31 March 2016

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Hello everyone

It has again been a very busy two weeks since the last newsletter. In that time we have seen the Student Leaders Induction Ceremony, MNSEC Athletics, wine grape picking and Easter. I hope your Easter break was all you wanted it to be. You will find individual reports on some of the events further in the newsletter. Folk Fair this weekend is an extra event for many, with the roster for the Biscuit Stall being an attachment in this newsletter.

The reporting timeline for this term has been extended. Our intention – as indicated on your term planner, was to have reports sent home at the end of next week. We have moved the distribution date to Wednesday 13th April. Reports will be given to students in the afternoon Home Group. Uncollected reports will be available at the Front Office Thursday and Friday for collection and through afternoon Home Groups. Any further uncollected reports will be posted Friday afternoon. Enclosed in the Academic Results Folders will be your student's Term 1 report and a process for booking interviews – which are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday the 10th and 11th of May. We ask that you keep this folder - reports sent home later in the year will not be in a new folder.

Congratulations to Alice Jackson on her winning wine (Shiraz) label design. Alice's work is part of the contemporary labels research and design task within the Year 9 Art program. The Shiraz will again be launched at the Laura Art Exhibition at the Courthouse Gallery, Laura at 8:00pm tomorrow night. All are welcome. When you visit the Front Office you will see in the glass presentation cabinet a wine bottles display of winning students' labels starting in 2003. The linking of Science and Art at Gladstone High is an important curriculum innovation that has become a school and community tradition. Well done to the teachers and students involved in all aspects of the wine program. We thank Automatic Print in Port Pirie for their support of and service to our school. They had the labels ready for collection 2 days after the design was delivered to them.

Alice Jackson and her winning Shiraz label

The electronic newsletter is a high quality newsletter each fortnight. We have more than 300 subscriptions to the newsletter and it has proven to be a useful way to get our news into the wider community and the media. Governing Council raised the topic of print newsletters beyond this term. We will continue to have limited print copies in communities and available through the Front Office next term. If you need a print copy your student is welcome to collect one from the Front Office each fortnight.

Principal – Denise Higgins

STUDENT LEADERS INDUCTION ASSEMBLY

On Thursday 17th March we held our Student Leaders Induction Ceremony in the School Hall, with our Year 12 School Captains Sharni Chapman and Jack Flavel, along with the Senior School Leaders Millie Smart and Brody Macfarlane being excellent MC's for the Assembly. These leaders and the following Year 8-11 Leaders where presented with Certificates and read out the Student Leaders' Pledge together:

Brooke Cousins, Nigel Kleinig, Chloe Smart, Thomas Taylor, Alyssa Crisp, Noah Zwar, Lucy Wilsdon, Henry Woodlands, Emily Ashby and Will Smart.

Mrs Lisa Key delivered a powerful speech on leadership, focussing on the important role all students play in ensuring that student leadership and student voice is strong in our school. Her speech inspired much interest from the students, both those being inducted into their Leadership roles and those who may provide leadership in many and varied ways throughout the year. Thank you to Lisa for her hard work and commitment to Gladstone High School, very evident from the delivery of such a thought provoking speech.

2016 House Leaders were presented with Certificates and thanked for their excellent communication and organisation of teams for the Swimming and Athletics Carnivals already held this year.

House Captains: Jack Flavel, Sharni Chapman, Brody Macfarlane, Matilda Zander, Doug Russell, Gabrielle Salt

Vice Captains: Jesse Philps, Megan Cock, Kael Ambjerg-Pedersen, Millie Smart, Charlie Head, Rachelle Kinnear

Junior House Captains: Adam Jackson, Tahlia Chapman, Henry Woodlands, Lucy Wilsdon, Emily Smart, Lachlan Hansen

Thank you to Mrs Sonya Wilsdon, who presented a report on behalf of the GHS Governing Council, and Ethan Langenberg for the 'Acknowledgement of Country'.

Krystal Wakefield and Savannah Brice shared a report from the Student Wellbeing Action Team (SWAT) and acknowledged the members for 2016:

Austin Soergel, Ben Hunter, Jarvis Triffett-Broom, Monique Denby, Zaylia Langenberg, Gracie Jones, Krystal Wakefield, Savannah Brice, Riley Davenport, Samantha Leslie, Thomas Taylor, Chloe Wardrop and Phoebe Brice.

Thank you to the large number of parents and community members who attended the Ceremony, and to our Year 9 Home Economics class and teacher Mr Derek Freidrichs, for the excellent luncheon provided.

Mrs Kerrilyn Elmer
Assistant Principal
Student Wellbeing

2016 NAPLAN TESTS

The time is once again approaching for our Year 9 students to undertake the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests. This year the tests will be held at school on Tuesday 10th, Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th May (Week 2 of Term 2). Students absent on any one of the three testing days will have a catch up day on Friday 13th May where they will need to sit any tests they have missed. Students will once again be assessed using common national tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.

As per usual, all curriculum areas are working on the explicit literacy demands of their learning areas. Through English classes, students have been given explicit instruction on the format of both narrative and persuasive writing and the language features to use to achieve their best. All Mathematics classes have also had support to help prepare students for the Numeracy section of the NAPLAN tests and assist their general learning. Students have also been exposed to practice tests in classes as well as instruction on test literacies of completing all sections, eliminating answers, problem solving and other necessary skills. Teachers in all subject areas have continued to support students with their learning, which will also assist them in the tests.

Students may be withdrawn from these tests by their parent or caregiver if they have an objection to their participation. If you would like to withdraw your child from the NAPLAN testing process, please contact me at the school and I will send home the required form for completion. All parents are encouraged to contact me at the school on 8662 2171 if you have any questions about the 2016 NAPLAN tests.

Sonia Pringle
NAPLAN COORDINATOR

GLADSTONE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS DAY

Prior to Athletics Day students participated in three mornings of athletics practice. For each of the practice events students calculated their 5 star points awards, these points were added as bonus points to their team on Athletics Day. The bonus points allocated to each house were as follows:

Oswald 114
Sullivan 88
Richards Gale 84

The 1500m event was held on the Thursday prior to Athletics Day. For this event, there was no cap on the amount of participants allowed to compete. Every competitor that finished the race scored a point for his or her house. This year saw positive participation in the event with 37 students racing, across all age groups.

There were multiple highlights of the day with four broken records including the Open Male 400m sprint with Kael Ambjerg-Pedersen setting a new record of 53.35 seconds. This record was previously held by A. Batten (1984) in a time of 54.7 seconds. Jake Clements set a new record of 1.72 metres in the Under 16 Male High Jump. This record was previously held by S. Jared (2007) with a height of 1.71metres. Nash Macfarlane broke Under 16 Male Long Jump record with a measurement of 5.56 metres. This record was previously held by M. Brice (2013) with a measurement of 5.42 metres. The final record of the day was the Under 16 Male 4x100m sprint broken by Oswald in a time of 51.16 seconds. This record was previously held by Richards Gale (2007) in a time of 51.9 seconds.

The Age Group Champions are as follows:

Year 6/7 Female

1. Jessie Harslett
2. Daisy Wooley
3. Charlotte Durrant

Year 6/7 Male

1. Samuel Shephersdon
2. Isaac Willsmore
3. Ben Flowers

Under 14 Female

1. Emily Ashby
2. Lauren Ferme
3. Elyce Malycha

Under 14 Male

1. Will Smart
2. John Treasure
3. Josh Clements

Under 16 Female

1. Chelsea Chapman-McInerney
2. Taryn Kelly
3. Tilly Brock

Under 16 Male

1. Nash Macfarlane
2. Jim Treasure
3. Jake Clements

Open Female

1. Matilda Zander
2. Millie Smart
3. Sharni Chapman

Open Male

1. Kael Ambjerg-Pedersen
2. Brody Macfarlane
3. Nigel Kleinig

Overall scores – Primary School

Crystal Brook 173
St Joseph's 133
Laura 116
Gladstone 88
Georgetown 73

Overall scores – High School

Oswald 567
Richards Gale 447
Sullivan 376

A big thank you to the Governing Council for running the BBQ. Thank you also to our House Captains and the other Year 12 students for their enthusiasm and leadership on the day. Congratulations to all the Age Champions and to Oswald who were the overall winners on the day. At this stage of the year, we have seen Oswald win the Swimming Carnival and Athletics Day; the challenge is now for participating students to be successful in the MNSEC team at SSSSA Athletics.

MATERIALS & SERVICES FEES 2016

A reminder that 2016 fees are now overdue. Please pay promptly. Do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to make payment arrangements. Payments can be made via EFTPOS over the phone for your convenience or EFT. You can also download a School Card application via our enewsletter, if you think you are applicable. A big thank you to those families who have already paid.

Sue Foulis
Finance Officer

University of NSW School Competitions

A letter was sent home today inviting students to enter the Maths, Science, English and Writing competitions. The cost is $8:80 per competition with the school subsidising on a 1:1 basis if students wish to enter multiple competitions. We encourage students to enter competitions to practise in a competitive environment and challenge their learning. Money and entry forms must be returned to the Front Office by 15th April, the last day of term. Any questions please contact me.

Stephen Bosch

GRAPE PICKING

Grape picking commenced at 9:00am on Wednesday 16th March with students from Years 9 and 10 starting with Agricultural classes continuing later. Stage 1 Agriculture students fulfilled some Certificate skills whilst encountering some very ripe grapes. Buckets were taken to the ute where they were poured into tubs ready to take to Stonebridge Wines. Picking was slow and hard work as the grapes were often in very small bunches. Students picked in good spirits until recess and afterwards progress slowed as grapes became hard to find. 1 ½ tonnes were picked and sent off with Don Smallacombe to Clare. Next morning some more grapes were picked for our winery where the Stage 1 Chemistry students started the processes for making wine. Thanks to all the students and staff who assisted in the harvest.

Stephen Bosch

GLADSTONE HIGH SCHOOL OLIVE OIL

500ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil available from Gladstone High School Front Office - cost $10. Oil will also be available from our stall at the Folk Fair over the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd.

SCHOOLZINE INFORMATION UPDATE

Gladstone High School would like to remind parents that subscribing to the school's enewsletter you will receive a high quality digital newsletter along with other useful functions on a fortnightly rotation. If you are unable to access internet services at home or on your phone, we will have printed copies available from designated outlets in the community and a limited number available for collection by students from the Front Office if required. The printed copies that are currently sent home with students will discontinue at the end of this term.

We know how important it is to be able to quickly contact parents during emergency situations or parents to contact us. 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.

This term we will be uploading our appointment booking system (Session Keeper) for parents to book for upcoming Parent / Teacher interviews. This will appear as a tab in our enewsletter or you can access from the following website (link below); Instructions will be sent home shortly. Parents who are unable to access digital information can call the school to book a time.

CLIP JOINT HAIR AND MAKE-UP COURSES APRIL HOLIDAYS

Only 3 weeks away
Limited positions available
APRIL SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
HAIR AND MAKEUP TASTER COURSES!!

COMMUNITY NEWS

SOUTHERN FLINDERS FOOTBALL CLUB MINI'S AND SUB MINI'S

TARPARI – INVITATION

Art works celebrating the talent and diversity of Aboriginal artists from the Yorke and Mid North Regions at Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery.