Term 2 - Week 4 - May 2024

From The Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 2, Week 4 Newsletter. Happy Mother’s Day to all our wonderful Mums on Sunday. We truly hope you are blessed with a special day.

Great work Tully SHS students

Congratulations to our students for excellent work on their interim report cards issued at the end of Week 1 this term.

•  80.6% of students achieved A – C in all subjects
•  43.7% of students were rated as an A for their behaviour across all subjects
•  96% of students were rated A – C for their behaviour across all subjects
•  33.8% of students were rated A for their effort across all subjects
•  90.2% of students were rated A – C for their effort across all subjects

Great work, and we need to aim for over 85% of our students achieving an A – C in all their subjects. Effort is the key! Students are required to be at school every day, engaging and completing tasks set by teachers. If your child is struggling or requires additional support in classes, please contact the Year Level Coordinator firstly so that we can initiate targeted help.

Congratulations to all our students representing our school in the sporting and cultural activities!

Year 6 into 7 Transition

Our first Year 6 into 7 Transition Evening is planned for Monday 20 May. We encourage all families in our cluster to support our wonderful school. Come along to this evening to hear about the great things on offer at Tully SHS and to meet the team who will be supporting and assisting with the transition process in 2025.

Tully 100

Tully town is turning 100 and the town is celebrating with many events planned over the coming months to commemorate Tully’s Centenary. The Tully SHS Student Leadership Team are planning to have a walking float in the street procession planned for Saturday 8 June. We are hoping as many students as possible will come out on this day and join in the celebrations. If you have any past/old school uniforms for students to wear to celebrate our changes over the years, could you please contact the school as we would love to hear from you!

More information will follow regarding assembly time for procession.

Your valuable feedback

Next week, all parents and carers will receive a short feedback survey. I am seeking your feedback on key aspects in the school that we have been working towards improving. The questions will be drafted from the annual school opinion survey. There will also be four questions focussed on our moderation. Please note that there is a one week turnaround for this survey. We value your time and input to support us in improving our school.

Have an awesome fortnight, and all the best to our students representing our school in the various events planned.

Yours in learning,

Ms Helen Carne
Principal

Take a Step Back in Time with Waltykima

Most people know that Tully is celebrating 100 years of existence as an incorporated township, with probably a few years further back of tents and huts clinging to the banks of the river. Serendipitously, Tully High School is also observing a milestone of our own: we turn 60 this year, so we will join in the birthday celebrations.

The Student Leadership Team is knee-deep in planning a float for the Grand Parade that students will march in – we are hoping for a great turnout, ideally featuring some uniforms of earlier eras. If you have any tucked away, we would love to borrow them! The photo below features the 1964 Year 12 class – knee-length pinafores, ties, and serious socks…

By 1971, it appeared that the Year 12s had been liberated – the ties discarded, unstuffy mid-blue-striped shirt dresses to mid-thigh, and - whoa! – up a tree!

 Oh, the good ol’ days before WHS – see the Year 12 still climbing and posing precariously in 1979 and 1980, their uniform in transition to the plain blue dress that would later be replaced by the t-shirt and shorts/skirt option.

 Perhaps these photos have stirred up some memories for you, or excited your curiosity. All of them can be found in one of our Jubilee Waltykimas, on sale now at Reception: Golden edition $25.00, Silver $15.00. Numbers are limited, so contact the school soon to secure your copy. And remember, we are on the hunt for those unforms of yesteryear!                                                                                   

 Thierrine Bromley                                                                        

Broken Wings (Yr 7 Short Story)

I thought I would love being an acrobat. I loved the training. I felt like I was flying then. I felt like I was finally living up to my name. That was until I was offered this job. It didn’t feel like flying anymore. That was the day it felt like falling. The day my wings broke.

We crowded behind the red curtain, waiting for our cue. Excitedly, everyone whispered among themselves. The clowns and the acrobats and even the mimes spoke together. I stood to the side silently. I couldn’t blame them; they had worked together for years while I had just joined. The production crew rushed around, doing a few final touch-ups. We looked like dolls straight from a little girl’s wildest dreams, from our perfect hair to our elaborate costumes.   

Suddenly, the ringmasters voice echoed around the tent. He was confident and calm and commanding. It went quiet. Gradually, he introduced each of us. I fidgeted nervously. I could barely believe I would be performing today. Excitedly, the acrobats high fived, spraying chalky powder everywhere. I just waved it away and tried to calm my nerves. Little did I know it was a mistake – a terrible one – that I would regret. I received a few pats on the back and whispered wishes of luck, mainly from Willow. She was one of the kindest people here. Eventually, the ringmaster introduced me. “Raven Black!” he boomed.

That was the name I owned. The name that made me feel as if my job was destiny. Well before today anyways.

 I stepped on to the stage. A bright beam of light blinded me, a hunter tracking my every move. The gems covering my leotard snatched the attention of crowd members. I danced over to the ladder. Hundreds of eyes followed me. I climbed rung after rung, higher and higher. All too soon, I reached the top. I inhaled deeply. It helped nothing. The sickly-sweet scent of popcorn made me want to vomit. The height didn’t help with that either. The only thing between me and the ground was fifty -seven metres. I was overcome with a strange feeling.

I hooked my legs over the trapeze. Willow swung me into the air. The act had begun. I longed to be waiting on the platform like Willow was. I flipped through the air. That feeling of missing something was getting stronger and stronger. Suddenly, I realised I had forgotten the chalky powder all the others coated their hands with. It was too late to back out now. I reached for the trapeze on the other side. My fingers strangled the bar for a second. I began to slip. The skin ripped from my fingers as the bar left my grasp.

 I was dropping rapidly. My heart raced as the wind rushed past my ears. I was a raven with broken wings. The crowds gasped. Then cheers erupted from the stands. This wasn’t meant to happen. Surely someone would notice that. I bit my tongue. I couldn’t scream. My breaths were short and shallow. The world was spinning. This is where I die, I thought. Terrified, I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

It never arrived.

Instead, a soft and springy mat was put beneath me. It flung me into the air. Willow grabbed my wrists. Cheers rang in my ears. Claps thundered from every corner of the tent. No one in the crowd had realised what had happened. To them it was all a trick. Perhaps it was best that way. The illusion of the circus remained intact.

 Nina Randall
 Yr 7 Student

Cadets in the Spotlight

Our High School has a long tradition of marking Anzac Day with a formal ceremony. In recent years, the History Department has focused on a particular aspect of that wartime experience and developed a vivid narrative to underline the significance of this annual commemoration.

Crucial to the event are our Cadets, who add gravitas and bookend the ceremony with style and military precision, remaining at attention throughout. It is perhaps the only time that most people are reminded of their existence; they are, in fact, active throughout the year as part of Unit 152 of the AAC (Australian Army Cadets), as the body has been known since the early 2000s. While the numbers have fluctuated in schools since is inception in 1869, in the last decade, thanks to heavy investment from the Army, cadet numbers have grown to 18,000 in some 250 units across Australia.

Unit 152 comprises 23 students from the local region – Tully, Mission Beach and Innisfail – who meet here each Tuesday evening from 5 to 8 pm for hands-on activities such as robotics, construction of huts, laser-tag, and also theory, under the oversight of Captain Gorle and Lt McMullen.  Membership is evenly spread across the genders; cadet ages range from 13 to 18 years. For some, the value lies in the experience itself, others aim to actually join the Army as a career. In the September holidays, Unit 152 joins cadets from as far afield as Rockhampton and Cairns for an eight-day camp at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, where they get a real taste of Army life.

Discipline, camaraderie, life experience, fun – these are some of the elements of AAC that our students value.

Thierrine Bromley

Coral Sea Memorial Tribute

Last Sunday, May 5, two members of our Student Leadership Team proudly represented Tully High School at the annual Coral Sea Memorial Ceremony at Cardwell.

Charlize Gee, the Junior School Captain, read the dedication, and Angellyn (Year 7) laid a beautiful wreath made by Teacher Aide Jenny Lee-Guiffrida in honour of the fallen. Both girls volunteered their services, and it is quite moving to contemplate the fact that these young girls were willing to give up their spare time to honour the lives of men lost so long ago.

Thierrine Bromley

100 Year Centenary Celebration

100 Years of Fashion Tea Party

Cairns Maritime Jobs & Careers Expo

Navigating a Sexed-up World

Girringun Tumra Open Day

Outside School Hours Care

Bringing up Great Kids

P & C Meetings

FNQ Basketball League

Tully 100 Years

Free Influenza 2024