College Executive Principal – Regan Neumann ■ College Deputy Principal – Elizabeth Foster ■ A/Business Manager – Paul Hillier Principal Senior School – Duncan Steel ■ Principal Middle School – Mike Loftus ■ Principal of Junior School – Maryanne Gosling ■ A/Senior Deputy Principal – Kerrie Richards ■ Middle Deputy Principal – Linda Greitschus th ISSUE NUMBER: 13 DATE 30 May 2014 FROM THE DESK OF THE COLLEGE EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL FROM THE DESK OF THE SENIOR SCHOOL PRINCIPAL Dear Families Last week the Year 10 students participated in the College’s Science Fair. It was great to see the results of the hard work the students presented. Their teachers have supported them in their investigations; I would like to thank the science staff for this. Year 10 Camp is at Maroon Outdoor Centre from Tuesday 22 to Friday 25 July and it is my expectation that students attend. There will be another program organized for students who are not attending camp. School is compulsory so parents are not to allow their children to just stay home for those days. Certainly the better option for all Year 10 students will be to attend camp. This week we held another workshop for families on thinking skills – deepening parents understanding of what we teach in this area and how it might useful at home. Eric Frangenheim (from ITC Publications, the company we have engaged to support us in this area of the college learning program) offered simple techniques to encourage all family members to see things differently by challenging the obvious message in any situation. Eric presented elements of the thinking skills framework used in all classrooms at KGSC and then presented several appropriate thinking tools which will assist families in enjoying longer and more substantial discussions. The key message from the workshop was that families and schools are great teachers and when working together it provides an opportunity to enhance the practical application of the scaffolding of thinking skills framework used in the program. The underlying truth is that we have no idea how bright and exciting our students can be unless we consciously give them tools to stretch and extend themselves, and talking about these things ‘around the dining room table’ will help even more. Some of the key components covered in this week’s parent workshop included:  Generating discussion through a ‘noisy round robin’  Measuring the degree of something under consideration using ‘an Extent Barometer’  Considering perspectives with a ‘PCQ – pros, cons and questions table’  Making rational and logical choices through a ‘Decision making Matrix’  Making a decision through an ‘Elimination draw’ Parents, throughout the workshop, had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with some of the templates their children use, where relevant, in their classrooms. The feedback from those who attended was very positive. Many commented about how they saw they could use these with their children (around the dining room table). If any parents want more information about our thinking skills program and how it is used in our classrooms, please contact your child’s classroom teacher or the relevant sub-school Executive member. Warm regards Dr Regan Neumann College Executive Principal The Year 12 students completed their practice test for QCS on the 5 May and their feedback day is Wednesday 4 June next week. The practice test was Short Response and Writing Task. The students are very committed to do their best and we make the commitment to them by paying for professional feedback on their papers. Block exams are not too far away and for Year 10 students this will be their first Block Exams that they will be attending. The Block Exams for Year 11 and 12 students are from 19 – 27 June and Year 10 students 23 – 27 June. Students are required to come to school in full school uniform and only come in when they have an exam or assessment to complete. Duncan Steel Senior School Principal KEY DATES TERM TWO  Mon 9 June  Mon 16 June  Thurs 19 June  Mon 23 June  Fri 27 June Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday Yr 11 & 12 subject changes open Block Exams Yrs 11 & 12 Block Exams Yr 10, 11 & 12 End Term 2 Student Absences Please note the following direct phone numbers and email addresses: Junior School (Years 1 – 5) 3552-7420 or email: [email protected] Middle School (Years 6 – 9) 3552-7302 or email: [email protected] Senior School (Years 10 – 12) 3552-7303 or email: [email protected] FROM THE DESK OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL We have just passed the halfway point for Term 2 and life in the Middle School at KG seems to get busier and busier. NAPLAN was recently completed and ran very smoothly in the Middle School and students felt very supported and prepared for these tests. Although NAPLAN is over for another year, our focus on ensuring every student in the Middle School has the necessary literacy and numeracy skills to succeed in their future endeavours continues. I would like to thank my Deputy Principal, Linda Greitschus for all her efforts in ensuring the successful implementation of these tests. Sport has seen two Gala Days for the Years 6 and 7 with a third due next week, whilst our Year 8 and 9 students have just completed their summer season where KG had three successful District Premiers. The students are currently selecting their sports for the winter season which starts shortly. Our planned Family Night in July at the Broncos has attracted an amazing interest. I am pleased to say that we have booked 220 tickets which is a superb effort!! Sadly I cannot access any more tickets so if anyone requires more tickets they will need to book them through the normal channels. My contact at the Broncos developed considerably more grey hair when I requested the 220 tickets but rest assured, they will be ready for collection later this term. As winter is now with us can I reinforce that students are only permitted to wear either the College jumper or the college track top along with a college scarf. There are no alternatives to these uniform options. Yours sincerely Mike Loftus Middle School Principal FROM THE DESK OF THE JUNIOR SCHOOL PRINCIPAL Ready to Play! Autumn Concert and Fanfare The Junior school Piccolo Strings Ensemble performed admirably for their first concert on Saturday evening (as did all of the amazing college ensembles). Sincere thanks to Mrs Tenille Barrett and Mr David Galbraith for their good humour and patience in preparing our youngest students for their initial concert this season. We are looking forward to another spectacular performance by our talented instrumental students at Fanfare on Tuesday 3 June in the College Hall. Please refer to your instrumental teacher for further information about the schedule for this event. Ready to think! Many thanks to parents for joining us in a conversation ‘around the dining room table’ to Think About Thinking with Eric Frangenheim on Tuesday evening. Parents from across the college came along to learn more about the Thinking Skills Framework that underpins college programs and how they might utilise this in deepening conversations with their children at home. If you would like more information about our Thinking Skills Framework, please make contact with your child’s teacher or any one of the three Thinking Skills Coaches across the college. Maryanne Gosling Principal Junior School HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT NEWS It is our great pleasure to announce that three of our students won individual medals in last weeks 2014 Philosothon. The medals were the Notable Thinker Awards and they went to Adam Higgs, Jeremy RidsdillKenny and Sonia Singh. Congratulations! Ready to read! Meeting Student Authors This week Year 10 English Communication students have presented and read children’s stories to our students in Prep, One and Two. The senior students were tasked with the job of writing and illustrating a children’s story that would promote a positive message. Our little ones heard stories of healthy eating and nutrition as well as moral messages about being kind and generous. This was an ideal opportunity to provide senior students with eager audiences to test out their written work, as well as providing a great opportunity to engage our younger students in the art of creating stories and publishing them. It was priceless to watch the interaction between our seniors and juniors – both parties enjoyed this experience immensely. Ready to fly! Children in Prep, Year One and Year Two have been energetically preparing for Sports Fun Day. This annual event will be held this Celebrating a day of inquiry, discovery and communication: L–R: Bao Pham, Likitha Silapurem, Jessica Riga, Jasmine Mi, Sonia Singh, Jeremy Ridsdill-Kenny, Sam Shipway, Adam Higgs, Fergal Temple Wendy Dilley HOD – Business & Humanities Monday 2 June from 9-11am on the Junior School sports oval. Families are encouraged to attend and wear ‘house’ colours to cheer on the children as they participate in a range of fun sport events. Ms Brealy has been doing a lot of training with the children in their PE lessons to get them ready for the big event! The long-jump pit has been the scene of many hours of preparation for this event. See how they fly! FOOTBALL EXCELLENCE NEWS The first term and a half have been a very busy time for the Football Excellence students, with Schools Premier League games, State Championships, Regional trials and the commencement of the Bill Turner Cup and Red Lion Cup. Ten of our Year 12 students were selected in the Metropolitan North Under 19 boys team that played the State Championships at Ipswich Grammar from 22-25 May. Jabril Athumani, Brandon Cuminao, Brodie Hayes, Morgan Joy, Jake Minett, Alex Paxton, Zac Puglia, Tyrone Robertson, Dante Stehn and Nick Zappala all players played a key role in Metropolitan North winning these Championships. Jake Minett (Bulla) was also named player of the championships which was a great achievement. A Queensland team was also selected from the tournament to take part in the National Championships in August and Jabril, Brandon, Jake, Dante and Nick all made this State team. Kimberlee Bregant also represented Metropolitan North at the Girls championships and performed well with the team narrowly missing the semi-finals. At the recent Under 15 Metropolitan North trials 5 Kelvin Grove players were selected to represent at the State championships in August they are Lachlan Burt, Cian Hill, Taye Jackson, Cobey Paxton, Kieran Strachan. We wish them all the best at the titles and hope they make the next step and gain Queensland selection. LANGUAGE NEWS Language Perfect World Championships 2014 Pizza Party saw 20 dedicated Italian Students from Years 8-10 put their language learning skills to the test. They competed with thousands of students worldwide (including the students from the junior school who were eagerly competing at home). Corrado Zocchi (KGSC pre-service teacher) did a wonderful presentation and shared his personal language learning journey. Students fiercely competed in many different languages and then enjoyed pizza and gelato. Meal time was a civilised event and it was delightful to see the students communicating, making friends and talking to each other after some intense screen time. During the 10 day event which will run from the 19th-29th May students are projected to answer a staggering 350 000 language questions. Not only are students learning a language but they are also working on goal setting, touch typing, English spelling and grammar. Next year language students from Years 6-12 will be invited to attend the special event. . Our games in the Schools Premier League have also gone well with the Open Boys being undefeated in games so far they have beaten Kawana 30, Marsden 5-0, John Paul College 4-1 and had a draw against Palm Beach Currumbin 2-2. The Year 8’s have also done well winning 2 and losing 2 games but they play in a combined Year 8/9 competition. The first games for the Under 15 Bill Turner Cup and Red Lion Cup are this week, on Monday we played Narangba Valley in Bill Turner and won 5-0 to progress to the next round while the Red Lion game for our Year 11 students is on Thursday. Ian Milligan Football Coordinator SPORT ROUND UP Congratulations to the District Cross Country competitors who ran in the Regional Trial at St Paul’s School, Bald Hills on Tuesday 27th May. There were numerous creditable performances with the stand outs being Max Rose and Jarvis Bellantoni, who both had top 10 finishes. Max has also now qualified for the Regional Cross Country Team and will go on to compete in Toowoomba, at the State Championships in July. Good Luck Max! Season 1 of Wednesday afternoon interschool sport for our year 8 and 9 students finished with the Cross- Conference finals last Wednesday. Our Year 8A Girls Soccer and 8B Girls Volleyball Teams were both crowned District Champions after winning their finals playoffs. Well done girls. Another four teams placed 2nd after some very close finals (Yr9A Netball, 9A Boys Basketball, 9A & 8A Boys Touch Teams) and all teams competed well. Season 2 selections begin this week with trials and training occurring over the next few Wednesday afternoons of the term. The annual Inter-house Athletics Carnival is rapidly approaching and will take place on the first Friday of Term 3 (July 18 th). However, due to time and venue restrictions some events will be taking place before and after school later this term  1500m events for Yrs10-12 will be held on Friday 13th June at 8:00am on the oval for all interested competitors.  Period 4 on Wednesday 25th June (Week 10) will host Yr8 & 9 1500m events and Yr9 Javelin & Discus. Signora Stein and Ms Mains VOLLEYBALL NEWS For the past 5 weeks, Kelvin Grove State College has been represented by over 70 students in a volleyball competition against a number of schools in North Brisbane. The competition has been held at The Gap SHS, and we have had teams from year 6 through to year 12. There are only a few weeks remaining in the competition and we are coming up to the finals. Our Senior Boys 1 are topping the table, with our Senior Boys 2 not far behind in third place. Our Senior Girls have 3 teams in the competition, placed in third, fifth and sixth currently. The Senior competitions have two weeks remaining, with the finals being played on the 12th June. The junior division is represented by a mixed team and two junior girls’ teams. The Junior mixed team is currently sitting in second place, with our Junior Girls in fifth and seventh place. The Junior Competition still has three weeks remaining, with the finals being played on the 19th June. Our new jerseys are due to arrive this week. Please ensure that all players are up to date with their $110 payment for the competition. Players who have not yet paid will not receive their jersey until they are up to date. Good luck to all students competing, we wish them all the best in the finals. What I Am Reading Now Kelvin Grove State College Has a commitment to providing SMART CHOICES food and drinks A new term A new roster WE NEED YOUR HELP! An hour of your time would make a HUGE difference Nekaya Suttie, Year 9 What I am reading now is: Noragami - Graphic Novel Series by Adachi Toka  Start anytime from 7am  No cash handling  Friendly atmosphere If you can spare a couple of hours a day Please contact June Wilkins 0414 6096606 or [email protected] This book is about: A less known God is trying to get a shrine built for him so more people will worship him. Two people help him with this, a girl named Hiyori, who is a half-phantom, and a young boy called Yukine who is a spirit. I’d recommend this book: To people who like graphic novels/ manga and to those who like comedy, romance and action **FREE COOKIE OR ICY POLE! Your tuckshop needs help! We are looking for students who could spare 30 minutes a week, on any day, before school to help in the tuckshop.**