22 October 2021

Newsletter Articles

A message from the Principal

I cannot count the number of times I have heard our parents and community members say this over the past few months. The idea that school is based on reading, writing and arithmetic only are well and truly behind us; our world is changing too fast to stay in that outdated mind frame! Shailer Park SHS has always been focussed on getting our young people ready for productive and meaningful pathways into employment, trades or further education, and giving students the tools to be Future Ready Learners. This is the focus of our strategic plan, and has meant having a good, hard look at how we do things here.

In a recent email, I spoke about our commitment to enhancing ‘our place’, a core pillar of our overall strategic plan. At the centre of this plan are our ‘Future Ready Learners’: they are the reason we continue to strive to improve in each pillar. In this email, I explained the scope and reasoning behind the improvements to our campus environment, and the ways we continue as a school community to strengthen our sense of belonging. As a physical and cultural concept, ‘our place’ is our educational home; it is where we switch on our smart brains, feel safe, happy and is where the core of learning occurs. But getting our students Future Ready cannot happen in a Shailer Park SHS shaped bubble: we must create pathways to that future, which is where the pillar of ‘our partners’ becomes extremely important.

Through this experience, learning is brought to life! Students can see the purpose of the knowledge and skills they are learning at school in the first-hand experiences they are receiving in those opportunities. In this way, ‘our partners’ are the next logical teachers in our students lives, and we knew as staff, that this step needed a little reinforcing. This is where our wonderful Shailer Park community came in.

In 2018, we spent considerable time listening to our schooling community as they shared their values, concerns and hopes for the future of their children. This conversation allowed us to hear and understand that our Shailer Park community defined success through concrete outcomes such as jobs, and additionally, that the financial freedom a job provided was important. We listened, and then we got to work.

We researched the labour market to determine job growth areas and how we could ensure Shailer Park SHS could be competitive and prepared in the labour market. We met with industry, ‘our partners’, to understand the skills they were looking for in new recruits and looked to embed the development of these skills in our learning programs. And finally, we took the guess work out of senior subject selections by combining a suite of subjects that included a Certificate 2 or 3 depending on what our industry partners required.

After much hard work and dedication from our staff, we have generated something I am exceptionally proud of: Shailer Park SHS Senior Ready Packages. These packages span a range of industry sectors, with more coming online soon. At this moment, our students can choose from Trade Ready, Tech Ready, Health Ready or Event Ready Packages.

This great work has been recognised across Queensland, and has been celebrated on EDTV. I strongly encourage you all watch this short clip. It outlines how these Packages are positively affecting our students, partners and teachers, and most importantly, the overall destinations of our students. Watch it here:

I am so proud of all our staff, teachers and ‘our partners’ who have worked so hard together to give Shailer Park students concrete pathways into their future (pardon the pun). We celebrated this with our industry partners during a dinner event, hosted by our Event Ready Students. This was such a wonderful celebration of the important partnerships we have formed, ones that are helping our students be FUTURE READY!

And finally, I am delighted to announce that Shailer Park SHS has been selected to participate in a pilot program which will see a General Practitioner placed in our school one day per week. As part of the pilot, we will receive $20,000 to contribute to infrastructure costs of establishing a fit-for-purpose GP clinic as well as financial support to employ an Administrative Coordinator to assist with appointment bookings and the running of the clinic in our school. As a new partner in our schooling community, I am thrilled with how this initiative underpins our school values and vision: wellbeing and learning are very much linked and I look forward to seeing how this will help our students maximise those learning outcomes.

After a lot of parent and community consultation and incredible dedication and innovation from Shailer Park SHS staff, I know we are delivering on our promise to Lift Aspirations through Big Plans and Bold Ambitions for a Bright Future. In particular, our new Senior Ready Packages are putting students in traineeships and jobs whilst increasing their engagement in learning in the classroom and opening their eyes up to a world of opportunity. I am absolutely thrilled with the outcomes we have already achieved, and know many of our parents are also. Shailer Park SHS is an amazing place to teach and learn!

EDTV Episode 20 includes Pathways & partnerships – Future ready learners, featuring Shailer Park State High School.

Subscribe to the EDTV newsletter to receive release notifications and watch all episodes on the EDTV Website or on YouTube.

Calendar

Please access our school calendar for upcoming events.

A message from our Junior Schooling Deputy Principal

2022 Year 7 Enrolments

Students who have submitted complete enrolment packs and have attended an enrolment interview are invited to our orientation days on 2nd and 3rd of December. Don't miss out on this very important part of the transition from primary to high school.

A message from our Engagement Deputy Principal

Term 4 is always an exciting and busy time of year with many events planned to complete another successful year of engagement and learning. We are excited that to add to our calendar, we have been successful in winning a Logan City Council grant to run a project called Connect 2 Community. This will allow us to run exciting events at break times, partnering with local organisations to help our students to engage with the huge opportunities for support and connection both at school and in our fabulous Logan community. I encourage your students to engage with these – there will be lots of information on assemblies, our school TV screens and our Facebook page.

We all know that 2020 and 2021 has been challenging, with so much uncertainty and challenges due to the pandemic – including extra financial pressure, housing challenges and for some of us, being separated from family and friends interstate or overseas. I am proud of how our school community has risen to these challenges, and encourage you to reach out to our Student Services Team if your student needs extra support at this time.

Looking forward to finishing 2021 enthusiastically, and using it to lay the foundations of an even better 2022.

Uniform – representing Shailer Park with pride

Shailer Park State High School is a school that we are proud to teach and learn in, and we need to represent this pride visually in the way we present ourselves in our community. Our Uniform Policy can be found in our Student organiser, as well as on our website.

There are a few points of reminder for our whole school community:

• Students must wear their formal uniforms on Mondays and every other day, they may choose between their formal and sports uniform.
• Students must wear all black leather or non-leather equivalent shoes as a Health and Safety requirement.
• School jackets or jumpers only can be worn – no hoodies or jumpers and jackets that are not school uniform. Luckily, it is getting too warm to need one anyway!
• Students not in correct uniform should attend Student Services window in F Block BEFORE the school day starts to rectify any issues. This ensures no disruption to teaching and learning. If a student is in class during the day and is not wearing the correct uniform, the teacher will send the students to F block for assistance.

Attendance

With the current recommendations of caution around illness in the community, we thank you for keeping students home when they are sick and communicating with us about your circumstances. You can contact the school directly with explanation of absences, as well as late arrivals and early departures, on studentabsences@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au or 07 3451 2766.

A reminder to our community that if a student is ill at any time during the school day, they need to go to Student Services in F Block. They should not be communicating with parents/carers via mobile phones. The process is that they ask teacher permission to come to Student Services and our administration staff will contact the relevant parent/carer. This ensures that we can keep students safe in sick bay and record absence from classes accurately.

Messages from our Student Services Team

Messages from the Heads of House

House Points

Competition for house points was very fierce toward the end of term.

All houses were able to celebrate their achievements at our House Spirit Day, the final day of Term 3 in a variety of ways. As the winning house, Francis were able to choose between two options and chose to attend the movies at the Hyperdome after a session at school on the inflatable obstacle course.

Barnes then were able to attend the Gold Coast Aqua Park for a full day of fun.

Bilin Bilin and Karle enjoyed the obstacle course, dodgeball and movies with treats at school.

At our assembly this week, we presented the trophy to Francis’ House Captain and Head of House.

Points have now been reset and a new competition has begun.

Messages from our Student Leader Team

Student Leadership News 2022

We are excited that so many students in our school community have nominated to join our student leadership team for 2022!

Please see below the information regarding the process. Best of luck to our students who have nominated.

What happens next?

Selection Process for Elected Positions:

1. Students receive role descriptions and nomination forms for each position (Week 9, Term 3)
2. Students submit nomination form for each position (School Captains, House Captains, Ambassadors, Year Level Reps) (Week 1, Term 4)
3. Compile list of candidates for elected positions and commence preparation for speeches for School Captains/House Captains (Week 2, Term 4). Speech scaffold discussed in meeting and attached to this email.
4. 1 min speech draft submitted outlining what their vision is for the role and what they would bring to the position if they were successful. The speech will be brief, persuasive and one that sparks interest and intrigue into what Students will bring to the role and how they will make a difference to our school community if they were elected to this position. Due to Ms Timms and Mrs Dodd for proof-reading, 20th October (Week 3, Term 4)
5. School Captain Speeches presented on Whole School Assembly Monday 25th October (Week 4, Term 4)
6. House Captain Speeches presented on House Assembly:
   - Week 4 Wednesday 27th October in MPS: BARNES
   - Week 4 Friday 29th October in MPS: BILIN BILIN
   - Week 5 Wednesday 3rd November in MPS: KARLE
   - Week 5 Friday 5th November in MPS: FRANCIS
7. Create shortlist and conduct interviews for elected positions (School Captains, House Captains, Ambassadors, Year Level Reps) (Week 6, Term 4 week of 8th November)
8. Online Voting for School Captains link sent to staff and students open (Week 6, week of 8th November)
9. All students notified of their position (Week 8, week of 29th October)
10. 2022 Student Leadership Positions announced to the community at our Leadership Assembly and Awards Ceremony in 2022.

If students have any questions, they have been asked to please come and see Mrs Dodd in F block or Ms Timms in MPS staffroom.

2021 Student Leader Team

Our current Student Leader Team came together for a morning tea this week. They celebrated the achievements of the year before our Year 12 students went on study vacation. Thank you to all our Captains, House Leaders, Ambassadors and Year level Representatives for your hard work and collaboration this year.

Year 12 Super Mega Fun Day Fundraiser

A huge thank you to our school community for their support for the Year 12 Super Mega Fun Day in Week 1 of this term. The student leaders raised $744 which will go towards their Year 12 legacy project which is to plant a tree near the plaza with a sentimental plaque attached that will be meaningful for their cohort.

Thanks so much to all the staff who put themselves in the firing line to get a pie in the face Heads of House, Chappy, Mr H, Mr Harremen, Mr Raj, Ms Sheppard, Ms Davies, Ms Sharpe and Ms Timms. There was also a choc-o-lob, golfing hole in one, and footy throwing comp.

The WILFS band rocked on which was awesome!

Also, thanks to Mr Tannahill for making the choc-o-lob and footy hole in one, Mr Thomas for his footy skills, the students and staff who assisted with the BBQ and general organisation of the day. The P and C kindly donated a $30 and $50 Rebel sport voucher that was raffled off on the day. I believe that this had sparked a new tradition that will be an annual event!

Messages from The Excellence Academies

Spirt of Academies Retreat (SOAR)

On Wednesday 6th October, our Sporting and Cultural Academy students attended Day 2 of the Spirit of Academies Retreat (SOAR) at Gold Coast Performance Centre.

The aim of this retreat was to give students the opportunity to develop their growth mindset and leadership skills across a range of activities and challenges outside of their chosen sport and art.

Working in mixed age and academy groups, students learnt about how their actions influence others, how to use their strengths to help others and support the team, and the value of teamwork, persistence, patience and communication in solving problems to achieving success.

Notice of Upcoming Trials and Auditions

In Weeks 4 and 5 of Term 4, trials and auditions will be held for our Ignite Dance, Sting Futsal and Sting Volleyball Academies. Trials and auditions are open to enrolled students of Shailer Park SHS in years 7-11 who are interested in joining the Academies in 2022.

To be eligible to trial, students must download the Academies Application form from our school website, fill it in and then submit it to Administration by Friday 22nd October (Week 3). Students must then attend the relevant trial or audition at the following dates and times:

Ignite Dance Academy Audition

Dates: Tuesday 26th October AND Thursday 28th October, 2021 (Week 4, Term 4)
Time: 3.00pm – 4.45pm
Venue: P Block Dance Room (P04) at SPSHS
Bring: Comfortable clothing for dancing, Jazz shoes (if owned) and a water bottle

Sting Futsal Trial

Date: Wednesday 27th October, 2021 (Week 4, Term 4)
Time: 3.00pm – 4.30pm
Venue: MPS at SPSHS
Bring: Sports clothing, appropriate soft sole shoes (runners) and a water bottle

Applicants will receive an Outcome Notification by Friday 5 November, 2021 (Week 5, Term 4)

Existing Academy students are not required to attend these trails and auditions; you will be involved in the review process as per last year.

For further information about the trials and auditions, please speak with Miss Millar, Mr Croucher or Mr Kelly in the new MPS staffroom, check our school website, Facebook page, the televisions around the school or your email inbox.

Sport

Representative Sport

Recently, a number of Shailer Park SHS students represented our school at the Pacific District Track and Field Carnival which was held at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre.

Our 12 years students were Khyaura, Laurel, Emily, Reuben and Jake. Emily performed outstandingly in the 1500m placing 4th for the district, whilst Khyaura also had a very successful day, placing 6th in the Shot Put, throwing a personal best of 6.3 metres. Jake ran a tight 100 metre dash, finishing 4th overall – which was still less than 1 second behind 1st place.

Our 13 years were, Kaiden, Amy and Lily. Lily placed in two of her events, finishing 3rd in the 800m and 2nd in the 400m.

Jesse, Luke, Sam and Cooper made up our 14 years age groups. These students participated in almost every event between them, with Jesse and Cooper taking out 4th and 5th in the Javelin.

Gem had a successful day competing in all multi-class events. She came home with 1st place in the 400m and 800m. 2nd in Shot Put and Long Jump. And 3rd in the 200m.

Our 15 years age group, Zaiden, Mathew, Elektra, Jade and Samuel, was amongst our most successful for the day. In Field events, Zaiden won Long Jump and Jade came 2nd in shot put. Whilst in track, Mathew placed 2nd in 400m, 3rd in 200m and 4th in 100m. Sam won both his events, placing 1st in the 800m and the 1500m.

Cohen, Shawn and Ethan represented the 16 years, with both Shawn and Ethan performing extremely well in the Long Jump event.

Our Open Years students, Jesse and Taylah also came home with ribbons. Jesse placed 2nd in both the Long Jump and Shot Put. Whilst Taylah came 1st in the 200m, 400m, 800m and Long Jump; and 3rd in 100m.

Inter-School Sport

The 2022 Inter-house Swimming Carnival will take place on Friday 19th November, 2021. Below is your official Save the Date for this event.

Creative Industries

Visual Art

Year 8 Visual Art students have been exploring the notion of identity through portraiture. Photorealism was studied and students applied this knowledge and skills in creating the realistic and representational side of themselves while the other side was in response to their learning of Surrealism. I am sure you will agree that they have created some amazing portraits.

Year 9 Visual Art students are exploring Archetypes and Themes in Term 4. One of their first creative tasks was to apply a theme to a playing card, for example – the theme of Halloween to 6 of Diamonds. Below are some of the amazing recreations.

Year 10 Visual Art students are beginning their investigation into Social Issues by making Barbara Kruger-inspired collages. Students were required to combine imagery and text to represent a Social Issue of their choice. Students aimed to provoke their audience to question the status quo by using witty quips juxtaposed with jarring images. Below are some of the thought-provoking outcomes designed by our students.

News from our Library

The Hive

Logan Writers’ Festival

On Friday September 10, a group of Year 7 and 9 students had a special opportunity to meet published and local authors who shared their passion for literature and provided valuable advice to budding writers. The inaugural Logan Writers’ Festival, sponsored by the Logan City Council and the Logan Chamber of Commerce, enabled their audience to learn about how to pursue a creative writing career as well as insight into the business side of such a vocation. Writing and reading groups, recital circles and a variety of hands-on presentations helped to build unique connections with writing mentors and to learn what it takes to be an author. This was astutely summed up by students, Alex and Rylee…

“The Logan Writer’s Festival was a great day for students from the local community to connect with local authors and publishing houses. We were able to meet with authors like Rhiannon Elton and Judith Birm who write a range of fiction. We went to workshops on how to be an author and the skills needed to become a professional writer. There were lots of stalls to buy books and to interact with the writers, and there was also a beautiful art gallery. The day was very inspirational.”

The event was a huge success and we look forward to next year’s festival.

Vocational Education

A Night of Celebration

Congratulations to our Event Ready Students and teachers who last week, successfully delivered a night to remember with our 2021 Industry Connect Dinner.

Guests were greeted by the lilting sounds of our string ensemble (thanks to Di and all the students), followed by scrumptious appetisers and mocktails.

The evening then kicked off in Sapphires Restaurant with a mouth-watering Mediterranean tapas style menu for entrees and mains.

Finally, we were blessed with a heavenly dessert.

A big thank you to all who were involved in making this such a successful event for our students and our school. Our Industry Partners were all very impressed at the professionalism of the service and the quality of the amazing food.

Opportunities and Vacancies

Please follow the Shailer High Facebook page for current opportunities and vacancies, including apprenticeships, traineeships, TAFE trades and courses. Opportunities are also displayed on our Student Notices televisions. Visit our Vocational Education page for further information.

Assistance is available. Please contact our Industry Liaison Officer, Annette Demosthenous in A02, main administration building, on 3451 2782 or ilo@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au

A message from the Business Manager

STUDENT RESOURCE SCHEME (SRS) FEES AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR LEVIES

2021:

Thank you to the families who have finalised their 2021 accounts. All fees for the SRS, Instrumental Music and The Academies are now overdue. Please email finance@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au to commence a payment plan.

2022:

The 2022 School Resource Scheme (SRS) fees include a:

• Junior SRS fee (Years 7-9) of $320 per year;
• Senior SRS fee (Years 10-12) of $360 per year;
• The Senior fee includes either the ATAR pathway or VET Career Ready Programs;
• For students to remain in VET programs, fees must be fully paid or a payment plan established and maintained.
• The fees provide value to students as the School is able to source economic pricing for textbooks and consumable resourcing.
• Further information on the SRS inclusions and exclusions can be found on the School website using the link above.

Invoices for the Student Resource Scheme fee and Academy levies for the 2022 Years 8-12 students have been issued and credits applied. The updated amount owing can be found on the statement issued recently. The link on the invoice will be required to process a BPOINT payment pre-populated with payment information. Payment plans for 2022 can now commence. To establish a payment plan, please email finance@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au to organise a BPOINT plan activation link. Please note that one invoice only for the full amount per student per activity will be raised.

BPOINT PAYMENTS

For manually processed BPOINT payments, please ensure:

• The 5-digit invoice number is inserted when making BPOINT payments via the statement to avoid processing delays so that funds are correctly applied to your student’s invoice.
• The exact outstanding amount is paid. To avoid overpaying your account, please check the updated balances on statements for the correct amount owing. For a statement re-print, please email finance@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au.

CANTEEN

The Canteen is open each day from Monday to Friday at first break only. Payments can be made with EFTPOS or orders can be placed using the Canteen menu on Qkr.

A vending machine with drinks and healthy snacks is also available for contactless EFTPOS and pre-paid debit card purchases only. Debit cards can be purchased from supermarkets and department stores.

Volunteers are invited to assist in the Canteen. Please contact the Office if you are able to offer your time.

SUSHI NOW AVAILABLE

Sushi is now available from the Canteen each Monday this term. Please pre-order by 2pm Friday through Qkr.

Messages from our Parents and Citizens

Anyone interested in joining our association is invited to request a membership application by emailing pandc@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au or attending a meeting.

Current Fundraisers

Thank you to everyone who is supporting our current fundraisers.

Ongoing Fundraisers

We’re very fortunate to have several opportunities for our school community to contribute to fundraising efforts without costing any more than your family’s usual spend.

Together these provide thousands of dollars each year that go towards our fundraising targets. Please share these details with family & friends to help make the most of these opportunities!

Mel Blankley
P&C President

Announcements

Facebook

Please follow us on Facebook to keep up with student successes and reminders.

Partnering with us

Shailer Park SHS values partnering with our community to ‘Lift Aspirations through Big Plans and Bold Ambitions for a Bright Future’. Working with parents and families of students is essential in strengthening educational outcomes. We respect that parents and families have different needs and therefore engagement with families is based on individual circumstances.

Please access our Partnership document on our website for detailed information

If your enquiry relates to the classroom, your first point of call should always be the classroom teacher. You can contact them via email

If your enquiry relates to the playground or is in relation to a pattern perhaps across several classes or it is an inquiry relating to behaviour, attendance, uniform or your child’s well-being, your first point of call should always be the Head of House or Case Manager.

If the staff member is unavailable, they will contact you within a reasonable and appropriate time frame (2 business days).

Contact details

There are times when we may need to contact parents and carers. Do we have your most up to date contact details? If not, please contact the school on office@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au so we can update our records. These details include parent/carer’s name, address, phone numbers, email address and emergency contact details. Please remember to contact the school if any of these details change.

Student Absences

Keeping our students safe is our priority. One important way families can partner to keep our children safe is to notify the school prior to 8:50am if your child will be absent via studentabsences@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au or (07) 3451 2766.

If your child is away from school and you have not let us know, parents will receive a text message requesting that you respond with a reason for the absence. It is extremely important that you respond to this text message promptly to enable us to follow up any possible issues.

The safety of students is of paramount importance to us and we take this responsibility very seriously. If you do not respond to this text message a second text message, email or phone call will be made to you. Thank you for partnering with us so that we know our students are safe.