It’s been a vibrant term filled with learning, growth, and memorable experiences. 

Berry Street Education Model Training 

On our recent Student Free Day, our dedicated teaching staff participated in the final day of our scheduled Berry Street Education Model training. This professional development is pivotal in equipping our educators with strategies to support all students' emotional and academic needs, fostering a resilient and positive school environment. Our commitment to continuous improvement , working alongside the local primary schools helps to ensure that every student receives the best possible education and support. 

MNSEC Formal 

The MNSEC Formal is tonight at Peterborough. For the first time in a number of years, our Year 11 students were permitted to attend. We look forward to seeing our Twelve students take to the dance floor and enjoy the evening with the peers from across the MNSEC schools. 

Ski Trip 

The annual Ski Trip planning has largely been finalised with thanks to Deb Davis for her considerable work in contacting and confirming details with all of the relevant businesses involved. The recent information evening provided extra insights for parents and students of the expectations, and requirements. This year staff attending the camp will be Helen Gaunt, Jack Kennewell, Brianna Pullan and Ali Gulin. 

Sports 

There have been a number of sports competitions our students have participated in over the last few weeks. The netballers had a spectacular day at Port Pirie with amazing results. Congratulations to the Year 9/10 team who go on to the next stage. Whilst our students were unsuccessful in progressing to the next round of Knockout Hockey they certainly played well and did their best. A few of our students also participated in the recent Cross Country Championships after selection earlier this year. 

Flinders University Visit 

We hosted a visit from a Flinders University representative last week, who engaged our students with an informative session on careers and pathways into the future. This year they have worked with each of our year levels from year 7 to year 12. Thanks to Alison Johnson for facilitating this. Feedback has been very positive about the sessions. 

Power Cup 

The Power Cup was another thrilling event this term. This annual football carnival, emphasising cultural understanding and teamwork, saw our students participate with great enthusiasm. The Power Cup is not just about sports; it’s about building connections and celebrating cultural diversity within our school community. 

Working with the students from John Pirie this events reflect the vibrant, dynamic, and inclusive spirit of our school. I am incredibly proud of our students and staff for their continued commitment to excellence and community engagement. 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this term successful. I look forward to seeing what the rest of the year holds for us all. 

CAREERS CAMP

I felt so privileged to accompany our 2024 Year 10s on Careers Camp this year - this is a really special group of students who display a lovely mixture of qualities including fun-loving, kind, enthusiastic and responsible. We had a great time visiting a range of potential training and employment sites and it is delightful to see the students beginning to contemplate their future pathways as they study Exploring Identities and Futures with Scott Watson and Veronica Travers. A huge congratulations to the kids who demonstrated their maturity on the camp (aside from a gremlin-like transformation after lights out) and an enormous thank you to Mr Watson and Miss Travers for all their help and patience in supervising the camp.

Alison Johnson Senior School Coordinator

Careers Camp Report

On Tuesday Week 2, the Year 10’s travelled to Adelaide for Careers Camp. We started at the Railway station where we set up our metro cards. From there we attended the Defence Force Recruiting presentation. We were fascinated by the amount of job opportunities within the defense force.

From there we separated into two small groups. UNISA Health and Her Majesty’s Theatre. We chose UNISA Health. Here we enjoyed the practicals, such as the fitness test, as well as learning about the combining Uni in 2026. We all enjoyed Fasta Pasta for tea!

MTA was an original option but due to train strikes, this wasn’t possible and devastated many people. On Wednesday morning, after catching the train to the city, we had the choice between University of Adelaide, Tonsley Campus and the Museum on North Terrace. We chose the University of Adelaide. We enjoyed seeing graduates on campus. After lunch, we had the choice between CDW studios and SAPOL. The SAPOL presentation was very interesting. After catching the train home we finished the day with chicken burgers and singing together in the hallway.

On Thursday, Media Makeup, Academy of Interactive Entertainment and Peer were our three options. Some did Media Makeup and we all enjoyed this very much. Especially Taylah who had a very big slice across her forehead. Creating cuts, grazes, bruises, and bullet holes was a huge highlight.  Some others went to PEER and enjoyed the hands on practical. After lunch we all attended the Adelaide Zoo, although we enjoyed looking at the animals, we valued the information given about job opportunities. We finished Thursday by catching the train home and then walking to Marion Shopping Centre. There we spent hours shopping and looking around.

Friday morning was an early start, leaving camp at 8.30am. We all went to Flinders University at Bedford Park where we had a tour of the new facilities and the on-site Flinders living boarding house. To conclude the trip, we spent just over an hour walking around the Careers Expo at the Adelaide Showgrounds. This was interesting, however, extremely busy with schools from all over the state.  We arrived back at Gladstone around 5pm very tired after a big week. We would like to thank Miss Johnson, Ms Travers and Mr Watson for making this trip possible. Thankyou to Hanleys for driving us to and from Adelaide. Your work doesn’t go unnoticed, and we all had a great week!

Madi Clogg and Imogen Cunningham

Careers Roadshow Port Pirie

In Week 4 the Year 10 students set out to Port Pirie to visit the Careers Roadshow. The students represented the school and their families beautifully, making the most of this local opportunity and having lots of great conversations with potential employers, VET providers and universities. Students collected information about local pathways, as well as accumulating a fair amount of merchandise. We then jumped back on the buses and dropped in for a quick and not-so-healthy pitstop at KFC before heading back to school. Thanks to Digger and Matt for driving the buses and to Scott Watson for helping with supervision.

It was a very informative and helpful experience which allowed many of us to decide what we plan to do with our future - Jackson Fudge

I found the careers roadshow very insightful about all the different career paths that I could pursue - Christian Zanker

The Careers Expo had a lot of useful information that I wanted to learn about the fields I am passionate about - Daniel Summers

I liked the country roadshow because I got to talk to local companies about careers in the area - Madi Clogg

Talking to MTA was good and it was exciting to see that they have an open day coming up in Adelaide soon - Blake Phillips

WHITE CARD

The construction industry in SA requires workers to have a White Card. As the broad range of jobs that sit in the construction field represent a significant pathway for many of our students, we organised subsidised white card training at Gladstone High School. In Week 6, a large group of Year 10 students took the opportunity to undertake white card training where they learned information about construction, work health and safety laws, common site hazards and ways to control the risks faced on construction sites. Students are now qualified for work experience and career opportunities in the construction field.

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY VISIT

It was wonderful to have Danusia Podgorski from Flinders University for the day on Thursday of Week 7. For the Year 7s through to the Year 11s, Danusia ran the River Journey, which is a process that encourages students to explore and map their education and career futures using the metaphor of a winding river, recognising that life journeys do not always progress in a straight line. For the Year 12 session, the students were given important information about the application process as well as university life.

YEAR 12 SILENT AUCTION

As we embark on our final year of high school, we are ecstatic to announce an exciting opportunity for you to join us in celebrating this momentous occasion. Our Year 12 Silent Auction is a unique chance to acquire some incredible items donated by our local community.

In the upcoming weeks, visit our Gladstone High School Facebook event page to browse the fantastic items up for grabs. Submit your bids in the comments section of each item post. The highest bidder at the end of the auction secures the item and will be notified to arrange donation collection and payment via email. Proceeds from this auction will directly fund our formal festivities, making our transition from high school truly unforgettable. Your support is invaluable, and we are deeply grateful for every bid that helps us create a lasting impact.

Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. Please share this event with friends to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate and secure some amazing items. Thank you for your continued support.

Asia Brand

10B SCIENCE

10B Science are currently learning about the Periodic Table and completed a practical looking at how different chlorides react and produce different coloured flames.

Michael Bennett - Teacher

Term 2 has been quite busy in the middle school. There has been lots happening both in and outside of the classroom. At the start of Week 6, the Year 7 practical subjects started their new trimester, you can see some of the finished Year 7 Tech projects in the photos below. As Semester 1 draws to a close, students are very busy completing tasks and projects, ready to begin the new semester and new subjects next week. End of semester reports will be sent home on the last day of the term with your child/ren. You are encouraged to make contact with your child’s teacher/s to discuss their progress and any questions or concerns you may have.

There are many and varied opportunities for learning outside of the classroom and students are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities throughout the year to broaden their experiences. At lunchtime on Wednesday and Friday each week, Michael Bennet runs Japanese Club, all students are invited to become involved. On Monday, all Year 9 students were afforded the opportunity to visit Parliament House in Adelaide as part of their HASS curriculum. Thanks to Scott Watson for his successful grant application, making this excursion a reality. The student leaders have organised a lunchtime basketball competition and all Year 7, 8 and 9 students experienced a presentation from Flinders University titled “The River Journey” to help them start thinking about their futures.

In Week 6, we hosted the Year 9 Ski Trip information night to give all our parents and students the details of the upcoming trip. Information packs were handed to all students who were unable to attend the information session. Please complete and return forms as soon as possible. You are encouraged to contact Helen Gaunt or Deb Davis if you have any questions or information you need to share about the trip.

YEAR 7 DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

In Terms 1 and 2, the Tech Studies class experienced the learning journey of making things out of wood. They learned about push along toys, cars, tools, and were able to practice sawing and sanding with table tennis bats that were already half made. For their assignments they made push along wooden toys. Some students made cars, utes and trucks, while some made animals and boxes on wheels. They had to be able to transport things, as well as be able to move. Once finished making the toys they had to write an evaluation about what they had done. Most enjoyed the experience of making things with wood. The first project they did, was pop stick catapult. Next, they designed something from questions they had to answer, they had to fit a certain amount of people, a type of transport (water, air, road, rail) and how many wheels it needed. They then followed design principles by following a worksheet to help them. In groups of 3 or 4 all students created powerpoints on tools and how to use them safely. The last task we did was making push along toys.

Peyton Jeffries & Sky Sargent

Digital Media

Some Year 7's testing out the new VY Headsets.

Seasons for Growth

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to go to some really exciting and worthwhile training called Seasons for Growth.

Seasons for Growth is a small group education program that supports children and young people to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to understand and respond well to experiences of change, loss and grief.

Seasons for Growth supports children and young people who have experienced change and loss, including, although not limited to friendship changes; family separation; loss or death of someone they care about; loss of a pet; relocation and forced migration; living away in out of home care; physical or mental illness; or impacts of war, terrorism or pandemics.

We are planning to put some small groups together and to begin facilitating this new learning and sharing it with some of the young people in our site. If you think your child would benefit from this program, please call GHS to let us know.

Kate Cameron and Ali Gulin

GHS Wellbeing Support

During this term, on top of the HPE curriculum, students have had the opportunity to participate in Lawn Bowls, AFL 9’s, Cross Country, Football, Hockey and Netball. Some of these competitions align to the curriculum occurring in the classroom and are a great opportunity for students to put their skills into practice, and compete against other local schools. A big thank you to the teachers and staff who have helped with transport, supervision, organisation, coaching and umpiring.

STATEWIDE NETBALL REPORT 

On Wednesday 29th May, some of the girls in the school from Year 7-12 travelled to Port Pirie by bus or car to compete in the first round of the Statewide Netball Competition. There were seven other schools competing throughout the age groups including Mid North Christian College, Orroroo Area School, St Marks, Jamestown Community School, John Pirie Secondary School, Booleroo Centre District School and Whyalla High School.

Congratulations to the 9/10 team who were undefeated and successful in making it through to the next round. All teams had a super amazing day, not losing more than 1 game, which is amazing! Everyone worked well together as a team and respect to other teams and umpires was displayed across all courts.

Thanks to the following people for making this day possible; Mrs. Gaunt for selecting and organising teams, as well as coaching and umpiring the Open team, Mrs Combe, who coached the 9/10 team as well as umpired, Chloe Crawford, who instead of playing in the open girls’ team, umpired all day, to the students who volunteered to miss a game and umpire and to some year 9’s who helped fill the open team! Thank you also to Digger for driving us to and from the carnival. We would also like to immensely thank Mrs Davis, who coached the 7/8 team and kindly volunteered to take home and wash all of the smelly Gladstone High dresses we were fortunate enough to purchase last year. Thank you also to the parents, Tammie Nettle and Annette Zanker, who volunteered to time and score. Everyone’s help was greatly appreciated by all students and staff!

Although we didn’t have enough time for a quick Maccas run, we all had an amazing day and returned to school very tired. Goodluck to the year 9/10 team in the next round!

Madi Clogg

Knockout Hockey

On Wednesday, 5^th of June, students from Year 9, 10, 11, and 12 travelled to Kadina to participate in a Knockout Hockey Tournament. We travelled down on a bus, driven by Digger and arrived in Kadina around 10, we had a small hit of the hockey ball and started our first game around 10:30. Although some people were nervous, we played well together as a team. Our first game was against the Kadina Memorial School but unfortunately ended the game with a 1-0 loss. After our first game we had a small break for food and another hit of the hockey ball as we watched the game in between. Our second game was against St Marks, we played with fellow friends and had a great time however ended this game with a loss scoring 3-0. The next game was back to back as we played against Yorke Peninsular with another loss 2-0 and although all three games ended with losses, we were happy heading home as we treated ourselves with some Maccas. Special thanks to Ali Gulin and Mr Bosch for organising the day and to Digger for driving the bus.

Liliy Emms

Term 2 has been a busy term for students. Year 7 students completed a 3D design task using Tinkercad. Tinkercad is a user-friendly online platform for creating 3D designs. It simplifies the 3D design process; students use drag-and-drop shapes to construct models, manipulate them with easy-to-use tools, and combine them to form intricate designs. Tinkercad is a versatile tool for learning, prototyping, and bringing ideas to life in 3D design. Students created their designs and completed a portfolio to explain the steps and evaluate their finished work.

Year 8 students investigated how data is transmitted securely across wired, wireless, and mobile networks. They also looked at additional aspects of this, such as how encryption works and the evolution of phone interfaces and technology. They presented their findings as an interactive PowerPoint to communicate their information effectively. The PowerPoint was set up like a webpage, with a contents page and links that take you to the content pages and back.

Year 9 students completed an assignment that started in term 1. Students used Visual Studio Code to design and create a primary webpage. This project helped them develop fundamental skills in web development, including HTML and CSS. By the end of this assignment, students could create a simple webpage with structured content and basic styling. Some students built their websites from scratch, while others used a template to add or change content.

Finally, the school loaned two Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets from the University of Adelaide, and all year levels have been designing their own scenes using CoSpaces Edu, where they can create a virtual world with moving Characters and objects that they can then enter using the VR headsets to explore. With this being such a success, we have now purchased six VR headsets to use all year round by any faculty.

Four of our students are part of the 2024 Port Pirie SAASTA Academy – Ryan Mills, Antwan O’Brien, Gavin O’Brien and Lucy Farrows. This term they spent a week in Adelaide for the annual Santos Aboriginal Power Cup. During the week the students were privileged to hear from some Aboriginal leaders in various fields.

These included April Lawrie (Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People), Simone Tur (Flinders University Vice Chancellor), Justyce Manton-Coe (Mechanical Engineering student) and Viv Davey (Aboriginal Pathways).

Throughout the Semester points were accrued through SAASTA learning tasks and workshops finishing with the culminating event, the football carnival held at Alberton Oval.

This year both of our teams fought hard and came away with a few wins, a sense of belonging and many friendships.

A big thank you to the staff and students involved, specifically Judy Crosby-Woods (our amazing Aboriginal Secondary Education Transition Officer), Jamie Fricker (JPSS SAASTA Coordinator) and the whole JPSS staff team.

Often, the focus of Power Cup is on the football carnival – understandably given the excitement that surrounds the competition! The week also involves a range of different experiences and opportunities for our SAASTA students, which they have reflected on below.

SAASTA academy workshops: Port Adelaide Football Club came to John Pire and talked about all the requirements we needed to have to be able to go to Power Cup. We learned about respect, reconciliation and pride in our culture. We also went out and did some footy skills and played a mini game.

Think! Road safety campaign: An idea came up on how to promote road safety through making a video ad and it was filmed by the John Pirie Academy.

SAPC leadership day: The leadership day was held at Morphettville Racecourse and included workshops around careers pathways for our Stage 2 students and for the Stage 1 students, a workshop on equality in sport and education about domestic abuse and violence.

SAPC football carnival: The SAPC football carnival is where all the SAASTA academies come together and we play a 9-a-side football carnival for about a day and half. There are cultural experiences, careers expo and time to learn the cultural dance. This year, the carnival was held at Alberton Oval. On Thursday afternoon, we headed to Adelaide oval for a presentation ceremony and the Port Power AFL match. The two winners of both girls and boys teams play the grand final on Adelaide oval.

The team captains from each academy do a lap of the oval with the winning banner design. Then all students perform the cultural dance before the AFL game begins. The Port Adelaide Power Cup is also a reward to all the work and attendance and engagement to our learning throughout the year.

Cultural activities: The cultural activities included learning a story to be performed as a cultural dance to do on Adelaide oval. Also the leadership day with Aboriginal and Torres Islander Peoples sharing their stories, journeys and success to inspire us.

Students at all academies completed assignments that were to design artwork for our football guernseys and out academy banner. These artworks were about Nukunu country and stories as this is where our academy is located. We also reflected about our own land, animals, language and stories while creating our art.

Cultural performance: The cultural performance is where we learn a cultural dance and we perform it on the Adelaide oval before the game starts. This involves everyone who went to Power Cup.

Panel forum: The panel form was a whole bunch of speakers talking about their experiences. It was good to hear a lot of different stories but it was hard to sit and listen. It will be good to see future forums have the students split into groups to talked about the information, then swap and have some interactive activities.

Careers expo: We had exposure to a whole bunch of career information which gave us an opportunity to explore different pathways and different activities in a fun way. We also got to ask questions in a culturally safe way.

Our Year 11 and 12 Child Studies students visited Gladstone Primary School and Kindergarten this week. For their assessment, our students planned creative nature play  activities to engage both the Reception/Year 1 class and the Kindy children. One group collected a range of objects from around the playground and sorted them by size before using their collection to create crowns. The other group collected items focusing on colour and matched the colours on a small model house. 

All students from both schools had a wonderful time and we are always grateful to Beck, Anita and all the staff at GPS for supporting our Child Studies Program. 

TERM 2 HOME EC (FOOD)

Year 10 Food: We have focused our learning on Contemporary Food Trends with research into a range of ideas from 3D printed foods to multicultural fusion to organic foods to sharing/grazing plates. Students then created a variety of dishes to demonstrate a trend. There were lots of pizza fusion dishes including dessert pizza, yiros pizza and pizza fries. Some students also explored dessert trends by creating cupcakes, ice cream sandwiches and vintage-style celebration cakes.

Year 7 Home Ec

In Home Ec so far, we have made pancakes and pin wheels. I have enjoyed working with new people and having some laughs in the kitchen. It is also very fun to give everything a taste at the end of the lesson, there has already been some funny bloopers. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone, and hopefully to make some new friendships. Overall I’m looking forward to testing my cooking abilities and learning to be flexible and adaptable with who I work with. It will also be very fun to cook different recipes I’ve never tried before.

Izzy Emms

This term our first group of Year 7s in the trimester program learned essential skills in hand building with clay. This included preparing clay for sculpting and using clay tools to securely join separate pieces. The Year 7s learned how to correctly apply glazes and created functional 'pinch pot creatures' based on an original design combined with the pinch method to create the structure of a clay vessel.

Year 8s have completed their unit on surrealism. They have created their own surrealist paintings with inspiration from the style of Rene Magritte. They have worked as a class to learn and increase their use of vocabulary in the arts, and specifically towards understanding concepts in surrealist art. They have then used this learning to write artist statements based on their work towards these paintings and themselves as artists.

Year 9 this year has included both visual and creative arts subjects. Our visual arts students have completed their final perspective-based landscape works and have been building new skills in lino cut and intaglio printing. Students have been able to transfer their skills from their learning on perspective to create some great looking prints so far.

Creative arts students have learned about the industry role of art gallery curation. This has culminated in their creation of their own miniature art gallery dioramas. They have designed the layout and colour scheme, and have sourced artwork including their own for their miniature exhibitions. They have also written didactic labels to accompany artworks they have made.

Our Year 12’s have continued to develop their skills in their chosen fields within creative art and visual art. For students working with ceramics, this has included learning about new processes such as trimming greenware with clay tools, applying glazes effectively and throwing taller pieces on the pottery wheel. Others have been working on their skills with watercolour and gouache, and using the spray booth for airbrushed stencils. 

During the Laura Fair this year, our students also had their work exhibited at the Courthouse Gallery for the Laura Art Exhibition. Congratulations to Jaelah Ryan, Jamie Neil, Henry Prest and Tanika Simic who received commendations in the Barbara Kleinig Junior Art Award. Finally, congratulations to Jackson Fudge who won the Dick Biles Encouragement Award for his work that he entered into the open section of the exhibition.