10 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents and Care Givers,

As always, it has been a busy few weeks. Here is an update on what has been happening:

Staffing: There have been a number of staffing changes since the last school newsletter. At the end of Term Two we farewelled Mr Brad Patten, our Science HOD, and welcomed his replacement Ms Anita Curley. Anita came to us from Coolum SHS. We wish Mr Patten all the best in his new role as Acting Maths HOD at North Lakes SSC.

Report Cards: Semester One reports cards were emailed out to parents at the end of Week One. If you have not received your student’s report card yet, please contact the school so that a hard copy can be mailed home. Report cards are currently being analysed. Any Senior student who has been identified as ‘at risk’ of not attaining enough credits to earn their QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education) is being interviewed. Individual plans are being made and put in place so that students have the best opportunity to graduate with their QCE.

Student Assistance: Year Level Coordinators open up a classroom in the library every lunch time to assist students with their assignment work. This classroom is known as the ‘RRR Room’. A number of teachers also help students at these times. If your child is experiencing assignment difficulties, please encourage them to use the RRR room. Many of the teachers also offer lunchtime tutoring. Students are encouraged to access these tutorials if they need any help. Please contact your child’s teacher, or the relevant HOD, for specific times. Remind your student to listen to student notices every morning for details.

Time to Celebrate: The Year Level Coordinators are using student reporting and attendance data to identify those who have achieved high academic results, earned positive effort and behaviour results, and met the school target of 92% attendance. We celebrated and acknowledged these students’ efforts with a morning tea and handed out attendance certificates on Year Level parades this past week. Well done to all of these students from Years 7 to 12. It is fabulous to see so many students attending and achieving.

Athletics Carnival: After a long wait, Obi were the winners of our recent Athletics carnival. Our students had lots of fun participating in the events and the dance-off competitions. Thank you to Mr Homewood and Ms Rush who organised and ran this successful carnival. Our very active Senior students also used the carnival as a way of fundraising for the Environment Committee’s Solar Panel project.

Kasei Study Tour: Ten young men visited from Kasei, Japan for their annual two week study tour. These students were hosted by our families and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the families who welcoming these students into their homes. The International Student Program is a very positive program that reinforces tolerance, cultural diversity and understanding. In a time where we hear of such terrible acts of violence occurring across the globe, this is our opportunity to build peaceful friendships that will extend over a lifetime. We need to ensure that our young people continue to look for peaceful solutions, and having visiting students from Japan, Italy, France, Norway and Brazil (to name just a few) is a way that we can reach out to other young people around the world and establish a lasting legacy. I would like to thank Ms Su Carbery, Mrs Roz Presnell, Ms Karen Price and Mr Brad Owens for their work in our International Student Program.

Uniform: With some recent cold mornings, the school is encouraging all families to buy plain, dark navy blue jumpers or scarves to support our school’s P&C endorsed uniform guidelines. Thank you in advance for your support.

Principal’s Position: The position of Principal of Maleny State High School has been advertised so, hopefully, by the next edition of the school newsletter a permanent appointment will have been made.

Until our next edition, take care of yourself and your loved ones

Regards,

Deborah Stewart

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Absence Line: Ph: 5499 8101

Please leave a message before 8am if your student will be absent from school on that day.

Collection of Students during school hours:

If you wish to collect your student(s) during school hours, please ensure that all arrangements are made prior to the student attending school, as we do not have phones in classrooms. Please provide a note or a phone call to the school detailing/outlining the departure time, reason and who will be collecting the student.

Office Hours

Promoting our School to the World

Maleny State High School continues to evolve as a progressive and flexible learning environment that caters to the diverse needs of both our students and the wider community. With the recent addition of the Year Seven cohort, and the state-wide review of the senior phase of schooling (ATAR), the landscape of education in Queensland is undergoing a period of evolution.

Also, Maleny State High School is enjoying increased exposure through Education Queensland International (EQI), leading to a dramatic increase in our International Student Program. Maleny State High School is quickly becoming a desirable destination for international students on the Sunshine Coast.

Our school has also experienced growth and success in many other areas such as:

• STEM subjects, projects and clubs.
• SATE (Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance) transition.
• A growing VET program with over 100 students completing certificates and alternative pathway options.
• An International Classroom (video conferencing with sister schools & other educational institutions around the world).
• Becoming a NAPLAN online trial school in 2018.
• Our involvement in the External Exam trials for both Year 11 English and Maths B this year. Four of our English student responses were selected as ‘model responses’ for the task, and will be used as state-wide exemplars next year.
• Excellence programs in various stages of development within the Arts and Agriculture Departments.

This year Maleny High turns thirty! Over this time, our school has experienced considerable growth in size and capability, along with pedagogical improvements and outstanding student outcomes. As we continue to expand, and become increasingly recognised as an innovative school, we are marketing ourselves to communities beyond our immediate catchment area. To this end, we have started to examine Maleny High’s presence – both within and outside of its community.

On a recent task, some Year Nine students were asked to reimagine our school logo. This learning activity brought forth some interesting feedback and responses. As our school slogan is ‘Learning for Living’, our Marketing Committee have decided to investigate our students’ suggestions further.

Our current school logo has served the school well for thirty years. We acknowledge that our logo reflects unique elements of Maleny and its environs, along with our school house groups: Bunya, Mellum and Obi. As the logo is increasingly used in a digital format, some concerns with the current logo design and format have emerged:

• The logo does not scale (+/-) well. Logos should be easily interpreted in any size.
• The format is outdated, and this makes it difficult to adjust to web/digital use.
• The ‘busy’ design of our logo makes specialised graphic design and printing difficult.
• As the current design is difficult to manipulate, this means that modifications and adjustments have to be made. This leads to a situation where multiple variations of the logo are in use at any particular time.
• The seven colours in the logo add additional costs to printing and embroidery.

The Marketing Committee does not wish to replace the logo or slogan/motto. Their aim is to modernise it by incorporating contemporary logo design practices and elements that illustrate the continued growth of Maleny High. The revamp will also be cognisant of factors such as design costs, consistency and ease of application in various scenarios. This will necessitate a reduction in the number of colours used and a more simplistic, and yet progressive, design.

In this newsletter is a survey for parents and the community to complete. It invites you to suggest some design elements that you would like to keep or see in the modernised logo. In essence, you will be contributing to the updated design. A number of logo options will be made available via our newsletter for readers to vote on in future editions.

The next thirty years of education at Maleny High will be very different to the previous ones. Schools have the unique privilege of not only extending and endorsing societal values, but adapting to the way we learn and live. An updated logo pays homage to our school’s history and our future direction. We remain committed, at all times, to offering a quality contemporary education that ensures excellent outcomes for our community and, most importantly, our students.

Mr Kranz, Mrs Fredericks & Ms Stewart
Members of the School’s Marketing Committee

FROM THE HUMANITIES DEPT

Yr 7B Humanities, experiencing the fun of making real terracotta warriors as part of their history studies of ancient China. (Ms Jones and Mrs Reilly)

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

It’s been a fantastic term so far for our International Department.

We have welcomed 12 new students from Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France and Brazil who join our existing four students. This is the largest group of international students we have ever had at Maleny High, and it’s been a rewarding and positive experience for everyone involved. The students are enjoying their time in Maleny immensely, and have already formed good friendships with our local kids. They thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Sports Days and commented that they have never attended a sports event quite like it!

Our Study Tour group, consisting of 11 boys and 2 teachers from Kaisei Senior High School in Japan, also joined us last week. They have been visiting Maleny for several years now, and are with us for two weeks. Each of the boys has an allocated “buddy” at the school, with whom they attend classes when they are not attending their own English classes. They have several excursions organised during their stay with us, including a church service at the local Catholic Church and a trip to Mooloolaba. The second Study Group consisting of 20 boys and girls from Sakura City Junior High School, also from Japan, will be arriving on the 16th August for six nights.

All of our International students, along with the Japanese students’ buddies, went on an excursion to Australia Zoo this week. They had a great day out, and the favourite animal was 50/50 between kangaroos and koalas.

As our International Student Program continues to grow, I’d like to thank the Maleny community for the amazing support received. I have inducted some wonderful new homestay families, and staff and students alike have been positive and welcoming to our international guests. Thank you!

Karen Price
Homestay Coordinator

SPORTS NEWS

Year 7 Interschool Sport:

Our keen Year Sevens are about to start the next round of interschool sport. The competition starts in week 5, with games every Thursday afternoon right up until week 10. Maleny High has entered teams in netball, volleyball, rugby league, AFL, soccer and touch football. Students will be given a draw during their Sport lesson next week. Irrespective of whether students have a ‘home’ game or ‘away’ game, students will return to school by 3pm for normal transport home. Good luck to all teams involved!

Year 8 Interschool Sport:

At the end of Term 2, two of our Maleny teams made it to the Finals Day. The Finals Day is an invitation-only event for the top four teams from each sport involved in the interschool competition. On this day both our girls’ netball and boys’ rugby league teams played with a lot of heart and determination and were great ambassadors for our school. At the conclusion of the day, both teams ended up in 3rd place. Congratulations to all players and coaches involved.

Students have just selected a new sport for the next round of interschool sport. For the remainder of Term 3, students will be developing skills and tactics during training sessions on a Wednesday afternoon. The interschool competition then begins at the start of Term 4. Please ensure your student is prepared for sport. All students must have a hat, water bottle and be in their sports uniform.

Maleny High Athletics Carnival:

It was a chilly 5 degree morning to kick off the two-day Maleny High Athletics Carnival, but house spirit was certainly alive and warm! Leading into the full two-day carnival other pre-carnival events were completed during lunchtimes. This meant students had been banking house points and individual points before day one of the carnival. House points were close and this spurred the house captains to motive their teams to get involved in as many events as possible. Records were broken, rap battles were had, dance offs were colourful and students ran, threw and jumped their way through the carnival. As always, there can only be one champion, and in 2017 that house champion was OBI HOUSE. Congratulations to all students in Obi who assisted in your house’s victory. Well done to all other students who participated in the house challenges, novelty races, or track and field events. Your energy and house spirit was evident.

Congratulations to our Age Champions and Runners-Up for 2017:

Congratulations to our new record holders for 2017:

ITEMS FOR PUBLIC TENDER FROM MSHS

1. Woodfast Table Saw with Edge Planer

• 10 inch blade
• 3 phase power
• Solid cast iron construction in good condition

Contact Dan Jones for all enquiries – 5499 8108

2. 1999 Apollo 6” Shredder

• PTO driven
• This implement has been left in a shed for an extended amount of time with no maintenance. Needs some attention. I am happy for you to have a look at it at the farm.

Contact Vanessa Duffy for all enquiries – 5499 8163

3. Beehive including European Honey Bees

• 3 extra boxes
• Polly frame extractor
• Smoker

This is a very strong hive with new frames in the super this time last year. The honey extracted will be from last season and may be dark and may even be candied due to an extended period between robbing. The brood box has been unattended in recent years and will require new frames and a new queen very soon. An inspection is welcome. All bee stuff to be taken together, no splitting.

Contact Vanessa Duffy for all enquiries – 5499 8163

4. Prima Wine Fridge

• 1200H x 580W x 520D
• Capacity 72 bottles
• Temp range 12 to 18 degrees Celsius
• Never been used but is scratched.

Contact Andrew Hoschke for all enquiries – 5499 8127

Attached is the tender application form that you need to submit to Vanessa Duffy or Dan Jones by Thursday, August 10, 2017.

YEAR 12s FUNDRAISERS: $1105.50 in 3 days

The Year 12s School Project (to help the Environment Committee with the installation of the first solar panels on N block) is becoming a reality thanks to all who have supported the Drinks Stall and Student/Teacher Auction!!!

The Year 12s would not have been able to fundraise $568.50 from the Athletics Carnival days and $537 from the Student/Teacher Auction last Friday without the generous help and/or support of staff and students.

On Thursday, 20th and Friday, 21st July the Year 12s ran a Drinks Stall for the Athletics Carnival which made $568.50 over the 2 days. Special thanks to Mrs Tickle and Interact when the soft drink demands were at their peak! Thanks also to the following students who helped set up/pack up and run the stall: Kenja, Samara, Cynthia, Shivanii, Rosie, Maddi, Kelsey, Morrison, Felix, Elias, Tristan and John.

On Friday, 28th July the Student/Teacher Servant Auction was made possible firstly by the student/teachers who agreed to be sold in the Auction: Lauren P, Josh B, Elias W, Kai M, Tristan L, Sascha R, Miss Ebenezer, Mr O'Shea, Mrs Dawson, Mr Homewood, Mr Jacobsen and Mr Lutze. Secondly, thanks to Miss Druitt and Mrs White for organising the Live Jam Band as the musical entertainment and Brendan Cavanagh as the sound crew setup. Thirdly, Mrs Leach for being our awesome MC/auctioneer; Mrs Tickle/Interact for having the Food & Beverage stall and Ms Hindle/PE Staff for allowing us to use the Activities Centre for the Auction at lunchtime. Lastly, the teachers who bid and successfully bought our Slaves: Mr Perina $45 (Miss Ebenezer); Mrs Fredericks $70 (Mr O'Shea); Mrs Edwards $20 (Mrs Dawson); Mr Williams $10 (Lauren Purcell); Mrs White $15 (Elias W); Ms Kosch $25 (Sascha Rexa); Opia & Isaac R $27 (Mrs Edwards); Lauren P & Josh B $60 (Mr Homewood) + $50 (Josh B); Jackson M $30 (Mr Jacobsen) + $70 (Kai M); Year 7 girls $60 (Mr Lutze); and Kenja $55 (Tristan).

What a great Staff and Student body we have at Maleny High to fundraise for such worthwhile causes!

Ski Trip 2017

Where do I begin? It was an adventure. Not just an adventure to Canberra, but an adventure that I can’t even explain. It was amazing. For me, the start of this trip was in the last week of exam block. I couldn’t wait to get on the slopes for five days and carve it up with my friends. But, it wasn’t until I got to Canberra that I knew this trip was going to be so much more than just a few days on the snow.

I made three new awesome friends that I never would have made at school, before I’d even left the plane. When we got to the ski fields on the first day I thought to myself, you can’t ski on grass. There wasn’t much snow, but what we had quickly turned into a snowball that was going to make someone’s face very cold. We didn’t need fields of snow - all we needed was a target for a snowball. That’s an example of the positive spirit that Maleny High gives you.

Finally we did get out on the slopes for our lessons. Watching your mate fall over and laughing so much that you forget to concentrate on your own board (and then falling over yourself) was the best fun ever.

We got better over the four days and there was a lot less falling over as people who couldn’t even stand up on a ski or board just a few days before started racing their instructors (Arabella) by the end.

At the end of every day we were fed like kings all thanks to Snowy Valley Resorts. They also provided us with our boards, skis and clothes. We had lots to do every night with activities such as games night, heated pool night, bistro night and, best of all, the pool competition. Even if you’re not good at pool, and get eliminated in the first game (like me), it’s a great night.

The bond that our group developed was stronger than any you would experience in school. So many awesome memories were made that we will never forget. But, the real adventure didn’t start until the trip home. We were diverted back to Sydney to spend an extra night of holidays. The Novotel Parramatta took us into their luxury apartments for the night, gave us a well-earned rest, and woke us up with a breakfast they’d prepared for us.

We ended up catching a bus back to Maleny High on Sunday morning. That was the real highlight of my trip. It’s amazing how well you can get to know someone when you talk to them for a solid twelve hours when you’re half asleep. The trip home wasn’t planned, but that’s what made it so memorable and such a special time for the whole trip. The group bonded even more throughout that one night. It was long and tiring, but definitely worth the journey.

The main reason this trip was awesome were because of the two courageous and patient teachers that kept us together while found our accommodation, food and transport back home. Somehow Mrs Edwards and Mr Homewood kept us positive when the chips were down, and they really deserve a ‘Parents of the Year’ award. Of course, looking after a group of teenagers is so much easier when they’re as mature and great as us. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people or a better trip.

Thanks everyone.

FROM THE P & C

2017

UNIFORM SHOP OPENING HOURS

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

8.30AM – 9.30AM

Why not register for ‘Flexischools’ to purchase your school uniforms online, 24 hours, 7 days a week! Pick up is available 5 days a week.

Once registered, you can purchase uniforms OR pre-order from your tuckshop!

Flexischools

Online ordering is a convenient way to place orders, providing a 24/7 payment and ordering system that can be accessed from home, work or a mobile device.

Online ordering is faster and more accurate, giving parents peace of mind that their order and payment is received accurately at the school.

This service is available for canteen and uniform orders for Maleny State High School.

Registration Instructions:

Free, easy, online registration.

Step 1: Click the REGISTER button below.
Step 2: Enter your email.
Step 3: You will be emailed a link to an online form - follow the link.
Step 4: Choose a username and password and complete the form.
Step 5: Add each student and their class.
Step 6: Top-up the account - VISA, Mastercard or Direct Deposit.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

2017 Early School Leavers survey

The Queensland Government is conducting its annual state-wide survey of students who left school in Years 10, 11 and prior to completing Year 12 during 2016. The Early School Leavers survey is a short, confidential survey that collects information about what young people are doing the year after leaving school.

Between July and August, students who left school in Years 10, 11 and prior to completing Year 12 last year can expect to receive an invitation to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office to complete the survey. Please encourage them to take part.

For more information, visit the link below or telephone toll free on 1800 068 587.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH

Want to challenge yourself to a new skill or physical activity or just increase your knowledge of what you are currently doing? Would you like to go on an adventurous journey or help people in the community? Would you like to add another point or four to your QCE at the end of Grade 12?

Answer YES to any of these, and facing the challenges of the Duke of Edinburgh Award could be for you. The Australian Bridge Award is a good introduction and available from 13½ years of age or the Bronze Award starts at 14.

Maleny Blackall Range Lions Club is now a registered Award Unit and Lion, Judy Brodie, will be on hand to answer your questions at our School Expo on 17 August.

Brochures and application forms will be available in the school library, or from Judy on those days.

JULIUS CAESAR

Staff member, Angel Kosch, is performing as Brutus in a Post-Apocalyptic interpretation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar from August 12-19 at the Caloundra Events Centre. One of Maleny High’s students, Matilda Storey, is also involved in the production as an intern to the Matilda Award-winning Lighting Designer Jason Glenwright.

The largely female cast also features leading Sunshine Coast actors Rainee Skinner and Mary Eggleston and is directed by accomplished Theatre Artist and Head of Drama at SCU, Jo Loth.

The event will be held at the Events Centre, Caloundra between 12 – 19 August.

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