27 May 2021

Newsletter Articles

Executive Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and friends

I recently found myself reflecting back to this time last year and realised how much our lives have changed so dramatically in a short space of time. This time last year our students were settling back into school routine, amidst the height of the pandemic and every day involved unique encounters as we navigated the COVID-19 world. We have come so far and I am so grateful that we can enjoy the routines of school and school life. Life is good and I am confident that it will continue to improve as the vaccination program rolls out. We have much to be grateful for here in Queensland, despite the odd setbacks that we have bounced back from.

Last Monday evening I watched with interest this week’s edition of Australian Story (S25 E15) – A Balancing Act, on the ABC. This profiled the work of Dr Michelle Telfer - a world leader in providing lifesaving treatment for children and teenagers with gender dysphoria, guiding them through their first steps towards transitioning.

This is an emerging issue, which we are navigating in society, and I found it most informative and educational. Understanding Adolescence is complex in itself and this is an emerging complexity that requires careful attention and multi-disciplinary support for young people and their families.

The key message Dr Telfer continually conveyed is that Adolescence is a very difficult time of rapid growth and change, which can be quite confusing for our young people. The work she is undertaking highlights her very thorough processes in working with teenagers as they unpack and identify issues around gender.

I encourage all parents of young teenagers to take the time to watch this episode in order to not only gain an understanding of the complexities of gender dysphoria, but to simply understand the challenges of adolescence that sometimes can be confused with gender dysphoria. At Corinda we continue to explore the research on this and have processes in place to support students and their families. If you have any questions or concerns in relation to this we are more than happy to work through these with you. At the end of the day we want our young people to be happy, healthy and on a pathway to success.

Corinda Alumni

It was wonderful to reconnect with members of the Corinda State High School Alumni last Saturday at Open Day. The passion and enthusiasm of our past students is infectious. I just loved hearing them recite their Corinda War Cries and listening to their stories. We were fortunate to have some foundation students, the daughter of one of our foundation Principals – Vic Honour and past teachers attend. If you know of any past students who are interested in registering with our Alumni we would welcome their involvement.

Helen Jamieson
Executive Principal

Coming Events

Some of our best

Corinda’s Future Police Officers

In Week 3 of this term, five of our senior students were lucky enough to undertake work experience with the Queensland Police. One of the attendees, Katala Fitzgerald (year 12), wrote the following about her experience:

“Kimberly, Paige, Jordan, Taryn, and myself had the wonderful opportunity to participate in police work experience. Throughout the three days, our understanding of the police force was significantly broadened as we visited places such as the Mt Ommaney Police Station, Richlands Court House, Water Police, and the Police Training Academy in Oxley. We discovered that there is an abundance of different departments within the police force and luckily, we were able to hear from some of the people involved in these areas.

Officers from the Traffic Department, Criminal Investigations Department, Dog Squad, Bomb Squad, Water Police Department and the (PSRT) Public Safety Response Team all spoke about their specific areas and what they involved. We also found out a lot about how to get into being a police officer and the many opportunities and responsibilities this involved. Overall, I can say, along with the others who participated, that this opportunity was certainly eye opening and has definitely showed that we all have a true passion for becoming a police officer. If you are wanting to enter this pathway in the future, this opportunity would be a great start. For those who are unsure of what they want to do, or become, this would also be quite an interesting experience.”

Drumline at Darra

On Saturday, the Drumline backed up from their performance at Open Day to play a headlining entertainment role at the 2021 Darra Street Festival. They had a terrific response from the crowd and organisers following their performance.

Mr Hicks was approached by two different members of the public to commend the behaviour of our students in the community. Our drummers joined in with the locals dancing and had a lot of fun encouraging the crowd around them and setting a great example in their uniform.

District Cross Country

Earlier this month 15 Corinda students competed at the Eastern Taipans District Cross Country competition. Out of the 15 competitors, nine students finished in the top 10 with five qualifying to represent the district at the Metropolitan West Cross Country on 1 June 2021.

Highlights form the day included:

Congratulations to all students on their efforts and a big thank you and congratulations to Ms Wild for all of her great work convening the carnival.

Alumni Art Success

Congratulations to 2020 Graduate Vanessa Vu whose work “The Growth,” has been chosen for display in the Creative Generation Exhibition at GOMA. Vanessa’s work is one of 37 artworks chosen from hundreds of the best Visual Art students across state and private schools in Queensland.

Vanessa’s work is on exhibition at GOMA until 8 August 2021.

Visual Arts Excellence

Visual Arts Excellence students from years 7 to 9 engaged with art works in both gallery and public spaces on their recent excursion to the City Botanic Gardens and the Brisbane Street Art Festival.

They also visited various galleries across Brisbane, culminating in seeing Vanessa Vu's work hanging in the Creative Generation exhibition at GOMA.

School News

Open Day 2021

Last Saturday we were thrilled to host our current families, prospective families and community members at our annual school Open Day. We were blessed with beautiful weather for a happy and fun-filled day.

Our Arts departments showcased some truly spectacular talent with our musicians, drama students, artists and dancers. Our faculties offered unique experiences to our guests including VR tours of Ancient Egypt and Tesla’s factory, origami workshops with our Languages staff and cooking with our Culinary Excellence students.

It was a pleasure to welcome community members to join us on the day and showcase their wares including Y9 student Lucy, who was selling her beautiful earrings at her stall Wyso Accessories. The giant slide and climbing wall were also a hit on the day.

If you did not get a chance to join us at Open Day please get in touch with our enrolments team to discuss future enrolment opportunities and to ask any questions you may have. A huge thank you to the wonderful people who came and made the day so much fun!

Showcasing our Farm at Open Day

Open Day was the perfect opportunity for families to come and meet our furry friends, as well as experience the innovation we live and breathe at the Corinda Farm. It was such an exhilarating place to visit as there was so much to see and do!

Visitors could see our impressive aquaponics set up, buy fresh produce from our organic gardens, purchase farm grown pot plants and of course, meet our friendly farm animals. The baby chicks (just two days old) were very popular, as were our boisterous alpacas!

The QLD Spinners and Weavers Guild were wonderful guests, making gorgeous garments right in front of us out of our beautiful alpaca fur.

Corinda Phone App Launch

We were thrilled to launch our new Corinda app on Open Day. The app is available for free download from the App Store and on Google Play. All parents and carers should have received an email on Thursday with username/password information. If you did not receive the email, please first check your Junk/Spam folders before emailing ecoop154@eq.edu.au

Drummer Queens inspiring the Corinda Vanguard

Recently, some of our students and parents went to see the percussion extravaganza Drummer Queens at QPAC. The students were hugely inspired by the performance and some, like Vini Salemenesa (year 7), were even fortunate enough to meet some of the cast members after the show!

Community News

Corinda State High School Alumni Big Band

Attention past students of Corinda State High School!

We are attempting to “get the band back together” for school Alumni who have fallen out of practise on their instruments and are eager to blow off the cobwebs during the mid-semester break in 2021 (4th of June to the 22nd of July).

We are hoping that this opportunity will help past students maintain their musical skills but also a chance to maintain the relationships that they formed during their time in the Instrumental Music Program.

The Alumni band will rehearse on Friday evenings (6.00 pm - 8.30 pm) in the Old Hall/Music Block for seven weeks with a final performance on the 22nd of July and the possibility of performing again at the annual Music of the Night performance evening on the 22nd of October. Please see below for a detailed list of rehearsal dates and times.

We are looking to form a Big Band; a smaller ensemble for our first attempt at this program requiring largely Brass (trumpet, trombone), Woodwind (saxophone) players with a small number of Rhythm section players (piano, drums, bass, guitar, and vibraphone). Musicians who play other instruments can also be accommodated with parts being rearranged and orchestrated (just let us know what you play).

I hope that you are all well and, if you are interested in taking part in this Alumni Ensemble please get in contact with tstew97@eq.edu.au. We would love it if you could share this opportunity with other past students of Corinda State High school too!

Rehearsal Dates and Times:

Performance dates:

22nd of July, Year 12 Performance Evening and 22nd of October, Music in the Night, 2021.

Scouts QLD Holiday Outdoor Experience – Applications now open!

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