10 November 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Comments

My thanks to the staff for their efforts during my medical leave. The school continued to function and grow… a very good team!

Our planning process for 2017 - 2020 is well underway and we envisage that our budgets and implementation plans for next year will be finalised by the first week in December. These strategic plans will be available on our website

Some years ago at the request of parents the school ceased covering lessons with a relief teacher if the class teacher was absent. This was agreed to on the basis that parents believed it gave their families greater flexibility and freedom in their home classrooms. At a recent P & C meeting, some parents requested that this be reconsidered. The school is happy to consider this and is now developing a possible model for this to occur. As we move forward with this we need to consider the industrial implications, costs and a range of other factors including the compulsory nature of lesson attendance.

In the next fortnight, the developed model will be shared with families and their input into whether it is applied in 2017 sought. If a change is to occur, then this would commence at the start of next year.

The final student assessments are ending; reports are being prepared, there is less than 20 school days left in 2016. It nearly is time when all can take a break.

Image and Name Use Approvals

The school requires the parent/guardian approval to use a student’s name and image in public situations such as displays, newsletters, brochures and presentations.

Areas where this may impact include:

• School newsletters
• School notices
• Ceremonies and presentations activities
• School brochures and multi-media presentations

While the majority of students have these approvals in place, where a parent/guardian does not provide the necessary clearances, then the school cannot make use of the student’s name or image. (The form necessary to provide this approval can be obtained from the school’s website.)

Enjoy the break; take time to refresh and renew enthusiasm; enjoy life.

Regards,

John Clark
Principal

UNSW Global Australia - Educational Assessment Australia Competitions

Congratulations to the following students who participated in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools and were awarded the following certificates:

Deputy Principal’s Comments

It’s hard to believe that as I write this article, there are only 5 weeks left in the school year!

Reflecting back on the year, it has been a year of change, a year of successes and a year of challenges in our school community.

Challenges are an inevitable part of life. From the outset, we began the year with the challenge of the drought. We often forget as a community that drought not only affects those of our rural families but also has a flow on effect for the whole economy.

Drought too affects our school community. Whether it be through fluctuating enrolments, stress levels of our families or participation in daily school life, all have a significant impact on our school. In these times, the term resilience comes to mind. In challenging times, resilience is a key factor to maintain the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. Building resilience is a skill and like any skill, can be developed with training, time and practice.

One of the keys to resilience is to not dwell on the negative and proactively work to move forward. In this light, we should celebrate the many successes at a personal, community and school level. Small steps as they say!

During the year, as a school we must celebrate the many successes. These include the achievement of our students. This is not always reflected in their academic pursuits but also includes their successes in overcoming adversity. The disengaged student who engages with learning; the student who excels in sport; the student who attends every day despite medical or personal challenges. These are all examples of success.

While change is inevitable, it is one of the factors that is constantly impacting our school community. Some changes may be subtle; like the changing nature of our school community. Those who have been with us for some time will be aware of these changes but for those who are relatively new, these changes will not be so obvious. We continue to experience a 10% - 15% growth in our school year by year at present. The bulk of these students are anything but the typical perception of a rural distance education environment.

Other changes may be more obvious. The changing curriculum, the conversion of classroom space to teacher work areas are but a few examples of more obvious changes.

Changes occur at many levels. These can occur at a local level through changes identified by our students, tutors and teachers. These factors, we have the maximum control over. Other changes may occur at a regional, state or national level. We have little control over these. They may include for example, the roll-out of state and national curriculum agenda’s and a range of mandated activities that impact on a wide range of aspects of our school community.

When dealing with change, resilience is crucial to successfully negotiating the change. While we can’t always control or prevent change, we can plan and manage change so the impact is minimised. Change will still cause stress. It is how we respond to this and navigate a pathway forward that makes things as manageable as possible. Each person responds to change differently but planning a way forward certainly helps to minimise stress.

Focus on the positive, make plans, don’t dwell on the negative, celebrate success and roll with the punches are all key aspects of navigating change.

Next time we are each faced with challenges, take a deep breath and look for a way forward.

Andrew Smith
Deputy Principal

Parent Liaison Officer

Please enjoy the following recipe found in our “Generations of Bush Cooking Hints and Remedies” Cookbook:

BURGUNDY BEEF

Year 9 Art

This term the Year 9 Art students have been having a ripper of a time exploring the techniques of ‘Ripped Paper Art’. Using paper from newspaper, magazines, craft paper, wrapping paper and even music manuscript they have created effectives pieces of art.

Marnie Niemi
Year 9 Art Teacher

Kelsey – Spring time in the Gardens

Year 5s @ Minischool

Poems

Creative Writing

What superpower would you like to have and how would you use it?

If you had a $1000, how would you spend it?

Kate Ruthenberg and Karen Smith
Year 5 Teachers

Under 8’s Day

Theo checking out the Crocodile Display by the Wildlife Services

YEAR 6’s Townsville Adventure @ Mini School

Fifteen Year 6 students spent the week in Townsville. Their days were busy but filled with a host of great activities that kept them entertained as well as giving them life-long experiences.

Their behaviour and respect for people was noticed by many of the presenting groups:

The Riverside Adventist Convention Centre – “It was a pleasure to have your students this week. They were so well behaved”.

Daniel Baker , the teacher at the Paluma Environment Education Centre – “What a great bunch of students. They participated enthusiastically and listened carefully. What a great day”.

Sizzlers – The waitress gave the students the after dinner mints (not usually done). She stood and chatted with them for a few minutes.

Reef HQ – “What fabulous students”. The supervising teacher asked us to bring this group back again soon. She also stated “that if all of the groups she took on tour were this respectful, her job would be thoroughly enjoyable”. She said, “the interest shown and the quality of questions asked were superior for students their age”.

JCU Townsville Fire – “This is the best group we have ever worked with. We love the way they encourage and support each other and give ‘high-fives’. This is fantastic sportsmanship. Keep it up!”

RAAF Base – “These year 6 students are more interested and are asking better questions than most of the 15/16 year old work experience students we get”.

Steve Champion – our bus driver from Charters Towers – “These students are the best helpers. The trailer didn’t take long to load at all”.

Dr Alan Nelson – a Rotarian who joined us at ‘Laser Skirmish’ and ‘Ten Pin Bowling’ – made the comment that, “the look of excitement and enjoyment on their faces made this venture worthwhile.

What a fabulous time we all had”.

Joy Dawson
Year 6 Teacher

Mykenzie’s Reflection

Well, another Minischool has been and gone, and so has the Year 6 Townsville camp. It was great fun, and we did a great deal of things including Laser skirmish (my name was Wolf), swimming and we even got to see the Townsville Fire, but my personal favourite would have to be the Paluma Rainforest, where we stayed all day Tuesday. It was so beautiful! We saw 3 red-belly black snakes, and also went up what felt like a hundred steps to a lookout with an incredible view over the valley below. As we walked through the forest, our guide would choose people to go ahead and tell everyone about something. I went forward with Sam, and spoke about buttress roots. We also performed an experiment in Crystal Creek. We were trying to catch small creatures to test the water, and my group (Georgia, Jack, Connor and myself) caught a mayfly nymph, a very sensitive creature. We also caught a small fish type thing, but we dropped it, and couldn’t find it anywhere. We went back down the mountain’s long, windy road, but stopped to look at a gorgeous waterfall along the way. It was an amazing week, and we did so many things. I really enjoyed it, and I would like to thank the teachers for organising so many cool activities for us to do.

Until next time,

Mykenzie
Year 6 Student

Inter School Swimming Carnival

Wow!!! What an exciting event this year’s Interschool Swimming Carnival was with Mac Broad taking out the AGE CHAMPION for the Year 12 Boys!!!

It was a scorching hot day and the pool never looked more inviting. Our school was represented by Mackenzie and Sally (with lots of cheering from their sister Josie), Connor, Charlize, Charlie, Stephanie and Corbett. These students are certainly fantastic ambassadors for our school. They participated fully in the day’s events and managed to be forces to be reckoned with in the finals.

The results for the finals were as follows:

Mackenzie Broad 12 Years, 100m Freestyle 2nd, 50m Freestyle 1st, 50m Backstroke 1st, 50m Butterfly 1st, 12 Years AGE CHAMPION
Connor Lyons 12 Years, 50m Freestyle 4th, 50m Backstroke 4th, 50m Breaststroke 3rd
Charlize Appleton 12 Years, 50m Freestyle 4th, 50m Backstroke 5th, 50m Breaststroke 4th
Corbett O’Brien 9 Years, 50m Freestyle 8th,
Sally Broad 9 Years, 50m Freestyle 5th, 50m Backstroke 4th, 50m Breaststroke 7th, 50m Butterfly 4th
Stephanie Murray and Charlie Pemble also swam gutsy races in the 50m freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.

As you can see, we have a talented group of swimmers in our school.

Ms Milanovic
Sports Coordinator

Mac - Age Champion

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