1 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Hello again to all of our parents, carers and community members who keep up to date through our fortnightly newsletter. This week we have attached the newsletter and emailed it to all on our email list, so that the following information regarding subscribing to our newsletter will be distributed to everyone. If you have not usually received our newsletter, could I please ask that you subscribe using the following information so that you receive the latest information about the school every fortnight.

Simply click on or copy in the following address, fill out the subscribe page with your email address and details, and the newsletter will be automatically sent to you each week.

This way you will have all the latest news about the great things that are happening continually at Charleville State High School.

WELCOME BBQ

Thank you so much to the parents and carers that came along on Monday 20th February to share a hotdog with us and meet their student’s teachers. I am sure that the information given by Mrs Sabrina Goodingham, our Junior Secondary HOD, and Miss Lauren Butler, our Reading Co-ordinator, gave everyone present a better understanding and insight into the structures and workings of Charleville State High School.

It was great to meet more of our parents and I am also sure that those present were impressed with the commitment and professionalism of our wonderful staff.

There will be more opportunities for parents/carers to meet teachers and engage with the school over the coming year. I encourage as many of you as possible to take these opportunities to come into the school when the opportunities arise, as it is by working together, that we will deliver the best educational outcomes for each of your students.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

Last Wednesday, a group of about 22 students set off at 4am in the morning with Mr Barry Wastie and Miss Jenna Andreatta to Miles for the South West Soccer Trials. After a big day, they arrived back at school at 6pm with the exciting news that 5 of our students had made the South West team to compete at the upcoming Darling Downs trials. The successful students were:

Joel Saffy, Mitch Walker, Nash Kennedy, Michael Widgell, Charlie Aitken.

Congratulations to each of these young men, we wish them the best of luck for the upcoming Darling Downs trials.

The Regional Swimming Trials were also held here in Charleville last Friday. These trials have not been held in town for quite some time, so the fact that they were is a real credit to the efforts of Mr Brad Lines in getting them here. Mr Lines was also the convenor of the carnival, so has had a very busy start to the school year.

Several of our students competed at the carnival, with all giving their absolute best in each of the races they competed. The students who competed on the day were:

Matilda Vaggs, Renee Duff, Harrison Alick, Jake Collins, Ian Mackie, Haidee Burgess

As well as the competitors being at the carnival, our Year 10 Hospitality class, under the direction of Mr Matt Huth, catered for the carnival and did an exceptional job supplying BBQ meals and soft drinks to the competitors and spectators.

VISIT CLASSROOM VISITS

Over the last two weeks, myself and our two Deputies, have been visiting classes on a regular basis, and we have been very impressed with the effort being displayed by all students in their classes. Students have been showing to us and their teachers the 4 school values of Organisation, Integrity, Co-operation and Resilience, as well as following the school rules of Respect, Responsibility, Being a Learner, and being safe.

This is also highlighted by the number of 100 point Starbucks certificates I have signed this week. Starbucks is the reward system within the school, which sees students acknowledged on a regular basis for displaying in their classes the 4B’s and 4V’s of the school mentioned above.

VICKI WILSON

Last week also saw our school lucky enough to be visited by Vicki Wilson, Ex Australian Netball Captain and Netball Legend! Thank you to Miss Olivia Kelly for her organisation of visit to the school, along with the Charleville Netball Association, the HOPE foundation, and the Charleville Schools cluster, who all helped to fund the visit.

Vicki was very impressed with all of our students, but made special mention of our Year 9’s, who really impressed her with their attitude, respect for each other, and their skill levels. It was a great couple of days and I am sure Vicki will go away with great memories of working with the Charleville SHS students.

ATTENDANCE

Our form classes continue to produce some outstanding attendance levels. Since the start of the year we have had form classes every week reaching attendance levels of 98%, 99% and even 100%, which is exactly what we are looking for so that students are consistently in class and receiving the teaching they require to do as well as they can.

At present Alamein is slightly ahead in the House challenge regarding attendance, and as a school we are so very close to our 92% target, sitting currently at 91.66%!

The P&C continues to support student attendance with a form class rewards program. CWAATCICH has now also come on board, offering incentives for our indigenous students to be both at school and engaging in their school work.

Thank you very much to both of these groups for your support in regards to student attendance.

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

TEACHER AIDE POSITION

Last Thursday, we commenced an advertisement in the Western Times for a Teacher Aide position within the school. Applications close on Wednesday March 8. Anyone requiring information regarding this position, please contact our BSM, Jillian Bussell, at the school.

PRINCIPALS CONFERENCE

This week I will be out of the school for much of the week, with training in Brisbane at the start of the week, and then the State Principals Conference on Wednesday 1 March to Friday 3 March down the Gold Coast. In my absence, our two wonderful Deputies, Mrs Narelle Webb and Mrs Vanessa Moller, will be looking after the school.

Have a great week everyone,

Matt Samson
Principal

Deputy Principal Senior Schooling

Learner Driver training

Coming up on the 23rd March, we will be having learner driver training at the school. The course is free and will be run in the afternoon, from 3pm – 5pm. Students who are interested need to have turned 16 by the 23rd March and do not currently have their Learners Permit.

On completion of the course students will be able to get their learners permits, when they pay for their licence at the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

If you are interested in being part of this course, make sure you have registered your interest with Jenny Peacock.

Indigenous Student Ambassador Network

In Term 1, 2017 Year 10 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students are invited to apply for the role of an Indigenous Student Ambassador for 2017-2019.

Those interested in making an application are encouraged to:

• commit to the responsibilities of an Indigenous Student Ambassador;
• review their current attendance, behaviour record and academic performance;
• discuss with their parents/caregivers their involvement and commitment to be an Indigenous Student Ambassador; and
• talk to one of their teachers and a community member about their intention to apply to become an Indigenous Student Ambassador and seek their support regarding nomination.

As an Indigenous Student Ambassador you should:

• make a positive contribution to your school and wider community in the promotion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, as well as increased engagement and participation in education;
• work with your school’s leadership team or Student Council to deliver a student-based project, or ‘leadership challenge’, that contributes to improved student outcomes which is of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students;
• assist in the embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in your school’s culture;
• have aspirations to be an active member of your school’s Student Council, or leader within your community, in the future;
• participate in the Indigenous Student Constitutional Convention as a school leader; and
• work with and learn from your Elders, school staff, community and peers.

If you are interested in applying to be an Indigenous Student Ambassador, please see Ms Moller or Jolene for an application pack.

Year 10 Hospitality

Our Year 10 Hospitality class, under the guidance of Mr Huth, catered for the Regional Swimming Carnival, on Friday 24th February. These experiences are a valuable practical component to the classroom learning. Reports are that the team earned a well-deserved profit for the day. Great job everyone!

VET News

Our Year 11 Hospitality students are working well in their Certificate II Hospitality course. The course is being studied for Term 1 and 2 during Pastoral Care, on Mondays and Fridays. Students are completing various modules, and reports are that they are all progressing well. This certificate course will gain the students valuable QCE points, as well as a well-recognised award for their resumes.

Traineeships

The school has been approached by a local business in regards to employing a school based trainee in the area of Business Administration. If you think you might be interested, please see Ms Moller, with your resume.

Thanks for all your hard work and have a good week.

Vanessa Moller
Deputy Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING
AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

WELCOME TO WEEK 6

JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS

As we enter the second half of Term 1, we are finding that our students are beginning to enter the assessment stage of the term. A Junior School assessment calendar has been given to all students in Years 7 to 9. I encourage all parents to ask their student for a copy of this calendar and assist in planning and organizing the extra time they may need to study or complete assignments. The Homework Club is a great opportunity for students to receive extra help from their teachers. The students merely need to ask their teacher the day before if they would help them at Homework Club. If the classroom teacher cannot be available then there is always another staff member only too willing to assist.

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. They are currently almost halfway through the program. A number of queries have been made as to when the remainder of year eight students will be given the opportunity to participate in this great program. The COGMED program will be offered to all Year 8 students during 2017. However if you wish your child to be considered in the next round please contact me and I shall place them on the waiting list.

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 will be visiting this week (Week 6). Natalya has also been a frequent attendee at our fortnightly Student Support Committee (SSC) meetings. In Week 9, 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.
• EAL/D Support- Anna Batsone has gone on leave and Sarah O’Brien has been working in this area to ensure our students who have English as a second language are well supported at our school.
• Immunization Clinics for Years 7. All Year 7 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 as the opportunity to be part of this program. Thank you to the majority of families who have already returned their forms.
• Immunization for Meningococcal (Year Ten students) We have just been informed that with the recent increase in the number of meningococcal cases in Queensland that year ten students will be immunized. Forms will be sent out shortly.

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 6. If your child is part of LLI and/or MultiLit you will be notified.

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.

STUDENT COUNCIL

Thanks to Jenny Peacock who has commenced the Student Council. The following students have been voted for and accepted leadership positions within the Council:

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

BOYS’ CLUB

Last week saw the inaugural Boys Club kick off. This is another of Jenny Peacock’s great initiatives to help engage students of our school in something positive. Five boys turned up on the afternoon and were given an insight into a mechanics world with Joel Frazer from the council spending an hour with the boys going through the workings of a car, teaching them the basics such as checking the oil and changing tyres. The boys were fantastic and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am sure the numbers will swell over the following weeks as the word gets out. Thanks to Jenny for the inspiration and the perspiration in getting this up and running. Thanks also to Matt H for joining in and assisting on the Wednesday afternoon.

GIRLS’ CLUB

Not to forget the Girls’ Club which is run by Jenny Peacock and the support team every Thursday afternoon. This is a wonderful opportunity for girls to form friendships and bond with others as well as learn valuable skills in a safe, encouraging atmosphere.

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal

STEM:

Last year we initiated our first trial of our STEM program to the Year 7 cohort. This year the program has been finalized and expanded. It now covers Year 7 to 9, whereby Year 7 receives a taster and Year 8 and 9 are elective subjects.

What is STEM? STEM is an educational program developed to prepare primary and secondary students for University in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It aims to foster inquiring minds, logical reasoning, higher order thinking and collaboration skills through the development of projects / challenges.

The STEM program at the High School is focusing initially on the technology component whereby students are exposed to computer programming with the use of two programming languages; Scratch and Python. The Year 8 students are quite adept at using Scratch and this week they are moving onto their first major project;

Task: The last time a man was on the moon was in 1972 and only now are there plans to return and then travel to Mars. NASA requires a Mars lander simulator that uses the physical characteristics (e.g. gravity) of the planet. Utilizing the skills you have learnt you will create a Mars lander simulator using the design process and then create a Video on Demand (VOD) to highlight your program.

This simulator is only the first step in a program that will eventually take them to programming robotics to perform plotting of a given land area to identify and remove weeds. In addition they later in the year will use their skills to program aerial drones to perform various tasks.

Bernie Matthews

11/12 Hospitality

Skills to Help for the Future

This term the hospitality students have been working on their culinary skills and expanding on their coffee knowledge. The students have been learning about how coffee is grown and becomes the coffee beans many of us know and love today. These students will soon learn how to make the coffee giving them barista skills that will help them not only in school but out in the workplace.

PBL

Be Safe

Be safe, it is one of our 8 expectations at Charleville SHS. To be safe most people think keeping oneself safe, which in the classroom is not swinging on chairs, not throwing things around the room, using with chemicals safely in the science lab. However, not many of us think about it as acting is a safe manner to help with others safety, which as a school we are required to deliver. This incorporates not bullying and fighting. This week have the conversation with your children about what safety means to them and what is should look like at school, at home and even in the workplace, as we all should play a role in providing a safe environment for everyone.

PBL Meeting

The PBL meeting will have taken place at the Monday Staff meeting on the 27th of February. In this meeting conversation will have included data from behaviour at the school, Starbucks buy in by students and reward trip planning. The conversations of this meeting will be available in next fortnight’s newsletter.

PBL Communication Coordinator
Sarah O’Brien

Junior Ag round up

With the term now back in full swing, the junior ag classes are all busy working their way through the tasks at hand. As many of the students in these classes have not studied agriculture before, the units for this term cover all bases in pretty simple detail. We have been looking at animal digestion, different types of plants, and how seeds germinate. The grade sevens and eights this term will be participating in the annual sunflower growing competition hosted by the University of Queensland Gatton Campus. For this, students will plant sunflower seeds on the 28th of Feb and observe them as they sprout and grow. Students will gather the results of this trial and submit them to UQ later in Term 2. There will be an official weigh in held in Gatton however schools that are a little further afield can submit their results online and still be part of the prize categories. If you would like some more information on anything that is happening this term within Junior Ag Science please feel free to contact me on 46568888.

Cheers, Mr Huth

Reading Corner

Parent Information Evening

A big thank you to all parents and carers who attended the Junior Secondary information evening held last week. It was great to see so many new and old faces and have you so enthused to hear about the support your child will receive whilst in the LLI reading program.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions throughout the duration of the program and remember the expectations of your child participating in the program: 100% attendance and all home reading and activities completed each night they receive a new book.

What is a struggling or dependent reader?

We often speak about individuals who ‘struggle’ to read or who are ‘dependent’ because they cannot read on their own but what exactly does that mean? Could you identify your child if he or she was dependent or struggling? Here are just a few of the many signs that you could use to help identify this (Beers, 2003):

• Cannot easily and quickly recognize single-syllable words (dog, cat, day);
• Cannot easily and quickly recognize multi-syllable words (ba-na-na, cat-tle, sun-rise);
• Has few or no strategies for recognising unknown words;
• Reads haltingly, one word at a time;
• Does not reread to clarify meaning;
• Cannot keep events of the text in the correct order;
• Cannot answer basic questions about the text;
• Cannot state the main idea of the text;
• Has a difficult time creating questions about a text;
• Stops reading at first sign of difficulty;
• Says that reading is ‘boring’ and ‘dumb’;
• Avoids reading at all costs.

In the next edition I will make a comparison to what independent or good readers do and look at further tips to support your struggling and dependent readers.

Happy reading!

Lauren Butler

From the Youth Support Coordinator

Tradies Club

Last Wednesday afternoon saw the first “Tradies Club”. Tradies Club is a group for boys at Charleville State High School which involves Tradesmen from the Murweh Shire Council demonstrating and informing the boys about their specific trade. This also gives the students an opportunity to build positive relationships with each other and positive male role models within the community.

This week the boys were given an insight into a mechanics world with Joel Frazer spending an hour with the boys going through the workings of a car, teaching them the basics such as checking the oil and changing the tyres. The boys were thoroughly engaged in what Joel was demonstrating and were keen to ask questions after and banter over the best make and model of cars.

In the following weeks we hope to have carpenters, painters, plumbers, gardeners & machinery operators but for this Wednesday we have asked Joel back as the boys who attended the group requested more mechanical information. Joel hopes to bring in a small motor and show the boys how to service it.

Tradies Club is held every Wednesday afternoon from 3pm-4pm behind the ITD workshop, near the Parry Street entrance of the school. Afternoon tea is also provided.

A big thanks to Mayor Annie Liston and the Murweh Shire Council for allowing the Tradies to attend the school during work hours.

SAS Girls Group

Not forgetting the girls, our SAS Girls Group is still going strong.

SAS stands for Super Amazing Sisters, the name of our Girls Group which the girls decided on. Our Girls Group began last year and was only intended to run for a term but the girls enjoyed the group so much that it was decided we continue. The group is supported by our School Base Youth Health Nurse, Jen Sellin which allows the girls to ask any health and personal hygiene questions. We also have members of the community supporting our group. Helen Walker, Youth Support Worker from the neighbourhood Centre has utilised her skills as a beautician to demonstrate to the girls how to look good on the outside and feel good on the inside. Our CEC Jolene, with the help of Pat from CWAATSICH, are planning some cultural activities for future sessions.

The plan for the following weeks will be painting a canvas to celebrate International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day (8th March) is a global day celebrating the social economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

SAS Girls Group is held every Thursday afternoon from 3pm-4pm in the Trade Training Centre.

All students are welcome to attend our after school programs. For more information or suggestions please contact me at the school.

Kind regards
Jenny Peacock

HOSES

This year we welcome Jasmine Neyland to our team. Jasmine has come from Stanthorpe and brings a wealth of experience in curriculum delivery and social and emotional support. Furthermore, we have teaching staff who are supporting our students this year. Thank you Mrs Collier and Mrs McKinnon. Welcome to our support team.

NDIS

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is coming to the Toowoomba area and west to the borders (including the Murweh Shire Council) from 1 January 2017.

The NDIS is a new way of providing individualised support for people with an impairment or condition that is likely to be permanent, or a developmental delay that affects their ability to take part in everyday activities. The NDIS provides eligible people a flexible, whole-of-life approach to the support needed to pursue their goals and aspirations and participate in daily life.

If you currently receive disability services you should have been contacted by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) directly. If you haven’t received a phone call from the NDIA, we recommend you contact them immediately to establish eligibility. If you are not currently receiving services you will be able to apply to access the Scheme from 1 January 2017.

Check the information and resources available below or phone 1800 800 110.

Notices:

This week we hope to have all EAP 1 consent forms and ICPs sent to parents for signatures and endorsement. It would be appreciated if you could act on these in a timely manner.

Students are beginning to work on their assignment and/or revise content for exams. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s progress it is important to discuss this with the class teacher or myself.

Upcoming visits:

Advising visiting teacher – Vision Impairment – Week 6
Advising Visiting Teacher – Hearing Impairment – Week 6 and 10
Advising Visiting Teacher – Physical Impairment – week 6
Speech Language Pathologist – Week 9
Occupational Therapist – Week 6
Physiotherapist – Week 6