26 May 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Note

Welcome to week 6 of Term 2, as I so often mention things are certainly moving along at a rapid pace! We continue through a period of assessment of significant importance to overall results for Semester 1. Senior classes have already completed, or are about to complete, a range of assessment items and in Junior Secondary classes assignment work has already begun. Exams are not far away in some subjects with weeks 7 and 8 key timelines for exams.

The key to students’ performing at their best usually comes down to preparation and organisation. Each year level has their own assessment calendar (available on the school website) and this is a vital tool in avoiding any surprises or last-minute concerns around exam schedules. If your child is expressing any concerns about this please encourage them to speak with their teachers or year level coordinator and we can provide suggestions and support. Another option is to suggest homework club, held every Thursday afternoon after school, where they can receive more targeted support.

Charleville Show display

This year we had a display for Charleville State High School at the show, to highlight the great things occurring at our school. I was incredibly proud of the staff and students who volunteered to meet and greet people for an hour or two and certainly enjoyed my shift, talking with current and past parents and students.

At the Charleville SHS Show Stand

The sense of community was very strong and also an important reminder of the importance of the school legacy and the many proud graduates of education in Charleville. We also had the opportunity to speak with Ann Leahy, State Member for Warrego, who thoroughly enjoyed her time chatting away with Jesse and Mitchell.

NAPLAN

A big thanks to all the students, staff and parents who supported our students in undertaking NAPLAN. Special mention to Amy Roughan, Head of Department for Junior Secondary, who led this, doing a superb job. This year we again conducted the testing online which most of our students indicate is their preference and I have received very positive feedback about their determination to give their best during each aspect of the testing.

Brad Lines is also deserving of a special mention for his tireless work in ensuring our IT, both devices and network capacity, was up to the task to enable the student experience to be trouble free. Very pleased to be able to say this was an absolute success!

As I have previously stated it is very much about using the data to determine the effectiveness of our strategies and teaching and learning approaches in general and I look forward to receiving the results later in the year.

Attendance

There are many positive data sets that I have shared through the newsletter and attendance has certainly been one of these with 2020 (85.6%) proving to be our best year for some time. Unfortunately, this has not been replicated thus far in 2021 with our attendance dropping to below 83% which is well short of the target set for 2021 of 87%. Regular attendance is absolutely crucial to achieving quality learning outcomes for students and we also understand that there are a range of factors that can impact this.

Please contact us if you have any challenges with getting your child to school and we will do our best to support families. Sometimes it as simple as letting us know of planned absences for family reasons and we can work together on ensuring students can access materials to maintain their learning. Your support with this is incredibly valued and provides our children with the best opportunities for positive learning outcomes.

To advise student absences:

In closing

As I mentioned in the last newsletter one of the highlights of my week is spending time in class rooms, interacting with students and observing the learning. Over the past two weeks I have seen many examples of great work and perhaps the most memorable moment was when a teacher approached me after one lesson to explain how proud she was of the work they had produced and the whole class would be getting a postcard for this. It reminded me how invested the staff are in supporting student learning and how powerful these positive teacher-student relationships can be in achieving this.

This example is just one moment amongst so many and certainly reminds me, after more years with the department than I like to admit to at times, exactly why we become educators and why we then stay. The opportunity to work with the young people that are entrusted to us is a privilege, and responsibility, that we embrace wholeheartedly. Thanks to all the parents and caregivers that support and work with us to consistently improve and maximise outcomes for students, ultimately this is what it is all about.

All the best,

Barry Wallett

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL SENIOR SCHOOLING

Reminder About The QCE

As our students progress through senior schooling, they will be working toward their QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education). Achieving a QCE means students have successfully completed the senior phase of learning and through completing a range of studies to a satisfactory standard they have acquired at least twenty QCE points.

A basic guide for parents and carers about the QCE and how students obtain it can be downloaded here:

This information is also provided in Vietnamese should this be more accessible:

Students are reminded that they can track their progress through senior school by logging into the myqce portal. Should they identify an issue (enrolled in the wrong subject or similar), they can ensure the school is aware of this and the problem can be fixed. They can also see their current QCE progress and their predicted outcome at the end of year 12.

However, if students do not pass a unit of work they do not receive a QCE point. In year 12, students must successfully complete both unit 3 and 4 of their subjects to receive 2 QCE points. They cannot move from the subject after unit 3 as they receive 0 QCE points from that subject.

To support our students a range of VET courses are completed as part of our senior pathways classes and VET pathways classes across years 10, 11 and 12. Successfully completing these courses will ensure students leave school with a qualification (completed certificate 2) as well as ensuring they bank QCE points.

If students are concerned about their progress, they are welcome to make an appointment to come and speak with me.

Why draft?

Summarised from the QCAA:

Drafting - A draft is an early version of a response to an assessment.

Teachers provide feedback on your draft so you can develop your response but the feedback must not compromise the authenticity of your work.

Teacher feedback may:

• indicate some textual errors and that the draft requires more careful editing, but it is not your teachers' responsibility to correct or edit all the textual errors in a draft
• provide a summary of their feedback and advice to the whole class.

Teacher feedback won't:

• provide you with new ideas, language or research to improve the quality of your response
• edit and proofread for spelling, grammar, punctuation and calculations.

Your assessment task may also include checkpoints where you discuss or show your teacher your progress. The type of draft will depend on the subject and assessment technique. For example, if your assessment requires a presentation, your draft might be a rehearsal.

Your draft can also be used as evidence to prove your work is your own but it will not be marked or graded unless a final assessment is not returned.

Cassandra Kohli
Deputy Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

WELCOME TO WEEK 6

It is amazing how quickly term 2 has passed. As the weather is becoming cooler, please ensure that your student is in correct uniform. The black hoodie or school jacket is the preferred warm clothing however, any plain black sweater/jumper is acceptable. Blue jeans are not school uniform. Detentions shall be handed out if students show a pattern of deliberately not wearing school uniform. If anyone is finding it difficult to supply their student with the correct uniform, please contact the school for support.

NAPLAN

This week marks the return to normal classes for years 7 and 9 students after the window of NAPLAN online. I am certain that this a welcome move for staff, parents and especially the students. However, I would like to commend the students on their approach to NAPLAN and applying their best effort in unfamiliar circumstance. The majority of the students showed vast amounts of responsibility and resilience. The individual NAPLAN reports take several months to be collated. They will be sent home as soon as the school receives them.

Assessment

How can you help your student through the school year, learning and assessment?

As a parent:

• Know when their assessment due dates are and help plan
• Ensure they are getting quality sleep
• Ensure they are eating well
• Ensure they have some ‘down time’ – some weeks may have more than others
• Discuss the four learning objectives they have written for the four lessons they have each day.
• Ensure that homework is attempted –e.g. going over class notes and ideas each day
• Ensure they are asking staff for help if they are struggling at home
• Contact the school if you have any concerns

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.

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

• Class Teachers
• Head of Departments/Year Level Coordinators/Guidance Officer/Youth Support Coordinator/CEC /School Based Youth Health Nurse /Chaplain
• Deputy Principals
• Principal

Reading Program

At Charleville State High school one of our priorities is delivering the LLI program at the school. We are focusing on students significantly under the Regional reading benchmark. It is essential that if your child is part of this program that they fulfil all the criteria of the program- otherwise their progress will not be reflective of what could be achieved. The criteria include 100% attendance (except for extenuating circumstances) and the completion of the set homework. If you have any concerns or questions regarding the program please don’t hesitate to contact the LLI teacher or HoD There is a long waiting list to enter the program and therefore students who fail to meet the criteria will be exited so as to ensure the best results for the students.

The third level of intervention is another commercial program known as MultiLit (Making Up for Lost Time in Literacy). If your child is part of LLI and/or MultiLit you will be notified.

Timetable

There will minimal changes to the timetable in term 3. Students in year seven and eight will change their electives. Home Economics and Art are the two electives students experience in year seven. In year eight the students experience one semester of drama and one semester of ITD. From time to time students request changes to their timetable. This cannot occur for electives in years seven & eight. Year eight students shall also alter their timetable from Japanese and IAP to HPE. Your students will be notified of the change to their timetable as soon as possible.

Student Services

Adopt a-Cop

Charleville SHS is very fortunate to have proactive adopt-a-cops assigned to our school. They will be addressing the students throughout the year on a number of issues. If you wish to have more details please contact me by email nwebb10@eq.edu.au.

Mobile Phones at Charleville SHS

A reminder once again that students in Years 7,8 & 9 are not to have phones at school.

The inappropriate use of a mobile phone at times 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 senior student has used their phone inappropriately at school, then the student is not to have their phone at school. It is the parents and carers’ responsibility to ensure that the student is receiving and sending legal and only age appropriate material. Recently, it has been brought to our attention that the use of social media apps have been used as a form of targeting students. Apps such as “SNAPCHAT” are used with the participants believing that their comments are private and will disappear. However, some individuals are screen-shotting conversations and adjusting the comments to appear that the other participant is “out of line”. This has been reported to the school on many different occasions with students from a wide range of year levels. Once again, I urge all parents to know what your student is sending and receiving on their mobile phone. It is not an invasion of privacy. It is good parenting. Until the student is legal age, the parent is responsible for all content on mobile phones.

STYMIE

Bullying in any form is not tolerated at school. However, it can be difficult to monitor as at times it is not reported until the “victim”, has retaliated. Please urge your student to talk to a teacher, Year level coordinator or Head of Department should they feel they are being bullied in any form. I would also like to remind our school community that students are available to make anonymous reports via the stymie website to report any such issues.

Racist actions and comments will also not be tolerated. Please ensure that you have conversations with your student on treating every human with respect. Young people at times do not realise that their actions and or words may be viewed as offensive.

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal
Junior Schooling/Student Services

SCIENCE/ MATHS and JUNIOR SCHOOLING

NAPLAN

Thank you to all Year 7 and Year 9 students for their cooperation and resilience over the last two weeks in regards to NAPLAN. It was a pleasure to sit with the students completing the NAPLAN tests and witness their participation and respectfulness towards to process. Thank you to our staff involved in the processes for your organisation and helping to ensure a calm environment for everyone involved. We patiently await the results knowing that our students have given it their very best efforts and are excited to see the progress they have made.

Students working on NAPLAN

Homework Club

We have a wonderful Homework Club program here at Charleville State at High School designed to assist our students all throughout the term. As we approach assessment time this is a particularly useful tool that students can use to ensure they are understanding their learning and progressing with their assignment tasks. Please encourage your students to invite their teachers along to homework club with them on Thursday afternoons. Afternoon tea is provided and the session runs from 3:15pm to 4:30pm.

Year 8 Science

Our Year 8’s have been investigating chemical and physical changes in their Chemistry unit this term. The students are working towards applying their understanding of chemical and physical changes and properties of materials to their research investigation task. They have enjoyed a range of activities demonstrating properties of materials and determining which changes are taking place.

Yr8 Science Experiments

Senior Mathematics and Science

Our senior students are coming to the end of their first unit of work for their ATAR Maths and Science subjects, meaning anxieties are high and the pressure feels like it’s on. For our Year 11’s these subjects and assessment tasks are new and bring with them new learning challenges. For our Year 12’s they are working towards obtaining the best results they can prior to their external examinations at the end of the year.

The newness of 50% external exams in our senior Maths and Science subjects is still a very daunting idea to our Year 11 and 12 students. Please encourage your students to:

• Revise material regularly to avoid cramming
• Seek help and ask questions of their teachers in and out of class
• Monitor their balance between working and study
• Get a good nights’ sleep

Our seniors are working hard and learning to balance being young adults, working to earn money, and studying for their future goals. Remember we are here to help them learn and to grow, and to prepare them for their post schooling adventures.

We got this, just keep swimming

Amy Roughan
Head of Department
Junior Schooling/Maths/Science/Technologies

Murweh Youth Council

On Wednesday 19th May, we had our second Murweh Youth Council at the Charleville Town Hall. Our guest at this meeting was Rebecca Horsburgh, Corporate Marketing, Media & Events Officer from the Murweh Shire Council, who provided a report on behalf of Mayor Shaun Radnedge including an update about the new water park which is already in progress. We also discussed a letter sent to Council by our Secretary Laura Russell following our last meeting in Term One, raising concerns about disability access at the Charleville Racecourse Complex. Council’s response was that this issue will be discussed at the next Council meeting this week.

Rebecca gave an update of upcoming events that will be happening in May and June, including the Weathering Well night, Opera vs Country music event, movie night, the WOW Festival and Qld Music Festival. Any students or community members interested in volunteering to help at the WOW Festival and Qld Music Festival would be greatly appreciated, please contact the Murweh Shire Council if you are able to assist.

Several Youth Council members proposed great new ideas for Rebecca to take back to Council, including a proposal for improved Internet access and speed, and a variety of sport and activity suggestions for youth in our community. Stay tuned for more information!

Thank you very much to Rebecca for coming, to Jenny Peacock from the HOPE Program for her help and support, and to all Youth Council members for their contributions. Our next meeting will be held in week 5 of Term 3.

Tahlia Stewart – Murweh Youth Council Media Officer

Youth Council in action

Women of the World Festival – 4-5 June, 2021

Book now: wowaustralia.com.au/wow-charleville-2021