6 June 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

What a wonderful few weeks we have had at Wynnum. Two weeks ago we enjoyed the production of “High School Musical 2” after months of auditions and rehearsals. This was a thoroughly enjoyable event and all participants, both on stage and back of house should be PROUD of their involvement in seeing this come to fruition. A huge thank you to staff, students and parents who supported the school’s performance both directly and indirectly to ensure rehearsals led to a successful production. Once again, thank you to all involved.

The school term is rapidly advancing and we are nearly at it's conclusion. At this critical point in time, I ask parents to assist students in staying on task and on time with required work completion and communicating with the school and their teachers when this is difficult. Our teachers constantly monitor student progress and completion and similar support from home is a major contribution. It is also timely to include a reminder about uniforms. With the cooler months now here, the correct winter wear is required including jumpers.

A couple of organisational items as we tidy up loose ends for the semester.

When students are absent from school it is essential that parents or caregivers contact the school absence line on 3906 7366 on the day of the absence and state your child’s name and the reason for the absence. An email to studentabsences@wynnumshs.eq.edu.au or a medical certificate/letter brought to Student Services the first day of return is also acceptable and appreciated. Our goal for attendance in 2017 is 92% attendance and 100% of absences explained. We appreciate your support in this matter. Every day counts at Wynnum State High.

We are well into the school year and students are actively using resources. These resources go beyond text books and include classroom equipment, software licenses and laboratory materials. It is important that parents are part of the Student Resource Scheme (SRS) as this ensures they have access to these and are eligible to participate in the extracurricular user pays activities such as sports, gala days, excursions, jerseys and formal events. If you haven’t already arranged payments, please contact Melissa Bath in finance services on 3906 7312. If you have elected to not participate (i.e. you have returned the SRS form indicating this) it is your responsibility to provide all necessary equipment to ensure they participate in the program of study (refer to website for a complete list).

In partnership with our parents and community, Wynnum State High School will provide all students with access to a high quality education that equips them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for the future. This will enable them to participate in and contribute to a culturally, socially and economically vibrant society.

Students, parents and staff of Wynnum State High School consistently strive to model the key values of Integrity, Honesty, Resilience, Tolerance, Pride, Lifelong Learning and Respect. We are Shaping Queensland’s Future through inspiring minds and creating opportunities to support the strong PROUD team that is Wynnum State High.

Kind regards,
Cath

Parenting Insights

It’s Not Okay To Be Away Nor To Be Late To School

When kids miss school, not only is their academic progress impeded, forcing them to catch up on missed work (which some never do), they often miss important interactions with their peers which can compound issues of social isolation and low self-esteem.

One of the most important things you can do to ensure your child has a bright future is to make sure he or she goes to school every day—and gets there on time.

It sounds simple, but it’s true. The correlation between school attendance and children’s achievement levels is well established. The more time kids spend at school, the more likely they are to experience school success.

Parents support schools by:

• Send students to school everyday
• Make sure they arrive on time
• Let the school know when they are away by phone, email or medical certificate
• Follow them up about missed work
• Make them stay in bed because they are sick!

75th Anniversary Date Claimer

From the Senior School

RYPEN Camp

On the weekend of 21st-23rd April I attended the RYPEN camp at Camp Duckadang. The Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) is a Youth Leadership conference for young people. The conference is a weekend long camp which aims to develop young people’s potential through a mixture of lecture style sessions and adventure-based learning. Through RYPEN I developed skills in: resilience, teamwork, trust, goal setting, forming and defining my own values, leadership fundamentals and ethics, taking initiative, communication skills, problem solving and conflict management, community and global citizenship.

I must admit that I was quite nervous at first as I was the only person from WSHS attending the camp. My confidence built when I got to mix with students from the other schools on the bus on the way to camp and discovered that many of us were feeling the same way!

I had lots of fun on the RYPEN camp completing challenges and working with others. I gained more confidence in meeting new people and being able to share my ideas with others. I learned how to cope with physical pressure and have developed more leadership and teamwork skills.

On 10th May I was invited to speak at the Rotary Presentation Evening to talk about my experiences on camp. It was great to be able to share what I had learned from the weekend and to be able to thank the Rotarians for their sponsorship.

The RYPEN camp was a great opportunity and if you get the chance I recommend you attend the camp too.

Finn Lumsdale
Year 10

Finn Lumsdale and Rod Fletcher, RYPEN Co-ordinator, at the Rotary Presentation Evening

Year 10 Work Experience

In the week of Monday 19th - Friday 23rd June (last week of Term 2) a group of Year 10 students will be participating in Work Experience to ‘try out’ an industry of their choice and gain valuable employability skills. This is a reminder to Year 10 students to return your signed Work Experience agreements to Tanya Moore in F24.

Parents/Carers – if you are interested in hosting a Work Experience student at your place of work, please contact Tanya Moore on 3906 7348 or email tmoor111@eq.edu.au

Elevate Education Seminar 2 – Ace Your Exams

Students in Years 11 and 12 attended the second seminar from Elevate Education on Wednesday 31st May. This was a great seminar where students discovered the biggest mistakes in exam preparation, important steps for preparation excellence and steps to excellence in the exam room. This was a timely seminar with only a few weeks left until exam block.

6 biggest mistakes in exam preparation:

1. Not enough time to prepare – less than 2 weeks is not enough time
2. Doing the wrong work – practice exams and revision questions are the most effective
3. Not correcting past mistakes – take feedback and use it to improve next time
4. No plan – have a strategy and timeline for exam preparation
5. No goal – set specific goals and write them down
6. Not enough practice papers – complete revision questions/chapter review questions/practice questions/practice essays

7 steps for preparation excellence:

Step 1: Give yourself adequate time to prepare (allow 3 weeks)
Step 2: Go through past papers and identify where you lost marks
Step 3: Get teacher’s advice
Step 4: Learn from the people around you
Step 5: Fix the mistake
Step 6: Use an exam planner
Step 7: Complete practice papers/revision questions

3 steps to exam room excellence:

Step 1: Stay calm

• Get a routine – organise all items needed for the exam the night before, gets a good 7-8 hours’ sleep, eat a healthy breakfast
• Avoid speculators and stress merchants – don’t hang around those classmates who will stress you out just before the exam
• Do breathing exercises – in for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, out for 5 seconds

Step 2: Ration your time – ensure you allow enough time to complete all exam questions

Step 3: Consider all answers – draw up a mind map

If you would like to know further information or would like assistance is drawing up a time management plan for exams, please contact Mrs Lumsdale in F24 or email on tlums1@eq.edu.au

Tenielle Lumsdale
HOD Senior Schooling

Construction Skills Queensland Try-A-Trade Day

Students had the opportunity to participate in a full day of Try-A-Trade activities provided by Construction Skills Queensland at Alexandra Hills TAFE College. Students were placed into two groups to take a hands-on approach to four different trades throughout the day. Wynnum High students worked through carpentry, electrical, plumbing and surveying under the guidance of a tradesperson.

It was certainly apparent that the students not only enjoyed the day’s activities but also showed some real skill towards the day’s activities. All students were successful wiring up the series of light bulbs and installing the tap and hoses, though the theodolite took some mastering to find the hidden marker.

Bonnie Clelland took out the overall prize for the nail challenge with her consistency over a number of efforts to take four strikes of the claw hammer to bed a 75mm nail in a length of softwood timber.

The day also showcased Wynnum High’s student PROUD behaviour at such events when again they were exemplary.

Jim Look
ITD Teacher

Language (LOTE) Department News

Language Perfect

All students of Languages in Years 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 were offered the opportunity to participate in the 2017 Language Perfect World Championships, which took place online from 15th to 25th May. The French and Japanese students answered more than 172,000 questions and earned 69,168 points. Hawkin Sensei, Wingate Sensei, Kruysmulder Sensei and Madame McNeill were all very proud of the Japanese and French students, who showed great determination in competing against students from all over the world. We are also proud to announce that Wynnum SHS came 6th in Queensland (101-250 students category) and 2nd in Queensland for French! Well done, students of Languages!

Extra congratulations go to these students who received awards for their participation in the Championships:

Credit Award (500+ points)

• Evelyn Gborie
• Nina Seychell

Bronze Award (1,000+ points)

• Katie Lane
• Khristine Valdellon
• Jenny Xiao
• Stephanie Seymour
• Tracey Lakeman

Silver Award (2,000+ points)

• Nadia Paranihi
• Aoife Brose
• Maya Harding
• Bridey McMillan-Tooth
• Isabella Guild
• Chelsea Shaw

Gold Award (3,000+ points)

• Alexi Younie-Thurtell
• Oliver Pipe
• Krystal Grant
• Mekayla Anog
• Isabelle Boyd

A special mention must go to Hannah McDonnell and Lauren Hazel, who both worked tirelessly for the 10 days, earning 10,015 points each, winning an Elite Award. This is a fantastic achievement, with only around 1,100 other students from around the world getting to such a high level! Well done Lauren and Hannah!

Creative Arts News

High School Music 2 – It was Fabulous!

Thank you to all the students and teachers who worked so hard over a number of months to present High School Musical 2. It was a huge success with over 90 students involved from those singing and dancing on stage to backstage crew, technical teams, band members, front of house and the canteen helpers.

The students presented six performances over four days. On Wednesday they performed to students from Manly SS and Wynnum SS as well local residents from Blue Care. They then went on to perform for the school and wider community with over 800 people coming to see them perform over the three days. It was a great effort from everyone involved and I am sure there were hundreds of wonderful memories created that the students will cherish for the rest of their lives. Well done to all involved. It was a very PROUD moment for the Wynnum community.

Young Conservatorium players

Tao Huang, Lily Amos, Riley Fox, Jade McManus, Meeka Ireland and Brooke Maltby are all members of the Young Conservatorium Wind ensemble. On Saturday 27 May they presented a concert at the Conservatorium of Music and the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital as part of their performance program. Congratulations on a great concert.

Artist in Resident Program

You may have noticed the artwork that is emerging on the front wall at the pedestrian entrance on Peel Street. This mural is the work of the Year 10 Visual Art students under the mentorship of their teacher Mrs Clair Georgiev and Brisbane artist Simone Eisler.

Preparatory work began on the mural back at the beginning of the school year when a meeting was held with Simone to discuss possible concepts for the work. With the school having a strong focus on tradition and community it was decided that the students would explore the flora, fauna and history of both the school and the local Wynnum Manly area.

The students then embarked on their investigative work, through a series of exploratory drawings which were completed during class time. These works were then developed, in consultation with the artist, into the concept drawings for the mural. A series of birds and plant life were incorporated into the design to represent the development and growth of our students as they progress through their years at Wynnum High. This concept is further symbolised by the progressive expansion of a series of tree growth rings as well as the developing birds as they move increasingly upwards in flight and leave the boundary of the wall.

Although the process to completion will be quite lengthy we can be assured that with the persistent hard work and enthusiasm of the students, along with their on-going consultation with Simone, the result will be one which will be admired for many years to come.

DATE CLAIMER: BUSH DANCE – SATURDAY 10 JUNE

The IMPS committee is pleased to be able to announce that on Saturday 10 June they will be hosting another Bush Dance evening for families and friends at Wynnum SHS in the Imperial Playhouse. The evening will start at 6 pm and finish at 9:30 pm. There will be a live band and a dance caller who will teach you the steps to many traditional Australian folk dances. You will also be able to purchase dinner on the evening. Tickets are $10 each with a family price of $40 for 6 tickets. Tickets can be purchased from the school tuckshop.

Showcases

This semester parents, friends and families are invited to view the wonderful work that has been developed over the semester by Creative Arts students.

• Senior Showcase is on Thursday 8 June. Years 10, 11 and 12 Music, Dance and Visual Art will present performances and displays for the school community in the Star Theatre.
• Junior Showcase is on Thursday 15 June. Years 7, 8 and 9 Music, Drama, Dance and Technology students will present performances and displays for the school community in the Star Theatre.

Both these showcases are free events and everyone is welcome to come along and celebrate the enormous talent we have here at Wynnum.

2017 100% Attendance $5 voucher winners

Congratulations to the below students who received a $5 tuckshop voucher for 100% attendance.

Science Department News

QUT STEM Holiday Program

Discover STEM @ QUT offers exciting, hands-on holiday workshops for students in Years 7 – 12. With a range of interesting topics, the workshops give students the opportunity to broaden their STEM knowledge and apply it in an innovative real-world context. Registrations are now open for the June and July workshops. If you have a child who is passionate about all things STEM and would like to join a group of like-minded students this school holidays, then please direct them to the Discover STEM @ QUT holiday program.

Homework Club

Sport Department News

Lawn Bowls

This term, students in Years 8 and 9 have been offered a wider range of sports for Interschool sport on Tuesdays. One of the new sports offered is Lawn Bowls, played at the Manly Bowls Club on Faine Street. Every Tuesday afternoon, the students walk up to the bowls club with Miss McNeill and receive training from Trevor, seasoned coach and player of bowls for over 50 years!

The lawn bowls club has immaculate facilities and we are lucky enough to play on the shaded green, out of the heat and sunshine. Trevor has been impressed with the Wynnum students as they develop their skills and try to bowl as close to the Jack as possible. There is an opportunity for the most talented of our students to participate in an inter-school competition later in the year and Trevor will be speaking to the Lawn Bowls students about this.

Well done to all who have had a go at Lawn Bowls and we hope to see it continue as a sporting option in the years to come!

Year 7 Gala Day

Congratulations to all Year 7 students who participated in the Gala Day last Thursday. Round 2 will be played on Thursday 20 July. This day will also be when the Finals will be played.

Winter Interschool Sport

Round One results

Special Education Program (SEP) update

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) Day

On Monday 15 May, the Special Education Program classroom turned purple. Even staff. And, at first break, we all took part in munching on purple cupcakes and downing a purple drink for morning tea. It was great to have teaching staff, outside of the SEP, join us for a sweet treat. And, as was the intention, our turning purple brought on opportunities to share with people about MPS. So what is, MPS? MPS stands for Mucopolysaccharidoses. MPSs are disorders that present in both children and adults and involves an abnormal storage of mucopolysaccharides, caused by the absence of a specific enzyme. The disorders range from MPS I through to MPS VI and also include ML II and ML III. While there have been great steps forward in quality of life for those with MPS, a cure is yet to be discovered. For more information on MPS check out:

From the School Nurse

Smoking – How To Discourage Your Children

Smoking is an addiction that causes or contributes to a wide range of diseases including cancers, heart disease and emphysema. The best protection against smoking-related illnesses is never to smoke in the first place.

However, children entering their teenage years are experimental, curious and vulnerable to peer pressure. Whether your child chooses to smoke regularly or not is influenced by a range of factors.

It is not always possible for parents to prevent their child from trying cigarettes, but the use of various strategies can reduce the likelihood of a child wanting to smoke and doing so regularly.

Some of the reasons why your child may try smoking cigarettes include:

• peer bonding and the desire to fit in with friends
• copying parents or older brothers or sisters who smoke
• the wish to assert their growing independence
• the desire to appear more grown up and sophisticated
• curiosity
• to imitate actors or models with appealing images in movies or magazines.

Be a good role model by not smoking

If you don’t want your child to smoke, it is important to set a good example by not smoking yourself. Research shows that children are less likely to smoke if their primary role models do not smoke.

If you have found quitting difficult and still smoke, share your experiences with your child. For example, tell them how demoralising it feels to be hooked on smoking when you don’t want to be, or how much money you wish you hadn’t wasted on cigarettes over the years. Let them see they can learn a valuable lesson from your mistake.

Ask your children for their support during your next quit attempt. If your child can witness how tough quitting cigarettes can be, they may want to steer clear of smoking completely.

Take a stand against smoking

Other suggestions to reinforce the non-smoking message include:

• Don’t permit anyone to smoke in your home.
• Don’t send your children to buy cigarettes for you or anyone else.
• Encourage sport and physical activity for all family members.
• Discuss the issue of smoking with your child when you see other people smoke.
• Don’t let your child light a cigarette for you or anyone else.
• If there are adult smokers in the house, make sure they keep their cigarettes where your child cannot access them.

Educate your child about smoking

Symptoms of many smoking-related illnesses tend to develop in middle or later life. Trying to explain the long-term risks of smoking to a child or teenager may not have much of an impact, as 20 or 30 years or more into the future is an unimaginable time to them. Mention these long-term risks, but try to emphasise the immediate risks to their health and wellbeing.

Suggestions of immediate risks include:

• reduced fitness levels
• nasty smelling breath
• stained teeth and fingers
• being unattractive to non-smoking peers
• wasting money that could be used for clothes, music or other items
• the difficulty of stopping smoking once symptoms of addiction to nicotine appear.

Many young people develop symptoms of addiction even if they don’t smoke every day, and for some, symptoms can develop within days to weeks of starting to smoke.

What to do if your child already smokes

If your child is already smoking, or if you suspect they may be, try to avoid angry confrontations. Threats and bullying rarely work. Instead, attempt a reasonable ‘adult-to-adult’ conversational tone.

Find out what they find appealing about cigarettes. For example, peer pressure is important. Don’t try to force your child to stop seeing their friends who smoke.

You could try expressing your disapproval about smoking, while allowing your child to indulge in other conformist behaviours such as buying the same style of clothes as their friends. Alternatively, help your child to question the value of always following the crowd. Use this as an opportunity to encourage your child to think and act independently.

Where to get help

• Your doctor
• Quitline Tel. 13 7848

FURTHER INFORMATION

Gabrielle Nolan, Youth Health Nurse