17 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Comment

Our Open Day is next Tuesday 22nd May with tours at 9.30am and 6pm. All current families are invited to attend as well as prospective families. During the last 2 weeks Stephen Bosch (Year 8/9 Coordinator) and I have visited our feeder primary schools and invited students and their families to attend.

If you have not visited the school recently this is a good opportunity to drop in and see the changes in our facilities and to learn about the programs available to our students.

Congratulations to all of the students who received awards for academic achievement and attendance at the assembly today. To achieve these awards requires commitment and these students would be proud of their achievements.

Nominate, celebrate and recognise an outstanding educator in the 2018 Public Education Awards.

Get involved and say thank you to a principal, teacher or support staff member making a significant difference to the lives of their students and their communities.

The Public Education Awards recognise excellence in South Australian public education, and nominations are open 1 to 31 May. Visit the link below to nominate and find out more about the awards.

Tyler Hogan

AFL 9s

In Week 2 the Year 8 & 9’s went to Jamestown to participate in an AFL 9s carnival. We were one of 4 schools, along with Orroroo, Peterborough and Jamestown. The boys played three games (each with only seven minute halves, not quarters), losing the first two and then winning against Peterborough in the last one. After this we ended up coming fourth and had to play the fourth placed team in Div. 1, because we were Div. 2. By chance, we ended up playing the Div. 1 Gladstone team, which we beat. At the end of the day, both of the boys’ teams finished last, and the girls’ teams came third and fourth. Although we didn’t win, we still had a fun day.

By Hugh and Isaac.

At AFL 9’s we had an epic battle against ourselves. Gladstone was split up in to boys and girls and then split up into two groups. My team, Div 1, won no games but Div 2 won 2 games. It was a cold, wet and rainy day, the wind was horrible and put a chill down your spine.

Angus

STEM

On Tuesday the 8th of May Year 8 Students had the opportunity to visit the Golden North in Laura factory as part of the STEM project to learn about the processes involved in making ice cream. Below are some comments from the students about the visit:

“Some facts we have learnt are; the lowest the freezer can get is -30˚, they use liquid sugar instead of actual sugar and they are shipping to China. Overall, the excursion was a great learning experience.” Shavana and Caitlin

“At Golden North we looked at all the different ice creams and how they make them and package them. It was very interesting about how they store it and how much they make a year.” Luke

“We got to see how they make the ice cream and they explained how they made flavoured ice cream. It was very interesting and helpful, they ended the tour by answering our questions.” Eliza

Aboriginal Education

Term 2 contains quite a few significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander events and dates. One of these is National Reconciliation Week which is held in Week 5 of Term 2. The 2018 theme for NRW is “Don’t keep history a mystery.” Over the term keep a look out in the newsletter as I will be showcasing significant people who have made a positive impact for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to celebrate this. The first person I’m going to highlight is David Uniapon.

Judy Crosby
Aboriginal Community Education Officer

David Unaipon

He's the wry smiling Aboriginal man wearing a collar folded like a paper aero plane on the 50 dollar note. A prestigious place for a portrait, so how did David Unaipon become so noteworthy?

Unaipon worked a few roles, as a bookmaker and as a book keeper assistant, before he developed a shearing device in 1909. He was focused on creating perpetual motion machines and was named the 'Australian Leonardo da Vinci' for developing the centrifugal motor, a multi-radial wheel and a mechanical propulsion device. He is also said to have contributed to the helicopter, having designed its rotors pre-World War I, based on the principle of the boomerang and of course, his fascination with perpetual motion.

AG Block

The Gladstone High School Ag block is now in full swing with the arrival of steers, sheep, goats and poultry. The Ag block now has 4 steers which will be shown at the Royal Adelaide Show. We would like to introduce: Ferdinand, the Black Angus supplied by the Tillers; Bute, the Shorthorn supplied by the Ashbys; Clarence, the Charolais supplied by the Pikes and Clifford, the Red Angus from Anama. We also have 5 goats from Margaret Miller which the Year 9s will be preparing for the show. The school’s 12 Border Leicester Stud ewes are in lamb. Three additional Border Leicester ewes and 2 Border Leicester rams along with 7 Merinos from the Ashbys and Kellys will be taken to the show. The Year 10 class is working with the sheep. The school also has Isa Brown laying hens and chicks. Meat birds have been raised and processed and are now available for purchase from the Front Office for $5.50/kg with birds ranging from $10-$16.

The Year 8s have been busy planting a winter vegetable garden last week while Ms Zohs and Molly were busy using the hammer mill to mix feed for the cattle.

We would like to thank the following families and businesses for their donations and support:

Heath Tiller, Clarrie Pike, Tom Hawker – Anama, Tom and Matt Ashby, Ned Kelly, Alex Smart, Roger Lange, Fraser Smith and anyone else who has supported the Agriculture program.

MNSEC SKI TRIP

Thank you to those who have returned consent forms and paid the payment of $225.00 that was due on Thursday 11th May. For those still outstanding please finalise this payment and return consent forms as soon as possible.

Volunteers Day and Thank You Event

Each year the state government hosts a thank you event for volunteers to celebrate and thank our state’s volunteers.

All South Australian volunteers are invited to the 2018 Volunteers Day and thank you event on the public holiday Monday 11 June 2018.

Come along to this free event to see exciting performances from the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and a presentation of the 2018 State Volunteer Awards.

Contact: Senior Policy and Project Officer Volunteers
Heidi Unferdorben , phone 8226 3795