20 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Executive Principals Report

Dear Parent & Caregivers

We are certainly heading into a very busy time for assessment across the school as we approach the end of term 1. It is important that students are well rested and have their routines organised to allow them to be prepared for their assessment. I have previously raised the issue of gaming and the impact this has on students sleep habits and concentration and, given the events of recent weeks, I feel it is once again important to reinforce the need to be well informed of what students are engaging with online. Last year I provided some information about some Apps and Games that require close monitoring and supervision. I have included links to these again for your reference.

Last week we were informed that we have received a donation from the local neighbourhood watch group for Internet safety programs. This funding will be utilised to provide programs to our year 7 students and possibly some parent information sessions to support strategies for home. Special thanks to Daniel and Genese Benz for advocating for our school to receive these funds.

There is no doubt that the world of social media has created many educational opportunities, however it also poses many challenges in relation to protecting impressionable teenagers. Keeping ahead of this is not an easy task, but being vigilant and having open communication is definitely the first step to being aware. Teenagers are using a number of Apps where they are connecting with ‘random’ people. As I become aware of these Apps, I check to ensure they are blocked on our school network. We will continue to do so as new information presents.

I want to share two web links that I encourage you as parents to familiarise yourselves with and engage in discussion about with your teenager.

KidBridge (Click the link below) is a subscription service ($14.99) for parents of children between the ages of 7 – 17 that provides smartphone monitoring capabilities. With a single email address, you can gain access to:

• Your teens smartphone data
• Sent, received and deleted SMS and iMessages
• Call logs of sent and received phone calls
• Device location and location history
• Web browsing history, bookmarks and contacts
• Messages sent via Whatsapp and Kik Messenger.

Another App I would like to share with you is called OurPact (Click the link below) which is a simple family locator and parental control app that allows parents to locate family members and limit screen time by blocking internet and app access. Through this App parents are able to schedule device use and allocate set times for access.

OurPact is a free (yay!) service for setting time based restrictions on iOS and Android devices. Parents can install it on a child's device, and control the settings from their device or from a web site to set device bedtimes, schedules, and block or grant access to apps at a moment's notice.

The Apps I would consider ‘high-risk’ in terms of child protection and personal safety are mentioned in the links below.

Technology is continually changing and I can appreciate the challenges parents face trying to act protectively and monitor screen time. As a school, we continue to reinforce strict rules around use of smartphones, as we believe it is necessary to restrict distractions within our learning environments. One of the challenges we all face with this generation is how we train them to be distraction proof as we prepare them for their future pathways.

Year 7 Badging Ceremony

All families of year 7 students are welcome to the ceremony..

Thursday 4 April 2019, 10:10 – 11:20 am (period 2)

To assist with catering please RSVP here if you are attending the Year 7 Ceremony

Please note that all year 7 students are receiving a badge. Year 7 students are required to wear full formal uniform for the ceremony in the morning, then change into their sports uniform if necessary.

Helen Jamieson
Executive Principal

Open Day 2019

Coming Events

Some of our best …

Anna Guevarra-Adams

Corinda School Captain Anna Guevarra-Adams successfully participated in the 2019 Official International Women’s Day Youth Leadership Award Program. The program kicked off with the 2019 Official International Women’s Day Youth Leadership Breakfast, Mentoring Forum and Award Presentation, held at HOTA (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast on Friday 8 March.

The 2019 Official International Women’s Day Youth Leadership Award Program acknowledges young leaders who have been nominated because of their vision, commitment, inspiration, courage, and leadership qualities.

Anna was the recipient of the Youth in Leadership in the Defence Force Award. Anna has spent many years as an Air Force Cadet and we could not be more proud!

Clean Up Australia Day

On Tuesday 5 March, Housemasters organised a school wide event in conjunction with Clean Up Australia Day. Students were given the opportunity to give the school a spring clean and they didn’t disappoint, with over 400 students participating! Students were given gloves and a bucket, and they scoured the school ground, searched garden beds and green spaces, walked the fence lines and boundary of the school, and visited the paddock beside the school farm. Every piece of rubbish collected was saved from potentially making its way into our local waterways. A great effort by an enthusiastic group of students!

Bullying No Way – Take Action Every day!

Corinda is a zero tolerance to Bullying School and it was affirming to have 50 students plan and run engaging activities last week to mark the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence, connecting with over 500 students.

Students ran a ‘think tank’ aimed at gathering feedback for action at Corinda. Students were also able to sign a pledge saying that they stood united against violence and marked this with a thumbprint on a banner that will go on public display.

Stay tuned as the Year 11 mentors put this feedback into action throughout this year.

Debating

Debating has begun for 2019 with the Corinda teams competing away against John Paul College. There were lots of first time debaters stepping up to the challenge and doing a great job, but special mention goes to the year 11 team consisting of Eva Simon, Jemima Noller, Tahlia Briody, Grace Erichsen and Mariana Belandria who won their debate, and to Tahlia Briody and Amy Freudenberg in year 8 who both won best speaker awards.

Debating wouldn’t happen without the support and expertise of the coaches – Simon O’Brien, Alex Griffin, Amy Heymer and Patrick Duggan – who are very proud of their students’ performances.

All students and their parents are welcome to come along and support our debating team at our competitions. Our next debate is on Friday 3 May here at school starting with the junior debates at 5:00 pm in D block. We’d love to see you there!

Golden Opportunity Day: Digi-Tech

We were delighted to host 30 year 5 and 6 students for the first Golden Opportunity Day of the year. Mr Dawson and the students spent the day learning how to Code micro:bits. Micro:bits are pocket-sized, codeable computers packed with all sorts of cool features. Students were able to play paper, scissors, rock in the digital age and were able to send messages using their micro:bits across the room to other students.

Some of the testimonials from the day:

“My favourite part of the day was being exposed to new things, being able to be creative and having challenges. I most definitely recommend this! It was awesome fun, with hand- on projects.”- Thomas

“I liked coding and creating awesome projects! The best part of the day was the temperature activity and coding flappy birds. If I could change something about today it would be staying here longer! I would definitely recommend this to a friend”- Dhairya

“I really liked the struggle and how much effort you had to put in to get it right. I liked how challenging it was and how it makes people think a lot. I liked the amazing outcome and how things came together. I would definitely recommend a friend to come and experience this AMAZING OPPORTUNITY and to have fun with me!”- Mina

Service Industries and Food Technology

Certificate III in Hospitality students were lucky to have celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue cook with the class this week. Plated @ Corinda is a weekly enterprise, taking orders and creating meals to industry standard. The collaboration with Ben O'Donoghue will produce different menu items each week.

The students did a great job, stepping up to make 60 portions that were packaged and delivered across the campus. Thanks to Ben for collaborating with our Service Industries faculty - across Senior Hospitality.

This is an exciting start to the Culinary Excellence program that will begin in 2020. Students will have an opportunity to be selected for one of the first Culinary Excellence programs in a school setting. The program will be partnered with local culinary experts, and supported by the Stephanie Alexandra Kitchen Foundation.

Be sure to visit on Open Day – Saturday 30 March, 2019 – to meet Ben O’Donoghue and see our students cooking and producing in our market gardens near B Block.

Images:

Languages

Japanese

Students in Year 10 Japanese are reminded that there are scholarships on offer to go to Japan. I wish to bring your attention to the Global Citizens of the Future and Japanese Immersion #Tokyo Study Tour. Both of these programs offer opportunities to travel to Japan for Year 10 Japanese language students who also have an aptitude for STEM.

The size of the travelling groups for both programs have been capped at 15 students. There is likely to be only one scholarship recipient from each school but we strongly encourage students to apply. If you would like more information, follow the above link and do not hesitate to talk to your Japanese teacher.

There is also a scholarship opportunity for a Year 11 Japanese student to go to Japan for 3 weeks at the end of the year. Please see Mr McMahon for my information about this scholarship.

Chinese

All students studying Chinese are invited to participate in the 2019 Queensland Chinese speaking competition organised by Confucius Institute QUT. The Chinese Speaking Competition is for students of Years 5 to 12, both native speakers/background speakers and non-native speakers are welcome. This competition will be held in the afternoon on 25 May (Saturday) at the QUT Kelvin Grove campus. The first prize winner in each category will get the funding to travel to China in early July 2019.

The Chinese Bridge Competition is for students of Years 11 to 12. It will be in the morning on 25 May 2019.

Year 11 and 12 students may take part in both competitions and win more prizes.

The deadline for the registration of both competitions is on Friday, 10 May 2019. Please see Ms Yip, Ms Zhao or Ms Davis if you are interested.

Community News

Holiday workshops

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