School Newsletter - Issue 3 - Friday May 14, 2021

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Families

I’d like to officially congratulate Paul Bancroft (OAM) on his retirement. Paul’s leadership was significant in creating great opportunities and outcomes for students at Cleveland District State High School and across Queensland. He advocated and improved many areas over his career but he is widely known for championing leadership development, international education and school sport in our state.

Paul coached many school teams and supported school sport as Chair, Metropolitan East School Sport Board and District Sport. Paul was also a delegate to Queensland Secondary School Sport and President of Queensland School Sport Softball Committee and President of Queensland School Sport Football Committee. In 2014 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to education, sport and professional organisations.

Paul was appointed principal of Cleveland District State High School in 1990 and contributed greatly to the school’s growth and reputation, as a school of choice in Brisbane and a flagship school in Queensland. I admired Paul’s commitment to State Schooling and his ambition to ensure a successful pathway for every student. He was instrumental in the development of a very strong cluster partnership of local schools which provided a strategic approach to the cohesion of learning from primary to high school. Paul had a particular focus to incorporate languages, creative arts and sport, as integral parts of the curriculum. He led the implementation of global perspectives, which positioned Cleveland District as a trailblazer in Queensland. His passion for state education was always evident when I spoke with him over the years and I deeply respected him for this.

In addition to the OAM, Paul’s success was recognised with the school winning a number of Queensland State Showcase Awards. All these accomplishments were acknowledged when he was awarded the Queensland Principal of the Year in 2017.

A number of events are planned to celebrate Paul’s retirement. These include a staff function and a school community musical evening in October of this year.

I congratulate Paul for his success and wish him all the best for his future.

A recruitment process was started at the beginning of this term for the Executive Principal role and is expected to be finalised shortly.

Leonard McKeown

DipT BEd GradDipMgt MEd(Res) MBA MACEL MAICD

Acting Executive Principal

2021 Education Perfect Languages World Champions!

Last term, all Language studying students participated in the 2021 Education Perfect Languages World Championship.  Our school performed extremely well by achieving in the top 5% out of 1,894 schools worldwide.  Congratulations to the following 21 students who achieved Emerald, Silver, Bronze or Credit Award Certificates. 

Year 7 – Layla Inns, Zoe Bennett and Ryan Raftery

Year 8 – Jonathan Baddeley, Cougar Jones, Nathaniel Quinlan, Macy Kerridge, Alyanna Cocciolone, Dakota Howell, Lisa Swart, Sarah McKeown and Soumil Dhir

Year 9 – William Suters, Chloe Schutte-Kiel, Aiden Villani, Bach-Viet Tang, Xian Millward and Sebastian Gabela

Year 10 – Caleb Tang, Alesha Taiapa and Emily Egen

Thank you to all our dedicated Language teachers for encouraging our students to utilise this wonderful online resource, Education Perfect and, to the students for demonstrating outstanding commitment to language studies!  Félicitations! Gongxi! Yoku ganbarimashita!  Well done!

2021 Next Step Survey

The Queensland Government is conducting its annual statewide survey of all students who completed Year 12 in 2020. The Next Step survey is a brief, confidential survey that gains a comprehensive picture of the employment, study and life choices made by Queensland school completers in the year after they finish Year 12.

Between April and June, all our students who completed Year 12 last year can expect to receive instructions to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office. Please encourage them to take part. If their contact details have changed, please assist the interviewer with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate.

Thank you for your support of the Next Step survey in 2021.

Further information on Next Step, including results from previous years, is available online at www.qld.gov.au/nextstep or on toll free telephone 1800 068 587.

ANZAC Day 2021

“On Sunday, 25^th April, our school leaders had the privilege of representing Cleveland DSHS at Cleveland’s ANZAC Day service. After being unable to have a public service last year, 2021’s service reminded us of the importance of ANZAC Day even more so than usual. With the annual Super Hornet flyover and the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force, we were reminded of the importance of honouring and remembering those who served, their families and all affected by past and present conflicts. As we pause to remember those who stormed Gallipoli 106 years ago, when our country was just 14 years old, to all conflicts and peace keeping operations since, we are reminded of how privileged we are to live in a country that is safe and guarded by those willing to defend it. The sacrifice of the ANZACs and their families is unmatched and serves to represent the mateship and bravery we all inherit as Australians. It was an honour to be in attendance and I would like to thank the RSL event organisers for allowing us to be a part of the event and help carry the ANZAC spirit and keep the memory alive for future generations.”

Student Council President

“Waking up before dawn to join in the sombre atmosphere of the ANZAC Day Dawn Service is a privilege and an honour we all share as Australians. Participating in the unique atmosphere of honouring those who gave their lives to preserve our way of life and reflecting on our memories of servicemen and women in peace and wartime, living or passed, sets the tone for the whole day.”

‘Lest we forget.’

School Captain

Cleveland District SHS ANZAC Day Service

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by the Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. As this is a public holiday, Cleveland District State High School held our special Anzac Day assembly on the 23^rd of April, to commemorate the sacrifices of all Australian and New Zealand military personnel. It was my honour to be able to participate in this service and thank our service men and women who put their lives at risk for us.  Thank you to our guest speaker, Captain Tashna Anderson, Adjutant to the Commanding Officer of The Headquarters Land Warfare Centre and the Warrant Officer and Non-commissioned Officer Academy, Mr Graham Hargreaves, Senior Pension Officer, Redlands R.S.L. Sub-Branch and Mr Martin Rabjohn, Redlands R.S.L. Sub-Branch, as well as all of the official guests who attended the ceremony.

Cleveland District State High School would like to thank all current and past veterans on this Anzac Day.

Lest We Forget

Tiana

School Captain

Student Council News

It has been a busy time for Student Council. They have been involved in ANZAC Services, both at school and in community events, Remembrance Garden and Honour the Fallen and, Library Display. (See the photos below). A huge thank you must be given to Damien McKenzie in the IDT Department, Redlands Centre for Women Craft Group and Redlands RSL Sub Branch for partnering with us to commerorate .

Friday 28^th May is our next Gold Coin Day and all money raised is supporting Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea. The theme is cartoons and superheros. Students can support this fundraising event by wearing their own clothes in theme or, free dress and donating a Gold Coin. We will also be selling Fidget cubes on the 28^th  May under M Block to raise money for Student Council – cost is $5.00. A big thank you must go to Riley, one or our representatives, who is leading this event.

Upcoming Events

19^th May – Junior Student Council Meeting

20^th May – Senior Student Council Meeting

25^th May – Aussie BBQ

28^th May – Gold Coin Day – Support Biggest Morning Tea

Remembrance Garden

Honour the Fallen

Library Display

Australian Mathematics Competition

The Australian Mathematics Competition is an Australia-wide competition open to students from Years 3 to 12 and is one of the largest in the world.  It aims to create, encourage and sustain interest in the study of mathematics.  It was established in 1978 and currently has approximately 600,000 participants, making it the world’s largest mathematics competition.

The competition will be held on Thursday the 5th August, 2021 during periods 4-7.

Students gain external recognition of their achievements by receiving certificates and reports showing how they performed compared to their peers.  These certificates can be included in resumes. There is no cost to participate in the competition.

Numbers are limited so please get in early to avoid disappointment.  Entry/consent forms can be collected from Mr Anthony Elliott (HOD Mathematics) and must be returned by Friday 21st May, 2021. 

Cleveland Writing Factory

This year, we are excited to offer students in Years 7-10 an opportunity to improve, refine and extend their writing skills during sport.  This is not an English class; rather, a time to interact and engage with writing activities in ways they haven’t before.  This class is driven by students and has seen them explore a range of different genres including short stories, poetry, scripts for podcasts, song writing and report writing.  At the end of last term, we asked students to create a quote about what writing meant to them and we were absolutely overwhelmed by their responses.  We have included some of these below. We have really enjoyed working with these students and look forward to making more writing magic with them in the next round of sport.

Interhouse Cross Country Report

Due to COVID-enforced school closures at the end of Term 1, an abbreviated Interhouse Cross Country Carnival was run on Thursday 22^nd April. The delay in running this carnival resulted in students running in cooler conditions, which lead to some outstanding performances across all age groups. CDSHS wishes to acknowledge our neighbouring associations, namely Redlands United Football Club, and the Redlands Touch Association, for their support of this event in allowing our Cross Country course to cross over their playing fields. There were some extremely competitive races with many students recording sub 4 minute kilometre pace on average over their race distances.

The 2021 Age Champions for Cross Country were as follows:

These students formed part of the CDSHS team that contested the Bayside District Cross Country Carnival, on Thursday 6^th May.

The overall House Points were as follows:

1^st Place – Russell House (902 points)

2^nd Place – Macleay House (868 points)

3^rd Place – Peel House (782 points)

4^th Place – Moreton House (694 points)

We now look forward to our final carnival for the year, the Interhouse Athletics Carnival.  Some pre-carnival events will be on Monday 31^st May for students in Years 7-10, whilst the main carnival will take place on the final day of Term 2, which is Friday 25^th June.

High Performance Learning News

Debating:

Our teams continue to see great success in the 2021 debating season. Most recently, team 8.2 won against Iona College and the Year 11 team (pictured below) won against Villanova College in their first short preparation debate. The Year 12 team defeated Capalaba State College and drew with ENABLE Select.

All teams have received wonderful feedback from the adjudicators and our debaters’ skills are developing more with each debate. Congratulations everyone! 

World Science Festival excursion:

At the end of Term 1, a group of HPL students attended the World Science Festival at South Bank. All students displayed exemplary conduct and asked interesting and insightful questions of the presenters. Below is an account of the day from Year 9 student, Emily Gibson:

I was one of the fortunate HPL students to attend the World Science Festival this year at Southbank. It was a memorable and impacting experience that I will not soon forget. The Circle of Life was the first talk we attended. Dr Sally Wasef, Dr Julien Louys and Professor Andrew Smith took us through a look at the beginning of the earth and its biology, all the way through to humans and their biology.  They also conducted a fascinating demonstration on how to find and extract the DNA of strawberries.  Our second session was Tech Girls are Superheroes and we heard about the amazing work that Jenie Beekhuyzen, the creator of Tech Girls are Superheroes, is doing for young women in tech everywhere. We learnt about the Tech Girls competition and listened to the team who created an app to help solve a global issue of their choice - they chose assisting people who are homeless and those living in poverty to find local jobs. They made it to the finals of the competition with their app and business plan. They were able to explain the amazing opportunities this competition provided for them and how that has impacted their pathway moving through university. The final talk of the day was my favourite, called Pioneers in Science with Tamara Davis, Brian Schmidt, and Josh Calcino. They spoke about dark energy and the trajectory of the universe which was just captivating. They explained their personal studies and how, as they learned more, their interest only grew. It was an amazing dynamic when Tamara introduced Josh, her student who she mentors and Brian, who was her teacher and mentor. Learning that their knowledge has been passed down through generations was moving and in all, created a really interesting and inspiring talk. I am grateful for this experience and learned a great deal from everyone we listened to. 

Creative Arts News

Why study the Arts?

There are so many reasons to study Arts subjects – improved self-expression and confidence, the development of creativity necessary to foster innovations in our modern world, not to mention the cultural importance of the Arts in providing social commentary and momentum for change.  Apart from these intrinsic reasons, studying the Arts also positively impacts on students more generally.  The Australian Council for Education Research published a review titled: The Arts and Australian Education: Realising potential (2010).  In this review there was extensive research cited about the positive effects derived by students involved in Dance, Drama, Music and the Visual Arts, such as:

• positive achievements in reading, language and mathematics development
• evidence of increased higher order thinking skills and capacities
• evidence of increased motivation to learn
• improvements in effective social behaviours. (Critical Links, Deasy, 2002)

Our faculty is committed to providing quality Arts curriculum experiences and we strongly believe in the benefits of studying the Arts.  We are constantly working to improve our Arts curriculum and our focus this term is on our Junior Creative Arts.  All Year 7 and 8 students are exposed to a range of Arts experiences across Drama, Music, Visual Art, Media and Dance, from playing guitar and drama games, to developing drawing skills, choreographing a dance and creating a short film.  We are undertaking a research project this term which involves interviewing a number of Year 9 students about their Creative Arts experiences in Years 7 and 8, in efforts to continue to improve the learning outcomes for our students.

Year 7 Creative Arts Classes

Instrumental Music News

Congratulations to Quajo Spitler who managed to secure an offer for the SHEP Conservatorium program, and also to Francois Marias who has been asked to play in the Creative Generations Orchestra.  These are great achievements for these young musicians.

Jazz Collective at the Brisbane Youth Jazz Festival

Audiences were recently treated to a series of Big Band Jazz evenings at the Queensland Multicultural Centre, as part of the Brisbane Youth Jazz Festival.  Our Jazz Collective (pictured below), conducted by Mr. Shane Purnell, performed at this event and audiences were impressed by their energy and musicianship – it was a wonderful night of music and a great opportunity for our young musicians to perform in a professional venue and showcase their talents.  Thank you to Mr. Purnell for organising our participation in this Festival and congratulations to the students for being such wonderful musical ambassadors for our school.

ANZAC Day

Bravery, Resilience and Tradition are a few words describing our amazing musicians who played the “Last Post” at our school and feeder schools for their ANZAC Day Ceremonies.

In military tradition, the Last Post is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day's activities. It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest and at commemorative services such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day.

Congratulations to Ethan Bloomer who performed at CDSHS, Ava Bilton who performed at Ormiston and Thornlands State school, and Tanisha Hodder who performed at Bayview State School.  You should be very proud of your contribution to this significant ceremony for our school communities.

Photos: Ethan Bloomer and Ava Bilton

Student Point of View: Noah Margetts

Hi everyone, my name is Noah Margetts and I am one of the Junior Creative Arts Ambassadors at Cleveland High School.  I am incredibly honoured to be taking on this role with Lucy Montgomery. I have been involved in the Creative Arts for 3 years now mainly in Instrumental Music. I play the Trumpet in the CDSHS Wind Ensemble and the CDSHS Jazz Collective. I find both of these bands a challenge which I enjoy taking on.

There has been a lot going on in the CDSHS Wind Ensemble. We all have been working so hard and practicing for the Creative Arts Showcase that will be occurring later on in the year. We have also been having fun with playing a remix of rock songs from “Earth, Wind and Fire” which everyone enjoys playing. We are also playing “Sweet Child of Mine” which is also a challenge but so much fun to play.

On Thursday the 6^th of May, the CDSHS Jazz Collective performed at the Brisbane Youth Jazz Festival in the city under the Story Bridge. All of the members in the Jazz Collective were so grateful to be playing at the Jazz Club and performing on the same card as Queensland Youth Orchestra Jazz Band. It was amazing being able to perform in front of a live audience and not through live streaming or recordings which has been the case since COVID started last year.  We all looked snazzy in our black jackets and we played amazingly, and the soloists were just great to watch and listen to. One to mention was Ethan Bloomer and Matthew Bloomer and their solo battle during a song called “Mambo Calentine”.  The singers were also a main part of the show and sang brilliantly - great job Niamh and Liam!  A lot of work went into this concert with many rehearsals, and it was wonderful to see it turn out so well.  The audience most definitely enjoyed listening to live music again after such a long time.  I have to thank Mr Purnell for his dedication towards this band and guiding us to the success that we enjoyed Thursday night. It is such an honour being able to play in this band with such great musicians.  This was the first time the band had performed with the new members so I can’t wait to see how far we can go in the upcoming competitions. The bands are now focused on rehearsing for the upcoming Showcase.

I cannot wait to see what the Creative Arts department has lined up for you all for the rest of the year.

Photo: Noah performing with Jazz Collective

Date Claimers:

Concert on the Green – 1pm Sunday, June 20

Come and enjoy an afternoon of music in our amphitheatre, featuring a range of instrumental and choral ensembles.  Free admission – bring a blanket and a picnic basket and enjoy the music!

Creative Arts Showcase – Friday, August 27

With a Peter Pan theme, this year’s Creative Arts Showcase features performances from all our Drama, Dance, Music Theatre, Choral and Instrumental Music students, with art works and set design by our Visual Art and Media students.  Keep an eye out for notification of tickets which go on sale in Term 3 – which will be here before we know it!  All of our students are working hard on this Showcase and are looking forward to sharing their work with the CDSHS community.

Library News

Please note Term 2 CDSHS Library opening hours are as follows:

Monday:              8am – 3pm

Tuesday:              8am – 4pm (Homework Club is on from 2.45pm to 4pm)

Wednesday:      8am – 3pm

Thursday:            8am – 4pm (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Homework Club is on from 2.45pm to 4pm)

Friday:                  8am – 3pm

All students are welcome to visit the CDSHS Library to read, borrow books, print, study and search for lost property. We have a large range of contemporary and classic novels in our school library as well as hundreds of titles online at https://cdshsdigitalbooks.wheelers.co/

Our Library recognises significant dates and literary moments throughout the year. At the beginning of this term, a poignant Anzac Day display was designed and created by our Senior Leaders. In Week 3 we celebrated the official International Harry Potter Day (2^nd May). Students loved our entertaining display of Hogwarts characters and participated in wizardry craft activities. We also ran an exciting treasure hunt for the Year 7 Fun and Friendship Day.

Please remember to send your student to the Library for lost items. As winter approaches, we are gathering a large pile of jackets and jumpers. We also have a lot of drink bottles and pencil cases. Remember to write your student’s name on their items.

Happy reading!

Payment Information

Student Statements will be posted home this term. Please ensure that your address details are up to date. Contact the Office if there are any changes to be made, or alternatively please download the Change of Details form on our website. 

If your students’ access to the network has ceased, please contact accounts regarding your unpaid Student Resource Scheme. We are able to organise a payment arrangement to suit your needs and alleviate any financial stress. 

Just a reminder that QParents is a valuable tool particularly for financial information. You are able to access details of all invoices on your student accounts as well as make payments through the BPOINT portal. Please contact the Office to request your email invitation. 

Internet Banking details:
Account Name: Cleveland District State High School General a/c
BSB Number: 064 138 CBA Cleveland
Account Number: 00090051
Reference Details: Student Name, Year Level and payment detail (ie. B.Smith 11 SRS) in the details section so that your payment can be recorded correctly.

When paying via internet, BPAY or BPOINT, please also send an email to accounts@clevelanddistrictshs.eq.edu.au with full details of payment.

Please note:
In regard to making payments via BPay or the internet, please note that due to the large volume of payments we receive, we are unable to reply to emails. This also applies to requests for receipts to be emailed/mailed. If you require proof of payment, please send your student to the payment window to collect a receipt.

Thank you for your understanding.

Payment window hours:
Monday: CLOSED
Wednesday: CLOSED
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday:  7:45am – 11:00am

Volunteers Urgently Needed

Vanuatu Library Creation Weekend, 20-23 May

Please could you give a few hours of your time to help change children’s lives and futures? Be a life-changer! Come along to the Vanuatu Library Creation Weekend and help us sort, label and divide books into libraries.

For the past 6 years volunteers from Cleveland High and the general community have created and sent over 40 small, functional libraries to impoverished schools in Vanuatu. Giving schools their first access to a library of books has given much joy to teachers and the village communities, and has led to a huge improvement in student results.

On the Library Creation Weekend, we will move the books into the Smith Street Hall, sort them into categories and label their spines accordingly. Then the books will be divided into 10-12 libraries and boxed for shipping next month.

This mammoth job takes a huge, combined effort of well over 100 volunteers. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions no teams can travel to Vanuatu this year. These teams usually form a significant part of our volunteers for the weekend. So, our appeal for volunteers this year is more urgent than ever, and every hour of help that you could give will be hugely appreciated.

For details and shifts please use the following link: https://calvary.elvanto.com.au/form/1e671b4d-9067-47d9-9815-da0e217e5332

For any further details, to donate books or to volunteer by phone, please SMS or call Chappy Neale on 0405 412 432.

Chappy News

Chaplains Neale and Sarah held ‘Minute to Win It’ games for the Year 7 Fun and Friendship days. The games proved to be challenging fun, and the competition between the groups kept everyone in suspense. In the end, the last group on the last day smashed all previous scores by a big margin. Well done everyone in the ‘Goldilocks’ group!

The Student Chaplaincy Committee has been helping the chappies organise Fun Fridays every fortnight this year. This term these include pancakes and games. In addition, a week of activities are planned for Chappy Week from 24-28 May.

The school chaplains are always available to students, parents and staff for a confidential chat. This is the key reason they work in the school. Please feel free to call the chaplaincy centre via the school office.

ENTERTAINMENT MEMBERSHIP

Great news! The Entertainment Book now fully online as a very popular and useful app. Through it you can support local businesses while enjoying significant discounts on shopping, dining and experiences. The new location setting allows you to search for nearby offers.  

We are raising money for The Cleveland High Chaplaincy Service, thereby providing support for hundreds of students in our school.

Memberships sell from $69.99 for 1 year, and we receive 20% of every order. Meanwhile, you will be able to save hundreds of dollars off items you regularly spend money on, as well as wonderful new opportunities.

Order your Memberships online today by using the following link:

www.entbook.com.au/2242j00

International Student News

Leadership development is an important aspect of our Cleveland District State High School International Student Program. This year, we celebrate the appointment of Limkyung Choi (South Korea) as International Student Liaison Officer and, Richard Qin (China) as Student Council Executive. 

Limkyung is responsible for giving a voice to the international students at our school as their elected representative. Recently, Limkyung introduced our special guest at the CDSHS ANZAC Commemorative Service.

Richard also spoke at the service as part of the school student leadership team. In the photos we see Limkyung and Richard rehearsing and presenting with their fellow school leaders.

At times, it’s easy to overlook the skill our international students demonstrate in presenting to an audience of more than two thousand students, teachers and special guests. The students communicate difficult cultural-specific language in a seemingly effortless manner however, at the International Student Program office, we witness the dedication and rehearsal undertaken beforehand to make speeches perfect for our school audiences. Nice job, Limmie and Richard!  

As Cleveland District State High School student leaders, Limkyung and Richard took part in a range of important ANZAC Day ceremonies and events including, the RSL ANZAC Service and, Honor the Fallen project. 

Crime Prevention Corner