1 November 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

Dear Parents,

In my career, I have had the good fortune to see the workings of some great schools. Over time, I have observed that there are certain things that great schools do – certain practices that set them apart. One of these is that they wear their uniform with pride and consistency.

At Coolum State High School, we have set our sights on becoming a great school. This means that there are some changes to our uniform policy to allow us to set high standards and expectations, and set ourselves on a pathway to ensure all our students are successful.

To that end, in consultation with our P&C body, from the first day of 2018, Coolum State High School will be a full uniform school with all aspects of its uniform worn correctly.

These changes mean that students will be required to wear all-purpose black, leather lace-up shoes below the ankle on each and every school day. This includes the popular jogger options that are already widely worn within the school. Examples of some shoes that meet the Uniform Policy are shown below. The white socks that are visible above the ankle, that are already part of our Uniform Policy will be expected to be worn next year.

The formal uniform is to be worn every Monday, when we will hold whole-school assemblies. Girls have the option of wearing the formal skirt or formal shorts; those choosing the formal skirt with the formal uniform must wear it at or below the knee. The girls’ formal shorts and boys’ formal shorts will be available to be worn with the formal uniform.

Please note that students can still wear the sports uniform every other day, except Monday.

Students with specialist sport or physical education activities on Mondays may choose to change into their sports uniform for these activities.

The change may mean some parents have to purchase a new item, and the school has mechanisms to support any parent for whom this causes financial difficulty. Please contact our Business Manager, Nolly Griffiths on 5471 5333 or by email: ngrif71@eq.edu.au to discuss ways that we can support you.

Apart from the obvious purpose of having our students look neat and tidy, the positives of enforcing our uniform policy are many; from reducing peer pressure for ‘on trend’ clothes; to reinforcing a sense of belonging; and lessening anxiety. Wearing a well presented uniform also teaches key employability skills to our students.

2018 promises to be an exciting year! As a team, we will be working towards ensuring every one of our students becomes successful in their lives and has the best opportunity for a fulfilling future.

Troy Ascott
Principal

Senior Secondary News

Recently I was lucky enough to be able to work with a film crew to film our outstanding students and teachers, to be part of our new school video that was premiered at Awards Night. Our students and staff have many wonderful opportunities available to them and it was fantastic to see all of our teachers and students shining with the work that they produce and the different activities within a range of a day that our students can participate in. You are able to view this video on our school website.

Awards Night

It was an absolute pleasure to be able to see our students shine at our recent Awards Night. Along with our special invited guests and our parents it is a great experience to see the talent and hard work of all of our students recognised. We will also be recognising our Bronze Award winners at our full school assembly.

Year 12 Student Tiaan Prinsloo was awarded the Coolum State High School Dux for 2017. Congratulations Tiaan, this is an amazing achievement!

2018 Student Leaders

Our new student leaders for 2018 were announced at Awards Night. They have all gone through a rigorous process of written applications, interviews and speeches in front of assemblies and staff. Congratulations to the following students on their appointment for 2018;

Exam Block

Our time is growing shorter with our Year 12 students as they approach their last few weeks of schooling. Week 6 sees them in an exam block and finishing off with their final week full of activities and events. Exam block schedules have been printed and given to each Year 12 students as well as emailed to their school email address.

All of our Senior students from Year 10 through to Year 12 should be busy revising and completing their final pieces of assessment over the following three weeks.

Subject Selection

For any student requesting subject changes for next year these will be completed in week 10 and information will be sent home in week 8 around making an appointment to complete these requests.

End of Term Focus

It is important for all of our students to remain focused and on track with their study and goals. At the end of the semester students are often tired and distracted. It is vital that they maintain their student habits and revise their goals.

Julie Weber
Deputy Principal Senior Schooling

Junior Secondary News

Awards Night

Congratulations to all students who were recognised at Awards Night last week. It was very pleasing to see the large number of Junior Secondary students who have been achieving wonderful things throughout the year.

I will be presenting the academic Bronze certificates at the next round of year-level parades for Years 7, 8 and 9 students.

End of Term Focus

I have been discussing with Junior Secondary students to keep a strong focus on their school work to finish off the year. As all assessments will be completed by the end of week 9, students have to put in a big effort over the next 4 weeks in order to achieve their very best results. Report cards will be emailed home to families in week 10.

Terry Proctor
Deputy Principal Junior Schooling

Business Services News

2018 School Fees

We have started the fee collection process for the 2018 Student Resource Scheme (SRS) and we will be invoicing for subject selections in the coming weeks. If you have not received the SRS 2018 Participation Agreement Form please contact the School Administration Office on 07 5471 5333.

Outstanding School Fees

Term 4 is a crucial time for all payments to be made, particularly if your child is to participate in end of year extra-curricular activities such as the Year 12 Celebration Evening. Having outstanding fees may impact on your child’s ability to participate in such activities. Please contact the school office immediately to ensure you are up to date with your payments. We don’t want your child to miss out, so don’t hesitate to discuss your financial options with me.

Before a student can be considered for participation in an optional school activity, a parent is expected to have:

• fully paid all outstanding fees or
• paid the Student Resource Scheme and other outstanding fees up to and including the term in which the school activity takes place or
• made regular on-going payments towards these fees, as previously arranged with the Principal or Business Manager
• been exempted by the Principal from paying all or part of these fees

I remind you that BPOINT is now available for direct debits into the school bank account, please call the School Administration Office to find out how to set this up. It’s very easy to do and takes only a couple of minutes to set up. I encourage all families to take up this new option.

Nolly Griffiths
Business Manager

P&C Association News

Uniform Shop News

The P&C wholeheartedly endorses Principal Mr Ascott’s commitment to a better standard of uniform for our students.

By encouraging our students to be proud of their school and the way they look in their uniforms, we will see this transform into them being proud of themselves.

The P&C is delighted to be working alongside Mr Ascott and the school staff as we roll out the revised Coolum State High School uniform.

At the last P&C meeting where the Uniform Policy was discussed and updated, it was also agreed that a uniform committee would be formed. This uniform sub-committee has currently only school staff and P&C Executives as members, so we are very excited to invite any parents who would be interested in joining this committee. If you are interested, please contact us via email on pandcexecutive@coolumshs.eq.edu.au.

The Uniform Shop opening hours are:

Monday 7am – 2pm
Wednesday 8am – 3pm
Friday 7am – 2pm

For appointments outside of these times please email your requests to Uniforms@coolumshs.eq.edu.au or phone during our operating hours on 07 5471 5337.

Online ordering is available by visiting the school website.

Shar Dunn
P&C Treasurer

Mathematics

Mathematics Tournament

Congratulations to Year 7 students Cooper, Taylah, Joel, Kai and Nick for their efforts at the annual Sunshine Coast Mathematics Tournament. The students represented our school with pride and demonstrated incredible team work as they competed against over 300 students from across the Coast. Thank you to Miss Wakeling for organising for the students to participate in this event and Heather Dalton for taking time out of her day to accompany and transport the students. We as a school are very fortunate to have access to such dedicated staff and parents and I would encourage all parents to seize opportunities such as these to witness the great things that are occurring within our school.

Mathematical Mindsets

The research is clear: those who think they can, do. It seems too simple, that the notion of mindset could change one’s ability to move from a struggler to high achiever. Dr Jo Boaler is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University. She has written several books aimed at both parents and teachers on the topic of mathematical mindsets. The following quote from her book entitled Mathematical Mindsets might be a helpful starting point for parents of students who cling to the notion that they are ‘bad at maths’.

“If we believe that we can learn, and that mistakes are valuable, our brains grown to a greater extent when we make a mistake.”

Dean Hose
Head of Department

Science

The term is certainly flying and we have started assessments i.e. undertaking research tasks and planning for exams. Over the years, I have reflected upon the thousands of amazing students I have had the pleasure of teaching and have deliberated about what makes them so successful as students. Things which I have seen which makes them good learners include:

• They are curious (Why? They are dedicated to knowing and learning).
• Good learners put in the effort, they don’t give up easily. Motivated.
• They realise that everything cannot be fun! We try but it all cannot be.
• They are frightened of failure, but know that this will benefit them. Resilience.
• They take the knowledge in and share it, tell others. Parents ask them what they learnt today.
• They never stop questioning things, what if?
• Read. Anything and everything!
• They are respectful.
• Finally, in summary the big 5 (They are organised/manage their time well/participate fully/resilient learners/self disciplined)

Not everyone is going to attend university and not everyone is going to do a trade, we all have our own pathways, but all or some of the above still apply. I always say the smartest man I know is a plumber friend simply because he uses the all of the above.

Tutorials

Reminder to Junior students and carers that we have Maths & Science Tutorials in S1 every Wednesday from 3-4pm. Senior students also have Tutorials in the Library on Wednesday afternoon where Science teachers will be available for support. It has been great to see more and more students coming every week to work in this conducive environment with a group of fantastic teachers from all curriculum areas. Robotics club is also held every Thursday in S1 at Morning Tea, all welcome.

Any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at school on 54715333 or by email at polse3@eq.edu.au.

Paul Olsen
Head of Department

Health and Physical Education

2017 Junior and Senior Sports Men and Women

The 2017 Junior and Senior Sports Men and Women were announced at the recent Coolum State High School Awards Night. The Health & Physical Education Department would like to acknowledge the efforts of these students and highlight the reasons that they were awarded their respective crowns. Some of the categories were highly contested with the Senior Secondary Sportsman of the year being separated by only one point.

In the Junior Secondary female category, it was a close race, the winner was announced as Ellia Smith from Year 9.

Ellia has represented the school in Athletics and Interschool Sport and both the school and the district in Swimming, Cross Country and Surfing Carnivals. She was the school Age Champion for Cross Country. Ellia was the winner at the Regional Surfing Trials in her category and placed second at the State Championships. Ellia will compete later in the year for Queensland at the Australian Championships.

In the Junior Secondary, the winner of the night was Harrison Renzulli from Year 7.

Harrison represented the school and district in both the Swimming and Cross Country Carnivals and was awarded Age Champion at the Cross Country Carnival. Harrison represented the school at the District Athletics Carnival. Harrison also was selected in the Noosa District Football team and gained selection into the regional team to play at the State Championships. Harrison was also involved in interschool sport.

The winner in the Senior Secondary Sports Women category was Kara Petersen from Year 11.

Kara represented the school in Cross Country and both the school and district in Swimming. Kara was also the athletics Age Champion and a district, regional and state representative in Surfing. Kara was chaired up the beach on the shoulders of her team mates after winning her category at the State Surfing Carnival. She will compete later in the year at the Australian Championships.

The Senior Secondary male category was the closest contest of all. With so many fabulous performances, the results came down to who had represented and achieved the highest at the most events.

Calder Shanks represented the school and district at both the Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals. He was also school Age Champion at both these events. Calder was selected in the Regional Athletics team where he recently competed at the State Championships and came 4th in the 400m. Calder has also participated in the school Rugby League team, and was selected in the school OZTAG team but was unable to compete due to participating in the Kokoda Challenge walk which was a gruelling 52km trek through the Gold Coast hinterland without sleep.

We would like to congratulate each and every award recipient and every student that has participated in sport this year. There are few activities that can emulate and prepare students for their future working lives but sport exposes our students to a lot of the skills necessary to make them vital members of any future team across a number of disciplines.

Christina Fiducioso
Sports Coordinator

Tourism News

Miss Denning and some Year 11 and Year 12 Tourism students volunteered at the Sunshine Coast Colour Movement last Saturday, 21st October … despite the rain!

Students were gaining industry experience in event registration and check in and merchandise distribution. Students either registered guests or handed out their colour packs, as well as help set up and pack down the event. They then were able to enjoy the colour festival after they finished their shift at 3:30pm.

The students that took part were: Lauren Armstrong, Abi Williams, Lachlan Pearce, Lauren Hermann, Findlay Matthews, Hannah Taylor, Chloe Horne-Lisle, Tracey Deviney, Tia Daw, Tia Jones, Sienna Elks, Shainah Fisher and Tylah Fraser.

Rachel Denning
Senior Health/HPE/Tourism Teacher

Vocational Education and Training

School Based Traineeships

2017 is coming to an end and the Year 12 students who have been involved in School Based Traineeships and Apprenticeships will now have completed their qualifications and will hopefully go on to a full time or part time work in their chosen field. We wish these students success.

We are continuing to maximise the number of School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeship opportunities (SAT) available to our students due to our expanding links with industry. Under a SAT arrangement, a senior school student is released from school time to undertake an apprenticeship or traineeship in their chosen field. Current opportunities will be advertised in each addition of our e-newsletter.

Traineeships that are available to senior students are advertised on the student notices and are emailed to all senior students.

Listed below are the School Based Traineeships and employment on offer at present.

Available School Based Traineeships

Certificate III in Sport and Recreation, School Based Traineeship – 3 positions available
Certificate III in Hospitality, School Based Traineeship at The laughing Lobster in Marcoola – 2 positions available
Certificate III in Hospitality, School Based Traineeship at Pitchfork Restaurant in Peregian Beach – 2 positions available
Certificate III in Hospitality, School Based Traineeship at Noosa Aquatic Centre Poolside Café – 2 positions available
Certificate III in Hospitality, School Based Traineeship at Aromas in Noosa – 2 positions available
Certificate III in Hospitality, School Based Traineeship at Sumo Salad in Sunshine Plaza, Maroochydore – 2 positions available
Certificate III in Hospitality, School Based Traineeship at Domino’s Pizza in Coolum – 2 positions available
Certificate III in Business, School Based Traineeship at a Medical Centre in Maroochydore
Certificate III in Business, School Based Traineeship at The Surfboard Warehouse in Mooloolaba
Certificate III in Business, School Based Traineeship at Bunnings in Noosaville
Certificate III School Based Apprenticeship in Hairdressing

Employment positions available

Mumfords Lawyers in Mooloolaba are looking to recruit a Junior Receptionist/Legal Secretary

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Noosa

Sunshine Solar Electrics in Coolum are looking for a 2017 school leaver wanting part time employment with the opportunity of becoming an Electrical Apprentice in 2018.

If your student is interested in any of the above positions or in undertaking a SAT as part of their pathway, please encourage them to speak with either Maria Blackburn (SAT Liaison Officer, Mondays and Wednesdays) or myself in the Technology staffroom to discuss the process and register interest.

Please contact me on pwald9@eq.edu.au or 5471 5333 to discuss matters relating to VET within the school.

Patrick Walden
Head of Department

Public Speaking

UN Youth Voice Public Speaking Competition Success!

On Sunday 22nd October, Mika Joyce-Mangschou represented Coolum State High School in the preliminary round of the annual UN Youth Voice Public Speaking Competition.

UN Youth Voice asks contestants to present their innovative solutions to some of the world’s most prominent and pressing issues. The competition encourages initiative and sustainability, as well as focusing on speaking manner and structure.

This first round was held at St Andrews Anglican College, Mika versed other students from all over the Sunshine Coast. Mika spoke in response to the question:

How can we increase access to education for girls around the world?

She then had to answer several impromptu questions before the judges made their decision.

Congratulations to Mika on making it through to the next level! Mika was also invited to the University of Queensland on Saturday for the semi-finals where she versed with other students from all over the state.

A fantastic achievement for Mika and a wonderful opportunity for our school to be represented at state level in this prestigious public speaking competition!

Colette Webber
Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator

Ecoboard Project

Coolum State High School has been embarking on the EcoBoard project over the last two years. This years iteration of the project is a "twin fin fish" hand shaped from the ruins of an old brown mini-mal which was set for landfill. Combined with fin plugs from a broken board and paint scraps from the art studio, it has a new life, sharing stoke with the surf students from Coolum State High School.

It gets surfed every Tuesday morning and goes home with selected students on the weekends. Next weekend it will even be surfed by the CEO of Vissla surf!

Below are some comments from the students:

“This board is crazy good. It was made out of rubbish and rides amazingly. It gets onto waves easily and picks up so much speed” by Finn Walsh

“I wasn’t expecting much, but when I surfed it, I was hooked! It has such good flow and is so much fun” by Noah Pelikan

The more people from the local community that hear about this program, the more support it seems to be getting. This years creation was given a special mention in the Vissla global “CreatorsContest"

Noosa longboards have donated an old mal for our next project. Here is to building on the project into the future, creating more special moments from rubbish that has been saved from landfill around the Sunshine Coast.

Adam Baldwin
Head of Creative Arts

Health Matters

Good Listening Skills

We are not born with good communication skills; this is something that we learn as young children and through adolescence. We are influenced by our closest role models i.e. parents, guardians, other family members and peers. Communication is not just about talking – sending out messages but also listening and non-verbal signals.

Modelling Good Listening Skills:

Active listening – negate distractions eg turn off the T.V, face the person, maintain eye contact to show that you are interested.

Encourage talking: impress upon your partner/child/adolescent that what they have to say is important and that you are interested in their life.

Listen patiently: People think faster than they speak, don’t interject during a thinking pause. Listen as though you have plenty of time. If time is a problem, if appropriate you may need to schedule another time. Take care not to devalue your child/adolescents needs.

Hear your child/adolescent out: Avoid cutting them off before they have finished speaking. You may not always agree with them but they too have the right to expect respect and be free to express opinions.

Be aware of non-verbal messages: (body language) Messages may be communicated by the tone of their voice, facial expression, energy level, positive or negative changes in behavioural patterns.

Communication impacts on many areas of life including personal relationships, education and employment.

Let’s provide our young people with a head start and teach them the art of “listening”.

For further information please visit the link below:

The youth health nurse is available to discuss any health concerns with students, parents or carers, contact Bek through the school office or make an appointment.

GOOD HEALTH

Bek Sayers
School Based Youth Health Nurse

Chatty Chappy

Focus on Teenagers

There are times we could all do with some guidance on bringing up teenagers. Here are a few of my suggestions. I have found these to be common areas where teens put walls up to their parents.

Spur of the moment problem discussion

You receive your child’s report card (they’ve failed) as they are about to walk out the door. You’re concerned (rightfully so) so you start to ask them what happened and why is their report bad. Your child explodes and slams the door on the way out. Sounds familiar? When you have an issue or problem to discuss with your child, doing it spontaneously or in the moment will more often than not end negatively (storming off, fighting with you, arguing etc.). Make appointments with your teen to talk about problems and concerns you have. Be clear about the purpose of that meeting and stick to that issue only. This will set you up to having more productive and receptive conversation.

Don’t raise your voice.

Setting appointments can also help you manage your emotions. You will communicate more effectively with your teen if you are calm and clear headed not filled with frustration and anger. Raising your voice and yelling at your child damages the relationship and they will zone out anyway.

Nagging

Nagging is repetitive verbal comments about something you want your teenager to do. A common example is when your teen won’t keep their bedroom clean. Choose carefully what fights you’re going to have. Using the messy room example, if they don’t clean their room show them how to use the washing machine and stop washing their clothes (it works). Nagging will only cause friction and frustration between you.

Arguing

I was chatting to a psychologist friend on the weekend and he said some good advice he gives parents, was to abstain from arguing. Arguing is different to having discussions. It is very rare for anyone to be argued into submission and mostly it becomes about winning. Teenagers will like to argue as they develop their independence and freedom. As a parent you have a choice as to whether you engage in it. Know what your position is on the critical issues or when their safety is a concern, and stick to it.

Don’t Compare

Highlighting a sibling or other abled teenager’s performance as means of motivating your teen to do better isn’t an affective form of encouragement. Comparisons can cause a child to feel put down, develop a low self-esteem and a sense of hopelessness. Support your teenager to improvement without comparisons and encourage their individual strengths.

Mark Horsfall
Chaplain

Christmas Hampers

Star Achiever