2 May 2019 Volume 21 Number 4

NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

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.

The parent teacher interviews on Wednesday 1 May provide the opportunity for teachers and caregivers to have genuine conversations around the academic progression and general wellbeing of your students. I often speak about the importance of the home school partnership in respect to student success. More than ever learning is time fluid and with an increasing push towards greater use of technology it is essential that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of expectations and delivery modes to best support students in their learning. 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.

The P&C Needs You

The P&C plays a vital and valued role in the school community. It is the major forum for the parent voice to be tabled and to influence and inform school policy. Additionally as a fundraising body through the operation of the Canteen and Uniform Shop (no fetes involved!!!) they raise important discretional funds that directly benefit the student body. In recent years they have contributed significant funds to air conditioning of classrooms and to welfare support of students in needs. Additionally they contribute to the funding of the school chaplain. Membership has been in decline in recent years and as a school founded on the basis of parent voice we need more people making a small commitment to the school .. your time will make a difference to our students. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to get involved.

Staff Appointments:

We have a number of staff changes with the commencement of the term.

We welcome Adam Johnson and Matthew Pappalardo to the Junior Secondary Staff for the rest of the 2019 year, replacing Felicity Barker and Tony Oliver respectively.

We welcome back Angela Maguire as HOD English after her leave in Term 1.

Sue McDonald joins the writing team for the balance of the school year.

Jo Moon steps into the newly created Assistant Year Co Role (Year 7).

NAPLAN

The school is fine tuning its preparation for the NAPLAN tests which is set for the 14-17 May. Although the content of the testing aligns with the Australian Curriculum, students generally need greater exposure to the regimen of writing under exam conditions. Exposure to this examination mode is good preparation for the new assessment regimen in the Senior School.

Over the Semester to date, students in Years 7 and 9 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 2019. We have implemented a range of strategies across subject areas over the last couple of years including prioritising the Write that Essay Program to support staff capability in addressing student writing skills.

School Uniform

It is expected that all students will wear the school uniform correctly. In Terms 2 and 3 students may wear plain (no logo’s) navy tracksuit pants as part of their sports uniform. Non navy tracksuit pants are not to be worn.

We have experienced quite an issue with earphones over Term 1. Students are not to walk around the school wearing ear phones – the line in the sand here is that they are to be out of sight. If students wish to listen to music they may go to the library or CPAC.

Community Social Media Pages

Social media has become integral to our lives. Whilst I am aware that there is both a 4074 and a P&C run site it is not school policy to comment on either site. The P&C site has been established to enable parents help other parents in issues pertaining to the school. It remains a valued source of communication. On occasions comments are made by people that are simply incorrect or misrepresentations. Always contact the school or access the school’s online forums of website or facebook to receive accurate information.

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 305 students in Year 7 and leading this cohort in our continual improvement agenda. Our Year 7 leaders for 2019 are:

The 2019 Year 7 Student Leaders are:

• Beau Laughren
• Ashton McKinnon
• Elizabeth Pitt
• Mercy Hoffman

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 seven District Premierships.

Congratulations are also in order for our Cross Country Age Champions

And in the Cultural Field congratulations to Year 12 student Josh Rosen who successfully auditioned for MOST - a biennial event offering a residential extension program for up to 80 musically outstanding students from Queensland state secondary schools.

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.

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 Evening this week. 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 Year 7 and 9 students will sit the NAPLAN tests in Week 4 of this term, Tuesday 14 May to Thursday 16 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.

Matt McDonald, Deputy Principal (Years 9 & 12)
Email: mmcdo156@eq.edu.au

Adam Richter, Deputy Principal (Years 10, 11 & International)
Email: arich60@eq.edu.au

Kristin Lynch, Deputy Principal (Year 8, ATSI & EALD)
Email: klync54@eq.edu.au

Angela McKay, Deputy Principal (Year 7)
Email: amcka18@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 2019 calendar year are due by 31 July 2019. An overview of all fees and charges can be located on our website below. 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

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching and Learning

More than the grade

It’s a good time to get serious about our strategies for success in the wake of reports and parent teacher interviews. Has your student looked beyond their grades and made the most of their assessment and learning feedback. Dylan Williams is a prominent researcher in the area of feedback in education and he says, “When students receive both scores and comments, the first thing they look at is their score, and the second thing they look at is … someone else’s score.”

There is no doubt that grades give us an indication of how well we did but, unless we look very closely at the criteria sheets and other forms of feedback, we are missing out on potentially vital information. I trust that the conversations with teachers at last night’s parent teacher interviews were valuable in honing in on some strategies for improvement. It is the mark of an exceptional learner to be looking for avenues for improvement irrespective of the grade. All students should be encouraged to identify specific focus areas for each subject.

At this stage of the term, students should be looking at where they need to be at the end of their current units of work. What knowledge and skills should they have developed? How are they doing so far?

Students may be able to get information about where they need to be from assignment task sheets or OneNote notebooks but every student has access to the learning goals for every lesson. The learning goals and success criteria give us rich information about what we need to know and how we know we have ‘got it’. Reflecting on learning goals and working on mastering them should be part of every student’s learning routine.

Anna Petrie, Teaching & Learning HOD
Email: anpet0@eq.edu.au

STUDENT LEADERSHIP COORDINATOR

News from the Student Leadership Coordinator

A bonanza of fun is soon to head your way! Our student forum have been working hard creating a spectacular experience for our upcoming Multicultural Day. There will be mountains of food, music and dance from around the world and even our very own world cup. All students will be invited to wear their own cultural dress with a gold coin donation for free dress day.

As always the student forum meets weekly to organise events such as these and discuss student issues. If there are any issues concerning students please feel free to get in touch!

Elizabeth Long, Student Leadership Coordinator
Email: ejlon1@eq.edu.au

INCLUSIVE PRACTICES

News from Inclusive Practices

Differentiation at work at Centenary SHS

Faye Goodwin is a teacher who differentiates lesson content, activities and stimuli to engage students.

Faye Goodwin is a first year teacher and one of the many excellent teachers who work in the Inclusive Practices department at Centenary SHS. Ms Goodwin puts her heart and soul into the classroom, and is always planning learning experiences that engage and inspire all students in her classes.

In Term 1, Faye taught the Industrial Revolution to her Year 9 students and not only dressed up as a chimney sweep to help them understand the time period, but also took them through some activities that children at that time would commonly engage in, such as oakum picking (un-ravelling rope).

Ms Goodwin has used her skills and creative flair to produce activities that engage different senses such as using orange oil to evoke a sense of the era. Ms Goodwin created a tactile map for students with vision impairment and produced voice recording for students who preferred to listen the content of the text rather than read it. Ms Goodwin encourages all students to actively participate in the lesson content and develop skills suited to their learning styles.

Deborah McIntyre, Head of Inclusive Practices
Email: dmcin49@eq.edu.au

CHAPLAIN

News from the Chaplain

Food for Thought

Earlier in the year I heard a speaker talking about the year ahead. The audience were challenged to consider giving up two things in their lives that may be having a negative effect on them.

This made me think of a couple of things that almost all of us are guilty of doing – complaining and arguing. If you think that this doesn’t apply to you, try to get through just one whole day without saying something negative either to someone or about someone. You’ll be amazed at how hard that is.

If someone or something is upsetting you, make the decision to not keep talking about the issue – without fuel the fires of anger will subside.

Why not give it a try and give up – complaining and arguing.

A message from Chappy Bernie

Ten Hints for Creating Resilient Families

Resilience is the happy knack of being able to bungy jump through life. When the inevitable pitfalls and setbacks of life occur, it is as if you have an elasticised rope around your middle that helps you to bounce back from hard times.

No. 1 Promote Belonging

The sense of belonging we have is the strongest antidote we know of for Self-harm, depression and drug abuse and it’s built on our sense of belonging.

Children are most resilient when they have three types of belonging:

1. A sense of being part of a family
2. Having different friendships to belong to
3. Having an adult outside their family who connects with them.

No. 2 Have some mooch time

We live in a world that suffers from attention deficit disorder. We rush Children from activity to activity, from lesson to lesson and from one organised event to another. Then we wonder why, when there is a lull that they say” I’m bored”. Be a counter-revolutionary. Find some time each week just to be at home without anything structured happening. Quiet times allow children to develop creativity and ingenuity.

No. 3 Rediscover some family rituals

Family rituals are string predictors of resilience. It doesn’t matter whether it is the family walk after dinner, the Sunday roast, the Friday night pizza or the Saturday morning clean up, rituals are highly protective. The best rituals often cost nothing. These are the activities you hope that later on your children will reminisce and say “Mum always made sure we did.” or Dad always made sure we did.”

No. 4 Spontaneity and curiosity

Spontaneity and curiosity are the building blocks of good mental health. You cannot tell someone how to have better mental health and you can't give it to them by getting them to read a book.

So the really hard message here is that if you want to raise your children to have mentally healthy lives you are going to have to have a good time yourself. If you want your children to succeed you need to show them that success is worth having.

No.5 Love kids for their differences

When families’ function well people are allowed to be different and to be loved for those differences.

We all know that children take on different roles. A father of three said, ”It’s as if they have a planning meeting once a year and say ‘you be the good kid, I’ll be the sick kid and the other one can be the trouble-maker’! And then just when you think you’ve got it figured out they change roles again”. Having children who are strongly individual and who have a sense of who they is a sign of good parenting? The problem may, of course be that they will then express their independent spirit in ways that you don't like. The ideal is a mix between someone who preserves their own uniqueness and is able to work with others without becoming dictated to by them. Someone who has their own independent nature but is comfortable enough with themselves to allow inter-dependence.

No. 6. It is clear who is in charge

Families do not work well as democracies. In fact they seem to work best as benevolent dictatorships in which the parent or parents consult a lot with their children but at the end of the day, the parent has the final say.

Some parents fear that if they take charge that they will lose the friendship of their children, but often the reverse is true. In families where parents fail to take their own role seriously, children may feel that to express their independence they need to engage in risk taking behaviour and avoid responsibility. Authoritative parenting allows children to feel safe, have clear boundaries and flourish.

No. 7 Consistency

Consistency is the ideal. Having parents who agree on rules and standards and who convey the same sorts of messages and who value compassion over coercion, clearly has the best outcome in terms of children’s wellbeing .It is also important that parents not be open to manipulation and work together as a team. Life however is not always so simple and we all know from sad and sour experience that parents cannot always be consistent. Sometimes parents have different value systems or can’t come to a consistent way to handle particular areas. In these situations, a second possibility is to for one parent to take charge of a particular area. This is not the most desirable solution but it is better than having parents in conflict over management issues or worse, undermining one another. In single parent families or where parents are separated the same principle applies.

No. 8 Teach the skills of Self-esteem

Families that work well seem to praise one another a lot. Compliments are made, positive efforts are commented on. Optimism is in the air. Even in these families, teenagers still shrug and say, “ yeah Mum” or “yeah Dad” whenever a compliment is made. Teaching the skills of self-praise is useful. One way of doing this to ask questions extensively about any achievement or accomplishment. Asking questions that like “How did you do that?”, “How come you did so well at that test?” “What did you do?” and “Have you been doing homework behind my back?” Families that work well know how to argue. It seems strange to say this because we all have the sense those families that work well don't have conflicts. The family is really where we learn to resolve disputes fairly. The way that parents teach children to resolve differences of opinion with their brothers and sisters provides the basis for sharing, negotiating and problem solving in the world beyond the family. . While differences of opinion should be allowed to be expressed, children also need to learn that they will not be able to win at all costs.

10. Parents are reliably unpredictable

With young children it is important to provide consistency and predictability. This allows them to feel sure of you. After a while though, a bit of predictability can go a long way. To many children, most parents are about as predictable as a washing machine cycle. It is important to have structure and consistency but it is also useful to act in ways that your children wouldn’t expect. This keeps them interested in learning from you or least wondering what you are up to. Perhaps the most important feature of parents in healthy families is that they realise that all of the above is desirable but not always possible and so they look at how to promote good functioning while not wasting energy on blaming themselves for the times when things don't quite work out as they had planned.

For further information see:

Andrew’s books Tricky Kids, Life:, Tricky Teens.

Copyright Andrew Fuller www.anderfuller.com.au 2014

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

SPORTS DIRECTOR

Sports Director Report

Welcome to Term 2. 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.

Junior Sports Gala Days Results

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 the following teams:

Year 7 Boys Touch Football
Year 8 Boys Touch Football
Year 8 Girls Touch Football
Year 8 Boys Basketball
Year 8 Boys Volleyball

These teams will now compete in the Met Finals commencing in Week 2 of this term. Good luck!

Centenary SHS Athletics Carnival

The Athletics Carnival was held in Week 1 and 2 of this term. Please keep up to date through Facebook and the newsletter for training dates in order to prepare for the District Athletics in Week 5.

Results will be posted in the next newsletter.

Upcoming Dates Term 2

April

May

June

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

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

STEAM

STEAM at Centenary

Anne-Marie Price, Resource Centre Manager and Promotions & Marketing Coordinator
Email: apric20@eq.edu.au

CULTURAL DIRECTOR

Cultural Director Report

Student Successes

Double congratulations to Year 12 student and clarinettist Josh Rosen. Josh has been selected as part of the Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Instrumental Music MOST program, as well as an offer to perform with the National Youth Wind Ensemble of Scotland.

MOST (Musically Outstanding Students) is a biennial event offering a residential extension program for up to 80 musically outstanding students (MOST) from Queensland state secondary schools.

The National Youth Wind Ensemble of Scotland works in partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to give talented young woodwind, brass and percussion musicians the opportunity to learn from some of the country’s most gifted teachers and performers.

Josh will perform at MOST in June, and travel to Scotland in July. An outstanding achievement, well done!

Great Term 1

I would like to say a big thank you to everybody who worked so hard in Term 1 at Centenary to have such a great first term in the arts. In particular thank you to the staff who put in so much energy and enthusiasm above and beyond what is asked of them.

Year 7 Investiture

On the last Monday before the holidays, the Concert Band led by Mrs Harvey were the featured musical item at the Year 7 Leaders Investiture Ceremony. Along with the National Anthem the group performed the beautiful and uplifting A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman. Thank you to all the performers and to Mrs Harvey.

ANZAC Performances

The Symphonic Band conducted by Fiona Harvey was involved in two ANZAC ceremonies in the first week back. Firstly the school event on Tuesday 23 April, and the Mt Ommaney community event on ANZAC Day itself. The band performed with distinction and gravitas at both of the events and I thank them for the wonderful ambassadors that they are for the school. I would also like to specifically mention and thank our soloists who performed at our own ceremony and other community events; Alex Knowles (Last Post and Rouse), Aria Daniels (Advance Australia Fair) and Grace Franklin (God Defend New Zealand) who all performed brilliantly. Thank you again to our helpful parents and their truck and trailers for getting the gear down to Mt Ommaney for the community service. And last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the incredibly hard work of Fiona Harvey in preparing the Symphonic Band to perform so well. Your commitment and dedication is unsurpassed and we are very fortunate to have such a great teacher at the school.

Beyond the Big Top

Our musical this year is a revue style show featuring music from the circus, cabaret and vaudeville. Songs include numbers from Chicago, La La Land, Moulin Rouge and The Greatest Showman. Our lead singers have been selected, so now we turn our attention to the dancers, choreographers, actors, backstage and chorus members who make the show as great as can be!! Students can nominate to join the show via STEP and need to be aware of commitment till 5pm on Wednesday afternoons as well as a couple of other out of school times closer to the show. There is also a levy involved to cover expenses and overheads. Rehearsals for the full cast begin in week one and the show takes place in August.

Gala Concert

Our major performance this year for the Instrumental and Choral Program is a Gala concert to be held at the Riverlife Church on Wednesday 12 June. The evening will feature all of our 250 students across 8 ensembles. Tickets will go on sale in early May.

Choral Fanfare

Our choirs will also be performing later this term in the biennial Choral Fanfare festival. All three of our groups, the Full Choir, Jazz Choir, and Vocal Ensemble will sing in CPAC on Thursday 23 May.

Upcoming Term 2 Dates

Until next time,
ark Watkins, Cultural Director
Email: mwatk16@eq.edu.au

JUNIOR SECONDARY

Junior Secondary News

Welcome to Term 2 – with NAPLAN coming up in Week 4 for our 7s and 9s, the 8s have a year’s reprieve. We wish all our students success and the confidence and belief in themselves to achieve their best.

We finished Term 1 with 75% of our 7s attending a fantastic camp at Tallebudgera, the weather was kind, just a few brief showers, but a lot of laughter, especially with our Talent Quest and Trivia Evening, complete with the surprise dance skills of Mr Griffin and tap extraordinaire, Ms Ball! Meanwhile, those who remained behind had an exceptional time with a range of diverse activities offered from all departments.

Many of our 7s, 8s and 9s have been nominated by staff throughout term one as “Student of the Week” for a variety of attributes – effort and attitude; resilience; team work; leadership, and other qualities – and receiving their certificates and recognition at year level assemblies. This will continue throughout the remainder of the year.

We look forward to interacting with our feeder schools throughout this term, including during our upcoming Open Days, ahead of meeting our 2020 Year 7 cohort.

Brock Germain, HOD Junior Secondary
Email: bgerm1@eq.edu.au

FACULTIES

APPLIED TECHNOLOGY

Staffing News

Applied Technology staff continue to change, requiring some timetable modifications.

Peter Winn – sick leave. Replaced by Rob Brown.
Shanti Reddy – sick leave. Replaced by Asha Nagle.
Tony Oliver – seconded to the Murri School (an independent Aboriginal and Islander community school) for the remainder of 2019. Replaced by Richard Magoffin

Anita Ace – extended bereavement leave. Replaced by Louise Duncan.

I appreciate that staffing changes create disruption, however we do endeavour to minimise the disturbance to learning.

Year 9 Home Economics

With the notion of sustainability receiving considerable attention, the Year 9 Home Economics students were posed the following question. How might ex hotel bedsheets be repurposed to produce a useful product? After considerable discussion re: the proposals tabled by the class members, reusable bags were selected as the design challenge. Students needed to consider the material to be used, the function of the bag and how to incorporate personal identity features to individualise the product.

Students developed some basic sewing techniques in addition to utilising effective communication skills as they worked with their peers to advance teamwork to achieve an outcome.

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 the evening, 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.

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

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Biomechanics Day

On Thursday the 4 April the Year 11 Physical Education students participated in the Human Movement Studies Biomechanics Day, held at the University of QLD. Throughout the series of workshops provided, students applied their knowledge of biomechanics, participating in a number of labs including, motion capture, impulse, lever arms and force summation. It was a hugely successful day where the knowledge learned will be helpful in assisting students excel in the upcoming unit titled Functional Anatomy, Biomechanics and Athletics.

Lachie Gibbs, HPE HOD
Email: lgibb23@eq.edu.au

YEAR LEVEL COORDINATORS

Year 9 Report

Welcome back to Term 2. Looking back on Term 1, I was impressed with how the Year 9’s have taken on the demands and responsibilities of being in Year 9. Overall, we saw a decrease in the amount of behaviour referrals and an increase in the amount of positive interactions recorded between students and teachers. As the year progresses, we hopefully will see these positive interactions increase, as the students continue to grow and improve.

Last term, the HG program focused on the student’s digital footprint. One of the main focuses was ensuring cyber safety when on online and being aware of the seriousness of what they post. During their HG lessons, teachers and students engaged in activities on positive strategies to use when online and based on discussions I have had with students, some of these strategies have been adopted. We still need to continue to work on making the right choices when issues arise but overall I was impressed with how the students took on board the seriousness of the topic.

One of the best things to witness last term, was seeing the fantastic job the Junior School Captains and Vice Captains along with the Year 9 Forum Leaders have done with the numerous events they have organised and ran. From Valentine’s Day, to the running of assemblies and the school’s annual ‘Clean up Australia Day’ event, they have demonstrated a high level of maturity and responsibility. They have done the Junior School and the whole School proud.

The focus for Term 2 is on critical thinking and problem solving along with team building. The Year 9’s will be having their annual team building day on Monday 10 June (Week 8). The students will be preparing for the day during HG time starting Week 4. The team building day last year was a huge success with great engagement by all students who looked fantastic in their costumes. Personally, I cannot wait to see that level of engagement and enjoyment again this year down at the Jindalee Jags oval.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’m looking forward to another great term with this fantastic cohort.

Kate George, Year 9 Coordinator
Email: Kgeor38@eq.edu.au

P&C

News from our P&C

The P&C held its Annual General Meeting on 20 March 2019 and elected it’s executive for the coming year as follows:

President: David Harris
Secretary: Leah McGuigan
Treasurer: Scott Mitchell
Vice President: Susan Harris

We still struggle for membership with numbers again dropping this year. We welcome applications from parents/carers to join and assist in making a difference. Our ability to raise funds for much needed equipment, facilities and support of students is directly related to the amount of input we get from parents. It’s amazing how little the time commitment is when we have the numbers. Please consider this as it is important to your children.

Classroom air-conditioning is a prime example of the benefits that the P&C has brought to your school.

David Harris, P&C President Centenary SHS
Email: pandc@centenaryshs.eq.edu.au