2 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Hello again everyone, well another two weeks has flown by, with plenty of amazing and exciting things continuing to happen at Charleville State High School!

I had the absolute pleasure of accompanying 34 wonderful students on our Rewards trip last week. The students were given several options as to what they would like to do for being the best in their Year levels for collecting their “Starbucks” rewards points. These are collected by the students for consistently displaying the 4V’s and 4B’s that underpin expected behaviours and values at Charleville State High School.

The majority of students selected Dreamworld as their preferred option, and so at 6.30am on Thursday morning, the students jumped on a bus bound for Dreamworld. The trip entailed cheering on the girls Rugby League Team in their game against Lockyer Valley in Toowoomba, followed by an exciting shopping trip in the “Big Smoke” of Central Plaza in Toowoomba. We then stayed in Toowoomba for the night before heading down to a fantastic day at Dreamworld on Friday. The students then jumped back in the bus at 5pm, travelling back and arriving in Charleville at about 3am on Saturday morning.

All of the students were absolutely wonderful; a credit to themselves, to the families, and to their school. I was very proud of every single one of them.

There will be another rewards activity towards the end of Term 4 as well, with all students eligible to be invited through the collecting of their Starbucks points this semester. Please encourage your students to strive for this, as not only are their great rewards for their efforts, but it importantly reminds every student of the school expectations, and these behaviours will result in better school engagement and results for each student.

NAIDOC CELEBRATIONS

Thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate NAIDOC week at our Mural unveiling ceremony last Wednesday. It was a really enjoyable morning, with the important message of “Our Language Matters” being highlighted in several forms. This included a recording of the artist of the Mural, Mr Stanley Geebung, speaking to the students about his painting and the story he wanted it to tell to them, for them and about them.

We were also fortunate enough to then be entertained by the “Bidjara Dancers”, who travelled down from Roma to be part of the celebrations. The members of the dance troupe, performed a number of traditional dances and songs, backed by some amazing didgeridoo playing. They then engaged the crowd further by inviting students, teachers, and Principals up to the stage to dance with them. They then spent the rest of the day working with a large group of our students, teaching them about their language, the meaning of the dances, and then how to perform the dances.

A special thanks must go to RAPID Employment in financially assisting to get the dancers out to the school and the community for our ceremony and the NAIDOC celebrations, and to Darlene Robinson from the Goolburri foundation for organising and co-ordinating the dancers on the day.

“Charleville’s Got Talent” was also held at the school on Wednesday night, with almost 200 people filling our hall to watch a number of very brave and talented acts perform with a variety of talents on show. It was a fantastic, entertaining evening, and it was very pleasing to see a number of our talented students braving the stage to perform on the evening, with the highlights being Tabitha Kranz, singing “Only one call away” and the school rock band, “Passenger Down” playing “Life is a Highway”, with both picking up major prizes on the night.

All students were also involved in the annual NAIDOC march on Friday 28th July, which commenced outside the Courthouse, and this year marched to St Mary’s School. Thank you to all parents for ensuring that students met the teachers on time at the courthouse on Friday morning so that they could be involved in this whole community event.

HEARING SCREENING

Unfortunately, the Hearing Screening that was to happening at the High School is now not able to occur. Hearing concerns can be a significant influence on student engagement, and is more prevalent than you might think. If you have any concerns regarding your child and their hearing, please contact our HOSES, Ms Georgia Grant, who will work with you to refer your child to the Clarity clinic. They are a service that tests hearing and will be in town during August. A referral from the school will result in a FREE check of your child’s hearing,

DENTAL VAN

Another reminder, that the Queensland Health Dental Van will be arriving at the school on August 8th. This van offers a FREE service to all students for many dental procedures (for all Year 7-10 students, and for all Year 11-12 students with a current Health Care Card).

All students will soon have a form sent home so that parents can book a time for their student to have a check-up at the school. Students will then be given an appointment time at school for the check-up, with the Dental Van staff contacting parents if there is any further work suggested for the students. Please look to take advantage of this FREE Queensland Health Service.

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

The School Athletics carnival will be held this Friday 4th August. This will be a fantastic day, with the regular athletic events happening for students to compete in to earn points for their house, but also to try to qualify for the District Athletics Team.

As well as these, there will also be a number of novelty events for students of all athletic ability to be involved in, so please encourage all students to be present and participating on the day. Athletics days are always one of the most enjoyable and fun days of the school year.

YEAR 7 2018 INFORAMTION NIGHT

On Tuesday 1st August, the School will be holding an information night for all parents and students enrolling into Year 7 in 2018 at Charleville State High School. This is an essential night, where vital information regarding enrolment dates, transition programs, and other information to assist in the transition from Primary School to High School occurs.

There are also some exciting initiatives that will be announced and discussed on the evening, which will increase the opportunities for many of the Year 7 students as they enter High School next year.

I really hope that all parents with Year 6 students this year can come along to the evening with their student so that you can all gather the information you need and have the opportunity to ask any questions regarding the move to High School.

Have a great week everyone,

Matt Samson
Principal

Deputy Principal Senior Schooling Report

School Opinion Survey

The School Opinion Surveys are undertaken each year by the Department of Education and Training to obtain opinion information from parents/caregivers, students and school staff. The surveys are designed to help schools identify what they do well and how they can improve. The School Opinion Survey suite is comprised of five individual surveys:

• Parent/Caregiver Survey
• Student Survey
• Student Survey for Special Schools
• Staff Survey
• Principal Survey.

Opinions on the school, student learning and student well-being are sought from a parent/caregiver in all families and a sample of students from each state school.

All of the information you provide will be treated confidentially. Selected families will be posted an information and instruction sheet within the next week. The School Opinion Surveys will close 5pm Friday, 25 August 2017.

Queensland Core Skills (QCS) Test

Each year, the QCAA conducts a common state-wide test designed for Year 12 students. The test is also available to other eligible candidates.

The QCS Test contributes information for the calculation of Overall Positions (OPs) and Field Positions (FPs), which are used to select students for tertiary entrance.

A student's individual QCS Test result is not used on its own in the calculation of their OP — instead, group results are used as part of the statistical scaling processes. A student's individual result on the QCS Test (from A to E) is reported on the student's Senior Statement or Statement of Results.

The QCS Test does not test particular knowledge of specific Year 12 subjects. It tests the Common Curriculum Elements (CCEs) , a set of generic skills identified in the Queensland senior curriculum.

The test assumes that candidates have basic levels of general knowledge and vocabulary and a Year 10 knowledge of mathematical operations.

The QCS Test consists of 4 papers — a Writing Task (of 600 words), a Short Response paper and two Multiple Choice papers. The results achieved for each of the 4 test papers are combined into one grade, ranging from A (the highest grade) to E (the lowest).

Those sitting the test are asked to respond to a variety of stimulus materials, such as prose passages, poetry, graphs, tables, maps, mathematical and scientific data, cartoons and artistic works.

The dates for these tests are listed below.

QTAC

The Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) operates a centralised tertiary application service for:

• publicly-funded Queensland universities
• Bond University Medicine
• TAFE Queensland
• Australian Maritime College
• some courses at publicly-funded universities in Northern New South Wales
• some private tertiary education providers.

These institutions have complete control in determining their own entry requirements.

QTAC assess applications using these entry requirements and then make offers to successful applicants during the offer rounds.

As well as managing applications for the above institutions, QTAC publish course information for some institutions that accept their own applications directly.

QTAC Applications open on the 3rd August 2017 and close on the 26th September 2017, for courses that commence in early 2018. Students will be researching courses and receiving guidance with their applications during their Pastoral Care class at school.

Parents are encouraged to talk to their Year 12 students about courses they might want to apply for, what are the associated costs involved and possible scholarships students can apply for.

The application fee cost is below.

Deadly Recruits Camp 2017

On Sunday 16th July, we had 9 young people travel to Tinnenburra Station for the week long Deadly Recruits Camp. Tinnenburra Station is about an hour and a half south of Cunnamulla and the students were driven down on the CASE Bus by Jenny Peacock, accompanied by Matt Huth and Amiee Dolman. The Bus rolled out of town on this foggy Sunday at 8:30am, to meet the rest of the campers at Cunnamulla State School. 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.

Jolene Russell was camping with our students for the week, which concluded on Friday 21st July. These students spent a week camping at Tinnenburra and undertook various army activities, such as using night vision, orienteering hikes and standing and marching military style.

A huge thank you to Jolene, Mr Samson and Uncle Teddy for ferrying all of our recruit’s home on the Friday.

Black Diggers Camp – Sophie Saffy

Earlier this year, we had two students selected to be part of the Indigenous Student Ambassador Network (ISAN). Sophie Saffy will now be representing the school at the ISAN Leadership Camp. The ISAN Leadership Camp is themed ‘Black Diggers’ and will have an explicit leadership focus that considers leadership from and through the ‘lens’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ service and sacrifice in protection of this country.

In total, twenty-four (24) Indigenous Student Ambassadors from across the state will be selected for the ISAN ‘Black Diggers’ Leadership Camp which includes:

a) two (2) days at the State Library of Queensland (Brisbane) participating in a Young Historians Workshop researching First Nations people’s participation in wars and conflicts;
b) one (1) day at the Emu Gully Adventure Camp (Toowoomba) participating in various hands-on, team-building and Anzac-themed activities; and,
c) one (1) day at Cherbourg’s Ration Shed and Barambah Environmental Education Centre to learn, first-hand, about one Aboriginal community’s significant contribution to the war-time effort through a guided tour of the Boys from Barambah exhibit.

Indigenous Student Ambassadors were selected for the camp based on their school performance (effort, behaviour, attendance and academic achievement) as well as their school and Principal’s endorsement. However, Sophie received an automatic invitation because of her involvement in the Indigenous ANZAC Tour in September.

Sophie has also been chosen to be interviewed by ABC Radio, because of her outstanding application for the Indigenous ANZAC Tour. The interview will be aired out of Mt Isa. Below is the media release from the State Library.

Beyond Year 10 Camp

At 6:15am on Monday morning, eight Year 10 students, accompanied by Lauren Butler and Ange Vetter, headed off into the chilly morning on their way to Toowoomba for the week. They picked up another student at Morven and the 10th student arrived in Toowoomba on Wednesday. This dedicated group of young people are participating in the University of Southern Queensland Beyond Year 10 Camp, from Tuesday to Thursday. The camp was designed to open student’s minds to various different career pathways and spark their interest in further education after high school.

All reports back indicate that it was an amazing experience for these young people.

Traineeships

We have a number of traineeships and apprenticeships available at the moment, including Certificate III Hospitality. Please see Ange Vetter for more information on how to apply.

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.

Cheers

Vanessa Moller

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

Junior School

Welcome to Week 4. Once again the weeks seem to be moving very quickly. You should now have been able to access the Assessment Calendar for junior students. This will help you in supporting your student to plan carefully for the assessment they will have in the next few weeks.

Timetable

Due to numerous staff on leave in Term 3, there have been a number of necessary changes to the timetable. We have attempted to keep the changes to a minimum and thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Contact Details

Are your contact details up to date at the school? Please call Nadonna at the office or send a note if you have had a change in address or phone number. It is important that we are able to contact you at any time.

Parent Information Evening

On Tuesday 1st August parents are invited to attend a Parent Information Evening. This presentation is directed for parents of students entering Year 7 in 2018. However, all parents and community members are invited. Please see the flyer for more information.

Uniforms

Although we are experiencing an unusually warm winter this year, students are still wearing jumpers, coats and hoodies to school which do not abide by the school uniform guidelines as written and supported by the CSHS P&C. Please refer to the back page of the student diary for details on the correct school uniform. As we are now in the month of August students have had plenty of time to access a school coat or a Black jumper/hoodie. Please support us and the P&C by ensuring your student has correct uniform every day.

Who can support your student at CSHS?

There are many people who can help your student if they need it. Below is a list of some options should students not know who to see for help. Please note that there are a number of staff on leave in term 3

Class Teachers

Have a list of emails to be able to contact staff or ring the school to have a chat or organise a meeting.

Head of Departments

Science/ Maths/Ag/Senior Secondary – Mr Sebastian Kohli
HPE/Junior Secondary – Mrs Sabrina Goodingham
Technology/ VET – acting Mr Barry Wastie
English/ Humanities/LOTE/Art/Reading - Mrs Cassandra Kohli

Year Level Coordinators

Yr 10-12 - Mr Leighton Webb and Miss Lauren Butler
Yr 7-9 – Mr Sam Barrow and Miss Katherine Goult

Guidance Officer – Mr John Anderssen
Youth Support Coordinator - Mrs Jenny Peacock
CEC – Jolene Russell
School Based Youth Health Nurse – Jen Sellin
Chaplain - Mr Les Penrose (Chappy)

Deputy Principals

Senior Schooling – Ms Vanessa Moller
Junior Schooling and Students Services – Mrs Narelle Webb

Principal -Mr Matt Samson

Student Services

IMPORTANT – Please Read
Mobile Phones at Charleville SHS

There is a disturbing increase in the amount of inappropriate use of mobile phones among teenagers. I would like to emphasise to parents/carers of students under the age of sixteen that you are responsible for what is stored on their phone and how the teenager uses their phone. As a responsible parent/carer you should be checking phones for what is being received and what is being sent via their phone. Should your child receive inappropriate material via their phone, it should be reported to the police immediately.

I have spoken to the students of Years 7, 8 and 9 about this topic and have made it very clear that every parent/carer has the right and obligation to check their teenagers’ phone on a regular basis. I have spoken to the students that once a picture and/or comment is posted on any social media site is never disappears. Many students appear to think that Apps such as SNAPCHAT is safe to use as it disappears after a certain amount of time. Sadly, this is not always the case. Please have responsible conversations with your teenagers on the correct use of mobile phones and social media.

On occasion inappropriate use of a mobile phone is reported to the school, however the majority of times the mobile phone is used outside of school hours. If there is evidence that a student has used their phone inappropriately at school, then the student can be prevented from bringing their phone to school.

Outside of School Hours on School Grounds

Unless supervised, children including students of Charleville State High School are not allowed on the school grounds outside of school hours. Dedicated staff are often at school outside of school hours and are concerned that these children are not adequately supervised.

Immunization for Meningococcal (Year 10 students)

Forms have been be sent out to every Year 10 student. Please ensure the forms are returned to the school as soon as possible. The year tens will be immunized very soon.

Hearing Screening

Unfortunately, the agency offering the free hearing screen at Charleville State High School are unable to offer the service this year.

Year 9 Camp

Students, parents and teachers are working towards the organizing of the Year 9 Camp to Moreton Island that takes place in Term 4. Last Wednesday, a number of Year 9 students worked with Mr Baeck and myself to serve Hot Dogs and refreshments to the people attending the Charleville’s Got Talent evening. Every little bit of help is very appreciated as this is a very worthwhile trip for our students.

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal
Junior Schooling/Student Services

Discover Hawaii

A STEM Teacher's Trip

In the first week of this term, Mrs Kohli and I spent a bit over a week on the Big Island of Hawaii with Gary Lewis of GeoEtc, an experienced science communicator and geologist.

This 8-day field trip on the Big Island of Hawaii expanded our knowledge in the field of plate tectonics, hot spot volcanism and the geologic features and hazards associated with living on an active volcano.

The crater below on Kilauea is the most active volcano on the Hawaiian Islands.

We discussed volcanic edifices, eruption styles, magma evolution and saw various types of lava flows, lava lakes, tree molds and lava trees, fault scarps, rifts, craters and calderas.

Our observations and newfound knowledge will help use to effectively communicate geologic concepts. We also looked at local agriculture based on the volcanic soils, and visited sites of natural hazards, including the 1946 and 1964 tsunamis, and lava flows over populated area.

Here, a house is built on the site one destroyed by a lava flow from Mauna Loa.

We practiced field-mapping skills in volcanic environment including:

• Mapping the edge of lava flows and looking for evidence of relative ages, as in the image below.

• Mapping inside a lava tube and calculating flow volumes.
• Mapping volcanic eruption site features and building ideas and theories on the geological history.

It was truly an amazing and memorable trip, with a highlight being the view of Kiluea at night, shown above.

Life as a year 9 science student in Term 3.

This term so far, Year 9’s have been learning about what makes up ecosystems from biotic (living organisms) and abiotic (non-living things) components, energy flow and the physical and chemical environment. All these things make life possible in an ecosystem. Currently students are researching these factors as well as impacts that destroy these components to create a presentation on an ecosystem of their choice. Students get to research two ecosystem options; the Amazon Rainforest and how deforestation is destroying the biggest ecosystem in the world or how global warming is effecting the Arctic Tundra. Students are enjoying researching new animals and plants found in these ecosystems and creating their presentations to present to the class next week. In Week 6, students will be moving onto a new unit looking at body systems and how humans can maintain homeostasis in different environment conditions. The Year 9’s will be busy with another assignment creating a poster and using their dissection skills to dissect organs of the body.

Year 9 HPP

This term in Year 9 HPP, students are studying the effects of both recreational drugs and performance enhancing drugs.

As part of the assessment the class is researching whether the consequences of recreational drug use by professional athletes need to be more severe. Alternatively, they can investigate whether the ban on performance enhancing drugs should be lifted, or at least revised.

Some students have identified that particular sporting codes do appear to have a problem with ‘party drugs’, putting the sporting body into disrepute. Likewise, particular athletic events and cycling have a tattered history of performance enhancing drug use. As Lance Armstrong explained in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, he (Lance) did not feel he was cheating at the time because he did not believe he was gaining an advantage over anyone because doping was so common among his rivals.

Sam Barrow
Year 9 HPP Teacher

Year 7 Humanities

Term 3 for Year 7 Humanities sees students study a unit called distribution of resources. As the title suggests, we are looking into the way our natural and artificial resources are shared amongst the people of the world and more specifically, students are investigating the way food is created, used and wasted by people here in Australia and around the world. Our unit so far has looked into the importance of importing and exporting food to and from Australia which has culminated in activities like investigating the controversial live animal export industry and games to simulate trade between countries in a volatile global market. By the end of this unit, students will hopefully have developed a greater appreciation for where their food comes from, think consciously about food waste and reflect on how fortunate most of us are living in this country.

Mr Daniel Baeck