Foxwell State Secondary College eNewsletter

As the end of the 2021 school year draws towards a close I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary year that was.

My positive outlook on life doesn’t let me dwell on the negatives for long; however, I do acknowledge the challenges that our country, our world and humanity has faced.

Across this year, many members of our school community have been challenged by adversity and obstacles, be they medical, financial or relational. I applaud your resilience, strength and grit as you have battled to overcome these obstacles and come out the other end strong and proud.

In times of adversity, we find great inner strength and we learn to accept and appreciate the help and support of those around us. That is the strength of community. That is the strength of humanity, and for that, I am grateful.

Our students never cease to amaze me. Today as I previewed the Celebration of Success video, I will admit a tear came to my eye. I saw joy, friendship, teamwork, commitment, dedication and, of course, kindness.

I saw our students achieve things they previously would have thought impossible. I saw them overcome fears and find new passions, and flourish in so many different ways. For this I say, ‘I’m proud of you’.

Our staff at Foxwell are exceptional. They continue to give and give to our students, our families and our community. They are here in the early hours of the morning preparing the school for the day ahead, and they are here late in to the evening providing a vast array of opportunities for our students.

They spend their evenings and weekends preparing exciting and engaging lessons and making sure their students have the feedback required for them to grow and reach their goals. For all of this I say ‘thank you’.

Our parents truly are our partners in learning and flourishing. Once again this has been a complex year for parents as we responded to the changing nature of schooling. For some parents this involved home learning which meant learning a whole new skill set.

For others this was their first year parenting a teenager, or a secondary school student. I am sure you would all agree that the positive moments far outweighed those moments of challenge. We saw your efforts and we appreciate your partnership.

When we join together tonight in our Sports Performance Hall for the 2021 Celebration of Success, I ask you to take time to reflect. Our students, your children, are achieving great things!

They are demonstrating their strength and their individuality. They are growing in to fine young adults, and we feel privileged that you have trusted us to be part of your child’s life and development.

I look forward to sharing in this with you as we celebrate the world of opportunity that your child has been a part of in 2021.

I thank our sponsors, partners, and award providers for their contribution to the Celebration of Success.

We are proud to acknowledge the achievements of the award winners, and are equally proud to to celebrate the achievements of ALL of the students of Foxwell.

Together we are great.

Until next time

Mrs Kym Amor

Principal

Foxwell State Secondary College

We are excited to invite students and families to join us for our Celebration of Success event on TONIGHT! Friday 3 December from 5-7pm.

This is an opportunity for our College community to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our students during another year of challenges and obstacles.

The first hour of the celebration will be dedicated to honouring student award recipients and live student performances in our Sports Performance Hall. This will be followed by a social hour in the surrounds where food stalls will be available.

Students are welcome to wear smart casual clothing for the event.

BBQ and Raffle ticket sales

At the time of writing this newsletter, we have not yet had the Celebration of Success event on Friday night. We are confident that it will be an amazing night and thank everyone who purchases food and drinks from our stand and tickets for our Christmas raffle.

Congratulations to all the students who will be receiving awards and well-deserved recognition.

The Parents and Citizens Association is very proud of every student.

Congratulations too to the winners of our raffle prizes to be announced after the event.

As the year rolls to a close, the Executive Team wishes to thank you all for your support of our events this year: the Container Challenge, the Colour Explosion and the Celebration of Success BBQ and raffle sales.

The families of the P&C Committee have done a fantastic job; we are grateful for all you do. Next year at the Annual General Meeting, the Committee votes in Executives and every position is open for nomination. If you would like to consider coming on board as part of a great team of volunteers, please email pandc@foxwellsss.eq.edu.au for further information. There will be more details about the AGM in newsletter submissions early next year.

Merry Christmas

On behalf of the P&C Executives – Karina W, Michelle D, Felicia L as well as our amazing committee, we wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

We look forward to welcoming you to our committee in 2022.

Best wishes

Roz Rowe

P&C President

pandc@foxwellssc.eq.edu.au

In Weeks 8 and 9, language learners have reflected on the many definitions of success at Foxwell.

Please join us to celebrate the wonderful accomplishments of the Year 7 and 8 students.

FLOURISH

Time difference: Did you know that Brisbane is only 1 hour ahead of Tokyo, Japan?

In this week's newsletter please join us to celebrate Byron Stockton (8B).

This term Byron has exemplified what it means to be a responsible learner (Perseverance, Respect and Responsibility). He worked effectively with his peers to complete all tasks in the digital folio to a high standard (Inclusivity, Integrity, Teamwork).

We hope our flourish students will help inspire the hundreds of language learners across Foxwell to achieve their goals.

Thank you.

Our Creative Voices students wowed the audience with the musical theatre showcase ‘A Night at the Circus’. On Thursday 25^thNovember, this amazing group of Year 7 and 8 students performed their singing, dancing, acting and all-rounder talents to an audience of parents, friends, students and primary school visitors.

We have been so impressed by their commitment, agility and willingness to try new things as these students have performed out of their comfort zone, proving they really are excellence quality. These students choreographed dances, arranged songs, learnt musical theatre numbers from musicals such as “Mary Poppins” and “Alice in Wonderland” and had opportunities to create their own numbers that highlight the circus theme.

We can’t wait to see the incredible work they produce next year.

Here at Foxwell State Secondary College, we are fortunate to be in partnership with inspiring programs which introduce our students to the many facets of STEM.

On Tuesday, our Year 8 GSTEM students travelled to UQ for their end of year celebration with the Wonder of Science (WOS) team.

Students had the honour of meeting Dr Margaret Wegener and Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop, as well as engaging in scientific discussions with WOS mentors, all of whom are completing their PhDs in different areas of STEM.

Professor Rubinsztein-Dunlop’s research interests are in atom optics, laser micromanipulation, laser physics, linear and nonlinear high-resolution spectroscopy, and nano-optics. Of particular excitement to our students was her explanation of optical tweezers; a scientific instrument that uses light to move and hold microscopic particles.

Dr Wegener is a Teaching-Focused Senior Lecturer in Physics at The University of Queensland. She teaches aspiring physicists as well as physics courses that service engineering and the life sciences.

Dr Wagener showed the students how physics has helped her understand the fundamentals behind one of her passions, jewellery making.

A big thank you to Robyn Bull, Dr Anita Milroy and the WoS team for this collaborative opportunity. Our students are fortunate to have had this experience.

Thank you to all students and family members who participated in yesterday’s end of year Sporting Minds event. Participants had the opportunity to engage in an energetic group training session, boxing basics and sports training challenges.

It was fantastic to see everyone having fun with fitness. It was also great to see so many of our new students joining us at Foxwell next year come along to participate in the fun.

A special thanks to our local sponsors for providing some great activities and lucky door prizes. World Gym Coomera GMG SPORTS TRAINING & Cas Haberfield

On the 25th of November, 2021, our Year 7 and 8 ALP went on an excursion to QUT (Queensland University of Technology). This was an opportunity for myself, and many other students to learn about rockets and programming, and to participate in an art activity.

Everyone was transported in a bus, and traveled to Brisbane. After we got off the hour-long bus ride, we met our ambassadors, who included professors in Math, chemistry, robot and medical engineering and much more. These ambassadors would be guiding us through our activities.

The excursion had two activities, so we were split into two groups, and my group’s first activity included programming of rockets. We were first split into teams of 4. Then we were given a scenario for us to investigate - scientists designing rockets for NASA to reach the highest altitude possible. But, building rockets is not easy so we had to learn the basics of rocket science.

The basics included the Isaac Newton’s laws of motion, thrust, exhaust gas motion, fuel and empty mass. We started experimenting with other rockets including gliders, ISS, Apollo 11 rockets.

Next we starting programming and experimenting with the programmed QUT rocket in our groups to see what is most effective tool to launch our rocket the furthest up. With all the experiments completed, we finally started creating the perfect rocket to reach the highest altitude, but we had had some restrictions including, only 0-50,000N for the thrust, 200-500KG of empty mass but infinite fuel mass.

We designed our rocket for 10 minutes then compared the final results with Aidan’s Team coming in on top with 11.75KM in the sky, which was remarkable since 2nd place was only 7.08KM, and with the rankings settled we went back for lunch and got ready for our next activity, Art meets Science. Once we finished the rocket coding class, we all met back up to have lunch near the food court.

All students were allowed to buy lunch using their own money, or eat their own lunch. Everyone discussed what had happened in their classes, and exchanged thoughts. After half an hour, myself and group 2 went into the building, P block, for a tour.

There was an art exhibit that we got to discuss and examine. We then went up a few levels and met our new mentors. They were really friendly, and we sat down at tables in front of giant computer screens. They introduced themselves, and explained what we were going to do. They then projected photos from scientists from the University, who wanted to show their focus of studies. We guessed what we thought they were, and we were very surprised.

A rat's knee bone, a crystal, and an organic banana from and agriculture historian. We then talked about beautiful statues and chandeliers that were created to show the amount of nuclear power in each country. We made votes and discussed our opinions; we all thought it was great because we got to show and provide evidence of our options. We then researched the Fukushima explosion, and the Chernobyl disaster.

We created posters, 3D models, and presentations. We were given the option to be creative, and everyone really was. Cutting out magazines, rolling and twisting paper to make towers, and researching facts was all great fun.

Sadly, after a couple hours, it was time to leave. On the way, we had the chance to play some fun video games on a giant screen wall.

This section of the day was amazing as it was a social and group-bonding time.

Myself and many other enjoyed themselves greatly on the excursion. Jenny Klintukh stated that “This was an awesome day, and I really enjoyed it! It was definitely one of the best excursions I’ve ever been to”.

By Lachlan Potts and Jenny Klintukh

Who can believe it is Week 9 of Term 4???

Years 7 & 8

What a massive and slimy end to the year. All classes have been making 3 different types of slime. Please don’t try this at home, it’s messy! They have also had an opportunity to develop their fire skills to procure their Bunsen burner licence, as well as catapulting plastic balls across the room using their catapult designs. They researched to determine what type of designs might be the most effective at catapulting the plastic ball and then built their chosen design. Some designs enabled the ball to fly through the room and across the vast expanse; some didn’t.

Which ones were successful? Denver needs some thinking time…

Students have also made personalised versions of a board game using local information on each of their boards.

ALP

Students have completed building their fantastic bridges and it appears we might have a few engineers in the mix. The students also stood up in front of their peers and teachers and discussed their design and build process. I am sure the public speaking was nerve-racking but you couldn’t tell as they all gave such a stellar performance.

We have had some absolutely bridge brilliant designs. I have included a few of these so you can decide which ones on which you would be willing to drive your SUV.

This bridge took 20kg of weight before spectacularly toppling, although the bridge remained intact.

Some other examples of the bridges which fit the design brief are below and the bridge designed and built by the girls withstood 31.5 kg of weight without falling down.

G STEM

Students made rockets with fizzy drink and Mentos. A few photos reveal the dedicated students who braved the weather.

NOTE: the images are distant as the photographer was not so brave and remained under shelter.

Students were supported at the Wonder of Science state finals last week by their fabulous teachers, Ms Jones, Mrs Moraes and Ms McClymont and then Year 8s were fortunate to meet with Dr Margaret Wegener and Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop as well as continuing discussions with a range of WOS mentors at the University of Queensland.