18 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

It has been a busy two weeks with staff and students settling quickly into the academic demands of the semester. There have been a number of key events in the last fortnight, many enabling students to demonstrate their leadership.

The process for electing Student Leaders includes nominated senior students speaking to their House Group outlining their leadership skills and aspirations. Congratulations to each student nominated and particular congratulations to those elected as House Captains, Vice Captains and Junior Captains.

Student House Leaders

Oswald

Captain - Brody MACFARLANE
Vice-Captain - Kael AMBJERG-PEDERSEN
Captain - Matilda ZANDER
Vice-Captain - Millie SMART
Junior Captain - Lucy WILSDON
Junior Captain - Henry WOODLANDS

Richards / Gale

Captain - Jack FLAVEL
Vice-Captain - Jesse PHILPS
Captain - Sharni CHAPMAN
Vice-Captain - Megan COCK
Junior Captain - Tahlia CHAPMAN
Junior Captain - Adam JACKSON

Sullivan

Captain - Doug RUSSELL
Vice-Captain - Charlie HEAD
Captain - Gabrielle SALT
Vice-Captain - Rachelle KINNEAR
Junior Captain - Emily SMART
Junior Captain - Lachlan HANSEN

Each of these young people moved seamlessly from election to Swimming Carnival team selections.

Renee Thamm is taking a leadership role in organising the sports program this year. She has coordinated the Swimming Carnival and will also be coordinating Athletics, MNSEC Sports and Knock Out Sports. Well done Renee on your work so far. A detailed report on the Swimming Carnival will be feature in next fortnight's newsletter.

As with any organisation – and school is one of many families deal with, there are times when you may need a process for raising concerns. Attached to this newsletter is the Raising Concerns brochure. Please use the information in the brochure to support your thinking and give you strategies if you need them.

Important advice in the brochure includes

• being clear about the issue and
• the key points of the issue.
• Discuss the complaint with people directly involved

"Growth Mindsets" is the topic of the Student Free Day on Friday 19/2/16. Staff from across the partnership are spending the day with James Anderson, a certified Growth Mindset Trainer. Fixed and Growth Mindsets are a way to describe responses to situations. The Fixed Mindset is the belief that your basic abilities are fixed and unchangeable. – Who you are is who you are, so get used to it! The Growth Mindset is the understanding that you can change your basic abilities by working in effective ways. Who you become is a result of your own efforts. Much of the day will focus on being "The Thoughtful Teacher".

The agenda for the day includes

• Exploring and the misunderstandings that create a Fixed Mindset
• Thinking like a Growth Mindset Educator
• Pedagogy of the Growth Mindset Educator

Governing Council AGM was held Tuesday evening. Many thanks to retiring members Phil Combe, Merrilyn Smith and Bronwyn Mumford for their service to and support of the school. Incoming members are Scott Watson, Kathryn Hansen and Fraser Smith as parent representatives and Scott Crawford as community representative. Continuing parent representatives on Governing Council are Robyn Kelly, Stephen Duffield, Bev Hennessy, Catherine Combe, Julia Wardrop, Sonya Wilsdon, Monica Jackson. Staff representative is Michael Manson, with students represented by School Leaders. As Principal I attend each meeting in an ex- officio capacity. The Governing Council is yet to finalise all positions. Community members wishing to be part of one of the GC Sub Committees are encouraged to contact Robyn Kelly on ph: 0438 364 021 or by email robyn@robynkelly.com.au

Robyn will provide a more detailed Governing Council Report in a later newsletter.

ADELAIDE CROWS VISIT GHS

David Mackay, Tom Lynch and Reilly O'Brien from the Adelaide Crows visited Gladstone High School on Monday. Students were very excited about having a kick with the three players during their recess time. The Stage 1 and 2 Physical Education class had the pleasure of welcoming the players into the classroom for a 15-minute talk. David and Tom discussed player post-game nutrition and post-game recovery with the students. Interestingly, during the Q&A aspect of the talk Millie Smart asked the players if they believe AFL tracking devices compromise player's information. This question was well received by the players and they spoke about the evolution of the devices. The information that she was able to gather will assist in the writing of her Issues Analysis on the topic 'Are AFL tracking devices having a positive impact on the game?'

SCHOOLZINE INFORMATION UPDATE

We know how important it is to be able to quickly contact parents during emergency situations. With this in mind in conjunction with Schoolzine, GHS now provides SMS capabilities for all parents. We now have another method of quick communication for parents to use. Using our Gladstone HS – 0427708443 contact number to text message which then converts to email for our Admin team to follow up.

Our new free Schoolzine App has just been released so that we are able to quickly communicate with parents across multiple channels. We have included instructions on how to install this app on apple and android devices. Once installed you will receive notifications on the release of the newsletter which you can view and any other notifications sent to specific groups. You will be also able to use the contact form to submit communication to us and view our digital calendar on this app at any time on your mobile.

Did you know that we offer online forms?

We have school forms available on the enewsletter that you can view and print to ensure they reach you and make it back to school once they are complete.

Online eforms are a great way of ensuring that all parents receive school forms, either via our enewsletter or a newsflash via the app.

COMMUNITY UPDATE

Southern Flinders Football Club
Colts AGM
Laura Clubrooms
Wednesday 24th February
Starting at 7:30pm

All parents or caregivers of current and prospective footballers from Senior and Junior Colts to Mini and Sub-Mini Colts are encouraged to attend. John Hennessy 0409 723 622

Singing lessons

Lessons at $17 per half-hour.
Improve your pitch, vocal range and tone, your song choice or further information.
Contact Anne Hansen on 0429 866 242 or 86362231.