20 September 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

If you have driven past the school recently you would have noticed how good our buildings are looking with a fresh coat of paint on the metal work, our grounds are green and inviting and the students have also been able to enjoy some sunshine. We are very proud of our school and all of the opportunities it provides. We enjoy the advantages of being a small country school where we all know and support each other as a community, however we are also able to provide a variety of opportunities for our students through choice in our curriculum, excursions, sport and other extra-curricular activities. Gladstone High School is a public school that offers many opportunities for students and we should take some time to reflect on this and to be proud of our school community.

NAPLAN

Last week we posted home NAPLAN reports for all of our Year 9 students who sat the test in May. These results provide a useful diagnostic tool for teachers, parents and students to identify areas of strength and growth. Overall, we believe our students attempted the tests to the best of their ability and this has resulted in an accurate representation of their learning in the tested areas of Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.

We have begun the process of analysing the results and will use the data as an opportunity to identify aspects of our curriculum that are working well and areas that need to be strengthened to maximise student engagement and achievement. We will also use this data to identify and plan goals for our site improvement plan.

Reports

Students have been completing assessments and submitting tasks, to provide teachers with information to make accurate assessments of their abilities. Staff have been writing reports over the last two weeks, which will be sent home with students next Thursday; providing areas of strength and those for improvement for students. There are no formal parent/teacher interviews scheduled for next term, however, if your child’s teacher has indicated on their report that they would like an interview, please contact them through the school on 8662 2171 and organise a convenient time for a face-to-face interview or a discussion over the phone if you prefer.

Fun Run

Next Friday is the annual Fun Run, which will see students and staff walking a section of the Heysen Trail before arriving at Bowman’s Park for a BBQ and an afternoon of games and activities to conclude the term. This year’s theme is movies/television/celebrities and I encourage all students to attend the day as it is an opportunity to spend time with friends and continue to develop a strong school culture.

I wish everyone a safe and restful holiday and urge the Year 12 students to maintain, or increase, their motivation and commitment to their studies as they are so close to finishing their secondary schooling. Enjoy the break and I look forward to seeing everyone back safe for Term 4.

Sonia Pringle
Acting Principal

Royal Adelaide Show

This year Gladstone High School again participated in the Royal Adelaide Show, which started on Friday 31st August.

A small group of 4 students, Tarsh Wakefield, Kaitlyn Reed, Alistair Venning and Lewis Wilson, accompanied by farm manager, Molly O’Dea and teacher, Dean Humphries, took 2 Border Leicester rams and 2 ewes to the show. This year the Border Leicester was the feature breed, meaning there were sheep from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales all competing.

Due to the large number of entrants the final event was judged at 6pm, meaning a long day was had by all. We won the Novice section with both our ram and ewe, winning a total of over $450 prize money. When we competed against the other stud breeders we did not make the top 5 placings.

A couple of highlights of the day was the special mention of the school’s involvement over the last 15 years and our students assisting other stud breeders to show sheep when they didn’t have enough leaders. The group travelled home Sunday afternoon.

On Tuesday 4th September, a group of 32 students accompanied by Molly, Dean and teachers, Kim Zohs and Julia Murrie along with SSO’s, Michelle Baynes and Emma Paparella headed back to the show. We took 3 Steers, 6 Merino sheep and 8 Boer goats for the second showing. Thanks to Hanley’s transport (and our driver Warren) for taking us to the show and also Bronwyn Mumford for again taking the steers down.

The merino sheep team competed on Wednesday. There were 33 schools represented with 53 teams of sheep. We came 8th in the ‘Best Meat Value’ competition and the students then competed in the fleece judging competition on Thursday.

Also on Wednesday students along with their goats participated in the Grand Parade doing an excellent job presenting their goats and leading them in an ordered manner. This earnt us 2nd Place in the ‘Best Presented Team’ in the Grand Parade. On Thursday the 6th the students presented their goats individually for judging. All the students confidently showed their goats and we achieved a 2nd, 4th and 6th place. The team also placed 2nd in the Best Presented Show Team, which was judged on the team’s knowledge of goats, organisation and how the pens were presented. Congratulations Team!

The team members were:

The Led Steer Team had a great showing at the Royal Adelaide Show during Week 7. The school exhibited 3 steers. An Angus from HB Rural ‘Goolagong Ferdinand’ a Shorthorn from the Ashby Family at Gulnare ‘Bundaleer Bute’ and a Charolais from the Pike Family at Mundulla ‘Yaccamoo Ace’.

The school was awarded the Thomas Food International Prize for Best Grand Parade Presentation by a School.

Tarsh Wakefield and Jemma Leighton competed in the SA Young Beef Breeders Handlers Competition and were awarded 4th and 3rd, for their handling skills.

In the Steer Class, Joel Zanker led Ferdinand and placed 4th in the Schools Light Domestic Class.

The Judge awarded Bundaleer Bute with a 6th Place Ribbon commenting positively on his type and muscle.

Teneal Malycha was selected from the Classes to compete for the Urrbrae Prize for Best Relationship between Steer and Handler.

Overall the students enjoyed the show and successfully represented Gladstone High School and our Agriculture Program.

A special mention to Viterra and the Smart Family from Narridy for donating the Barley to feed this year’s steers. Also to Bronwyn Mumford for transporting the steers to the show.

Dean Humphries, Kim Zohs and Julia Murrie
Agriculture Teachers

Parent Survey

Dear Parents

As part of the continual improvement at Gladstone High School, our annual surveys are conducted to seek parent opinions on how the school is progressing toward meeting the varying needs of students, parents and staff.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated and very important to our ongoing self-review processes. Staff and students are also surveyed anonymously.

There are two options to complete this survey.

1. You can request a paper copy of the survey that will need to be returned to the office staff of the school or by post

Gladstone High School
PO BOX 70
Gladstone SA 5473

2. Access the survey using the web link and access code provided.

If you have any questions please contact the school on 8662 2171.

STEM Field Day

On Friday 21/9/18, students in Years 9 and 10 will travel to Booleroo Centre to take part in the CSI: Crop Science Investigators Field Day. Included with the electronic version of the newsletter is the Event Booklet for the day. Parents and Community Members are invited to attend.

Student Work

Year 9 Ceramics in the style of ceramicist Alison Milyika Carroll

Students made a ceramic vessel using a coil pot technique. Body stains were painted on the surface and designs, influenced by our local environment and were etched into the bone dry clay. The vessel was coated with clear glaze and fired to 1000 degrees Celsius in the kiln.

Year 11 Material Products

The Year 11 Material Products class have finished their Minor Product Milking Stool and Kindling Splitters. The stools are made from some stunning celery top pine featuring a turned top with a traditional joinery leg structure. The Kindling Splitters are used for when the logs won’t stand by themselves, the design uses a series of fabrication and welding skills with a blade made from a leaf spring. The final products are beautiful.

The school is regularly looking to source old/recycled timbers to turn into some beautiful designs, if you are looking to offload any timbers please contact the school or send some pictures through to us, we would love to use more local or significant timbers for student projects.

Parent Portal for School Sentral

Earlier this year an envelope was sent home for each family. It contains details on how Parent/Guardians can log onto the parent portal part of the Sentral system teachers have been using for the past 2 years.

The benefits of this portal for parents are the ability to see the:

• School Calendar
• Student classroom timetables
• Student absences and the ability to still report absences to the school
• School newsletters
• Student reports
• The student health details that we have on record and the ability to send us new details as needed
• Student daily notices
• Student homework

For the few families that don’t have access to the internet, we will always provide a paper version.

So all we require is that parent/ guardians access the portal and become familiar with how it works. If you need assistance to access the portal or require a copy of the letter, please contact the school for your unique ID to log into the following link.

As parents and students access to the portal becomes more familiar we have plans to introduce the following modules in the future

• School activities – with the accompanying letters (Approve excursions without the paperwork)
• Book three-way conferences, parent/teacher interview times (in the process

Library News

New arrivals in the Library.

GRACE by Morris Gleitzman – LOWER SECONDARY

In the beginning there was me and Mum and Dad and the twins.
And talk about happy families, we were bountiful.
But it came to pass that I started doing sins.
And lo, that was when all our problems began.

ISIS - NON FICTION

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, emerged in the Middle East during the first decade of the 2000s. The group vows to wage violent jihad, or holy war, on those who do not adhere to its extremist interpretation of Islamic law. ISIS conquers territory and rules savagely. ISIS terrorists manipulate social media brilliantly, shocking viewers around the globe with brutal video footage. Government leaders and agencies all over the world are working to prevent the next ISIS attack. How can nations combat ISIS? Can it be defeated with military force? This in-depth investigation tackles these and other thorny issues related to the twenty-first-century face of global terrorism.

PROJECT YOU – 50 ways to calm down, de-stress and feel great - NON FICTION

Find your balance. Become stronger. Feel amazing. Centre yourself after a stressful week by taking five minutes to write in your journal. Strengthen your body and calm your mind with simple yoga poses and breathing techniques. Craft a vision board to help you achieve your goals. Author Aubre Andrus shares more than 50 do-right-now projects that will help beat stress, smile big, and discover a calmer more blissful you.

NGANGA - NON FICTION

This explains aboriginal language and culture in plain English. It will assist people from all walks of life and of all ages to understand the rich cultural history of the oldest continuous culture in the world

CODE OF HONOR - LOWER – MID SECONDARY

When Iranian-American Kamran Smith learns that his big brother, Darius, has been labelled a terrorist, he sets out to piece together the codes and clues that will save his brother's life and his country from a deadly terrorist attack.

Health News

Can a child/student self-manage/self-administer their own medication?

Schools have a duty of care to all children and young people to take reasonable steps to ensure carrying, self-administration and disposal of medication and equipment is carried out safely.

In order for your child to self-administer medication at school, the appropriate form needs to completed and approved by the Principal. Approval will be determined in consultation with the parents/guardian and young person if they are capable of assuming the responsibility.

Forms can be accessed by visiting the following website

For more information or copies please contact the Front Office.

GENERAL USE ADRENALINE AUTOINJECTORS (EPIPENS®)

All Department of Education preschools and schools must now have a general use adrenaline auto injector so they can provide emergency medication to treat anaphylaxis.

Gladstone High School was supplied with an Epipen® auto injector as a joint initiative between the Department for Education and SA Health.

Adrenaline auto injectors for general use are most likely to be used when:

• An individual who is known to be at risk of anaphylaxis does not have their own device immediately accessible or the device is out of date
• A second dose of adrenaline is required before an ambulance has arrived
• An individual’s device has misfired or accidentally been discharged
• A previously diagnosed individual with mild allergy who was not prescribed an adrenaline auto injector has their first episode of anaphylaxis
• Less commonly, an undiagnosed individual has a first episode of anaphylaxis and was not previously known to be at risk (e.g. a child having their first reaction at school)

Our school has sufficient staff on site with:

• Current first aid training (that includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to administer emergency asthma and anaphylaxis medication)
• Training through the ASCIA anaphylaxis e training course for schools and childcare.
• Practical training in how to use an Epipen®

For further information regarding anaphylaxis and severe allergies visit the Anaphylaxis 101 website at the link below or join Epiclub® by clicking the second link.

Raising Resilient Kids

If you have children, work with young people or know anyone who does please send them this video by Adam Grant. It’s a great snapshot of conversations that we could be having with young people.

2018 School Magazine

Order your 2018 school magazine now. Orders to be placed and paid for by Friday October 26th. The magazine is currently being produced by the Year 10 Media Class. Cost $15.00. Orders can be made through Qkr or by contacting Front Office.

Thank you from the Canteen

Thank you very much to everyone who donated goods for our 2 day catering job at the stadium. It was very well received and the response was fantastic. A very special thank you to my helpers in the canteen – Brooke, Kathryn and Richard and an extra special thank you to Jocelyn who came back for the second day to help.

Lyn Russell
Canteen Manager

Hamburger Day

Tuesday, September 25, the Canteen will be holding a Hamburger Day. Students are encouraged to purchase a Hamburger or Cheese Burger to help support the Canteen. Order forms are available with the electronic copy of the newsletter or the Front Office. Please have orders and payment in by Friday, September 21.

Careers Day

If you enjoy working with or knowing more about high performance engines, exhausts, making cars look perfect, big machines and the latest technology, try a trade at the MTA’s Interactive Careers Day. Wednesday, September 26 1.00pm-3.00pm or 5.00pm-8.00pm at MTA Automotive Training and Apprenticeship Centre, 3 Frederick Road, Royal Park SA 5014. To RSVP, please follow the link:

Trade School 2019

Beginner Shearing Course will be held at Booleroo District School during Week 10, Term 1. For more information contact Jackie Falland at TAFE SA 8562 0525.

Certificate II in Construction will be commencing Semester 1, 2019. The course will be held at Booleroo District School. There are limited places available. For more information contact Kathy Kupke 8667 2124.

Community News