Term 3 Week 10

From the Principal

Welcome to our end of Term 3 newsletter- a newsletter which will celebrate a full term without disruptions from Corona Virus impacts. It has been pleasing to see our students maintaining a high attendance rate even more pleasing to see attendance at events such as Athletics Day higher than I have encountered over the past five years. Attendance has been a priority for our support staff and classroom teachers and their work along with your commitment, has resulted in   this pleasing rate.

You will also observe the new format of this newsletter as we improve our digital footprint. This newsletter, along with the weekly snapshot, can also be accessed through this platform and its associated app – SZApp.

Upcoming Events

Our Year 12 Formal is being held this Thursday evening at the MPC.  While the Formal itself has restricted attendence, the arrivals, to be held on the school oval, is open to the general public with social distancing being observed. I commend this event to you and invite you to see the arrival of our students.

This year’s Speech Night and Graduation Ceremony are currently being organised and the format for these will be communicated more fully next term. At this point in time, I would expect both activities to still run but with limitations on attendance.  

Exam Preparation

Our Year 12 students are currently attending mock exams to familiarise them with the nature of external exams due to commence in Week 4 next term. Staff continue to prepare students for Term 4 assessment in a range of ways – recently, Year 12 English students attended an after school ‘think fest’ program to develop their knowledge and understanding of topics.

All other year levels are currently involved in a range of assessment activities and Year 11 students have commenced their exam block.

Subject Selections

In preparation for the 2021 timetable, students are currently participating in information sessions outlining subjects on offer next year. To enable students to gain the best chance of obtaining their preferred subjects, we will run subject selections several times prior to a final decision.  This will enable those building the timetable to design selections that will suit most students.  Do not hesitate to contact the school if you wish to find out more information regarding subject selections in 2021.

Teacher Enticement to Far North QLD

Ensuring we have a full complement of staff and that we have the best teachers available at our school is a major part of our work throughout the year.  New teachers to Far North Queensland, Mr Townson and Ms Paine, along with Mr McLoughlin, spoke via video conference recently to around 50 trainee teachers in South East Queensland espousing the benefits of teaching in Tully and FNQ.  A local university called upon our school to support new and beginning teachers.

Year 11 Leadership Camp 2020

From the 19 to 21 of August, sixty Year 11 students participated in the annual Leadership Camp at Echo Creek. The primary focus of the camp is to provide an opportunity for potential school leaders to emerge. Students were split into three groups for the duration of the camp, and were required to work together to complete various challenges, including raft building, laser tag, abseiling, rock-wall climbing, a physical and muddy obstacle course, and other leadership activities.

Many students were required to interact with others whom they would not normally interact with, and to step out of their comfort zones to do their part for the team. Throughout this process, there were many positives to come from the camp. Students did a great job of creating an inclusive culture within their groups, ensuring that all group members were involved and participating. Students also pushed some of their own fears to the limits, particularly a fear of heights.I witnessed quite a few tears when students  found themselves a little higher than they would have liked to have been on the rock and abseiling walls. I also saw their groups encouraging and supporting them as they struggled, and in just about every case that I witnessed, the student was able to push through their fear and complete the activity.

Students also completed camp chores, including food preparation and clean up, general sweeping and wiping down of surfaces, and the cleaning of all toilet/shower blocks and their own cabins at the end of the final day. We couldn’t let them have too much fun could we!

Overall, I was really proud of this group and how they conducted themselves during camp. Even though nobody is perfect, the positives I saw far out-weighted the negatives, and I know that camp will remain a wonderful memory for the students involved. A big thank you to all the parents/guardians, teaching staff, and admin who made it possible for the camp to run, and the students to attend. Certainly on the logistical side of things, I could not have provided such a great camp for the students if it weren’t for all the help I received.

As the Year 11s approach the final term of the year, we have opened the applications for leadership positions in 2021. These includes School Captains, Sports Captain, House Captains, Indigenous Leaders, and President and Vice-President positions for the Student Leadership Team. Please chat with your student if you believe they would be great for any of these roles.

Ike Ambrum

Workshop with Dr Pete Stebbins

It is not every day that students get a chance to work with a keynote speaker of Dr Peter Stebbins’ calibre, but that was the case last Thursday, when the Student Leadership Team spent the day being coached in how to operate at top functionality.

Dr Pete is Australia’s leading expert on High Performance Teams in Education and Director of the High Performance Schools Project, which helps schools create an environment where both staff and students can flourish. Last week he worked with staff and school leaders to help us maximise student outcomes through his teams approach, and set aside a whole day to induct our SLT members in this approach.

It was an enlightening, interactive session, where students contributed as much as they learnt. Dr Pete is a dynamic presenter, with a psychology background, and he guided the team through this new approach with an infectious enthusiasm.

Our next meeting will be a debrief of this experience, where we will discuss how best to integrate and adapt these new insights and procedures. As a High Performance Team, our aim is to have more input into school decisions, and to add to our members’ leadership skills and experience.

Thierrine Bromley

Athletics Carnival

Students and staff were blessed with perfect weather for the annual Athletics Carnival which saw the highest attendance in recent years. Well done to Tyson house who won the champion house for the carnival, narrowly beating out Mackay.

Congratulations to the following age champions:

• 12 y.o. – Elise Kleinhans and Curtis Hayley
• 13 y.o. – Brooke Johnston and Jaiden Mothe
• 14 y.o. – Sasha Flegler and Crawford McElroy
• 15 y.o. – Tehgan Gee and Brett Brunello
• 16 y.o. – Chloe Johnston and Matthew Langdon
• Open - Taylah Walker and Ben Smith
  
• Congratulations to Brooke Johnston & Rajveer Singh who won the Annual TSHS Gift Race which was run last Tuesday. This is a handicapped race between all winners of the 100m sprint from the TSHS athletics carnival.
  

Walker Memorial and Teitzel’s IGA Trophies – Yr 11 vs 12 Rugby League

Last week year 11 and 12 students competed in the annual Walker Memorial and Teitzel’s IGA Rugby League matches. The Walker Memorial match is played in memory of past students, the Walker brothers, who were keen Rugby League players. 

The matches were highly anticipated with many students having  had limited opportunity for Rugby League in 2020.  The teams trained during lunchtimes over many weeks and team captains showed great leadership in organising their teams.   

The girls match was a see-sawing affair, with both teams trading tries over the opening half.  The year 11 team managed to edge ahead before the final whistle, winning 4 tries to 3 (no conversions taken).  Congratulations to Brooke Tongalea who was awarded the player of the match. 

The Year 11 team started the boys' match strongly, dominating possession to post some early tries.  To the Year 12 team’s credit they dug in and didn’t give up, fighting back with some great attacking raids and a try by Thomas Busch.  The Year 11s were able to control the ball throughout the match and ran away winners 38-6. Congratulations to Sam Ulutui who was awarded the player of the match. 

State Netball Championships

Well done to Francesca Musumeci, Isabella Slater, Melody Smith, Maya Threlfall,Sasha-May Flegler,Tehgan Gee and Hunter Richtsfield who travelled to Brisbane last week to compete at the State Netball Championships. All the girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience and welcomed the challenge that came with the high level opposition.  The U15 team achieved the highest result by a Peninsula Netball team in the last 15 years, finishing 8th after a narrow loss in the playoffs.  The Open Girls team defeated the North West team and finished 11th overall.  Well done girls.

From the English Department

During this term, Mr. Vans' Year 7D class focused on analysing a variety of short films - helping the students further their knowledge on film techniques such as camera shots, soundtrack, and plot development. After watching the film ‘CoCo’, students worke d collaboratively to complete a ‘movie board’ - helping consolidate their knowledge and improve their ability to work in teams. Both Kiera, Lana, and Charlize demonstrated all key elements of the ‘movie board’ in a creative manner - setting high expectations amongst their peers. They truly did an exceptional job. Thank you. 

Year 9G recently presented their book walls to the class.  Students worked in teams to create a visual representation of the themes, characters, key quotes, symbols and ideas in their chosen novel.  All students worked well together over a number of lessons to construct and communicate their ideas.  The novels included: Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove by James Maloney; Angels Gate by Gary Crew; Of a Boy by Sonya Hartnett; and Peeling the Onion  by Wendy Orr.  This unit provided opportunities for students to extend their reading, with many students reading two, and some reading three or four novels.

Careers Book Display

Charlize and Leah browse the many reference books available on different types of careers. With the Year 10 SET plans and junior subject selections underway, the book display on types of jobs has generated some interest in the library.

Commitment to Excellence

What would you expect teenagers to be doing in the two hours straight after school?  These eager year 12s were having fun and studying hard for their upcoming exams.  The English Teachers Association of Queensland (ETAQ), organised a series of webinars and a live zoom chat session for students across Queensland to share tips for the looming English exam.  With a bit of bribery (think hot chips and gravy, bikkies and chocolate) most of the cohort turned out for this unique initiative.  Both classes worked well together and, as a group, confirmed that we are well on track for our external exams.  

Students are still able to access the video presentations on writing an analytical essay, and an academic perspective on Macbeth until the exam in Term 4. 

Year 9 Economics and Business

This year in Economics and Business learnt about the Australian economy, played the ASX school share market game, visited Tully businesses to talk about competitive advantage and practiced some accounting skills. Students learnt crucial life skills and reflected about how their decisions have an impact on businesses and the economy. Perhaps our highlight was spending a morning during Term 3 visiting a range of businesses to talk about competitive advantage. Students wrote and posed a variety of questions in order to understand how local businesses were actively trying to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. Students were also keen to find out about the effects of the recent lockdown on our local businesses.

A Fantastic Outcome

A few weeks ago, the Student Leadership Team organised the annual fund-raiser – Cupcake Day – that involved many of our wonderful students baking cupcakes and even more of them buying them. Delicious, decadent, delightful – the range of cupcakes was spectacular; many decorated with an animal theme, in honour of Paws & Claws, the animal shelter, entirely dependent on donations and grants, that would be the recipient of the money raised.  Prizes were given in various categories, including one for the most baked. Amali won that section, with over 120 cupcakes, but even she had strong competition, such was the dedication and enthusiasm of our students.

At this week’s Assembly we invited Dave, the manager of Paws & Claws to receive our cheque. Until then, we had not revealed how much had been raised, so that the school community could share in Dave’s surprise and savour the full impact of their efforts.

One thousand dollars! This is the fantastic outcome of our 2020 Cupcake Day. Last year Paws & Claws bought a much-needed washing machine with the $850 we raised: this time our donation will help build a new cat shelter.

Thierrine Bromley

Our Garden

This term, Miss Turners' Year 7 History Essentials students who also participate in the ASDAN Program Challenges, have been very busy successfully completing the Moving Forward-Science Challenge, in which students are asked to grow a plant from seed and care for it for 6-8 weeks.

At first, the students were told they were to adopt a purple climbing bean and care for it until it matured and produced its beans; a prize was offered for the person who cared for their bean the best. Six weeks later, all the students have cared not just for their beans but also learnt to grow corn, passionfruit, bok choy, tomatoes and even strawberries, and our little adventure into gardening has blossomed, with the entire school is benefitting from their hard work.

Further to this, the students have very kindly all agreed, that no one person should receive a prize,  that it was a team effort to ensure the gardens remained healthy and that a pizza party, using the garden ingredients, was a much better prize we could all enjoy together.

I am extremely proud of all the students' efforts and couldn’t be happier that over the term I have seen their enthusiasm for the science and the therapy gardening offers grow alongside the fruits (and vegetables) of their labour. Well done!

Sofie Turner

NAIDOC

Always Was, Always will Be

This year's theme for NAIDOC 2020 is Always Was, Always will Be which means that we, as a whole country, are acknowleging our First Nations People who have cared and looked after it and that we, as First Nations People, are still here to share our knowledge and stories.

This year’s NAIDOC Celebration at Tully State High School will be held in Term 4 the first week back from Septermber holidays, from 6 to 9 of October. On Tuesday, the students will open NAIDOC with dancing. There will be activities on Wednesday and Thursday in the first lunch break, including spear throwing and boomarang throwing, Indigenous games and badge making. On Friday, you will all be able to try some Torres Strait Islander food as well.

So please come along and help celebrate NAIDOC Week with us.

Parentline Cyberbullying Training for Parents

Parentline Cyberbullying support training has been designed for use by all adults who care for older children and teens at risk of, or already have had experiences with cyberbullying. To view the landing page and access the training resources click here.

This training is FREE and available 24/7 via any internet enabled device.

The training program is specifically designed to be a pocket-ready resource which can be easily accessed via any smart phone or tablet, with easy navigation and practical, supportive information. 

The Parentline Cyberbullying training will be helpful to parents, carers and grandparents who are:

• nervous or fearful of using the internet or new devices
• anxious about their young ones using the internet
• concerned cyberbullying may be impacting their child
• concerned their child may be engaging in cyberbullying behaviours
• would like to learn how to identify when cyberbullying may be impacting their family unit
• would like supportive, practical information around starting uncomfortable conversations.