15 May 2019
Newsletter Articles
Executive Principals Report
Dear Parents and Friends,
This week our year 7 and 9 students are sitting their NAPLAN tests (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy). Our students are to be congratulated for their well-prepared, calm and confident approach to this testing. Our teachers have worked hard to ensure all elements of NAPLAN testing are integrated their regular classes to ensure they are able to confidently complete this testing without undue stress.
Unlike most schools we make a deliberate choice to retain students in regular classroom environments so that they are comfortable with their surroundings, as opposed to a cold hall with large numbers of students. The classroom environment is more inviting and the supervision of smaller numbers ensures student needs are met and they are able to fulfil the testing requirements. As always, we look forward to being able to measure each student’s individual growth when we receive their results.
Last week our year 10 students attended their Future Options Careers Expo exploring career paths and future pathways as part of their Career Education program. We were very fortunate to have a broad range of organisations on display for students to interact with and seek out further information from. Our students embraced these opportunities and some very rich discussions took place as they considered future pathway options. Congratulations to our year 10 students for the way in which they approached this day with maturity and curiosity.
Congratulations to our Arts students, who made us very proud, for their performance at the Sherwood Fete last weekend. Always a big ask to expect students to participate in events such as this while juggling other out of school commitments. Outstanding performances and thank you to the Saxophone ensemble, Amadeus strings and jazz band members and staff.
Our Corinda Cares initiative is a new project that our students have embarked on under the leadership of Jacob Fauid and Jake Gallagher. These students are volunteering in the school and community to ‘give back’ and contribute to developing a culture of service in our school. This year they have provided pancake breakfasts for the student body and staff before school, organised the recycling collections and just last week prepared a range of food items to be delivered to some very deserving families in need. These food hampers were picked up by Multicultural Development Australia, an organisation committed to delivering a welcoming Queensland where all new arrivals have the opportunity to fully contribute to and participate in a multicultural society, and were delivered to the families on Friday afternoon. The produce was donated by local organisations and we are truly grateful.
Busy times with so much happening in our school.
Helen Jamieson
Executive Principal
Athletics Carnival
On Friday 3 May we hosted the school’s annual Athletics carnival. Congratulations to Pirri House for taking out the win and to all our students who got involved. Moori house came up in second place and we were so proud to see all of our students getting into the house spirit! A big thank you to all our HPE staff and teacher volunteers for supervising the day!
Future Options Career Expo
This past week we had our Future Career Options Expo and we had over 30 exhibitors presenting career options for our year 10, 11 and 12 students. We had a range of exhibitors present to cater to every student and their future career goals from Universities to Apprenticeship and training providers. We had exhibitors from our local Universities including UQ, QUT, Griffith and USQ. We also had other stalls from TAFE Queensland, Skillsroad and Apprenticeships QLD.
All our exhibitors had information and goodies to give away and our students exhausted just about everything! This event is a great opportunity for students to learn about their options for the future. Thank you to all our exhibitors for attending and to all our students for their keen attitude and open minds!
Coming Events
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Date |
Event |
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Tue/Wed/Thu 14-16 May |
NAPLAN |
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Tuesday 21 May |
Wellbeing Expo 10:00am – 2:00pm |
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Friday 24 May |
National Sorry Day |
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Wednesday 29 May |
Write that Essay Hub Event |
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Mon-Fri 3-7 June |
Year 10 Set Plan |
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Friday 7 June |
Year 12 Drama Performance Night 6:00pm |
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Tuesday 18 June |
QTAC Information Sessions – 10:00am |
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Wednesday 19 June |
Junior Dance and Drama Performance Night 6:00pm |
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Friday 28 June |
Term 2 Ends |
Some of our best…
Tahnaya Noonan
Over the weekend of 3rd-6th of May one of our grade 7 students, Tahnaya Noonan competed in the Ipswich Combined Teachers Dance Eisteddfod and the Wynnum Solos. She competed in over 23 divisions of dance from Musical theatre to ballet and tap. She also competed in the Wynnum Solos on 7 May and placed in two out of her three divisions. We are so proud of Tahnaya and congratulate her for her fantastic performances! See some of her best results below:
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1st place |
2nd place |
3rd place |
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12/Under |
12/Under |
12/Under |
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15/Under |
15/Under |
15/Under |
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Opens |
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Wynnum Solos |
Wynnum Solos |
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Braydon Doolan
One of our year 12 students, Braydon Doolan, played for the Brisbane Roar Youth team on Saturday 11 May. A huge congratulations to Braydon for scoring a goal against the Magpies Crusaders United (Mackay-Whitsundays) team!
Playing at Politics
Senior Legal Studies students Olivia, Jemima, Tahlia and Gill were recently given the opportunity to participate in Queensland Parliament’s Legal Studies Youth Parliament. This program had students participating in a variety of activities including; debating a specially drafted bill, learning the Bill’s passage through the Legislative Assembly Chamber, and participating in an Adjournment Debate on a topic of the student’s choosing.
Tahlia and Jemima presented their views on the use of technology in Queensland, and Gill spoke about current issues with the Queensland health care system. Olivia spoke about the need to further address the use of single use plastics, whist Tahlia spoke again, addressing the issues in youth detention centres. Students from other schools spoke on issues such as mental health, animal welfare, motorised scooters, sexual assault and euthanasia.
The students also had the opportunity to see local Members of Parliament, including the Speaker, Hon Curtis Pitt and Corinda’s local member; Jess Pugh MP. This was an excellent opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of how laws are passed and serves as an excellent complement to their studies.
Debating Results
On Friday 3 May, our student debaters competed against Moreton Bay College. We had spectacular results with our year 8s, 9s and 10s taking out wins and Olivia Hollis, year 8, receiving a best speaker award. Congratulations to all our debaters and their coaches: Simon O'Brien, Alex Griffin, Amy Heymer and Patrick Duggan. A special thank you goes to Madi McCabe, Jeremy Green and Miriam Byrne for giving up their Friday evenings to adjudicate the debates.
School News
Flu season
Flu season has arrived early for the year and we want all of our students staff to be aware of the symptoms and precautions they should take. We have already issued our flu vaccinations for our staff for this year, but there is still a risk due to the serious nature of the virus.
For our school and community the best ways to prevent and minimize the impact of influenza are:
- Vaccination
- Cough etiquette and hand hygiene
- If unwell - exclude from school until symptoms have resolved which is usually 5-7 days
Professional Partnership Business Luncheon
On Friday 10 May we hosted our annual Professional Partnership Business Luncheon which is a chance for our hospitality students to showcase their talents. This partnership luncheon lets our school make connections with local businesses and community members to give further development opportunities for our students.
Our hospitality students were accompanied by one of our hospitality teachers, Lorraine Rice and Training Direct Australia and were given the opportunity to apply their skills learnt in our programs. A big congratulations to all our students involved, our partners were all very impressed!
Golden Opportunity Days
Golden Opportunity Days are a fantastic way for primary school students to explore the range of Excellence Programs we have on offer here at Corinda and be challenged by the curriculum. We have a lot of the Golden Opportunity Day program for 2019 with spaces in the program filling quickly. Parents can register their interest using the SkoolBag app and will be notified of the program opening dates in advance. Our most recent days saw Humanities and Science feature.
Science (Spaghetti Bridge Engineering) Golden Opportunity Day
Students who attended the Science Golden Opportunity Day were challenged to investigate, design and produce a bridge capable of holding the most weight using only one packet of spaghetti and 4 hot glue gun sticks. Students worked collaboratively to generate ideas and proposals. Excitement built when the students then began testing their engineering feats. The weight of the bridge was considered as well as the amount of weight the bridge could hold. Congratulations to all teams particularly the winning team who constructed a bridge capable of holding 3.593kg!
Humanities Golden Opportunity Day
Due to popular demand our Humanities (History and Geography) Golden Opportunity Day was back! The 20 students from a range of primary schools spent the morning in the role of archaeologists, learning about the concept of stratigraphy to then apply their knowledge to an archaeological dig. Students then took their skills outside to complete a field walk to uncover hidden artefacts. In the afternoon, the students tested the water quality from a range of sites in the local area and then used scribble maps to pinpoint their location.
Community News
School Watch
We need assistance to watch for after-hours crime in our school.
If you see anything suspicious, please don’t attempt to intervene. Call the School Watch number – 13 17 88 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.
The School Watch Program is a partnership between Education Queensland, the Queensland Police Service and the State Government Protective Security Service. It aims to reduce criminal activity in Queensland schools and encourages everyone to look out for after-hours crime in our schools. You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via the website link below 24hrs a day.
https://www.crimestoppersqld.com.au/home.jsp