NEWS from the HEIGHTS - Centenary Heights State High School
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NEWS from the HEIGHTS Term 3 AUGUST 2021 Safety Respect Learning IN THIS ISSUE: NAIDOC Week MAD Festival Crazy Hair Day ISP Update Junior Secondary & Languages Update Business & Industrial Technology Update Career Pathways Update PE Update Sport Report
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Dear Families As I left work the other evening I tidied the coffee table in our parent foyer – we keep various relevant pieces of information there for the attention of our families – the irony of a high successful learning organisation and safe schooling environment struck me when I repositioned information articles on: • A factsheet on electronic cigarettes and vaping • An article titled ‘I live my life without a knife’ referring to the high incidence now of young people in the wider public community carrying knives • An article titled: ‘Parents, a new normal is here – it’s time we talked to our children about pornography’ It makes perfect sense for me to raise these things with our families because, across all sectors of education – catholic, independent and state, inclusive of primary and secondary sectors, such things are growing issues with our young people. What occurs in some homes and wider communities of course will ‘jump the fence’ of any school. What is crucial is that we are aware of it and have both support and sanctions in place to deal with it. It certainly is in your best interests to be familiar with our Student Code of Conduct - on our website and sent out each year to our families. I’ve emailed home articles on vaping designed to assist you to have conversations in families. The high incidence of it has taken us by surprise and equally my principal colleagues in state, catholic and independent schools. Of course, the incidence is high in the wider community and we have worked hard to bring it under control within our own school community. One of our exceptionally effective strategies has been our high-profile student leadership group presenting to the full school and backing it up by visits to year parades saying we do not want it in our community and will not tolerate it – this, along with our students reporting what they know to be wrong as standard fare within our school, has resulted in minimal incidence of it. I have visited a number of businesses in our Toowoomba community that students have advised me sell to underage youth and gone further to report such businesses to our police. Within our school we talk a lot about and run programs promoting respectful relationships – you will have seen so much in recent months in the wider community about the topics of Consent, Coercion and Control. Our focus is on our young people to speak about these topics – what does a healthy relationship look like? What does an unhealthy relationship look like? How do you learn to say no, how do you learn to report what you know to be wrong? How do you remain confident that your friends will still be your friends if you say no or if they isolate you from the friendship group because you said no, were they ever your friends in the first place? It is so hard being an adolescent these days – the research around young people accessing explicit sexual material these days is frightening because it is just so accessible on phones, laptops etc – more than ever as parents, it is imperative that you keep vigilant as to what is being accessed. With this focus we hope to see less of mental health issues in young girls and boys. Great article on our website ‘Parents – a new normal is here’. An excellent article on consent in there as well. This term we have had enormous success with student led panels on ‘What is a healthy relationship?’ – student leaders with their nominated teachers joining them to deliver to thus far Year 7s then 11/12 girl and boy cohorts and our Year 8, 9 and 10 cohorts to come in the remaining weeks of this term – inspirational to watch. We have purchased 500 copies of a locally written book on how parents can talk with their children on such issues – you will see them available shortly in our parent foyer and Textbook Office - please help yourselves to one. Additionally, I refer you to www.esafety.com.au/kids/parents. With my principal colleagues across catholic, state and independent sectors, you will see us in Term 4 banding together to bring an online presentation to our respective communities on the topics of Consent, Control and Coercion. It will feature some school principals talking about the prevalence and devastating effect of unsafe online behaviour, our local police speaking about how it plays out at their end when, especially boys, are reported to them for such things as asking girls for nude photos and sending explicit images, a family therapist explaining the big issues with youth today and the list goes on. I will be in touch with you in Term 4 with more information. Onto some good news of our term thus far: • The soon to be completed School Yearbook for 2021 – if not already please contact our Textbook office and pre-order for $35. We order a set amount so do not miss out – it is a beautiful book of photos and memories that you as families will enjoy over so many years to come. So many of our families, at time of graduation, have all 6 years’ worth.
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE • Our Uniform staff have sourced a long sleeve polo shirt option as part of our school sports uniform from 2022 on. This will remove the option of wearing long sleeve undershirts under jackets in winter and work as a sun smart option for all students. • In my last communication with our families, I advised that our students and teacher Bonny Gardner had been successful in making the state final of the Premier’s annual Readers’ Cup Challenge – an amazing achievement. As with a few experiences this term, the lockdown has meant the final, mooted for Brisbane next month, cannot go ahead. • Our students in our Li’l Ensom choir and teacher Heidi Law were also successful in being one of five schools state-wide to make the State Choral Fanfare final – another amazing achievement. As with the Readers’ Cup, the Fanfare final could not go ahead. • Our students in Strings and Orchestra programs, along with their teachers Jess Johansen and Jeff Poole, recently won the Toowoomba Eisteddfod Aggregate trophy – the beauty of these performances is something truly to behold. • As I type this, our students under the tutelage of coach Kathleen Hannant compete this Wednesday in the Queensland Debating Union final – an incredible feat. • The process to select our 2022 student leadership team is well underway and what a treat it has been thus far to listen to the speeches of current Year 11 and 10 applicants – so well prepared, so impressive in their decision to give it a go and in doing so, choose to serve our fine community. Students in Year 8 deliver their speeches and move to interview in the next fortnight. Seeking your assistance: • Please check with your child that he/she has a routine for charging the laptop each night so there is a full charge for the school day ahead. Students are not permitted to charge a laptop at school nor use it during breaks as this will waste some of the charge needed for lessons. Where a laptop is older and the battery wanes a little, some of our students bring a portable battery pack to connect in lessons – that is wise. • We are enjoying wonderful understanding and compliance from our students in relation to the tightening this year of our school mobile phone policy – the policy is a simple one – phones are turned off and out of sight when in class, walking between classes and on the oval. My suggestion is that you advise your child to keep his/her phone in the locker during classes – so many students use this strategy now and temptation is avoided. A repeat offence is a very rare occurrence and thus far this year only three students who have a third offence, two of those families opted to take us up on the offer of housing the phone in our school safe for a period of five weeks with the ensuing result no surprise – students on regaining their phones were overjoyed and have decided since to keep their phones in their lockers during classes. Parents/Carers of our Year 12 students – you will have received a letter last week from Year 12 Deputy Principal Will Curthoys outlining what the remainder of Term 3 and into Term 4 looks like including arrangements for our Year 12 Graduation and Formal. Given conditions around COVID-19 limit space for our Graduation, and this will apply to our Awards Night as well in October, we are truly blessed to have a facility such as our impressive Caldwell Theatre as a venue. Feedback from our Year 12 families last year when we held the Graduation and Awards Day in the Theatre was sensational. The quality of the stream is amazing and to have the events housed on our YouTube site for later and ongoing viewing was also so well received. Families appreciated being able to view after work and with family members gathered in homes. Facilities update: • The work on the erection of more shade/shelter for our students during breaks will take place over the Christmas break – many thanks to our P and C for funding this $25000 initiative. This particular shade will be out from S block towards B block and is the first of a number planned with our P and C already approving a further $15000 • The air-conditioning of all of our classrooms will occur over the Christmas holidays and will begin at the start of Week 9 Term 4 this year. This is part of the State government’s Cooler Schools program.
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Parents/Carers of Year 10 students – you will receive communication shortly as a reminder of our second round of Senior Education and Training Plan interviews with you and your child. We do look forward to sitting with you as very important decisions are made about what the next two years will look like. In the same vein, the success of a number of our Year 10s in securing fulltime apprenticeships to begin in December this year has been so gratifying – while school is not for everyone, learning certainly is. We are well known for the success of our young people entering fulltime apprenticeships and in doing so, shaping their careers and lives moving forward. Learning in lockdown – my sincere thanks to those of you who were in lockdown in this most recent COVID-19 event. Equally, my sincere thanks to our staff for all of their efforts in ensuring we remained connected to teach our students as effectively as possible. This recent lockdown saw approximately 300 students away from school and so the challenge for their teachers is to deliver to those away and also those in the classroom. Things to keep in mind: • teachers generally will have 3-4 classes a day as well as being on hand during breaks for various student inquiries, activities/playground duty and so responses to an email from those away will take up to 24 hours. • students will all have their assessment planners and know their draft and final due dates as well as exam dates and so rightly will be focussing on those commitments. Submissions of assessment are fine to be digital and often are, lockdown or no lockdown. • an increasing number of our teachers are at the stage of delivering their teaching through the TEAMS platform, where they see their class members and vice versa and are able to answer queries as if in a regular class. This not only strengthens the delivery but saves so much time for our staff in the lesser need to respond to emails and /or catch up work on the return of students to face to face. TEAMS is like a one stop shop ie it houses One Note, with which all students are very familiar and has PowerPoint and email. We continue to support our teachers in using this platform. In some cases, this platform will not be useful as the teacher may be conducting a class that requires practical application. • in the case of a TEAMS delivery, it will be a good idea for you at home to check the capacity of your internet service. If you have multiple people in the one household trying to access the internet your connectivity may prove a problem. • With connecting into your home to deliver lessons, I do ask that your child is not positioned in his/her bedroom and has a suitable set up for study. We certainly live in different times now. Be assured that Centenary Heights State High School continues to be fabulous! Best wishes. Maryanne Walsh OAM Executive Principal MAD FESTIVAL On the final Wednesday of last term, the Performing Arts Faculty hosted Centenary Heights’s first ever Music, Media, Art, Drama and Dance Festival - the MAD Festival for short! It was a resounding success, drawing a crowd of over 800 people to witness the many talents of our students. Outside, visitors were entertained by a music stage featuring live bands and ensembles and a dance circle displaying the talents of our classroom Dance students. Business was booming at the food and coffee vans, along with our face painting and photobooth stalls run by the media students. In the foyer, acoustic musicians played in the background of our very own Art Gallery, showing a variety of pieces from students in Years 7-12. And who could forget our school play 15 Reasons Not To Be In A Play, receiving rave reviews and leaving the audience in stitches? We would like to thank everyone involved in the MAD Festival for their enthusiasm and commitment - it definitely created a night to remember that we hope will become a yearly event in the Centenary Heights calendar. Well done to our amazing students and keep creating! Bella Morris-Newell, School Captain
CRAZY HAIR DAY Term 2 concluded with a splash of colour and an excited atmosphere as the school community came together to once again participate in our annual Crazy Hair/Hat day and the World’s Greatest Shave. After being unable to conduct this event in 2020, the school community was eager to style, colour and decorate their hair in anticipation, all for a chance to win the prestigious Nit Wit Trophy, and of course, the bragging rights that come with it. Our incredible MCs, Elliott Pflaum, Flynn Walmsley and Evie Morris-Newell conducted the event with enthusiasm, and the hall was filled with excitement, laughter and chatter as students paraded their wacky hair-dos to the whole school. Hilarity ensued as teachers auctioned off their hair to give students a chance to style their magnificent manes while raising $359.90, with Miss Walsh taking the crown (of hair) with the wackiest hair-do. A massive congratulations to our 7/8 finalist Anna Tierney in 7F for her paddle pop performance, our 9/10/11 finalist Ellyse Reese in 9F for her original origami masterpiece; and of course, congratulations to Valkyrie Jennings in 12B, who was bestowed the highest honour she could receive – the Nit Wit Trophy – for her sensational spiky hairstyle. It was certainly a hair-raising day, as we also had 19 brave students and a brave teacher prepared to shave and cut their hair for the Leukemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave. Leukemia is one of the top four most frequently diagnosed cancers, with 50 Australians being diagnosed every day. 2021 marked the 23rd year the Leukemia Foundation celebrated the event, making it one of Australia’s longest running fundraising events. A massive congratulations to our participants: Samantha Alderdice, 8E; Chelsea Barton, 9J; Luke Bicknell, 7D; Curtis Clewett 7M; Hannah Davis, 7D; Kira Dawson, 8M; Isabelle Edwards 10M; Leo Hutchins, 9C; Jim Johnstone 9F; Ben Le Dilly, 7C; Corbin Martin, 8M; Julian McMicking, 12A; Chelsea-Grace Moore, 8I; Charles Renbo, 8I; Lucie Rigby, 10I; Evelyn Smith, 10M; Amber van Grysen 9K, Kody Walker 11A, Casey Wall- Poelstra, 8I, Mr Mick Floyd, Deputy-Principal. These incredible people raised $14,290.92 for the Leukemia foundation, which is enough to fund three months of lab research and provide two weeks of accommodation to families affected by blood cancer. Dharma McDonald, Student Council Vice-President
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PROGRAM (ISP) It is sad that by now all our international students participate in the Youth Group in Hume Ridge have been away from home for more than a Church on Friday nights. Students were offered year and a half. They absolutely miss their free door to door transportation to and from the parents and siblings at home. However, under church. Students were very warmly welcomed the care and close monitoring of the whole by the church staff and Ross the church Pastor. school staff, the international students are all They made new friends through activities and healthy and ready to cope with another period they certainly enjoined the interaction with so of long separation from their families in the near many unfamiliar faces. A very good practice for future. Looking after the wellbeing of our international students to walk out of their international students has become one of the comfort zones and I hope they will go there priorities of our ISP team. often in the future to gain some interpersonal skills. When hearing that one of our international students said he had missed the street food in At the end of Term 2, our School Principal Miss his hometown, on the day of Chinese Dragon Walsh kindly invited our international students Boat Festival, we organized a Chinese style BBQ for the international students right after school, for a delicious lunch. Miss Walsh was very in J block backyard. The students participated pleased to see the students enjoy the meal and in threading the meat and vegetables onto the chat with the students about their experience, stick and took turns roasting the food on the their home countries and their future plans. stove. They told me that the BBQ tasted so When I shared the event with the students’ authentic and that was the flavour that they parents, the parents were very grateful and had been longing for. They were offered a rice asked me to pass their thanks on to Miss Walsh dumpling to take home which was a must-eat for being so thoughtful and caring to their food in the Dragon Boat Festival. children in a country which is 10,000km away from them. At the end of last term, we took our international students to Chong Tian Temple for an excursion. The lunch was ordered from a restaurant where They visited the Buddhist Temple and had Yum the owner is the homestay provider of our two Cha style meal for lunch. They were so excited international students, Tem and Tong. Ordering when they entered the Sunnybank Shopping lunch from them was to show our support to Plaza as they could order their favourite bubble their business and to express our gratitude for tea. It was very good to take them out to feel taking care of our students for the two years. All the vibe of the big city. of our homestay providers have been wonderful in taking care of the students during this difficult A very special experience that we have time. A great homestay reduces lots of stress for introduced to our international students was to all of us involved. Yao Wu, ISP Coordinator DONATE YOUR PRE-LOVED LAPTOPS Calling all those generous souls who may have a pre-loved laptop at home. CHSHS are keen to receive your preloved laptops as a donation to the school. If you are able to donate a laptop, please bring laptops to the front office and we will deliver them to the IT Staff in the library. This will be a fantastic opportunity for some of our students to be able to access a laptop to use for their schoolwork. Our Principal, Miss Walsh; our IT staff and our Learning Hub staff all support this program. If you have any questions regarding this project, please call Christy Parker, Kirrily Scarff or Bec Hefron at the School on 4636 7500. We thank you in advance for your generosity as the caring CHSHS Community!
JUNIOR SECONDARY & LANGUAGES Early this term our Year 7 student leaders have been representing our school proudly visiting Year 6 students from their previous schools. During this time they have taken the opportunity to explain and reassure students who are getting ready for high school that coming to Centenary Heights SHS is not ‘scary’, but in actual fact, a really positive step forward. Our school has a very involved and targeted program aimed at successfully transitioning our 300+ Year 6 students to high school. What better way to explain the successes of our great school than from the mouths of those who know! Isabelle Potter (7J Class Captain), Oliver Murphy Emily Chow, Kya Daley and Ellyse Reese the (Year 8 Student Council Rep.) and outstanding champion trio mentioned in our last newsletter who 7C students William Hinckfuss and Lachlan Daley achieved Elite Language Championship Awards – getting ready to share their experiences with Year 6 we are so proud of you! Gabbinbar SS students. Tim O’Connell, HOD Junior Secondary & Languages BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY Both the Business and Industrial Technology own assessment, and referencing where they have departments are steaming ahead as usual, with used the work of others. This Academic Integrity both students and staff very busily working on policy is enforced heavily under the new QCE assessment – particularly important for those Year system and it is therefore imperative that families 12s who are coming up to their very important realise the extent of how schools are required to External Examination period Term 4. COVID sanction breaches of this policy. The vast majority lockdowns in nearby LGA’s have seen staff once of students always do the right thing, however there again reverting to using technology online to is a small minority who for one reason or another, distribute learning as well as teaching face-to-face still seek the easy way out and copy other student’s with students remaining at school. This indeed is work. Our Policy on this matter is that all parties not the ideal and thank goodness the lockdown involved in the breach will be sanctioned by the has lifted and students have returned to school – school and as per QCAA policy. albeit wearing masks for the next week. Keep up the excellent work Centenary Heights We cannot stress more highly the importance of staff and students, it is you who makes this school a Academic Integrity with all students submitting their great place to learn and grow. Melissa Rohde-Bidgood, HOD Business & ITD SPORT REPORT Due to recent LGA lockdowns, a number of sporting events and our athletics carnival were either cancelled or postponed. Thank you to staff and students who had planned, coached, nominated, trained or had been selected to participate in the CHSHS Inter-house Athletics Day, the Schools Volleyball Cup, CBSQ Wildcard competition, Red Lions Soccer gala day , South West Queensland All Schools Touch. Your dedication to training in the lead up to these events was valued. Some events will be rescheduled. It is important that all students continue to listen to student notices and check their sport update emails for ongoing updates. At this stage, Darling Downs Athletics trials and the Central Zone Athletics carnivals are scheduled to go ahead with the appropriate COVID planning in place. Good Luck to all students who have nominated to trial at these events. Bec O’Grady, Sports Coordinator
CAREER PATHWAYS Following an unpredictable and disruptive 2020, The benefits of students participating in these due to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, 2021 courses is clearly illustrated by the fact that over has been a far better year for Career Pathways. 70% of new SAT sign-ups for students in Year 12 this year, have gone to students who have previously With initiatives such as JobKeeper and JobSeeker completed a TAFE course. coming to an end, the focus of the state and federal governments has changed to up-skilling Australia’s Additionally, in Term 2, we had close to 50 students workforce and growing employment opportunities engage in the TAFE Taster Programs on offer to year as part of the economic recovery. 10 students. Students attended TAFE one day per week to gain some insight into what it is like to be a This has brought about the Australian Apprenticeship TAFE student. On the back of this, our TAFE numbers Incentives Program. One aspect of this incentives for 2022 are already looking very strong. program includes up to a 50% wage subsidy for a 12-month period, to employers who take on For school leavers, there is currently a wonderful a new apprentice or trainee. Understandably, funding source in place, JobTrainer, which can see many local business’ have been strategically VET courses that typically cost over $20 000, being making the most of these incentives and as such, accessed for a very minimal fee, for example $150 the number of School-Based Apprenticeship and or less. Traineeship (SAT) sign-ups have been through the roof! Specifically, the demand for skilled workers in If you would like further information around any the trades connected to the current building and of these programs and opportunities, either as a renovation boom thanks to HomeBuilder, have parent/carer or business owner, please do not increased significantly. hesitate to contact our school’s Careers Office. As always, a special thank you to our pool of wonderful Our school’s relationship with TAFE has continued employers, Registered Training Organisations, to grow and prosper in 2021, with over 100 students Apprenticeship Support Networks and work currently enrolled in more than 20 different course experience providers who make it happen for our options, ranging from Cert IIs right up to Diplomas. students. Dave McMillan, HOD Career Pathways AWARDS DAY THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER 2021 IN THE CALDWELL THEATRE JUNIOR SCHOOL SENIOR SCHOOL 9:30am - 11:00am 12:30pm - 2:00pm
NAIDOC WEEK The theme celebrated for 2021 NAIDOC Week was Heal Country! Our Centenary community celebrated this extremely significant week together from the 12th-16th of July, Week 1, Term 3. NAIDOC Week is significant for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as it celebrates our history, culture, and achievements. We encouraged the school to be involved as much as possible within our planned events and reach out to our Indigenous students to uplift and celebrate their achievements. We began the week with the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Australian flags raising ceremony which demonstrates our recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The exploitation, desecration and destruction of our cultural heritage, our land, our waters, and our sacred sites calls for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to seek greater protection, which the NAIDOC Week theme Heal Country is about. Our NAIDOC parade was held on the Tuesday where we highlighted the importance of this week for our people and had both student and guest speakers discuss what Heal Country means to them and how we can protect our environment. Thank you to all parade participants, we felt your passion for our culture conveyed through each one of you. A tradition at Centenary is our NAIDOC Week Teacher vs. Student Touch Game. We had a great outcome with our students ready and pumped to reclaim their rightful title after our previous loss against the teachers. The game was tight, and the teachers definitely gave the students a tough game. The 2021 victory goes to the students! Congratulations and excellent work, but better luck next year teachers. Lastly to conclude the week Mr. Willy took students on a Bush trail walk, showing the fascinating environment within our school. We hope that the Centenary community learnt about our culture and listened to the voices and achievements of our Indigenous students, peers, and Elders. Continue to listen for announcements as we have more planned for the rest of the year. Overall, an excellent outcome of this year’s NAIDOC Week, thank you for the help from the participating staff and students, it would not have had such a great impact without you. Bellah Bennett-Payne, Indigenous Captain HPE UPDATE It is so refreshing to walk around the school during Health and PE/Sport and Rec Tasters this year. these beautiful winter days and see all of the activity going on around our school grounds in Our Year 12 Health students have completed regards to physical activity. Our HPE Curriculum their final internal assessment item – their IA3. continues to upskill our students on the importance These assessment tasks will be sent to QCAA for and health benefits of being physically active. Confirmation prior to their External Exam in Term The HPE Curriculum offers students a wide range 4. The Year 12 students will complete their Mock of opportunities in which to engage. Fitness Units Exams in our exam block coming up later in the currently being studied by a number of classes term. have showcased the knowledge students have acquired through the production of some quality Our Year 11 Health students recently implemented fitness sessions. their Body Image Expo targeting all students at CHSHS. It was wonderful to see so many of our The Year 10 students this year enjoyed the new HPE students engaging in this wonderful innovation curriculum for 3 lessons for 1 term across the semester. that was fully planned and implemented by the This change brings us online with the Australian students for the students. Post data collection Curriculum requirements but most importantly gives suggested the event proved to be very effective. our young students an opportunity to stay active and learn new skills. Our Year 10 students are now The HPE staff continue to work collaboratively to engaged in the various HPE Faculty Taster options. produce and implement quality teaching and We have seen increases in students selecting our should be commended for this. Chris Bartlett, HOD Health & Physical Education
One School - Two Campuses SCHOOL OFFICE OPENING HOURS - 4636 7500 The School Office is open Monday to Friday between the hours of 8.15 am and 3.45 pm. TEXTBOOK OFFICE OPENING HOURS - 4636 7576 The Textbook Office is open Monday to Friday - 8.15 am to 3.00 pm. UNIFORM SHOP OPENING HOURS - 4636 7514 The Uniform Shop is open during school terms on the following days: Monday 8:00am – 12:00pm Tuesday 8:00am – 12:00pm Wednesday 8:00am – 12:00pm Thursday 1:00pm – 4:30pm Friday CLOSED Please note: The shop is closed on pupil free days and the last Thursday of each term. UPCOMING EVENTS AUGUST 6 Drama Scene Project Excursion 30 Year 10 English Exam 7 Walker Awards Evening at 5:30pm 31 Year 12 Services Australia Workshop 8-16 Year 12 Unit 4 Mock Exam Block Student Leaders Meeting at 3:15pm 13-16 Year 11 Unit 2 Assessment Block SEPTEMBER 13-17 School Support Staff Week 2 Free Dress Day 16 Chinese Excursion Red Food Day 17 Year 12 RACQ Docudrama 12-3pm 3 Student Free Day Centenary’s Got Talent Teacher Aide Day Last Day of Term 3 www.centheigshs.eq.edu.au
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