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UPCOMING EVENTS
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ENQUIRIES
TERM DATES for 2013
Term 1 - Tue 29 Jan - Thu 28 Mar
Term 2 - Mon 15 Apr - Fri 21 June
Term 3 - Mon 15 Jul - Fri 20 Sep
Term 4 - Tue 8 Oct - Wed 4 Dec
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Latest News
Formal Uniform Reminder
For our Chapel Services each Wednesday during Term 2 and Term 3 students are required to wear Formal Uniform. This requires them to wear their blazers and for the boys this includes the long sleeved shirt, tie and trousers. Students will remain wearing this uniform for the duration of the day each Wednesday although they are allowed to take their blazer off during the day. Please make sure all items of uniform are clearly labelled with your child's name. As part of the dress code, students are expected to arrive at school in the morning and depart from school in the afternoon wearing the full and correct formal uniform.
HOST FAMILIES NEEDED IN JUNE/JULY 2013
In June‐July students from over 20 countries around the world will be arriving in Australia to study at local high schools for 5 or 10 months. Opportunities exist for families to act as a host family, in a volunteer capacity. Hosting can be on a temporary, short or long term basis. Host families help provide international students with the chance to study and experience life in Australia. This is a great way to learn about another country and culture, establish a lifelong link to a family in another country and contribute to international goodwill. If your family can offer a friendly, supportive and caring home environment, contact Student Exchange Australia New Zealand today.
To hear more about this wonderful opportunity or the student exchange programs out of Australia Call Student Exchange Australia New Zealand on 1300 135 331 or visit www.studentexchange.org.au/host-a-student.
Leaders Induction
Congratulations to our College Captains and Prefects :
College Captains: Emily McIntyre and Austin Wenke
House Prefects: Burkett – Chloe Brisk and Hugo Morris
Hocknull – Claire Croyden, Joshua Pickstone
Rafter – Georgia Harries and Austin Wenke
Williamson – Caitlin Williams and Harrison Brooks
Committee Prefects: Jackson Barton, Lauren Becks, Elishka Chand, Courtney David, Abigail Hill, Liam Mooney, India O’Connor, Lauren Reynolds, Jess Ryan, Matt Sandeman, Sophie Sievert-Kloster, Alyce Tancredi
Middle Years Captains: Eylse Ainsworth and Harry Mark
Middle Years Vice Captains: Zoe Cashman, Codi Baker-Lahey, Lawson Wrigley and Troy Kuiper
From the Head of Secondary
Attitude Adjustment and Planning for Success Workshop
Thank you to the 65 Year 11 and Year 12 students who attended this workshop last week. I had some interesting comments about the title as some people were concerned that the title insinuated that our students needed an ‘attitude adjustment’ in terms of the common but misinterpreted saying.
As with all things in life if you are not succeeding in a certain field then you probably need to change your approach and generally your attitude to the work required to achieve success and the workshop dealt with how students can break or change habits that they have been using with limited success to create habits that work for them that could lead to students achieving their personal best.
The workshop was split into 2 sections with the first dealing with how to make changes to your approach and attitude to study and the second giving the students some clues and techniques that can be used in studying.
In this newsletter I will explain the first section.
What are the reasons as to why you want to change your approach and attitude?
Students may have career ideas that require certain results or grades at school, they may want the best marks possible to keep their options open but whatever the inspiration it must be intrinsic, it is something that the student wants to do. This change cannot be driven by fear of disappointing anyone or from a sense of duty, this will only last so long and the ‘nagging’ from a parent or teacher really can only work for so long…..it may get them through Year 10 or even through Secondary but there will be arguments (big) and really this does not set them up for further studies which is why there is such a high dropout rate at University. As I explained to the students, parents only want the best for you and sometimes this is misinterpreted so the best way to prove to them that you are motivated to achieve is to not argue about things but just do it.
What now?
Almost all the students at the workshop identified the fact that they often procrastinated and lost focus while studying so we investigated ways of remaining on task. Personally I used to yell at myself when I realised I was drifting or I would change where I sat in my room, I would use my hands around my eyes to block out any distractions or I would ensure that I wrote will I read a page. For assignments I learnt that as long as I started and didn’t sit there worried about going in the wrong direction all would be good. Students should learn that they needed their own techniques that enable them to remain on task but this is a very individual thing and what works for one student may not work for another.
I discovered that my desire to achieve my personal best came from a less than promising start to my second semester at university and this scare that I may not see my second year and thus not succeed was all that I needed to drive a positive change both in the lecture theatre and in my home study. I just wish that I had experienced this epiphany a little earlier! Thus the real need to let a student experience failure so they can learn from this early in their senior years.
These positive changes tend to integrate into all facets of life and not just study. Students become better at managing their time and spend less energy on things that distract them (eg Facebook, computer games or in my day listening to the radio, counting the lines on my quilt or the flies passing my window!!! Yes I had an exciting life…..)
The hardest part for any student wanting to change their approach or attitude is to break habits that they have learnt over months and years and then having the commitment and focus to want create a new habit which can take up to seven weeks. This takes us full circle….to start afresh you need the reason. So students need to explore and acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, be comfortable with who they are, become resilient and want to achieve their personal bests.
Careers
Currently I am interviewing all the Year 12 students to ensure that they are thinking about their post school life. While some students are fully informed and know exactly what they need to do to follow their dreams, others are not yet sure of their imminent future and are a little concerned that they do not have a defined direction. As I explain to the students, it is very normal for 16, 17 or 18 year olds to not be one hundred percent sure of their future direction but they need to keep exploring and identifying possibilities.
I take the students through possible websites that may help with deciding their future directions.
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Suggested websites to view or vtac for Victoria or uac for NSW http://joboutlook.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx http://jobsearch.gov.au/default.aspx http://www.australianapprenticeships.gov.au/ http://qtis.training.qld.gov.au/ |
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Mr Brad Bowen
Head of Secondary
NEWS FROM THE ARTS!
RELAY FOR LIFE…Sign up to make a difference and put a stop to cancer.
Sunshine Coast State School Oval on Saturday the 20TH through to Sunday the 21ST of April 2013
We have a staggering 88 students signed up ready for our biggest and best RELAY FOR LIFE charity event! It is just incredible! We are so excited to see everyone in our meeting to discuss how the event is run and how the students are really making a dramatic difference to cancer research by raising money in this fun and engaging charity event. Our sincere thanks to the very eager AND always incredibly giving St Andrew’s staff who are fully set to take part! WOO HOO! Here’s to getting a few more taking part and raising much needed funds for Cancer Council Queensland research! Well done to everyone stepping up to this challenge!
DANCE CLUB!
On Thursday morning, our very first official Dance Class as part of our Dance Club took place in The Studio on a very wet and miserable morning. The events taking place in The Studio, however, were FAR from this! A range of students from year nine through to twelve came along to take part in dance pieces and new choreography under the leadership of two talented Year Twelve students, Tyler-Mae Fraser and Courtney David. The students taking part in Dance Club commented that the class was both fun and challenging in the different aspects taught. Hopefully next week will see a range of Year Nine students in attendance who were busy on Urban Bound, and possibly a few more keen dancers who could not make it this week. Courtney and Tyler-Mae should be congratulated on their fantastic efforts in building Dance at St Andrew’s thus far.
DRAMA CLUB!!!
Drama Club was an absolute riot on Friday afternoon with 16 of our most eager, theatrical, vibrant, loud, dynamic, passionate and eager to learn students from grades seven to twelve working together, bonding over their love of drama and building a range of acting skills. The afternoon was a huge success as our first official Drama Club opening and demonstrated the strong talent we have as a College. A really fantastic afternoon was had by all! The Drama Club was exceptionally excited to boost acting skill, confidence levels, meeting students in other grades and generally having a ball together. The hour and a half flew by very quickly indeed! If you are a parent of a very keen acting student, or a student who secretly loves Drama and the theatre, then please feel free to come along on Friday afternoons to The Studio from 3:10pm for the fun and hilarity of Drama Club!
UPCOMING EXAMINATIONS
Best wishes to all students in the coming weeks in their examinations, assignments and assessment pieces. Rehearse, plan, and be prepared to do your very best in all aspects of your creative studies.
LEGALLY BLONDE THEATRE EXCURSION – THURSDAY EVENING THE 28TH OF MARCH 2013
It is sure it be an exceptional evening of theatrical talent at QPAC in Brisbane. We simply can’t wait to bend and snap!!!
COMMEDIA DELL ARTE YEAR ELEVEN PERFORMANCE EVENING!
The Year Eleven Drama class would like to invite you to attend their first performance evening of the year based entirely on their study of Italian theatre unit, Commedia dell Arte. The evening shall take place on Thursday evening the 21st of March starting promptly at 6:30pm in The Studio. Let Ms Mackie know via email if you are eager to come along – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
We look forward to welcoming a mature audience. (Not suitable for children of primary school age) 2014 COLLEGE PRODUCTION… What will it be?! Stay tuned for the exciting unveiling soon…
Ms Tara Mackie
Head of The Arts
Teacher in Charge of Drama
Visual Art
Last Friday, Year 11 and year 12 art students experienced their first gallery excursion for the year to Caloundra Regional Gallery to view artworks by local artists. Hyper-realism and minimalist abstract styles couldn't be more extreme themes.
Hanging juxtaposed in the small but atmospheric gallery space, students were involved in a challenging discourse on the works from the gallery's education officer Julie Hauritz. Returning inspired by the portraits they viewed, Year 12 students delved deeply into a gestural media mix to create a likeness of their own image.
The Year 10 art addicts have been putting ink and crayon combos to paper whilst plugged in to their favourite music. This body of work challenges their drawing skills, media knowledge and visual expression abilities. Some exciting works are almost resolved and ready for display around the College.
Mrs Gail Mackey
Teacher in Charge - Visual Art
MUSIC (CURRICULUM)
Music Extension Library Visit
Last Monday fortnight, the Year 12 Music Extension students braved the torrential rain and visited the Queensland University of Technology Library to begin the research component of the challenging Music Extension course. The students walked away with in excess of 2,000 hardcopies from a vast array of the resources available, and are now beginning to ‘attack’ the Griffith University Research Database to further supplement these findings. These students are all embarking on a large-scale research project that will not only inform their musical knowledge, but also enhance their research skills, their ability to analyse and synthesise massive amounts of information, and their preparedness for university. This year we will be publishing our findings in the inaugural Journal of Music Extension Investigating Task, leaving a legacy of our contribution to the subject and the field.
Year 7 Music
The Year 7 Music classes have been busy working on their performance piece for this term, Little Talks (Of Monsters and Men), and have been making some fantastic progress. The students have been also been engaging really well with some of the more challenging aural skills content, with many of the students taking the opportunity of additional pre-exam tutorials. Working in this way with music will underpin our studies in Term Two, which will also align with our involvement in the UK-based Musical Future Co-Pilot that I briefly discussed last fortnight. It will be great for us all – teachers and students alike – to be a part of this innovative program, and I look forward to communicating some of the findings to you.
Mr Cade Bonar
Head of Music (Curriculum)
Legal Studies
On Monday 18 February the Year 11 and 12 Legal Studies class travelled to Brisbane for an exciting day at the Law Courts of Queensland. Over the course of the day we were able to immerse ourselves in a working legal environment inside the District and Supreme Courts. We were certainly treated to some very prominent names including Max Sica, Jayant Patel and some other very interesting cases taking place. Overall, this was certainly a fantastic experience and it enables us to have some valuable first hand knowledge and experience in which we can take back into the classroom.
Jackson Barton – Year 12 student
English Faculty News
The debating season is upon us, with students busily meeting, researching and scripting their speeches. Details for upcoming Round 1 debates include:
Year 8 topic: That we should ban contact sports
Wednesday 28 March Venue: Matthew Flinders
Year 9 topic: That we should introduce a tax on junk food
Wednesday 6 March Venue: Sunshine Coast Grammar School
Year 10 topic: That schools should not punish students for behaviour outside of school supervision
Venue: Sunshine Coast Grammar School Wednesday 13 March
Year 11 topic: That universities should be free
Wednesday 6 March Genesis Christian College (Bray Park)
Year 12 topic: That all cyber-bullying should attract criminal penalties
Wednesday 13 March St Paul’s School (Strathpine)
Please visit the QDU website for further details: http://www.qduprospectus.org/index.html
Best wishes to our debating students.
Mrs Bec Southey
Head of English Faculty
Student Exchange – Memories and Skills for a Lifetime!
Give your child the opportunity to gain international experiences and language skills to kick-start a future career. Along with distinct language benefits, exchange students mature, gain confidence and develop a much more worldly approach upon their return to Australia.
World Education Program Australia (WEP), a not-for-profit student exchange organisation registered with the education departments, is now accepting applications for students to live overseas in 2013/14 as exchange students for a summer, semester or year.
WEP is offering two $3000 scholarships towards semester-long student exchange programs to Argentina and China commencing in 2014.
Find out more!
- Visit www.wep.org.au
- Attend one of WEP’s information evenings and open days
- Call 1300 884 733
Sunshine Coast
28 February 2013 / 7:30-9pm
Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre
2 Fifth Avenue
Cotton Tree
