6 September 2022

Newsletter Articles

A message from our Principal

Ever since humans began to congregate in groups millions of years ago, belonging to a tribe has been an essential ingredient for a life where we thrive. Belonging to a group helped our ancestors survive sabertoothed tiger attacks, find shelter and food. In 2022, the likelihood of being eaten by a large feline predator are small, regardless, we are hardwired to need that same sense of belonging. It promotes positive self-esteem, long-lasting friendships and help-seeking behaviours: all the foundational aspects needed for those bright futures our Shailer Park students deserve.

Belonging is crucial to our wellbeing, and at the adolescent development stage, this is amplified ten-fold.

This is why we have focused on helping our students belong: it is not just about the uniform we wear, but about promoting a place where our young people feel motivated to learn and supported to succeed. At Shailer Park SHS, we pride ourselves on the inclusion of all cultures, backgrounds and embrace diversity. We celebrate that ‘We all belong’, something which can be seen in each and every day in our classrooms and across numerous events.

Our recent Culture Day, where we celebrated the diverse cultures of our school community was an absolute pleasure to be a part of. The vibrant traditional dress of the many cultures represented at Shailer Park, dance performances and our traditional dress catwalk were all fantastic. Our diversity is what makes us! Through showcasing our diverse cultures and backgrounds, we are at the heart of creating social change. This excites me greatly! Thank you to the Harmony Group students and staff who assisted in the development of this annual event.

Diversity was also celebrated through our Arts week, where we engaged with students and showcased the Arts. During this time, we learnt that the Arts provides us with many opportunities to express our individuality. Thank you to the staff and students who helped to create the week-long events and activities.

A diverse and connected sense of belonging was also created during the recent government announcement of the next steps in the state’s Path to Treaty: this is a momentous occasion! The Path to Treaty is a journey toward signing a negotiated agreement between First Nations peoples and the Queensland Government. Treaty is for all Queenslanders. It’s an opportunity to create a new future between First Nations Queenslanders and non-Indigenous Queenslanders. This is a process through which all Queenslanders can recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of the land, winds, sky and waters we now share. Our First Nations people contribute significantly to Shailer Park SHS, and we hope that these steps mark a move in the right direction.

Fostering a sense of belonging within our school begins with how we start each day. The House Care Group that staff and students engage with each morning provides a reliable and routine support mechanism for students to find their place. Our House structure is a significant way for us to support students and staff to cultivate meaningful connection, celebrate the diversity of our community and respond to the whole child.

Our House Culture also supports students to contribute in many ways, from attendance and participation in the arts, reading, sports, culture, academics and community, there is a way for students to contribute to their house, earn house points and be part of the strong team spirit that helps us to belong. This highlights the importance of encouraging your child to attend our House Carnival events, the next one being our House Spirit celebration event on the final day of this term: participation is the first step to belonging.

We also know that students who engage in extracurricular activities either within or external to the school increase their social networks and therefore their sense of belonging. We understand that supporting your child to participate in external extracurricular activities can be costly and difficult to organise, which is why Shailer Park SHS is so proud to offer so many extracurricular opportunities for free or at a minimal cost. More importantly, if financial hardship is a barrier, please get in touch as we are committed to supporting all our families. We don’t want any student to miss out: belonging means lifting each other up.

Meaningful connection is important to feed our emotional brain, with so many opportunities for our students to connect and have a go at something new or return to a passion, I strongly encourage students to get involved. Cross the line of opportunity, try out drama club, join a CAST activity or consider how you might take the lead and cultivate an opportunity for students to come together and share in a passion.

Two groups who are absolutely flourishing together are the students in our Dance Academy and Drama Club who recently competed in the eisteddfods. Congratulations to all involved: we are extremely proud of your efforts. Their achievements show just how worthwhile belonging to Shailer Park SHS really is.

Calendar

Please access our school calendar for upcoming events and CAST activities.

A message from our Senior Schooling Deputy Principal

Our Year 10 students have been invited to participate in the first year of a new longitudinal study of young people in Australia. In 2022, the GENERATION study will focus on the activities and aspirations of Year 10 students – what they are doing now and what they think they would like to do in the future regarding study, training, and employment.

Each student who completes the survey will receive an individual summary of their career’s interests, while the school will receive a summary report of the plans of Year 10 students as a group. No individual student will be identified in the school report.

There are plans for another 10 years of surveys in this longitudinal study. Students will be asked if they are interested in participating in later years of the study. If students agree to participate in later years, they will be asked to provide their contact details. Please note that it is not a requirement for students to participate in later years, and all questions in the survey are voluntary.

Further information about the study will provided to all Year 10 families along with a consent form. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Katrina Davies (Senior School Deputy Principal)

All data will be kept strictly confidential, and no individual student or school will be identified in published data or reports.

A message from our Engagement Deputy Principal

Term 3 is always a busy time in our school year. Many students are really hitting their stride in terms of learning and events are planned to mark key milestones, such as last week’s Year 12 Formal at Sirromet Winery. We have now announced the House winners for 2022, and it is the Year of the Bilin Bilin Brumbies! Many exciting opportunities are available for all students in our school on the last day of term – House Spirit Day. Ask your student to tell you more and return the relevant notes this week.

We all know that the past few years have 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 for extended periods of time.

Uniform

Representing Shailer Park SHS with pride

As a school, Shailer Park SHS values a 'sense of belonging', and we know that this is a key purpose in our Dress Code. As the Dress Code has not been revisited for some time, our P&C is supportive of us taking a pulse on attitudes and expectations of our school community and our industry partners around this. The feedback of students, staff, families and our community and industry partners are currently being considered. Thank you to the 535 members of our school community – staff, students, and families – who responded to the survey, as well as our many industry partners who shared their multiple perspectives with us.

Some of the feedback received indicates:

• Our perspectives are remarkably diverse – there are many responses that show equal numbers of us are happy to continue the current protocols as would like to challenge them
• A considerable number of respondents would like us to revisit the need for hair and nails to be ‘of a natural colour’
• There is an interest in us reconsidering facial piercings, but a clear need to balance this with our Industry partners expectations as well as Workplace Health and Safety
• There is a need for us to explore a warmer jumper/jacket option for our harsh winter conditions!

The feedback will be tabled at our P&C meeting this month, and we will explore through this forum any possible changes to the Dress Code for 2023. Please note, this will NOT include any changes that will require the compulsory purchase of added items.

Please note, that whilst we are undergoing discussions around Dress Code for 2023, the following remains unchanged:

• 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

Regular attendance at school is directly correlated with academic success and stronger employment prospects, as well as better mental and physical health. 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 on studentabsences@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au or 34512766.

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/careers 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/career. 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 Report

What a term!

This term has seen fierce competition amongst the houses to determine who would be the Champion House for 2022.

We have had lots of different activities and events that have continued to add to our points totals – attendance, live challenges on assembly, weekly inter house competition on a Friday, reading targets, Arts Week activities and Book Week parade! Phew! Our Friday inter house competition was playing Capture the Flag on the oval. We had fantastic participation in this, especially when it was getting down to the wire with points.

At the end of Week 7, our scheduled end to our points allocation, the points were as follows:

Interestingly you can see that it was a tie for second position. Unbelievably, after 12 months of competition, we had Francis and Barnes tied for points. Our Week 8 assembly was fierce, with both houses battling it out in a tie breaker with Francis the eventual winner.

The final day of term is our House Spirit Day with each house participating in the following activities.

We know that there has been a lot of fun and friendly house rivalry along the way, and we look forward to starting our new competition for 2023. Bring it on!

Messages from our Student Leader Team

Flicks Tips

100-day cupcakes

With graduation approaching very fast for the class of 2022, Shailer Park SHS has held multiple celebrations and fundraisers for the Year 12s across the last few weeks. On August 10th, the countdown of 100 days left until graduation began, which was signified with some delicious cupcakes.

The legacy committee hope that this will become a school tradition for the years to come and are very grateful for the help they received in this project.

Super Mega Fun Day

In addition, last Friday, August 19th, the second year of Super Mega Fun Day (SMFD) commenced in The Plaza. There was a sausage sizzle, drinks available for purchase, choc-a-lob, and the famous pieing of the teachers. Students thoroughly enjoyed throwing pies at the teachers, and some student leaders too, which made for the main attraction of the day.

There was also live music, performed by the WILFs and the Rock Band!

SMFD was started last year, so this was the first year of carrying through the new school tradition. The aim of SMFD is to raise money for the Year 12 legacy project, which in this case, is a wall mural that will be unveiled later this year!

Student Leadership Nominations

Student Leadership plays an important role in our school community and living our values. Decisions made in the school must always consider the impact, development, and opportunities for students. Student views need to be heard and the Student Leadership Team structure allows this to happen.

As a student leadership team, our shared vision is to be a voice of the student body to promote positive change, to help students and members of the wider community have big plans and bold ambitions. Leadership requires the acceptance of a significant number of responsibilities. This is your opportunity to make a difference. Hard work, creative thinking, the ability to influence, a willingness to listen and respect others are key elements of a good leader. Leadership is also about mentoring and support to develop the leaders that come after you.

If you would like to be part of this team, please complete the emailed nomination form, or collect one from the Student Services window. Submissions are due to Mrs Dodd by Friday 9th September.

National Science Week

Our Year 7 students learnt about refractive index of smashed glass last week during their timetabled lessons. They also made their own incandescent light bulbs.

Our Year 11 chemistry have been studying endo and exothermic reactions and catalysts, they consolidated their learning than with a giant elephant’s toothpaste reaction

Our Science Club fun with dry ice and made fruit tanghulu (mini toffee apples) using edible glass.

Thank you to our Science Ambassadors, scientific officers and staff for all bringing about these fantastic and fun learning opportunities.

Messages from The Academies

Sting Futsal Academy

Futsal Academy training is in full swing as our Senior & Junior, Boys and Girls Futsal teams gear up for their upcoming tournaments. Training under the Brisbane Sport Institute coach twice a week, motivation is high and competition fierce as our teams prepare for the SEQ school Futsal Challenge in Week 10.

Sting Volleyball Academy

Our Senior Girls Volleyball team has returned to training after an impressive fourth place finish in the annual Volleyball Queensland Senior Schools Cup. Held over the August 5th-7th weekend, the team joined 2,000 other Year 11 & 12 students competing on the Gold Coast. Asked how they found the experience; the girls described it as exciting and were thrilled to be able to play so many games and against a variety of different schools.

The Actors Club

On Friday the 5th of August, students from Shailer Park High School's The Actors Club performed the play 'Lockdown' by Douglas Craven at the Beenleigh Drama Festival.

Directed by Year 9 student Maia, the play focuses on a group of students who have been kept in lockdown within their classroom for an extended period, not knowing what is happening outside the classroom doors - is it a drill or is it real?

The Actor's Club performed the play in response to the topical issue of mass school shootings occurring frequently in the U.S. This was the first time many of the students have performed on a theatrical stage in front of a live audience. I would like to congratulate all the students who represented Shailer Park State High School in this venture, we were all proud and impressed by your engaging performance.

Special thanks to Beenleigh Theatre Group who made several exceptions to allow our students to perform in the festival. Also, thanks to the many staff behind the scenes who worked with teachers to facilitate this experience

News from our Library

Book Week

What a hectic and wonderful week we have just had, with Book Week celebrations hosted by the Hive (library). It was certainly buzzing with enthusiasm with activities ranging from students making their own dream catchers (conducted by Suellen Hodgson), to composing dream clouds, engaging in visual memory games, and more.

The costume parade on Thursday was certainly one to remember, as both staff and students ‘strutted their stuff’ on stage with amazing and clever garment creations. The library space was overflowing with spectators with Dane and Angus whipping up crowd spirit!

Both received a $30 canteen voucher for their efforts.

We also enjoyed hosting author presentations by renown Australian writer, Dee White.

Dee walked students through the process of how she goes about composing her stories. Perhaps one of the most useful tips she gave was the importance of conducting research when creating historical fiction books to ensure authenticity and a sense of realism in her works. For Dee, this involved visiting places that became her backdrop, for example, Paris, and even going on a sewer tour since this was one of settings within her novel, Beyond Belief; talking to people with relevant life experiences, and effectively, getting a sense of what things looked like, sounded like, smelt like and felt like. I think her delivery provide much inspiration for our budding writers at Shailer High.

In all, it was a fun time, with a lot of student involvement and participation. To put it simply, success can be measured by the extra numbers of students who walked through the library doors last week, often for the first time – voluntarily!

LEADERS ARE READERS

Reading is universally enjoyed by people of all ages and occupations. To demonstrate this, staff members were invited to have their photograph taken, shielding their faces behind their favourite book. Students had the job to figure out who was lurking behind the book. Some teachers including Mr Albertson, Mr Chang and Ms Thomson sneakily donned a disguise to throw the participants off course, and it worked marvellously! The outcome was that not one entrant guessed one hundred percent!

The person with the highest score was announced the winner. And so, the winner was, Morgan, who shared her prize with Charlie. Both received a $20 JF HI-FI voucher.

Congratulations to these students, and to those who enthusiastically participated. Remember, you do not have to be a leader to be a reader. People from all walks of life can enjoy the simple pleasure of reading.

A message from the Business Manager

Please note – payments can be made in full or by instalment. Please do not pay more than the invoiced amount. If you are making instalments and wish to check your remaining balance, please email office@shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au or phone the Office 3451 2777.

Student Resource Scheme (SRS)

Thank you for processing these payments promptly to ensure the timely provision of student resources.

Canteen

Students can check our Daily Specials on the Television screens around the school. We encourage QKR pre orders. Canteen will be closed on the final day of term, Friday 16 November.

Business Manager

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.

Congratulations to our winners of the giant Toblerone and Nike hoodies. Chocolates can still be ordered via QKR.

Thank you to all those who supported our Father’s Day Raffle and congratulations to our winners.

P&C President

Announcements

Facebook

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

Partnering with us

Shailer Park State High School values partnering with our community to ‘Lift Aspirations through Big Plans and Bold Ambitions for a Bright Future.’ Collaborating with parents and families of students is essential in strengthening educational outcomes. We respect that parents and families have diverse 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 https://shailerparkshs.eq.edu.au/our-school/our-staff

If your enquiry relates to the playground or is in relation to a pattern 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.

Closed Circuit Television

Our premises are monitored by closed circuit television (CCTV) for the safety of students, educational resources and facilities. Images are recorded by the Department of Education and may be provided to the Queensland Police Service.

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 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.

2022 Early School Leavers survey

The Queensland Government is seeking the support of the school community for the annual survey of Year 10, 11 and 12 students who left school in 2021, before completing Year 12. This short, confidential survey collects information about what young people are doing the year after leaving school. The results of the survey help provide valuable information to improve services available to school leavers in the future.

Between August and September, these school leavers can expect to receive instructions to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office. Please encourage them to take part. If their contact details have changed, please assist the interviewer with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate.

Thank you for your support of Next Step post-school destination surveys in 2022.

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

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