15 June 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

The Power of Celebration

We all like celebrating don’t we? But do we do enough of it?

There are lots of reasons to celebrate – sporting victories, birthdays, weddings, new job, educational achievement and the list goes on.

So why do we celebrate success and why should we do more of it?

All too often we focus on what’s not working so we can change it and forget to recognise what’s gone well and to purposefully stop and celebrate it.

To recognise it and do something positive about it – in other words to celebrate it – on purpose.

The top 5 reasons to celebrate:

1. To learn and adapt

To recognize what’s working well and why, and if there’s something you can take from it to inspire or replicate in other actions and goals. So basically you can do more of it.

2. Developing a success mindset

Focus on what you’ve accomplished, rather than a long overwhelming list of what you’ve still got to do. Celebrate every success, no matter how small the win, to cultivate your success mindset.
By telling yourself ‘I am successful’ or ‘I can succeed because I’ve succeeded before’ you build up your self-belief and success attitude.

3. Motivation

Motivation is also connected to mindset – because we are motivated by our successes. Give yourself as many opportunities to be successful as you can.
Notice the small wins along the way, break your goals down into milestones, actions, and trigger actions, each gives you the chance to mark up a success and reinforce the changes you’re making.

4. Feeling good

One of the best reasons to celebrate success is simply that it feels good.
Feeling good is what it’s all about after all, isn’t it? We’re driven to make changes in our lives because we want to feel better, be happier and feel good.
There’s a reason why it feels good when we celebrate success and it’s to do with the neurohappy chemicals in our brain. Dopamine is released into our brain when we anticipate achieving something or we achieve it – and it feels good, so we want more of it.

5. Sharing success

Celebrating success isn’t necessarily just about you. It might be, but it can also give others the chance to join in with your celebration, be motivated and have a share in your success. And a good point to remember is you have to recognise your own success if you want other people to as well.

Let’s Celebrate - here are some of our amazing successes from GHS this term

2017 Public Education Award Nominees

This year three of our wonderful educators were nominated for awards by members of the wider community. We wish them well if they choose to pursue their nominations further.

Congratulations Renee Thamm, Sonia Pringle and Derek Friedrichs

School Based Apprentice of the Year Nominee

Phoebe Brice has been short listed in the SA Training Awards; School based Apprentice of the Year.

Phoebe is in the second year of her school based apprenticeship at the Laura and District Hospital; she is studying a Certificate III in Aged Care with TafeSA.

Phoebe recently spoke at John Pirie Secondary School about all aspects of her traineeship and the importance of communication and teamwork not only in the workplace between staff members but between herself and teachers at school as well as her Tafe lecturers.

Phoebe also talked about some of the challenges she has faced including dealing with the loss of patients and having to learn how to build new working relationships with clients upon admission.

The winners of all the SA Training Awards will be announced at a formal dinner in September – Phoebe is one of four finalists in her category – Good Luck Phoebe!

Pacific School Games

Adam Jackson has been selected to represent GHS and South Australia in the National School Hockey Championship at the Pacific School Games. Adam will be the first male student from Gladstone to participate in the games in Adelaide from 2nd- 9th December.

The Pacific Games are in their 10th year and this year will include over 4500 competitors in 11 sports over 7 days. This competition provides students with the opportunity to showcase their skills on an international stage.

We know you will do us, your state and yourself proud Adam – you are already a champion!

I hope you will all join me in celebrating and congratulating Adam, Phoebe, Renee, Sonia and Derek on their individual accomplishments thus far and wish them well in their final events.

Kathleen Hoare
Principal

Past student news

In the spirit of Celebration, congratulations go out to former students Stephanie Northcott and Olivia Wardrop who were recently presented with awards from St Ann’s College.

COLLEGIANS’ AWARDS Stephanie Northcott – awarded for academic merit

PKF KENNEDY SCHOLARSHIP Olivia Wardrop – scholarship for the study of Business or Accounting

GOVERNING COUNCIL NEWS

Governing Council had a very positive meeting last evening! After discussions with the local Council, we are pleased to inform you that muddy shoes will soon no longer be a problem at the new bus zone, with the Council agreeing to lay road base at the step-on point of the buses. This should happen in the next few weeks!

Governing Council have also decided on a fundraiser. We will be having a Movie Night on the School Oval. A potential date is Friday 22nd September. Put it in your diary! Further info will be available closer to the date. Governing Council welcomes anyone who may be able to help out before or during the night. Please contact Brooke 0409096997 or Kathryn 0438363123. We would be grateful for any assistance! Thanks in advance.

Keep an eye out for some new Canteen Menu items! The soup has been a hit. Governing Council provide the canteen service to the school and we would love to see some more volunteers. Only 3 hours of your time and any contribution is greatly appreciated and will allow us to provide even more tantalising food for the children!

Let's make GHS great!

Cheers
Kathryn Hansen
GHS Governing Council Chairperson 2017

STEM

In Week 4, Year 7 students from Gladstone, Wirrabara, Laura and Crystal Brook Primary Schools visited the High School. With our STEM partners we were put into a group with Primary School students and discussed using the STELR kits to produce a model of a wind turbine. Miss Thamm had previously taught us how to use these models so that we could assist the Year 7’s in making the wind turbines. We tested the voltage and current that the wind turbines produced and wrote down our results on a table given to us by Ms. Thamm. We used a multimeter to measure the voltage and the current of the wind. On the sheet we had different lengths of blades (red, blue, and yellow), we found that the red blade, being the largest produced the most amount of energy. We are looking forward to making and testing our own blade designs. The next part of our STEM project is going to a site visit of the wind farm at Clements Gap as well as looking at solar energy at O'Dea Electrical.

Year 8 Science class

POWER CUP SAASTA

During Week 5 I stayed at Adelaide Shores and played in the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy (SAASTA) Power cup. There were approximately 375 students participating. At Power Cup we had to play football on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday we played 3 games of football and Wednesday we played another 3 games. We won 3 of the 6 games we played. We had to practise the cultural dance that we performed on the Adelaide Oval before the AFL game was played. Thursday we had presentations for Power Cup. We stayed to watch the AFL game and then came home Friday morning. I had a fantastic time.

Riley Davenport

OLIVE PICKING

Throughout Week 6 the Year 8’s, 9’s and 10’s worked hard to complete this year’s Olive harvest. This includes laying out a tarp, raking and picking the Olives, then collecting the produce in buckets. A total of 15 buckets have been harvested making this year’s crop very successful.

Tahlia and Lucy

SENIOR BIOLOGY EXCURSION

On Tuesday the 30th of May the Year 12 Biology and Yr11/12 Chemistry class attended an excursion to Adelaide. In the morning the Biology students participated in an experiment that involved looking at Bacterial samples and comparing them to food poisoning samples. The students also were able to use equipment that is not readily available at school and is commonly used at University for looking at DNA profiles. The Year 11/12 Chemistry class participated in and Analytical Chemistry Experiment. Thank you to Hanley’s for providing the transport to Adelaide and back.

TECH STUDIES PROJECTS

This Semester the Year 10’s were given the task to design and make a piece of furniture inspired by Japanese woodworking. Traditional Japanese woodworking does not use glue and nails, and focuses on showing off the beauty in the natural timber. Included are some of their solutions.

FEEDLOT CATTLE – EXCURSION TO BROUGHTON PARK

On 6th June the Year 10 Agriculture students visited the Broughton Park cattle feedlot. Ben Mumford happily showed us the responsibilities of running cattle feed lot. He also shared his knowledge about feeding and breeding beef cattle. The students had the opportunity to ask Ben a range of questions regarding an assignment we are now to complete.

COMMUNITY NEWS

CARE FOR CHILDREN IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE - SA HEALTH INFOMATION

Winter can be a busy time for emergency departments and it is important to consider whether it really is an emergency.

For minor illness or injury, there are a range of care options to consider, including your local GP or pharmacy. Local health services, including information about after hour’s services, can be found through the National Health Services Directory at

If it is an emergency, emergency care for children is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some conditions that are not life-threatening for an adult can be more serious for babies and young children. In particular, young babies with fever need to be assessed by a doctor. In an emergency or life threatening situation, always call triple zero (000) for an ambulance.

For more information, including emergency department locations and information about other care options, visit the link below.