As we approach the end of another remarkable academic year, it is with great pleasure that I share with you the latest developments within our school community. As always, it has been a year filled with accomplishments, challenges, and growth, and I am immensely proud of the collective efforts of our students, staff, and parents. 

Latest Staffing Updates:

I am delighted to announce some exciting additions to our dedicated staff team for 2024. Matthew Cadzow will be joining the staff as the new Grounds-person/Farm Manager. After some challenges filling the position this year we are looking forward to some long-term stability. Christine Taylor is joining us from Seaton High School to teach Maths and Science. Chris Mayman will also be coming to GHS to teach English and HPE. Sarah Phip is joining us to teach Ag and Science in 2024 also. This year, we welcomed several new teachers and staff members who bring a wealth of experience, passion, and innovative ideas to our school. Their enthusiasm and commitment to fostering a positive learning environment have already made a positive impact, and we look forward to seeing the continued growth of our students under their guidance.

Student Leaders

We are excited to announce our new leaders for 2024 following an application and interview process. Asia Brand and Chloe Crawford will be School Captains with Layla Willsmore as the Vice-Captain. We are looking forward to working with these three outstanding leaders, who each bring a unique set of leadership qualities. 

End-of-Year Presentation Night:

As the school year draws to a close, we are eagerly anticipating our End-of-Year Presentation Night. This event is a celebration of the achievements and accomplishments of our students throughout the year. It provides an opportunity to recognise academic excellence, outstanding achievements in extracurricular activities, and the positive contributions of our students to the school community.

We extend a warm invitation to all parents, guardians, and members of our community to join us for this special evening. It promises to be a memorable occasion filled with pride, joy, and a sense of community spirit. Please mark your calendars for 11^th December at 7pm and let us come together to applaud the remarkable efforts of our students and formally farewell the class of 2023. 

Staff Farewells:

As we celebrate new beginnings, we also bid farewell to some valued members of our staff who will be embarking on new journeys. It is always bittersweet to say goodbye, but we are grateful for the time and dedication they have devoted to our school.

Samantha Ramm has been with us for one year and is now heading further afield to take up a leadership position at Whyalla High School.

Nathan Gillard has accepted a B1 leader position at Gawler and District College, much closer to family.

Dean Humphries has filled in for us this year when we desperately needed a Farm Manager. His expertise, flexibility and skills have been invaluable and very much appreciated.

Josh Palmer has decided to take leave for 2024. Josh has been at GHS for quite a few years and will be missed by staff and students alike.

Barry Martin is retiring at the end of 2023 after 36 years at GHS. This is a very long time to have stayed at the same place and he certainly has many tales of staff and students from the past.  A celebration of his years will be held in the last week of the term with many former colleagues joining us at the event. Barry will continue to drive his regular bus run so will still be seen around the place.

In conclusion, I want to express my appreciation to the entire Gladstone High School community for your continued support and collaboration. I look forward to celebrating the achievements of our students and staff at the upcoming events and to another successful year ahead. 

Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable holiday season. 

Warm regards,

2024 Student Leaders 

Congratulations to next year's School Captains - Asia Brand and Chloe Crawford - and Vice Captain - Layla Willsmore. To win their positions in 2024, Asia, Chloe and Layla undertook an application process and an interview with the Principal, Tyler Hogan. We are confident that they will be wonderful representatives and leaders for their peers.

Year 11 Intro to Year 12 

Year 11's finished their Stage 1 subjects on Friday of Week 6 and, in early Week 7, engaged in an 'Intro to Year 12' timetable where teachers outlined subject expectations for Stage 2 and gave the students some holiday homework. A group of the Year 11 girls took charge of cleaning out the Seminar and Common Rooms and getting these spaces ready for the upcoming year. We look forward to welcoming these students back next year, ready and eager to achieve their personal best as the Class of 2024. 

Provide First Aid 

"As a health care professional, I can confirm that young people with First Aid training have saved lives" - Annette Zanker 

On Wednesday of Week 7, a group of individuals participated in Provide First Aid. Mostly comprised of the Year 11 students, with one Year 9 and two Year 10's in the mix, the students learned important life-saving skills. A huge thank you goes out to our amazing community members who are passionate about young people attaining their First Aid and, in acknowledgment of how invaluable the course is, generously subsidised almost the entire cost for students to complete this training.

Middle School Updates

As Term 4 is fast disappearing, we are right in the middle of welcoming the 2024 Year 7 students for their transition program. We recently held a parent evening where information was provided about subjects, uniform, IT and the transition camp. Thank you to all of the families who attended and to GHS staff who helped with showing people around the school, cooking a BBQ and having uniforms for sale. If any families missed this event and would like access to the information, please get in touch!

We are super excited to have had all 40 Year 6 students from our local primary schools spend one day at GHS getting their first taste of high school. They participated in a range of subjects including Art, Tech, PE, Home Ec, Science, English and Maths. They also competed in the annual Amazing Race around Gladstone High to get to know where all the important places are… like the canteen and toilets! I would like to give a huge thank you to all of our teachers who planned fun and engaging activities for the students to do in their specialty areas.

Year 7 Design and Technology

Over the past two terms, one Year 7 class has been completing a range of design challenges with Mrs. Seidel. The class worked in small groups to save Fred, the gummi worm, from his sinking boat and get him into a gummi life ring. From this, the students then developed their own challenges which were completed over the following weeks. Austin and Jesse designed an “egg throw” challenge, and a couple of groups devised a bridge building one to see who could construct the strongest bridge (to be tested with M’n’Ms of course!) We saw a range of different processes – some detailed diagrams, some heated discussions and some just winging it – with varying levels of success! Overall, there were lots of laughs, some disappointments when eggs cracked or bridges collapsed, and some really great photos!

Despite the fact that mobile phone use at school is not permitted, we are still dealing with issues that stem from Snapchat. Please find some tips on Snapchat safety below:

Here are some tips to stay safe on Snapchat ?

Never share your password with anyone — not even your best friend

Check Your Privacy Settings - Check your privacy settings to choose who can send you Snaps, view your Stories, or see your location on Snap Map.

Choose a Strong Password - Select a password that’s at least 8 characters long, and don’t include personal information, like your name, username, phone number, or birthday. Include a mix of numbers, symbols, and capital and lowercase letters in your password.

Don’t share your password with others, and don’t use the same password for other apps or websites.

Set up Two-Factor Authentication - Two-factor authentication is an optional security feature to verify that it’s really you when you log into your Snapchat account! This makes your account more secure ?

Keep it Between Friends - Snapchat was made for keeping in touch with your close friends. We recommend that you only friend or accept friend requests from people that you know in real life. It is also good to check with your parent/caregiver before you add anyone new.

Report Abuse on Snapchat - You can always report abuse on Snapchat, including harassment, bullying, or any other safety concern. If someone is making you uncomfortable, you can also block that Snapchatter and leave any group chat. It’s also important to tell a trusted adult at home or at school.

Don’t Forget About Screenshots - Snaps are designed to delete by default, but people that you send Snaps to can still take a screenshot or take a picture of the Snap with another device, so it’s a good idea to think before you share.

Join Family Center on Snapchat - Family Center helps parents get more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat, and who they have been communicating with, while still respecting their teens’ privacy and autonomy. It's designed to reflect the way parents engage with their teens in the real world, where parents usually know who their teens are friends with and when they are hanging out, but don’t eavesdrop on their private conversations.

Family Center will provide parents over the age of 25 the ability to:

• See which Snapchat friends their teens have sent messages, photos, or videos to in the last seven days, in a way that still protects their privacy by not revealing the actual contents of their conversations (Snaps and messages);
• See a complete list of their teens’ existing friends, and allow parents to easily view new friends their teens have added, making it easy to start conversations about who their new contacts are;
• Limit their teen’s ability to view certain content in the Stories and Spotlight tabs; and
• Easily and confidentially report any accounts parents may be concerned about directly to the Snapchat Safety team.

Year 10/11 Tarnanthi Excursion 

On Wednesday the 15th of November, Year 10 and 11 Art students had the opportunity to visit the Tarnanthi Exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA). Students were given a guided tour by Brian, a volunteer at the gallery who did an excellent job, setting a pace that kept the group engaged for the whole session. My students gained a lot of inspiration from this trip and I hope to create opportunities for them to respond and learn more about First Nations artists in their future work in the GHS Art studio.

Feedback from Students

“The artwork gave us a vision of the minds of Indigenous artists, providing a new perspective to artwork that we may not have considered viewing previously. My favourite piece of artwork was the Urlpaatja terracotta pot, which was made by Judith Pungarta Inkamala in 2023. This pot had a painting of a bird, with an Australian scene as the background. I liked this piece of artwork because it incorporated traditional colours of a typical Australian outback which gave it an eye-catching look. I would like to use this type of pottery glazing on my next project as it gave the viewers a story without incorporating written words” – Max Pedler

“My favourite art within the exhibition was the pottery that tells the story of Judith Inkamala's life. – Isabelle Batchelor

“Visiting the Tarnanthi exhibition allowed us to perceive aboriginal art in different forms and in a new light. My favourite piece exhibited would be Wally Wilfred's "Culture", the artwork depicted an almost abstract version of a young Aboriginal boy readying for his initiation to become a man, it really expressed that Aboriginal art doesn’t have to be traditional” – Jonah Amey. 

The grant from AGSA that made this trip possible, gave these students valuable exposure to a range of contemporary First Nations people’s artwork. They got to see the power and potential of creativity in art and gained lasting valuable memories that can inspire their own work as artists.

Year 9/10 Tag Rugby 

On the 1^st of November, the Year 9's and 10's travelled to Jamestown to compete against other MNSEC schools in a Tag Rugby carnival. It was a fun day, full of good sportsmanship and competition. Gladstone had two girls teams and three boys teams participating on the day, all of whom put up a strong fight. Three teams made it to finals, however, only one of the girls teams made it through to the Grand Final. The winning team comprised of Imogen, Tess, Haylee, Nicki, Madison, Lucy, Taylah, Eloise and Eliza. These legends fought hard against Jamestown in a nerve-wracking and exciting game when, with only one minute to spare, the scores were level and the game went into overtime. In the last few seconds, the Gladstone team pulled through, found some extra energy and scored the match winning try to win the carnival in two lots of overtime. The team was rewarded with a trophy to keep and display in the Front Office at school. Overall, everyone enjoyed the day, mingling with the other schools. We can’t wait for next year! 

Thank you to Miss Kerr, Miss Travers and Mr Martin for driving the buses and Mr Watson and Mr Kennewell for supervising the day. 

Imogen Cunningham and Tess Cleggett 

Farm operations have been slowing down in preparation for the end of the year and next year’s curriculum. Students have been maintaining chickens while Dean Humphries has been taking care of maintenance works. Each year level has been focusing on their own curriculum areas with a heavy focus on science as a human endeavour (SHE) tasks for the remaining weeks.

Y7 Year 7's have been making a working farm within Minecraft. Design criteria have been given to them including making the farm as realistic as possible, along with covering many aspects of agriculture. Some classes have also been investigating technology in agriculture.

Y8 Year 8's have been researching a chosen career in agriculture including qualifications, salary and a general guide for what the career involves. They have also been investigating composting.

Y9 Year 9's have been completing a major investigation into soil. They have been researching what makes good soil, how to develop a soil management plan to improve soil quality along with investigating soil directly using analysis techniques. They are also investigating technology in agriculture.