Cnr of Gowan Rd and Illaweena StStretton QLD 4116Subscribe:Subscribe: https://strettonsc.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email:Email: admin@strettonsc.eq.edu.auPhone:Phone: 07 3723 0222

Fax:Fax: 07 3723 0200

21 March 201921 March 2019

Executive Principal NewsIt is my hope at Stretton, that we open ourstudents’ minds to the rich diversity of theworld in which they live by promoting asense of responsibility and respect forothers. This vision lies at the heart of ourSPIRIT values which are embedded fromPrep to Year 12. As a leader I have alwayspracticed the three R’s: Respect for self;

Respect for others; Responsibility for my actions. In light of therecent tragic events in Christchurch, Harmony Day provided awonderful opportunity to highlight to our students theimportance of kindness, compassion and understanding ofdifference.

The theme of diversity and acceptancepermeated our Assemblies on HarmonyDay this week. Our student leaders spokeabout the importance of setting asidepersonal prejudices, however difficult thismay be, in order to accept the commonhumanity of those who hold differingperspectives. Through our positive education focus, we areinstilling in our students that they need to become the personthat makes others feel special. We want our students to beknown for their kindness and compassion. Students also needto be able to treat themselves kindly, because it is sometimes alack of love and respect for ourselves that inhibits ourcompassion toward others. If children can make friends withthemselves first, there will be no obstacle to opening theirhearts and minds to others.

Certainly, a compassionate attitude helps us communicatemore easily with our fellow human beings. As Nelson Mandela

once said “Our human compassion binds us the one to theother – not in pity or patronizing behaviour, but as humanbeings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering andpain into hope for the future.” Stretton is a school that doesnot just pay lip service, but genuinely values and embracesdiversity. This acceptance of diversity goes well beyond race,religion and ideology, but equally embraces the broad range ofpassions and interests of our students.

As a school community, Stretton College embraces childrenfrom families of all countries, faiths and backgrounds. We seekto equip our students with an enduring empathy for the needsand views of others, and the awareness and adaptability tomeet challenge and forge relationships of respect and purpose.We all belong together, and we embrace the ideal of equaldignity of all people. This week, we have enjoyed hostingstudents from Okayama Sozan Junior High School. Hostinginternational students makes a valuable contribution to thediversity of our College.

Our diversity is our strength; we are weaker when we arethe same. But just as important as our diversity is our unity,otherwise we have division and nothing gets done when peopleand teams are divided. I often find it fascinating that youngchildren rarely see differences between people the way manyadults do. Young children really couldn’t care less whethertheir classmates are from a different culture, religion, have adifferent skin colour or a different language. They just careabout making friends and playing together. Unfortunately, itseems that society and the influence of the media often impacton this innocence. Therefore, it is important for us as educatorsto allow children the opportunity to think about diversity inour world, and how we can embrace others, rather than usedifference as a means of creating separation between people.

I am indeed privileged to be Principal of aschool which has built a community ofacceptance, compassion andunderstanding. It is our differences whichanimate our lives at Stretton which make ourconversations compelling, and which kindlewithin us a desire to embrace and learn from each other.

Until next time,Jan MarescaExecutive Principal

Gowan Principal NewsWe have had an extremely busy start to theyear, with only three weeks left until the endof term. I would like to thank all of ourStretton Community for being involved inthe events around the College. I wouldencourage all families to ensure your emaildetails are correct by checking in with theadministration office, as our communication

around events, school activities and important messages aresent via email.

Parent Liaison and Information Session

This year we will be asking for parents who would like to be aparent liaison member of a regular group who will meet once aterm. Mrs Louise Nann will be a key Liaison Coordinator, shewill host coffee chats throughout the term to discuss eventshappening and encourage parents to make suggestions onimproving our school.

To explain this new initiative we will host an afternoon tea forparents to have a chat with the leadership team. During thissession, parents will be introduced to the Administration teamand be able to hear all about the new Parent Liaison initiativeswe are introducing this year. We will also chat with the parentsabout any ideas, suggestions or questions they may have aboutour wonderful school.

When: Tuesday 26 March – 2:00 – 2:45pmWhere: Gowan HallRSVP: please send an email to the following emailaddress admin@strettonsc.eq.edu.au to let us know youare attending for catering arrangements.

Week 10 - Parent Teacher Interviews

This term we are inviting all our families to attend a parent/teacher interview. All Gowan students will receive their firstformal report card at the end of Semester 1. The school isoffering an opportunity to meet face to face with teachers toview your child's work samples and discuss academic, socialand emotional progress.

These interviews will take place in the last week of the term,Tuesday 2 April between 3:00pm and 7:00pm in the GowanHall. Bookings for these meetings are placed via the parentSOBS booking link.

Interview bookings will open to parents on Friday 22 March at7:00pm and close at midnight Monday 1 April.

We look forward to our families taking this opportunity to meetwith our Stretton staff to build a positive working relationshiptogether.

Down Syndrome Day

March 21 was World Down Syndrome Day and we celebratedthe day by wearing crazy socks. Prep to Year 6 studentsparticipated in the Lots of Socks theme created by DownSyndrome International. Students and staff can wear socks oftheir choice to school. They were bright, colourful, short or long,the choice was endless! It is important to raise awareness aboutsome of the amazing students we have in our community.

Racheal JonesGowan Campus Principal

Year 11, 12 Deputy Principal NewsTerm 1 of Year 11 and Year 12 has focusedon setting our students up for success in2019. In Pastoral Care, we have focusedheavily on study skills and timemanagement to increase our students’ability to plan and prepare to be successfulin assessment and reduce the potential foranxiety and stress. In Term 2, we are

moving towards a focus on academic success and pathwaysinto further study and the world of work.

Year 11

In Term 2, our Pastoral Care will focus on preparing for endof Unit 4 (year 12) exams and reflecting on our performance inour term 1 pieces of assessment. Our Year 11s as a group willbe spending time learning how to effectively apply cognitionsto read and respond to quality texts. Every second week inPastoral Care our wonderful Guidance Officer Yanina Briffa hasarranged a number of Universities and private providers toattend and provide information to our students on transition intotheir post schooling pathways.

Year 12

Our Year 12s will continue to work on their pathways into 2020.Our OP eligible students will explore more deeply the 4 testcomponents of QCS test as well as the more complex commoncurriculum elements tested (CCEs). We will also continue toconsolidate our basic literacy and numeracy skills and develophigher order thinking skills required for success in the workforce and at University.

Carla PantanoYear 11, 12 Deputy Principal

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Year 8 Deputy Principal News

YEAR 8 Camp - Expression ofInterest

Our Year 8 students are fortunate to havethe opportunity this year to experience theGreat Barrier Reef for their Year 8 Camp. Anexpression of interest has been emailedhome to all Year 8 students.

Please find a link below for your convenience and furtherinformation.

If you would like register your child’s interest in attending thisexperience – please ensure that the bottom portion of the letteris returned to Mr Vietheer by Friday 22 March.

Stretton State College Competitions 2019

Competitions offered to our student community in 2019 will bewide and varied – These will be advertised by either Year LevelHeads of Department (Gowan Campus) or Subject Area Headsof Department (Illaweena Campus).

This is to offer a greater opportunity for success to all studentsin a variety of areas.

UNSW Global traditionally offered ICAS Assessments whichare competition based. In 2019 these assessments are offeredonline and are all conducted in September.

Students in the Lighthouse Academic Excellence Program willtake part in the Digital Technologies, Science, English andMathematics ICAS competitions as part of their involvement inthe program.

In ICAS Assessments, students are asked to demonstrate adeeper, integrated, and thorough level of learning. Becausethe ICAS Competitions are designed to recognise and awardacademic achievement based on the curricula for the relevantyear.

If your child is a demonstrated academic high achiever, butnot in the Lighthouse Academic Excellence Program, pleasespeak with you year level Deputy Principal if you think theymay be a candidate for the ICAS competitions being offered toLighthouse Program students at Stretton State College.

Heather BorelandDeputy Principal – Year 8

Year 7 Deputy Principal NewsThe transition to high school can often be atime of uncertainty for students and parentsalike. This year we have 233 students in theYear 7 cohort and their transition to highschool has been a successful one. Highschool life has some significant differencesfrom primary school, in particular the way inwhich the daily timetable works. On the

Illaweena Campus, as with most high school, the studentsparticipate in four daily lessons. With timetables in hand theYear 7 students have mastered navigating the campus to find

their classrooms and classroom teachers. The students havenow settled in to the routine life as a high school student.

Another major change for many students is homework, andthe way this supports the learning process. Much of whatthe students complete for homework compliments what thestudents need to know or do for their assessments. Alreadythis term, the Year 7 students have completed a number ofassessments within their classes. With this in mind establishinggood study habits is an important part of learning and as suchthere are a few key elements for students to consider in orderto develop good study habits:

Parent teacher interviews for the Illaweena Campus will be inWeek 2 of Term 2 and will be a great opportunity for parentsto discuss their child’s learning progress. Information regardingthese interviews will be sent home over the next couple ofweeks. This term there will be no interim reporting due tostudents (in many subjects) are still working throughassessments or have not completed enough assessments tomake valid judgments. Parent teacher interviews will thereforebe a valuable time to discuss year to date assessment and howthe students are tracking towards their Semester 1 report card.

Brad StewartDeputy Principal – Year 7

Year 6 Deputy Principal News

Meet our Gowan House Captains

Our House Captains play an integral role inpromoting physical activity and sport withinour school. The students are a part of ourStudent Council and lead our school in allsporting events. Our students wanted toshare their thoughts around the benefits ofplaying sport and leadership.

Jontaye – Sport is beneficial as it helps you make newfriends.Basti – Sport is important as it helps people learn tocommunicate more effectively.Kingston – It is good to play sports and inspire people tolook up to you.

• Get Organised - know what you need to do. Use astudy or weekly planner to help.

• Know the Expectations – understand what isrequired of you in each subject so there are nosurprises.

• Designate a Study Area – a designated study areacan help students focus on their study/homework.

• Develop a Study Plan – for some students,developing a study plan will help students prioritisetheir study.

• Think Positively – being in the right mindset canmake all the difference.

• Read Actively – to avoid skimming over details,students should actively engage in reading a range oftexts and text types.

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Surya – Playing sport makes you happy and healthy.Emma – Playing sport helps you work on your leadershipskills and ability to work in a team.Laura – Sport is healthy for your body.Agamjot - Sport helps your muscles grow and makesyou stronger, both physically and mentally.Camryn – It helps you keep fit and build friendships.

A Spotlight on Year 5 – MindfulnessWednesdays

Every Wednesday morning, the students of 5G grab theirtowels and go sit under the shade of the trees on the ovalto meditate. A regular routine in their classroom, the studentsmediate and practice mindfulness to get them centred andprepared for another great day of learning.

Mindfulness as a skill can help children learn to be lessimpulsive and more self-regulated, and to develop a strongerability to choose in their lives. The idea is that we are teachingyoung people to gain greater autonomy and choicefulness.Mindfulness is a meditation practice that begins with payingattention to breathing in order to focus on the here and now,not what might have been or what you’re worried could be.The ultimate goal is to give you enough distance from disturbingthoughts and emotions to be able to observe them withoutimmediately reacting to them.

Lauren HighmanYear 6 Deputy Principal

Year 3, 4 Deputy Principal News

Every Day Counts – Attendance

Regular school attendance is the first andmost important step in setting your child upfor a successful year of learning bothacademically and socially. Stretton StateCollege has an Attendance Target of 95%for all students. In Years 3 and 4, we arecurrently at the target.

With this and our students’ learning in mind, we offer thefollowing reminders regarding making Every Day Count for yourchild.

https://education.qld.gov.au/initiatives-and-strategies/initiatives/every-day-counts/for-parents-and-community/

Parents and caregivers must send children to school everyschool day under Queensland law unless there is an acceptablereason such as:

If your child is going to be absent from school, you must let theschool know why the absence has occurred within two schooldays of their return. If possible, it is best to advise the schoolbeforehand.

Avoid keeping your child away from school for reasons such as:

Routine medical or other health appointments should be madeeither before or after school or during the school holidays.

Establishing good routines around school can assist withregular school attendance.

These include:

If you are experiencing difficulty in sending your child to school,contact the school for advice and support.

Australian Curriculum in Year 3,4

As students enter Year 3, we often field questions from parentsregarding the expectations of the Australian Curriculum and theincreased demands on students to be more independent andto communicate their understanding more effectively. For thisreason, we encourage families to refer to the link ‘Informationfor parents – The Australian Curriculum – Years 3 and 4’.

• Illness

• Work experience

• Competing in school sporting events

• birthdays

• shopping

• visiting family and friends

• if they sleep in

• looking after other children

• minor check-ups or care, such as haircuts

• have a set time to go to bed

• have a set time to get out of bed

• have uniform and school bag ready the night before

• have a set time for starting and finishing breakfast

• set a time for daily homework activities

• speak about school positively

• send your child to school every school day includingtheir birthday.

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For further information regarding what your child is currentlylearning in each Subject/Learning Area, please see your child’sClass Newsletter or teacher. You can also refer to the AustralianCurriculum website where the curriculum in its entirety isavailable to all -

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/

Clarity and Student Ownership

To support every child to meet theiracademic potential during Year 3 and 4,students will be working with their classteacher to develop individual learning goals.Learning goals are developed andcommunicated at the beginning of a unit ofwork and adjusted as individual targets aremet.

Each learning goal is aligned to the classroom Bump-It-Up Wall.The Bump-It-Up Wall models the expectations in writing acrossa range of standards and gives students a point of referencefor improving their own writing. It consists of exemplars andteaching materials and promotes an understanding of the stepsrequired to meet the learning goals.

During class conferencing, teachers provide feedback aboutwriting and an individual’s progress towards their goal. In theseconversations, teachers review the strengths in student work,how to improve and achieve the learning goal.

To support this in-class process time is spent each weekconducting Learning Talks. Learning Talks take place on astudent-by-student basis and last about 5 minutes. During aLearning Talk students are asked the following 5 questions:

Responses to these answers provide us with an opportunity toget to know your child, their learning and how they are workingtowards their individual goals.

If you would like to ask your child about their learning, you coulduse these questions:

If you have any questions about Learning Talks, please contactKate Daly, Year 3,4 Head of Department, onkdaly17@eq.edu.au.

Important reminder – Year 4 Camp Payment is due MondayMarch 25, 2019. Late payments will not be accepted. All Campforms were due back to class teachers on March 4, 2019.

Judy Rose-CooperDeputy Principal – Year 3,4

Year 1, 2 Deputy Principal News

Year 1 Excursion to David FleayWildlife Park

This term in Science, Year 1 students havebeen exploring living things and theenvironments in which living things live. Tosupport their learning, last week thestudents visited David Fleay Wildlife Parklocated at Burleigh Heads. Our Year 1

students were provided with the opportunity to participate ineducational talks and wildlife presentations with park rangers,interactive experiences with native animals and guided walksthroughout the park. During the visit students were able toobserve a variety of animals within natural habitats including thekoala, emu, cassowary, wallaby, crocodile, dingo and bilby toname a few. Some students were even lucky enough to spy atree kangaroo up high up in the trees! A huge thank you to theparent volunteers who came and assisted with our excursion!

Year 2 Nadia Sunde Incursion

This term in English, Year 2 students have been learning aboutimaginative texts and creating new narratives for familiarcharacters. To support their learning, students recentlyparticipated in a storytelling incursion presented by NadiaSunde, a children’s writer and performer. Nadia engaged thestudents in a vibrant and interactive performance full of stories,songs, dramatic play, puppetry and loads of laughter! Thestudents left the workshop full of creative ideas, conversationand stories to share.

• What are you learning? Why?

• How are you going?

• How are you know?

• What can you do to improve?

• Where do you go to for help?

• What are you learning? Why?

• How are you going?

• How are you know?

• What can you do to improve?

• Where do you go to for help?

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RegardsEmma WebberActing Head of Department (Year 1 and Year 2)

Prep Deputy Principal News

Do you P.O.P. at home?

This week at our Prep Parent Coffee chatwe unpacked the building blocks forliteracy. Our Stretton Reading frameworkincludes vocabulary, oral language,phonological awareness, comprehension,phonics and decoding, fluency. Thefoundation for these six are literacy

experiences and concepts about print – this was our focus.

How can you support this at home?

Turn Reading into a conversation

It’s how you read the book that counts – reading with, not tochildren.

STRIVE for 5! Take your child’s lead and turn their observationsinto a conversation about the pictures and the story. Strivefor five back and forth interactions to develop and extendlanguage.

P.O.P – Point out Print

Children need to learn that print is read in specific ways, it hasmeaning and includes letters, spaces, words and punctuationmarks.

Out And About In Our Prep Classrooms

In Music, Prep students are incorporating rhyming, ABApatterns, singing voice, beat keeping and part work all at thesame time! Here is our action shot from Prep F.

Students are developing early literacy skills during rotationalactivities in our Prep classes. Prep D students were reinforcingtheir concepts about print and used whisper phones to listento their reading. Prep E students engaged in their Ipads to

recognise and write high frequency words. Studentsdemonstrated teamwork and cooperation, listening skills andperseverance outside during Gross Motor activities using acolourful parachute.

Easter Bonnet Parade

As the term comes to an end, don’t forget to mark yourcalendars for our Prep Easter Bonnet Parade on Tuesday, April2 at 10:00 a.m. in the Gowan Hall.

Playground Helpers

We are thankful to have our Year 5 and 6 playground volunteersto help our Prep students with games and safe play duringplay breaks. The students are demonstrating leadership skillsand modelling the Stretton Spirit with our preps. Games andimaginative play are being facilitated and supported with richconversation and laughter!

Terra-Lee PetersPrep Deputy Principal

Positive Education

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WHAT?

Firstly, let us dismiss the ‘Fluffy Fallacy’

The Fluffy Fallacy is the idea that optimism means avoiding“negative” emotions; that is it’s all happy-clappy,you-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be attitudes, and smileyfaces everywhere. This is simply not the case.

Martin Seligman defines optimism as reacting to problems witha sense of confidence and high personal ability. Specifically,optimistic people believe that negative events are temporary,limited in scope (instead of pervading every aspect of aperson’s life), and manageable.

Which one are you?

Optimist Pessimist

Believe they are in control and canshape their future

See themselves asvictims, helpless, with littlecontrol

Are not naïve – they understand therewill be failure, heartbreak, rejection,nasty experiences but they hold ontohope and believe they can cope

Worry about problemsappearing in the future.Find it difficult to beneutral and are morejudgemental

See possibilities See problems

Watch their internal dialogue. Theyknow thoughts are not facts

Give in to all their worriesand ‘what if thinking’.Listen to negativethoughts as I they are areality

Is there any good in negative emotions andpessimistic thinking?

Yes because pessimism alerts us to dangers and threats; it iswhy we have survived as a species.

Imagine a group of our prehistoric ancestors sitting aroundenjoying an evening meal. One of them sees movement behinda rock and alerts the others. In this situation an optimisticmindset; ‘it might be a tiger, but it’s probably just the wind’ is

probably not the best mindset. In addition, optimism is hardlydesirable if a pilot is deciding whether to take off during an icestorm.

Why?

Research has shown that optimism is correlated with manypositive life outcomes including increased life expectancy,general health, better mental health, increased success insports and work, greater recovery rates from heart operationsand better coping strategies when faced with adversity.

Read

Watch

Stephen Pinker Makes the Case for Optimism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6JFr7QIkLE

Learned Optimism Animated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hHNq45rEnU

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Listen

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/positivity-strategist/id922203263?mt=2

Try on a Positive Lens

Ask:

The more we train our brains to fire up circuits in differentregions, we help to alter our response to negative experiences.

Flip your Explanatory Style

Surround yourself with Energisers

Notice who you spend time with on a daily basis. We all havepeople in our life who are chronic complainers and gossipers.Negativity is contagious but luckily so is positivity. Startconnecting with people who are optimistic and grounded andtheir positive energy is bound to rub off on you.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimistsees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill.

Adele JohnstonHead of Department – Positive Education

Harmony DayOn Tuesday 19 March Stretton celebrated inclusiveness,respect and a sense of belonging for everyone during HarmonyDay.

The celebrations during breaks were a huge success, withmany students proudly displaying their cultures through culturaldress and exhibitions. Some highlights included Indian dancingled by Jaskirt Singh (Year 10), Jewish cooking by NicoleHanssens (Year 9), Chinese harp playing by Holly Zhang (Year8), Meiting Yu and Julia Guo (Year 9), Korean Taekwondo byRyan Chapman (Year 10) and Samoan weaving and cooking byMr. Toma.

We are lucky to be part of a school community as diverse asStretton, where we have students hailing from over 50 differentcountries of birth, and speaking over 60 different languages.Harmony Day was a fantastic way to highlight this, and to showthat at Stretton, everyone belongs.

Brad VietheerYear 7,8 Year Level Co-Ordinator

Instrumental Music

Queensland Symphony Orchestra Performance

On Friday 15 March, 42 of our Illaweena students travelledto QPAC to see the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO)perform at the QPAC Concert Hall. This was a great experiencefor our students with many of them not having experiencedthe sound, expression and power of a symphony orchestra.QSO performed Concerto for Harp and Orchestra by AlbertoGinastera and excerpts from the iconic ballet, Romeo and Julietby Sergei Prokofiev. Venezuelan Conductor, Diego Matheuzled QSO on a musical journey from virtuoso harp playing tothe beautiful but tragic sounds of story of Romeo and Juliet.Students were in awe of the skill and musicianship on displaywith some saying it was the best performance they had everseen. Thank you to parents and students for supporting thisexcursion and I hope to be able to offer more experiences likethis in the future.

• What’s good about this situation?

• What can I learn from this that willhelp me in the future?

• What story will motivate me to continue to strive forsuccess?

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Carparks for Rehearsals

Please be advised that parents are not to park in staff carparkson the Gowan or Illaweena campuses when dropping offstudents for rehearsals in the mornings. These carparks arebusy places and with student safety being our primary concern,we kindly ask that parents use the main drop-off areas at themain gates. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate tocontact me.

Performance Uniform Orders have arrived

If you have previously ordered a performance uniform from theuniform shop these orders have now arrived. Please see JanetO’Neill in the Uniform Shop to collect your orders. If you haven’tyet purchased a performance uniform for your child, please dothis as soon as possible to avoid delays. Please see below fordetails.

The instrumental music performance uniform is worn by allinstrumental music students at performances. It is compulsoryfor all performances and students may not be allowed toperform if their uniform is incorrect. The performance uniform isoutlined below:

Girls Boys

Band performance shirt

Girls Stretton music slacks

Black socks

Formal black shoes

Stretton maroon scrunchie

Stretton maroon clips (optional)

Band performance shirt

Boys Stretton music trousers

Black socks

Formal black shoes

As there are a large number of new students in the program thisyear, we are asking that orders for uniforms be placed by theend of week 8 as this will ensure that all orders can arrive in atimely fashion.

Thank you for your support of Instrumental Music.

Adam HornagoldDirector of Instrumental Music

The ArtsAs we are reaching the end of the term we are now seeingour Arts students finalise assessment pieces and prepare forperformances.

In classroom music our Junior Year levels are performing live toa variety of audiences. Our Year 7 and 8’s will this week perform

to the their class peers, our Year 9 students to lunchtimeaudiences and our Year 11 and 12 music students to parentsand friends in the first of our Senior Music Evenings. Our Year11 vocalists have been warming up for the senior music eveningby singing some pieces they learnt specifically to perform onour Harmony Day Assemblies. I would like to congratulate ourYear 11 vocalists for delivering an entertaining rendition of“Count on Me”. Cooper Lau accompanied our Year 11 vocalistson guitar to complete the performances at our Harmony DayAssmblies. I would also like to congratulate our smallerensembles - Avril-Marie Espenilla and Sarah Millar whoperformed “What a Wonderful World” as a duo and also ourYear 9 music students, Meiting Yu and Julia Guo for theirbeautiful Chinese harp duet, on our recent Harmony DayAssembly. If you would like to hear more performances, ourSenior Music students will perform Thursday 28 March 6pm.

Moving to Drama our Senior Drama students will perform theirassessment pieces on Thursday 4 April 6.30pm in the firstSenior Drama evening for the year.

In Visual Arts news we congratulate Cameron McLean (Year 9)and Brandon Yu (Year 7) who are both winners in the 2019Brisbane International Arts Festival Lantern Paintingcompetition. Students were required to submit a lanternshowcasing their own painted or drawn design.

Cameron and Brandon will receive their awards and prizes ata presentation ceremony at Sunnybank Plaza on Saturday 16March. Thank you to Mrs Jess Greenfield for preparing thesestudents.

The Year 8 art students have been out and about makingdrawn observations of their school environment as part of their‘Connection to Country’ unit.

These observational drawings will be deconstructed andreconstructed into small watercolour sketches which will be ondisplay at our Term 3 Art Exhibition.

In the world of Seussical, student and staff are putting in the‘hard yards’ each week rehearsing after school three days aweek. Our big weekend rehearsals will be in Term 2 howeveras mentioned in the last newsletter there will be a specialweekend working bee on 30 and 31 March devoted to painting,prepping and sewing as much as possible in preparation for theproduction. We will be asking the assistance of parents and thegeneral school community during this time. If you are able tohelp with this please let any of our musical staff know. Your helpwill be very much appreciated.

Don’t forget the date claimer for our musical production: June8 and 9 at LEC! Stay tuned for updates on our musicaladventures in Whoville!

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Leona DangaardHead of Department – The Arts

Staff ProfileThis issue we are delighted to introduce two of our teachingstaff – Brandon Khu from our Gowan HPE Faculty andCatherine Lane from our Illaweena Science Faculty.

I am thrilled and extremely privileged to bestarting my teaching career at StrettonState College as a primary PE teacher. I’vebeen lucky enough to have the opportunityto work with three cohorts this year, Year 1,3 and 4. I’ve centred my teaching onproviding students with the tools to createhealthy and active lifestyles. I am excited todevelop learning experiences for all students while focussing ona strengths-based approach to learning.

I pride myself on being a fun and approachable teacher, andlook forward to building positive relationships with not onlystudents, but all members of the Stretton community.

PE and sports have always been a passion of mine, growingup I played almost every sport I could try my hand at (rugby,rugby league, touch, cricket, AFL, Athletics, volleyball) just toname a few but finally deciding rugby league was a real passionof mine. I played rugby union and league for a combined 13years before finishing up because of injury. At Stretton I amalso lucky enough to be one of the Rugby League and TouchFootball coaches. I strive to develop these students into notonly outstanding athletes but great people.

If you see me around school feel free to come say hello, if youstruggle to recognise me, have a look for my peculiar socks.

This is my first year of classroom teaching,and I am very happy to be back at StrettonState College after getting to know manystaff and students last year during my finalyear of training. I have a background in bothScience and Music, and am lucky to be ableto work in both these areas at Stretton.Before moving into classroom teaching, Icompleted a PhD in Molecular Biology and worked in medicalresearch at Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital in Perth.Following this, I re-trained as a classical musician, and haveplayed French horn in orchestras around Australia andinternationally. I have also worked as an instrumental musicteacher, teaching brass instruments to students at a number of

schools in Perth. I am looking forward to sharing my enthusiasmfor music in classroom lessons, and in the school musical thisyear. I am also looking forward to asking and answering lotsof ‘why?’ and ‘I wonder..?’ questions in Science, as I believeScience is a fantastic way to build inquiring minds with theability to think critically about the world around them.

Gowan Science

Gowan Science Club Lab Visit

On Wednesday 13 March, the Gowan Science Club had theopportunity to experience senior science laboratories at work,as they experimented with different temperatures and theireffects on the lumens (or brightness) of glow sticks. With over50 students participating in this extra-curricular activity, wewere split evenly into two groups.

The first group was led by Ms Ryalls, the Science HOD forIllaweena and three Science Ambassadors. The other groupwas led by Ms Singh, the HOD for Year 5 and 6 and againthree Science Ambassadors. In both groups, the students wereintroduced to various common ‘apparatus’, laboratoryequipment such as bunsen burners, conical flasks and crucibletongs. After this was explained to students, the two HODsexplained in-depth about what causes the chemical reactionthat creates the ‘glow’ effect (a hydrogen peroxide solutionand phenyl oxalate mix when ‘cracked’.) The Science Clubmembers thoroughly enjoyed their first visit to the sciencelaboratories on the Illaweena Campus. A special thank youto Ms Ryalls, Ms Singh, Miss Dunster and the six scienceAmbassadors who volunteered their time to assist our growingknowledge in the world of Science.

Charlotte Brown and Annabelle Ryan6A

Acid rain experiment

This term we learned about some disasters that happened inthe past that are caused by human activities. The disaster thatwe examined in class, studied and researched at home was“Acid rain in Europe.’ We wondered how much impact acid rainhas on plants if it was soaked into the soil.

We added soil and sowed a few wheatgrass seeds into twopaper cups, then we added water to two separate cups and inone we added vinegar. We added 50ml of the mixture to thecup with the plants every week and the results were fascinating.The one affected by the acid had wheatgrass that has a lightercolour meaning it’s less healthy while the other has a lush greencolour. Also, the acid reduces the soil’s ability to absorb thewater and made the water spill out however the other absorbedthe water fairly quick. The acid also made it hard sprout andgrow.

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Here are some photos taken throughout the experiment. Theone with the red rim is the one with the acid.

Day 5Day 5

Day 9Day 9

Ethan Huang5A

Illaweena Science DepartmentAt Stretton State College the Science Department’s mainendeavour is to provide students with a multitude ofopportunities to actively engage with the curriculum. For the firsttime at Stretton, students were able to select from two newYear 10 elective subjects: Year 10 Life Sciences and Year 10Physical Sciences. Both courses work complimentarily to Year10 Core Science and allow students to experience the rigorand skills required for the new SATE Senior Curriculum. LifeSciences encompasses the principles of Biology and Earth andEnvironmental Science whereas Physical Sciences introducesthe students to Chemistry and Physics. Term 1 kicked off withstudents delving into fast-paced rich contextual topics coveringBiodiversity and Electronics.

Additionally, for the first time in our Senior Curriculum we areoffering Earth and Environmental Science as a Science optionfor Year 11 students. Mrs Zeidler has dedicated countlesshours in the development of this new program and studentshave had the opportunity to experience our Earth’s geologicalhistory with an excursion to Snapper Rocks which is a smallrocky outcrop on the northern side of Point Danger at thesouthern end of Coolangatta on the Gold Coast. Students alsomarvelled at the large igneous rock extrusions at Fingal Headand were able to use their newly acquired geological skills toidentify rock samples and the processes that formed them.I would like to thank Mrs Zeidler and Mr Buttigieg for theirinvolvement in this excursion.

This term our Year 12 Biology students attended theQueensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Genetics ‘Insickness and in health’ excursion where they experiencedcutting-edge laboratory techniques such as gel electrophoresisand DNA analysis in a laboratory facility. The excursion took

part in two stages and enabled students to explore thepossibilities of Genetics at a Tertiary level and beyond. I wouldlike to thank Ms Brew, Ms Corcoran, Mr Toma and Mr Vietheerfor their preparation and assistance on the excursion days.

I am pleased to announce that the STEM Horizons for HighAchievers program was once again offered to our Year 7 andYear 9 students. Numerous applicants expressed their interestin this amazing STEM opportunity and therefore students wererequired to submit a rationale as part of the selection process.I would like to congratulate Brandon Tu, Dezhin Naidu andMerola Gendy from Year 7, and Dashreya Pillay, Ashil Kashyapand Neel Patel from Year 9 for their successful placement in theprogram.

Round 1 of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC) is fastapproaching. The challenge is aimed at Year 10 students andallows them to learn about the brain and its functions, engagewith the latest in Neuroscience research as well as challengingand dispelling misconceptions about neurological and mentalillnesses. Cooper Lau, Mihil Roshan, Quyen Pham, KhushiShah, Nina Sang, Zeinb Elanzy, Chloe Armstrong, AngelinaYang, and Aimee Ilies have nominated for this challenge whichwill be carried out over three rounds. The Round 1 exam willinvolve a 45-minute online multiple-choice quiz based on theinformation presented in a Neuroscience Book the studentshave been provided and will be held on Thursday 28 March. Wewish our Year 10s the best of luck.

Following on from our 2018 UQ Science Ambassador success,the University of Queensland has accepted twelve of our Year11 students into the UQ Science Ambassador Program in2019. I would like to congratulate Declan Fotheringham,Vanessa Chen, Kathy Luong, Amber Chew, Annie Hwang,Aleena Jacob, Amelia Durcau, Natalie Ngo, Ellisse Capoon,Natalie Huzevka, Khushi Bhardwaj, and Winston Wang for theiracceptance into this prestigious program. The purpose of beinga Science Ambassador at Stretton is to raise the profile ofScience and build on our P-12 connection with the GowanCampus. Declan, Winston, Natalie and Amber have already hadthe chance to promote science to a group of fifty Year 4, 5and 6 students as part of a Gowan Science Club Laboratoryday. They were joined by our 2018 Ambassadors Daniil Polevikand Aaron Paul Guevarra to engage the students in a series oflaboratory activities.

I would like to thank the Science Operation Officers anddedicated Science Department staff for their invaluablecontribution to all our science activities.

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Andreea RyallsHead of Department

Gowan Library NewsThank you to all those families who purchased books for theGowan Book Fair. It was a huge success with book sales at justunder $12,000.

Stretton receives a portion of the proceed which means we willbe able to buy many new books for students to enjoy.

On Monday the raffle winners were drawn. There were twoprizes with each winner receiving a huge box filled with acollection of amazing books.

Congratulations to our winners!

Gabby- Prep BHelen- 3D

We currently have a number of new book displays in our libraryas well as a Harmony Day book display. Students can alsocome in at first break and colour in a Harmony Day bookmarkin our drawing corner or read a book from our display.

Our Gowan Library Monitors of the week are: Lareshka andLiam. Well done on showing the Stretton SPIRIT in the library.

Happy reading,Sara EffronTeacher Librarian

Gowan eLearning andTechnology

Year 5 Fantasy Narrative Writing

Some of our Year 5 students have immersed themselves ina virtual reality in order to provide some stimulus for their

narratives. They have instantly travelled to prehistoric, medieval,and deserted islands. We're hoping that lots of "ooohhh" and"aaaahhhh" moments will inspire creativity in their story telling.

Premier’s Coding Challenge

The Premier’s Coding Challenge is an annual statewide initiativefor all Queensland students in Year 3 to Year 10. The Premier’sCoding Challenge aims to encourage an interest in Science,Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) inQueensland students.

Everyone who uses the internet creates a trail of data, thisincludes websites visited, emails sent and even posts that areliked. This trail of data is called a ‘digital footprint’. Data usedto identify a user – such as date of birth, search activities andusernames and passwords – form a ‘digital identity’ that is usedto authenticate a user’s identity. This data needs to be keptprivate to increase security and prevent identity theft.

The Challenge

To take part in the challenge, students must code an interactiveand innovative digital solution to raise awareness ofcybersafety, and help Queenslanders by providing tips toimprove their cybersafety. It could be an app, a game, ananimation or a website. Your prototype should be visuallyappealing and informative. Create your own images, ordownload and provide credit for appropriate images to use inyour digital solution.

Stretton’s current Year 4s are learning how to code now usingTynker, and our current Year 5 and 6s will already have the skillsto get started on this challenge! There are some great prizes tobe won, so please encourage your student to participate!

https://education.qld.gov.au/about-us/events-awards/awards-competitions/premiers-coding-challenge

Luke FlemingHead of Department – Gowan E-Learning

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QParentsQParents is available at Stretton State College - Sign up now!

The QParents website and mobile app provides an easier, moreconvenient way for parents and caregivers to communicatewith our College.

This new online channel helps parents and caregivers savetime by allowing them to access information about their child’sstudent information via a secure, online portal.

Parents are able to log in to QParents via their computer ormobile device, to access a range of information about theirchild, including:

For more information:

Please note that QParents invitations have been sent to youremail.

India McGuireBusiness Manager

Enrolments Now Open for Prep – Year 12(2020)

If you reside permanently in our catchmentarea and your child/children were bornbetween 1st July, 2014 – 30th June, 2015we are now taking enrolments for Prep2020.

Our catchment area map can be located on our website underthe enrolment tab/catchment area. Please note, we are notaccepting any shared living applications.

http://www.strettonsc.eq.edu.au/

Stretton’s Pre-Prep program commences in Term 3 2019 sowe encourage parents/caregivers to submit their enrolmentapplications as soon as possible.

Enrolments are also open for students in catchment from Year1 – Year 12 (2020).

Tour and Talk

Parents and future Stretton students are invited to tour theCampus and talk with administration staff on Tuesday 21 May,2019 commencing at 9:00am from both our Gowan andIllaweena administration office.

Sharon LauEnrolment Officer Prep – Year 12

Sports NewsCongratulations to the following students who have beenselected to represent Southern Scorpions District in the sportslisted below:

Basketball:

Mitchell GriggDamon CaseyBenjamin PenningtonEllacruz KereamaWilliam Gannon LeeJay Chen

Volleyball:

Boaz ChenKode Lawrence

• report cards and assessment

• timetables and class times

• attendance records

• invoice and payment details

• Visit the QParents website athttps://qparents.qld.edu.au

• Contact 13QGOV (13 74 68) for further information,assistance with registration, advice on how to use theQParents application and help with technical issues.

• Read the QParents User Guide (PDF, 5 MB)https://strettonsc.eq.edu.au/Pages/default.aspx

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Jake BothwellJordan SligoNikita JacobEva BracNikita FrommoltChloe WiseAlysssa MileyOlivia RyanGeorgia DeanLeilani TuqiriAvril-Marie EspenillaSarah MillarChiarina WilsonElla KlewinHinearoha NepiaKasanita MataeleVanessa Burrows

Football:

Housam JoukhiGabrielle ClavenEloise ButlerMia SazdovaSarenyia Scurr-Passfield-MooreIsabella Francisco

Touch Football

Declan LauBen HowkinsJordyn KaribalisKoby PayneXavier KirkJoshua SharpMatthias WongSakstyn Scurr-Passfield-MooreConnor RichardsIsaac ChambersXavier AtoaKayliss BrownKaylah MoloneyTin ChenBailee WilliamsMaya SalmonSienna MartinEdie Miles

Rugby League:

Koby PayneDavid VakautaZachary KissellDeclan McGrathLiam Upston

AFL:

Hayden Anthony

Netball:

Faith KingAlexia Feao

Cross Country 2019

In 2019 Stretton is again holding the Annual Inter-house CrossCountry. The date of the carnival is Friday April 5 2019. Thisyear it will be a different format. Students will start on theIllaweena Campus and then run through the course (see below)and finish back on Ilaweena campus.

Students will have the opportunity to walk the track prior to theirrace. Please see the approximate timetable below.

Time Age Distance Laps

9:00 Gowan Walk Though Distance 2km 1

9:30 9 Years Boys and Girls Distance 2 km 1

9:40 10 Year Boys Distance 2 km 1

9:50 10 Year Girls Distance 2km 1

10:00 11 Year Boys Distance 2km 1

10:10 11 Year Girls Distance 2km 1

12:00 Illaweena Walk Through Distance 2km 1

12:30 12 Year Boys Distance 4km 2

12:40 12 Year Girls Distance 4km 2

12:50 13 Year Boys Distance 4km 2

13:00 13 Year Girls Distance 4km 2

13:10 14 Year Boys Distance 4km 2

13:20 14 Year Girls Distance 4km 2

13:30 15 Year Boys Distance 4km 2

13:40 15 Year Girls Distance 4km 2

13:50 16 Year Boys Distance 4km 2

14:00 16 Year Girls Distance 4km 2

17 + Year Boys Distance 6km 314:10

17 + Years Girls Distance 4km 2

Thank you for your support of the sporting carnivals of StrettonState College

Rugby League Trial Game vs Chisholm

On Monday March 11, Stretton SC hosted two trial gamesagainst Chisholm College. These trial matches were inpreparation for the Broncos Qualifying Day and the Titans CupCompetition. The Year 7/8 and 9/10 team both had convincing

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wins against their opponents, showing promising signs for whatis to come in 2019. We endeavour to have another trial matchagainst another school before the end of this term.

Standouts for the afternoon were:

Grade 7/8: Connor Richards, Xavier Atoa, Mana SmithGrade 9/10: Taito Tuqiri, Caleb Gold, Zach Kissell

Thank you to Shane Spicer from Souths Sunnybank RLFC forrefereeing and your continued support with the Rugby LeagueAcademy. Also, a big thank you to AllSports Physio Calamvalefor sending a sports trainer for the afternoon.

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