BNSHS Newsletter 12 December 2024

From the Principal's Office

It is hard to believe another year is drawing to a close. 2024 has been another great year for Bundaberg North SHS, with many achievements across the year in many different areas of the school in addition to our 50^th year celebrations. It has been my honour to lead this school for this semester, working with staff, students, P&C and School Council to develop our Strategic Plan for 2025-2028. As I have shared in earlier newsletters, we are focusing on 3 priorities across these years and have already made great inroads to be on the right track. Across this year, our school data has improved with A-C achievements increasing, to our suspensions and behaviour incidents decreasing and the staff morale close to doubling in the annual School Opinion Survey data we have been working hard to reflect and refine our processes and are seeing the dividends in our work. I will step back to my role as Deputy Principal for next year and look forward to working within the Executive Team to continue on our positive trajectory. 

Outgoing Staff

As expected, each year, we have some staff changes occurring over this break. We wish the following staff well in the future endeavours as the move on and thank them for their contribution to Bundaberg North SHS:

Incoming Staff

In addition to Principal Craig Martin, joining us, we have two new teachers starting in 2025: Ms Melissa Lawson and Mr Jason English who will both have Humanities and English classes. Last week I also had the pleasure of officially welcoming Mrs Lisa Crosby permanently onto our staff as she won the permanent Teacher Aide – Resource Centre (Library) position. Next January we will also have Jay Thomas commencing his permanent position as Schools Facilities Officer.

Ms Tammy McGregor will also be returning to the school after several years on leave with young children.

Finally, I would like to wish all our families, staff and students the happiest of holidays and hope that you all get to spend some quality time with your families and friends.

Natalie Brandon, Principal 

Senior Results

Yesterday the year 12 results were released by QCAA and it is my pleasure to report that we have achieved 92% QCE and 100% QCIA for 2024. The ATAR results will be released to students on Friday of this week. We have everything crossed for our ATAR eligible students for them to receive ATARs which match their hard work and commitment to their studies over this year.

Transition

Two weeks ago, we welcomed our potential Year 6 students to experience high school life. Mrs Thornton, HOD Junior Secondary together with the year 7 team of Mr Holt, Ms Samuels, Mrs Watson organised an excellent Year 6 to 7 transition program and this was implemented with the enthusiastic support of our teachers. Students enjoyed participating in a variety of interesting subject activities. Year 7 is a very important start to secondary schooling and our school does all it can to ensure students have a rewarding and productive learning experience. We certainly look forward to getting to know these young people better in 2025 with the expected numbers of year 7 likely to be the highest we have had for several years.

Preparation for 2025

Preparation for 2025 is well underway with Departments across the school. Much of these last few weeks is dedicated to planning and preparation of class work for next year. This is especially the case for 2025 with the newly reviewed General subject syllabus being introduced to Year 11 classes next year and Applied subjects’ reviewed programs rolling into year 12. Both of these require revision, alteration and review of teaching strategies and assessment. In the Junior space, there are many faculties bringing in the new version 9 curriculum which also requires adjustments to units and assessment. This is in addition to the new subjects on offer next year including Agricultural Practices into Year 11, and a broader range of electives in years 9 and 10. 

First day of school

In 2025 ALL students will commence school on the same day – Tuesday 28 January. Students will start the day with a Year Level assembly before moving off to their RAS rooms. We will hold a full school parade later in the morning.  

Uniform

As a Uniform school, all students are expected in the correct school uniform from day 1. Our uniforms can be purchased from Shawline Embroidery on Walker St across this holiday period. The Year 11 and 12 students also need to purchase a formal uniform as it is expected that it is warn at least once per week.  

Stationery Lists

All students are expected to come to school with a minimum set of books and stationery each day. The year level specific Stationery Lists are available on the school website and has been emailed out to parents / carer this week as well. If you are having difficulty in obtaining all the items, Catholic Care are again running their School Savvy program from the Recreational Grounds in January and offer a small number of uniforms but lots of stationery at a very reduced price for those families who need some assistance.

Year 13 – Link & Launch Officer available to help

Students and families are reminded they have access to Kylie Sauer, our Link and Launch Officer across 2024 to assist them into employment or further training should the need arise. All students were given a ‘goodies bag’ in their last week at school which had contact details for Kylie. However, Kylie will be making contact with all our year 12s to ensure they are travelling okay early in the new year.

Kylie Sauer mobile: 0460 734760 email: ksaue14@eq.edu.au

Senior Students in 2025

At the commencement of 2025, all students in years 11 and 12 will be asked to read and sign their Senior Agreement – Attached below. This agreement outlines the expectations of students in these post-compulsory years of school including the requirements:

• Attendance of at least 90%
• Good work ethic (shown as “Satisfactory” or better for effort in all subjects on report cards)
• Acceptable standard of behaviour and cooperation (shown by “Satisfactory” or better for behaviour in all subjects)
• Compliance with school policies and procedures including Student Dress Code and Mobile Phone policy

Whilst the agreement outlines the implications if a student is not upholding the expectations, it should be noted, we support students to engage in their schooling to the best of their ability and guide and assist the students to remain on track across the two years through Senior Coaching.  We work with students to ensure they are exposed to a range of career and employment pathways whether that be further study, a trade or employment and to have an accurate understanding of work expectations and requirements. The Senior Agreement is simply a mechanism to help ‘train’ students about realistic work expectations.

The Watson Report

Dux Calculation

Over the past few weeks, I have been working with other staff to review our process for calculating Dux at Bundaberg North SHS. We reviewed information from Bundaberg high schools, as well as other Queensland schools, about how they calculate Dux and the time of year it is determined. We have now decided our process starting from 2025, which is stated below. If you have any questions about the process, please contact me by email or phone.

At Bundaberg North SHS year level Dux is presented to the student with the highest marks achieved for that year level, up to the end of semester 1, based on semester 1 reporting. In year 11 the calculation of Dux is based on students’ top 5 general subjects using semester 1 reporting with applied subjects not considered. If results are close, the most recent term 3 results would also be accessed.

Year 12 Dux is presented to the student with the highest marks achieved for year 12 up to the end of term 3 (includes IA1, IA2, IA3) of students’ top five general subjects based on Track Ed cumulative percentages. Applied subjects are not considered.

If year 11 and 12 results are close, Mathematical Methods will be considered a determining factor. Therefore, if two students both achieve the same percentage, one in General Mathematics and one in Mathematical Methods, the student studying Mathematical Methods will be awarded Dux.

Specialist Mathematics is considered an elective; therefore, no extra points or weighting will be applied for students who study this subject.

Year 12 Dux is announced before ATAR scores are released. Therefore, the Dux may not receive the highest ATAR but is currently the highest achieving student of the cohort.

Reward Days

This term we had two Reward Days! One on Friday 22 November year 10 and year 11 students, with students visiting Bundy Bowl for ten pin bowling and arcade games. Reward Day 2, was Tuesday 3 December, with year 7 - 9 students attending the trip to Norville Pool. It was a beautiful hot and sunny day with students enjoying the pools, waterslide and two huge inflatables! Excellent behaviour was demonstrated by all students at both events. Thank you students for a great finish to the North Rewards program! Some photos have been included below, with more available on our school Facebook page.

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Happy Holidays

Thank you to students for your commitment to learning this year and enthusiasm towards opportunities at North. Thank you to parents and carers for your ongoing support of your students to engage them with education. I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. I look forward to working with both students and parents/carers in 2024. Remember the first day back at school for students is Tuesday 28 January.

Rebecca Watson, Deputy Principal 

Junior Certificate of Education

In week 10 we celebrated our Junior Students as they exit year 9 and enter year 10, their first year of senior schooling. At the end of Year 9, students are issued with a Junior Certificate of Education (JCE). This is a school based junior schooling qualification awarded to eligible students on the completion of their junior phase of learning.

Congratulations to all students who were successful in attaining a JCE. Students who were absent from the presentation day are able to check their eligibility and collect their certificate from the school office.

Mick Findlay, Deputy Principal 

QParents in 2025 at BNSHS

QParents is all about making parents’ lives easier. QParents is a safe, private app to help parents and caregivers manage important details about their child’s education. Once you are registered, you can sign in securely and- Make payments online- Check your student’s timetable, assessment calendar and report cards- Inform the school of your student’s past or future absence- See upcoming events- View enrolment details- Update your contact details.

From 2025, the school will be asking all parents to submit their consent for excursions through QParents. Click the link below for more information or contact the school to arrange for your unique invitation code to start your registration process.

You can watch the introductory video at the link below to learn more about QParents and how it can work for you.

QPARENTS INTRODUCTORY VIDEO

Engagement through Technology

We would like to remind our school community about our commitment to enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes through the strategic use of technology. As part of our schools’ priorities in 2025, we are focusing on integrating digital tools and resources to support and enrich our students’ educational experiences.

To fully engage in technology opportunities, we encourage all year levels to participate in the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program for 2025. The school BYOD program allows students to bring their own devices to school, providing them with seamless access to digital learning resources both at school and at home.

For more information regarding minimum specifications, connecting to our school network and access to Office 365 please access our school website.

Thank you for your support in enhancing our students’ learning experiences.

The Resilience Project 2025

We are excited to announce the launch of The Resilience Project at our school, a significant step towards enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of our students, staff, and community.

What is The Resilience Project?

The Resilience Project is an evidence-based program designed to build resilience and improve mental health through the principles of Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness (GEM), and Emotional Literacy. These core values are integrated into our weekly RAS lessons to help students develop essential life skills.

Program Highlights

• Gratitude: Encouraging students to appreciate what they have and recognise the positive in their lives
• Empathy: Teaching student to understand and share the feelings of others, fostering a compassionate school community.
• Mindfulness: Helping students stay present and focused, reducing anxiety and improving concentration.
• Emotional Literacy: Enhancing students’ ability to identify, understand, and manage their emotions effectively.

Join Us on This Journey

We invite parents and carers to join us in supporting The Resilience Project. Together, we can create a resilient and positive school community. For more information about The Resilience Project, please visit The Resilience Project’s website.

4Planet Reefy 2024

As part of being a Reef Guardian school, a group of our students participated in this year’s 4planet Reefy Participation Program, where we spent a lunch break cleaning up some of the litter around our school oval. This helps prevent this rubbish, especially the plastic, from ending up in the Great Barrier Reef and its supporting environments. To help prevent litter ending up on our oval, students can use the bins around the school for their rubbish, or even look for options to reduce the single use plastic they use by avoiding convenience, pre-packaged food (individual chip packets, tiny teddies, muesli bars, etc.) in favour of bulk-buys that they can split into re-usable containers over a number of days or weeks, and using re-usable alternatives (beeswax wraps or containers) instead of single use plastic like cling wrap or clip-seal bags. This also saves money over time.

Thank you to the students who helped make our school grounds less trashy. Each participating student received a “Reefy” Buff.

Tracy Roberts, Teacher 

P&C News

P&C ask for your uniform donations

My name is Shelly Hansen.  I am the President of the BNSHS P&C Association and I am seeking your help.  Sadly, there are students at our school whose families are not able to provide them with a uniform.  I would like to ask for your assistance by donating any items of North High uniform that your children no longer need.  The P&C try to support all requests for assistance but with your help we may be able to extend that support further.  

All uniform donations are greatly appreciated, and we thank you for the continued support of our school.  

Thank you for your help, Shelly Hansen, P&C President

Callout for volunteers

Can you volunteer some time either at home or in tuckshop?

We have some jobs for the tuckshop that could be completed at home such as cutting foil into squares, cutting burger paper (baking paper), putting labels on bags and more.

We also need assistance in our tuckshop. This can be a background position (not student facing). The jobs could include washing up, stocking fridges/ice cream freezer/spoons and helping with food preparation (cutting salads/fruit).

The main days needed are Tuesday and Thursday from 8am-12noon, but any amount of time from 1 to 4 hours would be extremely helpful.

We can also sign off on your Centrelink, work/volunteer forms.

If you think you could spare some time, please contact us via email – pandc@bundabergnorthshs.eq.edu.au

Shelly Hansen, P&C President 

Stymie - #saysomething

What does Stymie do for young people?

Of every 30 young people in Australia seven will be dealing with a mental health issue, yet only two will reach out for support. Stymie works with you to give the young people you are working with, the power to say something or ask for help. We are an early intervention initiative that changes and saves lives.

Stymie empowers young people to ask for help when they need support, or if they are seeing or experiencing harm.

Stymie provides online reporting for schools. Encrypted, anonymous notifications are delivered within seconds to authorised recipients, who respond according to their wellbeing framework. The notification provides the option to include screenshots or images that validate the notification.

Being able to anonymously report, relieves feelings of helplessness for those who want to help their peers but don’t quite know how. Our purpose is to support you in creating an environment where harm can be minimised and effective action can be maximised.

Stymie can be used by anybody. It does not have to be a student at our school. The link to make a notification is on the school website front page

Containers for Change program

Bundaberg North SHS supports the Containers for Change program and raises money for student resources.  If you have empty bottles or cans and would like to donate them to North High we would be very grateful.   You can either bring them to school office and staff will give them to the Tuckshop or you can take them to one of the recycling depots and quote our school code – C10002160.  

Thank you for helping our school and the environment.

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