July 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Ponderings

Welcome back. As we commence term three, we will have a quick look back over term two.

What a successful term it was, that included Sports Muster, Western Alliance Careers Camp, many regular attendees at Assembly, and some excellent results in the reports that went out in the last week of term.

I am going to share Jack Chalk’s WA Newsletter article about the Careers Camp:

WESTERN ALLIANCE (SECONDARY) CAREERS CAMP – 2019 BRISBANE BY JACK CHALK

We packed our bags and we were off to Brisbane for the week! Southbank, Channel 9 and Urban Extreme were just some of the adventures ahead. On Monday (Travel Day) Charleville had a long day bus ride to Brisbane while Longreach and Mount Isa had the luxury of flying! Charleville and Mt Isa were first on the camp site while the small LSODE group found our way there with the help of Siri. QCCC Brookfield was a lovely location that wasn’t in the heart of the city but had amazing vegetation and wildlife around. The food was amazing and the rooms were warm! That night we had a talk about the careers we could pursue and ways to reach them from Shauna Quinliven.

The first day (Tuesday) we were up at 6:00am and had brekkie by 7am. We were then on our way to the University of Queensland – Gatton campus where we learned heaps about the facilities and the courses we could learn in the future. A three story library and crops full of drought resistant plants were just some of the amazing sights we saw at Gatton UQ! The kind people there did a demonstration of how to use drones in the agricultural industry and it gave us an opportunity to learn about safety while operating drones around our properties.

After Gatton, we travelled to TAFE at Southbank in the Brisbane city! We had tours of all the facilities and courses they teach there, everything from nursing to fashion and game development to performing arts and restaurants! We got a tour of the Music production studio and a mock hospital with $450 000 human simulators sitting in the beds for nurses to practise on! The simulators can vomit, go into cardiac arrest and also replicate other emergency medical issues. The TAFE was in an amazing location and TAFE Southbank is also known for having some of the best facilities out of all the TAFEs in Queensland! The theatre there had been used for heaps of productions performed by all the performing art students. 3D printing teeth plates and moulding teeth is also another profession you can learn at TAFE - if that’s what floats your boat!

After the TAFE tour we walked through Brisbane to get to the Brisbane River and the official ‘Southbank’. Restaurants and stores packed the area, we also encountered something scarier than snakes or an angry bull… large crowds!! The free time at Southbank allowed for us to explore a slice of Brisbane, gorge Max Brenner chocolate and authentic candy! For some, the free time allowed for them to catch up with friends or family. 6:00pm and we all packed the line to the Brisbane Eye Ferris Wheel where we hopped in the glass cars and saw amazing views from one of the best viewing places in Brisbane! Dinner at 7:00pm was fun as we all got our own and chillaxed under the lights of Brisbane with the water not far away. The skyline of Brisbane is a breathtaking view! The newly finished Brisbane Sky Tower is not only the tallest building in Queensland, but also the tallest building in Australia, standing 270.5 meters into the sky. Day one was finished and we had more fun ahead!

Day 2, Wednesday - we were up bright and early and we were on our way to Channel 9 Studios at Mount Coot-tha. The view was spectacular from the summit and we had the chance to see Brisbane city from up high! Channel 9 is on the top of Mount Coot-tha as they are able to broadcast around the Brisbane district and parts of QLD. We first started out with a panel discussion where we met heaps of people from the A Current Affair director to the co-pilot in the control room. We had the chance to ask them all question about Channel 9 and how it all works. Great questions were asked and then we were soon off on the tour! The Channel 9 tower for broadcasting stands really tall on Mount Coot-tha and the other channel’s tower stand in the distance, but Channel 9’s tower looks the best! We got a tour of the Newsroom where they get all their stories and put them together for the afternoon and 6pm news. The studio where they film the news was the best part of the tour as all of the Western Alliance sat in the chair and read the news. The studios was actually smaller than seen on TV! It looks amazing on the telly, but behind the scenes it is rather crammed. The control room was where they put videos to air and also put through live streams such as the NRL. We also saw the area where the videos that have been filmed get put onto disks, yes that’s right disks! Who knew that disks were still around in 2019… Then the reporter goes into a sound booth and records his or her story and after that it gets put with the filmed images and you have a story for the news! It was an amazing opportunity to see how Channel 9 works and it would be an amazing career to pursue!

After Channel 9, we went to Aviation High School which is located in the suburb of Hendra - about a 10 minute drive from Brisbane airport! The high school offers classes that help students aim to achieve their dreams of becoming a Pilot, Engineer or Cabin Crew member in the aviation industry! Aviation High has everything from full flight simulators to a wind tunnel to test new wing designs. This school also has many opportunities for work experience at Brisbane airport from installing Wi-Fi modules on the aircraft at Virgin Australia or other maintaining and engineering experiences. The tour took us around the facilities and also to the best part in my opinion, the ‘Hanger’ where they house an old Cessna 152 that does not fly and also a shell of another aircraft that they use for maintenance pracs. The 152 is so old that CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) has deemed the aircraft too old to fly, meaning the school will refurbish the aircraft to where they can get the engines running. The opportunity for students for learn about Aviation maintenance and engineering is huge at Aviation High! Normal classes like home economics and English are still standard. For people who have a huge passion for Aviation like me, this opens a huge opportunity!

We jumped back into the bus for a short hop across the city to Urban Extreme, a giant warehouse like park that does Indoor Skiing, Trampolining, Ninja Warrior, Laser Tag, Dodge Ball and Parkour! We had the opportunity to do all these things apart from skiing! Ninja warrior course, well… let’s just say it’s harder than it looks, but after managing to make it out alive we moved on to Parkour where we played 44 home (Basically hide and seek tiggy!) Laser tag was one of the best as the rooms were dark and the paint on the walls of the maze glowed! Trampolining was super fun as you felt like you were flying! Dodge ball was great as it was VERY full on... Lovely and sweaty we travelled back to Brookfield where we hit the steakhouse for some dinner! The meals were amazing and delicious!

Day 3, Thursday, and the final day of activities was a blast! We were up and going early so we could catch the water taxi to North Stradbroke Island. Stradbroke is an interesting island, beautiful but on a Thursday it’s quite quiet. At first glance, you would think the population of bats would be bigger than people! With the help of Google we walked to the Moreton Bay Research Centre where we learnt about marine wildlife and also the studies they do there. The research centre had a special breed of stingray that they did studies on as well as amazing octopus that are amazing at escaping! Moreton Bay Research Centre is run by the University of Queensland and we learnt that using soft pellets, scientists go out hunting for whales where they shoot them to retrieve a bit of blubber from the animal. This does not kill the whale, but it allows for a small piece of blubber to fall off for scientists to collect and examine. This helps us understand the health of whales in our waters.

After the tour we jumped back onto the water taxi to the main land. A 30-40 minute bus trip to Suncorp stadium was our final event on the schedule! Some fun facts about Suncorp Stadium - did you know it sits on top of Brisbane’s second ever cemetery? And on the western side of the stadium there is a church from when Brisbane first was founded? The view from up top of the stadium is amazing and so is the capacity, the stadium has 55,500 seats, but Suncorp has managed to fit an extra 1000 people in by selling a tiny square of concreate between rows to stand up for a football game or concert! Famous people have set up camp for a concert at Suncorp Stadium! People like Taylor Swift and Andre Rieu. After Andre Rieu’s concert, the stadium turf was torn up as the stage looked like a mansion, ice skating rings and fountains filled the area! 138 semi-trucks were needed to transport it and 18 were sitting on the turf to hold it up during the event. The turf had to be re-laid which costs 1.1million dollars every time. The tour took us to the member’s area which had fancy restaurants and bars! To be a member, which allows you to get a ticket to every game per year at Suncorp Stadium, for a basic membership will set you back $1, 500 per year with the best membership will cost you $4,500 per year! We got tours of behind the scenes, commentary boxes and press boxes! The suites you can hire which give you a fully catered dinner, your own bar and own seats (not to mention your own private area) will set you back a whopping $12 000 for one game! The sponsor suite which the sponsor pays for (in this case, the Brisbane Broncos) costs $35 000 and to get into the room, you must be invited by the sponsor, so someone like the PM would get invited and he would sit in the Sponsor’s Suite. The tour of the warm up room for the Maroons during State of Origin was awesome but the best part was the locker rooms for QLD!! Funny Story, the clocks in the locker rooms have cages on them. This is because each player only gets 4 minutes in the spa, so the player would take down the clock and sit it next to him to keep an eye on the time but the clock kept disappearing after every game! The players, for unknown reasons, would keep the clocks so the maintenance crew put cages around them so they can’t be stolen! The tour was simply amazing for and an NRL fan, it’s their dream to see Suncorp Stadium!

Day 4, Friday, the last day and everyone had their bags packed for home! 4:45am was the early start for Mount Isa and Longreach students flying home, while the Charleville students got a sleep in for their long bus trip! There were a few tears saying goodbye to friends, but I think we were all looking forward to getting back home!

I would like to thank all the teachers who looked after us all on Camp: Mrs Bates, Mrs Anderssen, Mrs Swadling, Miss Moore, Mrs Fricke, Mrs Clay, Mr Yang and Mr Osborn! A huge thank you to Mrs Swadling for organising the amazing camp and a huge thank you to QCCC Brookfield for caring for us while on our stay. To all the organisations and companies we visited, thank you for the opportunity to see new careers!

The Camp was an amazing opportunity and a trip of a lifetime! THANK YOU ALL!

Thank you

A very big thank you to the P&C and the RNA for their support of donations for the camp. Financial support for camps is much appreciated. This year’s donations from the RNA covered all travel costs and the P&C donation covered the entry fees to the extra activities. Parents paid for the accommodation and meals.

Thank you too for the dedication and commitment of the teachers who attended. It was a successful and enlightening camp. Student behaviour was outstanding and it was such fun to get to know the students a little more. Not being able to spend time with our students is obviously a drawback of distance education.

School Opinion Survey

This survey will be completed in August. A letter with a link attached will be sent to families.

As a lead up to the SOS, I would like you to consider completing the Survey Monkey that has been attached to Notices. The link is below.

The six questions address the six questions from the 2018 SOS results that returned between 80 and 90 percent satisfaction from parents and caregivers. The Management Committee are looking for the details behind the questions, that we can address the concerns. We know there are concerns, but not the specifics! Thank you for doing this so we know what to address.

Teachers’ proposed stop work:

In late term 2 there was mention of a proposed strike of Queensland Teachers’ Union members scheduled for Thursday 18th July.

Since the stop-work action was announced, the Queensland Government has made an offer on working conditions and salaries for teachers and principals in state schools.

As such, any proposed strike action has been deferred until QTU members across the state have had the chance to participate in a ballot to determine whether the offer is accepted or not.

The QTU is recommending that its members support the offer.

Therefore, Thursday 18th July was a normal school day.

Wishing you all a wonderful term,
Jenny

From the Deputy’s Desk

Where did Term 2 go?

We had a very adventurous term amongst the team at Charleville School of Distance Education. Nine teachers and support staff participated in the annual Driver Training in late April. Our staff enjoyed two days of defensive driving lessons and applying these skills in a range of practice scenarios throughout the second day.

The following month proved even busier with Sports Muster, New Teacher Home Visits and NAPLAN for our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students.

SPORTS MUSTER

Thank you to our families who travelled in for our combined Sports Muster and Art and Craft competition. Students enjoyed two days of athletics and games. The Sports Muster culminated in novelty events, including a student’s versus teacher’s tug-of-war. Students were loaded up with ribbons and some even came away with age champion medals. It was fabulous to see the competitive streak emerge in some students and to have others shine in particular events. Kanyanna were crowned winners at the conclusion of the event, leading by just 12 points. Students displayed excellent sportsmanship and team spirit throughout the two days. Well done everyone!

HOME TEACHER VISITS

Our new teachers to CSDE returned from their New Teacher Home Visits on the 10th of May with exciting stories to tell and great memories to treasure. Thank you to our wonderful families who hosted a teacher this year. Keep your eyes peeled for the program next year if you are interested in being a host family.

NAPLAN

Students in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 completed NAPLAN testing on the 23rd and 24th May. The data from these tests will help determine our areas of strength and locate areas of weakness within our curriculum. These tests are only a snapshot of each child’s learning and there are many other forms of teaching, learning and assessment used within our school to gather information on educational outcomes. Results from these tests are expected to be released by late August.

DEADLY RECRUITS

In week 10 of Term 2, two students attended the Deadly Recruits Camp at Tinnenburra Station (south of Cunnamulla). During this week, they participated in a range of valuable cultural activities, bushmanship skills and gained an insight into careers in the Australian Defence Forces. If your child is in Year 8 or 9 and would like to participate in the 2020 Deadly Recruits Camp, please let me know via email kdunn92@eq.edu.au

During Term 2, we were greeted with some impromptu visitors who shared their knowledge and wisdom with our students. Luke Archer (QRL) delivered his presentation around Well-being to the secondary students and in recent weeks, six Scientists shared their research with our students.

Next week, the Year 3 students are travelling to Charleville for four amazing days of tours and adventures throughout Charleville and surrounds. The Year 4-10 students will embark on the journey to Canberra this Sunday and hit the ski slopes later the following week. We cannot wait to share the photos and memorable stories when we return.

Term 3 dates to highlight on your calendar:

Assembly: now every Tuesday at 8am
Year 3 Camp to Charleville: Sunday 28th July – Thursday 1st August
Year’s 4-10 Canberra and Snow Camp: Sunday 28th July – Sunday 4th August
Under 8’s Day @ Charleville State School: 9-11am Friday 9th August
Term 3 Cluster Musters: 3rd and 5th September – Venues TBC

Cheers

Katrina Dunne
(Acting Deputy Principal)

Digital Discoveries

App of the Month: Monster Hunt the Memory Game

While most memory improvement games are boring and scientific, Monster Hunt has great little monsters that are begging to be found. You will have so much fun looking for the little monsters, that you won’t even know that you are improving your working memory at the same time.

Apple - Available from the link below.

New Intranet

Have you discovered and requested access to our new Intranet site? The Intranet is a website that is available just for our students (and their families). It has information about events, notices and all the links you may need to be successful at CSDE.

Get online at School’s Intranet and find out the latest information

You can use your student username and password to access the site. Why not make it a favourite or even your home page.

Internet Safety

Are you concerned about your children’s use of the Internet? Want to get more information about how to help protect your children and teach them to be safe online?

Visit the link above to download a range of Guides to help understand the online world.

Guides include:

• Internet Controls
• YouTube
• TikTok
• Tumblr
• Instagram
• Kik

Reducing PowerPoint Presentations

Many students create PowerPoint presentation and then become frustrated as the file becomes too big to email to their teacher.

One way to reduce the size of your PowerPoint file is to compress the pictures within the presentation. This reduces the file size without reducing the quality of the images.

1. Open the PowerPoint presentation you want to compress.

2. From the File tab, select Save As.

3. Click on the Tools drop-down menu, located next to the Save button, and select Compress Pictures.

4. In the Compress Pictures window, make sure the box next to Apply only to this picture is un-checked and that the box next to Delete cropped areas of pictures is checked.

5. Under the Target output heading, choose the E-mail (96 ppi): minimize document size for sharing option.

6. Click OK and then Save.

Your PowerPoint should now be smaller in file size. If it is still too big consider using student OneDrive to submit the PowerPoint to the teacher.

From the Technician’s Table: Need More Help?

If you are having trouble with log on details, access problems, computer or headset issues or just want some advice we are here to help you. . .

School Technician – Bill Grant: wjgra0@eq.edu.au or 07 4656 8909

For all phone and headset issues and problems with computers.

Digital Learning Facilitator – Sam Owczarek: sowcz1@eq.edu.au or 07 4656 8915

For advice or help with using programs or tools on the Learning Place (including eLearn, Student Space and Blogging).

Give us a call or send an email.

Girl Guides

Trailblazer State Camp

Girl Guides from the 2nd Charleville Lones Unit have recently returned from the 2019 Trailblazer Centenary State Camp.

Life-long friendships: Eve and Kristy

The event was run and won at the spiritual home of Girl Guides Queensland at Kindilan, Redlands Bay, Brisbane.

587 registered participants and 320 special guests for Fiesta Day were the winners.

They reconnected, made new life-long friends and challenges themselves in a Guide owned, purpose-built community, that tested even the most seasoned outdoor’ specialist.

Pheebe celebrating her abseiling achievements with a fellow Lone Guide

Our Guides participated in abseiling, rock climbing, canoeing, archery, low and high ropes, arts and heritage activities as well as traditional Guiding events like a campfire and Guides Own.

Kristy performing in front of over 800 people showing off her circus skills

A huge shout out to Parakeet (aka Miss Machray) for attending her first Girl Guide camp and working so hard all week! Here she is ready to show the Guides how to knit – big time!!

Email Mrs Sam O on sowcz1@eq.edu.au if you would like to join our fabulous Girl Guide unit and application forms and information will be forwarded to you.

PLO Prattle

Congratulations KANYANNA on winning Sports Muster, and NARUNGI wasn’t far behind.

In term 2, I attended a Conference in Brisbane, the “Positive Schools Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2019”. The presenters were local (Australian) and also international. The theme was around the Mental Health of not only students, but also staff and parents in schools.

Messages that I took away from the conference included:

“Developing Positive School Culture with Kindness & Forgiveness” – presented by John Henry. “The MOST intimate relationship you have is with yourself”. John stated that for a positive culture, you need 1. TRUST, 2. FORGIVENESS, 3. INTEGRITY, 4. HOPE and 5.COMPASSION, for not only other staff members but also for the student.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg presented “Smart phones and Young People”. He started his discussion with “What are the Negative and Positives for devices for students or young people at this time.” Some of the negatives around devices in youth are young people are distracted by devices. However the Positives are: better communication, Education, Online Shopping and Education. Michael also asked if each school had a Digital license in place like in days gone by with the Biro license. With Cyberbullying happening more and more, the following are a number of websites that parents and students can access help and support from the links below.

Dr Rick Stevenson presented “Human Beings own nothing more valuable than their own stories”. Learning to tell our own stories necessitates perspective. By learning to tell the most difficult story we will ever tell, our own, we develop the tools to tell any story.

The most profound quote that I have taken from the conference is – Our personal story matters – When a person dies, a library burns down: all the stories are lost. This for me was so thought provoking.

I also took away from the conference that I am not a Maths genius, especially at 3pm on a Friday afternoon. Eddie Woo who is a Maths Guru presented on Friday afternoon. He was great to listen to and was inspiring and shared his love of Maths.

These are just some snippets from some of sessions that I attended at the conference. I always come away from this conference feeling uplifted knowing that there are others who are also wanting to help people suffering from Mental Health issues and working at getting rid of the stigma associated with Mental Health.

I hope everyone had a great break and is refreshed to start Term 3 with OOMPH. Snow Camp and Cluster Musters will keep us busy this coming term along with other things that seem to happen or appear from left field.

Cheers

Helen
Parent Liaison Officer

Student Newsletter

Please click on the following link to view the latest Student Newsletter