Woree Highlights Newsletter - End of Term 3, September 2023

From the Principal

Principal’s Report – Term 3 Week 10

Dear Parents and Carers,

Here we are again at the end of another term and the year is three quarters finished.  I’d like to say a special thank you to Mrs Alicia Smith who stepped into the Acting Principal position for the first half of Term 3.  It is comforting to know we have such a capable executive team at Woree SHS who can keep the school motoring along in my absence.

The second half of the term has been a time to celebrate and showcase the wonderful talent of the students and staff of Woree SHS.

Year 12 Formal

On Thursday August 31^st we celebrated the Year 12 Formal.  It was a spectacular evening and it is fair to say we have never had a more elegant group of Year 12s attending a formal.  The evening was a fantastic celebration and culminating event for our Year 12s who will shortly be finishing their school journey.  Thank you to Ms Melissa D’Arcy, Year 12 Coordinator for her detailed organisation of what was a really perfect night.

Arts and IT Showcase

The Arts and IT Showcase was held on Thursday 7 September in our G Block Gallery and Q Block Theatre.  The art works on display in our gallery this year were outstanding, with an increasing depth of talent on show.  The IT Department also increased their display with even more interactive games to play, all having been created by Woree SHS students.

Our Year 11 Hospitality students, supported by Ms Chantal Bennett, ensured that everyone in attendance was well fed with delicious canapes.

The evening was completed by our Performing Arts students showcasing their musical and theatrical talents in Q3. We had performances from our Concert Band and music students before being entertained by our Year 8 clowns and just a taste of our 2023 Drama Club production of Romeo and Juliet.

Some of our very talented Year 10 – 12 students have also submitted their work into the annual ENERGY Exhibition currently on show at the Tanks Arts Centre in Edge Hill and will run for the duration of the school holidays.  I encourage you to call into the Tanks over the holidays to see the amazing depth of artistic talent that FNQ high school students have on display.

Year 8 and 11 Camps

During Week 10 our Year 11 students participated in their Leadership Camp and our Year 8s have been at their adventure camp.  Both of these camps have been thoroughly enjoyed by the students and staff who attended.  Thank you to Ms Keirle for organising the Year 11 Leadership Camp and Ms Maxwell for organising the Year 8 camp.

New Mobile Phone Policy – Away for the Day

Thank you to the parents and carers that participated in completing our Mobile Phone Survey at the end of Term 2.  During the mid-year vacation the Minister for Education announced that new mobile phone restrictions will apply to all Queensland State Schools from 2024.  All mobile phones will need to be “Away for the Day” meaning that students will not be permitted to use their phones at school during the day, including during class time and the lunch breaks.

We have decided to commence the implementation of the “Away for the Day” policy from the start of Term 4 this year to avoid any additional issues that could impact on our smooth start to the year in 2024.

We have been talking with students about what the new requirements are and what the consequences will be for not following the new mobile phone policy.

Students that require access to their phone or smart watches as a health and safety measure due to a disability or health concern will be supported to continue to have the necessary access.  If this impacts your child, please ensure they speak to their relevant DP or HOD to arrange the adjustment they need.  For Junior Secondary, contact Mr Starr or Mr Ryan . For Senior Secondary, contact Mr Toohey or Mr Wright.

I have sent a separate email to all parents and carers with a registered email address with more information about this new policy.

Staffing Update

This term we celebrated Teacher Aide Appreciation Week during Week 8.  We are blessed at Woree to have the most amazing, hard-working, caring and committed Teacher Aides who always go above and beyond to support our students and staff.  Thank you to Rosie Amarille, Jeremy Anderson, Jackie Bailey, Gaynor Berry, Moira Blackman, Rhiannon Casey-Cox, Lenny Fraser, Julie Joinbee, Roseanne Leighton, Shikiko Matsumoto, Kasey McFarlane, Sarina McInnes, Laurel McMahon, Kyoko Nagatablack, Sabrina Patterson, Sharon Samuels, Kathy Schutte, Dora Simpson, Greg Spencer, Rikki Virgo, Mark Wearmouth.

During Term 2 we also celebrated School Support Staff Recognition Week.  We nominated our Business Manager, Mrs Kelly Metcalf for an award in recognition of the outstanding job she has done at Woree SHS and she won the state wide Support Worker of the Year Award.

At the end of this term we say farewell to:

• Mrs Jemma Collins, HOD Maths. Jemma will be taking some long service leave before she commences maternity leave.  Jemma will be focusing on her family for the next couple of years but we are hopeful that we will welcome her back to Woree SHS in the not-too-distant future.  We wish Jemma all the best for her new arrival in January.
• Mr Chris Baksch joined us earlier this year as a Clontarf Mentor and he will finish at the end of the term. Chris is moving into his own business and we wish him every success with his new venture.
• Mr James Henry has been with us for the past two years as a Clontarf Mentor and he will finish at the end of Week 1, Term 4. James will be transferring his skills to working for another Queensland Government Department.  We wish him all the best for his new work.

Facilities Updates

Each holiday we plan facilities updates so as not to interrupt teaching and learning during the term.  The following facilities work is scheduled to occur in our upcoming break:

• Renovations to J02 to create the Stronga Sistas’ club room
• External painting of C Block
• Bi-annual gutter cleaning across the whole school
• Window replacements in M Block
• General repairs in D, C, P and K Block
• Air conditioner replacements in P Block
• Annual Pest Control Treatment

I wish you all the very best for an enjoyable two week break and we look forward to seeing all of our students back at school on Tuesday 3 October.  Don’t forget we have the King’s Birthday public holiday on Monday 2 October so school is closed that day.

Regards

Kathryn Todd
Principal

Good News Stories

Sometimes Good News Stories happen outside of school. If you have a Woree related story including photos you would like to share in the newsletter, please make sure you get in touch with Ms Paterson in Q Block staffroom, or email her at spate65@eq.edu.au

Editor

Business Manager Rises to the Top

Business Manager Rises to the Top

Congratulations to Kelly Metcalf (Woree SHS Business Manager) for receiving the School Support Worker of the Year Award which is part of School Support Staff Recognition Week.

Mrs Kathryn Todd

Principal, Woree SHS

A New Apprentice Diesel Fitter for Cairns

Congratulations to Year 11 SchoolTech student Rhys, who has recently been signed on as a School-Based Apprentice with Russo and Vella Machinery.

Rhys has been on work experience for this company during all of Semester 1 whilst studying Year 11 and his hard work has paid off. He is now well on his way to a great career in the diesel fitting trade. Well done Rhys.

Mrs Tracey Wilson

Vocational Education and Training Coordinator

Top Marketing for SchoolTech

Jeremy Excels in Promoting his Workplace

Former SchoolTech student, Jeremy, was at the Business Liaison Association Careers Market recently, where he was there promoting his workplace and the fantastic opportunities for young people at Cairns Regional Council. It is always fantastic to see our SchoolTech students succeeding in their careers.

Mrs Carmel Iivonen

HOD, SchoolTech

Swimming and Winning

Year 10 student Kito, recently competed at the School Sports Australia Swimming Championships held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. Kito strived to do his best and was successful in the following events:

15-16yr Boys 200m Backstroke - Silver Medal (Personal Best time)

15-16yr Boys 100m Backstroke - Silver Medal (Personal Best time)

15-16yr Boys 50m Backstroke - 4th (Personal Best), just missed Bronze with a small margin of 0.01sec

15-16yr Boys 400m Individual Medley - 4th (Personal Best) 

This is Kito’s first school national races, and he is very happy with his results as all of them ended up with PBs and 2 Silver medals! Kito would like to thank Woree SHS for the support and understanding in helping him to reach his swimming goals.

Congratulations Kito on your excellent swimming, your family and school are very proud of you.

Editor

Junior Secondary

Safety Around Trains

This term, Year 7 and 8 students attended a presentation from Queensland Rail about the importance of rail safety.

Students heard about how fast trains can go and how long it takes a train to slow down. We were also reminded of the importance of safety around cane trains. Students also got see the impact of an electric current that went through a shoe.

Ms Brooke Byars

Year 7 Coordinator, Humanities Teacher

Year 6 into 7 Transition Day

Year Coordinators Reports

Year 11

Year 11 students Lateefah and Karina were lucky enough to be a part of the So Brave Youth Health Summit for 2023.

On Friday September 8, Karina and Lateefah travelled with Mrs Keirle to Crystal Brook Resort to attend a conference on youth health issues. The focus of the morning session was around breast health in young women, how to develop health literacy and how to be an advocate for themselves and other females in their lives. This has provided a valuable resource for the girls to share with their friends and family.

After a quick break we started some work around developing emotional intelligence. This was uncomfortable work and forced all three of us out of our comfort zones but taught us the valuable lesson of laughter and how to recognise and regulate our emotions. We have come away from the day with a better understanding of the importance of health, how to monitor our own health and how the power of laughter can boost our immune system and mood.

Thank you to both the girls for being wonderful human beings and joining me in this learning experience.

Ms Jodie Keirle

Year 11 Coordinator

School Events and Special Days

Wear it Purple Day

On Friday 25 August, we celebrated Wear it Purple Day. Wear it Purple began in 2010 and has since developed into an international movement that aims to promote support and acceptance of LGBTIQ+ young people in schools and workplaces. It is reported that 66% of LGBTIQA+ youth in Australia still experience bullying based on their identity. Wear it Purple aims to advocate for and empower rainbow young people, celebrate and promote the value of diversity and inclusion in all community settings, raise awareness about sexuality, sex and gender identity and challenge harmful social cultures, and champion rainbow role-models to help young people establish the confidence to be who they are. This year’s theme was ‘Write Your Story’. Students celebrated with a purple themed breakfast, purple outfits, rainbow face paint and purple nail polish, a positivity wall and some free giveaways!

More information available at:

https://www.wearitpurple.org/

https://www.minus18.org.au/

https://yeti.net.au/programs/ssay-it/

Ms Phebe Moore

Guidance Officer, Woree SHS

Welcoming our Friends from Japan

Woree State High School was once again visited by students from Japan. Our visiting group were from Chiba Keiai Senior High School, which is a private senior high school in Yotsukaidō, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Woree students were buddied up with our visiting Japanese students. 

The visiting students got to experience a wide range of activities over their two-day visit including playing sport with our recreation studies students, Aboriginal art with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies students and Media Arts students, a culture quiz with the tourism students to test their knowledge of both Japanese and Australian icons. They got to learn some formal dancing with the Year 12 students who were preparing their dancing skills in readiness for their formal. We also had lots of fun and games activities with their Woree buddies. 

One of the highlights of the visit was the Sayonara party where students made fairy bread, ate Tim Tams and of course the chance to sample Vegemite! The visiting teachers and tour guides were impressed with the well organised program and lessons, friendly students and welcoming attitude of all at Woree.
The Year 9 students are now looking forward to Week 3, Term 4 where they will be the buddies for Hanazono High School who have been regular visitors to Woree for many years.

A huge thank you to the organising staff and teachers who made the experience so memorable: - Mrs Beggs, Mrs Moseley, Mrs Blackman, Ms Crothers, Mrs Byars, Mr Ballantine, Mr Edwards and Mr Wright.

Mrs Gail Beggs
Humanities Teacher

Year 12 Formal - 31 August 2023

If you thought Formal talk was over for 2023, you’d be wrong. Smart, elegant fancy cars arriving in the drop off zone at the Hilton Hotel, tuxes, suits, voluminous and sleek gowns were certainly aplenty on the night but we also saw our Seniors shine in dazzling jewellery with colourful gemstones, shoes and handbags of the season. Blending style with purpose our Year 12s also flaunted feathers, sparkles and pearls whilst men jazzed up their suits with brooches, necklaces, colourful pocket squares and vests. Attendees laughed, ate and danced the night away creating long term memories of what would be the culmination of their Senior years.

NOTE: In Term 4, we will publish a separate feature newsletter on the Year 12 Formal where we will share photos and short stories from the evening.

Editor

Digital Technologies & The Arts

THE ARTS/IT SHOWCASE - 2023

In Week 9 on 7September, Woree State High School held our Arts/IT Showcase. This was a celebration of Woree’s many talented students and their creative works, projects and performances they worked on this year.

The evening began in the Woree SHS art gallery and art courtyard where the visual and digital artwork was on display. On display was a number of projects from the IT and Digital Technology subjects including VR miniature golf with a custom designed and 3D printed golf putter, virtual VR ice world and a scary first-person computer game all coded and designed by students.

While parents were enjoying the display, they were waited on by Woree SHS Year 11 Hospitality students under the mentorship of Head of Department INTAD Ms Chantal Bennett. Guests were treated with an array of delicious canapes made by the students. This year also had the Student Council selling non-alcoholic drinks to fundraise for their many causes around the school.

As is the tradition for this event, at the halfway point of the evening, parents were encouraged to find a seat in Woree’s black box theatre to be entertained by musical and dramatic performances. This year included Woree’s Concert Band, Strings Instrumental Music students, Senior Music in Practice students, and Year 9 Drama students. The night ended with a preview of the planned end of year production of Romeo and Juliet, exciting steampunk reimagining of the classic love story. Other highlights included a rotoscope animation by Digital Media students that combined hundreds of hand drawn frames by the students to create a 3-minute music video masterpiece.  

Special thanks to Chantal Bennett and her students for catering the event. Thanks too to the Visual Arts, Media Arts, IT, Drama, Music, Instrumental Music teachers, staff and students who spent many extra hours making sure the night ran smoothly to celebrate the great creativity of Woree State High School students.  

Mr Rob Davies

HOD, Arts/Digital Technologies

Showcase Highlights

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Romeo and Juliet Progressing Nicely

The 2023 full-school production of Romeo and Juliet is coming along nicely. We performed the Prologue and the Ballroom scenes at the Arts/IT Showcase in Week 9. It was delightful to see the costumes glittering under the brand-new lights. The students have been working very hard in their rehearsals, learning lines, memorising stage positions and discussing their characters and their relationships. Some very good character work has been done by the students.

Costuming continues to be the biggest job at the moment. Colour, texture and design are all being used to show the audience to which family each character belongs.

The set construction is looking very exciting, boasting enormous amounts of detail and storytelling. The Realism aspect of this play is well and truly being met, by the exceptional skills of our team.

Tickets are now on sale. See the QR code and follow the link.

Engagement Programs

Oz Harvest – A Great Supporter of the Woree Breakfast Club

Oz Harvest have been donating foodstuffs to our school since 2006.  Initially sourced through our school chaplaincy program, the student support services and engagement teams continue to use the produce to enhance our breakfast and lunch programs, which provide healthy options for our students.

Michelle Edwards

Youth Support Coordinator / Wellness Coordinator

EEL News

The Engage, Empower, Learn group have planted 12 trees along the fence line adjacent to the old Woree Drive In. We planted citrus trees including dwarf mandarin, lime and lemon trees. We also planted tropical fruit trees including miracle fruit, rambutan, sour sop, jackfruit, peanut butter tree, mulberry tree, bush lemon and native gardenia. These trees will be at Woree SHS for many years to come so our Woree school community can enjoy the fruits of our labour. 

Jodi Shepherd

Teacher - Engagement Team 

Greenery for Woree SHS Grounds

Pro Gardening Tips for Year 8 Students

Year 8 Engage, Empower, Learn had a visit from Sarah from Cairns Regional Council's Greener Spaces program. Students learned how to make wicking beds, which is a type of bed that water plants from below rather than above. This is an alternative style of bed which has less maintenance and takes up much less room than a normal garden bed. Sarah also gave us some ideas on how we can transform our current veggie patch to a more productive market garden. Watch this space! 

Jodi Shepherd

Teacher - Engagement Team

English

YEAR 8

Escape Challenge

This term the Year 8 APEX English class completed an escape room challenge. The aim of the escape room was to apply the knowledge of different skills learned from this term's narrative writing unit. Students had an hour to 'escape' and find the hidden padlock.  Some of the challenges included matching definitions, rewriting sentences, annotating a short story, a physical challenge, kahoot and a find a word that included a hidden message. It was a tight race to the end however Jordan, Janish, Luca and Eli were the first to find the hidden padlock!

Jodi Shepherd

Teacher, Engagement Team 

Creative Writing

The end goal for the narrative writing unit was for students to write their own children's book. Students could choose whether they wanted to write a fiction story or a non-fiction book. Some students wrote about cultural ceremony's while others wrote spooky stories suitable for an upper primary audience. Here is what some of the students had to say:

Lachlan H and Peter D - Authors and illustrators of The Two Balas.

"We both came up with the idea, we combined Peter's knowledge of the Torres Straits and my knowledge of living in Lockhart River. We wanted to write the story about fishing in the sea, so people are aware of some of the dangers of fishing and sharks taking your catch”. 

Santi Mosby - Author and illustrator of Iama (Yam) Island 

"I was inspired by the stories my mum told me about the warrior (King Kebisu) on the island. I got help with the pictures for my story from Ms Geyle, Mr Jeremy, Ms Shepherd and James from Clontarf." 

Jessie Miskin - Author and illustrator of Shaving Party

"I came up with the idea for this story as I was at a shaving party the night before we started our assignment. My teacher Ms Shepherd helped me brainstorm how I was going to deliver it. I decided to write a story for young Torres Strait Islanders from my Athe's perspective. I wrote the book in English and also translated some important words to my home language to educate others. I also illustrated all the pictures in the book."

Jodi Shepherd

Teacher - Engagement Team 

Photo 1 - Iami Island by Santi.

Photo 2 - Shaving Party by Jessie.

Photo 3 - The Two Balas by Lachlan and Peter.

Home Economics/INTAD

Dragster Racing at T Block

This term students designed and built a Co2 racer. Students used their imagination and research to imitate their favourite vehicles such as land speed racers. Novelty designs included a goose, banana, and Venator (Star Wars destroyer class ship). Many students spent hours on customised paint jobs. On race day, Co2 soda bulbs propelled the cars down the track two at a time. Well Done Dylan P for winning the Grand Final, closely followed by Leo R.

Ramon Affleck

Industrial Technology & Design Teacher

Hot Racing Models

HPE / Sports

JUNIOR SECONDARY SPORT (JSS)
The Woree Warriors have continued their strong form in the JSS competition, setting up an exciting finish to the regular season as all teams push for finals contention.

Woree next take on Saint Augustine’s/Saint Monica’s in Week 2, Term 4, before meeting Cairns SHS in the last game of the season in Week 3. Depending on results, some of our teams will be competing in the finals series over Weeks 4-6 in a bid to bring home some silverware! Up the Wahs!

RUGBY LEAGUE
In very exciting news, The Woree Warriors were crowned ‘Overall School Aggregate Champions’ at the FNQ 9’s Competition, held at Brothers Rugby League over 4 separate days in Weeks 6 and 8 of this term! Over 20 schools from around the region participated in this event which makes our overall achievements extremely commendable.   All boys and girls prepared extremely well in the lead up to the event and deserve every bit of recognition that comes their way. Well done to all players and coaching staff.

The Year 7/8 Schoolboys team are currently undefeated in a local 13 a side competition against Gordonvale, Yarrabah, Djarragun & Cairns SHS. Excitingly, they have qualified for the Grand Final, to be played against Gordonvale on Wednesday the 11 October. Best of luck, boys!

The Year 7/8 + Year 9/10 Schoolgirls heats up early next term with a ‘City Vs Country’ best of 3 series against Mareeba SHS. This ‘State of Origin’ style format is an exciting opportunity for our girls to showcase their skills and continue developing their Rugby League P.R.I.D.E values.

For the boys, the annual Bentley 7’s Competition takes place on Friday the 27 October (end of Week 4). This is for under 14 boys (born 2009/2010) & under 16 boys (born 2007/2008). Trials will be happening in Weeks 1 & 2 next term and teams will be announced on Friday 13 October. Stay tuned! 

SPORTING SPOTLIGHT

STAFF vs YEAR 12 – ANNUAL ‘SENIORS SHIELD’

Potentially one of the biggest sporting events on the calendar, the Woree community got to witness the annual ‘Seniors Shield’ – a best of 5 sports competition played between our staff and our Year 12 students. These fixtures were played at lunchtimes over a number of weeks, where in true Warrior spirit – a decider was needed to crown the champions. With their backs up against the wall after going down 2-0 in the first two games, the teachers (once again) were able to model true grit and resilience to take the next 3 games in a determined fashion, and with that the inaugural ‘Seniors Shield’. Despite a courageous and valiant effort by our students, they leave us knowing full well who gets to the teach the lessons round here… 😉

UPCOMING SPORTING EVENTS

The first few weeks of Term 4 at Woree is to be busy in sport, a snapshot below!
For any information regarding sport, please contact Sam Harreman (Sports Coordinator) sharr446@eq.edu

Yours in Sport

Mr Harreman and the HPE team! Go Warriors!  

HEALTH

Year 11 Cert II in Health

The students this term have been involved in another assessment incursion at Bentley Park College Medical Precinct to finalise their practical assessments in infection control in a health setting. They started the assessment day with activities understanding the importance of infection control and the effectiveness of the 10 steps to effective hand washing. In the ward at the Bentley Park medical precinct, the students again demonstrated the correct use of PPE to clean different human and other spills.

Cert III Fitness

Assessment day for Certificate in III Fitness class, the students had to develop a fitness training program for younger grades at Woree SHS to participate in and develop their cardio-vascular fitness. The Year 9 HPE classes participated in these fitness classes which were voted by the Year 9 students as some of the best fitness fun that they have had all year.

HPE 

Year 7 - Students have engaged in learning about Health information with respect to drugs and alcohol and generated health campaigns with messages and warnings for high school students.

Year 8 – Students have engaged in the Daniel Morecombe unit around safety and identifying signs of danger in various situations and how to avoid these dangers.

Year 9 – Students have become aware of the many different hazards and risks in different situations and have learnt how to make calculated and positive risks in these situations, keeping themselves and others safe.

Year 10 Health - Students have just completed a unit studying how to improve their own health through fitness and exercise and then applying this to improve their performances in a selected sport. Students had to present their findings in a multimodal presentation to convince their teacher that the training exercises they have chosen will improve their performance.

 Year 11 REC - Students have just concluded delivering a strength and conditioning training program for a client and have now moved onto constructing a new competitive game to be played by junior HPE classes. The junior classes will vote on which is their favourite game.

Year 12 REC - Students have finalised their tournaments unit with Junior classes at Woree participating in the tournaments. Year 12 students are now concluding their studies by experiencing the various sports and physical activities found in the Cairns and Woree community.

Lauren Maxwell

HPE Teacher / Year 8 Coordinator

Humanities/Tourism/Business Studies

Geography – Investigating Cairns Esplanade

The sun was shining as our intrepid Year 8 Geographers undertook their field work for their recent Term 3 major assessment task. The Esplanade pulsed maroon as our Woree students completed their field notes and made their observations. A great day out for all.

Mr Michael Stephens

Geography Teacher

Library/Resource Centre

eBooks and Audio Books

Your student has been emailed their username and password to our eBook platform.

All students can access eBooks and Audio Books right across all school holidays.

eBooks can have their background tinted and the word space adjusted for those who have difficulty with language or text. The immersive reader will also read these books out loud.

If you want more information on this then contact Mrs Moseley in the library.

Book return dates for this year: Please mark these in your calendar: -

Year 12: 6 November (students can keep print books until after their exams)

Year 11: 13 November for books that are unit 1-4 (art, drama…) or if students are studying in an alternate sequence class (physics and PED)

Unit 1 & 2 books need to be returned as soon as Unit 3 & 4 is started

[NOTE: students will have access to Unit 3 & 4 books from the start of term 4 on their My Connect account. They will not be given print books until 2024]

Year 10: 13 November

Year 7-9: 27 November

NOTE:  1. Students will keep their digital access to all books after they hand in their print books.

1. Students need their SRS scheme to be up to date to retain access to the digital copies of the books.

Mrs Larraine Moseley

Librarian/Teacher

P&C Association

On Wear it Purple Day, the Tuckshop team showed their support by wearing their best purple outfits and don't they look fabulous? Well done ladies!

P & C News

It has been an extraordinary term in for operational and organisational matters for the P&C and we have come through to the other side with new systems and ways in which we structure and manage our tuckshop and uniform shop. All this work could not have been done without the tireless efforts of Kelly Metcalf. Kelly worked in her own time to conduct a review and recommend new systems for the operation of our business as well as setting up all the new systems. Thank you, Kelly for your incredible work.

At our next P&C meeting staff will present their funding proposals to the P&C in the hope to secure some funding for a project / program they wish to run next year. These projects can include resources and equipment for specific programs and or sponsorship of events etc.  We look forward to meeting the staff and hearing some of their ideas.

We are also hoping to have all the P&C staff at our next meeting to not only thank them for their efforts this year, but also to meet the school staff and our school community. We welcome a new member of our team, Natalie Yates who will be looking after our accounts from now on. We hope to see some new faces, including parents / guardians of our incoming year 6 to 7. We will have some items from the tuckshop for our community to try. It is sure to be a delicious and interesting meeting.

Lastly, I’d like to thank the tuckshop staff for their incredible work on a daily basis. This year has seen some significant changes and with that comes some significant challenges. The staff have embraced the challenge and every day run an efficient and effective tuckshop. In the first 10-12 minutes of lunch the tuckshop is generally cleared with the majority of students served and enjoying their break. Please be aware that next term the school will be implementing the Department of Education ‘Away for the Day’ mobile phone policy and therefore students will be unable to use their phones to pay for any items at the tuckshop. I would encourage all of our families to use the flexischools app to order your lunch up to a week in advance. Lunches can be ordered in the morning or even the night before at home and students with flexischools orders are given priority in the tuckshop lines. Students who only have access to cash and or do not have access to the internet can make a manual order in the morning with the tuckshop staff.

Any enquiries, issues or concerns please contact me at PresidentWoreeshspc@outlook.com

Regards,

Maria Chatfield.

SchoolTech

Two Proud Ambassadors of Shoreline

Nila and Tomiko both worked at the Business Liaison Association Career Expo recently. They possessed a wealth of information and informed so many young Year 10 students about the opportunities that Shoreline and SchoolTech offer. Many visitors commented on the girls’ knowledge and marketing skills. Thank you both for being great Ambassadors of our program.

Mrs Carmel Iivonen

HOD, SchoolTech

Science & Aquatic Practices

Year 11 Marine Science – Day Trip to Green Island

Term 3 saw the Year 11 Marine Science students revisit their original sampling sites at Green Island. The goal for this second trip was to modify the data collection method. The majority of students opted for a 10 minute timed swim whilst videoing as they snorkelled. This data will be processed to produce a species diversity profile of each side of Green Island and will be the basis of their IA2 student experiment.

The students have now sampled Green Island during late summer temperatures and neap tides and late winter temperatures with spring tides. It was interesting for students to see the reef flat emerge out of the water on the very low spring tide and witness a lot of tourists walking across it. This insight provides an excellent learning opportunity around coral mortality due to overuse, inappropriate use and poor signage. All of these aspects of Marine Science will provide students with excellent insight into the pros and cons of using coral reefs long term.

Jodie Keirle

Marine Sciences Teacher/Year 11 Coordinator

Year 11 Aquatic Practices - Water Quality Testing

During Term 3 the Year 11s have been exploring the importance of water quality on marine and aquatic life. The first half of the term saw the group learning about various water quality parameters, making decisions on what aspects are the most important for marine and aquatic life and why. We used our yabby tanks as an example of poor water quality and looked at what the tank conditions were like when we experienced mortalities. The assessment task involved students spending the day at the Holloways Beach Environmental Education Centre performing water quality tests at 3 points in the estuary and conducting a species diversity assessment of bird life in a 60 minute timed birdwatch.

The students had a great day out on the water with glorious weather, and they collected some excellent data. They saw 4 crocodiles, with the biggest sitting at approximately 3.5m in length, some giant mudskippers and a wide variety of birdlife.

Jodie Keirle

Aquatic Practices Teacher, Year 11 Coordinator

Year 12 Aquatics – Recreational Fishing

Throughout Term 3, Year 12 Aquatics students got creative with fishing by selecting a fish that they would like to catch then designed and built a fishing apparatus to attempt to do so. These included various types of lures, casting nets and crab pots, some students designed theirs by utilising the schools 3D printers. We had some outstanding results this year and the students really enjoyed the unit.                      

After completing their fishing creations, we visited Holloway’s Beach Environmental Education Centre to test out our equipment in the local Barron River waterways. Despite low King tides, we managed to catch a few fish and for the first time we had a great catch on Day 2, with a total of 5 fish being hooked. Four of these were grunter and one was a bream. The fish were kissed, photographed and put back in the water.

The students were an absolute pleasure to spend a day fishing with and they were highly praised by the staff at HBEEC for excellent behaviour and respectful attitude to the environment, the fish and each other.

 Jodie Keirle - Aquatic Practices Teacher, Year 11 Coordinator

Sarah Anning, Marine Coordinator

Photos: Johnny and Da’Ray, who were the most successful fishermen of the day kissed and released their catch.

Student Council

The Student Council at Woree is made up of enthusiastic Year 7-12 students, engaged in creating a difference at Woree and in the community. The Student Council are also passionate about being present at student events. In Week 9, we had a small soft drink stall set up at the Arts/IT Showcase. This was a great opportunity to interact with students, parents/carers and teachers and to learn skills such as interacting with customers, cash handling and using a mobile eftpos machine. Our containers for change program was also well used on this evening.

Brooke Byars

Teacher,  Humanities and Tourism Studies,
Year 7 Coordinator

A Word From Admin

Important Information

Student Statements are issued on a monthly basis, please contact Administration if you have not received your child’s Statement to ensure your details are correct.

Please ensure your fees are up to date, alternatively if you are having financial difficulties, please contact our Accounts Receivable Officer on 4081 5222 to discuss payment plans and options.

Early Departures – If your student needs to leave school early during the school day for an appointment a note needs to be brought to the school, alternatively you can use the yellow absence note in the back of the student planner. Students must come to the office to sign out before leaving the school grounds.  There is an increasing number of parents/carers ringing the school wanting to sign their student out immediately with no notice.

Student Illness – Students need to advise their class teacher if unwell and present themselves to sick bay so a parent/carer can be notified. Students are not to call parents directly to collect them without first notifying sick bay.

Concerns and Complaints – Parents/carers are encouraged to discuss classroom issues/concerns with the class teacher first. If the issue is unable to be resolved, parents/carers are encouraged to make an appointment with either the subject Head of Department, Year Level Coordinators, Responsible Behaviour Officer or Deputy Principal Student Services to discuss the matter further.

Student Absences

Student absences are monitored regularly. It is the parent/carers responsibility to ensure all student absences are explained. This can be communicated by:

Are your Contact Details Up to date?

Communication between parents/carers and Woree State High School staff relies on your contact details/postal address, home/work/mobile phone numbers and email addresses) being up to date.

If you have changed your postal address, phone number/s, email address or emergency contacts recently, please contact the Administration Office as soon as possible to update your details.

Electronic Sign

Please continue to watch out for important news and messages on our electronic notice board at the front of the school.  The sign is a valuable asset to our school for advertising and communicating a variety of messages to our students, parents/carers and the wider school community. 

Uniform Shop

We are a uniform school as determined by the P&C Association.

The image we present to our community is important to maintain the positive reputation of which we are so proud. At all times, students are required to wear appropriate footwear (closed in shoes). In the event a student is unable to wear their uniform, a note from the parent/guardian is required.

Please note that our school policy is that students are to only wear either a school jersey/jacket or a plain black or maroon jumper ie: no logo or hoodie. Plain black jumpers are available at BIG W for $8.50.

The Uniform Shop is open every Wednesday between 8:00 – 9:30 am.

EFTPOS is available for all purchases.

A limited range of second-hand uniforms are available for purchase. Any donations of good quality used uniforms are welcomed.

Important Times and Dates

Class Times - 2023

Useful Information on School Travel

Students have a responsibility in having appropriate behaviour when travelling on bus networks whether that urban or school and need to abide by the Code of Conduct for School Students Travelling on Buses. There are guiding principles which the Queensland Government has outlined and this includes appropriate behaviour, paying the correct fare and safe travel .

Information on the fare and zones of the urban bus network in Cairns, including the network map, is available at www.translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares or by contacting Translink’s 24/7 call centre on 13 12 30.

Should you have any questions regarding school services, please do not hesitate to contact cairnsschools@Sunbus.com.au

Have you Downloaded the QParents App Yet?

Invitations to the App are emailed to the Primary caregiver nominated from the School BSM. Please check your emails and follow the instructions.

Special Interest

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