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Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Another Year Ends

A nother busy year is quickly drawing to a close. Thank you for your support in making this a very successful year of learning for your children. This is a fantastic school and I am proud to

work with passionate staff and parents who are committed to getting the best education for their children. My heartfelt thanks to all members of staff at this school for the wonderful effort they have put in to providing the students of this school with an exceptional education.

In these last few weeks we have continued building our memories of 2019 with Year 6 going to North High and Pioneer for orientation days, our annual Awards Night and Awards afternoons for Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 classes. This week we had wet day for students from Prep to Year 2, swimming carnival for Years 3 to 6, Year 6 Graduation night and many end of term reward’s day activities for those students who have displayed great behaviour by making good behaviour choices throughout the term.

Year 6 Graduation

T he Year 6 Graduation evening on Tuesday night was a fantastic night of celebration for our graduating Year 6 students. It was great to see all of the Year 6 students dressed up and enjoying an evening that

celebrated the end of their primary school years. On the evening three of our former Year 6 leaders, Libby Schill, Luke Eldridge and Elijah Sanderson were there to speak to the children about what to expect from high

school. It was great to catch up with them.

As part of this evening, the Spirit of Rats of Tobruk award is presented. This year the award went to Ella Wilkie. Ella is a very worthy recipient and will have her name added to the school’s honour board.

EMAIL:

the.principal@macknortss.eq.edu.au

Mackay North SS News

ADDRESS: Harvey Street PO Box 3012 North Mackay QLD 4740

PHONE: 07 49 400 333 FAX: 07 49 400 300

ISSUE 20

13th DECEMBER 2019

principal

Cont’d

Mackay North State School

Improvement Agenda 2019

IMPROVING READING OUTCOMES FOR EVERY STUDENT and always focused on

WRITING

Cont’d

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Swimming Carnival

O n Wednesday we held our annual “WET DAY” for the school with the Prep, Year 1 and 2 students participating in wet day

activities during the morning session and our Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 students competing in the school’s swimming carnival in the afternoon. All students appeared to thoroughly enjoy spending most of the day cooling off in one form or another.

The results from the swimming carnival are as follows:

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

Cont’d

2019 Swimming Carnival Age Champions

12 year old girl Chase Edwards

12 year old boys Louis Korneliussen & Darcy Sanderson

11 year old girl Natalia Salam

11 year old boy Nate McKinnon

10 year old girl Harper Boulding

10 year old boy Kingston Baker

9 year old girl Cadence MKKinnon

9 year old boy Zak Young

8 year old girl Mia Angus

8 year old boy Parker Norris-Hunt

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Our Amazing Staff

A s our year draws to an end, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the amazing, dedicated staff at North

who work tirelessly to ensure that every opportunity is given to our students to experience as many different learning activities and events as possible throughout the year. This is on top of their ‘normal’ work of providing academic learning challenges and supporting each student in any way that is required.

Mrs Rikki Wilkie

I t is with sadness that we say goodbye to Mrs Rikki Wilkie. Mrs Wilkie has secured a permanent base school and will be working at Victoria Park

State School next year. Mrs Wilkie has been with us since mid 2017, confidently working in many different areas of the school in contract positions. I would like to wish Mrs Wilkie all the best for 2020 and beyond.

Mr Mark Shew

M r Mark Shew has accepted a position to teach LOTE at Mackay North State High School in 2020. Mr Shew has been working with students at our school for

the last four years, passionately teaching Japanese language and culture. We wish him all the best in his new adventure.

Mrs Neralyn Finch

I would also like to wish Mrs Neralyn Finch all the very best in 2020. Mrs Finch is taking leave before easing

into retirement. She has been at North since 2010. Her passion and extensive knowledge for English and drama are well known and will be sorely missed.

At this stage other staff changes in 2020 are minimal. We have Mrs Kathleen Norris joining our team. She will be based at our school to teach Japanese as well as travelling to Walkerston, Coningsby and Farleigh.

Cont.

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

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2020 School Captains

Our 2020 School Captains have been elected and are ready to take office in the New Year. I am very pleased to announce our school captains for 2020 will be Zehn McKay and Libby Zurvas and our vice-captains will be Oliver Wilkie and Amelia Bishop. It was a very close ballot, with all candidates very capable of filling these roles. All students who presented leadership speeches will form our Student Council in 2020. Early in Term 1 next year, we will conduct sports house and cultural captain elections before presenting students with leadership badges at an induction parade. I look forward to working with our newly elected student leaders in 2020.

2020 Student Medications

In preparing for the new school year in 2020, if your child requires staff to administer medication to your child at school, please contact the school office in the first instance to discuss your child’s requirements.

Please note, school staff will only administer medication that:

o has been prescribed by a qualified health practitioner (e.g. doctor, dentist) with a letter outlining medication, dosage, time of day and duration of time medication is to be administered

o is in its original container

o has an attached pharmacy label.

Office staff will ask you to complete and sign Section 1 of the Administration of medication at school record sheet.

Please note, school staff will not administer medication that you can buy over-the-counter at chemists and supermarkets (e.g. paracetamol, eye drops, cough syrup) unless it has been prescribed by your child’s qualified health practitioner. For example, the school would administer paracetamol to a student only if it has been prescribed by their dentist to be taken for a short time after dental treatment.

School staff are bound by these regulations and we hope that all parents will acknowledge and cooperate with these rules.

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

Cont’d

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FUN FACT

2020 Student Security

Another change to keep in mind for 2020 will, for security and accountability, be the locking of all gates except the front gate in Harvey Street by 9am every day. All parents, carers and visitors coming into the school grounds during the school day should come into the school via the front office so that we are aware of who is onsite. Gates will be unlocked at 2:30pm each afternoon.

Once entering the grounds in the afternoon to wait for your children, please be mindful of students who are still required to listen and concentrate. Please keep younger children from playing on playgrounds as this is noisy and distracting to classes.

Season’s Greetings

As this is the last newsletter of the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our families for the wonderful way you support your children with their learning and wish all members of our school community a safe and happy Christmas break with family and friends. I look forward to seeing you all in 2020.

Di Schmidt

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

If any one has any usable school bags, stationery, schoolbooks,

READING books or toys they’d like to donate to Vanuatu please

leave at the office in the New Year.

Jo Dorante

Santa has a real

postcode ....

HOH OHO

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It is hard to believe we have reached the end of another year! What an amazing year we have had and I congratulate every child on their achievements this year, and thank every family member who has supported their children to make the very most of their education in 2019. I would like to acknowledge and thank the staff at this school who continually go above and beyond to help our students succeed. As a team of educators they are second to none.

Congratulations to our Year 6 students! Primary school is finally over and high school awaits. I wish each of you the best as you begin this next phase of your journey and I look forward to hearing of your continued successes.

To finish off the year we have some further fantastic results from our ICAS participants and Awards Night. Well done to all of these students.

Mackay North SS News

deputy

principal

Cont’d

ICAS English

PARTICIPATION

Kushi Bennur

Cadence McKinnon

Dezi-Lee Eagleton

Djarot Jenkins

Kingston Baker

Aimee Brooks

Grace Clarke

Cairo Cowan

Maya Daniel

Oliver Wilkie

Amelia Bishop

Elias Goss

Nate McKinnon

Elizabeth Zurvas

Ocky Goss

Lilly Giblett

Shinta Jenkins

Darcy Sanderson

Izabella Nunn

Phoebe Tate

ICAS Mathematics

PARTICIPATION

Kate McClurg

Andrei Ongsiangco

Kushi Bennur

Alisha Raj

Kade Makin

Parker Norris-Hunt

Connor Jackson

Miley Swindells

Kaydee Rebbeck

Chloe Giblett

Djarot Jenkins

Aimee Brooks

Maya Daniel

Emilia Hollis

Esara Sinclair

Oliver Wilkie

Seth Bray

Elias Goss

Elizabeth Zurvas

Jacintah Barbour

Lilly Giblett

Mathematics continued

Shinta Jenkins

Darcy Sanderson

Ella Wilkie

Xia Woodgate

Finlee Boulding

Rowin Carasig

Hugh Eldridge

Izabella Nunn

MERIT

Cheyenne Jensen

Zehn McKay

Nate McKinnon

Tristan Paranthioene

CREDIT

Isabella Grant

Cadence McKinnon

Cameron Barbour

Temperance Ellwood

Harper Boulding

Mickal Jensen

DISTINCTION

Ocky Goss

English continued

MERIT

Alisha Raj

Amelia Woodhouse

Emily Hansen-Axiak

CREDIT

Miley Swindells

Emilia Hollis

Ella Wilkie

Xia Woodgate

DISTINCTION

Isabella Grant

Harper Boulding

Finlee Boulding

Cont.

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Cont.

Mackay North SS News

deputy

principal (cont’d)

Year 3 Class Achievement Awards: Academic Award

Citizenship Award

North Star Awards

Year 4 Achievement Awards: Academic Awards

Citizenship Awards

North Star Awards

Year 5 Class Achievement Awards: Academic Awards

Citizenship Awards

Temperance Ellwood Cadence McKinnon Miley Swindells

Cameron Barbour Emma Lemos Hallie McIntosh

Kasandra Menzies Abbey West

Shimaya Attard Levi Bird Isabella Caldwell

Ethan Hill Archie Roney Kelsey Sanderson

Logan Bennett Harper Boulding Cooper Jayo

Sarah Korneliussen Adelaide McGuinness Billy Muntelwit

Chloe Pedler Kaydee Rebbeck Bailey Robertson

Zed Scott Harper Smith Cyndy Looby

Mantaj Brar Logan Daniels Emily Heazlewood

Theresa Holt Daeniel Manalo Lilly McKean

Haylee Nuis Diana Pratt Jessie Smith

Elizabeth Zurvas

Elijah Austin Eva Bland Nemea Fahey

Lani Hine Rafia Islam Kayla Jocelyn

Faith Johnston

Keanu Barba Connor Daniels Holly Davies

Levi Fowler Chloe Giblett Ebony Hart

Leteisha Heel Xavier Jensen Kiara Knowles

Jayda Spicer Hope Sturma

Amelia Bishop Aimee Brooks Cairo Cowan

Maya Daniel Dezi-Lee Eagleton Elias Goss

Emilia Hollis Djarot Jenkins Zehn McKay

Nate McKinnon Axle Sturma Oliver Wilkie

Amelia Woodhouse

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Kristy Scott

Mackay North SS News

deputy

principal (cont’d)

North Star Awards

Year 6 Class Achievement Awards:

Academic Awards

Citizenship Awards

North Star Award

See you all in 2020.

Pekaroa Carnahan Jesse Fowler Jade Groom

Hunter Lang Esara Sinclair

Finlee Boulding Rowin Carasig Lilly Giblett

Ocky Goss Emily Hansen-Axiak Mickal Jensen

Charlotte McGuinness Izabella Nunn Tristan Paranthoiene

Darcy Sanderson Ella Wilkie Xia Woodgate

Maisie Cameron Chase Edwards Lucy Robertson

Jacintah Barbour Jasmine Hart Mia Hine

Shinta Jenkins Emmerson Kenny Joshua Muntelwit

Luke Reeves Keelan Smith Phoebe Tate

Policelink - 13 14 44 KEEP A WATCH ON OUR SCHOOL THESE HOLIDAYS

We need everyone to look after our school in the holidays.

If you do see something suspicious, please do not attempt to intervene.

Call the Policelink number – 13 14 44 – and let the local police deal

with the matter.

The School Watch Program is a partnership between Education Queensland,

the Queensland Police Service and the State Government Protective Security

Service.

It aims to reduce vandalism, theft and arson in Queensland schools.

Let's work together to help create a safer school community.

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Hello again Mackay North family

Firstly,

ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL: Please see the chart below - I am sure Mrs Scott provided similar information earlier in the year, but I really wanted to encourage parents to be diligent in sending students to school each and every school day (unless genuinely unwell) – and to be ON TIME.

Well done to parents who already do this – Love your diligence!

Some children have TERRIBLE attendance……..without good cause.

These students have missed learning tasks, assessments, swimming and even rewards days. If you are having difficulty getting your child to school and your child is a student with a disability it is possible to apply for transport assistance to get the students with disability to school. Please ask me how!

If your child is moving onto high school – ask the Head of Special Education Services about the terms and conditions for transport assistance.

Mackay North SS News

sep

Cont.

Just a little bit late doesn’t

seem much but ...

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Secondly,

Goodbye to our large cohort of Year 6 students. Thank you parents for supporting the Transition program for Pioneer and Mackay North State High Schools. The students mostly expressed positive experiences and are now familiar with their high school timetables and are able to negotiate around the campuses.

Thirdly,

A special congratulations to the student awarded the

Special Achievement Award for 2019.

Emily Hansen-Axiak has made an outstanding achievement and contribution, since starting school in Prep, to all facets of school life – Academic, Cultural and Sporting. Thank you and congratulations to Emily. We wish you an equally successful high school journey.

Lastly,

A very special to the hard working SEP team who quietly and magically support all students across the school. Thank you to everyone at our school who gives so much to the successful support of all our students with additional needs and contributes towards ensuring our students learn at high levels. To our administration team, our teachers and all our other staff – thank you so much for all your ongoing and generous contributions of time, effort and resources. You, and all you do, are to be congratulated. Thank you so much!

Thanks to the parents who supported the transition program to help their child make high school not so daunting and in turn makes our school an even better place for all students to learn.

And thank you to our students who put in so much to be the best learners and achievers possible – we are very proud of your efforts all year – well done!

We certainly can’t forget Mrs Murphy who as has been an integral part of the SEP team ALL YEAR – from filling in for me at the beginning of the year to taking on the role of SEP teacher in term 3, when Mrs Wilkie joined the Prep team.

Thank you all so very much. I hope you are able to spend some memorable moments with your loved ones and enjoy a safe and happy Christmas season. Merry Christmas!

Mackay North SS News

sep (cont’d)

Helen Parker (for the SEP team)

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Mackay North SS News

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NORTH MACKAY NEWSAGENCY

26 Evans Avenue, NORTH MACKAY.

Ph: 49573056 Email: admin@back2schoolmackay.com.au

Back 2 School Mackay is a locally owned business. We have been providing back to school supplies for

the past 20 years. You will find a large number of local Mackay school booklists available from this site.

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A big shout out to all the students who were involved in our cultural groups this year. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication in making the 2019 Cultural year so successful! Thank you also to the families for your support and encouragement of your children. We look forward to working with you again next year.

From all the music staff at Mackay North…

Mackay North SS News

music

Jodie Hunt

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything ~ Plato

2020 Term 1 Cultural Calendar

EVENT DETAILS

TERM

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Instrumental Quick Start Program Week 2: All beginner instrumental students

Instrumental Lessons Begin Week 3: Strings Tuesday; BWP Thursday

Concert Band & String Ensemble First rehearsal Week 4

Choral Festival – rehearsal Senior Choir: Sunday 22nd March Times TBC MECC

Choral Festival – rehearsal Senior Choir: Monday 23rd March Times TBC MECC

Choral Festival – performance Senior Choir: Monday 23rd March Times TBC MECC

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Mackay North SS News

WEEK 8

student of the week award

norths

big shots

winners

WEEK 9

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Merry Christmas

from the Library This year our library has had some wonderful

student library monitors, who have been responsible for

helping with shelving, lunchtime activities with the

younger students, assisting in Book Fair and Book Week fun.

They really have shown excellent maturity and it has been a

pleasure to watch them grow over the year. A big “thank you

and well done” to these amazing North students: Shinta Jenkins,

Mia Hine, Olivia Gernhoeffer, Phoebe Tate, Izabella Nunn, Koben

Kulpinksi, Ocky Goss, Amelia Bishop, Andrea Oliphant, Jade Groom,

Kaileena Snell, Esara Sinclair, Dezi-lee Eagleton, Emily Heazelwood,

Tiani Paranthoiene, Nate McKinnon. Keep on Reading everyone!

The end of year Pancake Breakfast Each year as a thank you to our Library monitors, we hold a pancake breakfast in the

Library. It was great to see so many turn up and join in with us!

Mackay North SS News

library

Mrs Maunder & Miss Sandy

HOMEWORK READERS!!!

Over the holiday break, families often find long lost homework readers or library

books. If this happens, please take good care of them and have them ready to return

at the start of the year. We are always delighted to see them turn up no matter how

late! Each book that comes back to us saves us $$ in replacements.

Thank you!

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First and foremost I would just like to say a massive thank you to my fellow executive committee .... you stepped up and took on something that we all had no clue about, and we survived …. without you ladies I would have been lost. We have learnt so much in a year and hopefully helped put some smiles on families’ faces with all that we have done in 2019. Being a volunteer is a pretty special thing. Yes, it can be a lot of extra work on top of already busy lives, but when you know you can make a difference in just one person’s life, it is worth it.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE THIS YEAR??

Had the most “EPIC” disco ever …. thank you ever so much to Mr Hastings Troy for his special effects and fabulous DJ work and of course all the parents who stepped up and asked to help. For our first event, you truly made me proud to be a part of such an amazing community. So again …. Thank you.

We WON the Star 101.9FM disco …. YAY…. (two discos in one year!!!)

RED Days …. there have been a few of these which have been a delicious treat for the students …. yet again fabulous volunteers stepping up to help .… Thank you.

Mothers’ Day & Fathers’ Day Stalls .... hope you liked the gifts that your children chose especially for you. Another full day’s effort for the volunteers who helped us set up and man these all day …. Thank you.

And last but so not the very least .... we successfully ran our first fair .... to say it was easy would be a lie …. it was a mammoth effort with lots and lots of behind the scenes work and then such huge days when it came to crunch time …. but again .… without the help of such an awesome executive and the truly amazing volunteers this would not have happened …. and to see and hear the fun that was had on the night made it all worthwhile. To those who volunteered …. from the bottom of my heart, thank you …. you are rockstars !!!! as I may have already told you a million times.

Tuckshop & Uniform Shop has come leaps and bounds this year and will only get better. Sherry has made such a positive impact in this area and has been the driving force of all the new and exciting items being made available. Without the help of the super fabulous ladies who volunteer week after week and support her, my hat goes off to you, as the tuckshop would not be as successful as it is. Thank you for giving up your time to help. We truly appreciate you.

I would personally like to thank Hazuki Eldrige and Michelle Street for giving up their time to run the school’s Book Club (Scholastic Books) and School Banking. Ladies you are a blessing in disguise .… Thank you so very much.

Also again thank you to all the families who have donated goods and services to us over this past year.

Let’s not forget the amazing local support we have had from our local businesses, especially our major sponsor for our fair – JAK Outdoor Equipment in Evans Avenue. Pop down and say hi.

To anyone who is thinking of coming along to a meeting at all, but is not sure or doesn’t want to be roped into something …. PLEASE COME .… find out what is going on and you never know …. you may just love it and hang out once a month on a Monday with us in air-conditioning.

Take care over the school break .... enjoy those beautiful children of yours and we welcome you back next year…. for those that are leaving or moving onto high school .… farewell and good luck. We hope that your time at Mackay North has been special.

UNIFORM SHOP

In need of uniforms???? Our Uniform Shop is the only place you can buy new MNSS clothes. Our opening times for the beginning of 2020 will be as follows:

21 January 9.00am – 11.00am

22 January 9.00am – 11.00am

23 January 3.00pm – 6.00pm

24 January 2.00pm – 5.30pm

The Uniform Shop will also be open the first week back at school. Times to be confirmed .... follow us on Facebook to keep up to date.

Mackay North SS News

Louise Goss - President

p & c

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Mackay North SS News

Mackay North SS News

Mob: 0413 728 761

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Please support them.