27 October 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Note

Welcome to week 4 of Term 4! This is a very busy time for Secondary schools with exam blocks underway for Year 10 and 11, External exams for our Year 12’s and Junior Secondary students working on a variety of assessment pieces. We have a range of actions in place to support all students in achieving their best and one of the most important support avenues comes for parents and caregivers. We very much appreciate the effort made in encouraging your child to be prepared and to remain as calm and positive as possible.

Awards Night

What a fantastic evening on Wednesday night last week, it was such a positive experience and we had so many parents and extended family/friends attending. The organisation and running of the night were first class and a huge vote of thanks to Stefanie Andriolo and her team for their tireless efforts in ensuring a high-quality event. My thanks also to our School Student-leadership Team for their professional work in leading the event on the night.

Congratulations to all the award winners, it is very rewarding to see so many students achieving great outcomes through a combination of hard-work and perseverance. The work of staff as well as parents in supporting our students is well and truly showcased here. Check out the full report on our Award’s Night further on in the newsletter.

Student Leaders for 2022

It is with the greatest of pleasure that I announce our student leaders for 2022.

Congratulations and well done to:

We are looking forward to working with this great team of young people in 2022 to continue the legacy of strong student voice and leadership in the school and wider community.

GP’s in Schools – Pilot School

Charleville SHS is very proud to announce our school has been selected to participate in the GPs in Schools Pilot as part of the Queensland Government’s Student Wellbeing Package. There is still a lot of work to be done to have everything in place and we are expecting to be operational by Term 2 or a little earlier if works can be completed to upgrade facilities.

All secondary students will be able to make an appointment to see our GP. Our GP will be working at school one day every week during school terms to provide students with free and confidential healthcare. More details will be released as we finalise arrangements regarding the process to follow and the day that the GP will be working.

Melbourne Cup Day

We will again be closing early in 2021 to allow staff and students to participate in community activities around Melbourne Cup day. Please note that on Tuesday the 2nd of November the school will be closing at 12.00pm. Buses have been advised and information shared through this newsletter and on the school Facebook page. If you have any questions please contact the school to discuss.

Vaping

In this newsletter we have included a flyer for parents and caregivers around the potential impacts of vaping. The school focuses on educating students through the Australian Curriculum, for example our Junior Secondary HPE program has units that focus on Addiction and Risky Decisions. This is complimented by support programs and services delivered by staff including our Guidance Officer, School Nurse and Youth Support Coordinator.

It is important to note that Vaping and the associated materials are classified as prohibited on school grounds and students identified as bringing these into school, or Vaping at school, will be treated as engaging in a significant behavioural incident with consequences applied accordingly.

Please contact us if you have concerns about any health issues your child may be experiencing and we will work to provide suitable support at school or facilitate links to community-based organisations.

In closing

I continue to be impressed with the dedication of staff and so many students in working towards positive learning outcomes. In particular our Year 12 students are very much locked in on the theme of “Finish Strong” as they ensure they complete QCE requirements and external exams. Year 11’s are also driving hard to the finish line as they realise that their final year of schooling is so very close now, tends to become very “real” the closer they get to year 12.

As a school we work together to support students in these peak demand times. As a school community we greatly value the efforts pf parents and caregivers to provide the essential support from home to provide the best chance of success.

All the best,

Barry Wallett

Awards Night

Congratulations to all the students whose efforts throughout the year were celebrated last week with the annual awards night. It was great to see so many parents, carers, family and community members in attendance and celebrating the achievements of the students.

For those who were unable to join us for the awards night here are some of our award winners.

Highest Achieving Students

Dux: William Everitt
Year 11: Analyse Russell
Year 10: Ngoc Chu
Year 9: Mitchell Sallur
Year 8: Killian Finall
Year 7: Tram Chu

Special Awards

Principal’s Award: Philip Bradley
ADF Long Tan Award: Ashtyn Shearwin
ADF Future Innovator Award: William Everitt and Matthew Little
AIP Certificate for Excellence in Physics: William Everitt
Vocational Education and Training Student of the Year: Libi Barker
School Based Trainee: Alex Barker
AMPOL All Rounder: Thando Mpofu
Anna Chicalas Award for Excellence in Community Participation: Cassandra Owczarek

Music Awards

Most Improved in Strings: Tram
Most Improved in Brass, Woodwinds and Percussion: Bella
Trevor Eckel Memorial Trophy: Cassandra

ATSI Awards

Junior Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander of the Year: Hope
Senior Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander of the Year: Peta
Most Improved Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander of the Year: Eva
QATSIF Leadership Award: Laura

Sports Awards

Junior Sportsman of the Year: Tyler
Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Georgia
Junior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Person of the Year: Emmerson
Senior Sportsman of the Year: Thando
Senior Sportswoman of the Year: Indie
Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Person of the Year: Riley

Bursaries

Lion’s Club Bursaries: Zoe Radnedge and Laura Russell
RSL Bursaries: Libi Barker and Philip Bradley
Phillip Duffell Bursary: Sara Frazer

Congratulations

Congratulations once more to all of our award winners as well as all the students who received recognition in achieving a bronze, silver or gold academic award for the year.

2022 Awards Night Senior Recipients

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

JUNIOR SCHOOL

Week 4, Term 4

2022 Timetable

Soon, students currently in years, 8 and 9 will receive letters regarding elective subjects for 2022. For 2022, the most popular electives in each line will run for Years 9 and 10 students with some subjects offered as a composite class with both year 9 and 10 students in the class. Students will be notified later in the year if they were unable to be placed in their chosen elective.

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.

Year Six Transition Day

The second transition day for year six students in term 4 will occur on Friday 5th November. The students were excellent during the first transition day and we look forward to working with our future year 7 students. Thank you to the HOD of Junior Schooling, Amy Roughan and the staff who made the first transition day successful. There will also be smaller transition events for targeted groups.

Junior Leaders 2022

Nominations for junior leader students will be called in week 4. Speeches for the positions of 2022 Junior Leaders (2), and Junior House Captains will be held in week 8. The nominated students will go through an interview process with the leaders announced at the Junior Certificate Ceremony on Wednesday 1 December. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the 2021 Junior leaders, Mitchell, Molly, Riley, Jesse and Emmerson. The students have been a valuable voice in representing their peers in the Student Leadership meetings as well as the many events throughout the year.

Junior Certificate of Education (JCE)

In the last week of school, Wednesday 1 December, students in year nine who have gained enough points to achieve a JCE will be formally recognized in a ceremony at school. Parents are welcome to attend and invitations will be sent to families. This ceremony will acknowledge the hard work the year nine students have done over the three years in the junior school and their movement into the senior school. Students in years 7, 8, & 9 who achieve an Active Learning Award will also be presented on Wednesday 1 December. Social distancing as required will be observed.

STUDENT SERVICES

Mobile Phones at Charleville SHS

Students in Years 7, 8 & 9 are not allowed to have a mobile phone at school. They are not mature enough to use the phones in an appropriate manner. The young students need the supervision and support of their family when addressing Social Media issues etc.

The inappropriate use of a mobile phone of older students 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 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.

Immunisation

Year Seven students will receive their second round of HPV immunisations this week. The year seven students handled the first dose maturely and responsibly. They are a wonderful cohort. We are very fortunate to have an excellent working relationship with Queensland Health to ensure our students receive the best possible care available.

Reading

At Charleville State High School, we have an excellent three-tiered reading plan/focus.

As parents, you can help your students in many aspects:

1. Model reading to them. Read interesting articles to them and take the time to discuss and value each other’s opinions.
2. Encourage students regardless of age to read for at least 20 minutes every day.

Attendance

At Charleville State High School, our goal is for all students to attend school 92%. Last term, letters were sent to individual families indicating their child’s attendance in the junior school. Please ensure that your child attends school every day unless there is a valid reason. If attendance does not improve then the next step in the process of reaching the goal of 92% is to send an official Education Queensland letter requesting an interview to discuss why attendance is at such a level.

Student Support Centre

Our Student Support Centre is well established at Charleville State High School. C block houses our CEC, Ms Natasha Burns, our YSC, Mrs Katie McLeod, our SBYHN, Ms Kristy Rowland, our Chaplain, Mr Les Penrose. Students have a large, welcoming area to access the support offered at Charleville State High School. Part of supporting the students is to provide nutritious food to those who are unable to supply their own.

Resilience

One of Charleville State High School’s Values is RESILIENCE. I found a You Tube clip that demonstrates the use of resilience when a student is being verbally bullied. I urge you as parents to investigate Brooks Gibbs also.

The you tube clip I found interesting is:

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal
Junior Schooling/Student Services

Ag Cut Out party

The final Agriculture class finished up this week as they move forward into the workforce. Throughout the year, the students have learnt about plant production, fencing, animal production and most recently, how to safely operate tractors. The highlights have been a shearing demo for the plot’s three merino sheep and learning about alternative methods of castration with Jed Sommerfield. The students also used the Ag budget to install a 12-station watering system, which will help keep the garden beds alive over the long summer holidays.

To celebrate the end of an era, the students came together for a small class party in the Ag plot.

Ms Taylor and the 11-12 Agriculture Practices class would like to say a massive thank you to Chatter and Jay for all their support this year. We couldn’t have done it without you.

SPORTS NEWS

Charleville State High School Softball Team

Congratulations to our school softball team who attendedthe South West Trials in St George in week 1. You all should be very proud of your efforts, behaviour and commitment to the team during training and at the trials.

Well done and congratulations to Eva, Emmerson and Tahlia who were selected to represent the South West Region in February 2022 at the Darling Downs trials in Toowoomba.

Thanks to Jillian Bussell for attending the trials with Mrs Lindsay to help support the girls and ensure that we could provide transport and accommodation.

Well done team!

Didgeridoo Workshop

Five of our students are participating in this workshop. They are to create, decorate and learn to play their didgeridoo.

Thank you to Graham Sullivan and RESQ+ for facilitating this workshop.

Woodworking, painting and preparation

Cricket Blast