Moura High We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, the Gangulu people.

Term 4 Week 9

Important Dates

2019

HIGH SCHOOL

MOURA STATE

Strive today to build tomorrow PO Box 224, Moura Qld 4718 4997 5888 4997 5800 Email ; admin@mourashs.eq.edu.au

December TH 05 Year 6 – Year 7

Transition Day

W 11 STEMPunks

TH 12 Celebration Day

F 13 Last day of Term 4

Mr Joshua Duff A word from the Principal

Curriculum Planning Over the final two weeks of the school year, despite only the Year 7, 8 and 9 students remaining, things do not slow down for teaching staff at Moura High. This time is being dedicated to curriculum planning for Years 7-10 in preparation for 2020 and senior general subject teachers are also being provided with time for endorsement of their next internal assessment tasks. This planning time is being supported by our Heads of Department and we are also engaging with Regional Principal Advisor Teaching & Learning Dee Noy to provide our teams with guidance through this process. Furthermore, 6 of our teachers will attend cluster moderation at Theodore SS on Tuesday of Week 10 which will ensure we have made appropriate judgements on student work and also continue to build our capacity in curriculum moderation procedures.

Week 10 Variations to Routine Next Wednesday through Friday of Week 10, our school will vary its normal routine for special programs. On Wednesday, our school will have the privilege of engaging with STEM Punks. STEM Punks facilitate opportunities for all students to engage with STEM education through programs that promote creative, innovative and entrepreneurial thinking. Thank you to Mrs Parsons for making this opportunity a reality. Students have this week been provided with an EOI with strict requirements for participation. This is an extra-curricula opportunity, therefore, only students who meet this criteria will be allowed to be involved. On the Thursday, our school has its annual celebration day. Information regarding this and the criteria for participation has been sent home to parents via letter and email. Once again, the extra-curricula policy applies as per the information sent home. All students will participate in the first half of the day, however, only those who meet the relevant requirements will be allowed to attend the afternoon session at the pool. On Friday, students attending school will be involved in a range of alternate activities.

Year 6-7 Transition and Enrolments Another reminder that our Year 6-7 transition day is coming up next Thursday December 5. Year 6 students are to arrive between 8:30 and 8:45am through the front gate. They will be directed by Mr Curtin and student leaders as to where they need to go. Parents are more than welcome to attend for the beginning of the day. Throughout the day, students will rotate through a number of subject areas and be able to get a taste for high school life. The day includes ITD, Science, Art and Home Economics as well as a tour through the Resource Centre. We look forward to welcoming parents and students to our school!

All textbooks and library

books need to be returned to Mrs

Wrigley, by the end of

Week 9.

If your child is not

returning to Moura

SHS in 2020,

please let the office

know ASAP!

2018

Att. 2019 Target Yr 7 Yr 8 Yr 9 Yr 10 Yr 11 Yr 12 Whole School

91.8

% 92.5%

Term 1 92.9% 88.8% 96% 90.3% 92.4% 89.9% 91.8%

Term 2 91.3% 90.9% 94% 90.3% 89.8% 91.5% 91.3%

Term 3 89.1% 86% 90.2% 84.5% 85.5% 83.8% 87%

Term 4 91.9% 91.4% 94% 90.2% 92.5% 92.1% 91.6%

Over the term students have been raising funds for animal conservation. The recent bushfires in Australia have pushed Koala populations to the brink of extinction and the students have chosen to donate these funds to the Koala. A big thankyou to the following students for their support and or donation, Saanvi Prasad, Tahley Oberle, Savannah Smith, Xavier Elgowhary, Brodie-Lee Lang, Rogan Van Rooyan, Hamish Macrae, Ameliija Swaffer-Selff, Sharna Hammond, Xavia Hutchinson, Eden Heath, Lyla Schmidt, and Holly Dowden. The Adoption certificate, species card and plush toy will be displayed in the Library.

Mrs Wrigley

2020 Staffing I am pleased to announce that in 2020, our school will have an extra Head of Department (HOD). This means our leadership team will consist of the Principal, three Heads of Department and three Year Coordinators. Congratulations to Michelle Briggs who will take on the role of Head of Department – Senior Schooling for Semester 1 of 2020. The structure of our three HoDs for 2020, therefore, is; HoD - Junior Secondary: Rob Curtin HoD - Middle Secondary: Lynn Paap HoD - Senior Secondary: Michelle Briggs

Thought of the Week – “Responsibility” Over the weekend I was listening to a podcast by high performance triathlon coach Grant Giles. Grant’s work in coaching has been significantly based around psychology and the messages in his podcast are not just relevant to sport, but also transfer in to life. He spoke of trusting yourself, having belief and taking responsibility. In particular;

Take responsibility for you and your life. Despite what is happening around you, in the end the only thing or person you can control is yourself. Life is not about what happens to you, it is about how you react to it. If something doesn’t work out, take responsibility. Learn from the mistake and become better for it. The sooner you take responsibility, the sooner you will find success

Trust in yourself and the process. Don’t give up after 2 weeks just because you don’t see results. Results take patience and time, so you need to trust that you have the ability to achieve the goals you have set for yourself and trust in the process. Engage in the process day to day and the results will come

Self-belief. This is one of the biggest blockers for everyone in achieving success, whether it is at school, in a career, in sport, in business or in whatever it might be. If you don’t believe you can do it, then you simply won’t achieve the success you desire. Self-belief is not easy to build but it is possible. Have the honest reflective conversation with yourself, set yourself small realistic targets, then tick them off as you go. You will make mistakes and fail, but this is just part of the process and the learning. Believe in yourself and you will achieve success.

Parent Wellbeing: A skill of social-emotional resilience is being able to solve your social problems. Describe a time you have done this and how you could do it better.

Sleep deprivation is a massive issue for many students and is having a profound effect on their physical and mental wellbeing. Both their bodies and minds are not being rested and recharged so how can we expect them to function well as students and as people?

Their 24/7 addiction of being electronically connected to their peers by having their phones on all night communicating with others, makes deep sleep more than difficult. Interestingly, studies have revealed that some 60% of adolescents are unhappy with and exhausted by this and don’t understand the consequences of a lack of sleep and rest. The reason they continue to stay connected is FOMO; Fear Of Missing Out.

Assertive parenting, insisting no mobile or computer after 9.00 pm is the answer; it may lead to defiance, but to improve their health and wellbeing it is well worth weathering the storm.

At least 9 hours deep sleep and rest are non-negotiable essentials for the healthy all-round development of young people because:

• they provide timeout for their eyes and vital organs and essential growth hormones to be released

• learnt material is stored in their long-term memory during REM sleep, Rapid Eye Movement

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt

SAV-V Award

Our school’s positive behaviour recognition system, the SAV-V Award (Staff Acknowledgement of Values and Virtues Award) recognises students who consistently demonstrate our school’s key values of Respect, Integrity and Responsibility. Each week, our teaching staff nominate one student each for consistent positive behaviour. At the following Monday parade, two students are then randomly drawn from the nominations and receive a $10 tuckshop voucher sponsored by the Moura SHS P&C. Each week, all of the nominations and the two random winners are published in our school newsletter.

This week’s random draw winner was Bryce Clark and Lara Coombe congratulations to

both students. Below you will find this week’s list of nominations.

Wellbeing Program Mr Rob Curtin

HoD. Jnr Secondary

Student Name Year Level Reason for Nomination

Dustin Clarke 8 Persistance and effort in Home Ec.

Noah Dowden and Gemma Meier 9 Outstanding work on year 9 camp.

Chloie McGeachin 8 Happy and delightful all the time. Keep it up.

Oscar Hills 8 Showing great care and assisting others in the class to actively participate.

Dustin Bradshaw 11 Outstanding effort on final assessment for English.

Lara Coombe and Lara Swaffer-Selff 8 Willingly engaging with and supporting students.

Bryce Clark & Oscar Hills 8 Seeking extra time at lunch time to work on assessment.

Reef Brazaitis 9 For diligence in his Maths study.

Macy Francis 7 Without hesitation, helping a fellow student complete assessment instead of wasting time.

Shona Hodgson and Matt Donohoe 8 Consistently working well and putting in a great effort.

Academic competitions are based on curriculum and are designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. Congratulations to the following students for their participation in these competitions throughout the year.

7 – Jack Edwards, Scout Dickson, Maddison Johnson, Selena Edmistone, Bond Brazaitis,

8 - Jack Hutchinson, Claire Colyer, Matt Donohoe, Lara Swaffer-Selff, Harry Jenman

9 - Nathan McQuillan, Gemma Meier & Reef Brazaitis

10 - Will Donohoe

11 – Conor Hartwell

12 – Ameliija Swaffer-Selff

I participated in the State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP) run by the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University this year. I have also been lucky to be invited to go to two more next year, middle school and senior school SHEP. (SHEP) has a variety of musically talented workshops including, brass, string and vocal. This year I attended a workshop by Kate Albury who is a very talented singer who teachers a boys choir at a school in Brisbane. I really enjoyed these workshops because after both workshops on Friday and Saturday I performed four amazing songs at St Brendan’s College, in front of a large crowd. I learnt so much at this event and it was a very fun experience in which I was able to meet many new people and most importantly sing with them. I encourage many kids who have a talent for music to get involved.

Laura du Plessis

The day started at 5:45 am with 11 bleary-eyed students, Miss Grant, Mr Duff and myself all piling onto a bus to head to Gladstone to see what the big wide world of Gladstone Industry had in store for us. The enthusiasm increased as we travelled with the teachers being entertained with karaoke to 80’s music for the trip. After a short stop into Macca’s to stretch our legs and fuel the students (and staff) we headed to our first destination, the Gladstone Ports Authority. Here the students were given a detailed lecture on the apprenticeship process, how to set out their resume and what to complete before they apply. We also viewed a video on the Gladstone Ports Corporation and the three ports that they incorporate. The students were very impressed at the benefits that the Ports Corporation offer for their apprentices. We were also treated to bag of goodies including a water bottle, USB and some stress toys upon departure. Morning tea was next, where our very enthusiastic bus driver John took us to Spinnaker Park where were able to enjoy lunch with an ocean view.

Our next destination was the NRG power station. Here we were greeted by John Fraser the Production Superintendent who gave us a very detailed explanation of the workings of the power station and how electricity is made in the power stations. The students were also advised on NRG opportunities and their apprenticeship program, how to apply and insights into the interview processes. The tour of the plant was next, WOW! What an amazing experience, we were driven around the plant, inside and out. John Fraser who has been with the plant since commissioning was able to tell us every little detail of the process and the equipment. Lunch was our next stop, this time we were treated to another ocean view at east shores and the lookout, so we could see the entire Gladstone Port Industries from a birds eye view.

We boarded the bus again for our final destination of Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL). Terry and Matthew greeted us at the administration building where we were shown around the QAL museum and the history of the plant. Here we were joined by Conor who was very keen and knowledgeable regarding the process and formulae for the Alumina process. The apprenticeship workshop was next and we donned helmets, safety glasses and headsets. Dylan, the apprentice workshop manager, took the students through a tour of the apprenticeship facilities where they could play with demonstration models of different mechanical parts and see first year apprentices in action under training. Back on the bus and we were given a special tour of the plant - we were even allowed to visit the loading wharf and see a loaded cargo tanker, with a shipment ready to go to Russia. We had a very informative day, where the students interested in these fields had the opportunity to network with the

managers and make decisions for their future pathways. As always, our students were commended on their outstanding

behaviour by the management staff. Moura High staff look forward to future excursions like this to expand their pathways

and opportunities.

Mrs Trish Mosk

Sheep for Sale Ewe lambs $60.00

Ewe in lamb $80.00

Please contact the office on 4997 5888 for further details

Uniform Shop

OPEN

Today (Thursday)

3pm— 4pm High School Tuckshop

Year 11 Students Claire Briggs and Croydon Sutton are spending their first week of School holidays in Brisbane as QMEA Ambassadors. Claire and Croydon join other students from selected QMEA schools throughout Queensland to participate in an itinerary aimed at giving students a head start in the competitive resources sector. From University visits, a tour of the Hasting Deerings workshop and visits to BHP corporate offices, students have received a comprehensive overview of the careers on offer. The itinerary culminates with Claire and Croydon, along with 100 other students and dignitaries attending the QMEA Year in Review breakfast hosted by BHP.