26 November 2021

Newsletter Articles

A message from the Principal

One of the most popular posts on the Shailer Park SHS Facebook page at the moment is of three of our students waving their long-haired mullets around. I am very proud of this post and these students, and no, not because this ‘interesting’ 1980s hairdressing trend is back in fashion. The boys are participating in Movember, a global cause aimed at raising awareness for men’s health. Traditionally, participants are asked to grow out a long moustache, but our Shailer Park SHS students have decided to cut their mullets off instead, setting themselves a $1000 fundraising target. Donations can be made via the link below.

Mullets, hey? I never thought I’d say it, but this is an excellent example of what Shailer Park SHS’s school culture is all about.

In the strategic plan for our school, creating future ready learners is at the centre of everything we do, along with a vision of lifting aspirations through big plans and bold ambitions for a bright future. Roughly translated, this all means that our students will have the skills and education to follow whichever employment, further education or training pathway they want to pursue once they graduate. Ultimately, they will have options to enter careers and industries that will give them financial independence, longevity in the work force and a happy, fulfilled lifestyle. Our school culture, including those long mullets for example, are a huge part in achieving that.

Our school culture is the glue binding us all together; it unites the cornerstones of partners, place and people. Culture can be defined as ‘the way we do things here’ and is evidenced every day in the way people interact, speak and behave toward each other.

We want our Shailer Park SHS culture to be one that is ultimately positive and inclusive. We are committed to cultivating a school culture where all students are supported, accepted and belong. Explicitly developing the skills which underpin our values of being Resilient, Reflective, Resourceful and Relational learners helps us achieve this culture.

Shailer Park SHS culture is already present in our traditions and special events, with Term 4 offering us many opportunities to participate in these.

• Our Year 12 graduation ceremony is a cultural experience displaying the pride and support our community has for these young adults and the significance of their achievements.
• The semi-formal is an important rite of passage for our Year 10s, as they ready themselves for the added maturity and responsibility of becoming a senior student.
• Our house spirit activities help sustain a culture of belonging and acceptance.
• The alternate program in the final week strengthens the camaraderie we have with each and reminds us that after all our hard work, we can have a little fun together.

Then of course, there are those students who have taken their cultivation of a strange hairstyle and pledged to cut it off to raise global awareness for men’s health. This contributes enormously to our school culture, and reinforces our sense of community as we support these young men in their efforts to have a positive impact on the very important issue of men’s health. In this way, culture is everyone’s responsibility, we all contribute! And when we all choose to contribute in a positive way, we are building a school culture that makes achieving those big plans and bold ambitions a little easier for us all.

This week on assembly I spoke to students about what it means to be ‘Relational’ and discussed friendships and how they are built on trust. Researcher Brene Brown offers us a helpful analogy to think about trust: a marble jar. Every time a friend supports or encourages you, sticks up for you or honours what you share with them, you put a marble in their friendship jar. When they are unkind, disrespectful or share your secrets, a marble is taken out. Real friends are the ones who keep putting the marbles in the marble jar until one day, it’s completely full: they are the people we know we can trust, should spend our time with and love whole heartedly. I encouraged students to think about the jars with their name on it. Is it full? Or constantly being emptied? How might they be described by others, are they trust worthy? Are they a good friend? Being a good friend means taking a look at ourselves first: are we someone our friends would say are deserving of a marble jar? At the end of a long year, it is timely to think about how we interact with each other and remind ourselves to keep putting those marbles in, rather than taking them out.

Finally, our six-week break is nearly upon us. Please be reminded that the final day of school for Years 10 and 11 students is November 26. The final day of school for Years 7-9 is December 10, with that school day concluding at 12:30pm.

To the Graduating Class of 2021

Calendar

Please access our school calendar for upcoming events.

A message from our Senior Schooling Deputy Principal

Year 12 Graduates

Our Year 12s graduated last week, completing 13 years of formal schooling.

They have certainly had a bit of a wild ride as the final phase of their schooling journey.

When they began Year 11, bright eyed and ready to be the seniors of the school, a pandemic suddenly gripped the world. They unexpectedly had to pivot and learn how to learn in very different ways to their past 10 years. They had to swiftly become proficient in online learning, digital classrooms and learning from home. Quite a challenge for some of our more practical subjects and programs. They had to learn how to be agile and flexible in the face of changing goal posts. And for the most part, they did it with courage and enthusiasm. They are also the second cohort of the Qld ATAR system and the new Queensland Certificate of Education.

I’m very proud of the hard work (albeit sometimes very last minute and sometimes with a lot of encouragement) that they have all put in to be here today and receiving their graduation certificate for 13 years of school education.

We have been very impressed with the resilience and ongoing positive attitude that our students have continued to show in the face of the many changes and challenges that have come their way. They continued to show up, they continued to try and they continued to smile, help each other and reflect on how to do better and be better.

I would like to thank all of the adults that have mentored, guided, supported and cared for this lovely group of humans.

Thank you, parents, family, friends, teachers and staff.

Year 10 Semi-Formal

We were very proud of how our Year 10 cohort represented our school at our first ever Year 10 Semi-formal which took place on the Kookaburra Queen sailing up the Brisbane River.

The students looked wonderful and had a great time dancing, hanging out and enjoying the sites of our beautiful city. What a great way to culminate their Year 10 journey.

A message from our Junior Schooling Deputy Principal

Orientation Program for our new Year 7 students

All incoming Year 7 students who have completed the enrolment process have been invited to attend our Orientation Program scheduled for Thursday and Friday of Week 9 Term 4.

We are busy preparing the activities for this important 2-day program that allows our incoming Year 7 students to experience life at Shailer Park State High School. These activities include lessons in the core subjects and in the elective subjects as well as team building activities run by our Heads of Houses.

By the end of this 2-day program, our new Year 7 students should be quite familiar with our school campus, a number of teachers and members of Student Services Team. Our new Year 7 students will also get to know many of their new classmates – at least for the core subject areas. These outcomes alone will help all new students move into high school as smoothly as possible.

If you live within our catchment area, it is still not too late to enrol your child for Year 7 in 2022. Please do so as soon as you can though because enrolment interview timeslots are almost full. To get the enrolment started, you can download an Enrolment Pack from our school website or contact our Enrolments Officer enrolment@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au.

Finishing strong

As we approach the end of Semester 2 for our current Year 7, 8 and 9 students, we still have plenty of learning to do.

In Week 9, the Year 9 students are involved in the Step-Up Program and an UPP Leadership Day. In Week 9, our Year 7 and Year 8 students will have a number of assessment items and exams that they need to complete. I encourage all Junior Secondary students to remember the importance of rest and eating well so that you can recover well.

In Week 10, all Year 7, 8 and 9 students will be involved in the Alternative Program. Our staff have collaboratively developed an exciting Alternative Program that includes a year-level excursion to the Queensland Museum and Southbank Cinemas. This will be a great way for our Junior Secondary students to finish and to celebrate a busy and productive school year.

Our Year 7, 8 and 9 students will also receive their Semester 2 report cards in coming weeks. This is a time to celebrate your achievements and any progress you have made. I encourage you to take some time to reflect on this feedback and to begin planning for your next goals. Reflection and forward planning are important strategies to all future success.

Messages from our Student Services Team

Messages from the Heads of House

Movember

Anything you grow, will help a Bro - update

Congratulations to Jak, Saxon and Cody for the commitment and effort throughout November. This morning on our full school assembly, the students committed to their promise of cutting off their mullets for Men's Health. Years of growing out the mullets ended quickly with the cut of a pair of scissors. Our staff will be shaving off their moustaches next week.

A special thank you to the ‘Bearded Lady Barber Shop’ for supporting the fundraising. The barber shop has kindly donated gift vouchers to the boys so they can have a fresh haircut.

Together the target of raising $1000 for men’s health is very close! If you wish to get the donations over the line please donate via

UPP Incursions – Year 9 and 11

As part of our commitment to offer real-life learning opportunities and experiences that enhance student’s education Year 11 and 9 students have and will be involved in the Unleashing Personal Potential Incursions.

The Year 11 students participated in the EQUIP full day incursion on 11 November. Equip is specifically tailored for Year 11 students with high energy, high impact training, and it calls upon every student to contribute through their influence, strengths, teamwork and actions.

• LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE
  Everyday Leadership by example and action.
• THE EPIC RACE
  Active, small team race event (using our A.S.P.I.R.E. framework).
• BATTLE OF THE HOUSES
  Action-packed challenge in house groups.

Additionally, as part of their Step Into Senior Week, the Year 9 students have been invited to take part in the IMPACT LEADERSHIP incursion. Students will work towards building a solid foundation for their success through the following sessions:

• GROWTH MINDSET AND NEUROPLASTICITY: Understanding the remarkable power of the human brain, neuroplasticity and assessing our own mindsets.
• GRIT: Using an evidence-based goal setting process (T.O.P.) and learning from famous failures in order to foster perseverance and passion toward our goals.
• MATES THAT COUNT: Focusing on "rising by lifting others" and active listening, in order to build authentic friendships.
• AN INTRODUCTION TO WELLBEING WITH PERMAH: Outlining 6 elements of wellbeing and discovering ways to enhance our own wellbeing.

Attendance Celebrations

Congratulations to our students who achieved 95%+ attendance for the year. Your commitment to your learning and educational success is commendable.

These students and their parents were invited to our celebration ceremony. The event included a certificate presentation in addition to an afternoon tea. Well done students.

House Points

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

It has been a busy year with many opportunities for students to earn those very valuable house points. These have been earned through attendance, Showbie challenges, handball, trivia, athletics and swimming carnivals, lunchtime trivia, live bonus challenges on assemblies, reading challenges and other topical events…..the list goes on.

While Francis House were named the victors for 2021, Term 4 is all about points to kick off the 2022 year. At the time of reading this, the points have Bilin Bilin in the lead going into 2022….quite unfamiliar territory.

Messages from our Student Leader Team

Student Leadership 2022

In supporting and developing each person’s potential in leadership, Shailer Park State High School provides students with opportunities to witness and build leadership qualities. Leadership is encouraged and demonstrated throughout our school to develop big plans and bold ambitions. It gives us great pleasure to introduce our School Captains, House Captains as well as Year Level Representatives for 2022 – what a year it will be!

School Captains

House Captains

Year Level and IPS Council Representatives

Messages from The Academies

Futsal Academy

With the school year coming to an end, it is good time to reflect on the year that has been. I first would like to congratulate the Year 12 students and wish them all the best for their future endeavours; I hope to see them continue playing in the club futsal space in the future.

With Queensland starting to find some consistency around Covid, we are going to be able to go in to next year with heaps of opportunities for the students. I am excited to announce that we are one of the schools that are able to offer regular playing opportunities in the Queensland School Sports inaugural School Futsal League (SFL). This league offers weekly fixtures for two different age groups across the boys and girls. 15s/16s in semester 1 and 13s/14s in semester 2. With this starting in week 4 of term 1, preparations are well under way to make sure we are ready.

I would like to thank all the students for their hard work this year and for keeping their motivation, even when things have been so unpredictable. I would also like to thank all the parents for getting their students to trainings in the mornings or picking them up in the afternoons, I really appreciate it.

Volleyball Academy

In the September holidays, the Year 12 Girls team attended Senior Schools Cup, their last ever School based tournament. They competed in Division 1 and after a tough weekend won the grand final, bringing home the gold medal for the second year in a row.

During Term 4, our Year 11 Girls team attended Senior Schools Cup and our Year 8 Boys and Girls teams attended Junior Schools Cup. Our Year 11 Girls placed 6th overall after narrowly missing out on finals. Our year 8 Boys competed in Division 1 coming up against their strongest ever competition, they placed 15th out 20. Our Year 8 Girls learnt a lot and had a great weekend, however unfortunately finished in 12th place. These competitions were great experience for our teams as we move into 2022.

Term 4 Week 8 sees our teams training for the last time in 2021. I wish everyone a safe holiday and a Happy New Year. I look forward to training returning in Term 1, 2022.

Lastly, as an Academy, we wish all our graduating Year 12 students the best of luck in their future beyond schooling. We thank you all for your contribution and leadership within the Volleyball Academy.

Congratulations 2022 Academy Students

Thank you to all students who participated in our recent trials and auditions. A fantastic effort was put in by all; it was great to see so many of our Year 7 2022 students trialling for a spot in our Academies.

Sport

2022 Swimming Carnival

Friday of Week 7 saw the staff and students of Shailer Park SHS travel to the Brisbane Aquatic Centre (Sleeman Sports Complex) to participate in the 2022 Inter-House Swimming Carnival.

This carnival saw immense amounts of House spirit as students swam and cheered their hearts out to secure the first house points up for grabs for 2022.

Results

The team in red took out a convincing first place for the day, claiming top spot in several races and novelty events.

Age Champions

A massive congratulations to the following students who earned the most points in their Age Group.

Creative Industries

Drama

Our Year 9 Drama students entertained a very excited group of Prep to Year 3 students at Shailer Park SS on Tuesday 23 November 2021.

Our students loved performing in front of a live audience and being given the opportunity to entertain such an excited group of students. A delightful experience for all involved!

Vocal Ensemble

The Diatonics Vocal Ensemble recently participated in a recording session. We had a sound engineer, from Ghost Gum Audio at Cannon Hill Anglican College, come to the school to record the music we have been working on this year. The students had a wonderful time and were so excited to be using the technology and hearing their own voices through the headphones.

Vocational Education

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 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.

The Canteen will be closed from Wednesday 8 December for the remainder of the term.

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

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

Laptops for Sale

The school is selling a small number of 2019 Dell Laptops in good condition for $220 including GST.  No warranties are implied or given.

The laptops will be available for viewing on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 December.

If you are interested, please submit a written Expression of Interest (EOI) by Friday 3 December to finance@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.auand state:

• your full name
• your student’s full name
• student’s year level in 2022
• whether you wish to view the laptop

Please note the Department reserves the right not to accept the tender.  Preference will be given to 2022 Year 10 students.  If your EOI is accepted, an invoice will be raised for payment by BPoint.  Laptops will be available for collection once payment has been made.

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.

Fundraisers

Did you get your Lucky Numbers for a chance to win $500? Winner drawn today!

Christmas Raffle:

With thanks to our amazing local business community, we have another awesome raffle prize pool worth approx. $7,000 on offer for this year’s Christmas Raffle!!!

Tickets available now via QKR.

You may also request a ticket book to sell among family, friends & work colleagues by emailing pandc@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au

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!

Please note applicants are required to attend a general meeting or submit an application for the AGM to have their application accepted.

Keep an eye on Facebook for our 2022 Meeting Schedule.

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.

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