17 August 2022

Welcome to week 6 of what has been another busy term so far.

Vaping is a worrying trend that is occurring throughout schools across Australia and involves inhaling a vaporised liquid from an electronic device that looks like a pen. Vape pens are very easy to hide and can be made to look like highlighter pens or USB storage devices, making it challenging for schools to address this issue. We are learning more and more about the health risks associated with vaping as well as how companies are manufacturing vapes and vape liquid in such a way to make them more appealing to young people. Two resources have been provided in this newsletter to assist parents learn more about vaping and the associated health risks: Moreton Vaping Project - Vaping Facts (YouTube) and the attached ‘Vaping and Young People: Fact Sheet for Parents and Carers’.

Just a reminder that students are not to have energy drinks or soft drinks at school. These drinks impede student’s ability to concentrate and learn in the classroom. Should students bring one of these drinks into the school a staff member will ask them to take it to the office where it can be collected again at the end of the day.

It was pleasing to see a good response to the Parent Teacher Interviews that were conducted on Wednesday 3rd August. Parent Teacher Interviews provide a valuable link between the school and home around how students are progressing academically and socially at school. If you were unable to attend any interviews this round and are concerned around your child’s progress then I would encourage you to contact your child’s teachers.

The school opinion surveys have now closed. Thank you to the parents and students who completed the survey. The school will receive these results later in the year and are used to inform future planning.

It was great to see a solid number of students in attendance at the athletics carnival on Friday 5th August. The events were conducted in a great spirit across the board. Thank you to all the parents, family and community members who came along to support the students. Well done to those students who participated for the first time, set a personal best or progressed to the next level. A huge thankyou to Mr Lines for organising the carnival, the HPE staff for all their work not only at the carnival but throughout the pre-carnival events and to all the staff who assisted with events on the day.

Students studying Year 11/12 Film and TV had the opportunity to work with the Noosa Film Academy who came to Charleville State High School to run a workshop. The students had the experience of writing, directing and acting in a short film. The students did a great job and the final production was excellent.

Students in year 9 and 10 who were interested in a career in the health industry had the opportunity to attend the Aspire2Health program run at the Hospital. This program is jointly run by Griffith University, University of Queensland, University of Southern Queensland, Southern Queensland Rural Health Service, Queensland Ambulance and the Department of Employment, Small Business, and Training.

As we progress throughout the term I hope that we start to see the number of students impacted by illness starting to decrease and we can look forward to a healthier end of the term.

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL (JUNIOR SCHOOL)

Greetings everyone. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself in my new role. I have just completed my third week as Deputy Principal of the Junior School (years 7, 8 and 9). Previously, I have spent the last 4 ½ years at Charleville State High School in a variety of roles including classroom teacher, HOD and Literacy Coordinator. This new role is, by far, my most challenging yet.

Up to this point, behaviour has been my primary focus in the Deputy chair, but I am looking forward to working on many other aspects of this job in the very near future. If you have any good news stories about a student in the junior years of school, I would absolutely love to hear about it. I really want to celebrate all the wonderful things our students do every day.

Sue McDermott

Blue Light Shearing

On the 4th August Deb took some of our Blue Light Shearing students out to meet with Matt Doran and camera crew from Weekend Sunrise. He was doing a segment on the program with Senior Constable Laurie Bateman, students also travelled from St George. The students did a demonstration each shearing a sheep. This was a wonderful experience for all involved. Keep an eye out for it to be aired on Sunrise in the coming weeks.