Is your child ready to learn, every lesson, every day?

In pursuit of maximised learning time, by ensuring students are entering the classroom, ready to learn this week, we formalised and launched our college-wide Classroom Entry and Exit Routines.

Routines are a foundation of classroom management. Educators use routines to set expectations, minimize disruptions to learning, teach behavior, and make the most of instructional time. Students respond to routines because routines allow them to be confident in their understanding of what’s expected of them in class, and this instance in entering and exiting class. Routines contribute to a sense of community, and for some learners, routines offer a sense of security.

Routines free up students’ working memory and reduce their cognitive load so that instead of dedicating all of their focus to day-to-day tasks like lining up or transitioning between activities, students can focus on learning (Leinhardt, Weidman, & Hammond, 1987). In addition entry routines help students to be organised and ready to commence the lesson once inside the classroom. Routines and processes become automatic for students when they are consistently applied in every classroom every day and the benefits to learning are well researched. 

Last week on Assembly, DP Zana Schroeder provided students with the rationale for the routines, as well as outlining them generally. Since Monday, our students have been explicitly taught the expectations and have been practicing being ready to learn at the start of every lesson.

It is important that we share these with you so you can support your child to be ready to learn and they can develop their skills of being responsible, respectful and a learner.

Some of the ways we encourage you to support your child to be ready to learn is to ensure each day that they:

• have their iPad fully charged at the start of each day.
• bring writing equipment – pencil case and book, and calculator as per stationery list.
• are coming to school in the correct school uniform and if out of uniform, you are providing them with a note. Please remind your child to go to Student Services before school to submit your note and to get a uniform variation slip in exchange.
• do not have a VPN downloaded on their iPad.
• do not have their mobile phone on their person between 8.35am and 3pm. Mobile phones are only permitted on site if they are secured in a mobile phone locker during the school day.
• are wearing only a Foxwell branded jumper/jacket. No other jumpers or jackets are permitted.
• have their hat with them each day and are wearing it when outdoors.

Hats

There are large numbers of hats in lost property. If your child is missing a formal hat, please send them to the Learning Hub to check.

The wearing of a college hat is a requirement of our Student Dress Code whenever in school uniform and outdoors. This includes transiting to and from school.
We are providing a two-week moratorium on hats to allow time for students to retrieve lost hats or to purchase new hats. Once the moratorium is over, consequences will be put in place for students who do not wear a college hat, as it breaches the Dress Code. If your child does not currently, have a hat, we would appreciate you attending to this matter urgently. We will be in contact shortly to let you know that your child has notified us that they do not have a hat, so you can make the appropriate arrangements.

As the weeks progress, students will be reminded, through explicit instruction, of our college rules, SPIRIT Values and what these translate to in terms of expectations in our classrooms, our college grounds, on the way to and from school, and in interactions with peers and staff. Students will also be reminded that there are consequences applied ensure you are kept up to date in these matters.

We appreciate your support in ensuring your child is ready to learn each lesson, every day and is proudly engaging with our high expectations and college rules, that promote a safe and supportive learning environment for all students and a safe and supportive workplace for our staff.

Kind Regards

Zana Schroeder

Deputy Principal

[on behalf of the Deputy Principal Team]

We held our inaugural Careers Expo and Year 11 Information Night on Wednesday 17 May 2023. What an amazing experience and opportunity for our students and their families to explore careers and the learning and training that can lead to those careers. In case you were unable to attend, you can still access the Course Guide and presentation from the evening. Below is the direct link to the Course Guide; the presentation will be available shortly. The next events are:

*Fusion Classes - 24 and 31 May 2023: Head of Department Presentations

*First round of course selections: Week 8/9

Please continue the discussions at home as we move through this important time in your child's education, and do not hesitate to contact me, our Industry Liaison Officer or Guidance Officer is you require any other assistance.

Hi Year 8 Families.

A warm welcome to the end of Week 5.

In our Year level assembly this week we focused on the College SPIRIT value of Perseverance.

One of my great loves of life is the coaching and mentoring of young people through rugby union. I have always found this an amazing sport to coach and work with young men and women, as it provides a great platform to teach life skills of perseverance, resilience, mental strength, rising above challenges and teamwork all in a fun and supporting but physically challenging environment.

In our assembly, I spoke and shared the story of Nathan Charles, a former Western Force and Wallaby player who was born with Cystic Fibrosis. Nathan spoke passionately about the challenges of living with this depilating condition, but also that the ability to overcome challenges and fears is the most important skill one can take with them through life’s journey.  You may wish to watch the clip here:

My primary message to the Year 8 cohort was to face their challenges every day and to build their perseverance and their resilience as they progress though 2023.

We also acknowledged the great work that so many of our Year 8 students do every day which they may think goes unnoticed. We have 266 students in the year level, and it is so pleasing for me to see their positivity, their desire to do the right thing at the right time, and their work ethic so often every day.

Waves Forward Program 

As the school grows, we continue to seek out opportunities to support the diverse cultures that make up the Foxwell community. The WAVES Careers and Mentoring Expo is just one avenue we have explored to support our Indigenous, our Māori and our Pacifika students. Permission forms for this activity were distributed to your young people this week. I encourage all students who identify as such to join in on this unique opportunity.

Uniform and Student Code of Conduct

Ms McClymont outlined our uniform expectations in last week’s newsletter. As we have fielded several enquires around this, I thought it would be pertinent to resend our Student Code of Conduct:

This very comprehensive policy covers all aspects of student expectations at Foxwell, from uniform, to behaviour whilst in the Foxwell uniform, to levels of support, to curriculum and pedagogy and more. I would encourage all families is they have any questions regarding student policy and expectations that they familiarise themselves with this document.

Jason Breese 

Head of Year 8

I am extremely excited to introduce myself as one of the newest team members to join the Foxwell family!

My name is Jay Collins and I am Foxwell’s new Head of Student Success. I am sure you are wondering what that actually means, so let me shed some light on my role within the College…

Within my role, I will be working to support all of our students in reaching their goals and achieving success – in whatever form that takes. All of our students are unique and success will look completely different for each and every one of them. My goal is to ensure that we can provide support to all of our students, spread lots of positivity within our school community and ultimately make all of our students feel valued, supported, and celebrated for their successes.

So far, I have had the pleasure of meeting a quite a few of our amazing students and I feel so grateful to working within such an incredibly kind and welcoming school community.

If you receive a call or email from me, just know that I am reaching out as an additional layer of support and to discuss how we can work together to ensure your student is reaching their ultimate goal of success.

I can’t wait to get to know more of our students and I am very much looking forward to working with you to ensure that your student is successful at Foxwell State Secondary College.

Jay Collins

Head of Department - Student Success

Waves Forward

Waves Forward is returning to Foxwell SSC on Friday 16th June.

What an exciting term so far. Students in Technologies are now well into their studies. So, it is fitting reminder to ensure students have returned their Technology Safety Understanding forms and have their formal leather dress shoes to work in our kitchens and workshops. We look forward to showcasing the work students have been completing in our upcoming newsletters.

In this newsletter, and preparation for the upcoming reporting period, we investigate and explain the Technologies curriculum. Under the Australian Curriculum, the Technologies allows students to learn about and work with traditional, contemporary, and emerging technologies (computer systems, circuits, mechanisms, tools, equipment and machinery) that shape the world in which we live. Students apply knowledge, practical skills and processes to use technologies and other resources to create innovative solutions, that respond to people’s needs. This is a very different approach to the traditional wood, metal, food, or electrotechnology workshop. The contemporary curriculum responds to the skills required for 21^stcentury life and employment. More information about these skills is available on the World Economic Forum website.

The Technologies learning area is split into two distinct strands:

• Design and Technologies in which students use design thinking and technologies to generate and produce designed solutions for authentic needs and opportunities.
• Digital Technologies, in which students use computational thinking and information systems to define, design and implement digital solutions.

Design & Technologies

Design & Technologies is further divided into specialist areas:

• Engineering principles and systems
• Food and fibre production
• Food specialisations
• Materials and technologies specialisations

In Year 7 and 8, students rotate through three areas with Food and Fibre production spread across both the Food specification and materials areas. The fourth unit is studied is Economics and Business which contains elements of the applied design process. Please refer to our previous newsletter article to see the order of the rotations.

From Year 9, students study individual Personal Endeavour Courses (PECs) that are based on a specialist area. These include Fast Fibres and Fabrics, Industrial Technologies, Freehand & Computer Drawing, Circuits and Mechanisms, and User Solutions.

Digital Technologies

In Digital Technologies subjects, students use digital systems, digital information and computational thinking to create solutions that enable the storage and communication of human knowledge. They develop an understanding of the relationship between the information systems (documents, spreadsheets, databases and websites) and physical computers in real world situations. Students discuss and respond to assignments dealing with social, cultural, legal, environmental and ethical issues. We use computational thinking methods and strategies to understand and solve information problems.

So, in plain language, our Year 7 students learn about the Digital Systems we use at Foxwell SSC including how to monitor their emails, create and format documents, and save their files to the Microsoft cloud. Students also learn about digital networks and how computers share information.

From Year 9, students study individual Personal Endeavour Courses (PECs) that are based on specialist areas of digital technologies. These include, website design, management information, app and game development, and coding and robotics.

In our next newsletter, we’ll provide additional information about each subject and the pathways Technologies leads to.

 For more information or a discussion about your student’s engagement in their Technologies course, please contact Andrew Nicholls during school hours.

Konnichiwa Foxwell families!

This term, the Japanese team is excited to celebrate student achievements and encourage future engagement in sharing their language skills.

EP Language World Championships

Congratulations to the following students who will be receiving awards for their efforts in last term’s EP Language World Championships:

Over the 10 days of the competition, Foxwell students answered 60, 729 questions, earned 20, 920 points and spent 106 hours on EP! Well done Foxwell Mariners!

GCMLTAQ Language Speech Contest

An exciting opportunity for students to showcase their spoken language skills at Griffith University is coming! Each year, the GCMLTAQ Language Speech Contest is held in Term 3 and we had some great success last year with all of our competitors receiving a minimum of a Highly Commended.

To support students in being confident with their speeches, we will commence practice for this event very soon.

All interested students are encouraged to contact Ms Vickers via email (rvick20@eq.edu.au) to express their interest. Further details will be shared via Student Notices in the coming weeks.

Language support at home

With assessment dates coming, revising class notes and practising vocabulary in EP is important in supporting academic success in Japanese. Students in all year levels will complete an exam before the end of Term 2. Please see the image below with some ways you can support your child/children with preparing for their upcoming assessment. 

Students in Year 9 and 10 are currently working on drafts for their assessment this term. 

It is vital that students are using class time to complete this work and ensure that they are providing evidence of the authorship of their work.  Students MUST complete work in class to prove the development of their ideas and writing and ensure that there is no question that they have written their assessment themselves.  

Unfortunately, if students are not working in class and showing this development of their draft work, there is no guarantee of authorship and students may not be awarded a result if they are unable to prove that the work they submit is their own.  Whilst we encourage students to work on and develop the ideas they have started in class for homework, they need to be able to demonstrate this development to their teacher the following lesson.

We would love your support with ensuring that students are working in class and completing drafts so that we can provide feedback to help them improve.

Years 7-9

We are well and truly into the second half of term 2 as all Year 7 - 9 students completed their number and algebra units in the last week.  If your child has yet to complete their exam, due to absences, please contact their classroom teacher as soon as possible so a catch up exam can be organised.

For the remainder of the term, students will be working on financial maths through the lens of the sustainable development goal "Decent Work and Economic Growth".  Students will complete an assignment where they connect real world aspects of finance and maths to best buys (Year 7), profit and loss (Year 8) and simple interest and banking (Year 9). Generally, students have approx. 6 in class lessons to work on their assessment, but work does need to be completed at home and in personal time to allow for students to suceed fully in the assessment.

Year 10

Students are finalising their data assignments where they are comparing statistical trends on the consumpion and production of goods and services within Australia to other countries in the world.  Students have developed their own inquiry questions and collected authentic and real life data to explain real world events and trends.  Some examples of inquiry questions include, how has the quantity of food waste in Australia changed over time to that of countries of similar population? 

Equipment

Once again I ask parents/carers to supply your child with an exercise book, pencil case and scientific calculator.  Over 300 students did not have a calculator for recent exams. Scientific calculators are part of the stationery requirements, which was issued at the start of the year. Ipads are not allowed as exams are held under exam conditions and the use of a scientific calculator can differ from brand to brand.  Getting to know the functions of a calculator takes time and students are significanlty disadvantaged when coming to an exam without one. Quite often when I contact home to discuss equipment issues it turns out parents have indeed purchased all the equipment, but students are forgetting to bring it.  If you could assist your child in this area that would be wonderful.  As I often say you wouldn't play a game of footy without taking along a ball.

If the purchase of one is due to hardship please get in contact with me ASAP.  Kmart and such places have them for approx $10.  For Year 9 maths when we start trigonometry next term, students will be unable to complete the work unless they have a scientific calculator with these functions. Thank you for supporting your children to be successful in maths! 

Mrs Russell - Head of Department Mathematics

txrus5@eq.edu.au

As always life in the Arts is beautifully busy.  Eisteddfod season is well and truly upon us and students are busy rehearsing, shaping, creating and polishing their performances.  Dance Troupe and Creative Voices will be performing at the Starbound Eisteddfod very soon with their incredible routines under the guidance of Mrs Riches, Mr Kook, Miss Wilkie and Ms Goldhardt.  Our choir are off to Fanfare with Mrs Cardno on Monday to compete for the first time this year.  We are so excited to see them take the stage. Drama Festival rehearsals are also in full swing with some amazing work being created under the direction of Miss Wilkie and Ms Goldhardt.  Our Instrumental Music students are also busy preparing in their lessons for their end of term showcase and our rapidly approaching Eisteddfod season.  We are so grateful for the expert guidance and support of Mrs Cardno, Ms Riemer, Mr Scheerle and Mrs Blyth who work to inspire and bring out the best in our students.

It was great to see so many Year 10s engaging with our Arts stand on Wednesday nights subject expo.  We are so excited to offer so many world class Arts programs to our senior students.  We are really trying to gauge interest in General Dance and General Visual Arts to run alongside our Applied subjects in these areas.  If you are at all interested in either of these subjects or you have questions about any of our offerings in the Arts senior space, please send me an email for more information.

Mrs Collette Wilson (cwils138@eq.edu.au)

Year 7 Healthy World – Term 2

This term students have been analysing the range of influences on enhancing an athletic performance, with a specific focus on communication and motor development. Within practical and theoretical classes, students have been applying their knowledge of movement sequences and concepts to improve their own performance in a throwing or running event – all to put in our best effort during Athletics Carnival at the end of the term! 

To demonstrate their understanding, students have filmed their performance and are using that footage to apply feedback models and communication strategies to improve. To demonstrate their learning, students will present this information in a multimodal presentation such as a PowerPoint presentation.

Project Folio

Draft due: Week 6

Final due: Week 8

Year 8 Healthy World – Term 2

In Term 2, Year 8 Healthy World students have been investigating their own personal nutrition and movement habits, as well as explore widespread health issues facing Australia. Through this investigation, students have been analysing daily eating and movement habits and strategize ways in which to improve their overall health based on recommendations for their age and gender.

In the practical classroom, students have been participating in various ways in which to exercise and learning of correct movement sequences and means of training to improve fitness. By the end of term, students will have created and performed a short promotional fitness video that encourages the Foxwell community to engage in healthy movement and instructs them on how to complete a series of movement sequences.

Investigation

Draft due: Week 6

Final due: Week 8

Promotional fitness video

Draft due: Week 7

Final due: Week 9

Year 9 Health and Physical Education – Term 2

Respectful relationships during adolescents can be difficult to maintain and manage due to emotional regulation and behavioural changes.  Being able to evaluate situations and apply regulative strategies can have a positive impact on both peer relationships and the family unit. 

This term, Year 9 HPE students have been developing an understanding of skills and the behaviours, emotions and strategies that can be used by adolescents to develop and maintain positive relationships. 

Project Folio

Draft due: 6

Final due: 8

Year 10 Health and Physical Education – Term 2

This term, a study of health, safety and wellbeing aims to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities educating others about healthy behaviours, investigating access to healthcare services, and recommending healthy environments and policies that support healthy living.

By studying this unit, students have begun investigating contextual factors that influence the health and wellbeing of the local community. In practical lessons, students are working collaboratively to design, propose, apply and evaluate interventions to improve fitness and physical activity levels in their communities in order to lead healthier, happier lives, and improve their overall quality of life.

Investigation

Draft due: Week 7

Final due: Week 9

The Instrumental Music Students have been rehearsing weekly in preparation for the End of Semester Concert in week 10. 

Choir students will have their first out of school performance this coming Monday 22nd May where they will perform at the Choral Fanfare. Students will also have the opportunity to watch other groups perform at this exciting event. 

Students, please be reminded that it is your responsibility to attend your Instrumental Music lesson. Instrumental Music lessons are part of the curriculum and you should only be missing them if you have an in class exam at the same time. 

Please also ensure that you are attending ALL rehearsals on time. 

Monday, 7.30am: Strings rehearsal 

Tuesday, 7.30am: Band rehearsal

Wednesday, 7.30am: Choir rehearsal 

We are so excited to work with students in preparation for concerts, Fanfare, and the Gold Coast Eisteddfod next term! 

This week we were fortunate to have staff and students from QLD TAFE’s Coomera Creative Campus share their knowledge and expertise on Screen and Media processes with our ALP students. There were many thoughtful questions put forward by our students in the Q & A section of the meet-up and we’re sure they will put their new knowledge to good use as they continue in the post-production phase of their film making.

It’s exciting to see that the Years 7, 8 & 9 ALP students are well on-track to have their short films completed ready to share at the Foxwell State Secondary Film Festival.

When:  15^th July (Week 9 – Thursday) 5.30 pm start.

Where: FSSC Performing Arts Centre

Refreshments will be provided by our P & C at Intermission.

There will be an opportunity for the audience members to vote for their favourite films, so we’d love to see you there to celebrate the creativity of each of our ALP Production Teams.

Stay tuned for further information as we get closer to the date.

Night at the Museum

Over the past 6 weeks our Year 7 and 8 students have been working hard on researching key historical figures and ancient civilisations ready for this coming Wednesday’s “Night at the Museum”. We look forward to seeing our families there to celebrate the hard work our Physical World students have completed.

Do our Gen STEM students ever cease to amaze us!

These incredible students are working in the forefront of science, engineering and technology, just finalising a 6 month group project across hydrogen energy and its application as a fuel source.

This unit of learning culmintated in our two teams travelling to Gladstone and competing against 20 other teams in the Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix. The teams engaged in a 4 hour race, where they put to the test all the skills and knowledge they had learnt around engineering, and the highs and lows of the racing industry.

We are so proud of their final results, coming in:

12^th place – ABB Foxwell Lightning McQueens with 217 laps

15^th place – ABB Foxwheel Angels with 178 laps.

Staff Highlight:

This week, the Gen STEM students and teachers surprised Mrs Moraes with gifts and a personalised video, which contained personalised thank you messages from all the Gen STEM students and staff who travelled to Gladstone for the recent Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix. 

Mrs Moraes is a Foxwell foundation staff member and has championed the signature Gen STEM program since its inception in 2020. Mrs Moraes has grown with these students from Year 7 and has recently mentored them over the past 6 months in preparation for the H2GP event in Gladstone. From the many, many additional hours before and after school providing mentoring and advice to the girls on the design of their car, to the connections made with external providers such as engineers and professors, Mrs Moraes has gone above and beyond for our students. She does all of this with a smile on her face and has earnt the respect and adoration of students and staff alike. 

Every child needs a teacher like Mrs Moraes, and we are so thankful that she is part of our Foxwell Gen STEM family.

Fire ants are one of the world’s most invasive pests and they have the potential to devastate our environment, economy and the outdoor way of life we know and love. To stop the spread of fire ants, the Department of Education is collaborating with the National Fire Ant Eradication Program to manage fire ants across schools within South East Queensland. This important work will help protect our schools and community from the dangers posed by fire ants. 

An initial pilot program has treated 46 schools across the Logan, Ipswich, Somerset and Gold Coast City local government areas (Metropolitan and South East education regions). This will expand over the coming years to include additional schools. The treatment consists of applying two rounds of an insect growth regulator which sterilises the fire ant queen and prevents new ants from maturing into adults. These types of products are widely used in mosquito control programs, cockroach treatment and pet flea collars and when used according to instructions, are not harmful to humans, pets or wildlife.   

The first round of treatment occurred in early 2023 and round two is being completed during April and May. The fire ant bait is being applied by experienced pest management technicians.

The school treatment program supports efforts to eradicate fire ants within South East Queensland by suppressing the fire ant population in areas until eradication treatment takes place. Under the Biosecurity Act 2014 all Queenslanders have an obligation to manage biosecurity risks. The Department of Education is meeting its obligations by managing fire ants on land it owns or manages.  

The National Fire Ant Eradication Program is also running a range of community projectsto provide residents in selected suburbs with free fire ant bait to treat their yards to support eradication goals. For the latest information on community projects or for more information about fire ants visit: https://www.fireants.org.au