24 April 2018 Volume 20 Number 4

PRINCIPAL

News from the Principal

From the Principal

Welcome back to Term 2 and I trust all members of the Centenary Community enjoyed a relaxing break and are ready for the challenges of Term 2. We face a busy commencement to the term with plenty of events filling the school calendar.

I trust that many members of our community enjoyed the Commonwealth Games. It was great to see that 2008 Centenary SHS graduate Grant Irvine swimming butterfly, winning gold in the 4x100 medley. Congratulations to Grant on a magnificent achievement.

By the time you receive this newsletter the parent teacher nights would have been completed. I hope that these meetings have provided you with a good understanding of how your child is progressing. Your child’s education is a partnership between home and school and good quality dialogue is essential between the two. I encourage all parents to follow up with any concerns or questions you may have regarding your child’s education with staff through email, telephone call or a further interview.

Staff Appointments:

We welcome Eddie Lai to the Centenary Staff. Eddie replaces Eugene Rajasingham who is on leave for the rest of 2018.

NAPLAN

The school is fine tuning its preparation for the NAPLAN tests which are set for the 15-17 May. Although the content of the testing is a reflection of the Australian curriculum, students generally need greater exposure to the regimen of writing under exam conditions. With the mooted changes to Senior Assessment, students will be required to undertake more external testing in their schooling.

Over the Semester to date, students in Years Seven and Nine have been exposed to a number of focussed literacy tasks aimed to improve their capacity to compose across a range of contexts.

Traditionally our NAPLAN Numeracy results have been very strong using the proportion of students above National Minimum Standard as a barometer. Our challenge in the Numeracy domain is to continue to improve the proportion of students performing in the top bands.

In respect to reading comprehension, initial data indicates that our students are competent in recalling information from texts but are challenged with making inferential meaning. Our focus across the curriculum has been to identify cues.

Writing remains as the targeted improvement area for Centenary SHS in 2018. We have implemented a range of strategies across subject areas over the last couple of years in order to improve performance in this area. This year we have prioritised the Write that Essay Program to support staff capability in addressing student writing skills.

Student Achievement

Congratulations to our newly appointed Year 7 Forum leaders. This selection process take place towards at the end of Term 1 which provides the school with a period of time to better get to know our entry cohort students. The leadership role is an affirmation of the regard the selected students are held by staff and students and carries the significant responsibility of representing the views of our 270 students in Year 7 and leading this cohort in our continual improvement agenda. Our Year 7 leaders for 2018 are:

Ewan Griffin
Holly Lightbody
Brady Peut
Anoria Rankin

Well done to all students who represented the school at the cluster day in the last week of term. In what was a highly successful day for Centenary we brought home six District Premierships.

Year 8 and year 9 boys Touch Football
Year 8 and year 9 Boys Volleyball
Year 8 and year 9 Girls Volleyball

The final week of term also held the school’s cross country. Again the event was a great success with strong student participation. Congratulations to our Age Champions:

John Brew, Principal
Email: admin@centenaryshs.eq.edu.au

To read newsletter in full view, please click on the “Newsletter Print Version” button on the top left-hand corner of the screen.

Newsletter Articles

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

News from the Deputy Principals

Parent Teacher Interviews

A big thank you to all parents and family members who attended the Parent Teacher Evenings in the first two weeks of this term. The research clearly shows that these vital networks which are established between parents and teachers have a very big influence on student achievement. Please feel comfortable to contact any teacher about your child’s progress or concerns you may have at any time of the year, not just through Parent Teacher Interview nights.

A reminder that there are a number of different staff who can help you with your assessment items. The first place to start is with your subject teacher. Have a conversation with them about what you can do to improve or maintain your results. You can also seek assistance from the Head of Department, Year Coordinator, Deputy Principals and Guidance Officer. A wide range of other support staff can also be located in the administration building.

NAPLAN

A reminder that all Years 7 and 9 students will sit the NAPLAN tests in Week 5 of this term, Tuesday 15 May to Thursday 17 May. It is very important that all students attend every day and participate to the best of their ability. The results gained through the NAPLAN testing protocol provide our school with essential information about the delivery of our curriculum programs and as such we need accurate results for all students.

Year 9 Junior Certificate of Education (JCE)

This year we are introducing a new initiative where all graduating year 9 students will have an opportunity to attain a Junior Certificate of Education (JCE). In order to receive a JCE, students must demonstrate a satisfactory level of academic attainment. The JCE represents a student’s successful graduation and transition from the junior school into the senior school and also replicates similar processes which occur at the end of year 12. The criteria for the JCE are as follows:

1. JCE Honours – ‘A’ result received for all subjects
2. JCE – need to achieve a ‘C’ result or better in at least 5 subjects
3. Merit Award – any student who receives a ‘B’ or above for effort and behaviour for all subjects
4. Statement of Attainment – any student who does not receive a JCE

The JCE, JCE Honours, Merit Award or Statement of attainment will be presented to all students at a special Transition Ceremony at the end of the year.

Matt McDonald, Deputy Principal (Year 11)
Email: mmcdo156@eq.edu.au

Adam Richter, Deputy Principal (Years 9, 12 & International)
Email: arich60@eq.edu.au

Sallyann Griffith, Deputy Principal (Years 7, 8, International & Exchange)
Email: sgrif88@eq.edu.au

Kelsey Oakes, Deputy Principal (Year 10, ATSI & EALD)
Email: koake10@eq.edu.au

BUSINESS MANAGER

News from the Business Manager

Statements

Next week you will receive a “Debtor Statement” for school fees, either by email or post. This statement is an overview of previous single invoices that have already been forwarded.

Please note that no action is required for a credit adjustment, this will appear as a negative amount on a statement. If you have not received a statement this indicates that there are no outstanding fees.

All fees relating to the 2018 calendar year are due by 31 July 2018. An overview of all fees and charges can be located on our website. These documents provide a detailed explanation (by subject) of Curriculum Charges and Student Resource Scheme fees and what the school provides for each of these charges.

Please note that some subjects are only timetabled each term or semester. For these subjects, invoices will be generated as required with an email advising parents/carers of the fee. For invoices generated after the due date, a 30 day account will operate.

For more detailed information please contact the individual Head of Department or Business Manager by emailing admin@centenaryshs.eq.edu.au.

How to make a payment

Payments can be made over the counter by cash or EFTPOS (Debit Card, MasterCard or Visa), by BPOINT or QParents. BPOINT and QParents options allow parents/carers the convenience of making payments from home and alleviates the need to pay over the counter transactions in person. For more information about QParents, please refer to the school’s website.

BPOINT Option

BPOINT is an online payment system and is the preferred payment method for the Department.

This option is accessed through an internet weblink below which appears on all invoices and statements. This link can also be located in the Quicklinks section of our school’s website homepage. You will need the Customer Reference Number (CRN) which is printed on the bottom of your invoice/statement before payment can be processed.

When accessing the BPOINT weblink on individual invoices all relevant information will prepopulate. Parents/Carers will only be required to enter their credit or debit card details.

INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE (IVR) BPOINT is also available by dialling the 1300 number provided on individual invoices. This option will only accept credit cards.

ELECTRONIC DIRECT DEBIT REGISTRATION (eDDR) BPOINT is the approved payment plan option. To set up a payment plan parents/carers will be required to contact the school office first.

For more information on BPOINT please refer to the school’s website.

PHONE OR COUNTER payments Options

Payments can be made at the school office, Monday to Friday between 8.00am and 4.00pm. Payment options include credit and debit cards (EFTPOS), cheque and cash. Money orders are also accepted.

For payments over the phone, call the school on 3373 4555, Monday to Friday between 8.00am and 4.00pm and we will transfer you to the IVR BPOINT 1300 dedicated phone number. Only VISA or MasterCard can be used for this process. From 2018 schools are no longer able to accept credit card payments over the phone.

Changes to the Payment of Excursion

This year excursion/camps/activities will no longer be included in payment plans. These are a user pay activity and will need to be paid in full prior to attending the event.

Parent/Carer Experiencing Financial Difficulties

A parent/carer wishing to participate in the Student Resource Scheme and experiencing financial hardship is encouraged to contact the Business Manager to discuss how their financial obligations can be met throughout the school year, or to negotiate alternative arrangements that may be available to accommodate their individual circumstances. All discussions will be held in the strictest confidence.

Parent/Carer Contact Details

Parent/Carer contact details are very important to us. Up to date and current school records enable us to send you messages, contact you if your student becomes ill or if there is an issue that needs resolving.

Our process for sending home report cards and other correspondence is now by email. By keeping your email address current we can keep you updated and informed.

If you have moved or are moving house, changed jobs, emails or mobile phone numbers, please inform the school office via email to admin@centenaryshs.eq.edu.au.

If you wish to receive the school newsletter, please go to our school website’s Newsletter tab to subscribe, or go directly to the link below. You will need to complete and submit the ‘subscribe’ form on the website.

Charmaine Macaulay, Business Manager
Email: cmaca5@eq.edu.au

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND INNOVATION

School Improvement and Innovation

Where do creative ideas come from?

Creativity is a highly desirable trait and it is likely to be one of the most highly prized employability traits in the future. We will all benefit from creativity directed at generating solutions to complex social, technical and environmental problems.

Researchers from Harvard University have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify which part of the brain are active when creative ideas are generated1. They found that simultaneous activation of three areas of the brain that are known to work more in opposition than together result in the most creative ideas. The executive network is responsible for planning and organising thinking and the salience network is responsible for determining which pieces of environmental input are important and should be processed more deeply. It seems logical that these areas of the brain are active during problem solving but to be truly creative we also need to activate our default network that is associated with daydreaming.

While daydreaming is not what students should be spending all of their time doing, perhaps a little daydreaming training is beneficial.

1 Beaty et al, 2018, ‘Robust prediction of individual creative ability from brain function connectivity’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol 115(5), pp 1087-1092

Anna Petrie, School Improvement and Innovation HOD
Email: anpet0@eq.edu.au

CATSIES COORDINATOR

News from our CATSIES Coordinator

Centenary SHS is very excited to announce that we will be creating an Indigenous Student Leadership Council at Centenary SHS, to become an ongoing part of the school’s leadership culture. The council will be comprised of 6 students in total, with three each from the junior and senior schools. Membership on the council will be for one year, and will be recognised within the school with a leadership badge.

Responsibilities of council members will include such things as giving acknowledgements of country at school assemblies and awards nights; assisting in planning and implementing school NAIDOC celebrations; and creating their own action plan for key events and activities they would like to implement.

To apply for a position on the council students must identify as Aboriginal &/or Torres Strait Islander and be able to show they meet the following criteria:

• >85% attendance
• effort & behaviour all satisfactory or higher
• academic results all/mostly A-C
• engagement with programs & opportunities offered to Indigenous students through the school
• personal leadership qualities

At the start of term two, the process will begin, in which students will write to selection criteria and be considered by a panel including members of the Indigenous community. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me.

Angela Duncombe, CATSIES Coordinator
Email: adunc62@eq.edu.au

GUIDANCE

News from the Guidance Officers

The Skills Every Young Adult Needs

Former Stanford Dean of Freshman and Undergraduate Advising Julie Lythcott-Haims has some advice for parents about the skills that their children need to possess by the time they reach adulthood. This advice originally appeared in the book, How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success.

1. A young adult must be able to talk to strangers — teachers, school and university leaders, advisors, landlords, shop assistants, human resource managers, co-workers, bank tellers, health care providers, bus drivers, mechanics—in the real world.

If we teach young people not to talk to strangers instead of teaching the more nuanced skill of how to discern the few bad strangers from the mostly good ones, young people end up not knowing how to approach strangers — respectfully and with eye contact — for the help, guidance, and direction they will need out in the world. The perfect time to begin learning these skills is while still living at home, with the support and guidance from a parent or caregiver.

2. A young adult must be able to find their way around a campus, the town in which their internship is located, or the city where they are working or studying abroad.

If we drive or accompany our children everywhere, even when a bus, their bicycle, or their own feet could get them there, young people don't know the route for getting from here to there, how to cope with transportation options and issues, when and how to fill the car with petrol, or how to make and execute transportation plans. Again, this should be a gradual process in line with the capability of a young person, and should take into account safety considerations relevant to the area and time of day.

3. A young adult must be able to manage their assignments, workload, and deadlines.

If we remind young people when their homework is due and when to do it— sometimes helping them do it, sometimes doing it for them, young people don't know how to prioritise tasks, manage workload, or meet deadlines, without regular reminders.

4. A young adult must be able to contribute to the running of a household.

If we don't ask them to help much around the house because the checklisted childhood leaves little time in the day for anything aside from academic and extracurricular work, young people don't know how to look after their own needs, respect the needs of others, or do their fair share for the good of the whole. Of course there need to be allowances for stressful periods, but in general young people benefit from regular responsibilities within their home environment.

5. A young adult must be able to handle interpersonal problems.

If we step in to solve misunderstandings and soothe hurt feelings for them, young people don't know how to cope with and resolve conflicts without our intervention. A better approach is to support young people to actively solve their own issues, with advice and guidance as needed.

6. A young adult must be able to cope with ups and downs of subjects and workloads, academically rigorous work, competition, tough teachers, bosses, and others.

If we step in when things get hard, finish the task, extend the deadline, and talk to the adults, young people don't know that in the normal course of life things won't always go their way, and that they'll be okay regardless. Again, while we may advise and support, it is generally best to encourage a young person to manage their own challenges, at least in the first instance.

7. A young adult must be able to earn and manage money.

If they don't hold part-time jobs, and instead receive money from us for whatever they want or need, young people don't develop a sense of responsibility for completing job tasks, accountability to a boss who doesn't inherently love them, an appreciation for the cost of things, an understanding of how to manage money, or the sense of satisfaction that comes with purchasing something that has required discipline and planning.

In short, if we've laid out a young adult’s entire path for them and have avoided all pitfalls or prevented all stumbles for them, they will find it difficult to develop the wise understanding that success comes only after trying and failing and trying again, or the thick skin that comes from coping when things have gone wrong.

Juanita Oberle, Guidance Officer
Email: jober13@eq.edu.au

Janet Ingram, Guidance Officer
Email: jingr34@eq.edu.au

CHAPLAIN

News from the Chaplain

Food for Thought

In the early 1500s in Florence, Italy, there was a huge piece of marble that many sculptors had declared as useless because of a large deep hole that was in it. There was however one man who saw things differently; he believed that is spite of this hole he could still create something beautiful.

This man was Michelangelo. After several years of hard work, he transformed that ‘flawed’ block into the magnificent statue that the world now knows as the statue of David.

Think about this for a moment. All of us have flaws and imperfections – just like that original piece of marble. Some people feel that they are too thin, too plump, too short or too tall or perhaps just not as attractive as others. These thoughts can even lead some people to believe that they are of little worth.

However, the truth of the matter is that your value does not come from what you look like on the outside; it is the beauty of your personality that will have the deepest impact on others.

Decide today to stop focussing on any perceived negatives in your appearance. Instead, work at sculpting your personality and behaviour into the best that it can be by getting rid of bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words and slander. Try being patient with each other and make allowance for each other’s faults.

If you work hard in these areas, you will automatically become a more beautiful and more loved person.

A message from Chappy Bernie

Positive Self Talk

Self-talk can have a really great impact on your self-esteem and confidence. There is positive and negative self-talk and they both have an impact on how you feel. There are a few ways you can develop better self-talk including just listening to what you’re saying to yourself each day. It’s worth practicing self-talk as feeling good about yourself is worth the effort.

This can help with…

• feeling better about yourself
• boosting your confidence
• building your self-esteem
• making friends
• feeling in control

Self-talk is basically your inner voice, the voice in your mind which says things that you don’t necessarily say out loud. Often self-talk happens without you even realising it and can be a subtle running commentary going on in the background of your mind. But what you say in your mind can determine a lot of how you feel about who you are.

So what is positive and negative self-talk?

Positive self-talk is the stuff that makes you feel good about yourself and the things that are going on in your life. It is like having an optimistic voice in your head that always looks on the bright side.

Example – “These clothes look pretty awesome on me”, “I can totally make it through this exam”, “I don’t feel great right now but things could be worse!”

Negative self-talk is the stuff that makes you feel pretty crappy about yourself and things that are going on. It can put a downer on anything, whether it is good or bad.

Example- “I look stupid in these clothes”, “everyone thinks I’m an idiot”, “everything is crap and nothing is going to get better”

Negative self-talk is particularly bad as it brings you down all the time. It can impact on recovery from mental health difficulties and tends to make people pretty miserable. But being positive all the time isn’t achievable either, and isn’t helpful all the time. So how can you make your self-talk work for you?

Better self-talk

There are three things you can do that can help with changing the direction of your self-talk.

1. Listen to what you’re saying to yourself- we don’t always consciously take note of that we’re saying in our minds. The first step in improving your self-talk is to actually notice what your inner voice is saying. Take some time each day to listen, and even write down, what you’re thinking.

2. Monitor your self-talk- Is your self-talk more positive or negative? Start questioning your self-talk asking things like:

• Is there actual evidence for what I’m thinking?
• What would I say if a friend were in a similar situation?
• Is there a more positive way of looking at this?
• Am I keeping everything in perspective?
• Can I do anything to change what I’m feeling bad about?

3. Change your self-talk - Easier said than done, but definitely worth working on. Try by countering your negative thoughts with positive ones. For example, if you think “I’ll never be able to do this”, ask yourself “is there anything I can do that will help me be able to do this?” Avoid speaking in finite language and try and look for things that might add a better spin to a tough situation.

Why should I practice?

The more you work on improving your self-talk the better you will get. It’s kind of like practicing an instrument or going to sports training, it won’t be easy to start with but will get better with time.

It might not seem like much, but self-talk is a really important part of our self-esteem and confidence. By working on getting more positive self-talk, you’re more likely to get things done and feel more in control of stuff that’s going on in your life.

I hope this helps, if you need to talk to me you can contact me through an email: bmcmu27@eq.edu.au.

Bernie McMullen, Chaplain
Email: bmcmu27@eq.edu.au

SPORTS DIRECTOR

Sports Director Report

Welcome to Term Two. We have a number of sporting competitions and Sports Gala Days this term so I look forward to continually being able to share the results of our individual and team successes. Apart from the upcoming events, there are a number of recent fantastic successes to be recognised and celebrated.

Commonwealth Games Success

Congratulations to Grant Irvine (past Centenary SHS student) on a fantastic Commonwealth Games. Grant won gold in the 4 x 100 Medley relay, as well as Bronze in the 100m Butterfly. He also finished just out of the medals in the 50m and 200m Fly. Grant will be coming to Centenary SHS in the coming weeks to share some insights into his success.

As well as Grant’s success at the Commonwealth Games, Centenary’s guest Sprint Coach, Trae Williams (aka Quadzilla) also competed in the 100m (pb 10.1) where he narrowly missed the finals and whose 4 x 100m relay team finished 4th. Trae will be part of this year’s Centenary program also. (see the Centenary SHS Facebook Page for the video of our students v Trae)

School Cross Country

Another successful Cross Country saw many students achieve personal best times and the participation was at an all-time high. Students dressed up in house colours and cheered all afternoon for their house and for their friends. The Spirit Shield points for 2018 was awarded to Curragundi for their constant war cries and encouragement.

The final results saw Curragundi also being awarded Champion House for 2018. The following students were successful in achieving Age Champion by finishing 1st in their age group:

District Cross Country

Students that finished in the top 6 will be competing at the District Cross Country carnival to be held at Limestone Park on Friday 11 May. Students received their permission forms on the day and payment and forms are due back by Friday 4 May. This is our first Cross Country under the new District Structure so it will be learning curve for all involved. Best of luck to all students that are competing for a spot on the Northern District team.

Sports Gala Days

The first Junior Sports Gala Day of the West Brisbane Sports Association proved to be extremely successful. Centenary SHS entered teams into every sport and it was great to so many students enjoying themselves and getting involved. We won 6 premierships: Congratulations to year 8 and year 9 boys Touch Football, year 8 and year 9 boys and girls Volleyball teams that will now be competing in the Met Finals.

Year 10 and Open teams will be competing in their first Sports Gala Day on Friday 27 April. The Open Cricket team commence their campaign this Friday on 20 April and then day 2 on Friday 27 April. Teams have been training hard in term 1 and I know that the next two weeks will see students preparing to win some more Premierships. Payment was due in week 10 of Term 1 so please ensure that your student has paid and returned the permission forms. Best of luck to all coaches and players.

Upcoming Dates Term 2

April

20th Open Boys Cricket day 1
27th Year 10 and Open Sports Gala Day

May

2nd 1st round of Met Finals
9th 2nd round of Met Finals
11th Northern District Cross Country Trials
16th 3rd round of Met Finals
22nd Centenary SHS Athletics Carnival Field Events
23rd 4th Round of Met Finals
25th Centenary SHS Full School Athletics Carnival

June

1st Regional Cross Country
22nd Year 7, 8 and 9 Sports Gala Day

Reporting Results

To enable me to report on student results and to keep accurate records for sports awards, I need to know how participants went in their competitions. I encourage all students and parents to advise me of their results immediately after they have competed.

Students can see me in Staffroom 4 or results can be emailed to: tnasa1@eq.edu.au

Tamara Nasalio, Sports Director
Email: tnasa1@eq.edu.au

STEP

News from STEP

Welcome back! I hope everyone has enjoyed a relaxing break. Our STEP sign on assembly will be in week 1 during Wednesday lesson 4. The Term 2 STEP information and the list of activities were emailed to all year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students and parents before our Easter break. We have also prepared some paper copies of this information at the school front counter for anyone who has difficulties viewing the email attachment.

We encourage students to consider 2 or 3 activities from the given list of activities they may like to do, just in case a particular activity does not run due to insufficient numbers or becomes full. By the end of the sign-on assembly, it is intended that all students will be allocated to a STEP activity. Subsequently, there will no changing throughout term 2.

Last term Mr Tobin ran a workshop with a group of Year 08 students, they made a skills toy called the Ricochet Shooter. The students interpreted a given plan and constructed the Ricochet Shooter from timber. Their shooter propelled a disc towards a target. Throughout the whole project, the students were required to learn how put safety first as well as the correct handling of various tools. The STEP hands-on workshops are always popular so it’s great to see that in term 2, Mr Tobin is offering another workshop in constructing a kinetic energy desk. This will mesmerise you and others for hours - it sure looks crazy and fun to create. To find out more, please visit the link:

Sin Woon Thoo, STEP Coordinator
Email: sthoo2@eq.edu.au

CULTURAL DIRECTOR

Cultural Director Report

Welcome back to term two. We have a very busy term ahead with some major events coming up. Please check the date claimer below for important dates throughout the term.

ANZAC Day

The Symphonic Band conducted by Fiona Harvey will be involved in two ANZAC ceremonies in the second week back. Firstly there is the school event on Monday 23 April, and the Mt Ommaney community event on ANZAC Day itself. This is a wonderful and important event that our band is honoured to be a part of. We also have a number of individuals and smaller groups performing at other community venues to make their ANZAC services special.

Addams Family

The full rehearsals for Addams Family the Musical begin in week two of this term, but plenty has been happening already getting prepared for the show. Auditions are happening in week one for lead rolls and plenty of the choreography has already been blocked. It is going to be an amazing show so put the dates of August 31 and September 1 in your calendar for the performance dates.

Senior Camp

The senior music camp will be occurring in the first week back with our Symphonic Band, Stand Band and String Orchestra preparing for their upcoming performances and the Fanfare festival of music.

Creative Generation Voices

The school Vocal Ensemble will be performing at the Old Museum on Thursday 19 April as part of the Creative Generation Voices State Final. Creative Generation Voices celebrates talented Queensland state school students who excel musically as solo or group vocalists. CGEN Voices aims to engage and develop the next generation of performers, and there is no doubt audiences will enjoy a wonderful evening of entertainment, with a special performance by world-renowned beat boxer, Tom Thum.

Hosted by local Brisbane jazz musician, Franky Smart and adjudicated by Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan, musical theatre star Simon Gallaher and international soprano Suzanne Kompass.

Fanfare

The biennial Fanfare Festival is happening again this year, with all of our instrumental groups playing at our school on May 21. Details about performance times will be sent out shortly when they come to hand. All parents are welcome to come and support our groups.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the various events throughout this term.

Date Claimers

Mark Watkins, Cultural Director
Email: mwatk16@eq.edu.au

JUNIOR SECONDARY

Junior Secondary News

Welcome to Term 2!

Looking at the School Calendar, this is going to be a very busy term for our Junior Students. Students across Years 7 to 9 will have multiple opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities throughout Term 2. I strongly encourage all students to contribute to Centenary’s upcoming Open Day on Saturday May 12. Over the past couple of years it has been wonderful to see so many Junior students get involved in faculty demonstrations, or lead parent tours. It is these students who demonstrate such pride in their school that help to promote us positively to the local community and prospective parents.

Other extra-curricular activities on offer for our Junior students during Term 2 include Year Level programs of High Resolves, academic competitions, athletics track and field days, school musical rehearsals, new STEP options, and class excursions.

With the start of the new school term, it is important that your student reflects on their learning and results from Term 1. Time will be spent during their Home Group time recalling their goals for the term, their academic progress, and setting new goals – as well as talking through strategies that they can adopt to help reach their goals. I hope that many of you were able to attend the recent Parent-Teacher interviews. A strong relationship between parents and teachers is of great benefit for the students. If you were unable to attend these interviews, please remember that you can email your child’s teachers to request a phone call at a time that suits. You will find a list of the teachers’ email addresses in the back of the Student Diary.

At the end of last term, we undertook the selection process of our 2018 Year 7 Student Leaders. This is done at this time of the year, so that the staff and students get to know the students as they settle into high school before making leadership decisions. More than 30 students applied for the four positions. What was really impressive was the high calibre of the applicants. All students who applied are to be congratulated on their tremendous efforts. Special congratulations to the inducted Year 7 Student Leaders for 2018 – Anoria, Ewan, Holly and Brady.

Angela McKay, HOD Junior Secondary
Email: amcka18@eq.edu.au

FACULTIES

APPLIED TECHNOLOGY

Parent teacher Consultations

On behalf of the Applied Technology staff, I extend my gratitude to those parents who met with their child’s respective teacher, to discuss progress in the various subjects. The meetings enable teachers and parents to review the student’s term one achievements and consider improvement strategies for term 2. For parents who were unable to attend either of the two evenings, you are encouraged to contact your child’s teacher directly to discuss how your son/daughter might satisfy their potential during term 2.

Junior Class Swap

A number of year 7 and 8 classes have been timetabled to commence a five week block of either Home Economics or Industrial Technology and Design (ITD). This is part of the year 7 and 8 curriculum which provides students with an opportunity to experience all aspects of the Applied Technology discipline. Students will swap with their peers after the next five week period to experience the alternative Technology unit.

Parents of these students can expect to receive a consent form soon, to be signed and returned. Your attention to this authorisation is appreciated.

Applied Technology Staffing

I can confirm that Dan Patch will continue teaching ITD this term to fill the vacancy created by Mark Bartholomew’s retirement.

Carla Clarke has been granted leave from Wednesday, 16 May – Friday, 25 May. She will be replaced by Louise Duncan.

Junior Curriculum

As mentioned earlier this year, the Applied Technology junior curriculum is being written to comply with Australian Curriculum requirements.

Design is the focus of the units within both Industrial Technology and Design and Home Economics and asks that students display varying degrees of innovation and creativity. Additionally, students needs to consider the implications of their respective designs regarding the use of materials, construction methods, personal fabrication skills and environmental impact.

The design will encounter regular review to ensure that necessary changes are conducted to produce a desired and effective outcome. Students are enjoying the requirements of the design process and particularly the individuality it brings to their projects. Though design commands effort the results are proving to be most rewarding.

Design Challenge

Mr Winn’s year 10 class, Introduction to Senior Drawing and Design, are soon to commence a design challenge task requiring students to design, build and test drive a “Down Force Racer”, using 3mm thick foam board as construction material. Students are supplied with a 12 volt motor, a set of wheels and a propeller. Students will create and present ideas using the CAD programme Inventor and will then produce components on the laser cutter. Once the racer has been assembled, it will be connected to a “Power Anchor” to test its ability to lap a circuit quickly. Some adjustments may be required to improve the racer’s performance. I invite you to google “Power Anchor” to view the basic concept of the design challenge. We look forward to the development of some innovative aircraft.

Open Day

I invite all interested parties to pop into both the Home Economics faculty and the Industrial Technology and Design building during the planned school open day scheduled for Saturday, 12 May.

There will be lots to see and experience and staff will be available to answer any questions. This is a fantastic opportunity to clarify any concerns you or your child might be experiencing regarding Applied Technology.

Michael Tobin, Applied Technology HOD
Email: mtobi6@eq.edu.au

SCIENCE

Allen Moodley, Science HOD
Email: amood23@eq.edu.au

YEAR LEVEL COORDINATORS

Year 11 Report

A warm welcome back to all our Year 11 families. I hope the holidays have provided the chance to relax and also celebrate achievements in Term 1. It is now time for students to reflect on their results and set goals to prepare for Term 2. It is also an ideal time for students to organise a study timetable which include assessment due dates.

Semi Formal

This term sees the signature social event of the Year 11 calendar – the Semi-formal. The event details are as follows:

The Semi-formal will begin with a fashion parade in CPAC for parents before we depart for a night cruise on the Brisbane River on the “Voyager” cruise boat (the newest vessel in the Kookaburra cruises fleet). I look forward to celebrating this occasion with the Year 11s.

YMCA

I’m pleased to announce that Francesca Hellmuth has been selected as the Youth Member for Mount Ommaney in the YMCA Youth Parliament Program. Youth Members are immersed in unique educational opportunities, experience parliamentary operation first hand, meet with members of the Government and Opposition, and have their say in debates on topical issues. Congratulations Francesca!

Home Group Program

This term in Home Group students will participate in a study skills program presented by Elevate Education. The program aims to achieve behavioural change amongst students so that they use and apply skills they learn. Elevate’s programs can help students improve their study techniques, increase motivation, assist in building confidence and help student prepare for assessment

As always, if you would like to discuss any aspect of your son or daughter’s developments at school please don’t hesitate to contact me on 33734593 or email on bfurl1@eq.edu.au.

Berenice Furlong, Year 11 Coordinator
Email: bfurl1@eq.edu.au

Year 9 Report

Welcome back after what I hope was an enjoyable Easter break. The big event within the Home Group (HG) program in term 2 for our year 9 cohort will be their High Resolves workshop in week 6. The program, titled Personal Impact, will focus on how individual behaviours can influence communities. After participating in the workshop, students will spend the remainder of the term preparing projects in their HG classes. These projects will aim to reduce the impact of one negative factor within the school community and will be implemented during week 11 of this term.

In the last week of term 1, a significant number of year 9 students represented the school in sporting teams at the first Junior Gala Day for 2018. We achieved some fantastic results, with multiple year 9 teams taking the title of District Champions in their respective sports. Congratulations to all who were involved!

The year is progressing well and I am looking forward to another great term with the year 9 cohort. Please get in touch should you have any questions.

Matt Redman, Year 9 Coordinator
Email: mredm23@eq.edu.au

Year 7 Report

Having survived their first term in high school, it is so rewarding to see the growth that has occurred for our Year 7 students. At this stage, we can look back and already wonder what happened to those little primary school students that came to orientation day, and look forward and begin to imagine their time here at Centenary as a pathway to amazing futures.

Three areas that are probably areas of conversation in your house are social media and relationships, as well as school work with their interim reports being mailed home today.

Social Media and Relationships

Your child will have met new peers and made new friends, and established or re-established their positions within peer groups this term. Girls have been found to be more vulnerable than boys with respect to changes in their friendship groups, however it is an issue that crosses gender divides. Friendships is a common difficulty reported by children and their parents. This finding is consistent with previous studies showing that, at a time when friendships and social interaction are particularly important for children, the disruption of friendship networks can pose real challenges, and thereby interfere with their adjustment to a new environment as well as their success in academic achievement. And while friendship issues are the most reported difficulty in their transition to high school, it is also the time that students begin pushing the desire to join social media.

Because the midbrain is reorganising itself and risk-taking is high and impulse control is low, accessing social media at this age is a very complicated decision to undertake on behalf of your young person. We will be will be covering topics on cyber bullying, resilience and friendship in term 2 through our Home Group Programme.

Schoolwork

This term, your child has needed to adapt to new teaching and assessment styles, cope with a wide range of subjects, adjust to having different teachers in different classrooms, become more responsible for their own learning, manage a heavier and more complicated study and homework load, and learn a new and more complex timetable. School reports will be emailed in the following days. These report student achievement for each learning area/subject studied in the reporting period. Student effort and behaviour is also reported. Please ensure that you applaud and celebrate the high achievements of your students, particularly with regard to their effort and behaviour here at school.

Finally, I would like to applaud our mentors across Year 10 and 11 for the work they have done this term with your students. It is an incredible time of transition for these older students at this time as well as a time of transition for your younger students. The mentors will be organising lunch time activities with the Year 7s during Term 2 and I look forward to their continued success as mentors.

Please don’t hesitate to contact either your HG teacher or myself if you have any questions or concerns. Have a safe and enjoyable break with your young people! They have earned it!

Karyn Abraham, Year 7 Coordinator
Email: kabra21@eq.edu.au