2023 KINGAROY HIGHLIGHTS #4

Principal's Message

Senior Schooling News

Block exams
Both Year 11 and 12 students will be participating in Block exams in Week 10 of this term.
Year 11 exams will run for the week, while Year 12 will operate from Tuesday Lesson 4 through until Friday afternoon.
The school has had to manage a range of issues in arranging these exams including the two days of Wide Bay sports trials occurring during this week.
We hope to have the program out to students early next week along with other information for parents and caregivers.

Absence during an exam
If your Year 11 or 12 student is ill during the exam block, please complete the following steps:
1. Contact the school office before the exam
2. Arrange for the completion of  the Illness and Misadventure document by a medical professional (please let your doctor know you are a Senior student at KSHS and require documentation completed). Please note that “Unfit for Duty” is not enough. These documents are on the school website under the Senior School tab.

A reminder that absences of the student/parent/caregiver's own choosing, eg, family holiday do not qualify for an AARA. 

Unit progress
Year 12 students are about to complete Unit 3 and will be reported on early in Term 2.
Year 11 students are almost two thirds of the way through Unit 1 and will also receive a report early in Term 2.

Attendance
Thank you to all parents and caregivers for the support of their student attending school.
Year 11 attendance is just below 90% while Year 12 attendance is just above 90%.
The school’s philosophy is always students attend school when they are well,  which is nearly all of the time, and stay at home if unwell. If unwell for more than a couple of days arrange for a medical certificate to be submitted.

Mark Freeman
Deputy Principal - Educational Achievement, Senior Secondary

Wellbeing and Engagement

PBL- Celebrations and Rewards
Kingaroy State High School’s attendance has reached a staggering 88.2%, with 80% of students achieving over 80% attendance. Student behaviour has also been improving. This is an incredible effort. Congratulations to the students, guardians and staff who are obviously promoting the importance of schooling to our terrific young people. To celebrate this achievement, Kingaroy SHS staff have been awarding merit points to deserving students. Students who accumulate seventy-five merit points by Week 9 will receive a $5 Tuckshop Voucher.
A Rewards Afternoon will also be held on the last day of term. We are celebrating what has been a remarkable term for our high school. A free sausage sizzle and fun activities afternoon will be part of the festivities for the whole school.

Aspire2Health Program
Year 9 and 10 students have been invited to attend the Aspire2Health Program to highlight and spark interest about the career opportunities available in health.  Further details have been emailed to the parents and caregivers of these students.

Steve Perrett
A/Deputy Principal - Wellbeing and Engagement

Update from the Business Manager

Student Resource Scheme (SRS)
In 2021, our P & C supported an SRS increase to $225.00/student/year, however due to the pandemic we decided to defer this until 2023.  At the end of 2022 we decided to defer this increase another year as we introduced the One-to-One device program for 2023.  The SRS fee for 2024 will be increasing to  $225.00/student/year.
Invoicing 
Invoicing for the Student Resource Scheme (SRS) and subject electives has been completed – thank you to the families who have already paid these invoices.
Payments
We offer a range of payment methods to pay SRS, electives and excursions - we are no longer able to accept credit card payments over the phone.  Payment methods are

• Qkr! – payment app
  
• Bpoint – anything that is invoiced can be paid by this method
• Centrepay – a payment arrangement made between you and the school using Centrelink payments
• Direct deposit – Please contact the school for bank account details
• EFTPOS / Credit Card / Cash – payments via this method can be made at the school payment window

Please remember that we offer payment plans to assist in these fees being paid off in weekly or fortnightly instalments rather than in full.  If you wish to enter into a payment plan, please contact the school on 4160 0666 to discuss.  
Statements / Invoices / Adjustment Notes
As part of keeping you informed of your account, we email statements out to families monthly.   If you are not receiving these statements, please contact the school so that we can look into why this is not occurring.
Change of Contact Details
When you change your details (address, contact number, email address, emergency contacts etc), it is important that you update these with the school.  
If you would like any further information on the above, please feel welcome to contact me on 4160 0666 or gflan8@eq.edu.au.

Gabby Flanigan
Business Manager

Fudooka Exchange

School Dental Van

ORAL HEALTH CARE FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS
Free dental care is offered to all Queensland students from the age of four to the completion of Grade 10 through the School Dental Service. Students in Year 11 -12, may be eligible for treatment if they receive Childhood Dental Benefit Scheme or if they have a current concessional health care card.  The Dental Team consists of a Dentist, Dental Therapists, Oral Health Therapists and Dental Assistants.  You will be advised if your child needs specialist dental treatment. 
Students at Kingaroy State High School are now being offered dental treatment through the School Dental Service at the School Dental Van, located at Kingaroy State High School.  Forms will be sent home to individual year levels over the course of the next few months, beginning with Year 7s.
If you would like your Year 7 child to participate in the free dental care program, please complete each section of the registration form, sign and return it to the School Office by Monday 27th March 2023.
Please note that by signing this form, you are only advising our service of your wish to participate in the dental care program and providing personal information to allow us to contact you.  Using the information that you provide to us, a staff member will contact you to arrange an appointment.  Please remember

• Students will be seen at the School Dental Van, located at Kingaroy State High School.
• Parents/Legal Guardians must attend all appointments & must hold a current Medicare Card-please bring this card to the appointment.
• There are limited appointments available before and after school and most appointments will have to be during school time.
• Oral Health does not accept any responsibility for transport of the children to and from their appointments. 

Harmony Day

Link and Launch

I have been busy catching up with past Year 12 graduates this term, with nearly 80 past students contacted so far. It has been lovely hearing what our graduates are up to now that they are out in the real world. I have also been busy helping those out that need some support to achieve their goals, and this term alone we have applied for many jobs, updated numerous resumes and cover letters, applied for driver's licenses, practised for interviews and explored how to become an apprentice, a flight attendant, and a professional skydiver, to name a few. With it being an individualised program, Link and Launch really can take young people (and their Link and Launch Coordinator) anywhere!  For more information visit https://www.wethedifferents.qld.edu.au/link-launch/ 
If you or someone you know has recently completed Year 12 and would like some support with achieving their work, study or training goals, contact me directly on 0460 010 431 or rfeat6@eq.edu.au

Renee Feather
Link and Launch Coordinator

Year 8 Attendance Reward

This week, 8B (Ms Hilsley) and 8G (Mr Kerswell) were treated to a fun game of "Capture the Flag' with Mr Bunyoung as a reward for their great attendance this term.  Mr Kerswell's class won bragging rights, 3-0 despite enthusiastic assistance from Ms Hilsley.  Week 10 could see a rematch between these two classes.

Laura Geitz Cup

Last Sunday, a group of ten players and two student umpires travelled to Toowoomba to compete in the Laura Geitz Cup, a netball competition for Year 7-9 students from across the Darling Downs and South West. This group had been involved in several trials, as we had 31 players aiming to make the team. They completed a handful of training sessions before school and at first break. Year 9 students, Hana, Jayla, Brendan, Saige, Matti, Amy and Gabby, Year 8 student Aaliyah, and Year 7 students Allison and Clare were selected in the Kingaroy SHS team. 
There were thirty teams across three divisions, and Kingaroy played in Division 3. The team won all round games in our pool, defeating Scots PGC (11-4), Toogoolawah SHS (13-0), Oakey SHS (13-4) and Harristown SHS (12-3).  In the cross-over pool we also won 11-7 versus Millmerran SS, 12-6 versus Chinchilla Christian College & 11-5 versus Miles SS.
This took us to the final against Chinchilla Christian College where we were unable to hold them out this time, losing by two goals.
It was a resilient effort by all ten team members,  starting with Captain, Hana at centre with her control across the court, Aaliya’s graceful and well timed intercepts in wing defence and goal defence, as well as the availability of, and skilled feeds, into the circle by Saige, Allison’s hustle for the loose ball, and strong baseline drives, Clare’s  versatile defence, being ready  to pounce both in and out of the circle, Gabby’s many tips when you thought the ball was past her, Brendan’s aerial work and shooting accuracy, Matti’s great tips across the centre court as well as Amy’s speed and strong drives onto the circle. As a team, their highlights were the loose ball capture, as well as defence down the whole court. They were great ambassadors for Kingaroy and a pleasure with which to be associated.
Special mention is made of Gabi (an original team member by who sustained an injury so is unable to play), Belle and Mrs Foxwell who spent the day umpiring for us. It was a great initiative by Darling Downs netball to provide all umpires with umpire coaching, as most are heading towards National Badging. We all know that without umpires we cannot have games, so thank you for giving up your Sunday.
Appreciation is extended to the parents and supporters who encouraged us all the way. It was a great experience and one we want to return to in 2024.

Ms Helen Maudsley
Coach

2023 Next Step Year 12 Completers Survey

All our students who completed Year 12 last year will soon receive an invitation to do the Next Step survey. The short five-minute survey asks graduates about the study and work they have been doing since finishing school. The results from the survey help our school improve our senior programs and prepare students for work and further study.
We ask parents, siblings and friends to encourage our graduates to complete the survey. If their contact details have changed, please assist survey interviewers with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate. Graduates may receive an invitation by mail, email or phone. The survey can be completed online or by phone.
For more information about Next Step, including previous results, visit www.qld.gov.au/nextstep.

Qld Schools Immunisation Program

Humanities Excursion

Last Monday, Year 10 Humanities and Social Science students walked to Kingaroy Memorial Park to explore what structures were there to honour those who served from World War I to Vietnam. We discussed the perspectives of those who planned it, why the statue of the soldier has no name and the inclusion of the mural as a later addition. We then reflected on what message this might send. Finally, we all chose local names from the World War 2 Roll of Honour to research further.

Clontarf Year 7 Induction Camp

The Kingaroy Lions and another 100 Clontarf Year 7 students from around the state travelled to Noosa Outdoor Education Centre for the annual Year 7 Clontarf induction. After a meet and greet, the boys unpacked the buses and were allocated cabins. The camp site had a huge mob of kangaroos with a large dominant male overseeing them. After dinner, the academies got ready for a touch competition with Kingaroy running out as winners over PBC in the final. The next day was an early morning start with a great breakfast, where all academies went into rotations. The Kingaroy boys enjoyed the raft and catapult rotation, with all boys jumping into the dam. It was early to bed as we had a morning at the Coolum Water Park the next day which tested boys and staff to their limits.
Kingaroy Lions took out the overall points competition and were given the mother duck as a prize. The boys were given points for fairness, manners, keeping cabins clean, following instructions, the touch carnival and how well they completed the tasks on the four rotations. Well done Kingaroy!

Michael Brown
Kingaroy Clontarf Director

Health News

The students were involved with several activities to promote World Hearing Day this year.  The students were required to listen to objects inside a water bottle and guess what the objects were for their chance to win the bottle and the contents.  The second activity was measuring noises with a noise meter during their break.  Yelling into the noise meter was their favourite.  Many of the students participated in both of these activities.  Congratulations to the winners who have collected their prizes.

Hearing loss can occur when exposed to over approx. 85 decibels for a long period of time.  This is only slightly higher than the traffic noise heard when inside a car.
To reduce damage that can be caused from having headphones too loud, switch to ear phones or noise cancelling headphones.  Ensure you can hear people from a few feet away to help protect your hearing.

Healthy sleep is more important than just the duration, although that is also a consideration.  The length of sleep should be sufficient for the sleeper to be rested and alert the following day.  Sleep periods should be seamless, without interruptions and sleep should be deep enough to be restorative. Poor sleep can impact by:

• Being linked to an increase in obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease and cardiovascular health problems
• Decreasing memory, focus and learning
• Lowering the immune response and increasing susceptibility to infections
• Resulting in reduced reaction times, impaired judgement and cognitive impairment similar in effect to alcohol intoxication.

Below are some tips to help with improving your sleep.

The Big Science Competition

Wide Bay Netball Trials

On Monday 13th March, one hundred and twenty netball players from across the Wide Bay district assembled at the Kingaroy Netball Association courts for the 13-15 years and 16-19 years selection trials. Each of the six districts, North Burnett, Bundaberg, Maryborough, Gympie, Hervey Bay and South Burnett had selected teams of ten after school and district trials.

Kingaroy SHS was lucky to have a number of students representing us in the South Burnett teams on what turned out to be a muggy and hot day, where fitness was tested to the max. Congratulations to Aleerah, Tasleigh, Abbie, Indi, Casey and Sarah in the 16-19 year age group as well as to Amy, Saige, Charlotte, Hana, Aaliyah and Jayla in the 13-19 year age groups who matched it with the best all day.

Three girls, Aleerah  (GK/GD) and Sarah (GD/GK) in the 16-19 year age group as well as Aaliyah (GD/WD) all made the Possible vs Probable trials on the day. This is recognition of the top 18 players from across the region who then competed for a further 50 minutes to determine the best team of ten who are selected in the Wide Bay teams to attend State Titles at the end of April in the hope of making a Queensland team. The shadow players are never named at Wide Bay trials, but any of these three girls could at any time still have some luck fall their way and be invited to join the team should there be a withdrawal, so all will continue to learn and increase their fitness.

Thank you to all the girls who also jumped in to umpire rounds when their team wasn’t playing, and especially to Gabi who umpired throughout the day as she was not able to play due to injury. It takes a special kind of person to take the set backs and turn them into a positive, and Gabi embodies this. Another special thanks is extended to Jayla for volunteering to umpire the Possible vs Probable game where she did a great job at the end of a hard day of play. 

Good luck to Mrs Foxwell who earned her position as the Wide Bay Manager for the 16-19 team.

Thank you is extended to the Kingaroy Netball Association for use of the courts and for providing the valuable canteen for players, officials and spectators on the day. Your volunteers are amazing!

Ms Maudsley
WB 13-19 Convener

Cyber Safety

Stay Cyber Safe
With the ever increasing number of Scam emails and phone calls, here are a few tips to protect yourself and your students online.

Tip One
Hang up the phone on callers asking for personal information (e.g. passwords, personal details or one-time-passwords). If a phone caller demands personal information or urgent action, hang up and ring the organisation back using details found on an official website.

Tip Two
Be careful when shopping online. Always use an online shopping service that is reputable and legitimate (consider: reviews, time in business, is there a padlock next to the URL?). Avoid clicking links in emails, SMS texts or popups, instead access websites directly through your web browser. Remember, if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Tip Three
Beware of scam emails (phishing) and messages (SMS, WhatsApp, Social Media DM’s). Phishing attacks increase during the holiday season. Be on the lookout for suspicious text messages or emails such as fake offers encouraging you to get in quick, virtual cards, urgent requests to update or unusual/unexpected parcel delivery notifications – these are often fake! Even if the message appears to come from someone you know or a loved one.

Richard Henderson
Senior Computer Technician

Coeliac Awareness Week

It's Coeliac Awareness week from the 13th to 19th March. This year’s focus of the awareness campaign is to increase the awareness of Coeliac Disease within children. 
Coeliac disease is a serious medical condition that commonly develops in childhood. It is estimated that approximately 1:70 Australian children have coeliac disease BUT a staggering 80% of those remain undiagnosed. Left undiagnosed, there is an increased risk of lifelong health complications.  
Coeliac disease (pronounced seel-ee-ak) is an immune disease caused by gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, barley and oats. When people with coeliac disease eat gluten, an inappropriate immune reaction causes inflammation and damage to the small bowel (intestine). Untreated, coeliac disease can cause a range of symptoms and health problems. Treatment involves lifelong and strict avoidance of gluten in the diet and leads to healing of the bowel and better health.
Coeliac disease is a known ‘clinical chameleon’ and, as a result, a diagnosis of coeliac disease is commonly missed. This is particularly true of children who sometimes present with subtle signs and symptoms that mimic those of other conditions.
Sadly, undiagnosed coeliac disease in children can lead to poor health outcomes including impaired growth, delayed puberty, osteoporosis, increased risk of additional autoimmune disease and impaired school performance.
The earlier the diagnosis, the better. The diagnosis of coeliac disease is straightforward and starts with a blood test.
You should consider speaking with your GP if your child (or yourself) experience any of the following signs or symptoms (in any combination).
Common signs and symptoms:
•    Diarrhoea, nausea and/or vomiting, abdominal pain, constipation 
•    Weight loss, failure to thrive or stunted growth 
•    Delayed puberty 
•   Behavioural and emotional issues including irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and             sleep problems 
•    Iron-deficiency anaemia 
•    Recurrent mouth ulcers 
•    Tiredness and lethargy 
•    Dental defects 

Community News