15 March 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Last Friday we held our annual Athletics Carnival. I would like to congratulate Oswald House on winning the day overall and I would like to thank Renee Thamm and her team for putting together a well organised day, which ran smoothly in some very trying conditions. I was lucky enough to have the freedom to visit all of the stations and watch a variety of events, which allowed me to notice many things during the day, including:

• A great sense of community – this was evident in many ways with parents, friends and family on hand to cheer on their loved ones, volunteer with the Governing Council BBQ or reminisce of days of old when they use to be able to fly over the high jump bar with grace… It also provided a great transition opportunity with the Year 6/7 students from our feeder schools participating and finally, I enjoyed the strong sense of community displayed by the vast majority of our students for their House with colourful outfits, encouraging words and teamwork evident

• A high level of organisation – starting before the first event even began with the staff who put in hours to mark the oval, prepare sign in sheets for events and to man the stations all day. The organisation displayed by all of the House Captains was also evident with competitors in events, banners for House pride and some very creative outfits

• Some outstanding athletic ability and skill from all age groups and both genders. Jake Clements’ efforts in the Open Boys High Jump were incredible to watch, as were some of the competitors in the throwing events but, as always, it is the track events that get us all up and yelling. That said, some of the loudest supporting occurred in the tunnel ball events, which captured everyone on the oval and produced cheers of excitement and some equally loud cries of disappointment

• At the beginning of the day, I mentioned that teams who won Athletics Carnivals are those with the highest level of participation. It often comes down to teams with people in events. During the day I saw people going to find someone who hadn’t turned up to an event and other people volunteering to go in an event when someone hadn’t arrived just so their team could get points for participation. I genuinely believe it is all members of the team who win such days, not just the best athletes

The greatest lesson I took away from the day was the number of students who attempted events they weren’t necessarily comfortable with. Those students who took a risk and potentially looked failure in the eye. Basketballer Michael Jordan was an outstanding athlete who experienced great sporting success, yet he admits:

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.
I’ve lost almost 300 games.
26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.
I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.
And that is why I succeed.”

He also said, “I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying.” Thinking about this and about what I saw at the Athletics Carnival, I challenge everyone reading this article to take a risk; put yourself out of your comfort zone and try something new. Who knows what success it could bring? To finish with another quote from the great Nelson Mandela, “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” Have a great week.

Sonia Pringle
Principal

Year 8 Aquatics Camp

Year 8 Aquatics camp was a success once more with everyone getting to know each other and new friendships formed. We travelled to Port Augusta on Wednesday and when we arrived at the Aquatics Centre we spent time getting our beds organised and preparing for our first session in the water. The weather was warm but not too hot for the entire three days we were there. Over the three days we were on camp instructors showed us how to do windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking, snorkelling and sailing. We spent time in the evenings learning about aspects of leadership and playing some group bonding activities games. There was some free time to go to the shops and we were able to kick the football on the lawn in front of the centre. Some of us went fishing on the small jetty. The sausage rolls and muffins that we cooked in HPE were a big hit for recess and afternoon tea and made sure we were never hungry. We returned on Friday tired, but appreciating the good experiences from our camp.

Stephen Bosch
Year 8 Coordinator

“I enjoyed the stand-up paddling board. It was difficult as there were waves in the water. It was scary as the water was very deep but I felt I had achieved when I reached the other side.” Shavana

Athletics Carnival

Prior to Athletics Day students participated in three mornings of athletics practise. For each of the practise events students were awarded participation points for their team on Athletics Day. The bonus points allocated to each house were as follows:

Oswald 74
Sullivan 44
Richards Gale 41

The 1500m event was held on the Wednesday 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 38 students racing, across all age groups.

There were multiple highlights on the day with 2 broken records. Jake Clements broke his shared record with S. Peryman (1996) in the Open Male High Jump with a measurement of 1.96 metres, breaking his previous record (1.85 metres) by 11cm. In the Year 6/7 competition Lillie Shepherdson of Laura broke the Hurdles record with a time of 16.36 seconds. This record was previously held by M. Heinjus from 2010.

The Age Group Champions are as follows:

Year 6/7 Female

Champion: Amelia Coe – St Josephs
Runner up: Lillie Shepherdson - Laura

Year 6/7 Male

Champion: Ronald Nash – Gladstone Primary School
Runner up: Jaxon Brand – St Josephs

Under 14 Female

Champion: Charlotte Durrant – Oswald
Runner up: Lara Zanker – Richards Gale

Under 14 Male

Joint Champions: Samuel Shepherdson – Sullivan and Baiden Wilsdon - Oswald

Under 16 Female

Champion: Chloe Jackson – Sullivan
Runner up: Elyce Malycha – Oswald

Under 16 Male

Champion: Will Smart – Oswald
Runner up: Andrew Horace – Richards Gale

Open Female

Champion: Teneal Malycha – Oswald
Runner up: Tahlia Chapman – Richards Gale

Open Male

Champion: Ben Treasure – Oswald
Runner up: Jake Clements – Richards Gale

Overall scores – Primary School

St Joseph’s 196
Crystal Brook 180
Gladstone 180
Laura 90

Overall scores – High School

Oswald 909
Sullivan 871
Richards Gale 652

A big thankyou to all of the volunteers in the canteen and to the Governing Council for running the BBQ. Thank you also to our House Captains and the 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 MNSEC Athletics.

SSSSA Swimming

On Tuesday 6th of March 8 students from Gladstone High School attended the SSSSA Swimming at the Aquatic Centre in Marion. The MNSEC team consisted of swimmers form Booleroo Centre, Quorn, Jamestown and Gladstone. The swimmers competed in Division B, they competed against Cornerstone, Brighton, Scotch, Far North Eyre Peninsula, Westminster, Christian Brothers College, Mercedes, Pulteney, Walford, St Mary’s and Blackfriars.

Our swimmers were competitive again this year. Everyone swam well against the Adelaide schools that have facilities to train all year round.

Overall the girls came 2nd and the boys were 8th this placed us 3rd overall. The Gladstone High School student results were as follows:

Hannah Watson – 6th in 50m Butterfly, 4th in Backstroke, 6th in Freestyle
Emily Smart – 3rd in Freestyle
Tahlia Chapman – 3rd in 50m Breaststroke
Casey Cleggett - 6th in 50m Backstroke, 1st in 50m Breaststroke,4th in 50m Freestyle
George Klemm - 8th in 50m Backstroke, 8th in 50m Freestyle
Charlotte Durrant - 4th in 50m Backstroke, 4th in 50m Breaststroke, 2nd in 50m Freestyle
Rachael Hodgson - 4th in 50m Freestyle
Ellen Crisp - 6th in the Open Medley relay.

Thanks to Vanessa Watson, Robbie Klemm and Karyn Durrant for time keeping on the night.

Congratulations to all the Swimmers.

Light Painting Night

On the 3rd of March, the Stage 1 Creative Arts class had a night time lesson on Light Painting Photography. Students learnt about settings used to take long exposure photographs and the use of different light painting tools including flutes, glow sticks, coloured lights, rods, sparklers and a ball of light tool. There were two workstations set up near the tennis courts and in the vineyard for students to trial the use of these different tools. The images created and knowledge of this photographic technique will now be used as part of their investigation into Light Painter Denis Smith.

Michael Manson
Creative Arts Teacher

BISCUIT STALL LAURA FOLK FAIR 7th APRIL 2018

Well it's that time of the year again to pop the apron on and get baking to support Gladstone High School with one of its major fund raising events.

For new parents/caregivers we hold a fundraiser at the Laura Folk Fair selling biscuits. As we have fewer students this year your support in this event is essential to make it a success.

We would appreciate donations of biscuits or cash by Thursday 5th April to the GHS Front Office. Biscuits quantities are to fill approximately 2x large ice cream containers (or biscuits made up of 2kg of flour). The more colourful the better but we appreciate and are grateful for any sort of biscuit.

Importantly we require people to volunteer their time for packing the biscuits on Friday 6th April from 1.30 pm in the school hall. Please let us know if you are available.

A roster for the Folk Fair Stall will be available next newsletter please be sure to put your name down. We do appreciate your help.

For further information please contact:

• Jodie Zwar 0457 745 586
• Kylie Sawley 0429 029 561
• Merrilyn Smith 0427 632 354

Community News

Gladstone Junior & Seniors Tennis Wind-Up Saturday the 17th March 2018, held at the Gladstone Stadium at 5pm.

BBQ Tea, A graders to bring a Salad & Dessert.

Everyone welcome

Outdoor movie at Bowman Park
Fun for all the family
Friday 16th March
Gates open 6pm movie at 8pm
$10/car
Food and Drinks available

Come and Try Registration & Information Day

Rangers Soccer Club was formed to services all the school aged children who live in and around the areas of Crystal Brook, Gladstone, Laura, Georgetown, and Jamestown etc. Games are played in a Saturday Competition at Port Pirie.

Tuesday 27th March 2018, 4:00pm at Gladstone High School Oval.

If you cannot make it but would like to be involved with the club please contact:

Tracey: 0428 314 596 or conyghmancottage@bigpond.com
Lisa: 0409 289 486 or lisa.reyonolds2@bigpond.com