20 July 2022

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report.

Dear Friends of Emerald High,

Semester 2 is well underway and I am very pleased to advise that we have seen our highest Semester 1 academic achievement that we have on record (going back to 2007). We have also seen out highest 'Effort' results recorded on record and our best 'Behaviour' recorded since 2010 (when it was a bit higher). This despite the challenges and high absence rates associated with COVID.

I am so proud of our young people, the staff at our school and our families, who have all contributed to this result. The better our results are, the more opportunities there are for our young people and this is ultimately what we are all about - meaningful pathways and worthwhile futures for our children!! Well done everyone!!

A huge celebration and congratulations for our Art students. Emerald High past and present students did amazingly well at the recent Central Highlands Annual Youth Art Awards, taking out 10 of the possible 19 awards! Thank you to Ms Cochrane and Ms Myers for supporting our kids to achieve these superb outcomes!!

I am also very excited to announce that $8.167 million has been allocated in the state budget for additional classrooms at our school, that will be going towards our new Trade Training Centre and relocation and upgrade to our school gym. Stay tuned for more!

Over the holidays B, C, D and F Blocks were furnished with brand new carpet—hopefully a paint will occur later in the year for class rooms in B and C blocks as well!

On the technology front, we have ordered 160 laptop computers that will be used across the school next year, to enable significantly more students to access technology to support their learning. Again, stay tuned for more!

With the COVID and influenza rates continuing to increase across the state, the school is reviewing all of our upcoming events and excursions, with a view to ensuring that we can effectively manage the risks. A particular complexity arises when we have excursions that are located at distances far from Emerald, such as Brisbane, and the practicality of isolating and return to home locations students or staff who are COVID positive. Each activity will be considered on its individual merits, but it is likely that some planned events will be (and some have been) postponed or cancelled. We understand that this can be disappointing, but the health and safety of our students and staff must be our primary consideration at all times.

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

I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she will make the same effort, and have the same hope and faith.

• Mahatma Gandhi

Have a fantastic fortnight
Mr. Sean Maher
Principal

From the Deputy Principal – Middle School.

PBL Focus

Our PBL Focus this fortnight is to “Always Comply with School Policies and Procedures.” It is important to comply with policies and procedures because:

• It can keep you and others safe
• It can keep your learning on track
• It can keep things organised
• Your actions affect others.

Whether at school, or in the community, rules and procedures are there for a reason. Thanks for reiterating this message with your students at home.

New Semester

Welcome to a new semester. Look out for emails from your child’s teachers, as they introduce themselves to you and introduce you to the topics and themes that will be covered during the semester. We welcome communication with you through email and phone contact. If you have questions, we would love to hear about them before they become concerns.

Accessing Our Student Portal at Home

Our Student Portal is a great tool to keep up to date with what the class is doing if you are absent for any reason.

1. Go to ESHS website www.emeraldshs.eq.edu.au
2. On the home page of the website, drop down to where it has the Student Portal and click on the image below.
3. 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:

1. Student notices
2. Student curriculum
3. Quick links to
   a. OneSchool (timetable and assessment plan)
   b. Webmail
   c. Wellbeing and Support
   d. Cybersafety
   e. QCE (for seniors)

Assessment Planners

At the end of Week 3, Assessment Planners will be emailed to all students via their student email accounts. These will also be available on Q Parents. These planners list the due dates and assessment type, for all assessment, for all subjects that your student is enrolled in. They are listed in chronological order of the date they are due and are a handy tool for you and your child to monitor and plan for assessment tasks to be completed on time.

Have a great Term 3.

Regards
Mrs. Deanne Lucht
Deputy Principal – Middle School

From the Deputy Principal – Senior School.

Welcome back to Term 3 and the last semester for our Year 12s.

Formal and Graduation

As you are aware, our Year 12 Formal is fast approaching and we have received our invitations this week. Invites will be issued to students with attendance above 90% in Week 5. Eligible students will be able to bring 2 parent guests to formal. If you would like to request extra invites i.e. for blended families or a change to the invite, I ask that a parent please contact me via email to discuss.

This year, the formal will be held on Thursday 15th September at the Town Hall. Student walk-ins will start from approximately 5:45 pm.

The Year 12 Graduation will occur on the morning of Friday 18th November. More information will come out regarding times, closer to the event.

Year 11 Leadership Camp

In Week 2, we have 28 students heading off to Camp Fairbairn Outdoor Education Centre for 3 days of leadership activities. This is a highlight of the year for me, working with these students and hearing their ideas for the year ahead. I am sure they will learn a lot and make new friendships. I hope they pack their winter woollies, as I am sure it will be very cold on the sleep out they are doing the first night.

2023 Subject Selections

As we are half way through the school year, we are preparing for the 2023 school year. Students in Years 8, 9 and 10 will undertake subject selection in Term 3.

Our Year 8s will choose 2 elective subjects, the Year 9s will choose 3 elective subjects and our Year 10s will choose 6 subjects to study. To assist students to choose subjects, there will be talks to each year level by Heads of Departments during class time. We also have a subject selection evening happening on Tuesday 2nd August. More information about this will be sent home early this term.

E-Safety

A frequent issue I deal with as a Deputy is cyber safety. I have recently been in touch with an officer from eSafety Commission and have now signed up to be one of the schools eSafety Champions. One of the best ways to be proactive in eSafety is being informed. eSafety is offering a number of webinars this term for parents. I have attached a copy of the flyers to the newsletter.

Regards
Mrs. Tanya Shaw
Deputy Principal – Senior School

From the Head of Year 8.

Welcome back to the second half of the year! Boy how time flies.

At the end of last term, parents and caregivers would have received the semester report, where students were awarded an academic, behaviour and effort grade. It was awesome to see students achieving highly across all areas. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s progress, please don’t hesitate to email or call the subject teacher for clarification.

The first half of the year has seen many of our Year 8 cohort participating in a wide range of extracurricular activities, including our lunchtime clubs, school and club sport, the musical and instrumental music, just to mention a few. I enjoy watching students thriving in something they love and I can’t wait to see what our Year 8s can do in the upcoming Western 7s and Rugby League 9s competitions!

This term, we will begin preparing students for the junior school leadership process for selecting or junior leaders for 2023. Remember that “leadership is more than a badge, it’s about the action that makes the work I touch a better place”.

I look forward to seeing students engage with the leadership process and I hope students are able to perceive just how awesome being a leader can be.

Regards
Mr. Leon Coromandel
HOY – Year 8

From the Guidance Officer.

Over the last few months our students have had the opportunity to immerse themselves in a variety of career education experiences, to assist them in making decisions about future life, study and work options.

Some of these include attendance at the Emerald Field Day presentation, where they learned some of the exciting research and industry collaboration in agricultural science, technology and engineering fields. Students were able to participate in practical hands-on-training and skill development as part of the LEADAg introductory agricultural training in Emerald pilot program. Students also visited the Emerald Career Expo where they connected with future employers, explored university, trade training, study and future employment opportunities. Many also had the opportunity to talk with Emerald based industry leaders and mentors from different sectors within the agricultural industry, to identify career possibilities via live LEADAg industry webinars.

At school, Year 10 and Year 12 students have participated in Explore Your Future career education sessions with a group of guest speakers from QUT and CQU. Students completed some activities and learned about a variety of occupations, post-school options and pathway choices available to them in the future. Student ambassadors shared personal stories about their first jobs, experiences being a regional student, as well as top tips for student success. Deans and heads of residential colleges in Brisbane have also visited ESHS and spoken to students about what studying in Brisbane and living on campus is like.

This week, Year 10 to Year 12 students who are interested in studying a wide range of health disciplines in the future, are participating in interactive health care activity sessions with JCU staff and students who belong to the Rural Health in the Northern Outback club. The JCU students are studying dentistry, medicine, pharmacy and physiotherapy. For our Year 12 students who intend to apply for tertiary studies in 2023, we have organised a presentation from staff at the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre on the 2nd of August.

If you want to find out more information about careers related to subjects you enjoy or information about careers, courses and scholarships book an appointment with Mrs Fitzgerald or check on the websites below.

Regards
ESHS Guidance Officer

From the SBA/SBT/Work team.

Emerald State High School would like to congratulate the following students on their achievements in securing a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship.

Taylor – Vivid Movement Emerald

Reeve – Milne Bros. Emerald

Maddy – Cutloose Emerald

Bailey – Fair Dinkum Fresh

Lacey – Maraboon Vet Surgery

Grace – Jodis Salon

Ryan – Roses & Beans

Zayden – CQ Tyre and Mechanical

Abbey – Australia Post Emerald

Regards
Mrs. Alarna Wills
Traineeship Coordinator

From the SRC.

The SRC had a really busy end to Term 2.

The Senior House Captains ran the annual CQ Pet Rescue House Challenge, to raise much needed donations for the local charity group. House Captain, Rian, put in a huge effort leading Zircon to victory and winning the Dog Cup; bringing an end to the four-year reign of Garnet. Thanks to all the students and homes who contributed to this annual Term 2 charity event.

At the same time, both the Junior and Senior SRC members organised the talent show, Shines. There were over 25 acts from all year groups and even a couple of teacher performances. Mr Maher and Mr Van Hees opened the show, with a Year 12 band closing the first act with a couple of songs that had the crowd singing along. The senior members of the Jazz Band formed their own mini band and excelled as always. In fact, the judges had the hardest job of the night. They had to decide whether the Year 7 comedy skit should take the top spot, or the island dancers. Perhaps the solo drummer, guitarist or pianist was the best performance? Finally, which singer or dancer could they chose? In the end, the Year 12 Back Avenue Boys took out the trophy on the night. Throughout it all, Crystal and Will emceed the evening, keeping things flowing between act changes and technical hiccups.

The most amazing thing to come out of the evening was the money that was raised for the Royal Flying Doctors Service Guiding Lights campaign. Throughout our State, there are dozens of remote communities that rely on private airstrips maintained by outback stations, that have only makeshift lighting. Lighting outback airstrips presents many challenges, as LED flares can be unreliable, solar lights are expensive and can appear quite dim from above, and using car headlights or diesel-soaked toilet roll flares are hardly dependable. The SRC voted to donate all the money raised from Shines to light an entire airstrip in our community. Our donation was so appreciated, that we received a personal thank you from the RFDS. Stay tuned to find out exactly where our airstrip will be.

This term, we will be helping plant trees on July 31 (all participants will earn points for their House which goes towards the Spirit Cup), as well as holding a mega soccer challenge between staff and senior students. We will also be planning for the annual Colour Smash at the start of Term 4 for Mental Health Week.

Thank you again to everyone who supported the SRC last term, with either the CQ Pet Rescue fundraiser or Shines and we look forward to continuing to support both our students and the broader community.

Regards
Ms. Leanne Ross
SRC Coordinator

From the Interact Club.

Emerald State High School is the only school in the town with its own Interact group. Interact is the teenage branch of Rotary and ESHS has had an Interact club since 2016. It is run by the students and every year they run two major fundraisers – Christmas in July and a Haunted House in October – at the Sunrise Rotary Clubhouse.

This year’s Christmas in July was our first attempt and included a couple of stalls, an outdoor theatre and a walk-through Christmas display. We even had a jack-in-the-box which the visitors enjoyed cranking the handle of; more than one person was surprised when the head popped up to wish them a Merry Christmas of July. The students in the club spent 2-3 hours every afternoon last week, putting it together and then all-day Sunday packing it up, so it was not a small job. The plan is to run it again in 2023 and make it even bigger and better. Thanks to the Rotary Club of Emerald for their time and assistance in running this fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

We are planning on extending the club to include more social events for its members, in order to encourage new members. Making sure that Interact remains a strong club into the future – combining youth fellowship with fundraising for the community.

Regards
Ms. Leanne Ross
SRC Coordinator

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 1 and 2 of this term.

Behaviour Focus

Our current behaviour focus is “Comply with school policies and procedures.”

Student of the Week

Week 2

Year 7: Bella Hooper For always following the 3Ps. Her effort in class is outstanding and she always brings a positive, can-do attitude to every situation.
Year 8: Lucy Shaw For being creative with assessment tasks and giving her best.
Year 9: Thomas Michelmore For his participation in class and his positive attitude.
Year 10: Kayla Gigante For her dedication to curriculum tasks and respectful attitude towards students and staff.
Year 11: Kelly Hunter For consistently do the right thing and putting the best effort into her work – She always follow the Three Ps.
Year 12: Josh Davies For his high level of diligence shown in his school work.

Community Notices