15 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

GREAT START TO 2017!

Hello everyone, we have had a fantastic start to our school year, highlighted by the Investiture ceremony held during week two in the school hall. This ceremony saw our Year 12 students presented with their senior badges, as well as the other student leaders of our school being presented with their leadership badges for 2017. It was a fantastic morning, and it was great to see the pride in the student’s faces and the sincere way they all went about pledging their commitment to the values and behaviours of the school. It was also great to see how many parents/carers were able to attend on the morning to support the students during this special event.

Thank you to the School Rock Band who performed at the occasion, and a special thank you to Mr Sebastian Kohli for his organisation of this special event.

WELCOME BBQ

I would like to invite all parents/carers along to a welcome BBQ on Monday 20 February at the school. This will commence at 5.30 and go for an hour or so. All students have completed subject changes now and so know who their teachers are for the Semester. This will give all parents, new to the school or continuing, a chance to meet their student’s teachers for the year, as well as other key staff members.

Good communication and relationships between parents and teachers is another very important part of the puzzle in achieving positive student outcomes. The BBQ will be an excellent way to meet your child’s teachers early in the year and begin to form those effective relationships for your child’s learning this year.

I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

IMPORTANT SUPPORT PROGRAMS

Week 3 saw the commencement of two very important support programs within the school for our students;

LLI Reading Program

One of the most important aspects of our school kicked off this week, with the LLI Reading program commencing. Thanks to Ms Lauren Butler for all of the work she has put into preparing and organising for this, and trying to support as many of our students as possible through the time available. I am extremely proud of the students who have taken up this offer of support and have commenced working with Ms Butler to improve their reading. This will make a difference to the life options of each and every one of these students.

If your student is involved please encourage them to continue and let them know how proud you are of them and their efforts!

Cogmed Working Memory Training

The other program that began in week 3 is the Cogmed program, which again is designed to help students improve their ability at school. Thank you to Ms Sarah O’Brien who has accepted and taken on the organisation and leadership of the program, as well as Mrs Jenny Peacock who will be running the program for senior students who wish to do the course.

This year, all Year 8’s will have the opportunity to participate in the program, which has the potential to significantly improve cognitive memory in our students, benefiting them in all aspects of their education going forward.

Again, I am very proud of all of the students who have engaged in this program and look forward to seeing the positive results.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

The term is only three weeks old, but already our students are achieving in the sporting arena.

Ten girls travelled to Chinchilla for the Southwest softball trials. Training had commenced last year and continued this year, with the hard work and time given being rewarded with 3 students, Timiah Shillingworth, Cassandra Campbell and Sophie Saffy all being selected to compete in the Darling Downs Trials in Toowoomba later this month. Special thanks to Mrs Creedon, Mrs Peacock and Ms Andreatta, who took the girls away for the successful overnight trip to Chinchilla.

It has also been a busy time for the Radnedge family, with Jack Radnedge being selected in the South West Rugby League development squad and Zoe Radnedge being selected in the South West Netball development squad.

Not to be outdone, Emily Radnedge has also been voted in as the 2017 Student Council President. The Student council met for the first time, and it sounds like they have some big and exciting plans for the year.

Congratulations also to the other executives voted in at the meeting, the executive leadership team for 2017 are:

Student Council President- Emily Radnedge
Vice- Charlie Aitken
Treasurer- Ngan Sen
Secretary- Joseph Saffy

ATTENDANCE

I am very proud to announce that week 2 of school saw our target for attendance of 92% met by all but 1 of our Form classes (and that class only missed by 0.4 %). Across the school, attendance was at a very, very pleasing 96%.

The goal now must be to keep up this excellent level, as attendance levels such as this will make a difference to student outcomes and results.

Thanks again to the P&C for their continued support of attendance awards this year, with the best attending Form classes being awarded a certificate and students being presented with a free slushy voucher each week. The winners for week two for the Juniors was K2 again with a brilliant 98.4% attendance, while for the Seniors the victor was K4 with a flawless 100% attendance from this group of students!

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

P & C

The first P&C meeting of the Year will be held on Wednesday 15 February at 5.30 pm at the school. We look forward to seeing as many interested parents there as possible on the evening.

SWIMMING CARNIVAL

The first of our big sporting carnivals occurred on Friday 10 February with the running of the school swimming carnival. I was personally very disappointed that I was in Toowoomba at a Regional meeting instead of at the carnival, as these days are some of the best of the school year, where we all get to see students in a different context and more relaxed environment.

By all reports the day was a huge success with lots of student participation, and what appeared to be improved attendance and engagement by the students. No doubt that this was due to the lead up work of our House Mentors and Vice-Mentors, and the increased focus on House spirit.

Thank you to all who were involved on the day, in the organisation, preparation and running of the carnival. A very special thanks must go to Brad Lines for his work. As this carnival also doubles as a District carnival, there is a massive amount of preparation and organisation that goes into the day, even before the first race is swum.

Congratulations to Tobruk who were victorious on the day. They have had a bit of a hold on this carnival over the past few years, so the challenge is there for the other two houses to respond to the challenge and lift to compete with the participation and enthusiasm of the Tobruk house.

All the best for 2017 everyone,

Matt Samson
Principal

Deputy Principal Senior Schooling Report

Goodbye Sue

It is with a heavy heart that Charleville SHS said goodbye to the highly valued Sue McDonald at the end of Week 2. Mrs McDonald has been with us at CSHS for over 11 years and has worked tirelessly for our students. She is well respected in the school and wider community, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

QATSIF Scholarships

A big congratulations to Anastasia O’Neil and Sophie Saffy on being awarded a QATSIF Scholarship for the next 2 years. The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation (QATSIF) is an independent public trust established to provide young eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders with a secure funding source to assist students in their senior years of education. The students applied for the scholarship while in Year 10 and were informed of their success late last year. The scholarship is designed to assist them toward gaining their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE).

VET News

Our Year 11 Hospitality students began their Certificate II in Hospitality on Monday. The course will be studied for Term 1 and 2 during Pastoral Care, on Mondays and Fridays. Students will complete various modules, as well as completing practical work. This certificate course will gain the students valuable QCE points, as well as a well-recognised award for their resumes.

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING
AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

WELCOME TO WEEK 4

The first four weeks seem to have passed at a rapid rate. I am so pleased to see our students working extremely hard in their classes and encouraged by the learning that is occurring every lesson.

JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS

As many of you are aware our school follows the Explicit Teaching Framework (EI). An integral part of this framework is that every student is informed of their Learning Intention at the beginning of each lesson. In the Junior School it is known as the WALT (We Are Learning To), WILF (What I am Looking For) and TIB (This is Because). It is the expectation that each student writes the WALT in their books. As a parent it is recommended that you ask your student to show you their four WALTs for each day. It would be a great conversation starter for parents to ensure that their students know what the learning intention is and prevents the often short response to the question: What did you learn today? Response: Nothing. By discussing the WALTs each day it helps the student remember the valuable learning that occurred in their classes.

Our staff are a wonderful group of dedicated professionals. Last week at their faculty meetings they discussed the data already collected on every student. This included their most recent NAPLAN, PAT R and PAT M data as well as Academic data. This data is useful to plan units, lessons and support for each and every student. It is a method of Putting Faces to the Data and valuing each student as an individual.

COGMED

Evidence Based Working Memory Training for Charleville SHS, 2017. Charleville State High School has purchased 75 licences to be used for our students this year. Senior students have been given the option of doing this program voluntarily before school and selected year eight students have been working during period one or two each morning. The program works best in the morning, therefore every morning the students will spend 35 minutes doing the COGMED program in period one or two for about 6 weeks. This will mean less instruction time for their classes however the long term benefits will outweigh the missed teaching time. We have had success in the past at this school with the COGMED program and are extremely motivated to offer this opportunity to senior students and all year eight students over the school year.

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- TBA
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

• Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)- Natalya Kajewski- based at Charleville State School. Natalya visited CSHS in Week 3. Natalya will also be a frequent attendee at our fortnightly Student Support Committee (SSC) meetings. In week nine Natalya will present to the teaching staff at a staff meeting giving us valuable insight in to how we can best support our students in the Speech and Language area.
• PBL Regional Co-ordinator: Barry Wastie is our new School leader for Positive Behavior for Learning (PBL) He will be trained this month as a Leader.
• 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. This week is Anna’s last week as she goes on leave and we wish her well with her expanding family.

• Immunisation Clinics for Years 7. All year seven students received information and forms to be signed for the year seven immunization program which will commence in March. If you did not receive your form, please contact the main office for a new one. Every student in the school was handed an envelope. If the forms have not been returned our School Based Youth Health Nurse, Jen Sellin will be contacting home to ensure every student has the opportunity to be part of this program. Thank you to the majority of families who have already returned their forms.

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

Miss Lauren Butler has commenced her Tier 2 reading intervention program (LLI). The third level of intervention is another commercial program known as MultiLit (Making Up for Lost Time in Literacy) will commence in week 5. If your child is 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 at the Meet and Greet on Monday 20 February.

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 please contact the school.

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal

Swimming Carnival 2017

Last Friday at the swimming carnival, it wasn’t just the weather that was hot; the competition was just as fierce. With Tobruk out to continue their tradition of winning every event, and both Alamein and Kokoda just as determined to break the Tobruk stranglehold, this guaranteed a day filled with close racing.

With a focus this year on team ownership and bonding, it was pleasing to see an increase in the number of students presenting to the pool for the annual swimming carnival. It was great to see a packed grandstand for the start of the day. This also presented a great look to the primary schools that had attended the day to compete as part of the Charleville District Carnival. This carnival has once again been incorporated into our swimming carnival.

The day started with the team 50m swim, consisting of all students from each house swimming 50m to get a point for their team. This started the day with Tobruk at the tail of the three. Was this a sign of things to come?

Throughout the day the events showed Tobruk in the lead, but with Alamein and Kokoda close behind. Tobruk had bragging rights for the boys Under 12, 14 and 17 age groups, but this was countered by Alamein the combined boys and girls Under 13 and 15 age groups. It was the combined efforts of the girls of Kokoda that keep them in the contest, especially the Under 14 and Under 17 girls. In fact the Under 17 girls for Kokoda were the group that scored the most points for the day, a record that this year’s Under 17 boys had held the previous two years. Well done girls!

Unfortunately for Kokoda, their combined efforts of having the most participation were not enough to overcome the skills of some of the swimmers within Alamein and Tobruk. This means the result for the winning team was down to two, but which one? In the end it was Tobruk that once again prevailed to make it three years in a row and a hope of doing something that has just been taken away from Usain Bolt, a chance at the Triple-Triple. Well done Tobruk and good luck for the rest of the year.

Age champions for the day were:

Under 12 - Belinda Jukes and Angus Cooke,
Under 13 – Haidee Burgess and Jake Collins,
Under 14 – Matilda Vaggs and Aiden Webb,
Under 15 – Renee Duff and Harry Springall,
Under 16 – Leahnie Loom and Anastasia O’Neil (tied) and Blair Shearwin,
Under 17 – Charley Peacock and Harrison Alick,
Under 19 – Hayley Molkentein and Luke Vetter.

And to show the efforts of the swimmers throughout the day, we have one of the highest number of students achieving qualification for the regional trials to be held in Charleville on 24 February. The successful swimmers were; Angus Cooke, Haidee Burgess, Matilda Vaggs, Renee Duff, Harrison Alick and Ian Mackie. Good luck to these swimmers at the regional trials.

Reading Corner:

Welcome to the second instalment of the reading corner. I hope you have found some time to sit and read something you enjoy – whether that be a magazine, online article, newspaper or a novel. Over the last couple of weeks you have had the opportunity to work on the first tip provided in the reading corner - ensuring your child/ren have an environment that they willingly want to read in. So here is the second tip.

The second tip that you can use to support reading at home is to ENCOURAGE and MODEL reading. This does not mean that you need to be a good reader yourself nor does it mean that you need to be reading all of the time. It will however, make a big difference if you are encouraging your child to read.

Firstly, model that you value reading by talking to them about how important reading is as a life skill. Model to them by reading the newspaper, magazines and/or books yourself and discuss what you have read with your child/ren. Parents and peers are teenagers’ biggest influences at this stage in their lives so it is important that you are the ones encouraging and modelling reading to ensure that they want to do the same!

In terms of encouraging your child/ren to read, one suggestion is to set clear expectations of when your child will read and to reward them for completing this task. Research shows that improved results can be achieved by reading just 20 minutes per day. Also, by encouraging them to visit the school library and/or town library to access a book that they are interested in is a fantastic way to get your child/ren reading. Finally, talk to your child and ask questions about what they are reading. Watch this space for types of questioning to help your child understand what they are reading and to ensure they are reading for meaning.

Happy Reading!
Lauren Butler

Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow

Problem solving and programming

In July 2016 our school was awarded a grant to fund a club aimed at engaging students in programming, robotics and developing their entrepreneurial skills under the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow program. Our first sessions focussed on the use of the Arduino programming platform and students thoroughly enjoyed the chance to learn and play with these flexible tools.

In Term 4 we made plans and progress towards our ultimate goal over the next 3 years, which is to develop an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), with Arduino sensors attached, that will be able to complete tasks that would make the life of a farmer easier.

We will commence sessions in the coming weeks, focussed on design, 3D modelling and 3D printing, with students producing the unique components we will need to build our UAV.

This club is open to all students willing to put in the time and effort it will require. Permission forms for the after school sessions will be available from week 4 of term 1.

Year 7 English

The beginning of the year has seen Year 7 students studying the adventure narrative genre in English with much excitement. Correct story structure, spelling and honing writing skills learnt in the primary school have been the focus for the first few weeks with students also learning to write in a more exciting and effective manner. Our Year 7’s have certainly brought a wealth of knowledge and eagerness from their respective primary schools and I look forward to riding this momentum to the end of term where, hopefully, our students can channel their inner Nancy Drew and create some captivating adventure stories!

Mr Daniel Baeck

Respect

One of the most important things you can teach your child is respect.

Keep in mind that respect is not the same as obedience. Children might obey because they are afraid. If they respect you, they will obey because they know you want what's best for them.

The best way to teach respect is to show respect. When a child experiences respect, they know what it feels like and begin to understand how important it is.

Keep in mind the saying "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Respect is an attitude. Being respectful helps a child succeed in life. If children don't have respect for peers, authority, or themselves, it's almost impossible for them to succeed.

A respectful child takes care of belongings and responsibilities, and a respectful child gets along with peers.

Schools teach children about respect, but parents have the most influence on how respectful children become. Until children show respect at home, it's unlikely they will show it anywhere else.

How can you show respect to your child?

Be honest - If you do something wrong, admit it and apologize.
Be positive - Don't embarrass, insult or make fun of your child. Compliment them.
Be Trusting - Let your child make choices and take responsibility.
Be fair - Listen to your child's side of the story before reaching a conclusion.
Be polite - Use "please" and "thank you". Knock before entering your child's room.
Be reliable - Keep promises. Show your child that you mean what you say.
Be a good listener - Give your child your full attention.

Children learn from everything we say and do. Make sure that you are modeling respectful behavior. Some of things you can do are:

Obey laws - Follow rules.
Be caring - Show concern for people, animals and the environment.
Avoid poor role models - When you see examples of disrespect, discuss them.

When you set rules at home, explain to your child why the rule is important. For instance, if the rule is "No TV between 4:00 and 6:00" it is because this is homework time and homework is important to keep grades up in school.

Teach your child to respect themselves. Self-respect is one of the most important forms of respect. Once we respect ourselves, it is easier to respect others.

9 HPE

This term in 9 HPE, students are learning about the perception of women in sport.

Topics of conversation have included, why women get so little media coverage in sport, why do women only get paid a fraction of the amount that men get paid in professional sport, what is sexploitation, why do women struggle to get sponsorship, and do these factors effect the contribution and participation of women in sport both at an amateur level and a professional level?

However, the inaugural Women's AFL season kicked off a fortnight ago and proved to be a huge success with a first match sell out crowd at Ikon Park between Carlton and Collingwood. This was a huge mile stone for not only AFL fans in Australia but also ALL female athletes around the country.

In the WBBL (T20 cricket) the first round saw viewing audiences go from 283,000 in round 1, 2015, to 449,000 in round 1, 2016. An increase of 14%.

Maybe the gap between male and female sporting coverage is closing?

Food for thought in our next 9 HPE lesson on Tuesday.

South West Softball Trials

On the 2nd February, 10 girls from CSHS, Mrs Creedon, Mrs Peacock and Miss Andreatta travelled to Chinchilla State High school to trial for the South West Softball Team. The girls had 5 hours travel ahead of them with a pit stop in Roma for lunch and shopping and onwards to Chinchilla High School where we were sleeping for the night. Once we got to Chinchilla High, the team had to unpack the bus and get their beds ready for a night on the library floor. That night, the girls were treated with Mrs Peacock’s spaghetti Bolognese dinner before watching a movie and going to bed early for a good night’s sleep, ready for the next day. The next morning after breakfast the girls participated in various drills and games to show off their softball skills for the selectors to hopefully be picked for the South West team. The girls were up against many other participants from Chinchilla, St George, Roma and Miles and showed that they had the skills to compete amongst these teams. A big congratulations to Timiah Shillingsworth, Cassandra Campbell and Sophie Saffy for being selected in the SW team, who now travel to Toowoomba on 13th February for the Darling Downs Trials. Throughout the two days the girls showed great enthusiasm and took pride in our school as they were well behaved and proudly displayed the 4 B’s and 4 V’s. Congratulations to the following girls who took part in the SW trails and good luck to Timiah, Cassandra and Sophie for the DD Trails.

1. Timiah Shillingsworth
2. Sophie Saffy
3. Mackenzie Ross
4. Cassandra Campbell
5. Matilda Vaggs
6. Ashtyn Shearwin
7. Alyssa Burns
8. Chelsea Shorten
9. Libby Usher
10. Breanna Short

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.