11 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

As a school community we returned to term 2 with the sad news that Mr John Dighton, a past teacher at Beerwah State High School (1999 - 2013) had passed away from a stroke over the Easter vacation. John was a key in establishing the Athletics program, which saw Beerwah as the winner of the District athletics every year during that time. John had been doing supply days at Beerwah for the past 4 years and was only just at the school in the last week of term 1. We pass on our condolences to his family.

The end of term 1 also saw the election of a new committee for the P&C. The new to the committee are President is Justine Baker, Vice President – Maree Robinson with both Sam Eeles and Cheree Smyth continuing in the positions of Secretary and Treasurer. Thank you for commitment to the school in taking up these positions. It is also timely, to again thank Coralie Lillecrap (President) and Shari Brewer (Vice President) for their contribution to the P&C over the past years.

Term 1 interim reports were emailed to all families on Thursday March 29. If you did not receive a report card please check with the school office that your current email address is what is recorded on our system.

Hopefully, all families took the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher at the Parent /Teacher/ Student conferences on Monday 23 April. Research shows that where there are open lines of communication between school and the home, student results improve. If you were unable to meet with your child’s teacher at this time, please contact the school office to arrange a suitable time to discuss your child’s progress and how they can improve their learning.

The school was well represented at the recent Beerwah ANZAC Day services. School Captains, Rose Mickelson, Ruth Finneran and Vice Captains Aidan Goldsborough and Veda Pflasterer played prominent roles in both the dawn service and the community service. It was pleasing to see the number of other students who made the commitment to represent the school at these events and provide a positive image of students from Beerwah State High school.

As was mentioned in the last newsletter, the students and now parents have been surveyed in relation to a new style of school jacket. The P&C are in the ordering process and these will be available later this term. A full report about the school uniform is in the Uniform Update section of this newsletter.

Similar to last year, students will be allowed to wear navy tracksuit pants during the cooler months. The colour of the tracksuit pants needs to be the same as the navy skirt and shorts that are part of our dress code. The completion of the uniform review will be discussed at the next P&C meeting, May 8.

The arrival of the new system of Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance is fast approaching with the start really being noticed in the Senior Education and Training Plans that the year 10 students will be completing at the beginning of term 3. There will be another parent information evening on May 22 to discuss the processes and changes ahead. For further information about the new Queensland Certificate of Education and the external assessment system please refer to the link below.

Glen Robinson
Principal

Senior School News

Are you doing all you can to prepare for the QCS test???

Year 12 students who are OP eligible as well as a few others who are aiming for a rank have been getting ready for the Queensland Core Skills Test during their LSK lessons on a Wednesday afternoon. These tutorials have helped students understand the test format, the importance of time management and also given them the opportunity to complete practice questions and receive targeted feedback for improvement.

To further motivate students and encourage them to do their best in both QCS preparation as well as in their individual subjects Darren Pereira from Success Integrated conducted a workshop to give students some tips as to how to achieve their BEST and strive for Excellence.

Tips to help you prepare for the QCS test

1. Access retrospectives online to see study modelled answers to different questions.
2. Engage strongly in the weekly LSK lesson/practice QCS tutorials and collaborate with other students to work out the best methods to answer the 4 parts of the QCS test.
3. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the CCEs – common curriculum elements. There are of these and they are often the key words in any assessment task e.g. Analyse, justify,
4. Review the feedback from last year’s practice tests on the Mighty Minds portal that highlights areas where you need to improve and then complete further questions to practice in those areas.
5. Ask teachers for past test papers to practice them under exam conditions.
6. If practising questions at home don’t forget to set time limits as time management in this test is very important.

The QCS test is not subject based so therefore there is not specific subject content and notes that you can study. What you can do is practice your skills in reading a question and ensuring you highlight very carefully what you are being asked to do and respond to so that you are able to give the most comprehensive answer. READ all questions carefully and also look deeply into the subject matter

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Ebbinghaus’ Research

We forget more than ½ of what we learn within 1 hour.
We forget 2/3 within 2 days
After 5 repetitions we can retain 90% of what we learn

Tanya Hayden
Deputy Principal

Senior School News

Senior School is Changing

If you have a child in Years 7 – 10, their Senior Schooling years (Year 11 & 12) will be under new systems for QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education) attainment and university entrance. The QCE will still be administered by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) but university entrance ranks will be administered by the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC).

The key changes in the new systems include:

• renaming of Senior Subjects from Authority and Authority-Registered to General and Applied Subjects. The change in terminology from Semesters of Work to Units of Work.
• a new senior assessment model that combines school-based assessment (developed and marked by classroom teachers) and an external examination (set and marked by the QCAA) for all General Subjects
• the introduction of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for university entrance from 2021. The ATAR will replace the current OP system. There will be no QCS Test in 2020.

Please follow the link for further information regarding the reasons behind these significant changes.

An information session will be held on Tuesday May 22 to discuss the changes to Senior Schooling at Beerwah State High School from 2019. All parents of Year 10 students are encouraged to attend. The information session will be held from 5.30pm – 6.30pm in the Performing Arts Block.

Senior School Leadership Nominations

Year 11 students with leadership aspirations for the 2018/2019 student leadership positions have been asked to complete the Senior Student Leadership Application Form. (A copy can be found by following the link below) The application forms are due to the front office by Friday May 11. Students who are nominating for School Captain positions will be asked to complete a selection interview with the Senior School leadership team (Principal, Deputy Principal and Head of Department) and students nominating for House Captain positions’ will meet with the HPE Head of Department. Voting for positions will be held once nominations have been finalised. A student leadership position is a great opportunity for students to be actively involved in the school and wider community.

Roadcraft Driver Training

On Tuesday 29 & Wednesday 30th May students from grade 11 & 12 will be heading up to the Roadcraft Driver Training Centre in Gympie to learn practical hands-on skills to keep them safe on the road. Cost is $250 for training, transport and food. Please contact Mike Turner on 5436 5333 if you would like your child to participate. “I really, really enjoyed this course! It was such a great experience being able to practice and encounter the different situations that drivers can be thrown into, as well as being in a safe and controlled environment. It’s such an important thing knowing what to do in an emergency and I learnt a few things to keep in mind when practicing. I loved being told what I’m doing well and what I need to improve on and this course helped me with that because Paul (instructor) was amazing! I would rate this course 4.5/5 and for everybody!” Tayler (Year 12, 2017).

Beerwah SHS celebrates the Anzac Spirit

On Tuesday 24th April Beerwah SHS held its annual Anzac Day parade to celebrate the Anzac spirit that lives on through all of our young people. We were fortunate to have Mr John Nisbett, President of the Beerwah RSL join us and also grateful to students COU Teya O’Keefe and CUO Tey Brooks for attending in full cadet uniform and providing an honour guard for the flag. Vice Captains Veda Pflasterer and Aiden Goldsborough led the ceremony with a requiem delivered by school captains Ruth Finneran and Rose Mickelson and Junior captains Shanae Bryant and Breanna Whitwam recited the poem “A tribute to Anzac Day”. Our concert band played Abide with Me as well as the New Zealand and Australian Anthems and we were led in song by the vocal group singing Advance Australia Fare and Iszic-James Alexander, Sara James, Jemyia Tapara, Paige Eeles and Zoe Williams singing God Defend New Zealand.

All of our school leaders were once again involved in both the Dawn and Main services on Anzac Day and it was wonderful seeing so many students involved in the march and representing Beerwah SHS.

Academic & Cultural Cup

Monthly Riddle

Here is this month’s riddle, which is based on a visitor to our school a little over a week ago; many students were woken by this surprise guest. As per usual, the prize for being one of the first twenty correct entries is 2 points towards the Academic & Cultural Cup, 8 Vivo points and a 1 in 20 chance of winning a $5.00 tuckshop voucher.

Fatherless and motherless; born without sin; roared when I came into the world but never spoke again! What am I?

Annual Beerwah High Spelling Bee

After a spring that delivered a constant sprinkling of water, our courts are lush and green and ready for some scintillating on court spelling in our 4th edition of the Beerwah High Spelling Bee Tennis Tournament. As per usual, teams of four will battle in a knockout style tournament spelling words and sweating over the use of their powerplays, which include powershots, count-me-ins, re-serves and team plays. Nomination forms will be available next week in form class. Let’s see if we can break our record and have 200 participants this year

The tournament dates and courts have been locked in as follows:-

Peter Voigt
Teacher Aide- Learning Support

Alternative Pathways 2018

Term 2

School based apprenticeships and traineeships (SATs)

At the beginning of each term a review is made of all continuing school based traineeships and apprenticeships. It is pleasing to see our students successfully progressing through their qualification studies and performing to a high standard in their various workplaces. Comments from employers include that trainees are a huge asset to their business, that they have fit in well and that they are willing to learn and tackle new tasks.

Several students have secured traineeships and apprenticeships in the past weeks having successfully participated in work trials. Congratulations to trainees and apprentices in:

• Certificate II Hospitality (Coffee Club Beerwah)
• Certificate III Retail (Domino’s Pizza, Beerwah) - Jaydan Pilson
• Certificate III Retail (Domino’s Pizza, Beerwah) - Seth Wilson
• Certificate III Bricklaying (Terry Henderson Bricklaying) - Pahi Littin

Beerwah High greatly values the opportunities provided by local employers allowing our young people to combine training with working in a real job and gaining QCE points. Trainees are able to learn the practical workplace skills and earn a part time wage while continuing full time school studies. Students wanting to participate in school based arrangements need to effectively balance school, work and qualification study and in some cases also travel. The level of commitment required should be carefully considered.

New SAT opportunities for year 10, 11 and 12 students are advertised via school notices, on year level parades, noticeboards and on school Facebook page. Students are encouraged to also seek their own opportunities by talking with their current employers and networking with family, friends and neighbours. See Ms Skerman for details and helpful information.

Current Vacancy:

School based apprenticeship, Certificate III Meat Processing (Retail Butcher) in Landsborough.

Duties include: cutting, trimming and shaping standard cuts of meat to size; packing and storing products for display and sale; conducting sales; customer service; cleaning and equipment maintenance.

Requirements: Positive attitude and motivation to commence this pathway. Commitment to school, study and work.

Applications: An up to date resume to Ms Skerman by the first week in May.

CERTIFICATE COURSES

The SHB20216 Cert II Salon assistant & SHB20116 Cert II Retail Cosmetics dual course commenced on Thursday 19th April and will run each week through term 2 and 3. Students are enjoying this adult learning environment and have already established a great rapport with their trainer Leanne from 2Study. Dressed in salon work wear the day begins with a morning session of theory and discussion and is followed by practical activities. Students have participated in styling and straightening hair taking turns to role play salon assistant and client. Congratulations students on a great start to the course.

Enrolments will be open until week 4. This is a foundation course giving students skills in basic hairdressing tasks, communication techniques and product knowledge. Potential career outcomes include salon assistant, sales person, mark-up artist and a lead into apprenticeships. The course is for VETiS eligible students and provides 8 QCE points. There is a fee for service option ($500) – please see Ms Skerman for further information.

HPE Update

Our Yr 11 PE class attended a Biomechanics Day at the University of Queensland on Monday of week 2 and had a wonderful time participating in various sessions including; Impulse Station with force plates,

Motion Capture and Cycling Station, Force Control Station. The science of the biomechanical applications were interesting and would be beneficial towards STEM and STEAM educational initiatives in school.

Also our Athletics Extension Program students enjoyed their Coolum Cross Country training day however, when the lightening started 25mins into our Aqua Park session the thought did cross my mind that we could lose 87 of our top athletes in one hit. Thankfully “Usain Thunder Bolt” was busy striking vengeance back at the school. (Photos attached)

This year’s School Cross Country was a special event as we paid tribute to John Dighton (former HPE teacher) who sadly passed away over the Easter holidays. John was passionate about running and athletics and was instrumental in contributing to 20 consecutive years of District Athletics Championships. Approximately 200 runners competed wearing electric blue ribbon to pay their respect to Mr Dighton and the sun was shining down brightly in stark contrast to last year. A big thank you to Belinda Kerr our Sports Coordinator and the PE teachers and students for another successful event.

Age Champions:

Boys

12 Yrs. Jack H.
13 Yrs. Bailey M.
14 Yrs. Jordy W.
15 Yrs. Nicholas H.
16 Yrs. Kye D.
Open Jesse S.

Girls

12 Yrs. Amali K.
13 Yrs. Baylee M.
14 Yrs. Imogen H.
15 Yrs. Ella H.
16 Yrs. Natalie R.
Open Rose M.

Steve Jeffery
Health and Physical Education HOD

School uniform news – New winter jacket coming soon

Due to requests from students to look at a different design for our school jumper at the end of last term, students were surveyed about their preference for a new winter jumper or jacket. Overwhelmingly the students all expressed their desire for a zip up jacket and they also stated a preference for microfiber over the current fleecy school jumper. As a result of this a survey was undertaken of students, staff and parents and sample B was selected as the preferred style with the addition of a gold band on arm so that all HOUSES were represented in the design.

The new jacket will cost $50.00

We are now entering the ordering phase and as there may be a delay of 4 – 8 weeks for delivery the school has decided that students who need to purchase a new school jacket will be able to pay a $20 deposit for this and we will issue them with a uniform pass. This is on the understanding that they will wear an appropriate plain coloured jumper to school, or their primary school jumper for year 7 students, while they wait for the order to arrive. As per any new uniform item there is a phase in period so students are still able to wear the “old” winter jumper/jacket if they wish until they grow out of it. There are still some of our current jumpers for sale but as these run out old style stock will not be re-ordered.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the school on 54365333 and ask to speak with Tanya Hayden, Deputy Principal.