Last week on assembly we highlighted the SPIRIT value of Teamwork and as the term comes to a close and as I walk around the school, I see evidence of teamwork everywhere and this makes me proud.

Each assembly we recognise students who demonstrate our SPIRIT values. These students have completed their SPIRIT cards and submitted them to their Head of Year. On assembly students are selected from a draw and are awarded prizes. The most recent prizes awarded were canteen vouchers. Congratulations to all students who every day demonstrate our SPIRIT values and who are being role models to all students around them.

Our assemblies are now prime examples of teamwork as our school leaders work together to host our assemblies and often seek support of the student body during segments. 

Our posters are up, calling all members of our House groups to take up the mantle of supporting their team in our upcoming Athletics Carnival which will be held next Friday, weather permitting. It does not matter whether you are the fastest runner, the longest or highest jumper or if you are the athlete with the best throwing arm, the house winner of the Athletics Carnival will be the house that shows the highest level of committment to the team. Participation points, cheering on and supporting fellow house members is what will make the difference when the points are finally tallied. Which house will win the 2022 Athletics Carnival? Will it be Oakey, Moreton, Coral or Pacific?

We encourage all students to support their team to the best of their ability and to uphold all SPIRIT values on our Athletics Day. 

As a College we strive to embed the global competency of Collaboration in our work and in our play; Teamwork and collaboration go hand in hand - one cannot occur without the other. Collaboration means making new understanding and learning more from the people you are working with.

Only last night, at the Yr 9 Activate Showcase there was evidence of teamwork and meaningful collaboration where students working on individual projects realised that if they put their ideas together their overall business pitch could be more effective and powerful. What our students presented last night was original and well developed. It is this level of collaboration which helps our children develop deeper learning outcomes.

I would like to thank and recognise the work of all of our teams across the College which include but are not limited to:

Students: classroom learning teams, inter-school and competition sporting teams, eSports teams, debating teams, dance troupe, drama fest and musical teams, leadership team, school council team

Staff: teachers, teaching assistants, Executive Services, IT, cleaners, facilities, leaders.

Our class teams are proudly celebrating and showcasing their learning. When I walk through the Learning Hub, I see the work of our Yr 8 Visual Artists who have created artworks which reflect their understanding of one or the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

Our Art Gallery walk in the Senior precinct is filled with the work of the our Ceramics class. It has been exciting to watch our new ceramics studio come to life with the addition of two fantastic kilns and the expertise of our teachers and our learning partners who have provided our students with real world learning.

Our walkways are a buzz with groups of students testing their coding skills - having programmed the Sphero RVRs to navigate courses and testing their drag racers. 

Our Cafe 4209 continues to be a success and the teams who work together each morning to provide both hot and cold drinks to staff and students are collaboration personified. I often witness students not only working together as a team but collaborating to ensure they deeply understand the task at hand. To the team of staff who lead this merry band of Yr 9 volunteers, a massive thank you.

Our ALP and our G-STEM teams are working on their final presentations to showcase their learning.

The most important team in our community is the three way partnership amongst students, teachers and their parents/carers. By collaborating closely a better understanding is gained of the needs of students, the intent of the learning and how best to show evidence of learning. We thank all families who work in partnership with us to deepen the learning of your child(ren), our students. Together we achieve more!

The world we live in is big and with so many upsettling events happening at home and around the globe, ensuring that you are a part of a team or more than one team, can make you feel more empowered, more confident, more hopeful and more connected and will help to develop self-understanding and build a range of competencies and knowledge which ultimately opens a world of opportunity.

Which teams are you and you child(ren) a part of now?

Who do you and your child(ren)collaborate with to deepen learning?

What teams will you and your child(ren)consider becoming part of as we move into the second half of 2022?

Until next time

Kym Amor

Principal

This semester has been one of great learning, adjustment and exploration for our Year 7 students as they have navigated their way through their introduction to high school.  While the holidays are in the not too distant future, now is the time for our Year 7s to consolidate their learning through finalising assessment and demonstrating the growth and distance they have travelled this semester to both their teachers and their families though assessment results and report cards.

Due to the disruptions to our learning at the beginning of the semester, report cards will be issued early in Term 2, to allow our students the most time to effectively demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and abiliities. 

Student led conferences will take place in Week 3 of next term. There will be a quick turnaround between receiving reports and needing to have made appointments to meet with teachers. Please look out for this information when it is realised.

Next term, all Year 7 students will have some timetable changes as we rotate through our Social World Arts specialisation areas and our Technologies areas.  We will also have a small number of new staff joining the Foxwell team.  We look forward to introducing them to you next term.

Next week is a regular school week, with students continuing to engage in learning. We culminate our term with our first Athletics Carnival on site!  Parents will be welcome to attend on this day to watch.  

I take this opportunity to wish your families a happy and healthy well-deserved break over the June/July 2 week holiday period and I look forward to welcoming back our Year 7s, well rested and ready to embark on another exciting term of learning.

Di Russell

Year 7 Deputy Principal

Semester 1 is all but done and dusted, all that is left is for students is to showcase their learning and for our teachers to match evidence in student work against the achievement standard and to award a result.

Report cards will be issued early in Semester 2, rather than the end of this term. This decision has been made to provide additional time to students to account for the disruptions to learning during Semester 1.

As a parent of two adult children, I reflect and remember the stress they put on themselves to get good grades when all I expected as a parent was to see their effort and behaviour results to be of a high standard. If my children gave their all to their learning, then that is what was most important to me. As long as I knew they had worked as best as they could, been an active learner and been respectful and responsible then I was proud, regardless of the letter that was attached to their acdemic learning. What then was important to me was looking at ways to move their learning forward. At their school there was no opportunity for goal setting or reflection, that all came from home. Our students however have the opportunity to engage in P4PA - Planning for Personal Accompishment. Early next term our students will engage in this process and I encourage you to discuss this with them, to listen to their reflections on their learning, their outcomes and to support them to consider what can be done differently, what support they might need to move their learning forward.

Student led conferences will take place in Week 3 of next term. There will be a quick turnaround between receiving reports and needing to have made appointments to meet with teachers. Please look out for this information when it is realised.

Next term, Yr 8 students will have some timetable changes. There will be some transition in teachers in Social World as students move between the combination of Visual Art/Media and Dance/Drama. This will be similar in Technologies as students transition between Food Specialisation/Economics and Business and Engineering/Materials. There may also be some teacher changes as we welcome new teachers to the school.

For those students moving into the practical areas of Technologies it will be critical that students return signed consent letters and safety contracts prior to entering any practical area - kitchen or workshop.

With one week to go, I seek your support in encouraging your child to continue to uphold our high expectations of uniform, behaviour and attendance and to follow College processes and procedures.

Next week will to be a week of learning at Foxwell. Please ensure that your child is ready for learning each day with a fully charged iPad, apple pencil as well as notebooks, pens and calculators.

In coming weeks, I look forward with excitement, to introducing you to an updated Yr 8 support team and some new processes. We have made some changes so that we can provide improved and additional support to our students. Stay tuned for details.

As next week's edition is a Bulletin only, I will thank you for your support during Semester 1 and I look forward to continung to work in partnership with you next term.

Take care.

Zana Schroeder

Yr 8 Deputy Principal

It is hard to believe that our next break is only 5 school days away! Time certainly seems to be passing quickly; perhaps what they say is true, "Time flies when you are having fun!" I congratulate all students for continuing to demonstrate their SPIRIT values as they work hard to accomplish their goals. I know that many of our Year 9 students have been able to balance of range of priorities most effectively: extra-curricular pursuits, performances and rigorous learning schedules. From "Matilda", to our Activate Showcase, to our Dance Troupe performance, Cafe Program and leadership forums, our Year 9s have been busy! We look forward to sharing the results of our students' work in the next term.  

Due to the disruptions to our learning at the beginning of the semester, report cards will be issued early in Term 2, to allow our students the most time to effectively demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and abiliities. Student-led conferences will take place in Week 3 of next term. There will be a quick turnaround between receiving reports and needing to have made appointments to meet with teachers. Please look out for this information when it is realised.

Next week is a regular school week, with students continuing to engage in learning. Year 9 students will be able to confirm their Personal Endeavour Courses for Term 3 before the end of the term. We culminate our term with our first Athletics Carnival on site! Parents will be welcome to attend on this day to watch.  

I look forward to seeing all students at the Athletics Carnival and wish all families a safe and happy break. 

Ms Dianne Nicolas, Deputy Principal

It is often the case that we enjoy special celebrations and events during the break for which our young people may make changes to their appearance.

A quick reminder as to our College Dress Code so that there are no issues regarding the breaching of our Student Code of Conduct when we return for Week 1 of Term 3.

I CAN

Our first round of the ‘I CAN’ program for 2022 continues to be a huge success providing opportunities for students with Autism to come together, share experiences and connect with each other and mentors from the program. This group meets each week before school and are currently moving through the Communication module of the program. A second group of students will also have the opportunity to participate in this course run by the I CAN Network, starting mid Term 3.

Individual Curriculum Plans

As we move to the end of Semester 1, Inclusion case managers will now be looking to review Semester 1 Individual Curriculum Plans for students working at a different year level juncture and create Individual Curriculum Plans for Semester 2. If your student currently accesses curriculum at a different year level juncture, please be sure to be checking your emails over the coming week to catch any information that comes through about Semester 2 plan endorsement.

Foxwellness Design Challenge

Students are invited to participate in our Foxwellness Design Challenge! In our Foxwellness Centre we are fortunate to have both an indoor and outdoor space for students to unwind and connect in a safe environment. We are currently seeking designs for our outdoor space to make it calming, welcoming and practical for how our students want to use it. Students can collect design application forms from the Foxwellness centre and should submit their designs to Ms Stevenson by the end of term!

Year 8 Visual Art 

This term in Social World, our Year 8 students have been immersed in studying the Global Goals and the importance of making a difference in our community. During this Unit of work, students learnt how Artists use their ability to create art as a means to communicate and advocate for change. Many of the students took inspiration from one of the global goals to provoke positive messages of change. Congratulations to all students who showed perseverance and courage to create and display their Artworks to our school community and thank you to the teachers who have supported students to achieve their goals. They are all proudly on display in the Learning Hub for the remainder of the term. Come along and enjoy the talent of our aspiring Visual Artists!

The new buildings at Foxwell SSC have seen an amazing Ceramics studio and Visual Art precinct come to life. Thank you to Ms Jody Swader for her time and energy in making this space what it is. This term, we were so excited to run our first Ceramics course that has seen a very impressive collection of Pottery fresh out of the kiln and on display at the Gallery Walk.  Congratulations Year 9 Ceramics students!  Thank you to our guest ceramic artist Michelle Le Plastrier for guiding our students in their Slab vessel construction and glazing techniques.

With great anticipation, our 2022 Dance Troupe students and teachers competed in their first eisteddfod of the season. On Wednesday 15June, this talented group of 15 students along with their amazing choreographers and mentors, Mrs Lauren Riches and Mr Jackson Kook, wowed audiences with their polished performances. Up against some tough competition, our amazing dancers placed Third for Hip Hop, Second for Musical Theatre and were awarded the Most Entertaining Junior Group for their ‘Matilda’ performance of “Revolting Children”. We can’t wait to see what else they achieve in the coming term. Congratulations to all!

Our Foxwell 2 Team won their short preparation debate on Wednesday night. The topic was one that has probably popped up in most homes across the term: Homework Should Be Banned! Foxwell 2 presented their arguments as the negative and all students were confident, expressive and articulate in arguing their points so succesfully. Congratulations, students! 

G-STEM Update

Our G-STEM students are excitedly preparing for the Wonder of Science Regional Conference, hosted by Foxwell State Secondary College next week. Students have worked in groups of 2-4, responding to a STEM inquiry challenge, preparing to present their findings next Wednesday 22^nd June. A winning team from Year 7, 8 and 9 will be selected to present at the State Conference later in the year. Last year we were lucky to have two teams represent Foxwell at the State Conference!

Next week, our Year 7 G-STEM students will travel to the Queensland Museum SparkLab, and then to the University of Queensland to meet with their individual PhD mentors in preparation for Term 3.

In Week 2 of Term 3, Year 8 G-STEM students will travel to Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre, where they will partake in a full-day program on the boat Inspiration, adopting the role of Citizen Scientists and Environment Managers to observe marine debris and investigate possible impacts of this on marine environments. Permission forms will be sent out later this week, or early next week, via email.

Friday of this week, Year 9 G-STEM students will participate in the Griffith University Science and Engineering challenge 2022.

Unfortunately, our G-STEM t-shirt order did not arrive as requested. We are currently working with the company to rectify this order, and have shirts to students as soon as possible. Where students do not have a G-STEM t-shirt to wear to excursions, full formal uniform is expected.

Student leaders met together this week to hold their first Student Council Meeting. The room was abuzz as our ambassadors from Year 7, 8 and 9 voted the College Ambassadors into the key Student Council positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Student Council will now join together fortnightly to discuss initiatives to promote different events across Foxwell, build connection, and engage with the community.

On Wednesday, the student leaders also came together to participate in the online Logan City Council Eco Forum 2022 which included a screening of the new documentary, ‘Regenerating Australia’, and a panel discussion, including director Damon Gameau. The students were exposed to just a small number of ways we can change our behaviours in order to create a more sustainable way of living. They will now be using this new-found knowledge to consider how we incorporate environmentally-sustainable practices at Foxwell.