BNSHS Newsletter June 24th 2020

From the Principal's office

Term 2 has probably been one of the most unusual terms in the history of Queensland education with a combination of home based and face to face learning taking place under ever-changing conditions.  I sincerely want to thank all our parents and carers again for their commitment and cooperation with providing support to the learning process for students.  As the term comes to an end students have been taking part in assessment that will provide some indication of student progress.  While the End of Semester Report that will be issued in Week 3 of Term 3 will be modified to reflect Term 2, I do encourage all parents to take part in Progress Conferences with teachers to discuss individual results.  You will be receiving information about booking times for Progress Conferences and we are yet to know whether these can be conducted face to face or by phone.  We will provide details of this when we can but I do encourage you to talk to your child’s teachers.

Last week the Bundaberg District Secondary School Sport committee met to discuss Semester 2 interschool sport options.  There is a proposal that some interschool sports begin in Week 4 of Term 3 pending the COVID guidelines allowing this to occur.  There will be restrictions placed on operational procedures regarding hygiene and social distancing along with restricting spectators attending.  More information will be out shortly when we receive the latest term 3 operating guidelines from the Department of Education.   A number of state championships including Athletics have been cancelled and therefore the district and regional championships have also been cancelled.  The Rowing Head of the River regatta has also been cancelled.  This sounds a rather glum outcome for our sporting athletes but we are hoping to be able to provide some interschool sport next term.

If you have had opportunity to drive along Barber Street you will have seen that construction has begun for the extension of Q Block for our FlexiSpace program.  The FlexiSpace program provides support to a number of identified Year 8 students for a 6 month program.  Our first group of Year 8 students from Semester 1 will be completing their program this week and moving to a new phase of support.  The FlexiSpace building will have a flexible learning space, small break out rooms, a meeting room for external providers eg psychologists, counsellors and also an outdoor eating area.  The project is due for completion at the end of Term 3. 

Each year schools complete a School Opinion Survey with students, staff and parents.  This year due to COVID 19, the survey is a shortened pulse survey that will ask questions about the COVID 19 experience you had and also general questions about our school.  Could you please take the time to complete the survey online as the more parents that complete this the more accurate results are achieved and the data assists with future planning for our school.  
I wish all students and their families a safe and enjoyable holiday break and look forward to returning to Semester 2.

School Opinion Survey

Parents and Caregivers are invited to participate in this year’s School Opinion Survey and have a say about schooling during the COVID-19 lockdown.  You are also given the opportunity to provide feedback about our school more generally.
Participation in the survey is anonymous and you are encouraged to take this opportunity to have your say.  The survey form has been designed so that it can easily be completed on a computer or smartphone. The online survey will be available until Friday, 17 July 2020, and should take less than five minutes to complete. 
To access the survey, please click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser:
Please contact the school if you have any questions about the survey.

BYOD - Device connection assistance

Bundaberg North State High School is committed to maximising the use of current and emerging technologies within our classrooms to provide positive learning and educational benefits for our students. Innovation and technological skills are what separate students who are prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments in today’s world and those who are not. 
Our goal for the program is that students use these devices as a tool in every class to support key processes in learning - accessing, organizing, processing and publishing information, collaboration, creativity and communication, and for teachers to use them as an environment to facilitate deeper engagement in learning and higher-ordering thinking.
If your student is requiring assistance to connect their device to the network our school technician, Mr Spratling, is available each lunch time in Q01 from 1:15 – 1:45. 
If your student is having trouble with using classroom software their teacher should be the first point of call and is available to assist with this. Remember that Microsoft Office 365 is available for download for all students and is available from our school website.    

Support for students
At Bundaberg North State High School we pride ourselves on supporting the whole child. The support for students begins at the foundational level with the classroom teacher. When a parent has concerns in regards to a student’s education the best starting point is the classroom teacher who can then assist in referring the Student Support Service Team if required. Our best tool for supporting your student is open communication between the student, the classroom teacher and you the caregiver. 

Term 3 timetables
Term 3 timetables will be emailed out to students in the first week of the school holidays. Any student who has concerns with their timetable is to email Mrs Arnold barno32@eq.edu.au so that she can assist them. 

News from the library

How did our sports house names originate?
WALLA                 MONDURAN             TIRROAN                     MABBRO
Did you know…?   Walla wears yellow nowadays, but originally our colour was BLACK!
In RAS recently, we were asked to consider creating a logo for our house team, Walla.  
Recalling the old school magazines that I had recently re-organised in the library, it was interesting to read this item to the students from the VERY FIRST ‘Tjuringa’ magazine printed the in the foundation year of North High – 1974.

Registering for the Student Portal

For students completing Year 12 from 2020, the Student Portal delivers all your learning information in one place. You can check your personal details, access your learning account, get your final Year 12 results and more. This is particularly important for students needing to track their Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) points from multiple learning providers. 
To register, students should go to the QCAA website, go to the MyQCE page, and register for the Student Portal using their LUI number. This number can be found on the student’s OneSchool page, or contact the school.

The MyQCE page also has helpful tips on preparing for assessment and planning your future pathways.

Enrolling Year 7 students for 2021

EXPRESS Enrolment - Year 7 in 2021

Dessert is the business!

Every year the year 10 business class participates in a business venture, teaching life skills such as organisation, research and the preparation and delivery of quality products to customers. This year the students, after receiving approval for the red food event, decided to prepare a mud cake dessert for the teachers, and chocolate log cake for the students of North.  Including cream, strawberries and chocolate shavings, the dessert was a delicious treat.

Short story

The new North High school shorts have finally arrived and are available at Lowes, Stockland.   Due to COVID-19, the production and delivery of the new shorts was delayed and we thank you for your patience as we have waited their arrival. Students who have been wearing alternate shorts should now purchase new shorts ready for term 3.  Please also ensure that student have black school jumpers.  Use the holidays to obtain the correct school uniform items ready for term 3.  

We are currently looking at adding a school jacket, track pants and a new jumper design for the future.  We will be conducting some surveys to gain student opinion.  

Robyn Kent 

PRINCIPAL

All parents & visitors to A block

Building solid futures

As part of the Year 12 Building and Construction course, students have been creating internal walls. They have constructed the framing, created window jambs, hung plaster board and they are currently learning how to plaster.  These are valuable skills for students to take with them and for some it may assist in their career path. 

When will sport resume?

This is a question we are hearing many times.  State schools are still awaiting confirmation from the Department of Education about the resumption of school sport.  There is yet to be a final confirmation that the season will go ahead.  BDSSS are however preparing for the season with the ‘hope’ that it will be given a green light.  If it is allowed to proceed Winter sport will commence Wednesday of week 4, term 3. 
North will be asking students to ‘sign on’ to sports sporadically to avoid large gatherings. 
Netball and Football will be first to begin sign on commencing Wednesday 24/6 during big lunch. (this is on student notices).
Sport teams can only enter the season should we have a coach for that team.  Sports include Netball, Football, Hockey, Table tennis, 10 pin bowling, Basketball.  As venues will be restricted to a limited number of people, players will need to play and leave venues  as soon as possible. NO SPECTATORS are allowed, so parents will need to remain outside all venues. 

Mr Watton's wonderful woodworkers

Lost property

Our lost property area is overflowing with items that have not been claimed by students.  There are a large number of good quality uniform items such as jumpers, shoes and hats which I am sure parents would love to have returned to their student.  If your child is missing any items, including lunch containers, pencil cases, sweaters etc please ask them to come to G block student hub to reclaim their items.  All unclaimed goods at the end of term will be donated to charity.

Office notes

Schools require medical authorisation to administer any medication to students (including over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol or alternative medicines). 

To have the school administer medication to your student:

• the parent/carer must complete 'administration of medication' form and provide in-date medication in the original pharmacy labelled container
• the medication container must have a valid pharmacy label which includes the name of the prescribing health practitioner to confirm that it is prescription medication
• the student has previously received a dose at home without ill effect prior to the school administering the medication
• the pharmacy label instructions match the instructions on the administration of medication form.

We appreciate you working with us to ensure we are taking the best care with your student.

Important dates

Community noticeboard

To support you to quit smoking through the pandemic period, all Queensland residents who smoke will now have access to a program that combines a quit smoking program with a FREE 12-week supply of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (patches, gum, lozenges). To join, call Quitline on 13 QUIT (13 7848) or complete the Request a Quitline call form below to receive a call back.

Love Bites

Young people are invited to sign up for a day of powerful insight and learning through the Respectful Relationships program Love Bites.
This will be held between 9am and 2pm, June 29 (which is during school holidays), at headspace.
This program is free for young people, aged around 15 to 17 years, and a lunch will be provided.
Trained facilitators will step through the units and reflect on relationships, abuse and how to look out for each other. 
Please RSVP to headspace at 4152 3931 as there are limited places.