22 July 2021
Newsletter Articles
Executive Principal’s Report
Dear Parents and friends
It is always great to see our staff and students return safely from their holidays, energised and reunited for the new term. We were fortunate that the timing of the latest COVID-19 lockdown did not disrupt our learning, despite the disappointment it may have presented with vacation plans.
National NAIDOC Week was celebrated across our country from Sunday 4 July to Sunday 11 July, and it continues here at Corinda in our first few weeks. A special display of relevant books and profiles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait role models are on display in the Research Centre for students to take in. This year’s theme ‘Heal Country’ has been explored in the year 7 SLP lesson and there have been some very rich and insightful discussions amongst our students. It is great to see them engaging with such a significant event in our calendar.
We were all looking forward to our annual Athletics Carnival after missing out last year but unfortunately the weather let us down, causing us to only run trials for those wishing to be selected for District Athletics. I know our students were so disappointed and the last day of term was quite flat for them all. This Friday we are having our Interhouse Athletics Carnival to provide students with the opportunity to immerse in their House Culture and enjoy the positive competitive spirit. We are looking forward to a great day and plenty of spirit.
We had a busy weekend of activity last week with our students participating in Creative Generations State Schools on Stage and the Peaks to Points festival. Both events showcased the amazing skills, talents and opportunities on offer here at Corinda. Our students never disappoint and always leave a lasting impression with people. Congratulations to all our students for their participation; they are making us very proud.
This week I had the opportunity to attend the Premier’s Breakfast with two of our sporting excellence students – Danielle Badman and Sachin Prasad. This was a special event for schools with sporting excellence programs as part of the promotion on the eve of the announcement of the bid for Brisbane to host the Olympic Games. The event was particularly special for Corinda State High School as the MC was past student and Gold Medal Olympian Natalie Cook. The presentations by Ministers of Parliament and elite athletes were very inspiring and it was a great opportunity for our two talented athletes to be a part of the atmosphere in anticipation of being awarded the bid for Brisbane.
No doubt you have had the chance to unpack your child’s report card in preparation for Parent Teacher Interviews this week. If you were unable to attend please do not hesitate to contact the school to arrange alternative times that are mutually convenient. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss feedback and how students can improve or to obtain feedback on their recent assessment. I know these are somewhat fairly limited in time, but they do provide a good snapshot to have meaningful discussions with your students around their progress and learning goals.
Welcome back to term 3 and I look forward to seeing you all in the coming weeks. Let’s hope we have a smooth COVID safe term.
Helen Jamieson
Executive Principal
Coming Events
|
Date |
Event |
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Thursday 22 July |
Parent Teacher Interviews |
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Friday 23 July |
Interhouse Athletics Carnival |
Some of our best
Junior Dux
Last term we celebrated our two Junior Dux students on a dedicated year 10 assembly. Well done to Olivia Hollis and Jenny Nguyen on their outstanding academic performance throughout 2020 – a year like no other! We are very proud of their commitment to their education.
Brisbane Performing Arts Challenge
Last term our Dance Excellence Classes, Dance Troupe and Dance Crew competed at the Brisbane Performing Arts Challenge. They worked super hard in the last two weeks to bring their routines to the stage.
Congratulations to Dance Excellence (all levels Hip Hop) who received 3rd place – Great effort dancers!
Congratulations to our Senior Dance Troupe who received a Highly Commended for their lyrical “Rescue” – awesome work!
A massive thank you to all students involved as well as our dancer’s biggest supporters – their parents, friends and family.
Community Mural
Last month we were fortunate enough to present the Sherwood Neighbourhood Centre with a one of a kind mural. This mural was designed by local artist, Robert Lowe, who worked with Ms Leech and Ms Crerar, as well as our students, to paint the great piece of artwork.
We are very grateful to Robert for helping our students, as well as Ms Leech and Ms Crerar, who gave up their time to paint this artwork that is now hanging up at the Sherwood Neighbourhood Centre. We also wish to thank the Sherwood Neighbourhood Centre for giving us this opportunity as well as Nicole Johnston, Councillor for Tennyson Ward, who was part of the unveiling.
West Brisbane Basketball Gala Day Champions!
Last Wednesday, our Year 10 and Open Boys basketball teams competed in the West Brisbane Winter District Gala Day at Centenary State High School. The boys have been training weekly throughout the year in preparation for the competition.
The Year 10 Boys team swept the competition, winning all their games decidedly against QASMT, Indooroopilly, Kenmore, Yeronga and Centenary. The Open Boys played similarly well, winning all but one of their games in the lead-up to the finals. A too-close-for-comfort matchup against strong opposition resulted in both our teams emerging victorious on the day.
Their effort is to be commended given the minimal rest they were given between games - the day began at 9.00 am and finals concluded at 3.30 pm. What an undertaking! Special thanks to the coaches (Jeff Thomson, Kristi Bourelle and William Payne) who accompanied the teams on the day, guided them throughout the year and for all they have put into the Corinda basketball program. As coaches, they are consistently impressed with the way our basketball teams carry themselves and the respect exhibited both on and off the court. As they like to say, “we are fostering great young men and women, who happen to be good basketballers!” Onto the Metropolitan Finals!
Creative Generations
By Annette Joyce, Head of Department – The Arts
I had the pleasure of attending the 2021 Creative Generation performance last week and was so proud to see our students representing our school. This epic production involved 1200 state school students at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Students had been auditioning and rehearsing since term 1 of 2021. Students, parents and staff committed to weekly Saturday and Sunday rehearsals and an arduous show week (amid lockdowns and COVID restrictions), to produce the most stunning, effervescent show.
Students had the opportunity to work with Brisbane based professionals in the areas of music, dance and drama producing a sparkling and engaging show. This is no mean feat especially given the restrictions and procedures that had to be observed in order to remain COVID safe.
For those of you that did not get the opportunity to see the show do not despair, the show was recorded and will be aired on channel 10 on November 27.
Congratulations to the students, and resounding thank you to parent supervisors, Kerri Van Der Sylus, Rachel King, Mel Coe, Naomi Henry and Sneh Kumar for their willingness to support and supervise our students throughout the rehearsal period and show week. A huge shout out to Jacob Hicks who worked tirelessly with the Corinda Drum Line to produce some stunning performances.
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Corinda Cares iSeeCare Initiative
As part of the school’s Corinda Cares initiative and our ongoing commitment to our community, some of our students last month volunteered their time with iSeeCare to make up food hampers for those doing it tough. iSeeCare focus on supporting and empowering young people and families to solve some of the greatest issues facing Australians such as mental health, teen suicide, bullying, isolation and family breakdowns. We hope to make this a regular opportunity for our students to be able to volunteer their time with iSeeCare.
For those interested in Corinda Care opportunities please see Jacob Fauid in his office in the Sports Centre.
Nandini, Layla, Sahar, Oprah and Mavis taking part in the iSeeCare initiative.
Media Animation Competition
Good luck to Media student, Ziggi Wilson whose animation work was so effective his classroom teacher has entered it into the ATOM 1 minute film competition. Super effort Ziggi, good luck!
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School News
Tap Workshops for our Dance Excellence Students
Recently, our Dance Excellent students were lucky enough to have three tap workshops with Tap Dog Nathaniel Hancock.
Nathaniel started his dance journey at ‘The Ritz’ dance school in Brisbane. Since 2010 has been performing in the world famous ‘Tap Dogs’ touring around Europe, Asia, Bahrain, UAE, Australia, South Africa, UK and USA. He is a founding member of the ‘Street Feet Entertainment’ and ‘The Australian Tap Company’. Nathaniel appeared in the animated film Happy Feet 2 as a featured tap dancer and also performed with ‘Beats the Streets’ and ‘The Next Step’. He is the founding member and director of ‘Rhythmism Tap Company’ and is at the forefront of modern tap dance in Australia.
Students of all tap experience participated in rhythm and tap workshops over 3 days with Nathaniel taking away new skills, working on complex rhythms as well as technical tap steps.
Peaks to Point Festival
Last Sunday many of our students and staff gave up their day to perform and help out at the Peaks to Point festival at Oxley Common. The crowd were blown away by the Senior Clarinet ensemble (pictured below). Well done to the ensemble and Mr Stewart on the entertaining performances!
School Opinion Survey
Thank you to all of those who have already completed the Parent/Caregiver Survey. If you have not had a chance to complete the survey yet, please note that the online surveys will remain open until Friday, 30 July 2021. This is your opportunity to provide feedback about what our school does well and how we can improve.
To have your say, check your email for an invitation from the Department of Education titled School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2021.
Can’t find your invitation? If your family has more than one parent/caregiver, check that they haven’t received the invitation and/or check your junk email folder.
Community News
Smith Family Saver Plus Program
House Graceville Touch Football
Hounds Graceville Touch Football Association are hosting a JUNIOR Touch Football Summer competition. This is a fantastic opportunity for individual participants or existing teams (league, union, netball, touch football) to come along, learn some touch basics and play some touch football as a team in our junior competition. ALL ARE WELCOME!
Summer Season 2, 2021 Competition Information:
- Start: 29/08/2021
- Finish: 21/11/2021
- For ages U6–U18
- Fees start from $10.00 per person per game or $135 for the season inclusive of your very own Hounds playing singlet
- To register to Hounds as an Individual player follow this link.
- Queries and team nominations to: houndstouch@gmail.com
UQ Cheer and Dance
