21 August 2018
Newsletter Articles
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
The preparation for the new senior schooling processes and the new ATAR system continues to move forward within the school. Parents, students and teachers have been presented information about the new system. Almost all of the teachers within the school have now travelled to Toowoomba or Brisbane to be involved in professional development around the new syllabus documents for the new subjects in 2019.
The planning for these documents, programs and assessment items is also now in full swing, with teachers meeting every Wednesday afternoon this term to commence the development of plans for each of the new subjects. This is a huge task on top of the regular planning for their subjects this year, and all staff are putting in an amazing effort to prepare for the changes occurring next year.
I would like to publicly thank all of the teachers for their engagement in this work to ensure that everything is organised and prepared for our students entering this new age of senior schooling. I would also like to thank Sebastian Kohli, our Head of Department Senior Schooling, and Vanessa Moller, our Deputy Senior Schooling for their leadership in this area. If parents have any questions or concerns regarding the upcoming changes, please contact one of these two for assistance.
STAFFING NEWS
Last Friday was the final day at Charleville State High for a while at least for one of our amazing student support staff. Mrs Jenny Peacock, our energetic Youth Support Co-ordinator, has accepted a 3 month contract with the HOPE foundation. Jenny will still be working to support the school and our students through the foundation, but in a very different way to how she has previously. We wish Jenny all the best in her new role, and know she will do an amazing job.
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
Last week, a group of students travelled to the Gold Coast to compete in the Open Girls All Schools Volleyball Championships. The girls did an amazing job, playing some sensational volleyball, and beating several teams that had beaten them in the previous competition in Toowoomba.
The improvement of the team was impressive and made their coach, Lauren Butler very proud. Congratulations to all of the girls for their outstanding efforts, and to Ms Butler and Ms O’Brien for taking the students away. Thanks also to all of the parents who travelled down to support the team at the Coast for the competition.
Last weekend, a group of students travelled to Toowoomba to compete in the inaugural Toowoomba HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) 3 hour race. The senior team did an exceptional job, finishing second overall, while our junior team also did a great job, learning a lot about racing HPV’s during their first ever race.
Both teams have used this event for the upcoming 24 hour race that will take place in Bundaberg in September. Thanks to Barry Wastie, Jenna Andreatta and our school Chaplain, Les Penrose, for giving up their time to take away these students.
We also had another group of students travel to Toowoomba on the weekend for a Touch Football competition. This competition acts as a grading competition for the All School Touch Football competition which is held in Brisbane later in the year, but is also an important opportunity for the students to get some much needed match practice in before they head off to the All Schools in October. Thank you to Mrs Eileen Lindsay and Daniel Baeck for all of your time and organisation for this event.
A very lucky group of students were given the opportunity to travel to Cunnamulla last week to be involved in a very special presentation by Cosentino, the very famous Australian Magician. Cosentino did some amazing tricks while on stage for the students, but it was his message to the students around reading that was the truly magical part of his presentation.
Cosentino explained that it was reading that enabled him to become the amazing magician that he is, and that by reading magic books constantly, he became better at reading so he could read and understand the instructions of tricks he was trying to learn.
The students involved enjoyed the show immensely and have hopefully come away with a new understanding of the power of reading. Thanks to our Reading support teacher, Mrs Ange Stirton, for organising this opportunity for the students.
PARENT INFORMTION EVENING
Last Wednesday, a parent information night was held at the school for the parents of our future Year 7s in 2019. It was great to see so many parents in attendance and taking an interest in their child’s future and education. The information presented will help parents answer their child’s questions about High School and is an important beginning of the crucial relationship between the school and parents in fostering student success.
This week will see the Year 6s from our local schools coming up to the high school for a day to be involved in a day at high school. They will be immersed in a variety of activities on the day that will help them prepare for their transition to High School next year.
Thanks to Mrs Sabrina Goodingham for all of her work in organizing both the information night and the transition day. If you have any questions regarding transition activities or enrolment of students for 2019, please contact either Sabrina Goodingham, our Junior Secondary Head of Department, or Mrs Narelle Webb, our Deputy Principal Junior School.
SCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
The school athletics carnival on Friday 1 August was a wonderful day. The students and staff did a great job in dressing up as a character starting with the first letter of their house name. The war cries, the cheering and the efforts put in by the athletes was inspiring. There were also some very memorable examples of sportsmanship and thinking of others shown on the day which reinforced what a tremendous group of students we have at Charleville State High School. All teams tried hard and competed well, but it was again Tobruk who triumphed on the day for the fourth year in a row.
From this, we had several students qualify and participate in the district 10-12 year athletic carnival last Friday. Five of these students have now qualified for the Regional carnival in Chinchilla. Congratulations to Norman Smith, Marni Briggs, Bubsie Mpofu, Sam Brooks and Lucy Watts. These students will need to return their permission forms to the school by this Friday for the upcoming Regional event.
P&C NEWS
The P&C will be putting out to tender shortly a number of items including an industrial gas cook top/ electric stove that is in perfect working order but was replaced during the tuckshop upgrade. This will soon go out to tender on our Facebook page so keep an eye out if interested.
The P&C are also looking for preferably 3 businesses to sponsor the perpetual awards for highest achiever awards for the schools awards night. If there are any businesses interested, they can ring John Bursle on 0447578168 for more info.
The P&C is also looking for a new Treasurer, if anybody has the time and ability to help, please ring the school to offer your assistance.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- CULTURE TRAIN MUSIC PERFORMANCE – TUESDAY 21 AUGUST
- BANGARRA DANCES BRISBANE VISIT – WEDNESDAY 22 – FRIDAY 24 AUG
- YEAR 7 2019 TRANSITION DAY – THURSDAY 23 AUGUST
- HUMANITIES WEEK – WEEK 7 (AUGUST 27)
Take care,
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. Randomly selected families have been posted an information and instruction sheet last week. The School Opinion Surveys will close 5pm Friday, 24th August 2017.
Indigenous Education Community Meetings
Charleville State High School holds an Indigenous Education Community Meeting once a month. This Committee provides a link for our indigenous community/family to share knowledge, celebrate and be involved in the education of the children enrolled at Charleville State High School. If you have a child/grandchild attending Charleville State High School who identifies as ATSI or you are interested in the education of ATSI children in our community then we welcome and encourage you to attend our meetings.
In 2018, these meetings will be held in the school Professional Library, situated in the school office, and will occur on the second Thursday of each month. If you wish to discuss a particular topic please forward your agenda item to jruss336@eq.edu.au prior to meeting day.
Queensland Core Skills (QCS) Test
Each year, the QCAA conducts a common statewide 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.
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.
QCE Tracking
Mr Kohli and I are busy closely monitoring our senior students, to ensure they are on a pathway to successfully gain their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). If any students need to change subjects to help them toward getting their QCE, they need to see me. We will also be organising parent/student interviews with those students who are ‘at risk’ of not gaining their QCE, so we can form an action plan.
VET News
We have a number of traineeships and apprenticeship opportunities coming up.
If your student is looking for the opportunity to be involved, please contact Ange Vetter at the school on 4656 8888.
Thank you to all the businesses that support our students and our school. If you have an opportunity within your business to employ a school based trainee or apprentice, please contact Ange Vetter on 4656 8888.
Cheers
Vanessa Moller
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS
Junior School
Welcome to week 6.
Congratulations to Mrs Goodingham who gave an excellent presentation to the parents of potential year seven students in 2019. The first Transition day will be this week on Thursday 23rd August.
Timetable
The 2019 timetable is underway. Within the next two weeks year seven, eight and nine students will be given a letter outlining their elective selections for 2019. Those students who are not on track for their Junior Certificate of Education(JCE) and the year ten students who did not attain a JCE will only be able to choose one elective. They will be given extra literacy and/or numeracy classes or learning support. Other students will have two electives to choose.
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 all times.
Year Six/seven Transition day
On Thursday 23nd August, year six students from St Mary’s School, Charleville State School, Augathella State School, Morven State School and Charleville School of Distance Education will join us for the first of two transition days. The second transition day is in term 4.
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. Please support the P&C and us 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/Art/Junior Secondary – Mrs Sabrina Goodingham
Technology/ VET – acting Mr Barry Wastie
English/ Humanities/LOTE/Reading - Mrs Cassandra Kohli
Year Level Coordinators
Yr 10-12 – Ms Nancy
McKinnon and Miss Lauren Butler
Yr 7-9 – Mr Daniel Baeck and Mrs Kate Jackson
Guidance Officer – Mr
John Anderssen
Youth Support Coordinator – TBA
CEC – Jolene Russell
School Based Youth Health Nurse – Jen
Frazer
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
Mobile Phones at Charleville SHS
We would like to remind everyone that students are not allowed to use their mobile phones at school. Year seven students are not allowed to have a phone at school. In 2019 it will be expanded to all students in year seven and year eight. If a student uses their phone at school then they are requested to hand their phone in to the office to be collected by a parent/carer. The inappropriate use of a mobile phone is occasionally 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 will be prevented from bringing their phone to school. It is the parents’ and carers’ responsibility to ensure that the student is receiving and sending legal and only age appropriate material.
Outside of School Hours on School Grounds
Dedicated staff are often at school outside of school hours. It is concerning the number of students on school grounds out of school hours. It is essential that children be adequately supervised at all times.
Year Nine Camp
Students, parents and teachers are working towards the organizing of the Year Nine Camp in Term 4. Students are getting quite excited about this wonderful opportunity that has been organized for them.
Until next time,
Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal
Junior Schooling/Student Services
Humanities Update
Australian History Competition
In term 2 a number of students were able to participate in the Australian History Competition and now the results have been returned. The year 10 students who participated have done very well achieving slightly higher than the national average on the exam with the year 9 and 7 student groups coming in only 2% under the national average.
There were some stand out performances amongst the results. Among the top performers were Jack Knight (year 10) who received a Distinction and William Everitt (year 9) who received a High Distinction. Many other students achieved Credits and Merits with the remainder of participants receiving a certificate of participation.
This competition examined students on a range of historical skills and knowledge from across the Australian Curriculum and required students to read and interpret a range of historical sources from a large range of contexts. The students involved have put in a fantastic effort and brought in a great result for the school.
Drum Beat
Charleville High School students in Year 7 have recently participated in The DRUMBEAT program, a course based on documented research that identifies key issues related to health and social outcomes. The program consists for five core elements: core rhythms, rhythm games, discussion, improvisation and performance.
Year 9 Camp
Year 9 camp is fast approaching, all of the students who have paid a deposit have now received their final payment and permission letter. All students have done a fantastic job of participating in and contributing to the fundraising. So far this year for fundraising we have sold Zooper Doopers, sold raffle tickets at the show, had students assist in catering for the Debutante Ball and have held a sausage sizzle at IGA.
At each of these events every student has shown a great deal of commitment and have represented Charleville State High School extremely well. We are getting much closer to our target of $3500 with less than $500 to go. Thank you for everyone who has contributed items and time, and a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Year 9’s in our fundraising endeavours.
Expression of Interest
Darling Downs South West Region
Charleville State High School
Youth Support Coordinator
3 days – 21.75 hours per week
plus ADO (negotiable)
10-9-18 to 9 November 2018 with the possibility of extension.
Expressions of Interest are invited for the position of temporary
Youth Support Coordinator
Your role:
Refer at risk students to appropriate agencies and support services that will assist students to overcome barriers to education and Training.
Provide individual support, case management and, where appropriate, group support to students to maximise their engagement with education and training.
Your application:
Applicants are required to submit a brief resume including contact details for 2 referees (1 being current supervisor) and a maximum of two pages written response outlining your suitability for the role against the key capabilities. A ‘Working with Children’ Blue card is required for this position.
How you will be assessed
Within the context of the role described above, the ideal applicant will be someone who has the following key capabilities:
- Supports strategic direction
Knowledge of and experience in working with young people at risk of disengaging with education and training and contemporary practices. - Achieves results
Demonstrated ability to organise own work, to work independently and as a team member, to maintain confidentiality, and to reliably meet commitments. - Supports productive working
relationships
Knowledge of effective support networks for young people and demonstrated collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders to meet required outcomes. - Displays personal drive and integrity
Demonstrated personal qualities and commitment to working with at risk young people and an ability to work with and develop resilience in young people to support retention and attainment. - Communicates with influence
Well developed interpersonal, negotiation and communication skills to liaise effectively with a diverse range of persons, including students in Years 10-12 and their families.
Please submit application to:
Jillian Bussell
Business Manager
Email: jbuss1@eq.edu.au
Applications close: 3rd September 2018
Town Netball
Town Netball BREAKUP Afternoon for Prep-Year 10 Thursday 30th August
Prep-Year 6 will play 3.30-4.00pm and then all players will be given a drink and chips and ready to start presentations around 4.10pm.
Year 7-Year 10 will play at 4.30-5.15pm and then all players will be given a drink and chips and ready to start presentations around 5.30pm.
Family Support Service
Confidential Support and information on a wide range of issues that families may face.
- Parenting – can facilitate Bringing up great kids individually or in groups. Even if you have great kids this program can help you add some new ideas or tools to the mix!
- For all ages – its never too late to learn some new tips.
- Cooking quick budget friendly meals for the family and the dreaded lunchbox.
- Household routines , Goals, Time and stress management
- Budgeting
- Liaise with School if your child is refusing to go, has issues with bulling or has been suspended or expelled.
- NILS- no interest loans for white goods and essential household items.
- Comprehensive parents Library of books and DVDS on parenting, relationships, divorce, grief and loss, nutrition, cooking, gardening and self-sufficiency.
- Advice and referral to other services, and so much more!
- Covering the four shires of Murweh, Paroo, Bulloo, Quilpie. Charleville Neighbourhood Centre Melissa Vaggs- (07) 4654 3324 familysupport@charlevillenc.org.au
Youth Support Service
A Service based in the town of Charleville to help young people aged 12-18 facing issues such as disconnection with school, family or friends.
- Advice and referral on a wide range of challenges that teens may face such as-
- Bullying, drugs and alcohol, self-harm, problems at school , accessing tafe courses available locally, writing a resume.
- Resilience skills to cope with issues at home, school or within the wider community.
- Skills to improve capacity to develop independent living and improve overall health and wellbeing.
- Informal counselling and mentoring to build self-esteem, resilience and involvement in the community.
- Support to youth activities such as youth council and general information sessions.
- Particular focus on bringing together workable solutions between schools, Parents, and youth to be either learning or working towards employment by sourcing certified training or structured work experience.
Charleville Neighbourhood Centre Melanie Connolly (07) 4554 1345 ydw@charlevillenc.org.au