10 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

Executive Principals Report

Dear Parents and Friends

This week I met with Steve Scott from Laurus Enterprises, who provided a two day leadership conference for our Year 12 Leaders and student year level leaders. His feedback to me was that his team commented that these students were amongst the best they have ever worked with. While a majority of their work takes place in private schools, they did not know what to expect at first with our students. Steve’s feedback was very genuine and he felt he had to communicate this with me. The team of presenters believed that the way in which our students interacted and came together as a group was outstanding and they walked away with a high impression of the qualities and characters of our leaders. It made me feel extremely proud of all ours students and this is a real credit to them! Exceeded Laurus’s Expectations! Congratulations to all our Student Leaders.

From all reports our students had two fantastic interactive days where all students made a positive contribution. The special moment for me was watching them return to school in the afternoon as I witnessed our year 12 student leaders form a guard of honour for our year level leaders. It was such a positive affirmation of the respect that they had gained over the two days and then reciprocated back to the younger students.

Lions Youth of the Year – Outstanding Performance

Last week our students competed in Lions Youth of the Year. This competition is open to all public and private schools in our local area. The competition was certainly tough, but our students shone out and brought home two awards. Didi Mulligan was awarded best speaker and Mitchell May overall winner. Another great achievement and highlights the quality and capability of the amazingly talented young people here at Corinda. Thank you and congratulations to Didi and Mitchell for making us very proud and for Exceeding Your Expectations! I would also like to thank and congratulate Dan Fallon for all your support and coaching. This is worth celebrating!

Celebrating International Women’s Day

On Wednesday we celebrated International Women’s Day with a forum for our girls. We were fortunate to have two of the Firebirds – Gretel Tippet and Kate Shimmin along with Rebecca Harwood, founding partner of Event Management Solutions Australia, conduct a forum to talk about achievements, challenges and how they have achieved success in what they do. Our students really responded to the talks and had the opportunity to ask questions of the ladies’ journeys. It was great to see our Senior Leaders Lillian Sleiman, Sara Daly and Natasha Le Bas take a leading role in the organisation of this event and I congratulate them on taking this initiative. A very successful and informative morning for our students. Thanks to our Deputy Principal Kathy Fortescue for supporting our students in organising this.

Year 7 Badge Ceremony

This year we are introducing a new tradition to officially welcome and induct our Year 7 students to our school. At the ceremony we will be presenting badges to our year 7 leaders and introducing each year 7 student by presenting them with their school badge. All parents have been sent an invitation to this event and we do hope that you can make it to be a part of this ceremony. We would love to have our parents join us.

Helen Jamieson
Executive Principal

Coming Events

Open Classrooms - Free tutoring

Every Monday to Thursday 3-4 pm in the air-conditioned comfort of the library. Expert help for assignments and assessment. Each day offers a different tutor for each subject area:

Your Digital File-Supporting Students to Drive their Future

IT & BYOD News

In the past week, we have seen more and more students bring their laptops to school every day. Many thanks to the families and students for their positive start to this program.

As a reminder, all students need to have a laptop at school every day from 1 March 2017. As of this date, teachers will be recording and following up with students and families in the same way as if they did not have a pen or book available for class.

Students are not to bring their laptop chargers to schools. This is a workplace health and safety issues as the school is not permitted to plug items into PowerPoints that have not been tested. We ask that students:

• Charge their laptop every night (keep this next to your school bag so that you don’t forget it in the morning.
• Keep your screen brightness down (not too dark as you can hurt your eyes).
• When you are not using your laptop make sure it is put into sleep mode (just closing the lid does not always put it into sleep mode).
• Avoid running high-graphics software for long periods of time.

Many thanks to the families who has assisted in commencing the year so positively in relation to the BYO program.

P & C News & Notice of Annual General Meeting

The P&C meet on the last Wednesday of each month in the schools ‘Paradox Room’ (near the administration), beginning at 7:00 pm. We enthusiastically welcome any new parents to come along and meet other parents in the school, be involved in activities to help your child and gain an understanding of what is happening in the school both from a curriculum and community perspective.

P&C members suggest and implement positive changes at our school – and the funds we raise have a lasting impact through building improvements and providing classroom ‘extras’ to enhance our children’s’ learning. Your skills and hobbies could be put to great use and volunteering, even a small amount of your time, will benefit your own children and others in our school. You could also gain work experience and develop new skills. Even if you are not able to attend regular meetings, being a member is a great way to learn what’s happening and have your say.

Ways in which you can be involved in the P&C at Corinda State High School include:

• Attend monthly P&C meetings
• Volunteering at the school’s Tuckshop, Uniform Shop
• Joining the Music Sub-committee or CHAFS (CSHS Agricultural Farm) Sub-committee
• Membership of the executive for 2017

Membership of the P&C Executive

The P&C Executive are office bearers of the Association, elected to the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, who perform the core functions and business of the P&C. The P & C Association employs a bookkeeper who provides the financial reports to the Treasurer in order to reduce the workload in this role. We are keen to hear from members of our community who may be interested in taking on one of the roles.

The P&C Executive Nomination form is attached, and can be lodged at the admin office, or alternatively PDF and email to pandc@corindashs.eq.edu.au. Please give this your consideration, and if you would like to obtain further information please contact us via email.

Our AGM is to be held at the school on Wednesday 29 March at 6:30pm, followed by the general meeting at 7.00 pm. All executive positions will be vacated and we look forward to volunteers raising their hands to assist Corinda State High School.

You are welcome to renew your membership or become a new member. If you are unable to attend the AGM, but would like to join the P&C, please complete the attached P&C Membership form. Forms can be lodged prior to 29 March at the school’s admin office, or alternatively PDF and email to pandc@corindashs.eq.edu.au

New Bus Stops for Afternoon Collection

Transport for Brisbane - Brisbane City Council has been working with the school in order to make the afternoon home collection of students travelling on BCC, SouthWest and Transport for Brisbane buses streamlined and safer.

To assist this transition, can parents please ensure that you do not park, or idle in the bus zones.

As a result, there will be the following collection points:

1. Anyone catching the 104 bus, all services will leave from the official BCC bus stop (located directly outside the administration building). They have added additional buses added for ease of timing with the trains.
2. The following services will decamp from Bus Bays 2-4 (located outside the ramp at the end of G Block):
   758, 762, 766, 768, 769, 770
3. The following services will load and leave from Bus Bays 7-8:
   790, 782, 790, 701, 790

Humanities News

Courting the Law

As a part of their study of the Queensland legal system, students in Year 11 Legal Studies had the opportunity to visit the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law to observe the legal system in action. The day started off with a briefing by the Supreme Court Library, allowing the students to experience the courtroom on their own. They even participated in a brief role play of some of the key legal personnel before they explored a range of cases, including various stages of trials and sentencing hearings. This was an excellent opportunity to connect classroom learning with the real world.

Junior Science News

QUT – STEM Power of Engineering Day

On 1 March, 18 girls from across years 9 and 10 joined another 100 girls from across Queensland for an all inspiring day at QUT! We were inspired by Boeing’s Chief Engineer, Brisbane based Engineers and GEMS Ambassadors from the University.

The girls learnt that there is more to engineering than numbers and mathematics. Many who have a preference for English and Humanities subjects were amazed by the communication, problem solving and collaboration skills that are essential to success in the field of engineering.

Our curiosity was evoked further as we discovered the intricate and fascinating facts about the storm water treatment system that exists under Southbank Parklands, and manages to provide 85% of the irrigation required for the parklands.

A truly inspiring, interesting and motivating experience!

Amy Scott-Preimonas
Heads of Department – Junior Secondary Science

Applied Studies News

Mend it Monday

Literacy News

Accelerated Reader is now up and running for our Year 7 and 8 students. This means students can find accelerated reader books and within 24 hours of finishing a book, complete a quiz and earn points. This helps our teachers track our students wide reading as even just 15 minutes of reading a day can make significant improvements in our students’ abilities in the classroom.

Students need to have a book with them every day at school as they never know when their teacher might ask them to Stop! Drop! And Read! Creating time at home to continue reading is also important. As a parent, you can ask your child to show you their progress on Accelerated Reader or you can contact me or their English teacher for more information and how you can support your child with this program.

In other literacy news, our teachers are working on developing weekly Reading Routines for our students to ensure they are reading in every classroom and developing skills that are vital for NAPLAN, QCS and reading in everyday life. This year we are focusing on developing inferencing skills – particularly those that focus on empathising with another person’s perspective. A big focus for schools at the moment is around helping students develop empathy skills – the ability to identify with the struggle of another. Reading good texts can be a powerful way to develop empathy and is one of the most important qualities to develop in young citizens.

Melanie Wild
Head of Curriculum – Literacy

Gifted and Talented News

English Honours

While only being 5 weeks into our first year of senior, English Honours has really been something to behold - we've established that Cooper and Joseph are fast readers and we all think animated birds are cute. It has been really interesting to look at the work of a time so controversial and analysing it has been such a blast in our class. We're all looking forward to continuing the year and I'm sure English Honours is going to be one of those rare classes students actually look forward to. Thanks Miss! Signed- anonymous

My name is Ravena Viana, on the first day of school I was in a core English class but was quickly moved to English Honours. English Honours is incredible, not only has this term’s work challenged me to read more but has given me the opportunity to see America in a whole new perspective during the ‘Great Depression’ which I discovered reading our class book, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. In English Honours we have been studying the novel and our assessment this term was to do a chapter intervention, which is quite enjoyable…. If you’re in English Honours and are a nerd, which everyone in English Honours is!!! English Honours Term 1 has been a classroom filled with peer support and thank goodness our teacher is pretty cool too (Ms Clare). Overall that has been my term in English Honours and to be honest it’s my favourite class!

Science Honours

Our STEM Honours students put in a strong showing at the 2017 Science and Engineering Challenge narrowly missing out on 3rd place behind some of Brisbane’s most prestigious schools. Out of the four half day events came first in “Helter Skelter Shelter” where the challenge was to design an earthquake-proof structure out of paper, straws and sticky tape. The structure was then loaded up and tested to the point of destruction on a shaking rig.

Our students showed particular finesse in constructing a bionic hand capable of sign language gestures and carrying out several tasks requiring delicate dexterity. Our afternoon session team took first place in this challenge.

Finally, when it comes to uneven surfaces and constructing articulated platforms capable of manoeuvring across such terrain, we had it covered! Our full day “Mission to Mars” team achieved the number one spot and managed to safely deliver the cargo on time. Well done to all the students who proudly represented our school on the Science and Engineering stage. A big thank you must go to Dr Ghali and Mrs Hughes for escorting our students to and from the event.

Philosophy and Reason

My name is Alexander Nguyen. I’m a part of one of the Philosophy and Reasoning Honours classes for Year 10. I wasn’t a very hard working person during years 8 and 9; however, this term I’ve really been put to the test. PAR is really tough and requires almost 100% of my brain power. Although it’s tough, it’s pretty much a class of fun. This class allows us to make up analogies and conclusions such as: “Learning philosophy is like a game with full of twists and turns; you won’t know what’s coming.” My friend, Matthew Liu, said, “It’s really good,” and Jayden Tran and Kelvin Luu both said “It’s an amazing experience, and I would join again in year 11.” Although I’m learning how to spot fallacies in reasoning, I’ll still never be able to win against my mum and sister in an argument! Overall, Year 10 PAR so far is a blast, and I’m expecting more fun in the future.

Library News

On February 27 and 28, the library was pleased to host award winning journalist and novelist, Matt Condon who has become a regular presenter at Corinda SHS. He talks to Year 12 English students about his writing career, focusing on his journalist work, offering them insight and inspiration into their own feature article for senior English. His talk covers research, style and voice, and he challenges students to dig deeper into their topic, and to develop their own writing style and voice. We thank him for his continued support of the Corinda students, and are very proud of how appreciative the students are of his talent and time.

News from the Youth Health Nurse

What to do if being bullied

No one deserves to be bullied. If you are, there are a few measures you can take:

1. Ignore them and walk away. Bullies may continue to tease you, if they know they will get a reaction from you.
2. If it continues you can tell they to stop but in an assertive way not aggressive. Think before you speak, look them in the eye and try and act confident, even if your not.
3. If this doesn’t work either, you need to tell someone
4. Just remember telling someone is reporting abuse, not “dobbing”
5. People you can tell are your parents or any teacher. Other people you can talk to are the support staff, Guidance Officer or myself
6. Avoid any situations that may pose problems. For example, stay well away from the bully, if possible, stay with friends at recess or know where to access if feeling unsafe or upset ( library, nurse’s room etc.. or anywhere else you may feel comfortable )
7. Supportive bystanders : Fact: when other people stand up to a bully on behalf of someone else, the bullying is more likely to stop.
8. The link below is a very useful user friendly, researched website for parents and young people.

For further information contact Karin Rissel Youth Health Nurse at Corinda State High School

Wednesday and Thursday phone: 3379 0207 or E: karin.rissel@health.qld.gov.au

2017 Next Step Survey

The Queensland Government is conducting its annual statewide survey of all students who completed Year 12 in 2016. The Next Step survey is a brief, confidential survey that gains a comprehensive picture of the employment, study and life choices made by Queensland school completers in the year after they finish Year 12.

Between March and June, all our students who completed Year 12 last year can expect to receive instructions to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office to complete the survey. Please encourage them to take part. If their contact details have changed, please assist the interviewer with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate.

Thank you for your support of the Next Step survey in 2017.

Further information on Next Step is available online via the link below or on toll free telephone 1800 068 587.

Community Notices

Oxley Neighbourhood Watch News

Are you a parent of a child with type 1 diabetes?

Every day thousands of Australian children suffer the effects of type 1 diabetes, and families struggle with illness management and children’s behavioural and emotional adjustment.

Positive Parenting for Healthy Living is an adaptation of the successful Triple P - Positive Parenting Program, offering practical ideas and support for parents of children with type 1 diabetes. This innovative group program is designed to help parents manage their child’s illness, assist children in coping with their illness and emotions, and prevent and manage difficult child behaviour.

Over the next few months and for a limited time only, parents of 2-10 year old children with type 1 diabetes are able to access Positive Parenting for Healthy Living Triple P free of charge as part of a University of Queensland research project. Contact Dr Amy Mitchell on (07) 3346 1202 or email diabetes.healthyliving@uq.edu.au or visit the link below for more information.

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