1 November 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Senior Schooling is changing!

At the start of next year we begin a two year transition into a new model of senior schooling (years 11 and 12) across Queensland. The changes are significant (e.g. public examinations at the end of year 12) and will be introduced over 2019 and 2020. In 2019 Year 11 students will commence courses under the new system and in 2020 these students will progress into a new model of Year 12; the last Year 12 students in Year 12 in 2019 will be the last under the current courses, assessment processes and university entrance arrangements.

Our school, in partnership with a small number of other schools, is working hard to be ready for the new senior schooling. This entails preparing teachers for the new processes and procedures, writing and constructing distance education style courses for the new subjects and considering what impact this change will have in junior secondary and primary school levels (e.g. when do we start to expose students to the idea and skills of competitive examinations).

If you seek further information on the new senior schooling system in Queensland, then the following resources may assist you:

• Why senior schooling in Queensland is changing — a video
• Senior assessment and tertiary entrance in Queensland — a comparison of the current and new systems
• The new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system — popular Q & As for students and families
• Queensland’s new systems of senior assessment and tertiary entrance — background information for parents and students
• Queensland ATAR — background information for parents and students

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the relevant Head of Department (Sarah Jenkins), Deputy Principal (Andrew Smith) or Principal (John Clark)

Mr John Clark
Principal

Deputy Principal’s Report

Athletics News

Firstly, let me start this week’s article with a big congratulation to Georgie Spurdle. Georgie recently represented our region in the Queensland State Schools Track and Field Championships held in Cairns. She placed third in high jump with a height of 1m 26cm and in doing so will now go on to represent the state as part of the Queensland State School Track and Field squad at the Australian Championships in Melbourne during November. A wonderful effort Georgie and all the best at the upcoming championships.

21st Century Teaching and Learning. It’s not all about the technology!

The article below is interesting as it identifies and defines what are described as the “4 C’s (Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication)” of 21st Century Teaching and Learning. These essentials are embedded into our C2C resources via the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities of;

• “Critical and Creative Thinking”
• “Personal and Social Capability”

sitting alongside the other General Capabilities of;

• “Literacy”
• “Numeracy”
• “ICT Capability”
• “Ethical Understanding”
• “Intercultural Understanding”

It is definitely not all about technology, rather using technology as a tool, to enhance traditional teaching and learning styles, which result in a blended learning environment.

Essential 21st Century Skills

The “Global Digital Citizen Foundation” has given hundreds of presentations to educators and administrators in numerous countries across the world. Each time they have spoken and asked the question; “What do you feel are the most important 21st-century skills for students above all others?” The answers received most often, can be narrowed to the following;

• Creativity
• Critical thinking
• Collaboration
• Communication

“Creativity:

Students need to be able to think and work creatively in both digital and non-digital environments to develop unique and useful solutions.

Why it’s important: Our digital students are in a constant state of stimulation and neural development with technology use. They are natural producers and consumers, or prosumers, of information. Problem-solving is a skill that comes naturally to them and this can be advanced profoundly with the proper engagement in their learning. This comes from doing rewarding projects and meaningful tasks that give them challenges to overcome in imaginative ways.

Critical thinking:

Students need the ability to think analytically , which includes proficiency with comparing, contrasting, evaluating, synthesizing, and applying without instruction or supervision.

Why it’s important: Tasks that require linear thinking and routine cognitive work are being outsourced more and more.

Analytical thinkers see data and information in many different dimensions, and from multiple angles. They are adept at conceptualization, organization and classification, and knowledge synthesis. These types of skills are invaluable because they allow students to deal practically with problems of a social, mathematical, and scientific nature

Collaboration:

Students must possess the ability to collaborate seamlessly in both physical and virtual spaces, with real and virtual partners globally.

Why it’s important: Students of the digital age are social by nature. They text, post, update, share, chat, and constantly co-create in technological environments with each other. Connection and collaboration with others are essential as the workforces of the future (and even our present day) are globalizing due to the Internet. It is now the norm to communicate and market for global demographics instantaneously and effectively.

Communication:

Students must be able to communicate not just with text or speech, but in multiple multimedia formats. They must be able to communicate visually through video and imagery as effectively as they do with text and speech.

Why it’s important: Communication is a broad term that incorporates multi-faceted levels of interaction and sharing information. Students love to communicate using technology. However, it’s more than just being able to effectively use digital media. It’s about personal interactions as well.

We must remind our students that responsible communication practice puts forth their best representation of who they are as individuals in every relationship and alliance they make in their lives. Whether talking face-to-face, blogging, texting, or creating a visual product, their values and beliefs are defined by how well they communicate with others. Encouraging them to develop and hone every aspect of their communication skills will serve them well in both their personal and professional lives.”

Literacy is Not Enough (Crockett, Lee et. al.; 2011).

Mr Burke
Deputy Principal

Track and Field State Championships

Georgie Spurdle

Georgie Spurdle recently competed in the Track and Field State Championships in Cairns on the 19th and 20th of October. Georgie was selected to participate in high jump and came third on the day jumping 1.26m. She has now been selected to represent Queensland in the Track and Field National Championships later this month in Melbourne. This is a huge achievement and Georgie should be very proud of herself for making it to this level. We wish her all the best when competing in Melbourne and look forward to hearing about her success. We know she will try her very best!

Sports Committee

CQ University Study Hub

Lesley Griffin – Parent Liaison Officer

Charters Towers:

Ayr:

Year 5

Mini School

We started Mini School with a circus show down. The year 5s were able to explore their flexibility and skills with tumbles and using a trick stick. Some students found the trick stick easy and some found it difficult to hold onto. The students also had a go at a human pyramid. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to have a go at circus skills.

Moving onto the Science experiment, the students learnt about evaporation, condensation and purification. Students were placed in four groups to investigate how to purify both salt and dirty water, in wide and narrow containers. After checking results the next day, we discovered that only one, the wide container with dirty water had collected 25mls, while the remainder three containers had only collected between 3-5mls. We will continue to keep checking over the next three days.

After a boiling hot day, the students were relieved to have some time at the pool. This has been their highlight, cooling down after a 40-degree heat. The students played Marco Polo, fetched sticks at the base of the pool, and made rafts out of pool noodles. They had a tonne of fun.

Monday evening students enjoyed a tasty steak and salad, with jelly and ice-cream for dessert. Board games were on the list for entertainment. While the students un-winded after a first, big day.

Year 7

The Year 7’s at CTSDE have been busily working away at their technology projects this term.

For as long as humans have been around, they have discovered, adapted, and switched between ways of communicating. To send information, share feelings, and tell jokes, we have used smoke signals, messenger pigeons, Morse code, snail mail and oh so many more! The original marathon runner was just a guy with a really, REALLY important message for someone.

Living in and contributing to a diverse and dynamic world, the Year 7 students set out on a design project to connect old and new technologies to work in harmony.

Introducing…..”The Smart Mailbox”.

Like many others, I am often left wondering if my mail has been delivered yet. Posties around Australia and beyond deliver mail anywhere from 6.00am through to 5.00pm. The mail might also be dropped off somewhere a bit far from the front door. For many, leading busy lives, getting mail and ‘getting to’ their mail are quite different things.

Year 7 students were presented with a package of tools, simple electronics, LED lights and an end-goal: to create a light-sensitive mailbox powered by solar batteries.

In theory, the students will see the mailbox lighting up with blinking red LED lights when a letter is placed in the mail slot. The letter will cover the strategically-placed light sensor within, which receives light from a white LED cleverly fitted above.

As the students discussed, designed and developed this device, they soon realised there was a substantial amount of critical thinking and blueprinting behind their creation. Moreover, they realised there were many potential issues that they would need to predict and correct as they worked towards a successful outcome.

As Week Three comes to a close, the Year 7’s are mere moments away from having their ‘lightbulb’ moment as they prepare for the final assembly of ‘The Smart Mailbox’.

Miss Power
Junior Secondary Teacher

Year 8

Storytelling

This term in English, Year 8 have been telling stories. Making things up. Fabricating. Being sometimes wildly dishonest, but for a good purpose: to create an illustrated short story. The key thing some of us want to achieve is to SCARE the reader into slamming down their laptop screen; some of us want to make the reader smile; some of us want to raise the reader’s pulse – but not too much. The idea that’s emerging is that stories are things or objects, but they also make things happen in the world.

To use a simile (one of the language features we’re very keen on), these stories are a bit like a hand. One of the creepy, crawly ones from horror movies. Five storytelling stages: five fingers. Orientation to set the story up. Complication to shake things up. Rising tension to heat things up. Climax to blow things up. And resolution to bring the curtain down. Controlling these narrative steps helps Year 8 keep the reader in the palm of their … that’s a cliché. The point is that the parts work together: storytelling, like opposable thumbs, makes us human and allows us to show and explore it.

To achieve a storytelling aim effectively (whatever it is: getting a smile, engineering a shiver, provoking a laugh) has a simple and a tricky side. The story has to start somewhere (the Sun, a forest, in the shadow of a wave) and end somewhere, too (deeper in the forest, usually). There’s a middle, too, between the beginning and end. The end comes quickly with these stories, but a LOT is going on.

Mr Newman & Ms North
Year 8 Teachers

Year 9

Are you smarter than a 9th grader?

Just as you warm up before you run a race, so we warm up at the start of a maths lesson. Here is one of of our warm ups (from Transum.org).

Below are some maths related words using the letters in "Charters Towers School Of Distance Education"? The dashes represent the letters in the words.

The Year 9s found all of these words – can you?

(See the end to find the answers)

Student Council

Student Council Voting – Opened!

Good afternoon Parents, Tutors and Students,

The 2019 Student Council voting is open and will close on Friday 16th of November at 3pm AEST. Voting forms and completed nomination forms have been sent to all students via their parent email.

This year, students that nominated themselves for leadership positions (within Student Council) had to submit a 200 word piece that introduced themselves, stated what position(s) that they were applying for, and what they want to do for our school if their nomination is accepted. In the last DIRT article, we introduced six of our nominees; the rest have been introduced below!

Nominees

Student Council Committee

Senior Studies

When choosing subjects, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• What subjects will I enjoy?
• What subjects will I achieve well in?
• What subjects will meet the prerequisites for my future studies or employment?
• What kind of education do I want from my years of senior study?

Psychology - New school subject in 2019 in Year 11

Psychology provides opportunities for students to engage with concepts that explain behaviors and underlying cognitions.

Students examine individual development in the form of the role of the brain, cognitive development, human consciousness and sleep. They investigate the concept of intelligence; the process of diagnosis and how to classify psychological disorder and determine an effective treatment; and the contribution of emotion and motivation on individual behavior. They examine individual thinking and how it is determined by the brain, including perception, memory, and learning. They consider the influence of others by examining theories of social psychology, interpersonal processes, attitudes and cross-cultural psychology.

Students learn and apply aspects of the knowledge and skill of the discipline (thinking, experimentation, problem-solving and research skills), understand how it works and how it may impact society.

Pathways

A course of study in Psychology can establish a basis for further education and employment in the fields of psychology, sales, human resourcing, training, social work, health, law, business, marketing and education.

Objectives

By the conclusion of the course of study, students will:

• describe and explain scientific concepts, theories, models and systems and their limitations
• apply understanding of scientific concepts, theories, models and systems within their limitations
• analyse evidence
• interpret evidence
• investigate phenomena
• evaluate processes, claims and conclusions
• communicates understandings, findings, arguments and conclusions.

Structure

Assessment

The summative assessment in Psychology consists of four assessment tasks.

The results from each of the assessments are added together to provide a subject score out of 100. Students will also receive an overall subject result (A–E).

Units 1 and 2 introduce formative assessment, which prepares students for the summative assessment of Units 3 and 4.

Summative assessments

Year 9 Answers

*width, circle, decrease, centre, addition, surface area, factor, area, rotate, rotation*

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