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Term 1 - Week 10 - April 2025

From The Principal

Dear Parent and Carers,

Welcome to Term 1, Week 10 Newsletter. As this is the last day of Term 1, thank you to the Tully community for your ongoing support to our school this term. The term has been extremely busy with weather events but our students have done a great job in remaining focussed on our main game of learning by completing and submitting assessments.

Interim report cards will be issued to parents via email on Thursday 24 April.

Annual Improvement Plan Targets

Tully SHS is looking to continually improve our teaching practices to improve student learning. Our 2025 student learning targets are:

80% of our students will receive an A – C in all subjects – Year 7 - 10
40% of our students will receive an A or B in all subjects – Years 7 – 10
100% of our students will receive an A – C in all subjects Years 11 and 12

Our school is focussed on working with our students to ensure these targets are achieved. With teachers currently reporting, please ensure your child has submitted all of their assessment to give them the very best opportunity to show their learning. After the holidays, I will report back to the school community how we have gone in Term 1.

Staffing Update

I am very pleased to advise I will be continuing in my role of Principal. Tully SHS is a wonderful school and I look forward to continuing our improvement work to improve our student learning outcomes for our school community.

From the beginning of Term 2, we will welcome Tegan Muriata into our school as the Community Education Counsellor. Tegan is a Tully local and will work extensively with our school community to support our First Nations students.

Thank you to Tonya Grant who has been acting in the role. Tonya will continue her work with our school as a teacher aide in classes, supporting students.

School Facilities

Over the holidays, there will be a considerable amount of works occurring. For this weekend – Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 April – no community member or staff is able to come on site due to asbestos removal from the old tuckshop and A block.

Other works planned to occur in the holidays include:

Replacement of IT switches
Replacement of gas lines in C and N block
Re-correction of line work in the Syrmiss Hall
Concreting under A block steps

Tenders for the Tuckshop close early next week, so hopefully this work will commence in Term 2.

Have an awesome Easter break – travel safe if going away and take the time to enjoy your time with your children!

Yours in learning,
Ms Helen Carne
Principal

Happy 90th Birthday Ernie Grant!

Congratulations to Uncle Ernie Grant, who celebrated his recent 90th birthday with us at Tully SHS. Many years ago, Uncle Ernie worked at Tully SHS as our Community Education Counsellor. He is well respected for his work in Indigenous Education. Uncle Ernie and his guests enjoyed a beautiful morning-tea provided by Senior Hospitality students.

Year 7s – A Snapshot

What a remarkable first ten weeks our Year 7 students have had at high school! It's been a journey filled with learning, growth, and plenty of fun. As we reflect on this first term of high school, here are a couple of the highlights.

We kicked off the year with our Year 7 Meet and Greet in Week 3, an amazing opportunity to meet all of our parents and carers and a fantastic chance to build relationships to work together to support the students' success in this new chapter of their education.

In Week 3, our Year 7s participated in the highly anticipated Survivor Games. This event was all about teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. Students took part in various team-building activities that helped them form new friendships, challenge themselves, and learn to work collaboratively. The energy and enthusiasm from students was contagious, making it a day to remember!

Throughout Wellbeing this term we’ve been focusing on developing social and emotional skills that will serve our students well throughout their time in high school and beyond. The students explored the Zones of Regulation, learning how to recognize their emotions and manage them. We also delved into the importance of empathy, kindness, and gratitude – values that help build a positive school community and strengthen relationships.

Students have been doing a lot of amazing learning across the various subject areas; a key highlight for me was being able to tag along and check out some of the Year 7 rain gauges - turns out it rains a lot.

Students have been learning about the elements of drama and have been involved in various skits. Year 7 students taking Food Studies this semester will be receiving cook books to take home; I encourage you to try some of these recipes over the holidays, but just don’t leave them in the kitchen alone….

At lunchtimes it has been really good to see students participating in the various sports held in the MPC: multiple board games in the library, instrumental music and Geography club, to name a few. The excitement doesn't end there, with one more event for the term, the Tully SHS Swimming carnival on Friday. Go TYSON!!!

Enjoy your holidays and look forward to seeing you all in Term 2!

Aidan Mason
Year 7 Coordinator

Formal Fundraiser

The idea of a Peach Blossom and Lamington drive resulted in a mammoth task as the community got on board with the project. With the support of Year 12 parent, Maree Vipiana, Year Level Coordinator Michelle Kurschat led a dedicated team of helpers to bake, dip and roll almost 3,000 delicious cakes. These old fashioned favourites provided an opportunity for Senior Hospitality students to execute a large scale production.

The Day the Flowers Died

by Lila Pitman Yr.9

The soft, powdery scent of lilies fills the sterile air. My eyelids flutter open and closed, too heavy to keep fully open. The beeping of machines around me blends with the distant sound of children’s laughter and the screech of tires outside. I can barely make sense of the world; everything is out of focus, slipping in and out of my grasp.

A tight embrace of a medical bracelet is wrapped around my wrist- ’Vivien Spencers ‘is written. Beside me, a bouquet of lilies rests in a glass vase, the petals so pale they’re almost white—too pale. I reach for them instinctively, lifting the delicate stems towards my nose. The fragrance is familiar, but it’s not right. Not the same. Not the pink ones.

The pink ones… the ones she held that day.

Friday, 16th.

I can still remember the scent of the lilies, thick and sweet, wrapped in a ribbon of pale gold. I had it pressed to my nose, breathing in the soft floral notes as I sat beside Vivian in the Jeep. We were on the old bridge crossing over Greenfield River, the rain coming down in sheets turning the road into a slick, unnerving mess.

“Viv, be careful over the river,” I’d warned, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

Vivian’s eyes flicked to me, his grip on the wheel tightening. “I can’t see through all this bloody rain, Sage. Maybe you should drive.”

The rain pounded harder, almost deafening. The Jeep skidded beneath our feet, the tyres losing grip on the wet road. I looked at him again, his face tense, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, mixing with the rainwater.

“Vivian!” I said, my voice rising. “Slow down, it’s not worth it!”

But his jaw clenched. He was trying, but the road was unforgiving, and the bridge seemed to waver beneath us.

I inhaled the scent of the lilies once more, grounding myself. This was our moment. We were here, together, on a quiet, rainy afternoon with nothing but the smell of flowers and the rumble of distant thunder. I’d always loved these lilies—pink, soft, almost like the warmth of an old friend’s embrace.

The tires slid. There was no time to brace, no time to react.

The Jeep jerked violently as we lost control, flinging us towards the edge of the bridge. For a split second, I thought we were floating.

Everything felt weightless, like a dream. The lilies, the ones I had been holding just moments ago, were ripped from my hands and tossed out the window. I reached for them, desperate to keep hold of something—anything—but it was too late. The world fell apart.

The sound of water crashing into the vehicle was deafening.

I can still feel the cold rush as the Jeep slammed into the river’s depths. The world spun, water filling the cabin, surging through the windows like a tidal wave. I can hear Vivian’s voice, shouting my name through the cacophony of noise.

Then, everything went quiet.

There was nothing but water.

Vivian fought against the current, his arms strong but his movements desperate. He waded through the cold, murky water, his eyes wide with panic. I remember him looking for me, searching the depths, and then his eyes catching mine.

Sage.

That’s what he had called me, in that quiet moment of realisation, just before he pulled me from the river. My body was limp in his arms, broken by the glass from the shattered window, and the weight of the water pulling me down.

I remember the sharp, burning pain in my torso, my lungs filled with water, and the weight of my limbs, dragging me deeper. But Vivian didn’t stop. His hands were on me, pulling me to the surface with a raw determination. He was panting, struggling against the river’s pull, but he wouldn’t stop until he had me back.

I could barely breathe, my chest heaving with the effort. But my eyes… my eyes opened, and I saw him. He was focused, desperate, but his gaze never faltered. He kept shouting my name, but I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t move, couldn’t tell him that I was still alive, that I was still here, still fighting.

The ringing in my ears drowned out the sounds of the world around me. The air felt thick with the weight of it all. I wanted to scream, wanted to reach out, but my body refused to obey.

I sit up now in this sterile room, the scent of lilies still filling my senses. I look down at the bouquet beside me. My hand reaches out once more, instinctively. I bring the flowers to my nose, inhaling deeply.

But something’s wrong. The petals are different. These aren’t the pink ones.

I blink, feeling the cold, creeping chill that’s slowly settling into my chest. I hold the bouquet up, my eyes studying the pale white flowers closely. The pink… the vibrant, sweet pink that had been so familiar is gone.

I froze.

It was the river. The darkness. The cold.

Her body, limp and lifeless, floated there like a ragdoll. Blood mingled with the water staining it a deep cruel red. Her eyes were still open, but empty and staring at nothing. Her lips cracked were blue.

I pulled her from the depths, my arms shaking, adrenaline fading. I fought the current dragging her to shore.

I didn’t realise I was crying until I saw the tear fall onto the lilies, the petals now a pale, ghostly white. The vibrant pink had drained away with her. My heart felt like it had been hollowed out. They were white at her funeral as well.

Friday 16th. The day the flowers died.

Maths Easter Egg Hunt

Mental Health Apps

Using a mental health app can offer numerous benefits for adolescents, providing a convenient and accessible way to manage their well-being. These apps offer a safe, private space for self-reflection, journaling, and tracking emotions, allowing teens to develop healthier coping strategies. With features like guided meditations, mindfulness exercises, and mood tracking, they can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Mental health apps can also foster a sense of empowerment, encouraging teens to take charge of their mental health in a way that feels manageable and less overwhelming. Plus, they can serve as a great complement to therapy or support from trusted adults, offering ongoing support wherever and whenever it's needed.

Five things to look for in a mental health app or digital tool (Black Dog institute).

While there are lots of digital mental health tools available to the general public, finding a good digital mental health tool that’s effective and suits your needs can require some investigation, mainly to see if it has been shown to improve mental health through evidence-based research.

Here are Black Dog tips on finding the right app for you and your situation:

Don’t just look at app ratings – High star-ratings or numbers of downloads might indicate the popularity of an app, but this doesn’t equate to quality.
Find out who developed the app – Do they have experience and a good reputation in mental health? What other apps have they developed?
The privacy policy – It might not be glamorous, but it’s important to check that one exists. With health apps, it’s important to know how your data is protected.
Look for evidence – Try to determine if there is any evidence that the app is effective in achieving its goal. Apps that are tested in empirical research trials will usually share information on the research studies. It’s even better if the research behind the app is published in peer-reviewed journals.
Check if the app is built on evidence-based frameworks – If an app doesn’t have a large amount of research to support its use, the core principle of the app could still be built on evidence-based frameworks. For example, many apps are based on principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which is a proven method frequently used in clinical psychology.

Looking after your mental health is important, below are some apps that can help teens take charge of their mental wellbeing.

Mental health apps for youth

Finch - (Finch is a free self-care app that uses a virtual pet to help users track goals, practice self-care, and improve their mental well-being)
Catch It - Catch It is for anyone who struggles with feelings like anxiety, depression, anger and confusion. Catch It uses cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help you change the way you think and feel about things.
Calm – (a mental health app designed to help you manage stress, sleep better, and live a happier, healthier life)
Happify - Happify's science-based activities and games can help you overcome negative thoughts, stress, and life's challenges.
ClearlyMe® - is an app designed for teens aged 12-17 who are experiencing depressive symptoms, psychological distress or in other words, going through a tough time.
Breakup Shakeup - Breakup shakeup is an app based on behavioural activation, which provides users with a tool to schedule activities with others or on their own to attempt to improve their mood. The app provides suggestions of activities and schedules users' activities into their calendar.
Sleep Ninja®- Sleep Ninja® is a free, evidence-based smartphone app shown to be effective in helping young people with sleep problems.
BRAVE - An online program developed by a team of researchers from the University of Queensland that helps children and young people overcome anxiety. The program was developed based on 12 years of strong empirical research, and features cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques. BRAVE features 10 sessions where young people learn the skills through animations, quizzes, puzzles.

Mindfulness apps

Smiling Mind - A free mindfulness app developed by psychologists and educators for young people. It’s focused on daily meditation and mindfulness exercises, and can help manage stress, resilience, anxiety and depression, and improve general health and wellbeing.

Sports News

A huge congratulations to the students who played at the Southern Zone Touch Football Gala Day. Both TSHS teams were awarded A grade winners, with Amelia D & Chace C awarded sportsmanship awards from the referees.

Southern Zone Selections:

GIRLS: Layla I, Lacey H, Mia M, Shylah H & Amelia D

BOYS: Chace C & Darcy A

A huge thank you to the 26 TSHS students who were referees on the day. Your management of the games was greatly appreciated and praised by many in attendance.

Representative Sport Sections

Congratulations to Mya T (13-15), and Sophia H (10-12) on selection in the Peninsula Netball teams.

Congratulations to Rhys D & Chase C on selection in the 12 Years Boys Cassowary Coast Rugby League team.

Congratulations to Ruby W on her selection as a student official for the Queensland School Sport State Championships for 10-12 Years Netball. Ruby will travel to Caloundra in Term 2.

Cross Country – Term 2

The annual Cross Country Carnival will be held on Thursday 24 April – Week 1, Term 2. Races will commence at 1.20pm. The top three for 12 Years and top five for 13-18 Years age groups will be invited to attend Cassowary Coast Selection Trials held on Friday May 2 in Innisfail.

Qld School Sport Championships Student Official Opportunities

📢REGISTER NOW 📢

2025 calendar

✔Australian football (12 years) - https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/n/enZhnkB

✔Australian football (15-19years)- https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/n/enZhnkB & https://www.cognitoforms.com/AFLQ.../QRSSAFLStudentUmpireEOI

✔Basketball - https://forms.gle/rEQ2CCUhGTz5VYLRA  

✔Football - email referees@footballqueensland.com.au   

✔Hockey - https://www.hockeyqld.com.au/events/283839   

✔Netball - https://forms.office.com/r/gU8v8V8tXw  

✔Rugby league - https://forms.office.com/r/jgkgJyzsyM?origin=lprLink  

✔Rugby Union – to be confirmed with QRU

✔Softball - https://forms.gle/cNLhopc5jSqTu7Lz5  

✔Touch football - https://forms.office.com/r/Efi0yLCc1F  

✔Water polo - https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/n/enZhnkB

Queensland Representative School Sport Leadership Program

Queensland Representative School Sport is continuing to empower student voice. In collaboration with Future Anything, The Big Ideas Sport Challenge will launch the Sports Leaders’ Program run by Queensland Representative School Sport. As part of the Challenge, participants will leverage their passions for sport and design an actionable project to implement in their school.

Students will refine their skills of creativity and curiosity by responding to this mission: As an entrepreneur, develop and pitch a school-based project that enhances participation in sport.

As members of the Sports Leaders’ Students from across Queensland are encouraged to be involved with the support of their school.

The QRSS Student Leadership Program and local school sport leaders will collaborate with Future Anything to discuss:

Access opportunities for all students in Queensland in all aspects of school sport.
Building capacity of others through leadership.
Bringing their ideas to life in their schools and communities.
Reducing barriers and increasing opportunities to access sport for a long term positive impact.

Registration link - https://forms.office.com/r/zvkTNErFsB

Session 1 – online session Wednesday 2nd April, 2025 – 8:15-8:45am.

Session 2 - April 30th 9-3pm, The Precinct, Fortitude Valley

Session 3 – 4 – online throughout the year – dates to be confirmed
Session 5 – November 4th, 9-3pm, The Precinct, Fortitude Valley

Books of Tomorrow

Do you have any books suitable for children lying around, no longer being read? Books of Tomorrow is a charity in the Philippines that collects and distributes books for children. You may have noticed that quite a few of our cleaners are Filipinas: it is one of their daughters who is the Ambassador for this charity. The SLT wants to help by collecting any children's books that have been gathering dust on your shelves and donating them to this worthy cause. If you would like to give the children one or two or more of your books, please bring them to eLearning any time. We have already begun receiving some - lets 's break a few records!

QParents - How to register

Creating a QParents account requires you to complete a 4-step registration process.

1.Enter the invitation code

You must receive an invitation letter or email with your unique invitation code before you can complete this step. If you have not received an invitation letter or email, please contact the school via phone on (07) 4068 4555 or via email at info@tullyshs.eq.edu.au. To enter your code and get started, click register your interest at https://qparents.qld.edu.au/#/landing.

2. Verify your identity

Select next and after accepting the terms and conditions of use of QParents, you will be required to verify your identity by completing an online 100 point identification check using documents including Australian Passport, drivers license, birth or marriage certificate or Medicare card.

3. Create a QParents account

You will be required to create a QParents account using an email address as your account name. That email address will need to be confirmed before your account will be activated. You may, optionally, also provide a mobile number which will be used by QParents to verify your identity (e.g. send you an SMS code to enter into QParents).

4. Add your child

Step four, can be done either online or using the QParents app. You will need to request access to view your child's information. You will need to know your child's EQID to do this. You can find the EQ ID on your child’s ID card, report cards, OneSchool or school invoices. It consists of 10 numbers and one letter. The school can also provide this number if needed. After completing these steps, your request to create a QParents account will be sent to your child's school for final approval.

Why do you need a QParents Account?

QParents allows parents to connect instantly with their child’s school to access and manage their child’s student information, including:

Attendance and absence details, as well as the ability to notify the school of an absence
Behaviour information
Academic report cards
Providing consent for excursions and online services
Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online
Viewing and updating student details, including medical conditions and address
Enrolment details
Parents can view or update their child’s details without having to contact the school
Available anytime, anywhere!