21 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

NEW STAFF

We have welcomed recently two new staff members to the school since the start of the term: Mr Jay Lindsay has joined us as our new Schools Officer- Grounds, while Ms Maya Janke has joined us as a new Teacher Aide on staff. Both have settled in well and are doing a great job in their new roles at Charleville State High School.

YEAR 11 CAMP

Our Year 11 students recently participated in the Year 11 camp to Maroon Dam. Feedback from the teachers who attended was that the students did an incredible job and were a credit to themselves, their school and their parents. Teachers received feedback from the camp staff that our group of students were among the best groups in regards to attitude and involvement that they have ever had at the camp – high praise indeed from a camp that has been running for a long time!

ALL SCHOOLS VOLLEYBALL

Ms Lauren Butler and I were privileged last week to travel to the Gold Coast with a group of 8 boys and 8 girls who were involved in the State Senior All Schools Volleyball competition. The students played a number of games over the three days of competition, with both teams being extremely competitive in each of their games. They had some narrow loses, and some excellent victories, with both teams winning spectacularly their last games of the competition.

The students were exceptional ambassadors for the school, with a number of positive comments being given to us regarding their behaviour, attitude and sportsmanship throughout the tournament. The students were also a pleasure to take away due to their ability to act responsibly and maturely, to do what was required of them at all times without question and because of the respect they showed towards themselves and everyone they met.

A huge thanks must go to Ms Butler for her organisation of the event for the students. I would also like to thank all of the parents who travelled down to the coast to support the students and staff at the event.

ATTENDANCE

Student attendance continues to be a focus of Charleville State High School, with our target continuing to have each student attaining a minimum of 92% attendance. This equates to being in attendance for 46 out of the 50 days of schooling each term. It is essential that students are at school for at least this amount of time to ensure that they do not miss out on important instruction and information from their classes to assist them to achieve to the best of their ability at school – we cannot help them if they are not here!

Each week, student form classes compete to be the highest attending junior or senior form class, with the highest attending class receiving a certificate and a tuckshop voucher, sponsored by the P&C.

There were some extremely competitive and pleasing attendance data last week. In our junior form classes K1 won the week with 96% attendance, but was closely followed by A2 on 93.91%, while our winning senior class K3 with 93.41%, very closely followed by A3 on 92.14%!

Well done students, keep up the great work.

ZEN ZEN ZO PROGRAM

In week 10 of term 2, 22 students were involved in a week long program with the ZEN ZEN ZO theatre company. The program introduced the students to physical theatre and developed skills and performances with the students over the week.

The students who were involved in this program have now been given the opportunity to travel to Brisbane to watch the Zen Zen Zo team practice and perform. They left last Friday morning and returned to school very early on Sunday morning.

Students will again work with the company in the last weeks of term 3 and 4, and will be looking to create a performance for the school’s annual awards night at the end of the year.

Thanks must go to the HOPE foundation for procuring the funding to run the program at Charleville State High School, and to the Murweh shire, who funded T-shirts for the students to wear while involved in the program.

BEANIES FOR BRAIN CANCER DAY

On Wednesday 31 July, the Student Council organised a Beanie for Brain Cancer Day, where they collected money to support the Mark Hughes Foundation that raises money to assist Brain cancer research. The students did an excellent job, gathering orders for beanies before the holidays, handing out the beanies to those who purchased them, promoted the day, and then collected money on the day from students.

Overall, the students raised over $650, which will be passed onto the Mark Hughes foundation.

Thank you to all who helped out organising on the day, and special thanks to Mrs Katie McLeod, our Youth Support Co-ordinator, for all of your great work in co-ordinating the students and organising this special day.

SCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

Friday 23 August will see the school Athletics carnival take place on the school oval. Students have already commenced some of the events at lunch times, with the 800m and 1500m running events already taken place. Parents are certainly welcome and encouraged to come along on the day to support their children, I would just remind parents to please not park in the school grounds.

Students are encouraged to dress up on the day to enhance the fun aspect of the day. This year’s theme is “Occupations”; it will be interesting to see what inventive costumes some of students and staff can come up with this year.

Matt Samson
Principal

Deputy Principal Senior Schooling Report

School Opinion 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.

Thank you to all of those who have already completed and returned your Parent/Caregiver Survey. If you have not had a chance to complete the survey yet, please note that the survey is due by Friday, 23 August 2019. This is your opportunity to provide feedback about what our school does well and how we can improve to help shape our school’s future.

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 2019, 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 Wastie 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 may have a number of traineeships and apprenticeship opportunities coming up.

If your student is looking for the opportunity to be involved, please contact Vanessa Moller 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 Vanessa Moller on 4656 8888.

Cheers
Vanessa Moller

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING
AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

Junior School

Welcome to week 6.

2020 Year seven students

Mrs Goodingham gave an excellent presentation on Tuesday 20th August to the parents of potential year seven students in 2020. There will be another presentation in term 4 for parents with advice on preparation for the first week in 2020.

Timetable

The 2020 timetable is underway. Year 7, 8 & 9 students have had the opportunity to choose their electives for 2020. Year ten students are currently choosing their 2020 subjects.

Contact Details

Are your contact details up to date at the school? Please call 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.

Uniforms

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.

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 2020 it will be expanded to all students in year seven, eight and nine. If a student uses their phone at school, 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 organising of the Year 9 Camp in Term 4. Students are getting quite excited about this wonderful opportunity that has been organised for them.

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal
Junior Schooling/Student Services

Blue EDGE

Blue EDGE (Educate, Develop, Grow, Empower) is a Queensland Blue Light Association initiative designed for students in years 7 – 12, to improve their physical health and wellbeing. The program assists students to develop positive attitudes and behaviours, and foster better relationships with their peers, police and volunteers.

Charleville Police have been fortunate to secure funding to hold a second Blue EDGE program in Term 4. The program commences on Tuesday 8th October and runs twice per week for eight weeks during which the students participate in 30-45 minutes of physical activity, followed by a shower and hearty breakfast. At the conclusion of the program students participate in a Final EDGE and those who have committed to the program will receive a certificate and pair of shoes as a reward for their hard work and dedication.

When: Tuesday’s and Thursday’s
Time: 7am
Where: Charleville Blue Light Boxing Gym – Showgrounds

Any queries about the program can be directed to Senior Constable Leanne Day on phone: 4650 5511 or email: Day.Leanne@police.qld.gov.au . Blue EDGE website below.

Children's Health Queensland Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CHQ CYMHS)

Please just say you're proud of me: perspectives of young people on parent engagement and doing well at school:

Based on 100 consultations with Year 10 and 12 students, ARACY has released a new report detailing four simple conversation starter tips for parents. The young people told us they wanted their parents, carers and support people to:

1. Focus on the positive, express pride in their achievements often and express acceptance of who they are as a person
2. Remind them that their parent, carer or support person loves them unconditionally, and is always there to help
3. Offer practical guidance and assistance in tackling stresses and other problems at school and in life generally
4. Encourage and support them to follow their own aspirations and make their own decisions for their futures, rather than being pressured to follow their parents’ or carers’ dreams

Year 9 Camp

A big thank you to everyone who has supported our fundraising efforts for year 9 camp so far.

On Saturday we held the first of three BBQ’s at the IGA to raise funds for our year 9 cohort to attend camp at Apex camp Mudjimba on the Sunshine Coast. This was a successful event, thanks to the help of parent, student and staff volunteers.

We still have a way to go in terms of fundraising so all donations of time and goods are greatly appreciated.

A reminder of requirements for camp:

• Final payment including returning of medical form is due Friday 13th September
• All students must meet minimum behaviour requirements
• Attendance must be above 85%

If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you again to the parents who have assisted in fundraising efforts.

SMART Recoveries Australia:

Come With a Purpose, Leave With a Plan

What is SMART Recovery?

SMART (Self Management and Recovery Training) Recovery is a free group program assisting any problematic behaviours, including drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, food, shopping, Internet and others.

Guided by trained peers and professionals, participants come to help themselves and help each other using a variety of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and motivational tools and techniques.