1 Hunter Street
Brassall QLD 4305
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26 November 2015
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
This will be the penultimate newsletter of
the year, and I have delayed its publication
so that I can reflect on the final week of the
Year 12 cohort, including their Graduation
and the visit to the school by Kate Jones
MP, our Minister.
It was wonderful to see more than 700
guests attend the Graduation on Friday, 20
November. Despite the heat the Hall was filled to capacity and
the students acquitted themselves extremely well in what was
their final appearance as seniors.
Graduation not only completes the final week of celebrations
which includes the Formal, Mystery tour and pool party, it also
signals the end of schooling. Valedictorian Renae Todd spoke
very movingly of their journey to that point and she was an
excellent choice for the job.
One of the most emotional moments was a haka performed
as a tribute to the seniors by many of the younger Polynesian
students. This was not part of the script for the day, but I
certainly hope it can be the start of a tradition here @ISH. I know
many of the other parents and students were as impressed
as I was by the obvious energy and respect for their culture
that was evident in the young men who performed. A large
number of cameras and smart phones captured the moment
and I imagine some of the performance has found its way onto
to social media.
I wish all those who graduated the best of good fortune in
their future endeavours, confident that their education here has
prepared them for the world of work. Many of them began
their new careers on Monday this week, just two days after
graduating. Well done to you, and to those who will be
attending TAFE or university next year.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07 3813 4488
Fax: 07 3813 4400
Minister Jones visited the school on Tuesday this week and I
was very happy to show her round the school in the company
of Charlie, this year’s Junior Secondary Vice-Captain, and
Dakota and Haydn, next year’s Vice-Captains. These three
young people were wonderful ambassadors for their school and
were happy to answer any question the Minister had.
Minister Jones has a wonderful way with people; she is
genuinely interested in them and she spent much of her time
talking to some of the students in the flexi programs, the Murri
Centre and the Nail Salon. She also watched the first rehearsal
of the Year 9 Clowning unit which is going on the road to
Leichhardt State School in the final week of the term.
As we draw to the end of a very busy term, and an even busier
year, please remember to send your child[ren] to school every
day. Teaching and learning do not stop just because there
are no more senior students at school. The Junior Secondary
students can expect to be engaged in meaningful activities right
up until the last day.
Thank you again for remaining in partnership with us as we
educate your young people, and please encourage them to
remain focussed as they complete their final assessment pieces
and take advantage of the opportunities available to them over
the final three weeks.
Simon Riley
Principal
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?
Year 12 Formal
SUPER HORNET BADGES
Congratulations to our two hip hop crews who competed in the
Remix Hip Hop competition recently. There were 18 schools
in the section, and Ipswich High came out on top winning first
place. Congratulations to all of the participants who received a
blue cultural badge
Molly
MacDonald
Nicki Wehi
Allen
Kaitlin Siebel
Keely Bailey
Dakota Moore
Taylah Hunt
Joseph Kirby
Jasmine Law
Kiya Verrill
Caitlyn Smith
Ebony Slape
Shakira Gail
Tyler Verrill
Brooke Vickers
Kasey Baker
Jasmine
Lindsay
Kirra Williams
Jacinta
Edwards
Courtney
Daniells
Charli Griffiths
Gold Academic: UQ Young Scholars Awards
Monica Garang
Matthew Say
Abby Hudson
ABCN National Scholar Award Lacey Kohn
Kelsey Mitchell
YEAR 12 ART EXHIBITION
Last week, our TOISHS theatre group staged their performance
of John Godber’s ‘Teechers.’ The group has been working on
this play for several months, and achieved the challenging task
of performing multiple characters in the round. Thank you to
Mr Moore for his hard work leading rehearsals and directing
the play, and congratulations to our talented Thespians who
received a blue cultural badge.
Leo Seijbel
Hayden Braun
William Sampson
Nina Seijbel
Jennifer Barnaby
Allanah Griffiths-Anderson
Lacey Kohn
Samantha Grace Benjamin Grace
Tyler Newman
Jayden Howard
The second group of Year 12 Art students presented their
artworks that they have created throughout the year in the
school art gallery this week. Students who exhibited were Amy
Hudson, Charlotte Flanagan, Courtney Lindquist, Jamie Bottriell
and Kayla Maddy. Don’t forget if you would like a closer look at
any of the Year 12 artworks that it will be on display on the S
Block veranda during the morning tea on Graduation Day.
Ipswich SHS Canteen wins AWARD
Ipswich SHS Canteen again wins the “Smart Choices Menu
Award” at the annual QAST Dinner.
The Canteen had to submit our current menu for assessment
against the QAST Smart Choices Criteria.
The healthy choices available to students and staff ranked us in
the Top 10 of all private and state Secondary Canteens in Qld.
Congratulations to Shirley, Jodie, Janelle, Kristy and our
volunteers for a wonderful job.
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15 January offer round.
14 January – offers are made
21 January – Last day to respond to an offer
An offer can be FIRMLY accepted, rejected or deferred.
It is not a good idea to reject an offer but rather
CONDITIONALLY accept or defer it.
If you CONDITIONALLY accept an offer you will have the
offer locked in but indicate you wish to be considered for
courses that are higher up your preference list.
NEVER! NEVER! reject an offer until you have spoken to a
person at QTAC – if you REJECT an offer you will get NO
offer at all.
Remember to order your preferences so that preference 5
and 6 is a safety net (foot-in-the-door course).
Contact universities directly to discuss upgrading
pathways if your OP is not as high as expected.
QTAC
contact
details
are
1300467822
or
www.QTAC.EDU.AU Check up on your application from
time to time for updates or problems on the website.
Ensure that QTAC has an appropriate email contact NOT
your school email.
Film Festival 2015
Last week the Film and Television department hosted the 2nd
Annual Ipswich State High Film Festival. A range of entertaining
student videos from year 7 to 12 was showcased including
music videos, short films, animations, advertisements,
mockumentaries and TV shows. Certificates were awarded to
the best entry within each category and a professionalism
award was also given to one student from each grade. Well
done to all the students who were nominated and to those who
were award winners.
All Educational Access Scheme (EAS) applications need to
be submitted by the end of November
Do you want to keep up with your child’s
assessment at school??
All students have access to their personalised assessment
planners via the one school webpage.
https://oslp.eq.edu.au/
Click on the above link or cut and paste it into your web
browser. Your student then needs to login using the school
account.
The following home screen will appear.
From the drop down menu select “student course planner”
Select 2015 Semester 2 and assessment.
WHAT’S NEW
Click generate report and your student’s assessment planner
will appear.
YEAR 12 QTAC INFORMATION
A reminder about some important dates:19
December
OPs
are
available
on
www.qcaa.qld.edu.au
29 December - Tertiary Ranks are available on the
QTAC website in your application.
6 January – Final date to change preferences for the
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UPCOMING EVENTS
ENROLMENT SESSIONS for 2016
The Ipswich State High School is now taking
Enrolments for Year 7 in 2016.
If you are interested in attending an Enrolment Session can you
please contact the school on 3813 4488 to register your name
along with your child’s name and the day of your choice.
Next sessions are Tuesday 3rd December @ 3.30pm and
6.00pm.
Parents are required to bring a copy of their student’s latest
school report and their birth certificate. Please note if there is
any legal documentation can you please bring this along on the
afternoon.
Families enrolling from state primary schools will be provided
with a pre-populated enrolment form on attendance provided
they have registered in advance. This will save time and help
streamline our procedure.
Please note:- The school is now only able to guarantee
enrolment to those families living within our designated
catchment area. You will need to provide evidence confirming
your address at the time of enrolment – this could include a
rates notice, electricity bill.
Those families living outside the catchment will be placed on a
waiting list, and their enrolment will be confirmed before the end
of this term. A non-refundable enrolment fee of $20 is required
in this case.
STUDENT PAYMENTS
A reminder to students who have selected specialist
subjects in 2016, that subject fees as well as school
fees are due for payment by 20 November 2015.
To confirm your enrolment in the specialist subject
for 2016 you will also need to have your 2015 subject
fees and school fees up to date.
2016 Student Resource Scheme Fee
The SRS fee of $250 has been approved by the P & C. The
payment due dates are as follows:Yearly due 20th November 2015 - $250
Term 1 due 20th November 2015 - $85
Term 2 due 11th March 2016 - $85
Term 3 due 10th June 2016 - $80
Specialist subject fees – Student Resource Scheme fees are
to be paid in full and the subject fee paid in full prior to
commencement of the subject.
Invoices for the 2016 school fees have been issued earlier to
give parents the opportunity to forward plan and budget for
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their student’s school fees. We are now accepting payments
from our parents.
Student payments being made via Direct Deposit-please
remember to use your student’s EQ ID# as the reference for
payment (this can be found at the top of your student’s
timetable) and an abbreviation of what the payment is for.
Eg. 1212121212V SRS
Some abbreviations that may be useful are:
Abbreviation
Short For
SRS
Student Resource Scheme (school fees)
Camp
School year level camps
Please note payments made via direct deposit may take up
to 48hrs to be shown as a deposit into the school’s bank
account- a receipt of this payment cannot be generated to your
student’s account until this payment has been verified through
the school’s bank account.
School Invoice Payments (only)
What is BPoint?
BPoint is a new online payment facility which can be accessed
by
customers
and
parents
via
weblink,
https://www.bpoint.com.au/Payments/dete. This link is on the
bottom of invoices.
Payments made through BPoint require a valid invoice
number and customer reference number (CRN) which are
located on the bottom left hand side of our school invoices and
statements. It is important that this information is provided so
that the payment will be automatically matched to the invoice.
ISHS P & C Association
At our last P&C meeting the P&C discussed the parent
contribution we ask families to contribute.
We understand that finding even $25 per family can be difficult
on the tight budgets most of us are on. So, instead we ask that
you find just $5 per term and contribute it toward the P&C. With
approximately 800 families in the school that’s $4000 per term
to help pay for extras.
At the moment our goal is to wrap the new school bus so when
it is being used to take our kids to events it very clearly shows
the pride we have in our school.
Let’s wrap the bus!
Ten Tips for Parents of Teens attending
Parties
As we approach the end of the year again comes the time to
celebrate achievements, milestones reached as well as trials
and tribulations resolved. It is important to remember that
• As teens grow, their use of alcohol and other drugs
often changes to reflect that which is happening
around them.
glass of water, do this one more time, rest and drink your third
glass of water. If your headache is gone then you know what
caused it, DEHYDRATION!
• We live in a drug taking society whether that is legal
substances such as caffeine or illegal substances
such as marijuana.
SO HOW ABOUT A LARGE GLASS OF WATER or a frozen
drink bottle to bring into the classroom.
• Peer group influences can be a potent force for and
against safe behaviour.
Ten Suggestions to help you and your teen be on the same
page about attending parties.
DATES TO REMEMBER
23RD – 27TH
NOVEMBER
YEAR 11 EXAM BLOCK
27TH NOVEMBER
YEAR 10 & 11 LAST DAY
1ST DECEMBER
ENROLMENT SESSIONS 3.30PM
& 6PM
2. Encourage your teen to go out with trusted friends
and always leave a party together.
3RD DECEMBER
ENROLMENT SESSIONS 3.30PM
3. Ask which venues they intend to visit.
7th DECEMBER
REWARDS DAY YEARS 7-9
1. If you are concerned about a party at a friend’s place
contact the host parents and discuss how the party
will be run and if there are safety measures in place
to deal with illness or intoxication, should this occur.
4. Ensure they have a quick and safe way to leave a
party at any time. A good way to do this is to offer to
pick them up or have another member of the family
do this any time they feel unsafe.
5. Discuss ways to avoid threatening or violent
situations.
6. Ask them to inform you during the evening should
their plans change.
7. If they are drinking discuss a limit on the number of
alcoholic drinks they are going to have and stick to it.
8. Allow only trusted people to buy drinks for them.
9. Do not leave drinks unattended or with people they
have just met.
10. Eat before leaving home, space their drinks with
something non-alcoholic or better still water, avoid
shouts and top-ups.
COMMUNITY NEWS
BICYCLE IDENTIFICATION CARD
Thousands of stolen bicycles are recovered by police every
year. Most owners never see their bikes again simply because
the owner cannot be located. Report bicycle thefts to the police
regardless of the value of the bike and provide the details that
you have recorded.
CASUAL CLEANERS NEEDED
If you are interested in working at the school as a Cleaner
please contact Jenny Shard on 3813 4409 with your details and
bring in a resume.
There are two shifts for the relief cleaners – 6am – 9am and
3pm – 6pm.
Remember, talking to your teen at this stage one of the most
powerful influences you can have. Clear consistent messages
will be heard, even if at the time you do not feel that this has
happened.
Information collated from Australian Lions Drug Awareness
Foundation “Teenagers and Safe Partying” resource.
Alcohol and Drug Referral Services QLD provide information
and referral should you need further assistance (07) 3236 2414
or 1800 177 833.
Angi Gibbon School Based Youth Health Nurse
Students are you drinking enough water?
Living here in Queensland especially during the summer
season, it can get quite hot and many do not drink enough
water. Lack of water or dehydration can cause lack of
concentration and health problems.
Headaches, the brain is almost 90% water and lack of water
can cause headaches. If you are one who has headaches try
this and see if lack of water is the cause. Sit down in a nice
cool place and drink one 8 oz glass of water,(water at room
temperature, not cold). Rest for 10 minutes then drink another
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