Thank you to all parents and carers for your cooperation and engagement with our recent parent teacher interviews. The slightly changed timeslot allowed our teaching staff to engage with more parents and carers over the afternoon and evening. This is something we will repeat in the future, but we will make some arrangements to change our venue in the school as it seems we may not be able to continue to squeeze into the Imperial Playhouse. Your engagement with teachers around learning makes positive contributions to your students' learning success and is strongly encouraged.

As a school we are committed to giving our teachers opportunities to build their professional capacity in the classroom. Educators, like students, are life long learners, who continuously work at our craft. You may remember earlier in the year we had James Nottingham, a renown educator work with our staff. Recently he returned again and taught a class of our students, fishbowl style with a room of educators looking on. Our pedagogy team will build on the learning from this day with our staff. If you are interested in James Nottingham and his research, please visit https://www.learningpit.org/

Lastly, I want to remind everyone as we near the midpoint of the year that your students’ attendance at school really matters. I know that students will give parents all kinds of reasons that they don’t need to be at school on particular days or times. I also acknowledge that these reasons or mindsets may be challenging to manage in the home environment for parents and carers. However, missing just half a day of school a week, is about 20 lessons worth of missed learning in a term. Over a year, this same absence would amount to four weeks. You would be concerned over a student having a four week gap in their learning without a significant reason, so please treat the smaller daily absences the same. Absences from school do impact student learning over time, just the impacts are watered down and minimised when spread. If you have concerns over your students attendance, or need school collaboration to get your student in improved attendance patterns, please contact the Head of Student Services for your child's year level.

Kind regards,

Sandra Quinn
Principal

School Musical - Tickets now on sale!

Tickets for our production of Monty Python's Spamalot the Musical are on sale now! This is one of the funniest musicals ever!

This production features an all student cast, a student orchestra and a student led tech team.

Get you tickets via the link: https://www.trybooking.com/DBSVU

PROUD Pathways: Reflect, Review and Refocus 

In Week four this term all students from Year 7 to Year 12 engaged in an important PROUD Pathways lesson centred around Goal Setting and Reflection. During this session, students were given the opportunity to review their TrackEd Profile from Term 1 — a comprehensive snapshot of their attendance, behaviour, effort, and academic achievement, as well as how their results have changed over the past few years. 

Reflecting on personal data is a powerful tool for growth. By pausing to consider their own progress, students were encouraged to take ownership of their learning journey. They asked themselves: 

• Am I attending regularly enough to succeed?
• Is my behaviour helping or hindering my progress?
• Have I been putting in my best effort?
• How do my results compare to previous years? 

From here, students set clear and achievable goals for Term 2, helping them refocus and take charge of what lies ahead. Whether it’s aiming for a higher grade, improving consistency in effort, or stepping up in the classroom, these goals are tailored to each individual’s pathway to success. 

We encourage parents and carers to continue these conversations at home. Ask your child to show you their TrackEd Profile and share their reflections and Term 2 goals — it’s a great way to support their learning and personal growth. 

Let’s continue to be PROUD of the progress we make when we take the time to pause, reflect, and move forward with purpose! 

SolarBuddy Program

Year 10 Design students have been investigating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, to develop a product that could be used in conjunction with a solar powered device, to improve the lives of people living in energy poverty.

This week, students assembled solar panels and torches as part of the SolarBuddy program, which focuses on combating energy poverty by providing solar-powered lights to children and communities in developing countries.

Year 10 Geography Excursion

On the 20^th May, Year 10 Geography students travelled to the Nudgee Beach Environmental Education Centre to participate in fieldwork around the Port of Brisbane. Students are investigating the impact of microplastics on local environments. The excursion gave students the opportunity to use lots of scientific equipment to collect biotic and abiotic data, conduct transect lines & quadrants and soil sampling while studying live specimens including marine invertebrate organisms and mangrove species. Students had a great time collecting and examining the different specimens!

Year 7 History Excursion

In Week 5, Tuesday 20th - Friday 23rd May, Year 7 students and members of the First Nations Alliance travelled to Stradbroke Island to investigate sites of significance to local Indigenous groups.  The students participated in boomerang throwing, bush walking, investigation of shell middens and handling of artefacts significant to the Island.

Everyone had a wonderful time out in the sunshine embracing our local history while spotting all sorts of Australian wildlife.  

Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation

Four of our Year 10 students, Cameron, Donny, Laiva and Sean, are currently studying a Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation with Career Employment Australia and this week, we had the opportunity to visit them on-site and check in on their progress.  Below is some of their feedback.

Donny: "I enjoy the hands on aspect and it has reinforced my post school pathway".

Laiva: "The practical work is very informative. Our teacher has a lot of knowledge".

Sean: "The opportunity has allowed me to get light vehicle knowledge before I move to heavy vehicle".

Cameron: "I was always interested in automotive and the course has helped reinforce this".

School Communication

We are committed to open, respectful, and positive communication with parents and carers, as a vital part of supporting your child's learning, wellbeing and development.

To strengthen partnerships with families, we continue to celebrate student achievements, share learning progress, respond promptly to important concerns, communicate absences, manage consent and payments, provide regular school updates, and invite your feedback and involvement.

To support positive communication between schools and families, a new resource has been developed by the department that outlines shared expectations around what, how, and when schools and families communicate. This resource is designed to help foster mutual understanding and proactive collaboration.

For more information and to view the resource, please refer to:

• Communicating with your child's school guidelines (PDF, 670KB

James Nottingham Visit to Wynnum SHS

James Nottingham is an educational leader, with a passion in transforming research into strategies that work in classrooms. He is still a practicing teacher in the UK and is regarded by many as one of the most engaging, thought-provoking and inspirational speakers in education.

A group of passionate teachers at Wynnum SHS have been engaging with his book “Teach Brilliantly” as part of our Whole School Approach to pedagogy. James visited Wynnum during the January student free days where he engage all staff in a full day PD around some of the teaching strategies in his book.

Last week, we were lucky enough to host him back at Wynnum SHS. During his afternoon at the here he taught a demo lesson to one of our Year 9 classes. This lesson was watched by a large group of teachers who got to see some of his strategies in practice, in our context, with our students. Such a valuable PD and learning opportunity it was.

Key messages from his PD were around discussing his 7 steps to strong learning:

1. Engage students in learning
2. Cause thinking
3. Check understanding/capability
4. Adapt
5. Demonstrate learning/progress
6. Assess (formal process to knowing student progress)
7. Strengthen memory gains

Staff will continue to explore and implement ‘Teach Brilliantly’ strategies as we are committed to refining our craft to be the best possible teachers for our students here at Wynnum.

House Choir

On Tuesday 6 May, we held our inaugural House Choir competition and it was amazing to see our students getting involved and sharing their talents.

Congratulations to Kennedy House for taking 1st place with an enthusiastic rendition of "Umbrella".

Special mention to our other House performances:

2nd: Mitchell with "Sweet Caroline"

3rd: Cunningham with "Blue"

4th: Oxley with "We Will Rock You"

You all rocked it - what a way to kick off this new tradition!

A big thank you to our school judges Peter, Larry, Jo and Greg, and to our special guest judge Leanne from Soul Song Community Choirs, for their time.

Homestay Program for Japanese Students

From 23 - 29 August, Wynnum SHS will host students from Iwatsuki High School and we are looking for families who would be interested in hosting up to two students.  For more information, please see the flyer below.

Year 9 Debating

On Wednesday 9 May, our Year 9 debaters won against Sheldon College. The topic was 'That national sporting leagues should only be played in their country of origin' (e.g. the NRL should not be played in the USA).

It was a really close debate with both teams presenting effective models to focus their arguments. In the three key conflicts in the debate, our debaters won two.  It was a great night and shows excellent development from this very committed team. 

Year 10 Debating

The Year 10 team won their final debate of the year, going up against Moreton Bay Boys’ College on Wednesday 21 May. Arguing the negative side of the topic ‘That we regret the rise in short form content’, the team delivered a strong performance. Both sides presented compelling arguments in an engaging and entertaining debate, with Wynnum ultimately securing the win. Congratulations to our Year 10 Debaters for their excellent speeches and on a fantastic year of debating!

Open Days and Expos

Mark your calendars for the upcoming University Open Day’s and Career Expos.  These events offer an invaluable opportunity to explore potential pathways and make informed decision about your future. They provide direct access to campus facilities, current faculty, and industry professional.

University visits give you the opportunity to feel the campus atmosphere before making your decision and allow to find out more about specific programs.  Careers Expos provide you with practical advice on entry requirements, allow you to make connections that could potentially lead to employment opportunities.

Attending open days provide insights that brochures and websites cannot.

From the Guidance Officers

Youth Masterclass (Nerang) - Youth writing competitions with Connor Harvey Saturday 7^th June

Learn how to write a complete short story, ensuring it has an interesting beginning, middle and end. Then learn how to find, and submit to, the best writing competitions for you.  This event is free and open to students

Connor Harvey is a writer, editor, mentor, and tutor with ten years of creative writing experience. They helped spearhead the popular Youth Writing and Writing Friday programs at Queensland Writers Centre.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/youth-masterclass-youth-writing-competitions-with-connor-harvey-tickets-1307470051119?aff=ebdssbdestsearch