Milpera News, March 2017. Milpera State High School, www.milperashs.eq.edu.au

Message from our Principal, Ms Adele Rice J U L Y 2 0 1 1

Somali Family Morning

Yeronga visits Room 5

Garden Thrives

Room 4 to Mt Cootha

Puppet Performance by Room 24 & Songroom

Stanley River camp

International Women’s Day 2017

Numinbah Valley Camp

Connecting to Country

Room 16 to Law Courts

GOMA Museum

Room 5 to Indooroopilly Library

Date Claimers:

April 2017 17: Easter Monday Public Holiday 18: First day of Term 2 25: ANZAC Day 28: Seniors Info session May 2017 1: Labour Day Holiday 19: Last day Term 2 8-11: Toohey Forest trip 12: Parent Info session 17: Railway Safety 19: “Boys to Men” Day 22: Teachers’ Twilight Professional Dev. 24: Family Link Day 26: National Sorry Day 27: Ramadan begins June 2017 2: Brisbane EEC 22: Exit Assembly 23: Last day of Term 2 July 2017 10: First day of Term 3

Milpera News VOLUME 7, ISSUE 1 March 2017

Message from our Principal, Mr. Tom Beck 2017 is off to a great start at Milpera State High School. We celebrat-

ed International Women’s Day, held camps at both Stanley River and

the Numinbah Valley and marked Harmony Day with a sausage sizzle

and concert. (photos below.)

One of the best features of Milpera is the many opportunities it pro-

vides for students to experience different types of learning. Students

will try new sports, discover many new facts and will learn in a range

of differing environments from the classroom to the bush. School is never boring here

and the more the students try with an open mind, the faster they will progress.

Our school is successful because the students focus on learning. At times, however,

some students become angry about things they believe are said about them or they

hear. The best thing is to walk away and

focus on other positive aspects of

school and not worry about what others

say if the words are untrue or are in-

tended to hurt.

I wish to congratulate our

graduating students and

am sure they will enjoy

their destination schools

and TAFE. They have been

well prepared by our teach-

ers and have had a great

start in the Australian edu-

cation system. I am sure

they will always be proud that they attended Milpera State High School.

Tom Beck, Principal

Somali Family Morning

Last week we invited our Somali families to a discussion morning together at school, to learn more about education in Queensland, the importance of parental involvement and the partnership between school and home. It was a great success with over 25 peo-

ple in attendance. We shared tea, food, stories and laughter, and it was a won-derful opportunity to con-nect with families in a mean-ingful way. Thanks to all who made the morning a happy success. Ms Janelle Patterson,

Home Liaison teacher.

Milpera News, March 2017. Milpera State High School, www.milperashs.eq.edu.au

Yeronga students advise Room 5

Some Yeronga high school

students came to talk with

us in Room 5, because we will go to high school soon. They explained

to us the school rules, and what to bring to school. They showed us

the different uniforms. The Yeronga students also talked about the

different subjects you can choose there, and about homework. Then

we did role plays, like what to say at the office if you break your lap-

top. We played games like “duck, duck, goose” and “scissors, paper,

rock”. The Yeronga students were very friendly. It was fun and we

learned a lot. By Room 5

Puppet Performances by Room 24

In Milpera every day we do something interesting and learn new

things. This term in Room 24 we have had puppetry lessons with Ms

Lara from “Songroom,” and we always create something. Puppeteers

have to be very careful, gentle, and brave, because when they use

puppets, it should look like living things so the audience can believe

in the story. First we made shadow puppets. I did a snail and a whale

because it’s my favourite story. Saddam made a beautiful camel, Zoe

made amazing fish etc. After that we created a story for our puppets

and made a background, then

did a show for our teacher. Now

we use marionettes, and we are

making them independently. I

think we are doing really im-

portant things, because it’s help-

ing our English and making us

braver. In the lessons I feel full

of energy and ideas, and it will

be good for my future.by Daria

Stanley River Camp

On Wed 1st March, Rooms 17 and 22 went with

Ms Hannigan, Mr Eddie and Ms Howlett to the

Stanley River on 2 buses. When we arrived we

met Mr David, the park ranger, and he talked

about safety around the fire and the river, and

looking out for snakes. On Thursday we put on

our life jackets and learnt how to paddle a ca-

noe. There were 3 people in each canoe, and 2

canoes were tied together, so we had to work

together as a team. We liked canoeing, cooking

damper over the coals, and playing games to-

gether. We also learnt how to throw a boomer-

ang and we did some activities. We had time to

play games together, to make new friends, and

to have fun. By Rm 17 & Rm 22 (left & above)

Room 4 explores Mt Coo-tha

We went to Mt Coot-tha and the Botanical Gardens. We saw the whole city and Milpera. We liked all the birds and the flowers. It was a great day!

Garden Thrives Room 14 has been care-

fully tending the school

garden. Thank you to

Dominic, Sarah, Eh Kah

Gaw and Tenzin, who

worked hard planting

tomatoes and chilis.

Milpera News, March 2017. Milpera State High School, www.milperashs.eq.edu.au

International Women’s Day 2017

“When you educate a woman, you educate a nation.”

African proverb

International Women’s Day was inspiring again this year,

with a morning assembly presentations from former

Milpera graduates with motivating messages. Milpera

girls demonstrated their skills and confidence and talent

in the Samoan dance group, in the Milpera Choir that sang “Brave”, and in the

circus skills performance given by Ms Sarah Whitehead and Room 4 girls (photo

above). After morning tea, the girls participated in a round of workshops, including rock climbing, martial arts, circus

skills, bicycle maintenance, Zumba dance, Poi making, manicures, coding

and bead making.

A Glowing Experience at Numinbah Valley Camp

This term Rooms 11 and 8 enjoyed camping at Numinbah Environmental Edu-

cation Centre for a few days, and wrote

glowing recounts when they returned.

“On the second day we woke up at 6:30. We

ate our breakfast and we got everything

ready to go to walk in the rainforest. We

walked about 4 kilometres in the rainforest.

We saw a waterfall and very tall and large

trees. We saw a blue spiny cray-

fish and a big black lizard. It was

very hard for us because it was

our first time in a rainforest.

When we finished we got on the bus and we came to our camping

place.”(recount by Majd, Room 11).

At night time the students went back to the rainforest and used their

torches to see the hundreds of glow worms in a cave at the bottom of the

forest. It was an exciting experience for all.

Milpera News, March 2017. Milpera State High School, www.milperashs.eq.edu.au

Milpera State High School

English Language Preparation Centre

2 Parker St

Chelmer 4068

Phone: 07 3270 3222

admin@milperashs.eq.edu.au

www.milperashs.eq.edu.au

“Connecting to Country” Day

A group of students from Milpera participated in our first “Connection to Coun-

try” day, held in Urgapul Country, 75km south west of Brisbane. The boys had

never experienced being “out bush”. They learnt the place names of the sur-

rounding mountains, and participated in their first smoking ceremony. They

learnt about bush tucker, how to make a fire (photo left), and participated in

song and dance. This was a joint effort by the Gunnithakun Aboriginal Corpo-

ration and HEAL at Milpera. The boys were incredibly grateful for their new

knowledge and were really touched deeply by their new experiences. Planning is now underway to support more of these

experiences for the Milpera community. Written by Mr Danny Parker, HPE teacher

Room 16 Goes to Law Courts

This term Room 16 were introduced to legal is-sues in Australia, as we studied with Mr Robert Lachowicz, an Educator from RAILS, the Refugee and Immigration Legal Service. Mr Robert took us to watch the proceedings in cases in the Courts in Roma Street. The courts looked just like a TV set, and it was a new experience for us (photo right). It was very serious, because if found guilty, the defendant could go to jail. The lawyers all spoke a lot more than the defendants. It was helpful, but a bit hard to understand. The experience opened up our minds about people’s lives. by Room 16.

Room 3: Yesterday our class went to the city on the

school bus. First we went inside the museum. We

looked at the pictures of planets. We liked them. Mon-

zue and Abdi-Kais liked the pictures of Earth. Then we

saw the dinosaur bones. They were very big. After that

we saw all the Australian animals upstairs. We liked it

because it was fun. We walked over the Victoria Bridge,

and we listened to the music in the mall. At City Hall we

went up the lift to see the paintings and a movie. We liked City Hall because we were hap-

py. Mr Lee took us back to school and we had to go home in the rain!

Rooms 15 and 21 visited GOMA on the 13th March.

There was so much to look at in the gallery. Some students liked the coloured hair and fur,

others liked the seal balancing the piano on its nose.

Rooms 12 & 10: We focused on enjoying and appreciating the Art and making new friends.

On the excursion we developed our speaking skills. We had a conversations with our

friends and talked about the art we were viewing.

GOMA Museum Experience R12, 10, 3, 15 & 21

Room 5 discovers Indooroopilly Library This term Room 5 went to In-

dooroopilly Library to learn how

to use the library card. A librarian

taught us how to find the books

on the computer and how to bor-

row the books. She told us you

can borrow 20 books for 4 weeks,

for free. Did you know they have

Xbox and computers there you

can use? Now we can go to 33

libraries in Brisbane!