Foxwell State Secondary College eNewsletter

I welcome you back to another term at Foxwell State Secondary College. I hope that you all enjoyed a relaxing and rejuvenating break filled with wonderful moments with family and friends. Our students have been excited to fill me in on their adventures, with the common theme being how grateful they were to spend quality times with their parents and families.

I can say that I am extremely grateful for the current freedoms that we have in Queensland that allowed us to enjoy a holiday without lockdown or too many restrictions. I empathise with families in other states and locations that have been heavily impacted by COVID-19 related restrictions.

I thank our students and staff for adhering to our current mask requirements. If these restrictions allow us to continue with on-site learning then we can understand and accept the need to wear them at this time.

I am presently overcome with a feeling of gratitude. We can be grateful for the beautiful part of the world that we live in where we can explore beaches, mountains, rainforests, waterways, parks, restaurants and shopping centres. We can be grateful that, for the most part, we live in a safe and kind community that values inclusivity and integrity.

We can certainly be grateful for the incredible education that our students are receiving and the extraordinary learning environment that our students get to learn and flourish in. Each week we welcome visitors from State and Private schools from across Queensland, Australia and beyond to learn more about our unique curriculum and pedagogy, and to see our state-of-the-art facillities so that they perhaps can replicate these for their schools and students.

Foxwell State Secondary College has a reputation across the Gold Coast and beyond as a school driven by kindness and support for students individual educational and social-emotional needs. Our staff put the mental health of our students as a priority and I know how grateful our students and families are for the intensive support offered by our FOX-SWELL team which includes Heads of Year, Head of Inclusion, Guidance Officers, School Based Youth Health Nurses, Chaplain, Industry Liaison Officer, and Deputy Principals. This team is supported by our Heads of Department, Teachers, Teacher Assistants, Administration Staff, and all other staff to ensure the very best for our students so that they can continue to develop and flourish.

This week we welcome a new Guidance Officer to our team. Mrs Brittany Nicholson has joined our team from Southport State High School and will continue to support students and families in a range of areas including social emotional support, referrals to external agencies, and educational and study support.

Next week we look forward to our Mental Health Week where we spotlight the need to take time for mental health. Below are some tips from the Queensland Mental Health Team. Our Mental Health is as important as our Physical Health and together we can support each other to thrive.

Over the coming week we will share on Facebook some of the great moments from our Mental Health Week program.

Our Leadership and Teaching teams also continue to grow and I welcome Mr James Hamlyn, our new Head of Technologies, who is joining us from Kingston State College. With extensive experience in Digital and Design Technologies, James will continue to ensure we provide our students with incredible opportunities both now in the Junior School 'Wonder Years' but also in to the future as we enter the 'Compass Years'.

We welcome Ms Octavia Gold and Ms Allison Williams to our teaching team. Their passion for education and improving outcomes for ALL students will be a great asset to our school. They have all commented how welcoming and supportive our school community are and how grateful they are for the opportunity to work at Foxwell State Secondary College.

Next Tuesday we farewell one of the most significant staff members of the foundation of Foxwell State Secondary College. Ms Celeste Fishburn has been with me from nearly the beginning of the Foxwell SSC journey. Even before we had a name and we were simply known as New High School - Coomera East. She has been instrumental in the design of our school, our branding, uniform, colours, logo, events, and the list goes on. We would not be the College we are today without Celeste. Celeste will continue to work with new schools across the South East Region supporting them to be the best they can be for their local communities.

On Tuesday at 9am we will acknowledge Celeste during our school assembly. This assembly will include dance and singing performances from our amazing students. Parents and community members are welcome to attend. We ask guests to sign in and then be seated by 9am in the Sports Performance Hall.

Until next time

Mrs Kym Amor

Principal

Foxwell State Secondary College

Camp is nearly here…5 more sleeps...until we are setting off on Foxwell’s inaugural camp. Students and teachers are excitedly looking forward to the camp experience and can’t wait to get there. There was such an incredible buzz of anticipation during our information meeting today at lunch time.

Please note, we are attending the Kokoda Park Venue (not the Camp Kokoda venue, same company different sites) and we are still offering a 1-night camp out option (not expedition), where students can opt to set up tents in the afternoon, approximately 500 metres from the cabins and facilities. Students who take this option can still access the toilet and shower facilities and will eat dinner and breakfast with the whole cohort. Following dinner and night time activities, students participating in the camp out, will return to their tent for the evening’s sleep.

Below is a repeat and update of some details regarding the camp which we have already communicated:

If you have not received correspondence from Kokoda Park via email already, please contact them immediately to get a login to ensure that the necessary digital medical forms for the camp are filled out online.

Email - admin@campkokoda.com.au Phone - 07 54636114

Additional to our College’s paperwork which you have already returned, students will also need to complete a COVID Safe form for the venue. This must be brought to school signed on the morning that we leave. These forms will be provided to students on Tuesday afternoon at school. If your child is absent on Tuesday please arrange to collect a form from Student Services. Unfortunately, this is a venue requirement due to the current restrictions in QLD for their site.

WHAT TO BRING

Small bag or backpack to act as an overnight bag if students are choosing a ‘camp out’ night
Sun smart hat – caps are not appropriate
Raincoat – must be Waterproof. No poncho
Large water bottle
Thick Socks – a pair for each day/extra in case of rain
Walking shoes with good grip comfortable & sturdy that don’t promote blisters and which must be enclosed
Thongs for showering ONLY
Underwear
Shorts or legging – medium to long/knee length – no short, shorts will be permitted
T-Shirts – no crop tops or singlets are permitted
T-shirts – without offensive images or text
Jumper/jacket
Long pants – tracksuit pants / loose cotton. Jeans would be unsuitable for activities because of chaffing
Personal toiletries including: toothbrush and toothpaste, hair brush, face washer, shower gel/soap, roll- on deodorant ONLY, moisturiser and shampoo etc
Wet wipes
Towel
Hand sanitiser
Face mask for each day
Sunscreen - minumum of 30+
Insect repellent
Lip Balm
Sleeping Bag, fitted sheet and pillow

1 NIGHT CAMP OUT

Light insulated foam mat or yoga mat if doing a campout overnight
Torch

WHAT NOT TO BRING:

Electronics to camp i.e., Mobile phones or any digital device
Individual wrapper lollies, sweets, biscuits etc.
If your child requires medication, they are not permitted to carry it themselves – please ensure medication has been dropped to Student Services and appropriate forms completed.
Any items that are not permitted at school are not permitted at camp

DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL BACK AT SCHOOL:

Depart Foxwell 9:00am (students to arrive at school by no later than 8:15am)
Depart Kokoda Park 11:30am (return to Foxwell approx. 2pm). Student may be collected from school at this time.

In case of emergency, whilst we are on camp, given that no child is permitted any electronic devices, please call 0457 170 130 if the camp office is unattended.

If you have any further questions, please contact Mr Dane Anderson on dande230@eq.edu.au or Ms Zana Schroeder zschr2@eq.edu.au .

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All College fees are now overdue.

Statements were sent via email to all families with outstanding fees this week.

Payment Plans are available! Either CentrePay or Direct Debit plans are accessible for all families.

We will be removing access to resources for non-payment of outstanding fees.

If you have, or are currently experiencing, financial difficulty, please contact our Business Manager, Kimberley Knowles via email kknow13@eq.edu.au to establish a payment arrangement.

HAVE YOU SUBMITTED YOUR ENROLMENT APPLICATION FOR 2022?

Our 2022 Year 7 cohort is quickly filling up!

A reminder to our families with Year 6 children who wish to join their older siblings at Foxwell SSC in 2022, that enrolment applications need to be completed as soon as possible.

Our Parent Information Evening and Transition Day events for Year 7 2022 students will be held this term. Information about these two events will be released very soon. Only families of students who have completed their enrolment application will receive this information.

If you, or anyone you know that intends to enrol a Year 7 student for 2022, has not yet submitted your enrolment application or attended your enrolment interview with the Principal, Mrs Kym Amor, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible. Enrolment packages can be found here.

We don't want you to miss out on attending these important events!

Sporting Minds Student School Holiday Success!!

While others were taking a much needed break, our Sporting Minds excellence students have continued to perform highly through these school holidays.

Bonnie Smeltz played 3 tournaments, making 3 14/U singles finals where she placed Runner Up in two and took the win in the third, against her sister and fellow Sporting Minds student Scarlett Smeltz!

Bonnie and Scarlett then made a doubles final in Brisbane last week where they were looking promising for the win until rain cancelled their match!

In the same tournaments Scarlett was a quarter finalist, semi finalist and finalist in her singles match ups and took out the 14/U girls doubles at the Pro One Tournament with her partner.

Showing persistence, Bonnie has been touted as most improved in the tennis scene and has almost halved her Australian Tennis Ranking.

Harpah Murray, year 7 Sporting Minds student, spent part of his school holidays in Toowoomba where as a member of the U/13 Gold Coast Cyclones team he participated in the QLD Rugby Union Championships. Congratulations to Harpah and his team, who at the end of the competition, took out the win!

Year 8 Sporting Minds student, Montana Atkinson, was back in the pool these holidays for the 2021 Short Course QLD State Championships, competing in the Open Multiclass division. This was Montana’s first time competing at this Short Course event and was pitted against athletes between 12 and 22 years of age! Montana kept focused on her goals and came away with 2 golds (50Fly and 100Fly), 2 silvers (200Free and 100Back), 3 bronze (50Free, 50Back and 100Free) and 5^th in the 100 Individual Medley.

Addison Newlan competed in the Australian Sailing Youth Sail Qld and O’pen Skiff Qld state regatta at Yeppoon over this September school holidays. She competed in her O’pen skiff class against 17 competitors and came 3rd overall. She came 3rd to the World O’pen skiff champion and a top 20 O’pen skiff World sailor, with one race win over them both during the regatta.

Up & Atom G-Stem Fair

Up & Atom G-Stem Fair was held last term and students put a lot of work into their exhibitions. The stands had displays that covered a vast range of subjects: Car fuel emissions, stopping avocados turning brown, artificially-ripening fruit, Autism Awareness, Anorexia: eating disorder, the Sea Vacuum and Chocolate, to name a few.

It was very successful with a large, appreciative audiences having the opportunity to see these informative stands. WELL DONE!

Year 8: Term 4 has erupted into year 8 lives. They will be covering landforms and landscapes; tectonic plates and earth movements. It is an interesting and topical time for these studies as students can see in real time what these shifts cause; the recent earthquakes in Victoria (rumblings are continuing this week!), as well as Crete in Greek and the volcanic eruptions in La Palma in the Canary Islands and Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano.

The topic examines the impacts of threats to areas such as the Spit, the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon Rainforest. Students will also investigate solutions to reverse or slow down these real threats and then use this knowledge to determine long-term and sustainable solutions to keep a threatened landscape alive.

Students had another hands-on opportunity in Term 3 to see what effect temperature had on crystals size formation:

Some students were fortunate to make fossils. If you look really closely at the Pterodactyl, you might see which country they had to visit to do the digs for these fossils.

Year 7 are going ANIMAL this term and will be studying food webs and food chains.

They will be looking at interactions and relationships between animals on our glorious planet.

There will be a bit of exploring going on, where our scientists will be traipsing through the rugged bush and creek bed to find the animals and ecosystems that exist in our school yard and then on to some classification to identify and group organisms.

Interesting Fact

The Australian tectonic plate is the fastest moving continental land mass on Earth. Victoria’s earthquake in September this year was the largest recorded one in Victoria in the modern instrumental era. It was measured at 5.9 and hit near the town of Rawson and was due to the Australian tectonic plate colliding into the Pacific plate to the north and east and the Eurasian plate to the northwest.

The large earthquake was not the last as there have been several aftershocks of lower magnitudes of around 3.0 over this week.

Take Time - next week we will be hosting a range of activities and session for our students and staff, dedicated to the theme for Queensland Mental Health Week (11 October - 15 October 2021) of Taking Time. Here is a glimpse of the student activities we will have on offer.

Hi Foxwell families,

Colour Explosion Fun Run

What a fantastic end of term three with the Foxwell colour explosion.

Students, staff and volunteers had so much fun, it was a fantastic afternoon, and the students went off wanting another one next year. Therefore, we will make this happen for them.

George our groundsman made a climbing frame and an ice bath, which the students had to run through, both very popular. We had hay bales, an intricate tape design by Karina W for the students to weave through, tires, a slip and slide with teachers and volunteers at every obstacle to throw colour and water over the students. I’m not sure who had the most fun, the students or the adults!

Thank you to our families for your support of this event, and to our top three fundraisers Bailyn M, Gemma S and Keira D for your amazing effort.

Prizes have been ordered, and should be despatched to students within the month.

P & C Meeting

Our next P&C meeting is scheduled for Tuesday the 12^th of October via zoom. Please email pandc@foxwellssc.eq.edu.au if you wish to be added to the zoom list. We love to welcome new members, most meetings are held in the learning hub at school.

Cheers

Roz Rowe

P&C President

FKG and CSQ presents;

‘A Day in the Life’ Experience

It is with great excitement that the Build It and They Will Come classes for 2022 at Foxwell State Secondary College have the opportunity to attend a Day in the Life experience with FKG.

FKG is a prestigious construction and civil engineering company which is currently working on Phase 2 of our campus.

The goal of this event is to provide an introduction and basic exposure to the breadth and depth of career opportunities within the construction industry.

Students will be given first-hand industry exposure and will participate in industry talks given by trades people from a variety of areas.

This event will be taking place on Tuesday the 26^th of October on campus and at the new building. Students going into Year 9 next year who have selected the Build It and They Will Come class will be provided with a permission letter next week which needs to be returned by the 22^nd of October.

Melissa-Lee Furtado

Industry Liaison Officer

Advice for parents, carers, guardians and drivers

The City of Gold Coast (City) wants to ensure that motorists comply with school zone road rules at and around schools to achieve a safer environment for children and the broader school community. These rules also help to optimise traffic movement and safety.

Please take extra care and obey the signed parking rules when parking on the roads and streets around the school.

Park Safe Vehicles - Licence Plate Recognition (LPR)

As part of the City Parking Plan 2015 to improve parking behaviour on the Gold Coast, City Parking Officers will soon patrol the city (including key school zones) using vehicles, clearly badged as “Park Safe” vehicles. These vehicles use Licence Plate Recognition (LPR) which is camera technology fitted to Park Safe vehicles to ensure motorists are parking safely.

Park Safe will operate on school days at student drop-off and pick-up times focusing on pedestrian areas around schools. If a vehicle is found to be parked illegally the City will issue an infringement notice to the registered vehicle owner by post.

Offences to be aware of:

stopping 20 metres before or 10 metres after a sign posted crossing
stopping 20 metres before or 10 metres after a bus stop
stopping within 10 metres of an intersection or corner
stopping within a bus zone (bayed area)
stopping on a footpath or nature strip within a built-up area
stopping in a way that restricts access to a driveway
stopping on a yellow painted line
stopping in a loading zone
double parking for any period of time.

Park safely and legally to avoid a fine.

For more information visit www.cityofgoldcoast.com.au/parksafe