2024 Kingaroy Highlights #10

Principal's Message

Hello everyone, this is David Thomson, principal of Kingaroy State High School, bringing you the highlights of Semester 1, 2024.
We've had a fantastic term! Our Athletics Carnival happened this week and was a great success. In addition, our hydrogen car team won the national finals and has been invited to the International World Championships for the Hydrogen Car Challenge—an exciting achievement!
Our Symphonic Band performed at the Fanfare Regional finals and did an outstanding job. We’re so proud of our instrumental music program here at the school. We also launched our QParents app, giving parents access to our OneSchool system to view all sorts of important information.
Our rugby league teams have been doing great, and we’ve had a STEM camp, chess competitions, and our cattle teams have excelled. Our cross-country runners reached the State finals representing Wide Bay. We’re also excited about the upgrades happening around the school, including the Agricultural Science area, the Assembly Hall, and the iLibrary. After the holidays, this area will be transformed into an outdoor decking area or classroom as part of our library upgrade.
We’ve also upgraded our Memory Garden in honour of students we’ve lost, which is very important to us as a community.
Looking ahead to next term, we’ve got some fantastic activities lined up, including FLAIR, CGEN, and the Daily Hire program. Our transition for the 2025 Year 7 students starts next term, and we’re thrilled to announce that our canteen will be getting an upgrade in Semester 2!
We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and look forward to welcoming everyone back for Semester 2, 2024. Stay tuned for more Kingaroy highlights!

Senior School

It has been a busy term with lots of learning and assessment happening.  Take some time on the holidays to recharge and reset so that you are at your best when we return. 

Year 11 students will continue working on their Unit 2 assessment tasks after the holidays and will need to keep managing their time to ensure that they meet their deadlines.

Year 12 students are well on the way into Unit 3 and will be working on assessment and preparing for external exams.  We will run mock exams sessions starting in
Week 10 of Term 3 and will follow the External Exam timetable. You will receive more information about this after the holidays.

External assessment invigilators

Invigilators play an important role in promoting public confidence in the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system and ensuring that proper and fair administrative procedures are implemented.

The QCAA appoints members of the Queensland community as invigilators to observe and report on the administration of assessments. The invigilator role is independent; they are appointed to supervise proper administration of the assessments, not to supervise students or assist with any administration or assessment set-up tasks.

If you wish to apply to be an invigilator more information is available here

https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/assessment/external-assessment/external-assessment-invigilators

Mr Andrew Maddern
A/Deputy Principal, Educational Achievement - Senior Secondary

Year 11 Semester 1 Wrap Up

On Year Assembly this week, Year 11s were recognised for a number of things: firstly, 11H had a vacancy for a Form Captain, with students nominating contenders for the position, nominees accepting the opportunity, and the Form class voting on this. At the end, Fletcher Prain was voted in as the new 11H Form Captain for 2024. Congratulations Fletcher!

Secondly, many of our students had participated in an Anzac Day service around the South Burnett early this term and were recognised for this with the presentation of a certificate. Students needed to have attended an Anzac Day service, representing Kingaroy State High School by wearing the school uniform and showing due respect for the ceremony and its rituals. Thank-you to the many Year 11s who attended and/or participated through school bands or cadets' groups in the many different ceremonies held throughout the region.

Finally, Mrs Hutton presented some Year 11s with certificates of appreciation for their help with the Reef’n’Beef fundraiser for Coolabunia State School held earlier in the year.

It’s been a busy Semester 1 for Year 11s, but a refreshing and relaxing winter break should give a fantastic start to Semester 2 and the work left to do for the last part of Unit 2.

Ms Nerissa Maudsley
Year 11 Coordinator

Wellbeing and Engagement

Years 9 and 10 PBL Rewards

What an excellent first half of the year! The behaviour and effort of Years 9 and 10 have been exceptional. More students than ever before received a PBL Reward at the end of Semester One. The school's efforts to support and reward students are truly paying off.

School to Work - Year 10 for 2025

There will be an information night in Week 5 next term to provide parents and guardians details of the school’s School to Work Program.  The school to work program is an alternative pathway for students in Year 10 who would like to transition into the work force with vocational education qualifications and work experience. School based traineeships and apprenticeships are a possibility for students in the program. 

The program consists of:

• Work experience in a chosen field, one day per week
• Completion of a Certificate I or II at TAFE, one day per week
• School program, remaining 3 days

Mr Steve Perrett
Deputy Principal, Wellbeing and Engagement

Pack of ‘Greenies’ try to influence our students - Green Shirt Day

Green-shirted activists were spotted distributing propaganda in the Kingaroy State High School playground recently; but it was all for a wholesome (and non-political) cause. Our final Green Shirt Day of the term, held in Week 9, was an opportunity to hand out paper Double Merit Points to students who were keeping their areas clean and following teacher directions. These points added to students’ term totals and helped them earn either an ice-cream or cup of chips during the sports carnival. Rewards such as these are an important way in which Kingaroy High can show its appreciation for the large number of students who turn up consistently with positive attitudes and behaviour. Congratulations to all of the Kingaroy High students who received rewards (and there were others who came close). Keep focused on living out the school values of Respect, Resilience, and Responsibility so that teachers, ‘catch you doing the right thing’ in Term 3.

Instrumental Music

What a term it has been for our Instrumental Music students! The term began with our Wind Ensemble performing for the school ANZAC ceremony, and our Symphonic Band marching in the town parade on ANZAC Day.

In May, we had six students attend Sunshine Coast SHEP (State Honours Ensemble Program). Laura-Jane Davey, Cooper Mollenhauer, Hayden Mollenhauer, Ryan Mollenhauer, Charlotte Murphy-Crump and Charli Thomas represented our school brilliantly throughout the weekend program.

Our musicians then performed brilliantly at the Kingaroy Eisteddfod, and then upped their game at the heats of FANFARE 2024. Our bands received the following awards at Fanfare:

Wind Ensemble – Silver
Percussion Ensemble – Gold
Stage Band – Gold
Symphonic Band – Gold

Symphonic Band were then lucky enough to be selected as one of only six ensembles from our region to perform in the FANFARE Regional Final. While they didn’t take out the win, they certainly put on a show, and impressed all who were in attendance!

Many thanks to our Instrumental Music families who drop students off at school early for their rehearsals and encourage practice at home. The hard work our students put in certainly comes through in their amazing performances.

Have a good break, and I look forward to even more performances in Term 3.

Mr Matt Phillips
Instrumental Music Teacher

Science News

H2GP – Massive win for Kingaroy SHS

Last Wednesday, the Kingaroy State High School Hydrogen Grand Prix team, consisting of Lexy Nixon, Chloe Elliott, Jack Newby, Cooper Mollenhauer and Oliver Vogelaar, ably supported by two wonderful teachers, Mrs Steinhardt and Mr Fredericks, pulled off an amazing win in the National finals of the Hydrogen Grand Prix (H2GP).

 This was Kingaroy’s first foray into the field of racing hydrogen powered model cars, so winning at nationals was an impressive feat and a tribute to the many hours and hard work that this group of students and teachers contributed to creating a competitive vehicle. Over the course of many weeks the team virtually rebuilt almost all parts of the original car to both strengthen it and improve its performance. Towards the end of the process the car had to undertake a radical weight loss program to meet the race specifications, but on the day, they had a race legal mean machine and a clear race strategy.

The race is an endurance event with the winning car being the one that completes the most laps in the 4-hour time period. The race itself tested the strength of the car with the first hour seeing many collisions, but at the end of that first hour the Kingaroy car was still intact, thanks in part to some judicious use of super glue. At the one-hour mark, many cars were in the pits repairing damage, but the Kingaroy team was in the lead with 145 laps under their belts.

Another three hours of racing saw the Kingaroy team challenged on several occasions but at the end, the team had racked up 542 laps a full 33 laps ahead of the Northern Territory team who were in second place. The performance of the Kingaroy team was nothing short of amazing given that this was our first ever attempt, and all team members are due great credit for their intelligent design, consistent dedicated hard work and commitment to producing such an excellent racing car.

Given the promise of hydrogen as a fuel for the future, the team has surely learnt valuable skills for the future and have impressed many who have seen what they have accomplished. We would all like to acknowledge and thank Stanwell for the huge amount of support they gave to the team. Many of the staff from Stanwell came to the school (and the race) to mentor and support our team and Stanwell also provided significant financial support. We greatly appreciate this support and are glad that the team could return with a win.

The win entitles the team to participate in the World championships in California in September. For the team to participate we need to raise all of the funds ourselves, so we would welcome support from sponsors. If you are able to help the team with sponsorship, please contact the school on 41 600 666 - we would greatly appreciate any support, so that this very deserving team can participate on the world stage.

Big Science Competition

Congratulations to Ethan and Archie Hitchins who both participated in the Big Science Competition, and both received Credits. Well done gentlemen!

Mr Steven Langton
HOD Science

Country Cup Netball Success

Last Friday 14 June, over 150 Kingaroy SHS students in 16 teams from Year 7 through to Year 12 participated in the first day of the 2024 Country Cup Netball hosted at Kingaroy. We had teams in the Junior (Year 7-9) and Senior (Years 10-12) girls, boys and mixed competitions. With 55 teams across these divisions playing in 136 games from multiple schools in Gympie, Nanango, Murgon and Kingaroy the competition was varied, the comradery was great, and fun was had by all. Our teams enjoyed some wins, some losses and even a couple of draws. Country Cup Netball is played in Term 2, 3 & 4 with points added each day and MVP points awarded for each game. At the conclusion of Term 4 trophies will be awarded.

It was awesome to see over 20 students volunteer as umpires, many who helped organise teams and yet others who assisted in a variety of other ways. Thanks is extended particularly to the staff involved, namely Mrs McAnally, Miss Rosengreen, Ms Maudsley, Miss Sprake, Miss Hough, Miss Wakefield and Mrs Bales who managed to not only coach and umpire, but also fill in wherever help was needed, with most starting before 7am in the near zero temperatures.

All schools extend a special thanks to Kingaroy Netball for hosting the event, and especially to their volunteers who made and served food for our very hungry students all day. We noticed the line to be served never waned. We truly do appreciate your efforts and what you provide for our young people.

Our teams will be in training for Term 3’s day of competition from the start of Term 3.

Ms Helen Maudsley
Netball Coordinator

2024 Sunshine Coast Schools Mountain Bike Competition Thurs 8th and Fri 9th Aug

This year's popular School's Mountain Bike event is on again, with Years 7-8 racing on Thursday 8^th August and Years 9-12 on Friday 9^th August.

Run by Rocky Trail Entertainment, the competition is held at the Sugarbag MTB Trails at Caloundra. It is participation-oriented, and students don't need to be super-skilled riders. As with past events, KSHS students are supported by members of the South Burnett MTB Club.

Medical consent forms are available from Ms Newton, and students can either see Ms Newton or Mr Vogelaar with any questions.

Parents/caregivers can direct questions about the event to Hanna Newton (hnewt5@eq.edu.au) or Leigh Vogelaar (lvoge9@eq.edu.au).

It would be great to see more girls getting involved!

KSHS has been a three-time winner of this event.... can we make it four????

Hanna Newton
Teacher

Hospitality News

As part of the Certificate II in Hospitality course, students are required to complete a minimum of 12 shifts in a hospitality establishment, which is split across both Year 11 and 12. As our Certificate II program revolves around food and beverage service and beverage production, we have worked to acquire good relationships with various local establishments that allow students to practice and enhance the skills that they learn at school through work placement. We are extremely lucky that the Kingaroy RSL Club allows our Year 11 students into their bar and the Burke & Wills Motel is working with our Year 12 students in their a la carte restaurant.

Various students in both year levels have already been taking part in their work placement and on my visits to both establishments, I have received positive feedback from the customers regarding the effort that the students have made. Congratulations to those Year 12 students who have already finished their minimum of 12 shifts so early in the year, after putting in the effort over the last few weeks to complete the remaining shifts they had left.

Over the last weeks, the Year 11 students have been learning about espresso coffee making and what different espresso coffees should look like including the differences between an iced coffee and iced latte. In Term 3, the Year 11s will take over from the Year 12s in making and selling espresso coffee at school. A big thank you to Year 12s, Jaycee and Laura for volunteering their time to run the coffee cart during the two days of the Athletics Carnival.

Year 11s students are just beginning to make plans for this year's Fudooka Farewell BBQ function that they are all required to attend in August as part of the competency assessment, their last lesson this term was spent trialling Mocktails for this function.

Lisa Hutton
Home Economics/Hospitality Teacher

Clontarf News

Clontarf Employment Forum

Seven Clontarf students from Year 11 and Year 12 travelled to the Gold Coast to attend the annual Clontarf Employment Forum at Carrara Stadium. Over 100 Clontarf boys from South-East Queensland participated, along with 25 business and Clontarf partners. Among these partners were Woolworths, Komatsu, Fulton Hogan, Bunnings, and the Army, to name a few.

Health News

Consent

Consent is when someone understands what they’re being asked to do, and they give permission clearly and freely – without feeling pressured.  Consent requires ongoing mutual communication and decision-making and can be withdrawn at any point through verbal and non-verbal communication and cues.  It is way to show respect for ourselves and other people.

There are many types of consent which can be used at different times.  Consent occurs from an early age with learning how to take turns, appropriate physical contact, and sharing items, to throughout teenager years and into adulthood. 

Consent is freely given, through words and actions without force, pressure, manipulation or under the influence of drugs and alcohol.  The absence of a “no” or silence does not mean you have consent.

Consent is reversible, meaning that if consent is given, it can also be taken away and being able to stop or change your mind at any point.  It is never too late to say “no”.

Consent is informed by ensuring the person giving consent has the full story before agreeing or disagreeing and know exactly what they are consenting to.

Consent is enthusiastic meaning if it's not an enthusiastic “yes” then it is a “no” that you only do the things you want to do and not the things you feel expected to do.

Consent is specific, meaning that if you say yes to one thing that does not automatically mean you said yes to other things.

Knowing about consent can help protect people of all ages against experiencing harmful relationships.  Gaining knowledge about consent, people are more likely to have healthy, respectful, safe and enjoyable relationships throughout their lifetime.

Some tips on how to better understand consent include:

1. Talk about consent with your children which will help your child to better understand and develop an awareness of personal boundaries and create a safe space for your child to ask questions.
2. Don’t forget to look for non verbal communication clues. Non verbal communication tells us how someone is feeling and if they are comfortable with giving consent.
3. Model consent by respecting other peoples personal boundaries and response to consent.

There are consequences of not having consent before an action is undertaken, which includes:

1. Assault

• causing physical or mental harm to another person, which may include striking, touching, moving, or applying force of any kind to a person without their consent.
• Pushing or threatening someone can still be classed as assault.

1. Sexual assault 

• when someone touches you inappropriately without your consent.
• Forces you against your will to commit any sexual act.
• Forces you to see a sexual act.

1. Sharing intimate images, a photo or a video, without consent or threatening to share intimate images without the pictured persons consent is a crime and a person under 16 years cannot legally give consent. 

For more information go to:

https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Consent | What is consent? | eSafety Commissioner

Home | Consent.gov.au - Check your understanding

Upcoming Events

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Parent teacher interviews will be held Monday 15^th July. Bookings will open from 5pm Monday 8^th July, there will be an email sent with a link to the bookings. If you need to schedule an interview with a specific teacher, it is crucial to book as soon as possible because the available time slots are limited. Report Cards will be issued through QParents on Wednesday 10^th July.

In addition, there will be a QParents help desk at the Parent Teacher Interviews, if you are yet to sign up or need assistance, please bring along your phone and proof of ID (see list of ID Requirements below).

• 100 points of Primary identity documents or
• a minimum of 60 Primary identity documents and 1 document from List 1 or 2 documents from List 2

Community Events