2 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

WELCOME BACK TO TERM 1 2017

Welcome back all of the CSHS families, students and staff to Charleville State High School for 2017. A special welcome to the 48 Year 7’s who have joined us this year, and to the number of new students and families in other year levels, that are joining us for either the first time, or returning to us from elsewhere. Welcome everyone. We look forward to working closely with all of you to bring about the best educational outcomes for each of your children.

CHANGES IN ADMINISTRATION

As mentioned last Year, Mrs Narelle Webb has taken on the Acting Deputy Principal Junior Secondary position, due to the transfer to Toowoomba of Mrs Jenni Peters. Mrs Webb has been involved with the school and the community over many years in a variety of positions. Mrs Webb brings with her an amazing knowledge of curriculum, our students and their families, and will be working closely with all of you to bring about the best outcomes for each student.

On the last school day of last year, Mrs Donna Gilvarry, was offered and accepted an acting Deputy position at a large Brisbane school. Replacing her as Acting Deputy Principal Senior Secondary is Ms Vanessa Moller. Ms Moller has been to Charleville previously, and was very excited about taking up this position and returning to this wonderful town. Ms Moller will be working closely with all Year 10, 11 and 12 students to ensure that this crucial time of their education is as positive and productive for each student as it possibly can be.

As Principal, I am looking forward to working with this new team to deliver great educational outcomes for every student throughout 2017.

NEW STAFF MEMBERS

We also welcome a number of other new staff members to our school this year, as well as welcoming back a couple of familiar faces.

Mrs Dawn Collier returns this year to continue her great work in the study of Agriculture, as well as supporting a number of our students in a variety of individualised programs. Mr John Anderssen returns as our Guidance Officer after a few years away from Charleville State High School, bringing with him a vast amount of knowledge in the area of student support and guidance.

Mrs Eileen Lindsay returns after some maternity leave and will be teaching Physical Education and Maths, bringing back with her an incredible enthusiasm for these areas, as well as the knowledge of our students and their families. Mr William Kok, also returns to join us on a permanent basis after spending a few weeks with us towards the end of last year. Mr Kok will be teaching in the areas of maths and science, bringing to the school a real enthusiasm and love of these subject areas.

New staff this year are Ms Emma Libke, who is joining us for the first time this year, and will be teaching in the areas of English and Humanities, and Ms Jasmine Neyland, who will be working with our inspiring SWD students. Both are very excited about the year and the opportunity to work with our wonderful students.

Welcome to all of you – I know you will have a great year working with our sensational students!

LEAVING STAFF

Unfortunately for the school, we will be saying goodbye for a while, to our amazing Work Placement Officer, Mrs Sue McDonald. Mrs McDonald will taking off this year to pursue some other interests and try some other things away from the education sector. Mrs McDonald has been at the school for many years, and in that time has assisted hundreds of students with traineeships, apprenticeships and full time jobs, as well as invaluable advice to our OP students regarding university options and pathways.

Mrs McDonald will be greatly missed at the school this year, we wish her all the best for her new pursuits throughout 2017.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

Our Year 12’s last year achieved some very good results, with all OP eligible students achieving results that have enabled them to receive offers for University positions. A special mention must go to Julian Shearwin, who achieved the incredible result of an OP 2, which has seen him gain an early offer into his first choice University course. We wish all of our 2016 Year 12 students the best of luck in their endeavours this year.

The year has only just got under way, but already our incredible students are doing amazing things.

On Australia Day, at the Shire awards ceremony held at the Charleville Swimming Pool, one of our Year 12 leaders, Miss Michaela Walker, was awarded the Murweh Shire Australia Day award as Young Citizen of the Year! This was extremely deserved recognition for all of the wonderful community work Michaela continues to do throughout our district. Congratulations Michaela!

Another of our high achieving students, Miss Jennie Le, has been selected to participate in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Girls Power camp, being held in Brisbane in March. At the camp, Jennie will have the opportunity experience the World Science Festival, meet STEM role models, undertake STEM activities and visit STEM researchers. It will be an amazing experience for Jennie, and is sure to accelerate her knowledge and passion for these areas as she commences her studies in her senior years of schooling. An amazing effort Jennie, and something to really look forward to!

Four of our outstanding Year 11 students, spent last week at University instead of school, as they participated in a camp for the commencement of the USQ Young Achievers Program. Sophia Caricato, Brea Frousheger, Makayla Smith and Shiloh Bursle, will be involved in this prestigious program for the next two years, as they complete their senior program here at school, and prepare for their tertiary education choices after school. Congratulations to each of these students, who I am sure have gained so much from this experience, and are now even more motivated to achieve great things this year!

ATTENDANCE

Again this year, our target and goal for attendance is a minimum of 92% for every single student in the school. Every day missed by a student is information, skills and knowledge that is potentially missed, making it harder for that student to reach their full potential.

Week 1 saw 6 of our 12 Form classes reach attendance levels above 90%, but it was disappointing to see attendance levels drop off on the Friday, possibly not helped by the holiday on Thursday. This was disappointing because this was the first day some classes had met teachers, and students away will have missed out on important information for the commencement of their studies in those subjects.

The P&C is continuing its support of attendance awards this year, with the best attending form classes being awarded a certificate for the Form and students being presented with a free slushy voucher each week. The winners for week one for the Juniors was K2 with a brilliant 98% attendance, while for the Seniors the victor was A3 with 90.48%, just shy of our 92% minimum expectation.

Please also remember that if your child is absent from school for any reason that you phone the office to let us know.

HOUSE COMPETITION

This year, a new house competition has been introduced into the school. This competition will see our three houses compete for and receive points for a variety of activities throughout the year. The purpose of this friendly competition is to give the students a wide range of activities to be involved in over the year, to increase their enjoyment of their time at school, but also to increase house spirit and the feeling of belonging and contributing for every student.

To assist in the development of the house culture and participation within the school, teachers nominated to be House Mentors and House Vice-Mentors.

The selected teachers for these positions are:

ALAMAIN:

Mentor: Miss Olivia Kelly
Vice Mentor: Mr Daniel Baeck

KOKODA:

Mentor: Miss Lauren Butler
Vice-Mentors: Mr Matt Huth, Miss Fiona Day

TOBRUK:

Mentor: Miss Jenna Andreatta
Vice-Mentor: Mr Barry Wastie

I would like to publicly thank all of these teachers for taking on this extra responsibility and work to strive to make the school even more enjoyable and engaging for our students.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Leaders Investiture - Tuesday 31st January, 10am, School Hall.
• Swimming Carnival – Friday 10th February, Charleville Swimming Pool

Please remember, we are here to work with you to make your students time here at school as enjoyable, fulfilling and successful as it can possibly be. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time if there is something you wish to discuss regarding your child.

All the best for 2017 everyone,

Matt Samson
Principal

Deputy Principal Senior Schooling Report

Welcome back to another year at Charleville State High School. My name is Vanessa Moller and I have been appointed Acting Deputy Principal Senior Schooling for 2017. Last Semester, I was Acting Deputy Principal at Goondiwindi State High School and before that I was Head of Department (Social Justice) at Bribie Island State High School.

QCE Tracking

Mr Kohli and I are busy closely monitoring our senior students, to ensure they are on a pathway to successfully gain their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). If any students need to change subjects to help them toward getting their QCE, they need to see me before the end of Week 2. We will also be organising parent/student interviews with those students who are ‘at risk’ of not gaining their QCE, so we can form an action plan.

VET News

Our Year 10 and 11 students will be starting our new certificate course during Pastoral Care; Certificate II in Foundation Skills (CERT II FSK). This course teaches students basic literacy and numeracy skills, as well as the skills required to study certificate courses. The course will also give students points toward their QCE.

Have and amazing term 1 and I hope we all have a successful year.

Cheers
Vanessa Moller

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

WELCOME TO 2017

I would like to extend to you a very warm welcome to the Junior Schooling and Student Services page for 2017. My name is Narelle Webb. I first started at Charleville State High School in 1995 as a Head of Department. I left to raise my family for several years during which time I worked at a Band Five School near my home. I returned to Charleville State High School in 2011 and since then have had a range of positions including Behaviour Support Teacher and Master Teacher. I am very pleased to have taken on the role of Deputy Principal Junior Schooling which includes Student services.

STUDENT SERVICES Team - 2017

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Junior Schooling- Narelle Webb
GUIDANCE OFFICER- John Anderssen
JUNIOR SCHOOLING HOD – Sabrina Goodingham
JUNIOR SCHOOL YLCs- Katherine Goult, Sam Barrow
HOSES - Georgia – Lee Grant
MASTER TEACHER- TBA
PBL TEAM LEADER- Barry Wastie
SWD TEACHER- Jasmine Neyland
YOUTH SUPPORT COORDINATOR- Jenny Peacock
SCHOOL BASED YOUTH HEALTH NURSE- Jen Sellin
CEC – Jolene Russell
CAREERS OFFICER- Sue McDonald
CHAPLAIN- Les Penrose
ADOPT AN ELDER- Robbie Geebung
ADOPT A COP- Liv Smith
CWAATSICH
Indigenous Community Partnerships Officer- Deb Csatlos

The Student Services team will oversee the following areas:

• Medical Needs and Plans
• Students with a Disability(SWD) and QCIA
• EAL/D students
• Indigenous students
• Students with additional needs e.g. dyslexia, ADHD, Auditory Processing, mental health
• Positive Behaviour for Learning
• Behaviour Support including support plans and flexible arrangements

STUDENT SERVICES- VISITING SPECIALISTS FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF

Student services have a number of specialist individuals and organisations visit the school. Most of these services are for students with a disability and/ or medical condition. If you wish for your child to access a specialist through the school please contact Mrs Narelle Webb.

The following specialists are have been/ are expected in our school over the next few weeks:

• Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)- Natalya Kajewski- based at Charleville State School. Natalya will be visiting CSHS in the very near future and if she needs to see your student she will contact you. Natalya, at CSHS, works mainly with students verified with a Speech Language Impairment (SLI) or an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis either directly with the student or to produce programs to support the student. Natalya will also work with students potentially needing an SLI verification.
• PBL Regional Co-ordinator- Cathy Skinner- based in Toowoomba. Cathy will visit us on 16 and 17 March to conduct training for new members of the Positive Behaviour for Learning committee.
• Autism Queensland- a variety of specialty staff- based in Brisbane. Autism Queensland will hopefully be visiting Charleville in Term One. All families that this visit effects will receive a letter and consent form to be completed and sent back to school. Please direct any questions about the Autism Qld visit to your case manager.
• EAL/D Support- Anna Batsone and Sarah O’Brien have been working in this area to ensure our students who have English as a second language are well supported at our school.
• Immunisation Clinics for Years 7. These will commence in March and there will be two more clinics over the year. If your child missed the vaccination please make sure you visit the community clinic held at the Town Hall on Thursdays to catch them up.

READING PROGRAMS SET TO COMMENCE- LEVELLED LITERACY INTERVENTION (LLI) and MULTILIT

At CSHS we teach reading through a multi-tiered approach. The teaching of reading is for all students and is expected of all teachers. For student who have been tested and fall below the Regional Benchmarks, they may be included in our second level of intervention- Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI). This is a commercial program we have purchased and will be run by Miss Lauren Butler. The third level of intervention is another commercial program known as MultiLit (Making Up for Lost Time in Literacy). Some parents may be familiar with this program as it is run at many Primary Schools.

If your child is going to be a part of LLI and/or MultiLit you will be notified. There will be a parent information session that will be held here at the school for parents in the near future.

CWAATSICH HEALTH MUSTERS

This term we expect the first of three Health checkups for our students run by CWAATSICH will commence. All students are encouraged to attend and receive a checkup ranging from hearing screeners, eye tests, dietician support, speech language pathology and occupational therapy, just to name a few. The consent forms must be returned and the clinics will be held here at school in the hall. Please contact me, Narelle Webb for further information.

STUDENTS WITH MEDICAL NEEDS

A reminder to parents/carers to notify the school about your child’s health.

If you receive a referral form from the school with regard to your child’s medical needs please return them as soon as possible.

SWD STUDENTS

SWD students will have received a letter from their 2017 case manager. If you have not received a letter by the end of week three please contact the school.

INDIGENOUS STUDENTS

We are very fortunate to have a dedicated CEC at Charleville State High School. Jolene Russell supports our Indigenous students academically, socially and emotionally as well as ensures that they are engaged at school following the 4 B’s and 4 V’s. Jolene is very proactive and often will make home visits to ensure our students can reach their potential at Charleville State High School.

This year again, our goal is to ensure we close the gap further for all of our Indigenous Students. My aim is to ensure every student is valued and feels valued at school and I want to work closely with CWAATSICH, Community Partnership staff and parents so we can have happy, enthusiastic young adults at Charleville State High School. I also want to ensure that all parents are very welcome at the school and feel free to contact me at any time if you have concerns regarding your child and their learning. Together we will make a difference!

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal

PBL at CSHS

Positive Behaviour for Learning or PBL for short is a whole school approach of the expected behaviour by students and teachers. At Charleville SHS this means following the 4B’s and 4V’s as listed below.

4B’s (expectations)

• Be Safe
• Be a Learner
• Be Respectful
• Be Responsible

4V’s (values)

• Co-operation
• Resilience
• Integrity
• Organisation

These expectations and values are to be seen in the classroom, playground and when students are representing the school. In classrooms the 4B’s and 4V’s are explicitly taught to students and what it should look like in the different types of classrooms in the school, whether in the workshop, science lab or on the oval playing sport. Continuing on our rewards system that we had in place last year, each student will have a star bucks card, working towards gaining star bucks for their positive behaviour. This card gets signed off by the teacher when students are demonstrating our 4 B’s or 4 V’s. Throughout the year, students will receive certificates and awards for the amount of star bucks they have attained.

These rewards are

• Bronze – 100 = Certificate
• Silver – 200 = Certificate
• Gold – 300 = $5 Tuckshop Voucher
• Platinum – 500 = $10 Tuckshop voucher
• Diamond – 750 = Prices Plus Voucher
• Supernova – 1000 = Heinemann’s Voucher

Also this year we will continue to have an end of semester reward for the students with the most star bucks in each grade. Last year’s footy trip to see the broncos play at Suncorp and laser skirmish was a success with the students and teachers, discussions are occurring now to see what this year’s rewards could be.

This year’s PBL committee consists of Barry Wastie, Nancy McKinnon, Dawn Collier, Sebastian Kohli, Sarah O’Brien, Scott Matthews, Crystal Dingle, Jasmine Martin and Margaret Gibson.

The Reading Corner

Welcome back to the Reading Corner for 2017 and welcome to all new families. I hope the summer break treated you well and you managed to find some quiet time to sit and get lost in a good book.

In this week’s edition I will give you some information on the Reading Program that will be run at Charleville State High School and also a preview on what to expect in the fortnightly newsletter edition.

Levelled Literacy Intervention:

This year we are fortunate enough to continue utilising the Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) Program. This is a commercial program that was purchased from Pearson Academic. At Charleville State High School, reading is a major focus within the school. Therefore, we have adapted and modified the LLI program slightly to meet the needs of our students, whilst aiming to improve the reading ages of all students involved. All new students will be tested at the commencement of the school year and careful planning will be completed by myself and Cassandra Kohli to decide on who will need to be in the program. If your child/ren is deemed to need additional reading support you will receive the required communication from us and invited to attend an information evening to provide you with all relevant information. If you would like further information or to make any enquiries related to reading support, please do not hesitate to contact myself.

What to expect:

In this corner you (parents, carers and significant others) will find helpful information and tips on how to best support your child/ren to become better readers. Reading is a life skill. Without such a skill, most other necessary activities in life are difficult. We need to be able to read to complete basic tasks such as filling out forms and following instructions, right through to researching information and completing university degrees. The first tip that you can use to support reading at home is to create an environment that children want to read in. This means that you encourage reading time. Set aside a quiet time and place for children to read and even better, you read with them.

Happy Reading!
Lauren Butler

FROM THE GUIDANCE OFFICER

Teaching our Children a Better Way

There are two main causes of our children getting themselves into strife:

• Dealing with strong emotions.
• Coping with relationship differences.

We are all aware of the wide range of life problems that can cause emotional stress resulting in frustration and anger. They occur regularly all the time.

Differences of opinion are inevitable whenever two or more people face an issue together and difficulties escalate when they are not able to negotiate.

Children respond to difficult situations according to their level of understanding, their personalities, their past experience and what they are trying to achieve. When they express their anger inappropriately or respond to relationship difficulties in an unacceptable way at home or at school, there will no doubt be consequences but there also needs to be some learning about how to do better next time. This can happen by discussing what could have been said or done in that situation and by modelling the behaviour that we expect from the children.

Teaching children positive ways of coping with anger and frustration or how to talk positively to others who have a different point of view are essential skills in preparing them to deal with the more complex difficulties of adulthood.

Abuse of any kind is simply not acceptable and it is up to us as parents and educators to take every opportunity to teach our children a better way of responding in difficult circumstances.