Welcome to our September edition of the Miami SHS newsletter. Term 3 is nearly over and what a challenging term it has been. With a lockdown, hard border closures and the return of school restrictions we have certainly had to adapt swiftly. We have continuously worked together and adapted to the ever-changing landscape and I thank all staff, students and families for their understanding and cooperation during these changes throughout Term 3.

Infrastructure - Indoor Sports Facility

Our new multi-million-dollar sports facility is getting closer to starting. The plans are finalised and we have an incredible steering committee compiled that have designed and collaborated to ensure our community have the very best facility for learning and activity. The project is on track for construction to commence in December 2021 - just 3 months away. The appointed architect has generated images for our whole community to view. These will be uploaded on our social media platforms shortly and will be visible in our administration building.

Winter Uniform Guidelines

A reminder that as we end the term, so does the wearing of the optional winter uniform (track pants). Upon return to school in Term 4 track pants should not be worn, in order to align with the guidelines created between the school and P&C for the wearing of a winter uniform.

NAPLAN Results Released

Last week NAPLAN results were released nationally and all individual reports have been sent home via hard mail. Initial analysis of the results are positive – particularly given this was the first time NAPLAN was introduced online at our school and also the added complexity of COVID-19 disruptions. I congratulate all our students for participating in this test. Our message here at Miami surrounding NAPLAN remains strong – these results do not define who you are nor do they indicate how you are tracking within each of your subjects.

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

On Wednesday 13 October 2021 we will be holding Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews from 2:00pm via Microsoft Teams. These interviews are taking place online to ensure that if any future COVID restrictions are put in place that it will not interrupt the interview process and also continue with the school’s ongoing commitment to a blended learning model.

School will finish at 12:50pm on this day to allow for Interviews to commence at 2:00pm. Online bookings are now open and can be made through the DayMap Parent Portal or by clicking the following link https://miamishs.eq.daymap.net/daymapconnect. Instructions on how to book an interview and how to use Microsoft Teams was emailed to all parents on Friday 10 September 2021. These interviews are a perfect opportunity to ensure that every child is on track for success.

Year 7 2022 Enrolments

Our Junior Secondary staff are now planning to ensure Year 7 classes are compiled for 2022 to meet the needs of every student, I encourage all families who have not yet made the initial steps to enrol a grade 7 child for 2022, to please do so by contacting our Enrolments Officer, Heidi Clack on 5554 0340 or hclac3@eq.edu.au as soon as possible to ensure a smooth start to 2022. Initial enrolment figures for 2022 are very strong and aligning with projected school growth in the junior years.

Thank you and Happy Holidays

Our students have been very busy in the past few weeks with assessments, exams and planning for their final term. Thank you to all of our parents, carers, and teachers, who supported our students in numerous ways to ensure their individual success and personal best was achieved.

Although we still have travel restrictions in place and the Queensland/New South Wales Border remains closed for non-essential travel, I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy family time and on behalf of the Miami State High School Team I wish you all a safe and relaxing spring break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday 5 October 2021 for the final term of 2021.

Principal, Mrs Sue Dalton

Term 3 has been somewhat a little crazy with so many of our planned events changing dates due to COVID restrictions however with the easing of these more recently, we squeezed in industry workshops and an excursion to QPAC.  The Year 7 Dance Excellence students have enjoyed developing their creative circus skills working with hoops and experiencing a workshop with Aerial Angels and our Year 8 and 9 Dance Excellence students engaged in a ballet history and technique workshop with Queensland Ballet. We finished the term with our Dance Excellence excursion to see Charlie & the Chocolate Factory which was not only long awaited but gobsmackingly entertaining!

Our Year 10 and 11 General Dance students have been exploring the communication of viewpoints through contemporary dance working as choreographers on their own projects with the Year 10s remaining in the traditional environment of the dance studio and the Year 11s exploring non-traditional site-specific environments to create their dance films.  

Rehearsals for our rescheduled Dance Excel Showcase have continued throughout the term and we are now more excited than ever to ‘Light It Up’ for everyone on Wednesday 6 October in the Miami High Great Hall. We hope to see you there for a very special evening of dance showcasing the talents of our students and staff from Dance Excellence, Senior Dance and Dance Xtreme programs.

Ms Miranda van’t Hof

Dance Excellence Coordinator

Arrangements for Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews on Wednesday 13 October 2021

School will finish at 12:50pm on Wednesday 13^th October 2021 to allow for Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews to commence at 2:00pm.

The reason for interviews to commence at 2:00pm is to enable a greater proportion of parents and students to access individual teachers for interviews.

As part of the school’s ongoing commitment to a blended learning model interviews will take place on Microsoft Teams.  This is the platform that students have been using for their online lessons.  We hope that by conducting interviews online that more parents will be able to attend as it is less disruption to your day.  It will also ensure that potential future Covid restrictions will not disrupt the interviews.  Instructions for how to attend these interviews are attached.

Appointment slots are ten minutes, six minutes for the interview and four minutes to reset for the next interview.

Online interview bookings will be open Monday 13 September 6:00a.m. to Tuesday 12 October 6:00p.m. 

Bookings can be made via the DayMap Parent Portal https://miamishs.eq.daymap.net/daymapconnect

Parents are requested to make alternative transport arrangements for students on this day but please do not hesitate to contact our office on 5554 0333 should you wish your child to remain supervised until the end of a normal school day.

Katie Barber

Head of Department – Teaching and Learning

During Term 3, Week 8, the Miami SHS Chess Championships were held over 3 consecutive lunchtimes.  This annual event saw twenty of the best Miami chess players vie for the title of Miami SHS Chess Champion. This year there was a tie for first between, Year 11 Keane Furge and Year 9 Chris Roussakis on 5/6 for the top spot so a playoff tie breaker had to be arranged. Each player won a game on the first day of tie breaks.  The next day the two talents met again with Keane emerging victorious after their fourth tie break match. The top Year 7 student was James Lee who took 3rd place overall finishing on 4.5/6. 

Do you want to play some chess at Miami SHS?  Why not join in the fun during Term 4 as we look to hold the 2nd Annual Teacher Vs Student Chess Battle in the Barn and see if the students have what it takes to hold onto the title they won in 2020!!

Matt Smith

Chess Coordinator

Two of our students, Jailyn Benfield and Layla Waiwaidilo are two Year 10 students out of twenty students across the Gold Coast accepted into the exclusive 'Titans Deadly Choices' program. The program, presented by the Preston Campbell Foundation focuses on Culture and Identity, Law and History, Aspirations and Celebrations. Well done Jailyn and Layla!

Students Jailyn Benfield (pictured Left) and Layla Waiwaidilo (right) with Preston Campbell of the Preston Campbell Foundation

Be Andrews 

Youth Worker 

In Japanese this term, Year 7K have been working on designing and drawing a Japanese character or creature. They have been learning all about yurukyara (cute and quirky mascot-style characters), youkai (mysterious and unusual Japanese folk tale-style creatures) and manga characters. Check out some of their great work. We have some very talented artists in 7K!

De Roos sensei

Japanese Teacher

With Term 3 nearly over, I would like to acknowledge the hard work in mathematics from our students and teaching team. Teachers are regularly in their D block classrooms early before school and during each lunch break helping students. The culture for students to strive for their very best is clear to see. Well done!

Maths Club

Maths club is tracking nicely. We have welcomed many new faces, particularly from Year 10 and 11. This is a valuable support structure for our students and we cater for all students from Years 7 to 12.

I would invite all students to come and visit and see what they think. We have many mathematics teachers and students giving up their time to work on assessment, homework and exam preparation. It is always wonderful to be part of such a positive environment. Maths Club is in room D18/19 every Tuesday afternoon – 2:30 to 3:30 pm.

Year 11 Maths 2022

We are very pleased to see the large number of students who have reached our subject prerequisites to study our 4 Mathematics subjects in Year 11 next year. Our most challenging subject – Specialist Mathematics has the greatest number of students in the past 6 years – a testament to the high expectations we place on students, their powerful work ethic and outstanding teaching in Year 7 to 10 Mathematics. Well done!

Calculators and Devices

I will take the opportunity to remind students and families about our high expectations surrounding equipment in Mathematics. All students must have a calculator every lesson – and for exams. Phones can not be used as calculators in class or for exams  - for obvious reasons.

It has been pleasing to see so many of our students accessing Daymap and Edperfect on their devices.

Todd Campbell

Mathematics Head of Department

Office_Event_Flyer_Surfers.pdf

The Coffs Coast’s Screenwave International Film Festival is looking for the next wave of young filmmakers living anywhere in Australia!

Enter a short film into the Nextwave Youth Film Competition for your chance to win awesome awards and prizes, including Best School, and have your film premiere at SWIFF 2022 on the Coffs Coast! 

If you like being creative, and want to have a go at filmmaking, SWIFF wants to see what you can do!

The rules are simple:

• Make a film under five minutes
• Include a pineapple
• Enter before October 12^th to win!

For full terms and conditions, visit www.nextwavefilm.com.au

Our school nurses are still available for all our students! Text your first name, date of birth and school to 0428683735 if you need any assistance from the nurses.

Miami Business Centre offers fully integrated serviced office suites with business grade internet starting from $265 per week.

Shared serviced offices provide a cost-effective solution for start-ups, entrepreneurs, home-based business owners and large companies to establish branch locations. A serviced office saves you time and money by utilising shared resources, shared facilities, equipment and support personnel.

Miami Business Centre offers flexible plans that can be customised to suit all your specific requirements. From casual hourly hire, to daily, weekly or monthly rental terms.

The Centre also offers and encourages inter-trading relationships that may be difficult to achieve elsewhere and has a family community feeling.

Contact us at info@miamibc.com.au or www.miamibc.com.au for more details.

Our Miami Valued Partners from Burleigh Golf Club are inviting all Miami High students to a Come and Try Day this Sunday from 9am to 11am for those students aged between 5 and 17 years free of charge. If you wish to take part in the Come and Try Day please contact the Burleigh Golf Club Proshop!

We are so thrilled to have 4 ASD Kids onboard this year as a Miami Valued Partner. 

For more information go to:https://4asdkids.gofundraise.com.au/cms/home