97-113 Towers StreetCharters Towers QLD 4820Subscribe:Subscribe: https://chartowersshs.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email:Email: principal@chartoweshs.eq.edu.auPhone:Phone: 07 4754 6555

Fax:Fax: 07 4754 6500

24 November 201724 November 2017

Quality Teaching for Quality LearningQuality Teaching for Quality Learning

DEPUTY’S REPORT

Showcase

Charters Towers State High School was proudly recognised asleaders in education when our school received our award forQuality Teaching for Quality Learning in the 2017 ShowcaseAwards on 27th October 2017. An award like this is greatrecognition for a great school and is not won in isolation but asa team effort.

I would like to thank all of our staff and students for the workthey have put in over the last few years and their continueddedication to the Teaching and Learning process that we havecommitted to for years to come. I would also like to thankthe parents, particularly our hard working Parents and Citizens’Association, for their continued commitment to supporting ourschool and making this possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWJyWaBsBOU

Awards Night

Wednesday 8th November saw the celebration of anotherfantastic year at Charters Towers State High School. It was afantastic opportunity to see our students recognised for theirAcademic, Cultural and Sporting successes throughout the

year. It was also a great time to reflect on all the wonderfulthings that have happened throughout the year.

I would like to thank all the parents who attended that night tomake it special for the students and for the hard work of ourstaff who made the night possible.

Farewell to Ms Mohr

As you would have read in our last newsletter Ms Mohrannounced her retirement on assembly a few weeks ago. Iwould like to join those who wish her the very best in herretirement and to thank her for her tireless hard work that oftengoes unrecognised in a school. Her presence will be felt inthe school for years to come as you cannot help but see theimprovements to both the school environment and the schoolfacilities she has made since 2012.

Personally, I would like to thank Ms Mohr for the help andsupport she has provided over her time here; she has alwaysmade the extra effort to make the right choice and not alwaysthe easy one.

I know that Ms Mohr will enjoy her time with her family and Icannot think of a better way to retire with the school receivingrecognition state-wide for its continued commitment toeducation.

All the very best for the future Ms Mohr.

QParents Invitations

Thanks to all the parents who have already signed up forQParents. As at the end of last term we have had a greatstart to it! There will be another updated set of emails sent outtoward the end of 2017 for those who missed or misplacedinformation.

Please be aware that:

Once invited you will need to provide a method of verification viapoints system before being able to proceed. This is a systemrequirement. Highest sources of points for verification includeBirth Certificate, Driver’s Licence, Passport and MarriageCertificates. Achieving 100 points online allows the school toaction your request promptly. Below 100 points will requireyou to make an appointment to bring in additional proof ofidentity to the school at a time when a representative will beable to view and confirm them. Due to the nature of the securityrequired it is essential that an appointment be made prior tocoming in with the documents to ensure that it is possible toprocess it that day.

QParents is an online portal that provides a convenient new wayfor parents to communicate with our school.

As a parent, you can view your child’s student information andalso submit changes to some of their details. The informationthat can be viewed includes timetables, report cards,attendance records, behaviour records and timely access toinvoices and payment details.

Parents will also be able to update their child’s details, payinvoices online, and let the school know of changes to normalroutine, such as when your child is unwell or has to leave early.

If you would like general information regarding the QParents, avideo can be found on the QParents website:

https://qparents.qld.edu.au/

Congratulations to our successful leaders who were given theopportunity to participate in leadership activities at campFairbairn last week.

2018 STUDENT LEADERS ELECT

Paige Fielder

Grace Glenwright

Arthur Harris

Senior School Captains

Taliesin Pankhurst

President Bronte Griffin

Vice-President Kelly Polsen

Secretary James Copelin

SRC - Seniors

Treasurer Isaac Donn

Clarke Alyssa Congoo

Naomi Knuth

Fraser Kelly Polsen

Friemann Bronte Griffin

House Captains - Senior

Mosman James Copelin

Amber Farraway

Teliha AndersenJunior Secondary Captains

Daniel Brooks

2018 STUDENT LEADERS ELECT

Lachlan Dietrich

Keiley Hermann

SRC - Juniors President Makayla Scott

Clarke Sophie Morris

Fraser Maddysn Walker

Friemann tba

House Captains - Junior

Mosman Caitlin Vickery

Derek Copelin, Deputy PrincipalDerek Copelin, Deputy Principal

OFFICE CLOSUREThe school office will close at 4.00pm on Friday 8th December2017 and will reopen at 8.00am on Monday 15th January 2018.Please see below for the Education Queensland 2018 calendar.

STUDENTS OF THE WEEKCongratulations to the following Students of the Week for 7thand 21st November:

Year 7: Amanda ForwardYear 8: Kaylee HomerYear 10: Ethan Jonsson (no photo available), HalanaHaber, Jordon Blackman, Makayla Killick and VanessaRichterYear 11: Alyssa Congoo, Bree Fitzgerald, EmmaHembrow, Gale Pryor, Hanna Smith, Lane Davis (nophoto available), Nadine Stover, Naomi Knuth, TaliesinPankhurst and Tedia Pehi

2

GUIDANCE OFFICERWhat a huge 2017 it’s been! Best wishes to our class of 2017.Congratulations to you all. You’ve all worked really hard and youdeserve the very best. It has been fantastic working with youthrough the last 2 years.

I hope all students, staff and parents have a really wonderfuland safe holiday and wherever you might be headed, look afteryourselves.

Our new Seniors for 2018: I look forward to seeing you in thenew year and working with you closely to help you achieve yourgoals. I ask you to think about your goals. The class above youhas just left and the past students have set off on their ownadventure. It’s your turn now to start thinking about the next 12/24 months. Ask yourself:

These are all pretty open ended questions but the earlier youcan start thinking about what you want to do in life to findmeaning and happiness, the easier it is to aim toward thattarget, set goals and start working toward them. The easier it isto be excited about chasing down the future.

What is SUN (Start University Now)?

SUN is a CQUniversity initiative that gives you the opportunityto study CQUniversity units while in Years 10, 11 and 12 at highschool (Year 10 students are eligible for Term 3 enrolment only).

Please see the following brochure for Central QueenslandUniversity’s ‘Start University Now’ (SUN) Program: it is possibleto study university units while at school and these units can helpto get into University following completion of Year 12.

Start Uni Now (SUN) is a fantastic option for students whowant to kick start their tertiary education.

As at Term 1 2018, high school students from across Australiawill have the opportunity to undertake their first Start Uni Now(SUN) unit at zero cost. (Some conditions apply.)

Term 1 2018 applications close Friday 16 February 2018. If youwould like to know more about doing this in Years 10, 11 or12, please book in for an appointment to see me, through theoffice, and we can start the conversation.

Merry Christmas and have a really nice holiday everyone.

Brent Nelson, Guidance Officer

SPORTInterschool sport is finished for another year. Well done to allteams and coaches! The tennis teams (13s, 15s and Opens)have all shown fantastic improvement over the last 6 rounds.The girls’ softball teams have really smashed the competitionand were crowned premiers for 2017. Great work to allinvolved.

Special congratulations must go to Jayde Miller and StephanieLowe for making the North QLD Under 19 Softball team. Welldone to Teneal Baker, Boshae Moore–Reid and Amber Millerwho showed great potential on the day. Well done girls!

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams comeinto reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication,self-discipline, and effort.”

— Jesse Owens, American track and field athlete andfour-time gold medallist.

As the year draws to a close, I would like to encourage allstudents to continue to train for their sports. Term 1 in 2018 willsee the interhouse and interschool swimming carnivals and alsoour interhouse cross country. A reminder that the school hasa newly erected gym which will be supervised by qualifiedtrainers who are tailoring programs specific to the needs ofindividuals. So get your gym on and sign up at the office.

We are the hosts for interschool athletics in 2018. Continue tofollow this publication to be advised when athletics training willbegin: we have recently purchased 10 hurdles so our studentsare now able to practice hurdles and participate in this event atinterschool.

Free Professional Tennis Coaching – No Strings AttachedTennis Training will continue in 2018, from Monday 29thJanuary, open to all ages and genders. We have continuedto secure a professional tennis coach to train our studentsbetween 7:30am and 8:30am every Monday morning for Term1 and continuing in Term 2-4 of 2018, if uptake is high. Ifstudents are interested, please turn up to the State High courtson Monday mornings. Please contact Mr Matt de Brenni ifyou require any further information. This would be a greatopportunity to begin training for the beginning of the 2018interschool sport year.

• Are you happy with your chosen options for 2018?

• Where do you see yourself heading after school andhow does your current chosen pathway reflect that?

• What are your options for after school? Can you findout more?

• Do you want to get a head start with study and yourfuture career?

• Do you want to further challenge yourself in your finalyears of high school?

• Are you a high achieving student?

• Are you self-motivated and can manage your owntime effectively?

• If so, SUN could be for you.

3

Important Sporting Dates for 2018

Matt de Brenni, Sports Coordinator, and the Team

LEADERSHIP CAMPThe following 2018 student leaders, Tehlia Anderson, SophieMorris, Makayla Scott, Keiley Hermann, Caitlyn Vickery,Maddysn Walker, Daniel Brooks, Lachlan Dietrich, ArthurHarris, Taliesin Pankhurst and James Copelin along with JuniorYear Level Coordinators, Scott Casey and Mara Samojenko,spent four eventful days at Fairbairn Dam.

The first and last days were spent travelling to and from thedam; a lovely 7 hours with 11 teenagers. Luckily, all of thestudents appeared to come prepared with an entireconfectionery shop in their bags to get them through. Once wearrived and teachers assigned dorms to the students we setabout investigating the area we were to call home for the next2 days. It was a beautiful location with plenty to see and do aswe found out the next day.

Over the course of the 2 days at the dam the studentscompleted a variety of activies that required them to worktogether as one collective unit, or several smaller units. Thefirst activity was to create a human pipeline from a tree to acontainer. This was the first chance that Mr Casey and myselfhad to step back and let the students try to work it out forthemselves. After about 10 minutes the students realised thatcommunication was key to this task and they got the bouncingball from the tree to the container.

The next activity required thinking outside of the box as wellas some physical elements. Students were required to movethrough the giant spiderweb but each student had to gothrough a separate hole in the web. This meant that thestudents had to figure out who could crawl through the smallestof the holes and who could they lift through some of the larger

holes. Through a lot of trial and error the students eventuallymoved everyone across safely.

After a break for morning tea the students completed an activitythat Mr Casey nicknamed “the floor is lava”. Basically thestudents had to get from one island to another by placinglong metal planks down between stumps. All students neededto make it across safely without touching the ground. It wasinteresting watching this activity as students came up with avariety of strategies to make it across. Some students werealso starting to realise that listening to each other was just asimportant as talking to each other. There was much celebrationwhen everyone made it safely to the “island”.

After lunch the students had a more relaxing afternooncanoeing around the dam looking for 10 markers. Studentswere placed in groups of 3 or 4, given a GPS with a list of all themarkers to find and a sheet on which to tick them all off. Theircompetetive spirit took over as everyone raced around the lakelooking for these tiny markers. This was the last activity for theday and everyone was keen for a good feed and some sleep.

Day 2 and everyone was excited and nervous about the HighRopes. Would we go up? Would we be safe? Just how high arethey? By this time the students had gained quite a bit of trustwith each other and once it was explained to us that each pieceof equipment (rope, carabena, harness, etc) is able to hold theentire Cowboys football team, including reserves, we all felt abit safer. Mr Casey and I were pleased to see that every singlestudent gave it a go and made it up the High Ropes course(including teachers). Some students manged to give into theirfear of heights and conquered several courses while some werejust happy to complete one.

After lunch students went rogaining. This is similar toorienteering where students are given a map, compass and alist of markers to find in the surrounding bush within a certaintimeframe. Three groups went into the bush and, thankfully, allthree groups returned safely having found some of the markers.Once again the students (and teachers) were exhausted by theend of the day and enjoyed spending some time around thecampfire for their last night.

It was wonderful to see the students in a different scenario,away from school. Some students got more out of the coursethen others but all students learnt something important aboutleadership and what it means to be in that position. I lookforward to working with these students next year and aminterested to see if they follow through with any of their excitingplans for the school.

Mara Samojenko, Year Level Coordinator

SEP CornerWe would like to celebrate the success of our students whoreceived awards at Awards Night. They have worked hard thisyear and grown so much. We are very proud of them!

It has been a pleasure working with the students and staffat State High. I have had so many laughs and have been soexcited about how much the students have learnt since I arrivedin term 2. Some students have totally blown my mind in thethings that they have been able to do! I am grateful to have had

• Interhouse Swimming Carnival, Friday 9th February

• Interschool Swimming Carnival, Thursday and Friday22nd and 23rd February (Host BTC)

• Interhouse Cross Country Carnival, Friday 16thMarch

• Interschool Cross Country Carnival, Monday 14thMay (Host ASSG)

• NO Cross Country Carnival, Tuesday 29th May

• Interhouse Athletics Carnival, Thursday and Friday19th and 20th July

• Interschool Athletics Carnival, Thursday and Friday16th and 17th August (Host CTSHS)

• NQ Athletics Carnival, Friday 7th September

4

the opportunity to come and work with these students. Theirunique personalities spice up each day. Thank you all for yoursupport because my job is so much easier when families are apart of the school community.

Lorena Goll will be returning in 2018 to continue to support yourstudents. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday break.

Belle Matthews, Acting Head of Special Education

JUNIOR SECONDARY

English

This term Year 9 is wrapping up with a persuasive speechand multimodal presentation. Students have been exploringthemes and issues in the novel Worldshaker and are focusingon human impact on the environment. They are using languagefeatures and persuasive techniques learned throughout the yearto convince their peers that humans have had a negative impacton the environment and calling for change. By using multimodalelements student will have the opportunity to showcase theskills they have learned over the year as well as demonstratingtheir own individuality and creativity through their presentation.

Jade Russell, Teacher

Science

The Year 9 the students researched chemical reactions andenergy transfers and then designed and conducted aninvestigation to determine the types and quantities of reactantsbest suited to reheating portable pre-cooked meals similar tothose meals used in military applications often known as MealsReady to Eat (MREs). Students conducted a number ofexperiments to determine the exothermic reaction that couldbest be applied to this application while considering theadvantages and limitations of the reactions.

Leigh Middleton, Teacher

SENIOR SCHOOL

Hospitality

This term the Year 11 and 12 students have been investigatingseafood sustainability and sustainable fishing practices. Eachstudent chose a different issue in relation to seafoodsustainability such as overfishing, trawling, and unsustainablefish farming practices. Based on their issue students conductedresearch and wrote a letter to The Northern Miner informingthem of seafood sustainability in Australia and NorthQueensland.

This term the Year 11s have also had the opportunity tocomplete many practical tasks in the kitchen to improve their

cooking skills. The students have prepared and cooked manydishes including: quiche, Mexican chicken, rice and loadedchorizo, and caramelised onion fries.

Zoey Neill, Teacher

YEAR 12 TRANSITION WEEKWeek 7 of Term 4, was the last week of school for thegraduating class of 2017. For three days the students wereinundated with presentations of valuable information andactivities, to assist them with their transition from school on totheir next step in life.

Students were involved and engaged in the transition week“beyond school” program by participating in activities on:

Constable Trish gave the students the opportunity to challengetheir fine and gross motor skills, whilst wearing beer goggles.The beer goggles impair the wearer’s vision with intoxicatedeyes, whilst sober, demonstrating the potential risks and effectsof being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Studentswere given tasks whilst wearing the goggles, to draw their waythrough the maze, unlock a key, bandage an injured mate andwalk on the line to place the tennis ball on the orange trafficcone. Whilst the students found the activities fun, the messagewas very clear of the dangers that are associated when underthe influence of drugs and alcohol.

I would like to thank the following organisations and people forsupporting our school, and for giving up their time to present toour Year 12 school leavers:

• road safety;

• CPR;

• listening in on information on banking;

• tax;

• superannuation;

• insurance;

• rental guidelines;

• further education facilities;

• resume writing;

• dos and don’ts of overseas travel;

• schoolies safety;

• leadership skills; and

• other Charters Towers local community servicesavailable to them.

• Queensland Fire and Emergency Service;

• Queensland Ambulance Services;

• Queensland Police Service;

5

I would also like to thank all of the School staff who contributedtowards the transition week program, especially: Trish Machin[School-Based Police Officer]; Lisa Hardy [School-Based YouthHealth Nurse; Brent Nelson [Guidance Officer]; and SharonHackman [Head of Department].

Congratulations Graduates of 2017, I wish each and everyone of you a fulfilling and happy life.

Kylie Webber, Youth Support Coordinator

• PCYC;

• Red Frogs;

• Hastie Financial Services;

• MacLean Partners;

• Prospect Centre;

• Commonwealth Bank;

• Jensen’s Real Estate & Livestock;

• TAFE Queensland;

• Life Education Queensland;

• L & F Transfers and Tourism;

• Department of Human Services; and

• Kris Olsen.

6