Wow, what interesting times we live in!  2022 is shaping up to be a year like no other; already this year we have seen a late start to the school year due to COVID and now this week, we have been challenged by school closures due to the series of extreme weather events. I hope that you and your family have managed to stay safe and dry.

Thank you for your support and co-operation this week as we navigated these uncertain times together. Together we are strong!

As the Principal, I will always put the safety and wellbeing of your children and my staff first and will follow the advice and directives provided by the relevant authorities. I will also ensure that I communicate, in a timely manner, all important information to families. Just a reminder that we will only be communicating positive COVID cases in our community through our regular Schoolzine channels, once a week, as either part of our Bulletin or Newsletter. This contact is designed to help us remember the importance of appropriate and safe community practices. Be assured, we continue to have increased cleaning and safety protocols in place across the College

Next week, we will excitedly see the return to some of normalcy, thanks to the easing of COVID restrictions across the State from 6pm this evening, March 4^th. This will mean a return to normal practice for us here at school. In particular, excursions and assemblies may, for the first time this year, commence. From Monday, students and staff will not be required to wear face masks at school unless they choose to do so, with our full support.

Our extra-curricular sign-ups have taken place over the last few weeks and activities will be commencing shortly. It made me incredibly proud to watch our students’ enthusiasm, patience and respect as they waited in line to place their name on particular activities’ rolls. As I have said so many times before, the benefits of extra-curricular activities are enormous. The benefits range from increased social opportunities, to improved self-confidence, to the exploring of interests and unlocking of passions, to creating broader perspectives. Who would not want their child to reap these kinds of benefits? We encourage all students to select at least one extra-curricular activity to participate in each year.  I would like to thank our staff for providing such a broad and rich range of extra-curricular activities for our students, some of which will run before school, during lunch time and after school. Please encourage your child to check their notices daily for information relevant to their extra-curricular activity of choice.

I look forward to next week, knowing that both our staff and our students will return with renewed energy and enthusiasm to re-engage with learning and teaching. Our staff have been busy this week ensuring that learning programs and assessments have been reviewed and adjusted, if needed, to ensure that students are not disadvantaged in any way from the weather-related school closures.

Please continue to stay safe and take care of each other and most importantly, be kind!

Until next time.

Mrs Kym Amor

Principal

Foxwell State Secondary College

The Compass Years - Year 9 Program has Launched!

It is with great excitement, energy and passion that we have launched our The Compass Years  - Year 9 Program in 2022. This Program is the culmination of our deep research into education systems, philosophies and programs around the world, and our examination of local, national and global data and trends relating to education and employment now and in the future. The Program is underpinned also by our exploration of the science related to brain development and plasticity, adolescent development as well as the factors that shape and influence cognitive, social and emotional development. Together with this research, we have maintained our focus on developing a program of learning that delivers the national curriculum through learning design that focuses on Deep Learning Outcomes for learners.

As students move into The Compass Years, having completed their Year 7 and 8 The Wonder Years Program, they will begin to experience more options in their learning. They will start to explore learning more personally, taking increased ownership of their education, challenging themselves to find their direction and navigating their way to what will be their Year 11 and 12, The Fusion Years, Program.

In Year 9, our curriculum structure and broad range of course offerings encourage each learner to deliberately plan their course of study to suit their interests, skills and possible future goals or pathways. Extension courses are offered for those wishing to challenge themselves at a more rigorous level, while our Excellence Programs will continue into Year 9 for learners aiming to maintain their engagement in these Programs. As a College community, we will continue to build and access meaningful partnerships so our students’ learning experience is connected and contextualised. Our extra-curricular and co-curricular activities will take learning that one step further, with learners able to flourish in more personalised endeavours within and beyond the classroom, making for a richer, more holistic and balanced educational experience.

After months of planning, polishing and persistence, our teachers have embarked on their learning journeys with Year 9s as they navigate learning across the four aspects of our program:

• Prescribed Courses – studied by all students across the year for one or two semesters each;
• Personal Endeavour Courses – studied by students as elective courses for one term each;
• Activate – Global Entrepreneurship; and
• Personal Learning and Development.

Please continue to read our newsletter for regular updates about what is happening in our Compass Years Program. We will also be asking family and community members for the contribution to, engagement in and assistance with a range of activites across the year. Certainly, there are exciting times on the horizon! For more information, please read our The Compass Years – Year 9 Handbook. If you have any questions, please contact me via dnico0@eq.edu.au

Attendance

In this edition of our Newsletter, you will read some information from our SWEL Team about attendance. Can I reiterate the absolute importance of all students arriving on time to school. "On time"  means that students have arrived by 8.35am and are at their classrooms by 8.45am for the start of the school day. There is a great deal of important information that is shared during the first 15 minutes of each day, including the initial phase of learning for Period 1, so students arriving at or after 9.00am are being disadvantaged by their late arrival. In essence, they are absent for 15 minutes, and if this is repeated across the weeks, the minutes quickly add up.

When students are consistently absent, even for just a few minutes, there can be a significant impact on their engagement and learning across time. In a nutshell,

While there are valid reasons for arriving late, such as bus delays (expected) or unavoidable appointments or commitments (rare and explained by a letter, email or phone call to the College by the parent in advance), it is up to each family to ensure that their child arrives at school on time so that the start to their day is calm, organised and productive. I look forward to seeing all Year 9 students at school and to class on time so that they can maximise their opportunities for success, every day. 

Firstly, as the Head of Student Success for Years 7 to 9, I would like to congratulate all Foxwell students on an incredible start to 2022. We have already faced COVID delays and are now seeing horrific flooding throughout the state. Our students' resilience during this period is to be commended. Even this week, the willingness to jump into learning on Wednesday and Thursday despite the disruption to our routine has been awesome and something we know will continue when we return to some kind of normality (if that exists anymore!). Please know that if you have family or friends heavily affected by any of the recent events, and/or you feel your student may need additional support over the coming weeks, our team of Heads of Year are just an email or phone call away.

Attendance

One of our 2022 strategies to help our students take ownership of their learning is to know and understand their attendance percentage. For all students, 95% attendance is the goal, which, as students calculated in Week 1, is 9 days absence across the full school year. Please be assured that if your student is absent due to a government direction, such as the school’s closed, the student has tested positive to COVID or is required to isolate as a close contact, or any other directive, then these do not contribute to the year’s absences (as long as we are notified of the reason). Each week (on a Tuesday), students will receive their year-to-date attendance percentage and will reflect on and create goals around their current and future attendance. We encourage you to continue this important conversation at home if you are concerned that your child's attendance is an issue or tracking below 95%.

Please continue to make contact regarding student absences by contacting the school absence line, and by providing a medical certificate where possible when there has been illness. If there are barriers to your child attending school where you require support, please make contact with the relevant Head of Year or myself as soon as possible so we can implement the most effective strategies.

Extra-Curricular Activities

This year, our program of extra-curricular activities will look slightly different in its design and implementation. Extra-curricular activities will require an official sign up or trial, depending on the nature of the activity, will often result in the students representing Foxwell in some type of competition, may have a cost associated with participating in the activity, and will have a regular attendance roll taken. A commitment to an extra-curricular activity is not just for a week or two, but for the duration of the activity. As part of enrolment at Foxwell, it is also an expectation that all students will take part in at least one extra-curricular activity so please encourage your students to engage with this program. Student involved in any of our Excellence Programs will also be expected to engage in activities as part of their overall experience in their program.

Different to this program will be our full range of lunchtime activities, which will roll out in the coming weeks. Students may opt in and out of these activities as they please. Your student may have let you know that extra-curricular sign ups took place in a whole school event last week; however, do not be concerned if your student was absent. As soon as Microsoft Forms is up and running, students will be able to select their extra-curricular activities for all of 2022 via a Forms survey, so nobody will miss out. Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks!

Leadership

Our 2022 Student Leadership nomination process is underway. Thank you to the students who have engaged with the process and have submitted their applications. School leader applications are under review and successful applicants will be notified shortly.

Our ambassador positions for Year 8 will reopen from Monday (those who have applied already, do not need to reapply – their application remains valid) and this message will be delivered in person to all year 8 students as well as through Student Sharepoint. For Year 9 students, House Captain applications will also run through a separate process once the College Leader and Ambassador positions have been filled. Again, more information on this will be distributed through Student Sharepoint and upcoming newsletters.

Please continue to read the articles below, thanks to my incredible SWEL Team! (Note: everyone maintains a whole school portfolio, not just managing their own year level, so please read through all of their articles for whole school updates) 

Elle Bullock – Head of Student Success

Head of Year 7 - Collette Wilson

I would like to introduce myself as the Head of Students for our Year 7 cohort.

What a start to high school for our Year 7 students! It has been my absolute pleasure to observe them in their classes and the playground over the last few weeks. Their growth in confidence has been amazing to witness as have the relationships they have built with their peers and the staff at our college.  They have taken a very unusual start to the school year in their stride and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

As part of my portfolio, I also oversee the whole school roll marking program.  Heading up this program has given me the opportunity to work closely with our school support staff such as our School-based Youth Health Nurse and our Chaplain to create mini lessons for our students.  These lessons are conducted at the start of each day and are an important aspect of all students' social and emotional wellbeing learning at Foxwell while also introducing students to the support staff available to them on campus.  We also are using this time to look at student’s attendance data, mindfulness, wellbeing and goal setting.  The value of this approach in starting conversations between students and teachers regarding their goals and attendance has already become evident in our college. To gain the most benefit, it is important that all students are at school by 8.35am (first bell) and in class ready for learning by 8.45am, every day.

I look forward to seeing the amazing things that our Year 7s will achieve this year. If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, I can be contacted at cwils138@eq.edu.au

Head of Year 8 – Bryce Berrell

What an incredible start to the 2022 school year! While it hasn’t been as we expected, the Year 8s have handled it in the best possible way. Over the past few weeks, it has been an absolute pleasure getting to know the cohort. I am very impressed with the standard of behaviour and uniform and, more importantly, the work ethic of each and every student in the grade. Keep up the great work and keep on smashing it out!

In addition to leading the Year 8 cohort, I manage two important portfolios for the school – Whole School Events and the Pasifika Student Group.

Throughout this year, we have many exciting events planned with which the whole school can be involved. It all kicks off with Bullying No Way Day on Friday 18^th of March, followed by our Harmony Week celebration starting on Monday 21^st of March. I am excited to be able to take charge of these events, and many more like this, throughout the year.

The Pasifika Student Group is aimed at supporting our Pasifika students and celebrating their rich cultural heritage throughout the school community. My role for this group is to be “go-to-person” for all things Pasifika. The primary goal for this group is to give students a voice and allow them to celebrate their culture in their own special way. The group will meet every Thursday at Lunch to share cultural stories, create a shared understanding, and discuss ways that they wish to embed their culture into our school community. If your child wishes to be a part of this group, please ask them to check students notices daily for important notices. More importantly, I will not be able to run this group without parent and community support. If parents and community groups/organisations wish to support the group, I would appreciate if you could email me, bdber0@eq.edu.au, and let me know how you wish to support our group and the opportunities that you could provide. From this, my goal will be to share this knowledge with our staff and begin to embed more cultural perspectives and practices into our classroom and wider school community.

Head of Year 9 – Holly Arndt

My name is Holly Arndt I am so excited to be the Head of Year 9 this year. This is my second year at Foxwell and my fifth year of teaching. A key part of my role, aside from assisting our Year 9s to navigate their wellbeing and engagement, is to also oversee our positive behaviour and student engagement systems here at Foxwell, including our school SPIRIT values and Spirit Card system. This system rewards students who display our SPIRIT values of Service, Perseverance, Integrity, Respect and Responsibility, Inclusivity and Teamwork both inside and outside of the classroom. When a student displays one or more of these values, any member of staff can sign their Spirit Card to recognise this effort. Any student who completes their Spirit Card by having one entire row or column of their card completely filled in will hand this card into their Head of Year and will receive a prize. To further engagement with this system in 2022, we are in the process of making some slight changes and will communicate these with you and your students soon.

For next week, try out our positive engagement challenge: in those car-ride or dinner table conversations, rather than asking, “How was school?” and hearing back the classic conversation-ender “good”, try “Which SPIRIT value did you demonstrate today?” to see where it leads! If you have any concerns regarding Year 9, you can always get in touch at hfbra0@eq.edu.au

Autism CRC – your perspective and opinions are needed

Work is currently underway at the Autism CRC to create a national practice guideline for supporting the development and participation of children on the autism spectrum and their families (Supporting Children National Guideline).

The guideline will support families to make informed choices when accessing services and provide professionals with a set of recommendations to guide ethical and effective service delivery. The recommendations will be based on the best available research and a comprehensive community consultation process.

An online survey is now open for:

• autistic adults;
• parents/carers and other family members of individuals on the autism spectrum, including those with complex needs;
• practitioners with experience in government and/or non-government sectors;
• researchers with relevant expertise.

You can find out more information and complete the survey by clicking the button below. Note, the survey will close at 5pm AEST 29 March 2022.

SURVEY LINK

This term our Year 9 students have been learning how to create humour in narratives.  We have looked at why different people find different things funny, how writers create humour in their writing and how we find humour in everyday aspects of our lives. 

Next week (Week 5) students will be planning and drafting their own narratives, and students will work on their plans and drafts during our 3 lessons.  It is very important that students continue to work on their drafts in their own time to ensure they have the best possible draft to upload to Seesaw during their lesson on Friday 11^th March.

Students will be writing their drafts and final copies in the Writer’s Toolbox platform.  This will enable students to produce their best work and receive tailored feedback for them to improve their work at their level.  It is vital that students are using this platform and working diligently during and between lessons to perform to the best of their ability and complete their work. 

Please remember that it is also incredibly important that all of our students have a keyboard and pencil for their iPads in order to access all of the learning with which they are expected to engage in English.  We have had a number of students without iPads, without keyboards or without pencils, which is impacting their learning.  We would also like to remind families that all work is provided for students on One Note, so if they are absent, they should access work to complete there, if well enough to do so.  Students who do not have iPads will need to handwrite their drafts and submit these to their teachers for feedback and, unfortunately, will not have the benefit of the Writer’s Toolbox platform.

Students will receive feedback on their drafts and have time in class and for homework to action this feedback before their final is due on Friday 25^th March. We are looking forward to enjoying each student's comedic creation!

In Week 3 of this term, the Year 9 Drama students were fortunate to have Dr Dee Basaraba, Principal Project Officer of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Team come and discuss the ways in which Indigenous perspectives are communicated to audiences through playscripts, such as Wesley Enoch’s “7 Stages of Grieving”. Students were immersed in conversation about Aboriginal history as they analysed excerpts from the play with Dr Dee and Michaela and also learnt about symbolic meaning using props, sound effects and language.

Students then viewed the live performance of “7 Stages of Grieving” directed by Jason Klarwein from Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe starring the talented actor, Chenoa Deemal. This performance used Chenoa’s roots to inform the visual language of the piece, with design elements taking a cue from the artistic styles of her cultural heritage.

A fantastic opportunity for our students, this performance enabled the students involved to develop a deeper understanding of the importance of Aboriginal history within Australia and engage with the visual elements of storytelling.

Our Technologies team is thrilled to provide our Foxwell students with exciting opportunities to participate in our various subjects and projects.

2022 is exciting for us with a whole new suite of workshops and kitchens to which we can introduce our students as well as new courses in Year 9.

Our Year 7 and Year 8 students will rotate through a number of different units this year.

This term, Year 7s have begun either their Economics and Food Specialisation unit or their Digital Technologies unit and will swap in Semester Two. Our Year 8s have begun either their Materials and Engineering Workshop unit or their Economics and Food Specialisation unit. Simalr to the Year 7s, in Semester Two, students will swap units.

Students in Year 9 Personal Endeavour Courses [PECs] have begun planning for their folios with Build it and they will come students planning a camp chair; Sustainable Industrial Technologies students a working on a pallet project; our Maritime students are planning an engineered water craft; and our Hospitality students are designing different street food-style dishes and a dessert. There is much to be excited about! I cannot wait to see the results of these plans in the coming weeks.

Please be reminded that for students to enter any workshop or kitchen, the appropiate training must have been completed satisfactorily, a signed permission form returned and students must be wearing full leather (non-porous) footwear. If you have not yet received information from classroom teachers regarding these requirements, please be advised it is on its way. Once you receive it, please be sure to return it ASAP.

TERM 1 Week 3 2022

Welcome to the Science Snapshot where we provide a taste of what the students have been working on during the last fortnight. This has been a BIG beginning to the year with many experiments for the students that demonstrated that learning objectives = FUN in the labs.

All students have also been shown the serious side of working in the labs with safety inductions before they could participate. They have had instructions on the safety rules and also been shown how to use safety equipment, such as the safety showers and eye baths.

Year 7

This cohort has been studying the effects of unbalanced forces, including Earth’s gravity, on motion. They are now working towards their assessment and planning experiments using force and understanding variables in experimentation.

Year 8

Biology is the strand of science students are studying in this term and they have started out small by looking at cells. Students had an opportunity to learn microscopy and study different cells using microscopes. There were a variety of cells they could look at including typical plant and animal cells, and these cells differences taught in theory became a reality through the microscopic lens. Many more cell slides such as blood, muscle and plant stem cells were available to students to study and to see how cells are differentiated depending upon the function of the cell.

Students moved on to bigger things and studied organs and body systems. Alongside the theory they gained hands-on experience through practicals demonstrating the digestive tract and the respiratory system.

Year 9

These students been studying Biology and building on their knowledge from Year 8 by studying the nervous system and understanding how the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system work together to respond to external change. This cohort got to study and visualise the internal parts of a brain through dissecting this organ and seeing where parts of the brain controlling speech, language, touch, sight and balance were located.

Students are now working on the immune system, pathogens and the germ theory. They have started an assessment where they have been analysing how pathogens affect the immune system and looking at the body’s natural or induced immune response. This is topical given our current Covid outbreak.

Our wonderful ALP students sure are excited about their learning! This year, our Year 7 and 8 students attend ALP lessons in Period 4 Wednesday and before school on Thursday from 7:45 am with the talented ALP team of Ms Neville, Mr Power and Ms Cabrera.  Our Year 9 ALP students now have ALP with the award-winning Ms Moraes, who will be taking our ALP students in a composite class with the GSTEM students.

All of our ALP students are currently investigating and developing their 6 Cs – Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Citizenship, Character and Communication in preparation for their personal passion projects in Term 2 where they will research, create and present their findings, learnings and products in TED talks or other formats that they choose.

This year, the fees for our Excellence programs are all $150.  This fee will cover excursions, incursions, field trips, guest speakers and partnerships, as well as some materials. Thank you to families who have already made their contribution so that course requirements can be supported from the start of the year. 

Sporting Minds – Bring on 2022!

The Foxwell State Secondary College Sporting Minds Excellence program has hit the ground running in 2022! In the initial weeks, Sporting Minds' Coaches have been conducting fitness testing and working with students to determine their sporting focus and accomplishment goals. Specifically, students have been digging deep to set their fitness benchmarks for strength and conditioning this term.

In 2022 we welcome new coaches to our Sporting Minds program, Reece Goudge and Samantha Holt.

Coach Holt enriches our Sporting Minds program with experience as an elite Netball athlete and excellence coach. Her main focus is developing the whole athlete through sport. Leadership, commitment, accountability, clear communication, empathy, humility, respect, health and wellbeing are the traits she is most looking forward to fostering in the program.

With a background in Exercise Physiology, Coach Goudge brings a wealth of experience and expertise to extend our Sporting Minds athletes specifically with Strength and Conditioning. Coach Gouge has a drive and passion for all sport with a specific focus on Football and Futsal as an excellence coach, manager and selector.

This week also saw the first session with our partnership with G.M.G Training with our Year 7 & 8 students with a specific focus on improving sport specific speed, explosive power, strength, endurance and agility. Coach Glen Gamlin brings 25 years experience in all facets of sports and recreation and has a passion for fitness and helping athletes to achieve their goals. This is a valuable partnership within our community and a rewarding attribute of our Sporting Minds program for our athletes.

A very exciting start to our Sporting Minds Program in 2022! Bring it on!

Welcome to G-STEM!

This term we welcomed our new Year 7 students to the G-STEM team and have shared in some fun and games between classes. One game we played tested the teamwork and reflexes of our students as they had to visually spot a match box, and respond by sending a touch reaction to their team. Did you know that our touch reflex is almost twice as fast as our visual conscious reflex? 150 milliseconds compared to 250 milliseconds! With practice, you can train your reflexes to become sharper, increasing your reaction time.

What We Are Working On

We have jumped straight into exploring the STEM inquiry cycle. Students have been investigating environmental factors that influence the hatching rate of the species Artemia salina. Sea Monkeys, more commonly known as Artemia salina (brine shrimp) are small crustaceans that live in highly salty environments, such a brine pools, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Artemia salina have the ability to undergo cryptobiosis or anhydrobiosis, a condition of apparent lifelessness which allows them to survive the desiccation of the temporary pools in which they live. When they are freeze dried, the eggs can last for several years, according to the book Medicinal Plant Research in Africa. 

Artemia salina are photo-reactive, which means they will react to sunlight. Students have designed an experiment surrounding the change of one environmental factor; some examples are temperature, light availability, egg density, container shape, pH and salinity. We will be hatching our eggs next Wednesday!

Excursion Updates

Unfortunately, due to the recent flooding events, all in-person events at the World Science Festival in Brisbane have been cancelled. This means that our excursion originally planned for next Thursday will no longer go ahead. We are devastated and know that the students will share in our disappointment. We will endeavour to seek an opportunity to replace this extra-curricular experience for the students.

Program Reminders

Please ensure you have signed and returned the Excellence Agreement Form, which was sent home this week.

Ms Nahdia McClymont

Head of Department - Physical World/G-STEM Coordinator

We are SO excited to welcome back Ms Kate Shaw as our Choir Conductor this year. We are also excited to welcome a new range of fresh faces every Wednesday morning to learn a new repertoire for upcoming showcases and competitions. The students have started the year with gusto as they have had the privilege of being the first students to rehearse inside the music classrooms of the newly-opened Performing Arts Centre. We can’t wait to have more wonderful singers join our 2022 choir on Wednesdays from 7.45am in the PAC. Everyone welcome!

Broadwater Swimming Trials 24^th February 2022

Last week, eight Foxwell SSC students attended the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre to trial for a place on the Broadwater Swim Team.

The day was looking to be wet on all fronts; however, the rain held off and the students were able to participate with no disruption to the day.

I spoke with some other schools about how many students attended and for a school with currently only three-year levels, we sent one of the larger teams to the trial.

All students (Lachlan Potts, Sienna Mercer, Montana Atkinson, Isabella Morton, Tahlia Branch, Riley McMinn, Kyden McMinn and Jacob Inglis) represented the College with pride and there were some great performances on the day.

Some of the team's achievements include:

• 12 x 1^st places
• 11 x 2^nd places
• 3 x 3^rd places
• 5 students made the Broadwater Team to trial for South Coast
• Isabella Morton achieved a 1.12sec PB for her 50m Butterfly swim

Well done to all students who swam on the day and we look forward to hearing how they perform at the next trial.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is to be held on the 15^th of March 2022 at 6pm in the Learning Hub, followed by the first meeting of the new P&C year 

At the AGM, we welcome in the executive team. Every position is open and will be voted in by the committee on the 15^th of March.

This year we are looking to introduce a new non-executive position of Grants Officer. The Grants officer will be responsible for managing all grants, existing or new. This position involves research into what grants are available for specific funding requirements (such as musical equipment, sports equipment etc) and overseeing the process of application through to acquittal of the grant. This person will be working with the P&C executive team to achieve the best results possible for Foxwell SSC.  

Please email us on pandc@foxwellssc.eq.edu.au for further information.

Nomination forms for an executive position can be emailed, or collected from the school office. All nominations must be returned via email, or to the school office, no later than the 11^th of March 2022.

As always, all Foxwell community members are invited to join the P&C. Our meeting dates will be published after the AGM on the school's website and will also be advised prior to each meeting by newsletter, Facebook and email to committee members. Joining the committee is a great way of being involved in school policies, fundraising, and some school events, input into your students wellbeing and any other general business that arises at each meeting.

Stay safe Foxwell families, and for those in isolation, I wish you a speedy recovery

Warm wishes

Roz Rowe

P&C President

pandc@foxwellssc.eq.edu.au