Hello and Welcome Back.

We ended Term 1 with Easter, Parent/Teacher interviews and finally the grape harvest. We thank the students for their hard work picking the grapes, totaling approximately two and a half tonnes. Roughly two tonnes went to Stonebridge Winery and half a tonne will stay at our winery where the Stage 1 Chemistry students, as part of their studies are busy making some wine.

We were busy discussing students’ progress on the last Tuesday of the Term at the Parent/ Teacher interviews. If you didn’t get a chance to talk with one of your child’s teachers, please contact the school to arrange a time to have a discussion with their teachers. We hope you are keeping up to date on your student’s progress via the Continuous Assessment features on Sentral. At the end of this term students will be receiving a summary report of their achievement for the Semester.

I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing holiday and are excited to be back for this Term’s learning and activities. On the calendar are excursions, camps, Reconciliation Week and Knockout Sports.

Stephen Bosch - Acting Principal

Term 1 was definitely a busy term, and with that, Miss Ramm’s Year 10 Outdoor Education class embarked on their 2-day Aquatic Camp in Port Augusta in Week 9. The Year 10’s learnt how to plan and prepare a risk assessment for sailing. They then put their knowledge into action over the course of the camp, continuing to learn new skills associated with sailing – tacking, reaching, safety, teamwork, and organisation skills.

A few lucky students had the opportunity to experience capsizing in their sailing boat and or kayak, further learning the safety protocols of how to get back into their vessel.

Samantha Ramm – Outdoor Education

In Term 1, our Visual Arts students produced works that were entered in this Year's Barbara Kleinig Junior Art Award. These works were displayed in the Courthouse Gallery in Laura during the Laura Fair on the 1^st and 2^nd of April. Alongside the Year 7 class’s collaborative Pop Art display, commendation prizes were awarded to individual works by Tanika Simic, Iysha Cunningham and Austin Jeffries. Our Year 9 students also created entries for this year’s wine label design. The winning design by Jackson Fudge can be found on each bottle of our 2022 vintage.

Jack Kennewell - Art Teacher

The Year 8B class submitted this formative task as part of their 6-week unit on Cell Model Analysis and Justification. The students had to analyse the limitations of using a model to represent a cell using provided 2D and 3D examples. As part of this task they made their own model using plasticine and took pictures of the model in order to label the features in a digital presentation and analyse whether their model was an improvement on the models that were studied.

Michael Bennet - Science & Ag Teacher

On ANZAC Day, Dawn Services were held in both Gladstone and Laura. Both ceremonies were attended by Student Representatives who layed a wreath to honour those who have served and died in all wars, valiant people who fought to defend our way of life. Gladstone High School was represented at the Gladstone service by Matilda Heinrich and Takeria Crosby-Woods who took part in the service by reading ANZAC poems and with Takeria raising the Aboriginal flag. Jaxon Brand and Asia Brand represented the school at the Laura service. Services included a combination of military, symbolic and religious traditions presented to the many participants who attended the Gladstone and Laura services.

Alison Johnson - Senior School Coordinator

"There are good days and there are grape days"

Long, long ago (like 8,000+ plus years) our ancestors discovered that grape juice could be turned into wine by burying the juice underground for the winter in clay pots. Since that time, winemaking has become a bit more scientific. After a very hectic Term 1, with the return to normal after the interruptions of COVID, the tested sugar levels (Bayme) in the grapes meant that, at the end of Week 11, it was time for the Gladstone High School annual picking of the grapes.

The last Thursday of the term ended up being a perfect autumn day and the whole school headed down to the luxuriously leafy vineyard to pluck the grapes from the vines. Students and teachers picked until recess, with student enthusiasm for the project waning as the morning went on. Chivvied along by the teachers, student energy was reignited for one last push and the targeted two and a half tonnes of grapes were picked. Mrs Cameron and Mrs Pech organised a BBQ with snags in bread as a reward for the hardworking students.

Two tonnes of the grapes will go to Stonebridge Wines with half a tonne being used to make the delightful Gladstone High Wine. Before the holidays, the grapes were destemmed and crushed for fermentation in preparation for placement in vats for the next vintage.

Alison Johnson - Senior School Coordinator

Greetings folk of Gladstone and Laura Schools' communities. My name is Susan Greentree. I would like to introduce myself to you all, which the Gladstone High School canteen caters to. I am one of the new managers for the canteen. The other, Janeane Davis, will join me once all the necessary approvals for Working with Children have been returned. We will be sharing the role, working five days per fortnight each, creating a healthy work/life balance for us both ideally. However, as I live in Gladstone, I will be available at short notice if needed so you could see me around a bit more often. We have some great ideas for incorporating a few new menu items over the coming weeks. Keep an eye on your school's newsletter for these as they come into effect. I have also been talking with the Ag Teacher so we can hopefully grow some produce directly for use in the canteen and make use of produce the school already has. If any of you home gardeners have surplus fruit or veg you would like to donate, I will do my best to make use of it in some way. As we cater to four Schools: Gladstone High, Gladstone Primary, St Josephs and Laura, the canteen is always a busy place. For this reason, we seek assistance from volunteers. It is especially needed on Fridays but I can find things to do any day. If anyone can spare a couple of hours between 10am and 1.30pm please contact me through the High School. The food preparation is easy and there is always some cleaning to do so no special skills are needed. I won't ask you to do anything you don't want to do. However, all volunteers are required to have a Working With Children Check approved prior to coming in. This can be organised through the Front Office. I look forward to meeting you all in person at some stage.

Susan Greentree - Canteen Manager

Governing Council would like to extend a HUGE THANKYOU to all parents, friends, caregivers, and community members who donated, participated and volunteered to help out with our Quiz Night and Laura Fair biscuit stall. We were overwhelmed with the donations from local businesses and the generosity of those who attended the Quiz Night. I would like to particularly thank Ian “Chook” Harslett who led our committee and emceed our Quiz Night. We are a very lucky community to have a professional such as Chook. His guidance and support cannot be understated. Thanks Chook! Also, to those on the committee – Brooke, Bec, Nicki and Tyler – thanks for your commitment to organizing a fun night!

Thanks to Beck Crawford who took on the organizing of the Laura Fair biscuit stall with only a couple of weeks’ notice. Once again, this has been very successful, and it was great to be able to participate at the Fair again. Thanks to those who baked the biscuits, packed the biscuits, and manned the stall.

Between these two fundraisers we have managed to raise around $5000 towards improvements at the school. What a magnificent outcome for the benefit of our students!

Kathryn Hansen - Chairperson, GHS Governing Council 2023