opportunity to be involved in the service.

Food Specialisation

Some fun and exciting things happening in Food Specialisation this term.

The Year 10s have been learning about different dietary requirements and creating a range of gluten free, dairy free, vegan/vegetarian and paleo snacks.

Some very interesting food fusion ideas coming from Year 9 students, one of the highlights so far would have to be the taco pizza. We cannot wait to see the final products!

Apprenticeships and Traineeships

This year has seen many students signing up for an Apprenticeship or Traineeship across various industries. If students are looking for an Apprenticeship or Traineeship in either Year 10, 11 or 12, they are encouraged to see Alarna Wills in the library staffroom.

Regards
Mrs. Jacinda Stefaniuk
HOD

From the Technologies team.

Technologies is hustling along this term, with a lot of interesting projects being undertaken across the board. Students will be most likely approaching the start of their final projects, to round out Term 2.

Year 7 and 8 Digital Technologies

In the rotation of Years 7 and 8 Digital, students have been understanding the problem-solving process, identifying the different types of stages and looking at how they can use this process to solve everyday issues. They then look at creating a mobile phone application, utilising the skills they’ve learnt throughout the unit.

Year 9 Digital Technologies

Year 9 Digital have been currently studying Robotics, through the use of Lego EV3s. Students have been looking at how code can interact and influences objects (such as robots) to perform tasks. We have looked at how code is incorporated into systems, with the use of flowcharts, to illustrate this process and will create a sequence of code for their final projects.

Year 10 Digital Technologies

Another coding focused unit in Digital, where Year 10 students are looking at the text-based programming language, Python with Turtle, to explore how to create graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for digital programs. They have been working through different mathematical patterns and identifying key concepts to replicate in their final project, where they will design their own GUI.

Year 11 Digital Solutions

Senior students have just completed their FIA1 task, in their ‘Creating with Code’ unit. This saw a variety of technical proposals being put forward for an engaging digital solution, to aide in literacy and numeracy learning in younger students. They are now onto their FIA2, where they will create this game utilising HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Year 11 and 12 Information Communication Technologies

In ICT, students are learning the fundamentals to game design. They have understood the key principles in the creation of games, in terms of how to create meaningful experiences for the player, and have explored these principles in popular arcade games. Their final project will be the creation of an arcade game, with an attached user manual, to explain the games functionality.

Electronic Sports (Esports)

Our tournament season is underway, with both the League of Legends and Valorant teams playing in their respective tournaments. Both teams are competing in the Division I bracket this season and have enjoyed the competition so far. We have had a great start to the season with all of the teams recording wins across the board against other schools in Queensland. Recently, the senior Valorant team had their game professionally broadcasted and performed well on the big stage. This was an amazing opportunity for those students, as it gave them a taste of what the professional world of Esports is like. You can find the replay if you search up the tournament channel ‘METAHSE’ on Twitch.

Technologies:

The Year 10 TES class with Mr Olivier are currently finalising their C02 dragsters, for their Unit assessment. The Unit is run in line with the CO2 Dragsters Queensland Technology Challenge, which is a state and national competition. The CO2 dragster may be small, but they will be moving at incredible speeds when we race them. That means it will be subjected to a wide variety of forces that affect its motion and velocity.

The purpose of the CO2 dragster competition is to provide a means for students to demonstrate their ability using the design, make and appraise principals, to draw, design and then build a dragster within a set of specifications. These finished dragsters will then be tested on a 20-metre track for speed, to determine the fastest dragster. However, the competition is not just a speed race, marks are also awarded for design, construction, presentation and an engineering drawing meeting Australian standards.

The new starting gate that is specially designed for the dragsters competition, was able to be sourced from funding from Bright Minds Future (BMF). Along with the wind tunnel that BMF funded last year, students are able to test their designs before racing them.

Furnishing

Last Term, the Year 11 Furnishing class completed their Unit 1 Practical Demo of a Dovetail Book End. The joining method concept will help students to plan and construct their main project of a cabinet this term.

Regards
Mr. Lachlan Praed
Teacher

From the Sports Master.

Term 1 Highlights

Last term saw lots happening in the world of sports here at Emerald State High School.

Week 7: Cross Country

In Week 7 last term, we held our inter-house cross country at the Botanical Gardens. Despite some delays due to the heat wave, we had some excellent weather that saw for great running conditions with many school records broken on the day. Topaz defended their title for another year, coming out well in front on the day. Congratulations to all our age champions (listed below) and the top 6 runners who were given the opportunity to race at the CH trials in Springsure. Many of these students have progressed on to the next round and are gearing up to run at the CAP trials in Rockhampton on the new date (weather delays again), Monday 30th May.

Week 10: Swimming Carnival

On the last day of term, both staff and students put on their swimmers and got in the pool for a great day of competitive and novelty events. It was a great day to end a big term of sports. With the points tallied, checked and double-checked, Zircon came out on top. Another big congratulations to the age champions listed below and a shout-out to the House Captains, who really brought the enthusiasm and energy for the day and in the lead up.

Term 2

Week 7: Athletics Carnival

Friday of Week 7 (03/06/22) is our inter-house athletics carnival. The day will be held here at school, with all staff and students attending. Students will be able to compete in any events that they wish on the day, without nominations. However, due to time constraints on the day we will be running some pre-carnival events in Week 6. Students who have nominated for these events will compete at the following times:

HPE Week

HPE week this year is taking place in Week 6 of Term 2. In addition to our pre-carnival athletics events, we also have a number of lunch time opportunities for students to get active and involved including dodgeball, staff vs students Touch Football and Fitness testing to find the fittest ESHS student!

School Sport

Our ‘Sports Program’ sports are getting into full swing now, with many sports providing the opportunity to represent our school in friendly interschool games against local schools. Some highlights include:

• Netball: Open Girls who finished 2nd and Junior Girls who finished 3rd in the Champagnat Cup.
• Rugby Union: U13s and Open Boys who both had wins against All Souls Charters Towers and Marist respectively.
• Rugby League: Open Boys who had a win against Marist
• Volleyball: Mixed Open and Junior teams who both had wins against Capella

There’s plenty more opportunities coming up for students who are representing ESHS in the sporting world, including: Vicky Wilson, Western 7s, All Schools Touch and Senior Schools Cup Volleyball.

CH/CAP Representatives

We have had a huge number of students successfully make CH teams for a number of sports, with some going on to be selected to represent Capricornia at the State Titles. These students work exceptionally hard and it’s a deserved recognition of their commitment and determination to excel in their sports.

Regards
Miss. Angela Johnson
ESHS Sports Coordinator

From the Learning Supports & EALD team.

Term 1 is done and Term 2 is halfway through. Learning Support have been kept busy analysing the Term 1 data, observing classes and collaborating with teachers to implement strategies to ensure all students are able to achieve success. We love going into the different classes and getting to know our students on an individual level.

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) is about to occur which means that we are working with teachers to identify the students who require additional support and the level of support. This helps us understand the various needs of our students and how they are best supported at school. There are 4 levels being: Quality Differentiation, Supplementary, Substantial and Extensive. Most of our students fall in the differentiation or supplementary levels. However, to ensure we are providing those supports, teachers are gathering evidence and we are observing classes intermittently.

If you would like more information regarding the NCCD, please see the attached flyer.

Should you have any concerns regarding the learning needs of your child please do not hesitate to email Alisa (afinn22@eq.edu.au) or Lauren (ljarv26@eq.edu.au) .

Regards
Mrs. Lauren Jarvis & Ms. Alisa Finn
Learning Support Coordinators

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 5 and 6 of this term.

Behaviour Focus

Our current behaviour focus is “Wear your uniform with pride.”

Student of the Week

Week 5

Year 7: Rylan Bagley For always participating in class activities and for assisting his peers with tasks. He is a pleasure to teach.

Year 8: Drew McIntosh For always showing a positive attitude and participating well in all subjects.

Year 9: Capriece Johnson For her amazing effort and positive behaviour. Capriece makes every lesson enjoyable and keeps things interesting.

Year 10: Dominic Malone For his resilient attitude towards curriculum tasks. Keep up the positive attitude.

Year 11: Jacayla Davy For working well consistently and getting everything done. Her hard work has paid off in her recent Maths exam.

Year 12: Caleb Jansen For always putting in effort and engaging in all set activities.

Week 6

Year 7: Riley Graham For working hard to complete all tasks to the highest standard. Riley is a helpful and friendly member of our class, who constantly achieves the 3Ps.

Year 8: Baylee Keenan For always being polite to others by making them feel welcome.

Year 9: Jazmika Tyrrell For consistently working hard on all tasks. She consistently achieves the 3Ps.

Year 10: Liberty Vine For her enthusiastic attitude towards curriculum tasks. Liberty is a delight to teach.

Year 11: Ethan Hilder For always being polite and helping whenever needed.

Year 12: Sarah Johnston For being a positive ambassador of the school.

Community Notices