March 16 2016 - Volume 14 Issue 4

S P I N I F E X S T A T E C O L L E G E
M O U N T
I S A
Volume 14 Issue 4
CampusLink
16 March 2016
“Sharing Knowledge, Creating our Future”
Principal/Junior Campus
Mrs Denise Kostowski
Head of Senior Campus
Mr Philip Sweeney
Head of Residential Campus
Mrs Catherine McGrath-Jeffrey
Upcoming Events
18 March 2016
Year 7/12 Day
21-24 March 2016
Year 12 Work Experience
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
P&C AGM
The P&C met last Wednesday evening and held its AGM and a general
meeting. I extend my congratulations to the following executive
members:
President – Kasey Griffin
Treasurer – Shelley Howe
Secretary – Rita Long
We are always looking for parents to join our P&C. It truly is the best way
to get involved in your child’s school. So I hope to see you at next
month’s meeting that will be held at the Senior Campus at 7pm on
th
Wednesday the 20 of April.
ZONTA Awards
24 March 2016
Last Day Term 1
11 April 2016
First Day Term 2
20 April 2016
Report Cards Distributed
20 April 2016
Inter-house Swimming Carnival
Last week, Tara Cherian was awarded the ZONTA School-Aged Woman
of Achievement at the annual International Women’s Day Dinner. Our
school captain, Sabrina Finucane, was also nominated for the award in
recognition for her commitment to vocational education and her
leadership at our school. Tara has been acknowledged for her academic
commitment, leadership and community involvement. It is pleasing to
see Tara in a photo along-side Susanne Pattison, Yvonne Moore and
Grace Loyden. These are three teachers who are helping to guide and
mentor Tara to lifelong success.
22 April 2016
ANZAC Day Ceremony
26 April 2016
Senior Campus Parent Teacher
Interviews
P&C Meeting
Our next P&C Meeting
will be held at Senior Campus
7pm on 20 April 2016.
All parents and community members
are welcome and encouraged to
attend.
JUNIOR CAMPUS
(Office Hrs: 7.30am-3.30pm Mon- Fri)
RESIDENTIAL CAMPUS
(Office Hrs: 8.00am-4.30pm Mon- Fri)
SENIOR CAMPUS
(Office Hrs: 7.30am-3.30pm Mon- Fri)
Ph: 07 4740 1111
Fax: 07 4743 9102
Email: dkost2@eq.edu.au
Ph: 07 4745 4333
Fax: 07 4743 5066
Email: cmcgr53@eq.edu.au
Ph: 07 4744 7222
Fax: 07 4744 7200
Email: pswee5@eq.edu.au
Junior Student Absences
Absences Phone Line: 07 4740 1148
ATAR - Australian Tertiary Admission
In and Around Our School
Rank - 2019
Business & IT Missed School Work
Queensland students will no longer be issued an
Overall Position (OP) from 2019. Our current Year 9
students will strive to achieve an ATAR (Australian
Tertiary Admission Rank) in their final year of school.
This new qualification will bring Queensland students
in-line with other Australian States. In 2019, Year 12
students will no longer undertake the Queensland
Core Skills Test. They will undertake both internal and
external assessment for each subject of their authority
subjects.
At Senior Campus, the Business teachers email school
work to the student’s school email account when they
are sick or away. They have been told this during
class, but many are still forgetting to check their email
accounts and are therefore missing out on important
information that they have missed.
For parents wanting to know more about the ATAR,
please go to the following website:
https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/senior/snr_as
sessment_trials_parent_update
Congratulations
Congratulations Mrs Loyden
Mrs Grace Loyden has recently been appointed to join
the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority
(QCCA) English Syllabus writing team. New syllabi are
being written for all Authority subjects for the 2018
rollout. Selection the English syllabus writing team is
recognition of Mrs Loyden’s extensive curriculum
knowledge and expertise. Without a doubt, this new
responsibility will involve a lot of weekend work. Good
luck, Mrs Loyden!
School Touch Football
Football
This year Spinifex is putting a Mixed Touch Football
team together to compete in the local competition on
Wednesday nights. Students who have previously
registered interest have received forms this week. If
any other students are interested please see Mr
Krosch or Miss O’Brien in the Junior HPE Department
for more information.
Spinifex Canoe Regatta
th
On Sunday the 13 March, Spinifex held their annual
Canoe Regatta at Lake Moondarra. It was a great
morning of paddling, with over 50 students and staff
competing against each other for the winning title.
Placings were as follows:
st
1 – Team DUMP: Kyle & Callum Buckley, Jason
Knight, Mitchell Hujanen, Ben Russell and Kuda Tagwi
nd
Swimming Carnival
A window has opened up for Spinifex to hold the Interhouse Swimming Carnival. Weather permitting,
students will assemble at the town pool the
th
Wednesday evening of the 20 of April, 2016. More
information will be forthcoming closer to the event.
Year 7 / 12 Day
Senior students have been busily preparing fun
activities for the Year 7s to engage in this Friday the
th
18 of March. The theme is Countries of the World.
Many students are already getting into spirit of the
event and are encouraged to dress up in their theme
country on the day. All Year 7 and Year 12 students
will meet at the Basketball courts at 8:15am and
parents will need to collect their child from the
basketball venue at the end of the day. Students are
asked to bring a hat, sunscreen and change of clothes.
Some of the activities will involve water and students
may get wet.
Facebook Page
I encourage all parents to ‘like’ our Facebook page.
This is a means of us keeping parents
informed/reminded about events happening in our
school.
2 – Staff Active Wear: Mrs Clauson, Mr Coe, Mr
Lindenmayer, Mrs Thompson, Miss Lovelock and Miss
Cobb
rd
3 – Staff Boats & Rows: Mr Krosch, Miss Buchanan,
Miss O’Brien, Mr Pinney, Miss Norrish & Miss King
Many laughs were had with the sabotaging of other
teams and the sneaky capsizes. Thank you to all staff
who attended and to the NW Canoe Club members
who assisted on and off the water. Some great
paddling was had and the staff and students clearly
enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I look forward to
seeing Mr Salmond’s photos in the school magazine.
Ms Curd
HPE Teacher
A Word from our Guidance Officer
How to increase your marks
Getting better marks has a lot to do with how you
approach studying. The twelve most powerful ways to
increase your marks don’t involve you working harder
but they do involve you working smarter.
Please see attached item for more information.
If you have any concerns regarding your child, please
contact the front office to make an appointment to see
me:
•
•
Regards,
Philip Sweeney
Acting Principal
Junior Campus – Monday, Wednesday and
Friday
Ph: (07) 4740 1111
Senior Campus – Tuesday and Thursday
Ph: (07) 4744 7222
Joy Wagstaff
Guidance Officer
A huge thank you to Karen Bower and Carlene
Jackson for their hard work behind the scenes, and to
the wonderful school based immunisation team for
providing the wonderful service.
Ian Thorpe takes on Bullying
Do you live in Queensland? Ian Thorpe is encouraging
members of the public aged 14 – 18 years of age to
get in touch to take part in The Bully Project.
Tutorials/Homework Classes
We are making a documentary for the ABC about
bullying and we would like to talk to you. Please visit
http://stopbullying.tv for more information and to sign
up to help the campaign
Staff at Senior Campus are happy to make themselves
available for the following sessions to assist students
with homework and/or assessment:
If you live outside Queensland or do not meet our age
requirements and need help, there are organisations
that can assist you.
MONDAY 2:30pm – 3:30pm
• 11/12 Metal/Engineering in the TTC
• 10-12 English/Humanities in the Library
• 10-12 Early Childhood/Hospitality in J Block
Community News
Spinifex State College – Senior Campus
Parkside United Junior Football Club
Parkside are currently looking
for players for all ages!
TUESDAY 2:30pm – 3:30pm
• 11/12 Wood/Furnishing in E Block
• 10-12 Maths in the Library
• 10-12 Science in the Library
• 10-12 HPE/REC/PE in the Library
Training Days: Tuesday and
Thursday from 5.15pm 6.30pm
Where: Corner of Davis and
Urquhart Street, Soldiers Hill
WEDNESDAY Evenings 6:30pm – 8:30pm
• 11/12 Maths in the Library
• 11/12 Science in the Library
Feel free to come down on
training days to sign up.
Please contact Luke Saunders
on 0412 618 774, or email:
parksideunitedjunior@gmail.co
m, or klever@komatsu.com
THURSDAY 2:30pm – 3:30pm
• 10 IDT in Q9
FRIDAY (Even Weeks) 2:30pm – 3:30pm
• 10-12 Art in F2
• 10-12 Music/Media/FTV in D4
See you there!
Bullying – No way!
Leichhardt Gymnastic Club
Spinifex Junior will participate in Bullying No Way Day
th
on Thursday the 17 of March.
Does your child flip, roll or
spend most of their time
upside down? Then gymnastics
is the sport for them!
All Students are encouraged to join us to take a stand
against bullying by being a part of the Bullying No Way
Day activities around the school. There will be a free
sausage sizzle and ice blocks down at the hall as well
as games, activities and giveaways.
If you consider yourself a creative or artistic person,
then head to the library to participate in our AntiBullying Poster Challenge. The best design will receive
a $20 voucher and the winner will be announced in the
final week of school. Remember that we can make a
stand together to stop bullying and violence.
Leichhardt Gymnastics Club
offers a range of classes to
boys and girls from pre-walking to
recreational and competitive gymnastics.
adults
in
Have some fun indoors in our large airconditioned facility, get fit, make new friends, and learn
new skills.
Strong team of qualified coaching staff.
lists.
No waiting
For any additional information see Miss B (YSC – L
Block).
Visit our clubhouse on Wellington Road to have a look
around.
School
For more information call Trudy on 0415 179 669 or
4743 3788.
Based
Immunisation
Program
2016
Well done to all of the Year 7 and Year 8 students. A
handy hint for next time is to make sure you have
breakfast on the day of the School Based
Immunisations. Having something in your tummy can
really help with the nausea that sometimes follows the
immunisations.
How to increase
your marks
Andrew Fuller
Getting better marks has a lot to do
with how you approach studying. The
twelve most powerful ways to
increase your marks don’t involve you
working harder but they do involve
you working smarter.
1.Study in silence.
This is the single most powerful way
to increase your marks. Spend at
least 20 minutes of your study time
in silence. No texting, music or
computer screens. Outcomes
improve when you practice in the
same conditions you want to perform
in. In the exam room there won’t be
music, mobile phones or computer
screens.
2. Organise & transform the
information you want to learn.
Just reading your notes over and
over again doesn’t really work.
Your memory stores information
best when you organise or transform
it. This means organising your notes
so that the main idea is highlighted
on each page. Then take your notes
and turn them into a flow chart or a
mind map or see if you can fit them
to a song you know well or make it
into a sound recording. The more
times you can transform and reorganise the information the more
firmly it is remembered.
3.Put off pleasurable activities
until work is done.
This is a painful one but if you play
computer games before you get
down to studying, the levels of
dopamine in your brain lessen and
you will lose the drive and motivation
you need to study effectively. Work
first, play later.
4.Talk yourself through the
steps involved.
One of the things that highly
successful students do is to explain
out loud to themselves the steps
involved in completing a task. This
applies to every subject area. By
saying out loud, “ First I have to
do…. Then I have to do….” and so on,
any part that you are uncertain
about becomes clear and you can
then use this to guide where you
need to do more.
5. Ask for help.
Teachers want their students to be
interested and to do well. You will be
amazed if you ask a question how
many other people don’t understand
it either. If you are really scared
about asking questions in class, have
a private talk to your teacher about
this.
6.Take notes. Just writing down
the ideas that you have makes a
powerful contribution to your marks.
Don’t just write down what the
teacher writes. Make notes of any
Copyright
Andrew Fuller
www.andrewfuller.com.au
ideas you have as well. Never rely
only on the worksheets given out by
teachers or your own capacity to
remember information later.
7.Write & re-write key points.
Writing the main points of the area
you are learning helps you to
remember them. If you can add in
re-organising and transforming them
into different formats (drawings,
flow chats, podcasts etc.) that
makes it even more powerful.
8.Make lists & set priorities.
Make a “to-do” list each week. Write
down in your diary the most
important things to be done in each
subject each week.
High scoring students do a little bit
on each subject, a lot rather than
doing a lot of work on one subject
every so often.
If you are doing subjects that
involve presenting a folio or
preparing a presentation, it is still
important to do work on the other
subject areas.
9.Prepare for class. Become
knowledgable about the area you are
learning about by doing your own
research. If you can learn about the
area before you start not only will
you have an advantage, it will also
make more sense to you as you begin
classes on it. Take notes on your own
research.
If you can, read over your notes
before class to re-fresh your
memory.
Copyright
Andrew Fuller
10. Keep a record of how much
study you have done.
It increases motivation when we can
tick things off lists and when we can
see how much we have done.
11.Use memory aides.
These are tools that help you to
remember information. For example,
“Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit”
help people remember that EGBDF
are the lines of the music staff. The
rhyme, “thirty days have
September, April, June and
November” helps us to remember
the calendar.
School requires more memory skills
than any job you can think of. The
best way to remember something is
to transform it. If it’s visual put it
into words, if it’s verbal, create a
picture or graph of it, use lists,
acronyms, tables, graphics, and link
new information to things you
already know.
Long-term filing works best if you
go right to sleep – the minutes
before bedtime are crucial,
12. Set study times
The last method is to decide when
you are most alert and to set aside
some time at that time of day to
study. If you wait until you are in
the right mood before beginning to
study, you may wait forever.
www.andrewfuller.com.au
The following article can be used in your school newsletter or sent home as a letter to parents.
Please adapt this letter to include information about your school's anti-bullying programs,
policies or initiatives.
Dear parents
At our school we aim to create a safe and supportive
school community for everyone.
Sometimes, it can be difficult for parents or carers to
know what to do when their child talks to them about
bullying.
You are an important part of our work to prevent
bullying and to respond effectively if it
happens. Stopping bullying involves everyone.
If your child talks to you about bullying:
1. Listen calmly and get the full story. Your calm
response is important to allow your child to tell
you all about the situation. After they’ve told
you their story, ask questions to get more
details if you need to: who, what, where,
when. Although you may feel some strong
emotions about your child’s experience, try to
keep calm to avoid more distress to your child.
2. Reassure your child they are not to blame. Many children blame themselves and this
may make them feel even worse. You could say things like, ‘That sounds really hard to
deal with. No one should have to put up with that.’ or ‘I’m so glad you told me. You
should be able to feel safe at school; that’s not fair at all’.
3. Ask your child what they want to do and what they want you to do. A critical part of
your response is to avoid jumping in to solve the problem. While it is natural to want to
protect your child, helping them to find their own solution is a better option. It helps
them feel they have some power in the situation.
4. Visit www.bullyingnoway.gov.au to find some strategies. The website has tips and
ideas for different bullying situations. One idea is to practise strategies at home to help
your child feel more confident.
5. Contact the school. Your child may be reluctant for you to do this, so discuss the idea
and reassure them that the school would want to know and is able to help. Make an
appointment to meet with your child’s teacher and, if you need to, ask to talk with the
principal. Contact the school immediately if you have a concern about your child’s
safety.
6. Check in regularly with your child. Keep the conversation going. It can take time to
resolve issues, so check in regularly with your child about their experiences and their
feelings. Your ongoing support is important.
[Add any other local information relevant re policy and procedures at your school,
e.g. Additional information about bullying is on the school’s website at URL]
If you are looking for support for yourself to deal with a bullying situation, you will find ideas on
the Bullying. No Way! website for parents. As well, please contact the school if you would like
to discuss any aspect of our approach to preventing bullying.
Thanks for your support to make our school a great school for everyone.
MOUNT ISA’S
BATTLE OF
THE GYMS!!
ONLY $20
BRING TOWEL &
WATER!
REFRESHMENTS
FOR SALE!
th
19 March 2016 7:00am – 8:30am
Bill Krause Fitness – CrossFit Mount Isa – Yoga with Janine
St Josephs primary School, ‘Penola Space’ 50-64 Twenty Third Avenue
To book your spot contact Chelsea – 0404 437 715 or chelsea.beckmann@hotmail.com
“Supporting Mount Isa families with seriously ill children”
Proudly sponsored by:
Supporting 2016 Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo Queen Quest Entrant
Chelsea Beckmann fundraising for Ronald McDonald House
Drought Fundraiser
All profit will be donated to the QCWA’s Public Rural Crisis Fund
$17
(not posted, includes GST)
$20(includes postage & GST)
Online orders welcome
www.booyalbunyips.com
It’s a hilarious joke DVD produced by the ‘Booyal Bunyips’ from Booyal Central State School. Enjoy jokes by children, country music stars, celebri@es & community members. It’s a beauty! ☺
Further details: Dawn Dolinski (Principal) 0741 260 177
ddoli4@eq.edu.au