27 October 2017
Newsletter Articles
Executive Principals Report
Dear Parents and Friends
What an amazing two weeks we have experienced at Corinda. We have so much to celebrate with our student successes. I feel very proud to be a part of this school community.
Last Wednesday evening I attended the Year 12 Exhibition of Senior Visual Art works where the students showcased their work. The stories behind their artwork were inspirational and I was very impressed by the way in which they represented their stories. Large amounts of time have been put into these pieces of work, all while under the pressure of QCS and year 12 assessment. There is some real talent amidst our students and I must acknowledge the work of our Visual Arts teachers and the way in which they develop the skills of these very talented young artists. Congratulations to our Visual Art students – what a fantastic exhibition.
Dance Night was another celebration of a large number of talented young dancers across our school. I am so impressed with the standard of our performers and the range of skills we saw on stage. Our students looked like they really enjoyed themselves, and were confident and performed with precision. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole program and our students really did shine. Congratulations to our staff and students in our Dance programs.
Our Annual Speech Night this week was a real celebration on many fronts – academic achievement, student leadership, artistic talent and sporting excellence. Another very proud moment for our staff, parents and students. It was a fabulous evening which showcase every aspect of our amazing school. We had a record number of students receiving academic awards this year and this is worth celebrating. Congratulations to all award recipients and to those students who participated in the performances. We received so many commendations regarding our students and on the evening itself. Congratulations and well done to everyone.
Exceeded all Expectations on every front!
World Teachers Day
Last Friday we celebrated World Teachers Day. We are very fortunate at Corinda to have such a dedicated and enthusiastic professional teaching staff who really do believe in making a difference with every student. Teachers play a significant role in developing our young adults, and we acknowledge this on this special day. A special message from our P & C President to our Teachers:
To the teachers of CSHS
On behalf of the parent body I would like to thank you, the teachers, who inspire our children to achieve and aim for success. Your dedication and hard work ensure values such as persistence, resilience and citizenship are embraced within a positive learning environment.
We admire you for the long hours you put in planning, preparing and marking in order to motivate our children to be exceptional learners.
You make a difference, thank you for your professionalism and commitment to the students of Corinda State High School.
We are pleased to support World Teacher’s Day.
Kind regards,
Alan Birchley President Parents & Citizen’s Association Corinda State High School
Corinda State High School P & C Association
Air Conditioning Project
As you are aware the P & C Association made a decision to work towards funding air conditioning of classrooms. This is a very large undertaking and to do this we need to also consider the capacity of the electricity supply to the school, maintenance of the installations, and the ongoing cost of replacement and electricity. We are also considering the installation of solar to offset some of the associated costs.
Earlier this year a letter was sent to parents inviting voluntary donations to the building fund in support of this project. The donations are fully tax deductable and enable the P &C to raise funds without conducting additional fund raising activities in the school.
At this stage we have only received a small response to this request and we are asking parents to consider supporting the building fund. Any support that parents may provide will be greatly appreciated.
The P & C Association meets on the last Wednesday of each month at 7 pm in the Paradox Room. We welcome parents to come along and be a part of this project planning.
Helen Jamieson
Executive Principal
PUBLIC NOTICE - Corinda State High School Council Election
Notice is given to the school community that there is a meeting called for the purpose of electing parent members to the Corinda State High School Council. A proposal to expand the School Council membership has been discussed and supported.
An election for two (2) Parent representatives, will be held at a meeting:
- in the school’s Paradox Room, D Block
- on Wednesday 29 November 2017 at 6:30 - 7:00 pm (prior to the General Meeting).
Please return this nomination form by 14 November 2017.
This can be done by:
- delivering to the school front desk during school hours
- e-mail to info@corindashs.eq.edu.au
- fax to 07 3379 6958
- mail to Returning Officer, c/- Corinda State High School, 46 Pratten Street, Corinda 4075
To be eligible for election as an elected parent, a person must:
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not be the principal of the school or the Parents and Citizens’ Association (P&C) president;
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have not been convicted of an indictable offence, unless the Minister gives approval under the Act (s.93);
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attend a meeting called for the purpose of electing parent members;
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be the parent* of a student attending the school; and
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submit a completed nomination on time.
Coming Events
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Date |
Event |
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Wednesday 1 November |
Final Year 7 2018 Enrolment Interviews |
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Monday 6 November |
Year 12 Block Exams Commence |
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Friday 10 and Saturday 11 November |
Fashion Gala Event 2017 |
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Friday 17 November |
Year 12 Graduation Ceremony |
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Wednesday 22 November |
Year 11 Social |
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Friday 8 December |
Final day of School 2018 |
Open Classrooms – After School Tutoring
Students can get expert help for assignments and assessment, every Monday to Thursday 3 - 4 pm in the air-conditioned comfort of the library. Each day offers a different tutor for each subject area.
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Monday |
Humanities and English |
Library |
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Tuesday |
Homework Club |
Library |
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Wednesday |
HPE, Junior Maths and Junior Science |
Library |
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Wednesday |
The Arts |
A11 & IA3 |
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Thursday |
Humanities, Maths (Junior and Senior), English |
Library |
Student Services
Breakfast Program
Earlier this term, following on from the success of our year 9, term 3 volunteering program, our year 9 leaders, Kiara and Hannah, approached the student services team, to see if there was a way to provide support for young people at school. After much planning with the youth support coordinator, Rachel Logo, the chaplain, Jeff Thomson, and our indigenous officer, Jacob Fauid, it was agreed to begin a breakfast program. After generous support from Citypointe Church at Inala, we are now able to offer breakfast options on a Friday morning. The program is in its second week and has had a successful start. Look out for the leaders before school on Friday mornings.
Year 12
Year 12 Movie Night
On Friday 13 October the year 12 students enjoyed a BBQ and a movie night. Wonder Woman was the movie of choice! As time at school is drawing to a close for the year 12’s it was so nice to see them making the most of their last few weeks together!
Faith Wild – Year 12 Coordinator
Stay Smart Online
How do we know our child is getting the most out of their device and not using them as a distraction? How can I ensure they put their learning first? How do I manage these devices when my child is at home?
These questions plague the minds of all parents with children who use technology as part of the learning process at school. The reality is students require the use of their devices to work on school related tasks; however, there are ways of ensuring that they are using their devices effectively and productively.
The fundamental rule of introducing technology into the home is to establish positive computing habits and encouraging discussion around appropriate use of devices. Building trust, fostering parent-child communication and teaching children how to make the right decisions empowers them to remain safe and interact appropriately online.
When setting rules around use of technology in the home, it is imperative to discuss and agree upon the details together. Furthermore, ensuring fair and agreed upon consequences should be discussed and clearly communicated and consistently enforced.
Below is a series of tips that have been adapted from the Stay Smart Online Initiative:
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Know what your children are doing online-make sure they know how to stay safe and encourage them to tell you if they come across anything suspicious.
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Get to know the technologies your children are using. This will help you understand the risks and to be able to talk to them about what they are doing online.
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Discuss the risks with your children and agree on some rules for internet use.
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Place the computer in a family area of the home - the family or living room, rather than a bedroom.
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Install an internet content filter. This can be easily done by contacting your internet provider (ie Telstra) and enquiring into what services they can provide.
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Make sure your children know not to share personal information or photos. This includes their full name, mailing address, telephone number or the name of their school.
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Limit the use of the device. Turn your modem off at night and don’t allow them to take the devices into their bedroom when they should be sleeping.
https://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/
Code it Club
After school club available for kids aged 11-17. Starting 1 November. See attached flyer.
Click here to download the Code it flyer
QParents
Have you joined QParents?
Parents will have received an invitation email or letter by now and it’s great to see that so many parents have registered already. If you have not received an invitation, please advise us immediately by emailing info@corindashs.eq.edu.au. Over time, QParents will become an integral part of how we communicate with parents. Get on board to enjoy the ease and convenience that QParents offers.
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland are calling for students to participate in research and earn $30. Please click on the attached pdf for more details.
Click here to download the UQ research advertisement
Languages
German-Oktoberfest
by Changlu Pang, Jesse Liang, Blake Malcolm
Q1: How is it celebrated? Oktoberfest is often associated with beer, but the festival's traditions go beyond that. While the beer tents, of course, provide drinks, they also play only traditional Bavarian music. The original six Munich breweries still provide the beer. You can also catch people in traditional Bavarian clothing, dirndls and lederhosen.
Q2: When was the Oktoberfest held? Oktoberfest runs from 16 September - 3 October this year, according to Munich's website. It normally runs for 16 days with the last day being the first Sunday in October. However, if that 16 days falls before 3 October, it will last 17 or 18 days.
Q3: Where is it celebrated? Oktoberfest celebrations can be found all over the world, but the main event is in Munich, Germany, where the first Oktoberfest was held.
Q4: Why do people have Oktoberfest? Oktoberfest began as a wedding celebration more than 200 years ago when Bavaria’s Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810. The wedding was celebrated with multiple days of drinking, feasting and horse races.
Fun Facts about Oktoberfest
By: Tina, Jennifer, Raven & Toby
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Oktoberfest is known as much for its traditional folk music as it is for its beer drinking. Popular and folk music, marches, and polkas make up the oompah music Germany is stereotypically famous for around the world.
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Some of Oktoberfest's most beloved side-dishes are the brezel -soft pretzel, würstl- sausages, knoedel -dumplings, wiesnhendl- roast chicken.
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Oktoberfest has been cancelled 24 times in the past 204 years.
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It’s named after the Theresienwiese, which is the name of the land where it takes place, and it’s also named after Therese, the Princess that was married there. It’s pronounced as “Vizen”.
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During Oktoberfest, traditional visitors wear Bavarian hats called tirolerhüte. The more tufts of goat hair on your hat, the wealthier you are considered to be. Nowadays the tufts are synthetic and everybody can look as wealthy or as poor as they like.
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The beer record was in 2011 when people drank 7.5 million litres!
International
Visitors from Around the World
Over the past weeks at Corinda, we have had visitors from Bhutan and Japan. Education delegates came from Bhutan to study our Vocational Education Program. They were extremely interested in how we support our students with the use of outside providers. Our teachers explained how we develop and offer our VET courses based on the needs of society. The whole group were impressed with how the Corinda students were so engaged with their learning. They will take their findings home and begin to develop their own program in Bhutan.
We also had a student visit from Japan. The 10 students who visited were from an agriculture school in Kyushu. The Japanese students were taken down to the common where they were introduced to our cattle, sheep and of course the baby lambs. They also had a tour of the farm and Stuart Halsey, Head of Department Science and Agriculture, showed the students all of the ways our Corinda farm is environmentally friendly and sustainable. At morning tea our students who study Japanese had an opportunity to use their language skills and meet some new friends. Everyone involved had a wonderful day.
The Applied Studies
Fashion Gala Event 2017
Presenting Corinda State High School's Golden Hollywood Fashion Gala Event!
Bring along your friends and family, everyone is invited. The main focus will be Corinda students and teachers on the runway, there will also be plenty of entertainment including singing, dancing, instrumental pieces, and much more! Come join us and have some fun!
Science and Agriculture
Junior Science News
This term, the year 9s are studying biology, more specifically human homeostasis. Students have been predicting and analysing how substances ‘leak’ (diffuse) in and out of cells, and how this helps to maintain the internal environment for survival.
The students of 9K harnessed their laboratory skills yesterday as they set about simulating diffusion using water, food dye and dialysis tubing.
Amy Scott-Preimonas Head of Department – Junior Science
Health and Physical Education
All Schools Touch Football
In week one of term 4 our OPEN Mixed Touch team competed at the All Schools Touch Tournament. With a record 415 teams making up this year’s competition the tournament is the biggest of its kind in the world. The weather in the first few days was extremely challenging and the soaring temperatures had us gasping for water. We got our wish on the Friday as a huge downpour turned the fields to mud. This didn’t stop the fierce competition as we came up against some quality oppositions. All of our players met the challenge with excitement and with an attitude to play their very best as a team and for each other. Along our journey we had a couple of draws and were taught a few lessons but overall were very happy with our performance. Ms Wild and Mr Breen were extremely proud of our team and were very impressed with the standard of Touch they played. Congratulations to all the players!
Andrew Breen and Faith Wild – Coaches
Resource Centre
The Year 11 students were very lucky to have guest author Josh Donellan to introduce them to the ideas of Masculinity in Australian Poetry which is their final assignment for the year. His inspirational presentation gave them plenty of ideas for consideration as they prepare their own feature articles.
Our Interschool Readers’ Cup teams represented our school so well in the recent competitions against Brisbane West schools such as St Aidans, Stuartholme, Hillbrook, Brisbane Boys College, Kenmore, Indooroopilly and St Peters. Our Year 7 team of Alana, Jordan, Emelia and Shashi came 6th out of 14 teams; our Year 8 team of Daniel, Ziggi and Grace came 5th out of 16 teams (only 1 point from 3rd place!); our Year 9 team of Azhar, Karen, Cathy, Tamima and Eva came 6th out of 15 teams, our Year 10 team of Rhiann, Tara, Susi and Leo came 6th and our open teams of Antionette, Mia, Nicky, Mitchell, Josie and Catherine came 10th and 11th. Outstanding team work was displayed by all the teams and everyone was impressed by the high standards of behaviour exhibited by the teams. Well done. Now, we need to start planning for next year ….
Our regular book sale for Indigenous Literacy raised $90. Thanks to everyone who took part.
All students have received or will receive very shortly a courtesy notice which lists those resources that they have on loan from the library or resource hire. This list is not an overdue notice (although if an item is overdue we ask you to return it). This list allows students to reconcile the computer record with the resources they have out so there are no unpleasant surprises just before they leave school. If a student feels that this list does not reflect the items they have on loan, they are asked to come to the library to discuss the matter with the staff.
Don’t forget, it is always time for a good read. Lots of suggestions on display at the library.
Teacher Spotlight
Melanie Wild Head of Curriculum: Literacy
1. What is the best thing about Corinda High? – The students: they have great personalities, enthusiasm and are a joy to teach
2. What is your favourite colour? Purple and Black
3. What TV show do you love? How I Met Your Mother
4. Do you have a Hobby? I like creative writing and I read a lot
5. Who is the best band/singer of all time? David Bowie
6. What sport do you love to watch? I’m a cricket tragic – love it!
7. If you could only travel to one more destination in the world, where would you go? Europe (this question is too hard so I picked a really big destination)
8. What do you love about teaching? I love sharing my loving of literature with students, helping them engage with reading and writing, and seeing how they grow from when they arrive in yr 7 until they leave in yr 12
9. What is your favourite life quote? A bad draft is better than a blank draft
Positive Parenting
10 Ways to Help Teenagers Shift their Moods
Ever had a teenager in a grumpy mood and she just doesn’t know how to make herself feel better? Alternatively, you may have experienced a teenager who comes home from school so angry that there’s steam coming from his ears. Feeling emotional extremes is part of life, but that doesn’t mean we need to stay in those states. Teenagers aren’t necessarily hostages to their moods – with a little knowledge and effort they can shift their mood to a more pleasant and productive place.
Here are ten ways teens can shift their moods:
1. “Take a breath...take a few actually”
Perhaps the simplest way for a teenager to feel better, whether it’s to settle some nerves before a talk or reduce anxiousness before meeting new friends, is to take three or four deep breaths. Deep breathing releases dopamine into their system, moving kids toward the yellow or green zones on the mood meter.
2. “Picture yourself…”
Encourage your kids to carry a picture of a favourite thing – person, pet or holiday – to help them move them to a happier place when needed. Pictures and photos can impact at a deep emotional level. Anyone who carries a picture of a loved one with them will know how powerful a visual reminder can be.
3. “Let me entertain you….”
Watching a movie, reading a book and playing a favourite game are great ways to move moods to more desirable places. These distractions are great for teenagers’ mental health and super mood shifters as well.
4. “DO something….”
Boys are action-oriented and tend to act out their feelings more than girls. When they are happy they dance and gig around and when they are mad many become aggressive or just more active. Boys also can use action to dissipate emotion or shift their mood to a better place. If they are angry then insist they play an active game or sport to get the energy out. Lethargy, boredom and other passive emotional states too can be shifted through physical activity.
5. “Listen to the music…”
Ever watched a happy scene in a movie and your whole body tenses up when the background music suddenly becomes suspenseful? Music will shift an emotional state quicker than anything else.
6. “They get by with a little help from their friends….”
Encourage help-seeking behaviours as a way of shifting moods and emotions. It’s natural for teenagers to seek solitude when they feel down or have experienced less than pleasant events. They need time to process events internally. Boys will often visit their caves (aka bedrooms) to process their emotions while girls are more likely to use a keyboard (formerly it was a diary) to help them work through difficult feelings and events. At some stage they need to emerge and seek the company of others whether for distraction or to share the worries. Seeking the support of family and friends is a fabulous long-term mood changer.
7. “Think yourself to a different mood…”
I remember my mother saying, “For goodness sake stop moping about and stop that ridiculous brooding!” While her take-no-prisoners approach may not be everyone’s cup of tea her message has resonance for every parent. If I could think myself into a negative mood, then I could also think my way to a better mood was her notion. She was right. Kids can think happy thoughts by thinking about happier times, happier places and happier events. Their thoughts do impact on their feelings so they may as well use them to their advantage.
8. ‘Talk to yourself…’
Sustained positive self-talk is one of the best ways to move from a place of anxiety to a place of optimism and hope. The trick is for teenagers to catch their negative self-talk and replace it with a mantra such as “I can do this. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.” Change your self-talk; change your moods! The hard part is remembering to do it.
9. “Mind the meditation….”
It’s fabulous to see many schools are now adding mindfulness and meditation to their well-being programs. Both are terrific strategies to help teenagers relax and ease the tensions and stresses of life. Both involve controlling the mental clutter that can overwhelm them which in turns impacts on how they feel.
10. “Get a good night’s sleep…”
Parents of past generations seemed to be adept at reminding children and young people, “Get a good night’s sleep and things will be right in the morning.” There’s a great deal of scientific evidence to support the fact that your teenager’s emotional health is linked with the amount of sleep he or she gets. With the high number of teenagers currently experiencing anxiety and depression one great place to start is a good night’s sleep.
If your teenager uses ineffective strategies such as rumination and worry, acting out or self-blame then help them choose more effective strategies from the list above to regulate their emotions. Decide on two or three ideas that seem like a good fit for your teenager and use them to build their repertoire of emotional intelligence strategies.
Community Notices
Fire Ants
Biosecurity Queensland needs your help to find where fire ants are. We ask that you check your property and let us know if you find any suspicious ants in your yard.
Fire ants
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have a coppery-brown coloured head and body with a darker abdomen
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are 2-6 mm in size and have multiple sizes within the one nest
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nests have no obvious entry or exit holes
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are very aggressive when their nest is disturbed
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sting and each sting comes up as a blister
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can cause allergic reactions in some people when stung. Seek medical attention if an allergic reaction occurs
Fire ants can seriously affect our lifestyle, environment and economy if not eradicated. It is important to remain vigilant and check your yard and neighbourhood regularly to help eradicate fire ants from your community.
Please discuss fire ants with your family and the risks they pose. If you see ants you think could be fire ants or a suspicious nest, please report it to Biosecurity Queensland. Let’s work together to eradicate fire ants.
To report suspect ants or for more information about fire ants, please call Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23, or visit the link below.
Click here for more information http://www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au/
http://www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au/
Taekwondo
Click here to download the Taekwondo flyer
Oxley Golf Club
