6 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

WELCOME

Welcome back to all the families, students and staff to Charleville State High School for 2019. A special welcome to our 47 new year 7s who have joined us this year and who have got off to a great start over the past two weeks. I would also like to welcome new students to other year levels and their families to the Charleville State High School community. I look forward to working with all of you for the best educational outcomes for each of your children.

To welcome you all, we will be holding a very casual “meet and greet” at the school on Thursday 7 February at 3.00pm. We hold it at this time so that parents picking up students from school can drop in. There will be a sausage sizzle provided for all new students and their families, so please drop in to meet your student’s teachers for 2019. This will be held in the Junior area, just up from the school hall.

All students are off to a great start this year, being organised and ready for their first day of school. This only happens through the support of their families, so I thank you all for your preparation of your students. Through parents working with the school, together we will enable students to achieve the best educational outcomes that they can.

In the parent agreement signed when parents enrol their student, it outlines the ways parents can help the school to achieve this for each student.

Parents agreed to:

• Send my child to school every day, unless he/she is unwell
• Make sure my child arrives at school on time (school starts at 8.45am)
• Encourage and support my child’s learning at home
• Help my child to establish a good study routine so that he/she can complete school work on time
• Talk with teachers about any problem that may affect my child’s learning
• Be open and responsive to communication from my child’s teacher or other school staff
• Encourage my child to do his/her homework and to ask for help at school if needed
• Reinforce the importance of education and that school is a place for learning

Students have been challenged to take responsibility for their education and to value the opportunity they have to learn at school every day. They have also been reminded that they are not the same person they were last year – they are older, wiser, more able, and they must continue to strive to get better in all of their subjects.

They have also been asked to set goals for themselves in each of their subjects and to have a look at the awards presented at the end of the year and target some of these achievements for the year. A conversation with your child about these goals will certainly be a great way to reinforce these with them, and help them focus on what they need to do to achieve these goals.

STAFF NEWS

We welcome five new teachers to the school this year, all of them bringing with them experience and knowledge that will undoubtedly assist all of our Charleville State High School students in achieving the best results they can.

New teachers this year are Ms Candice Luff (Physical Education), Mr Nathan Bailey (Maths/Humanities), Mrs Monica Bailey (Science/Agriculture), Mrs Nicole Capper (English/Humanities/Japanese), and Mr David Pullen (Instrumental Music). As well as these teachers, we also welcome Mrs Sue Swords, who will be working in the office, and also welcome back Ms Amanda Dighton to our Teacher aide ranks after some time off.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

Our 2018 Year 12s achieved some outstanding results, with a number of students receiving fantastic OP scores, enabling them to receive offers for the University courses of their choice. Blair Shearwin, our DUX of 2018, received an OP 3, which has helped him receive an offer to study medicine at James Cook University in Townsville – an incredible achievement, and one that the school is very proud of him for. Other students who achieved excellent results included:

Elijah Hinz – OP 7, Makayla Smith – OP 7, Sophia Caricato – OP 9, Shiloh Bursle – OP 10.

Of the 33 students who graduated from Charleville State High School last year, 100% received their QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education), 31 also completed 1 or more Certificate 1 level courses, 19 completed a Certificate 2 level course, and 8 completed a Certificate 3 level course. As well as this, 17 students completed a school based apprenticeship or scholarship. Fantastic results and proof that no matter what pathway students wish to take, it can be achieved at Charleville State High School!

Four of our outstanding Year 11 students, spent last week at the University of Queensland, St Lucia campus, as they participated in a camp for the commencement of the UQ Young Achievers Program. They will be involved in this prestigious program for the next two years, while completing their senior program here at school, to help prepare for their tertiary education choices after school. Congratulations to Amber Hinz, Nicole Rivera, Matthew Hinz and Erin Landsburg, who I am sure have gained so much from this experience, and are now even more motivated to achieve great things this year and in year 12.

ATTENDANCE

Our target goal for attendance is a minimum of 92% for every single student in the school. Every day missed by a student is information, skills and knowledge that is missed, making it harder for that student to reach their full potential.

The P&C is continuing its support of attendance awards this year, with the best attending form classes awarded a certificate for the Form and students presented with a free slushy voucher each week if as a class they reach our attendance goal of 92%.

EXPECTATIONS

Throughout the first week of school, students have been continually reminded about the expectations of the school. These expectations are based around our expectations (4B’s) of Be Safe, Be a Learner, Be Respectful, Be Responsible and our values (4V’s) of Co-operation, Resilience, Integrity and Organisation.

Charleville State High School is a Positive Behaviour for Learning school (PBL) and so students are awarded “Starbucks” by teachers when they are “caught” doing the right thing. Starbucks points are collated and students are awarded certificates, tuckshop vouchers and other vouchers around town for reaching certain point amounts over the Semester. Starbucks points also help students qualify for an invitation to rewards trips and activities at the end of Semesters. Such trips in the past have included Broncos games, Wet and Wild, Dreamworld and Laser Skirmish.

Student have also been reminded to have their Student Planners in class every lesson so that homework and other important information can be written into this. All students are given a planner at the start of the school year and are expected to be responsible and look after this. It is to be kept tidy and free of graffiti. If planners are lost or defaced, it must be replaced at the student’s expense.

Another expectation of each student is that they complete homework or home study on a regular basis. This work engages students in independent learning to complement and enhance work undertaken in class. Students should plan to spend a minimum of:

15 to 20 minutes per subject per day in years 7, 8 and 9.
30 minutes to 1 hour per subject per day in years 10, 11 and 12.

It would be appreciated if parents and caregivers help encourage their children to engage in these routines. An important part of this is setting up a study space at home where work can be completed.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Thursday 7 February – Year 8 and 9 parent information evening- JCE 5PM
• Swimming Carnival – Friday 8 February, Charleville Swimming Pool
• Tuesday 12 February - Leaders Investiture: School Hall 10AM
• Wednesday 13 Feb – P&C Meeting 5.30pm
• Thursday 14 February- Indigenous Education Community Meeting
• Thursday 14 February - Year 7 Parents “Meet and Greet” 3PM

All the best for 2019 everyone,

Matt Samson
Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING
AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

WELCOME TO 2019

I would like to extend to you a very warm welcome to the Junior Schooling and Student Services page for 2019. My name is Narelle Webb. I first started at Charleville State High School in 1995 as a Head of Department. I left to raise my family for several years during which time I worked at a Band Five School near my home. I returned to Charleville State High School in 2011 and since then have had a range of positions including Behaviour Support Teacher and Master Teacher. In 2017, I was very pleased to have taken on the role of Deputy Principal, Junior Schooling which includes Student Welfare and services.

Timetable

The timetable for 2019 is finalized and most students in years 8, 9 and 10 all were placed in their first choice elective classes. Due to small class numbers some electives will not be offered this year. It is unfortunate that this difficult decision had to be made, however we have to ensure that the current year twelve students were not disadvantaged due to the introduction of the new senior schooling system. From time to time students request to change their electives. This can only be done in the first 2 weeks of term and only with written permission from home. Students must show responsibility and collect the official form and follow the correct procedures.

School Uniforms

It is wonderful to see almost every student in school uniform for the start of the school year.

STUDENT SERVICES Team - 2019

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Junior Schooling and Student Welfare- Narelle Webb
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Senior Schooling and Human Resources – Vanessa Moller
GUIDANCE OFFICER- John Anderssen
JUNIOR SCHOOLING HOD – Sabrina Goodingham
JUNIOR SCHOOL YLCs- Crystal Buckle (year 7), Jenna Andreatta (year 8), Kate Jackson (year 9)
SENIOR SCHOOL YLCs – Sarah O’Brien (year 10), Lauren Butler (Year 11/12)
HOD of DIVERSE LEARNING (HOSES) – Katherine Neucom
PBL TEAM LEADER- Sarah O’Brien
SWD TEACHER- Nicole Capper
YOUTH SUPPORT COORDINATOR- Katie McLeod
SCHOOL BASED YOUTH HEALTH NURSE- Jen Frazer
CEC – Jolene Russell
BEYOND BRONCOS ACADEMY – Courtney Burns
CAREERS OFFICER- Angelique Vetter
CHAPLAIN- Les Penrose
ADOPT AN ELDER- Robbie Geebung

The Student Services team will oversee the following areas:

• Medical Needs and Plans
• Students with a Disability(SWD) and QCIA(Senior Schooling)
• 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

Student services have a number of specialist individuals and organisations visit the school. Most of these services are for students with a disability and/ or medical condition. If you wish for your child to access a specialist through the school please contact Mrs Katherine Neucom or Mrs. Narelle Webb.

The following specialists have been/ are expected in our school over the next few weeks:

• Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) - Natalya Kajewski- based at Charleville State School. Natalya will be visiting CSHS in the very near future and if she needs to see your student she will contact you. Natalya, at CSHS, works mainly with students verified with a Speech Language Impairment (SLI) or an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis either directly with the student or to produce programs to support the student. Natalya will also work with students potentially needing an SLI verification.
• PBL Regional coordinator and Behaviour Support- Marc and Alison Davis- based in Toowoomba. They will visit us every term.
• Autism Queensland- a variety of specialty staff- based in Brisbane. Autism Queensland will hopefully be visiting Charleville in Term one. All families that this visit effects will receive a letter and consent form to be completed and sent back to school. Please direct any questions about the Autism Qld visit to your case manager.
• EAL/D Support- Anna Batsone works in this area with Katerhine Necom and Christine Taule’Alo to ensure our students who have English as a second language are well supported at our school.
• Immunisation Clinics for Years 7 and 10. These will commence in March and there will be two more clinics over the year. Year 7 and 10 students received during week 1 an envelope with information and forms to complete for their first vaccinations. Please return the envelope to the office as soon as possible. If your child missed the vaccination, please make sure you visit the community clinic held at the Town Hall on Thursdays to catch them up.

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

At CSHS we teach reading through a multi-tiered approach. The teaching of reading is for all students and is expected of all teachers. For student who have been tested and fall below the Regional Benchmarks, they may be included in our second level of intervention- Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI). This is a commercial program we have purchased and will be run by Sue McDermott and Candice Luff. The third level of intervention is another commercial program known as MultiLit (Making Up for Lost Time in Literacy). Margaret Gibson conducts the Multilit program. Some parents may be familiar with this program as it is run at many Primary Schools.

If your child is going to be a 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 they require an action Plan please supply a yearly update.

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 be contacted by their 2019 case manager. If you have not received contact by the end of week three please contact the school.

INDIGENOUS STUDENTS

We are very fortunate to have a dedicated CEC at Charleville State High School. Jolene Russell supports our Indigenous students academically, socially and emotionally as well as ensures that they are engaged at school following the 4 B’s and 4 V’s. Jolene is very proactive and often will make home visits to ensure our students can reach their potential at Charleville State High School.

This year again, our goal is to ensure we close the gap further for all of our Indigenous Students. My aim is to ensure every student is valued and feels valued at school and I want to work closely with CWAATSICH, Community Partnership staff and parents so we can have happy, enthusiastic young adults at Charleville State High School.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

A huge thank you to all the families who have been positive in their support of the mobile phone policy. To review the policy, students in years 7 and 8 are not permitted to have a phone at school. Students in years 9 to 12 may have a phone in their possession however may not use it between the hours of 8:40 and 3:00pm. Since the introduction of the mobile device policy, we have noticed a difference in the students and their social interactions during break time.

INTERNET USE INCLUDING SOCIAL MEDIA

Over the year I will be addressing the very important topic of supervising your teenager especially when it involves social media and the internet. Unfortunately, over the summer break a number of students’ accessed social media to send inappropriate content to others. This includes using inappropriate language and making threats to others. The school is not responsible for the teenagers’ behaviour over the summer break, however the consequences of such inappropriate behaviour does have a flow on effect to the social interactions that occur at school. I remind all parents/guardians that you are responsible for the teenagers’ use of mobile devices. Teenagers cannot sign contracts until they reach the age of eighteen. Therefore, whoever signs the contract is responsible. Parents and guardian must be able to access all mobile devices. Know the passwords and monitor daily the teenagers’ use of the internet and mobile devices. All mobile devices should be switched off an hour before bedtime and placed outside of the bedroom to ensure that the teenager receives the important sleep they require.

Experts recommend that young people do not use apps such as “SNAPCHAT”. This app leads to a large number of cases of bullying. The user believes that the message disappears after a short period of time. However there are always ways around accessing such information. The online game of “FORTNITE” has led to an increased number of out of character and aggressive behaviours among teenagers.

JUNIOR CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION INFORMATION EVENING - JCE

Thursday 7th February in the Administration Building from 5:00 pm to 5:30 pm. All welcome.

I want to ensure all parents that they are very welcome at the school and feel free to contact me at any time if you have concerns regarding your child and their learning. Together we will make a difference!

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal

Deputy Principal Senior Schooling Report

Welcome back to another year at Charleville State High School.

Welcome Emails

I have sent a welcome email to all parents of student in Year 10-12. Many of your students’ teachers have also sent out welcome emails for their subjects and will continue to keep parents up to date with subject matter and progress throughout the year. Please ensure that your email address is up to date on your students’ school profile, to ensure that you receive any messages which myself or your students teachers send out during the year. Email is often the quickest way to contact myself or your students’ teachers.

Subject Changes

Any student who is wishing to change subjects must get a subject change from the office and have this returned by the end of Week 2. This form needs to be signed by all the appropriate teachers and parents.

Please consider that subject changes in Year 11 and Year 12 can affect a student’s ATAR/OP eligibility and their QCE achievement. Discuss this with your student, if they are electing to change their subjects.

School Photo’s

School Photo’s will occur on Friday 22nd February. Senior students are required to wear their formal shirts, with black long pants or black skirts. Photo order packs were sent home on Monday 4th February. If you are wanting family photos, these packs can be collected from the office.

QCE Tracking

Mr Hunter 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 before the end of Week 2. 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.

Year 10 Work Experience

All Year 10 students will be completing a week of Work Experience, to align with their Certificate II in Foundation Skills for Work (CERT II FSK), which they complete during their Pastoral Care classes. This course teaches students basic literacy and numeracy skills, as well as the skills required to study certificate courses. The course will also give students points toward their QCE.

Work Experience will occur in the last week of school in Term 2 (Week 10). It would involve sourcing over 40 positions for students for 5 days straight, for 6 hours each day. Working hours/times will be negotiated with the employer. These positions do not have to be in this town. Through negotiations with us, students could go anywhere in QLD. They might have relatives in Brisbane or a family property in Emerald that they could go to for a week of work experience.

Students will be allocated a prospective employer, according to their preferences and then be able to ‘apply’ for this job. They will have to write a letter of introduction and a resume (all done through the Cert II FSK in Pastoral Care), which will be sent to the business. Student will have to present to the business before the work experience for an interview, giving the employer an opportunity to outline their expectations.

If there are any employers who are interested in having a work experience student for a week, from Monday 24th June to Friday 28th June, please contact Ange Vetter at the school on 4656 8888.

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.

Have and amazing Term 1 and I hope we all have a successful year.

Cheers
Vanessa Moller

MESH

Junior students working as a team.

On Friday of week 1, students involved in MESH classes took part in an induction day at the school in order to build relationships with their peers and teachers within their class. The year 7’s and 8’s worked together to look at strategies for overcoming stress, build teamwork, and learn to listen to one another. The 9’s and 10’s also completed a range of activities with a focus on identifying the strengths of their peers and being respectful to new ideas.

Year 9’s and 10’s involved in activities.

Throughout the day students were challenged to think of solutions, to work with different people within the group, to self-reflect, and to help others. Activities were chosen to prompt communication within the group and students were asked to consider the skills and ideas behind each activity at the end and how this might translate into the classroom.

Year 7’s and 8’s learning a new game.

This year there are many students in a MESH class for the first time and being in a multi-age class can be a little stressful for some students. The aim of the induction was to break down barriers and help these students feel comfortable with their classmates and to make them ready to face the year. By the end of the day, the students seemed far more comfortable with their group than at the start of the day and hopefully they had some fun and made some new friends.

Cassandra Kohli

Past and Present Events

South West Softball Trials

Last year in term 4, three CSHS girls; Ashtyn Shearwin, Matilda Vaggs and Georgia Vaggs made the trip down to St George to trial for the South West Softball team. Unfortunately, when we got there the trials were called off due to lack of participants however, St George were very accommodating and ran a short training session with their softball girls and our girls. This allowed our girls to build relationship with others and practice skills needed for the game. Due to the lack of participants South West Sport decided to evaluate the girls’ softball skills using a number system. A big congratulations to all three girls who made the South West Team and now move on to trialling out for the Darling Downs team this month. Good luck to the girls and a big thank you for St George for running a session with our girls and to Kelly Shearwin and Melissa Vaggs who also gave up their time to take the girls to the trials.

Swimming Carnival

The time has come for the first big sporting house event, the Swimming Carnival. The carnival will be held on the 8th February and the theme for the carnival is Beach Party. Thank you to all the Senior and Junior House Captains for organising war cries, nominations, posters and getting their houses ready for the big day. Good luck to all swimmers and houses.

Maths News

Intervention classes

Many students at Charleville High struggle with mathematical concepts and testing has shown that many students are more than two years below their year level in maths. To assist these students repair the gaps in their learning, we have established intervention maths classes in each year level 7 - 10. In these classes we will be teaching the students at the mathematical knowledge level that they present at and working with these students to build a ‘can do’ attitude in maths. Teachers will present information at a knowledge appropriate level that allows the students to engage with the learning. Students will be tested on the material so that their growth over the term can be measured and reported to their parents. At the end of each semester students will be examined at year level so that each student and parent can know how they compare to the student’s year level. Classes are designed to be smaller in these classes so that teachers can work more one to one with students, however, it is still very important that students respect and engage with their learning in these classes. For more information please contact Mr Paul Hunter phunt9@eq.edu.au HOD Maths, Science and Senior School.

Senior Secondary News

Year 11 ATAR subjects

This year there is a change to senior schooling with the year 11’s starting new syllabuses in a new tertiary entrance program called ATAR. The syllabuses are more demanding than the previous OP subjects and can take more class time. Most subjects now have an external exam and in maths and science subjects this is worth 50% of student’s results. These external exams will be held in a three week block starting week 4 in term 4 in year 12. All students in Queensland will sit the same tests at the same time on the same day during that exam block. Subjects are no longer thought about in semester blocks, but in blocks of work called units 1, 2, 3 and 4, external exams will test students on knowledge and understanding of work from units 3 and 4. So that the unit 3 and 4 work can be fully taught, Charleville SHS, along with most secondary schools in Queensland, will be starting unit 3 work in term 4 of year 11. It is very important that students attend school every day so that they do not miss important learning. For more information please contact Mr Paul Hunter phunt9@eq.edu.au HoD Maths, Science and Senior School.