29 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

It is hard to believe that Term 1 is already behind us. Teachers have completed their first reports for the year regarding their student’s achievement, behaviour and effort, and these will be posted out to all parents and carers before the end of the final week of term. You should be receiving these during the first week of the holidays.

In with the report card will be instructions on how to book Parent/Teacher interviews through the on line booking system, SOBS. Can I please ask that as many parents as possible book an interview with your student’s teachers for the evening, even if the teachers haven’t requested an interview. Parents showing an interest in their child’s education is a big factor in improving student outcomes, and great parent/teacher relations and working together, is also an important contributor to student success.

Interviews will be held on Thursday 27th April from 3:20pm to 6:00pm. I look forward to seeing as many of you at the interviews as possible.

If you do have problems accessing a computer or with the instructions for the SOBS booking system, please do not hesitate to contact the school office and they will be able to make the bookings for you.

CANTEEN UPGRADE

Last year, through a collaborative effort between the High School and the P&C committee, funding was procured for a project to upgrade the canteen facilities and to re-develop the Junior area.

The first part of this project, the upgrade of the canteen, will take place over the coming Easter holidays. Work will commence on Saturday 1st April, with work continuing through the holidays and into the start of Term 2.

Due to this, the canteen will need to be closed for a period of time so that the work required can be done. The student council will be looking at selling some food and drink items during second break over this time, but this will only be limited items so it would be appreciated if plans are made for students to bring most of their food to school during this time.

The canteen will be closed on the final day of term, Friday 31st March, so that the canteen can be emptied in readiness for the commencement of the work on Saturday 1st April. It will then be closed for the first 2 weeks of school next term, Tuesday 18th April until Friday 28th April. If the contractors are able to finish earlier they will, and we will let the students know if the canteen is able to open again earlier.

ANZAC DAY 2017

Tuesday 25th April is ANZAC day. This will fall on the second Tuesday back after the holidays. As occurs every year, Charleville State High School students have been honoured by the invitation to march on ANZAC day to commemorate the lives of Australians who lost their lives in all the military and peacekeeping operations in which Australia has been involved.

This is an opportunity that I know is not afforded students who live in bigger centres, and so am hoping that as many students as possible will take up the opportunity and join myself, the teachers and other staff, the school student leaders, and march to commemorate this special day.

More information will be given to the students during the first week back. If you are able to allow your student to march on the morning it would be very much appreciated.

The school will also be holding our own ceremony here at school on Monday 24th April. This will take place in the school hall, commencing at 1.50pm. All are welcome to attend.

OTHER SCHOOL NEWS

Once again, over the last week there has been plenty going on within the school. Last week, Harmony Day was celebrated in the school with some great displays and an opportunity for students to learn more about the different cultures and backgrounds within our school. Thanks to everyone who was involved, especially Jenny Peacock, for her work in organising the day, and to Jacob Hammonds, for his stirring rendition of the Haka that was a highlight of the day.

We also held an Indigenous parent afternoon, where parents came along to discuss ways to assist our indigenous students and how to work together in closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous education. It was a very positive afternoon, and a special thanks to Jolene Russell for her organisation of the event.

I continue to be inspired by so many of our fantastic students. At the Charleville Triathlon on Sunday, so many of our students competed, and were inspirational in their efforts to do their very best on the day. Well done to all involved in this great community event.

We also had two buses of students head off at 5.15am on Monday morning for the Netball and Rugby League trails in Roma. Some of these students were up at 4am to get to the bus on time, an amazing effort. Thanks also to the staff members who were also up at this time to provide this opportunity for our students – amazing!

Have a safe and enjoyable Easter break, school will resume for Term 2 on Tuesday 18th April.

Matt Samson
Principal

Deputy Principal Senior Schooling Report

2017 Next Step survey

The Queensland Government is conducting its annual state-wide survey of all students who completed Year 12 in 2016. The Next Step survey is a brief, confidential survey that gains a comprehensive picture of the employment, study and life choices made by Queensland school completers in the year after they finish Year 12.

Between March and June, all our students who completed Year 12 last year can expect to receive instructions to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office to complete the survey. Please encourage them to take part. If their contact details have changed, please assist the interviewer with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate.

Thank you for your support of the Next Step survey in 2017.

Further information on Next Step is available online or on toll free telephone 1800 068 587.

Learner Licencing Program

On the 23rd March, we hosted learner driver training at the school. The course was free and was run in the afternoon, from 3pm – 5pm. We had 17 students attend and all successfully completed the course.

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

A big thank you goes out to the team from Murri’s On the Move and Jenny Peacock.

Deadly Recruits Camp 2017

On Wednesday 22nd March, Jenny Peacock, Jolene Russell and myself attended a meeting, hosted by Cunnamulla State School, to begin finalising the organisation for the Deadly Recruits Camp.

The camp is a collaboration between St. George, Cunnamulla and Charleville schools, the HOPE Project, Cunnamulla Council and reflects our community’s genuine desire to provide every opportunity to our young people.

The camp will run this year from Sunday 16th July to Friday 21st July. The camp is open to Indigenous students, both males and females, from Year 10 – Year 12. These students will spend a week camping at Tinnenburra and undertaking various army activities, such as using night vision, orienteering hikes and standing and marching military style.

If you are interested in this camp, please see Jenny, Jolene or myself.

VET News

Our Year 10 students and some of our Year 12 students are working toward gaining their Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways, during their Pastoral Care classes. The course covers valuable Literacy and Numeracy skills, as well as preparing students to undergo training in other certificate courses that we offer here at the school. This certificate course will gain the students valuable QCE points, as well as a well-recognised award for their resumes.

Traineeships

Congratulations to the following Trainee’s, who have all been signed up in the last week:

Anastasia O’Neil – Certificate II in Business (Commonwealth Bank)
Sam King – School Based Apprenticeship Mechanic (Robert Eckles Repair)
Jack Radnedge – School Based Apprenticeship Carpentry (FJ and TJ Jaeger Builders and Building Contractors)

Thank you to all our local businesses that support our students with Work Experience, Traineeships and Apprenticeships. You offer our students valuable time and experiences within the workplace.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holidays. See you next term

Cheers

Vanessa Moller

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 Year 7 and Year 8 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 February 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

Dependent and Independent Readers:

In a previous newsletter edition I outlined key characteristics of struggling or dependent readers. This week, I will outline what an independent or good reader does.

The most obvious difference between these two types of readers is that independent readers will read confidently, fluently and will comprehend what they have just read. This means that they can retell and answer questions about the text.

A key difference between the two is that independent readers may still struggle with difficult/new/unknown text BUT they have and use strategies to work through this. You will see independent readers do the following (Beers, 2003):

• Recognise that the purpose for reading is to get meaning;
• Figure out what is confusing them;
• Set goals for getting through the text;
• Use a range of comprehension strategies such as: predicting, summarising, questioning and visualising;
• They make inferences about the text;
• They use their prior knowledge to help understand the text;
• They recognize most words automatically;
• They re-read if the idea is lost.

At Charleville State High School we are attempting to create independent readers both at a whole school level with the activities that all teachers do in class but also at a more intensive level through the LLI program and the MultiLit program. In the next edition of the Reading Corner I will start to outline how you can work toward moving from a dependent to an independent reader (for your child/ren). Start to think about where your child/ren might sit on the independent / dependent scale and how you might like to help them.

Happy reading!

Lauren Butler

PBL

Starbucks

With the implementation of PBL at Charleville SHS, reward system for demonstrating correct behaviour is the Starbucks. Students with these can accrue Starbucks to reach levels of achievement, at each level receiving a certificate and at higher levels a gift voucher to the tuckshop or a local business. This year at school we have seen a huge number of students jump on board with Starbucks. In both the junior and senior school we have had several students reach the bronze and silver levels with, some students achieving the gold level already which gives the student a $5 tuckshop voucher. With these Starbucks also comes the semester rewards trip for the students with the most Starbucks in each year level. This year we are planning to continue the trek to Brisbane to watch a Brisbane Bronco’s game at Suncorp. We are currently researching which game will be most suitable to make the long journey for.

It has come to the schools attention that some students are selling their Starbucks to other students. Due to this occurring, teachers have been informed to not sign Starbucks where the name has been crossed out or white out has been used. Margaret Gibson, our PBL Historian/ Archivist who counts the Starbucks, will not count them towards student total and they will be thrown away.

Respectful Language

This newsletters reminder is to encourage students to use appropriate language at school to provide a safe and respectful environment for all. When students graduate and enter the workforce, students will enter a career that requires them to use respectful language to customers and other employees. School is a professional environment for both teachers and students and both are required to use respectful language.

Sarah O’Brien
PBL Communication Coordinator

Student Council News

Harmony Day/Bullying NO Way Day

On Tuesday 21st March Charleville State High School celebrated Harmony Day. The day began with a presentation of how many diverse cultures are represented in our school on parade.

Students were then invited to view the multicultural displays and sample some traditional foods in the hall. The students lined up to sample Aunty Lor’s fried scones and enjoyed Darlene’s Indigenous artefacts and activities during the first break.

During the second break the students were once again treated to some traditional delicacies but this time with a Maori theme with Ronnie and the Healthy Ageing ladies preparing fried bread for the students, but the highlight of the day was Jacob Hammonds and his Haka performance. Jacob’s performance of the traditional Maori dance impressed everyone in the hall with his passion and pride of his culture.

Student Council would like to thank all the staff, students and community members who supported Harmony Day 2017. The day certainly was a celebration of our cultural diversity and a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home in Charleville. Harmony3

The next fundraiser for the student council is to support Ryan Henry to help raise funds for the “Help Kids Like Nick” charity. Student Council will be selling cupcakes for $1 during second break on Wednesday.

Go Blue for Autism

Each year on April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, iconic buildings across Australia and the world turn their lights blue to promote autism awareness. The Go Blue for Autism campaign helps to raise awareness and funds to support people living with ASD and their families by holding an event or attending one being held in their local community. Next term, Charleville State High School will be Going Blue for Autism. Please keep an eye out on the SkoolBag App, school newsletter and student notices for upcoming events.

Supporting Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome

Ryan was born with a very rare genetic condition called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. This syndrome is caused by a deletion (missing section) of the short (p) arm of the 4th chromosome (the syndrome is sometimes referred to as “4p”) and is estimated to occur in 1 in 50,000 births.

The size of the deletion varies among affected people, but research has suggested that the deletion size is highly correlated with the level of intellectual disability and physical abnormalities (i.e. the larger the deletion, the more severely affected an individual will be). Ryan has a small deletion. Ryan loves to play football, socialise with this friends and listen to music. Ryan loves adventure and always ‘has a go’.

Every year, Help Kids Like Nick holds a Fun Run and Marathon at Yuleba to support children with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome and their immediate families, and to raise awareness and educate people about this disability. Help Kids Like Nick was founded in May 2012 by the extended family of Nicholas Blacket, to help his family and other families like his.

It’s hard to imagine the struggle through life with a debilitating condition like Wolf-Hirschhorn, but the parents of these amazing children somehow manage to find that inner strength especially when their children get to participate in special activities like a Fun Run.

Ryan, his family and friends, have participated in this event for many years and have raised valuable funds for families like their own. This year, the Fun Run and Marathon is being held on the 8th April and Ryan would love for you to donate and make a difference to the children and families of Wolf-Hirschhorn.

The Student Council will also be selling cupcakes for $1 at Wednesday lunch time to raise money to make a difference to the lives of children with Wold-Hirschhorn Syndrome.

From the Youth Support Coordinator

Life Skills Café

During this term, Tabitha Kranz, Kevin Newby and Lyndon Currie have been hard at work creating their very own café. The term began with the students learning how to make barista style coffees, then delivering samples to staff. Once confident the students took orders for coffees and added sweet treats to the menu. Both CSHS staff and Charleville School of Distance Education have been placing regular orders keeping the students very busy each Monday morning. They are also responsible for collecting and tallying the takings then calculating the profit, on average they have profited $30 weekly! Personalised aprons have been purchased with some of the profits which our barista students wear with pride. Next term the trio will continue with their café but invite special guests and members of the public in for samples of their tasty treats and barista quality coffees.

Healthy Ageing’s Singing Sensation

Every Thursday around 9.30am our very own CSHS talent Tabitha Kranz performs at Healthy Ageing to an ever growing crowd. Tabitha has been the star attraction at Healthy Ageing for some time now and looks forward to her visit every week. She is welcomed with open arms by the lovely folks at Healthy Ageing who come to see Tabby each week. Tabitha loves to see the ladies up and dancing and is working on singing “Danny Boy” as a special request by her fans.

Kind regards
Jenny Peacock