• • Are we the hero or the victim in our story? It is our responsibility to choose. 
  • Resilience - Be like the tiger! A tiger goes home hungry from a hunt, not defeated, not blaming anything and everything on why the hunt didn't work, rather, learning from the experience and growing. 

Gratitude

• • Gratitude is a feeling, not a thought. 
  • Are we showing appreciation and not expectation?
  • End each day by considering three moments that we are grateful for, perhaps while brushing our teeth. 

Kindness

• • Science has proven that kinder people are happier people. A simple act of kindness has been proven to release serotonin and oxytocin in our brain, producing happiness. 
  • We can show kindness by being kind to others, being kind to our mind and being kind to the environment. 

Cooper ended his address with a challenge for the audience. I would like to share this challenge with you, focussing on your children, our students...

1. Show them that you are grateful. Give them a compliment, or tell them that you are proud of them.
2. Show kindness to the environment by picking up that piece of rubbish, rather than walking by it. 
3. When frustrated by children, take a moment to breathe before responding. 

Until next time...

What a busy start to the term we have had.  Before we know it we will be at the end of our first year as high school students.  Assessments will be issued to students in the next few weeks. Please ensure that students are entering dates in their calendars and making a plan of action to complete these tasks to avoid becoming overwhelmed and stressed out later in the term.  Remember WIN time, I would love to see more Year 7s utilise this time to work on homework and assessments.  It is also important considering the current weather to remember the process around uniforms.  If studnets cannot wear their correct uniform, please ensure that you are sending a note of explanation so they can be issued a uniform pass.  Students who arrive at school in incorrect uniform without a note will be issued a detention in line with our Code of Conduct.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns around your child please do not hesitate to contact me via phone or email.

Collette Wilson

Head of Year 7

This week, 150 Year 8 students, along with 11 staff members, attended Year 8 Camp at Marantha Recreational Camp in Yandina, Sunshine Coast. Our students were challenged through teamwork, construction and height activities. From the tree tops of mid ropes to the fresh water creek in raft building, our students laughed and smiled with their newfound friends. Our tastebuds were also satisfied with the best camp food ever – spaghetti bolognaise, pancakes with fresh cream, oat slice and hot dogs (and that is only to name a few).

Check out our photos below and stay tuned for more photos and our camp video next week. We would also like to take an a opportunity to thank our amazing staff for organising and supporting our students throughout camp – Ms Schroeder, Mr Berrell, Ms Hughes, Mr Anderson, Ms Wilkie, Chappie JP, Miss Madsen, Ms Griffin, Miss Wagstaff, Mr Watmuff & Mr Henry.

Bryce Berrrell - Head of Year 8

Hi everyone,

Our Year 9s have been very busy settling into Term 4. It has been wonderful for Mr Afu, Ms Nicolas and myself to walk through classes and see so many of our Year 9s engaged in their learning. We would also love to celebrate all of our students who are engaging in co curricular activities, such as GSTEM and ALP excursions, cultural group and rugby league training. It is wonderful to see our Year 9s becoming involved and displaying our SPIRIT values in all aspects of our school community. 

A few reminders for students as we get further into Term 4:

• Please ensure that you write down all of your assessment due dates to keep yourself on track this term;
• If you need an extension for any assessment items, please remmeber to apply through the proper channels and in a timely manner;
• Please ensure that you are on time to every lesson so that you do not miss out on any learning;
• If you are not in the correct uniform, please ensure that you bring a note from home explaining this;
• Please ensure that you do not have a VPN on your iPad and that your mobile phone is either at home or in your locker

As always, if you child needs any further support or assistance, please ask them to come and see us in Student Services or email me at hfbra0@eq.edu.au.

Mrs Arndt - Head of Year 9

Japanese Food Tasting

"This is one of those lessons that we will remember forever… We will look back on this when we are in Year 12 and remember how fun it was!"

The end of Term 3 was an exciting time for our Year 8 students, who experienced Japanese food tasting as a culmination of their learning. Throughout the term, students learnt language related to dining out and eating at home, and created multimodal presentations in Japanese.

Upon completion of their assessment, the Japanese teaching team facilitated Japanese food tasting for students with a range of traditional Japanese condiments including:

• Rice
• Umeboshi (sour pickled plum)
• Nattou (fermented soybeans)
• Furikake (tasty rice seasoning)
• Takuan (pickled radish)
• Nametake (soft enoki mushrooms)
• Gohandesuyo (seasoned seaweed paste)

Students were brave in their food choices and pleasantly surprised at what they enjoyed. They learnt not to ‘yuck someone else’s yum' and enjoyed recording their responses to the foods to share with family and friends.

We look forward to sharing this experience with our classes in 2023 as well.

WIN Time

The Japanese Team will be offering WIN time sessions from Week 4 to support students in their learning. For additional support or simply some extra time to work on Japanese language skills, students will be welcome to join these sessions at the following times:

Thursday:      12pm – 12:25pm in H3.33

Friday:           8am in the Junior Learning Hub (downstairs)

Friday:           11:30am – 12:20pm in E2.17

Home Support

Keen to know how you can help support your child in Japanese?

The Japanese team often have EP tasks assigned to students to help them learn key vocabulary for each unit. This is a quick and easy way for students to consolidate their class learning.

Please see below for some other prompts to help check in with your child about what they are learning in Japanese.

Students in 7-8 Physical World have started their Earth Science/Geography Deep-Learning Units. In Year 7, students will investigate and prepare a report analysing the water problems in a chosen part of the world, explaining the interconnections between their place and the people who reside there, and propose a solution to increase water sustainability in their place to conserve water and improve the lives of people who live there. Students have selected areas such as Qatar, Regional Australia, Northern Israel (Tel Aviv), and India (Chennai). The water cycle and the use of natural resources (water) connect this Physical World unit across the areas of Geography and Science. In the gallery below, you can see Mr Emerson demonstrating a cloud in a beaker with his Year 7 Physical World class, exemplifying the phases of water in the water cycle.

In Year 8, students investigate and propose an action in response to a geographical challenge in a significant place or environment (World Heritage Site) of their choice, considering environmental, economic, and social factors. The rock cycle and the study of geographical processes that influence significant places (such as weathering and erosion) connect this Physical World unit across the areas of Science and Geography. In the gallery below, you can see students investigating how crystals are formed under different conditions, to model crystal formation in rocks under different temperatures. This was done creating edible candy crystals.

In 9 Science, students are designing energy efficient toys that do more work with less energy. With energy consumption increasingly contributing to climate change, the UN has set a global target to improve the rate of energy efficiency by 2023. Students will investigate energy effiiceny and  the design of toys and present their findings in a scientific report. Students are learning all about the different forms of energy, with a focus on electrical energy. Check out Ms Holt, using our Van de Graff machine, and Mr Saye racing Mrs Pengelly's class using their modified drag racing cars!

Year 9 Activate and Junior Creative Voices students have the privilege of viewing Shock Therapy Production’s performance of ‘The Apology’ on Tuesday 1 November 2022.  

Inspired by a true story of a high school student who ‘took revenge’ on a classmate who was bullying him after his father advised him to ‘fight back’, The Apology is a searingly honest look at the repercussions of taking revenge and the long term effects of bullying.

Performed by Shock Therapy Productions founders and directors Sam Foster and Hayden Jones, this play is fuelled with intensity and fuses physical theatre techniques, multiple role-sharing and live music into a dynamic piece of theatre.

There will be a Q&A time at the conclusion of the performance where students can ask the performers questions about the content or performance.

We look forward to sharing this experience with our students. 

Mrs Goddaer and Mrs McLennan

2022 is the first year in which we have participated in Future Anything's Activate Program. All Year 9 students engaged in the program as part of their Personal Development and Wellbeing lessons across Semester 1 with the key goal being to pitch an innovative, scalable, and sustainable business that makes the world a better place.

At school level, a panel of judges awarded winners in the following categories at our Showcase and Live Pitch Evening:

Overall Winner - COOPER HAYDEN

Collaboration Award - Beau Dann and Maison Nunn

Passion Award - Renee Tiller and Ava Van Klooster

Innovation Award - Riley O'Keefe

People's Choice Award - Bella-Lea Bugeja

We also acknowledge the other courageous students who presented on the night:

Live Pitch:

• Shylah Jones, Jayden Carroll and Denvah Eastwood
• Zach Spillane and Alistair Mangan
• Edwina Vassallo and Josie McMurtrie

People's Choice Showcase:

• Noah Searle 
• Elliott Coffey

Our staff and the panel of judges were so pleased to see our first Activate event so well attended by our community as well as the enthusiastic participation of our students. 

We are excited to announce that Cooper Hayden in Year 9 has since been selected to represent Foxwell State Secondary College in the 2022 Future Anything National Semi Finals! Future Anything received nearly 200 outstanding applications this year, so this is a remarkable achievement for Cooper. 

Cooper will pitch his idea live online to a panel of expert judges during one of eight Semi Finals. He will showcase his idea and be in with a chance of progressing to the National Grand Final, where he could win funding and support to launch his idea in the real world.

If you would like to support him by tuning into the livestream of the semi-final, please access your free tickets via this link. Cooper will pitch his idea in Semi Final 6, scheduled for 10.30-11.30am on Thursday 27 October 2022.

We wish Cooper the best of luck!

Thank you for taking the time to finalise your course selections for 2023.  If your child has made an error, they are to email Ms Nicolas – dnico0@eq.edu.au by 4pm on Tuesday 25 October 2022. 

Students in Year 7-9 Mathematics commenced the term studying Chance and Probability and will have their exam for this next week, in Week 4. They have been involved with many hands-on games of chance in class to help consolidate their understanding.

Year 7 students will have their exam in their first Maths lesson next week and Year 8 and 9 students will have their exam in the their last Maths lesson of the week.

A few things to remember about exams:

1. Do not stress and be prepared, by revising key concepts from work in class and homework. Teachers have set numerous revision activities either online or from the Cambridge Maths textbook which every student has a login for. If your child can't access this amazing resource, please tell them to ask their teacher for assistance.

2. Ask questions or attend a tutorial during WIN time if students need more one on one support.

3. Exams are closed book activities and require a pen, pencil, eraser and calculator. Ipads will not be allowed to be used during an exam.

4. If a student has a planed absence on the day of their exam or are absent on the day parents/carers are required to complete and sign the "Assessment Extension Form" and email it to the Head of Department, Mrs Russell, txrus5@eq.edu.au. A catch up exam will then be organised. This form can be found on SharePoint.

I wish all students the very best in their exams next week.

Mrs Russell, Head of Department - Mathematics

While we are still buzzing from our first ever, Northern Gold Coast, Mental Health Marketta, we would like to ask for your feedback on this event.  Please complete the short survey to give us some valuable feedback as we move towards planning future events like this.

https://forms.office.com/r/t46ZsJAgJ0

Sporting Minds – Term 4

The 2022 season is heading into finals this term, with exciting, engaging (and exhausting!) sessions designed to test the ticker and grit of our young athletes.

Year 7 – Tactical Awareness

Tactical awareness is critical to game performance and this term, our Year 7 Sporting Minds athletes are learning what it means to play strategically and make decisions that will enhance theirs and their team performance.

Tactical awareness is the ability to identify tactical problems that arise during a game, to make decisions that aid our performance and to respond appropriately. Responses might involve ‘on-the-ball skills’, such as touches on the ball to attack or defend, and ‘off-the-ball movements’, such as supporting, covering and field/court positioning. The link between skills and tactics enables students to learn about a game and improve their performance, especially because game tactics provide the opportunity for applying game-related motor skills. By focusing on tactical awareness and decision making this term, our athletes will learn to apply strategy within their chosen sport and improve their performance.

Year 8 – Resilience and Team Building

Our Year 8 Sporting Minds have dug-into a unit focused on building resilience and team skills – skills needed for all athletes. Throughout the term our coaches will put these skills to the test by challenging students in high intensity games, activities and training sessions, pushing students to mental and physical limits and helping them to have the resilience to work together and keep on going.

Building resilience and team skills is a process which is built up by an athlete over time through situations and scenarios which encourage them to overcome adversity, through developing coping strategies to deal with challenging situations and become a mentally stronger individual. As an athlete experiences these situations, it is an opportunity for them to build on enhancing self-esteem and determination, while also building up a repertoire of strategies to overcome. By developing these skills, our athletes provide themselves the best chance of a flexible approach to high stress ‘clutch’ moments and a resilient nature– transferable to all aspects of life.

Year 9 – Strength & Conditioning

This term, our Year 9 students sweat it out with our partnership with G.M.G Training and strength and conditioning with a specific focus on improving sport specific speed, explosive power, strength, endurance and agility. By developing power within our athletes, they will have necessary power with movement sequences, needed within a wide range of sports. With training, power endurance can be converted into explosive power, which helps the athlete resist fatigue during repetitive efforts found in sport. This training will see athlete improvement in sports that require short, intense bursts of activity or activities which require an athlete to have short-term muscular endurance. Additionally, short-term endurance lets the players deal with fatigue and lactic acid build-up in the muscles and play at their full potential for the duration of the game.

Coach Glen Gamlin from GMG Training brings 25 years-experience in all facets of sports and recreation and has a passion for fitness and helping athletes to achieve their goals; A valuable partnership within our community and a rewarding attribute of our Sporting Minds program for our athletes.

Payment of 2022 Student Fees

As we round out the year, please refer to fee statements emailed to parent’s fortnightly and ensure 2022 Excellence Fees have been paid in full. The ability to provide fun, engaging and enriched experiences for our young athletes is dependent on this levy each year.

Refer to the article Finance Window End of Year Closure for more information.

Students who have not paid this year’s dues will not be permitted to continue in the Sporting Minds program in 2023.