13 October 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents

A very warm welcome back to Term 4 to all Miami State High School families.

Term 4 is always a busy time in Education and Miami is no exception. We have already had some big events including the M’Oscars Film Festival and the Poetry Slam Night with Special Guest, Luka Lesson, earlier this term. Meanwhile, we still have our annual Sports Awards Evening, the Miami Soundwave Concert and, of course, our Year 12 Graduation Ceremony, Formal Annual Awards evening to look forward to. These events are always a wonderful experience that shouldn’t be missed as we celebrate the achievements and success of students at Miami State High School for 2017.

Most would be aware now of the amazing success our Tournament of the Minds team have had recently, being crowned State Champions. I would like to wish our team all the very best of luck for the end of this month when they represent Queensland in the International Finals in Adelaide. This is truly an outstanding achievement that our students, teachers and parents should be proud of, which has received special recognition from the Director General of Education and Training, Jim Waterston, and Minister for Education, Kate Jones.

Our school’s focus continues to be on teaching and learning as we continue to explore and deepen learning in the Art and Science of Teaching. As a staff we have also been collaboratively working on building a new vision, cementing core values and generating a powerful mission statement. I look forward to unveiling this work to the community at the annual Awards Evening in November.

Finally, I would like to encourage all families to follow our Facebook page to keep tabs on news and highlights between now and the end of term.

Sue Dalton
Principal

Dates to Remember

NEW Student Absentee Line

For all student absences please call our direct number on 5554 0334 or email absences@miamishs.eq.edu.au.

Year 12 – 2018 Pathways

Dear Parents/Guardians

Year 12 is coming to an end quickly! It is expected that all students have either applied for tertiary study or employment before they graduate from Miami SHS to ensure a successful transition into life after school.

I have been working closely with the Year 12 students for over a semester now in preparing for this and have utilised many of the tertiary education providers during this time through various school visits and on-campus experience days.

If you son/daughter has not applied for either tertiary study and/or employment I invite you to make an appointment with me to discuss this further. Students still have time to apply for study and can do so through the Queensland Tertiary Admission Centre (QTAC)

Yours faithfully

Joshua Atkins
Guidance Officer

Students Find Their Voice through Poetry

Miami State High School students and staff found their voice at the inaugural Slam Poetry event hosted by one of Australia’s best known Slam Poetry Champions, Luka Lesson.

With two slam poetry championships, seven years of international touring, fourteen Writers Festivals, eleven years hosting workshops, two highly successful poetry books and two full length albums under his belt, Luka Lesson is known world-wide as a leading critical thinker, creative writer and cultural change maker.

The Miami students took part in the Writer’s Republic education program during the day. The Writer’s Republic is an all-encompassing platform providing opportunities to educate, enhance and empower writers, speakers and artists through the delivery and promotion of powerful projects and programs.

Says Luka Lesson, “We’re having a great resurgence in orating one’s own story to large crowds. However, where we used to be called story-tellers or bards and the venues amphitheaters, caves and under trees; we are now rappers, singers and slam poets and our venues big stages, YouTube and school classrooms.”

Students, teachers and parents took to the stage to deliver their prose. Taking out the inaugural winning Slam Poetry title with her poem Life in Colour was Year 11 student Tayla Buckland. Other winners were Grace Hassell, Sakhi Tidyman and Lidiya Ramkumar.

Thank you to Miami’s very own teacher aide and the extremely talented Alex Burgess for his wit as MC and deliver of some creative story-telling through visual media. A big shout out to Cath Crawley for her poem “The Conundrum of Cats” and Andy Tonkin’s pieces on backyard TV shows and Life at the Dog Park. The world around us makes it an exciting time to be a poet!

Miami hosted their very first Slam Poetry event for the Miami Community with creative writer and cultural change maker, Luka Lesson.

Sports Report – Term 4

Welcome back to Term 4 of Sport at Miami! This term continues on with the State Athletics Carnival next weekend with Blade Rose, Saxon Rose, Joel Ottaway, Holly Canning, Isaac Singh and Maddison Levi representing South Coast and Miami SHS. Later on in this term Kaiden Hubbard, Max Kennedy and Tasmyn Askew with go on to represent Queensland at the National Swimming Titles. We wish all these students well at these carnivals.

On Tuesday 24 October our Annual Sports Awards evening will be held in the Great Hall. This is a fantastic night when we recognise the outstanding achievements that students from Miami have accomplished throughout the year. Doors will open at 5:30pm with Canapes and Refreshments available with the Ceremony beginning at 6:00pm. This year’s guest speaker will be Former NRL player Matt Srama with Ironman Matt Bevilacqua also in attendance to present awards. It’s shaping up to be a great night of celebrating student success. We hope to see everyone there.

Throughout this year the Miami High Touch players have been in training preparing for one of the largest Touch competitions in the southern hemisphere, the Queensland All School Touch Competition. With over 400 schools competing and close to 5000 touch players this carnival showcases the best of the game with teams competing from interstate as well as internationally. We wish all the Miami High Students attending the event all the best!

M’Oscars

This year the senior film students took the reins in the organisation of this year’s M’Oscars Film Festival held on the school oval under the directorship of Mrs Lucy Carr. This year they changed things up a bit and got back to basics with the ‘1950s drive-in’ theme. Families joined in the fun and brought their picnic blankets and enjoyed the entertaining short films produced by our talented students as well as the tasty treats sold by the Student Council.

“Once again, we were lucky enough to play host to special guests from the Gold Coast Film Festival, New York Film Academy, ATOM Queensland and Biz Video enjoyed viewing our fabulous student works. With so many special guests joining us in 2017, we decided to create a new and prestigious award, The Industry Partnerships Best Film Award that was judged on by the industry professionals themselves,” says Mrs Lucy Carr.

The inaugural IPBF Award went to Finn Robinsen with his insightful and informative documentary The Kombumerri People: Life Goes On. Every year at the Film Festival we ask the audience to vote on their favourite film of the evening. This year ‘The M’Oscars People’s Choice’ Award went to Wendy Wang, with her beautiful world cinema Chinese drama One Day.

View the fun times we all had at the M’Oscars 2017! An event not to be missed each year!

Sports Award Invitation 24 October

Attached please find the Sports Award Invitation. Commencing from 5.30pm with awards starting at 6.00pm. Join us as we celebrate 2017’s sporting achievements.

Student Achievements

Year 9 Student, Darcy Church, participated in the Qld Marathon Schools Championships for Kayaking at Lake Samsonvale in Term 3. Darcy represented Miami State High School with pride and he is to be congratulated for his Gold win in the U14 Boys TK2 race with his team member from Kedron State High School. Well done Darcy.

Congratulations to Imogen Rees in Year 12 for completing the Coolangatta Gold Surf Lifesaving event recently.

VET Celebrations

Celebrating Year 12 students’ successful completion of a Certificate and/or Diploma qualification through a School Based Apprenticeship, Traineeship or VET in School programs.

International News – Tangalooma Excusion

Our Internationals went on excursion to Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island on 12-14 September.

They enjoyed activities such as Desert Safari – Sand Tobogganing, Dolphin feeding, Snorkelling shipwrecks on Moreton Island and bushwalking.

This term our Internationals enjoy 8 weeks of our Learn to Surf Program:

Legal Studies – Alumni Share Legal Experiences with Students

On Wednesday September 13 we were fortunate to have two past students return to share their wisdom with our current Legal Studies students.

Danielle Warren graduated from Miami in 2009 and has since gone on to complete her Law degree and commence her career as a criminal lawyer with Potts Lawyers in Southport. She was in my Legal Studies classes from 2007-2009, attended our 2008 Canberra trip to see the High Court etc., and won runner-up in the Short, Punch and Greatorix Legal Studies Essay Competition in her final year. Danielle’s poster on miscarriages of justice is still displayed on our classroom wall in F12 to this day.

Jake Oksanen graduated in 2010 and since then has completed his police officer training and worked in a number of different stations across the state, before returning to the Gold Coast. I first met Jake as 12 year old entering Year 8 in 2006. As his English/SOSE teacher and Year Coordinator (2006-2010) I had the chance to get to know Jake both academically and personally. He was always such a friendly and likeable student, and continues to present himself to the world as a kind, respectful and capable young man. Jake has returned to speak with those interested in the police force before and was happy to give of his time again.

Many of our students don’t know what they want to do when they leave school and big decisions like this can be very hard to make when you’re 14 or 15. But hearing from people just like them, who have come from the same school, the same place, who have made those decisions are returned to tell the tale is an invaluable experience. Our Year 10 Legal Studies class and those from Year 11 and 12 classes who were interested, had the chance to hear from Danielle and Jake and ask lots of questions. This will, I have no doubt, have inspired at least a few to further investigate and perhaps pursue careers in these fields.

A select group of our students in Year 11 and 12 will also have the opportunity to attend the District Court on October 24 and see Danielle in action. She will be involved in a grievous bodily harm and extortion case, and students who have a very clear desire to pursue careers in Law (particularly Criminal Law) have been invited to accompany me to see Danielle in court. I am incredibly excited about seeing one of my past students deliver arguments before a judge and know that the students who attend with me will gain a lot from the experience also.

A big thank you to Jake and Danielle for giving their time to us. We at Miami really are like a family in many ways, and to have two of our own return and give back to future generations is really heart-warming. We hope to see you again and share in your professional successes and journey in the years to come.

Rebecca Churchouse
Legal Studies Coordinator

Jake Oksanen (police officer), Danielle Warren (criminal lawyer), Rebecca Churchouse (Legal Studies teacher), Sienna Ross, Bree Shackleton and Connor Brooks (Year 11 Legal Studies students)

The Educational Dancer

On Thursday 7 September, the Year 8 Dance Excellence students performed a children’s concert for a very enthusiastic group of kindy children from our local community. The concert was the climax of the term with students being assessed on their performances as part of a unit titled, ‘The Educational Dancer’, which focused on the creation of choreography designed for young children through an exploration of the concept of encouraging children’s imaginations, social skills, self-expression and coordination through theme based dance performances. The students were also responsible for music selection and costume design. It was a wonderful opportunity for all students, big and small, all sharing in a love of dance!

Miranda van’t Hof
Experienced Senior Teacher - Dance

In Term 3 Year 8 Dance Excellence students performed a children’s concert for an enthusiastic kindy group

Getting ready for the NDIS

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is rolling out across Queensland over three years. It will be rolled out in Gold Coast, Logan, Beenleigh and Redlands in July 2018.

People with disability, their families and carers can learn more about the NDIS and make the most of the opportunities it will bring.

Free information sessions, meetings, workshops, home visits, phone support and online information are available to help people find out more about the NDIS in Queensland and to get ready.

Please see the attached document for dates and times to attend an information session.

Or visit the website:

Susan Millet
Work Education Coordinator - Supportive Education Program
National Disability Insurance Scheme - Information Session

Heron Island Reef Trip 2018

Calling all Senior Science Students only. Join the Heron Island Reef Trip for 2018 which takes place from 2-6 April (1st week of Easter Holidays). Limited places available. Cost is $1200 per student.

Deposit of $300 due by Friday 3 November 2017.

Cost includes: Transportation, accommodation, meals and activities.

Please contact Mr. Trent Unsworth with any further questions tunsw3@eq.edu.au

Trent Unsworth
Marine and Aquatic Teacher

Miami Wins State TOMS Division

Miami State High School’s English Literature team topped the class in the Queensland State finals of the Tournament of Minds (TOM) competition held this past weekend at Griffith University. The team will now represent Queensland in the International finals which takes place from 26 – 29 October at Flinders University in Adelaide.

As the only Gold Coast school to be a winner in one of the four divisions of this problem solving programme for teams of students from both primary and secondary years, the Miami team, consisting of six students in Years 7 – 10, challenged six teams in the English division to take the top honours State Final title.

The Miami team of students will be competing alongside teams from Australia as well as South Africa, New Zealand, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Uganda in the international event, which is celebrating 30 years in Australia in 2017, at the International finals.

Says Mrs Susan Dalton, Principal of Miami State High School, “It is with absolute pleasure and pride I can share that our Language Literature Team were crowned State Champions. This is a truly outstanding achievement and an absolute credit to our teaching staff Danielle Stewart, Jenni McCarthy and Paula Hamilton for preparing the English Language team to optimum performance. Miami was the only State School to be crowned champions in any of the categories.”

Tournament of Minds is one of the fastest growing international school programmes with the involvement of thousands of participants. TOM aims to enhance the potential of our youth by developing diverse skills, enterprise, time management, and the discipline to work collaboratively within a competitive environment.

In the English Literature division, the team was given four stimulus (two photos and two quotes) and had to write a narrative based around the stimulus, perform a play that was creative and cohesive to the narrative and as a challenge, one of the quotes had to be the last line spoken in the play. The narrative had to reflect a structure that ultimately showed character transformation. All TOM challenges are written with STEM education in mind.

This year Miami State High School fielded a team in each of the regional final divisions which included Science and Technology, Social Science and Engineering Mathematics.

In 2016, the Miami Engineering Mathematics team were awarded Queensland Champions and placed second in the international finals (formally known as Australasian Finals) TOMS event.

“In the three years that Miami has participated in the event, they have gone from strength to strength,” says Mrs Flynn, TOM coordinator at Miami SHS. She attributes this success to inquisitive and creative students who are nurtured by a dedicated and knowledgeable teaching team.

Need a Dentist Appointment?

The dental van will be operational from 8.00am-4.30pm Monday, Wednesday and every second Friday at Miami SHS until 15 January 2018. A parent/guardian must also accompany the student to their appointment. Call 1300 300 850 to book your child’s free dental check.

Wellbeing Update

Wellbeing Tip

Welcome back to Term 4, a busy term with the end of year fast approaching. This term our focus for wellbeing is on strength spotting. This is finding the strengths in others. It is often easier to see the strengths in other people than in ourselves. So look for what your family members and friends do well and how they do it. Let them know using the language of strengths, for example, “You are very creative with our assignment work, I love what you have done. Your showed great courage to speak up about that issue.”

By using our strengths we feel strong and gain confidence. Feeling strong also allows us to flourish in what we do. This is turn builds positive feelings and wellbeing in our personal and professional lives.

Watch the following link on You Tube on Steve Irwin. We can see from this clip that one of Steve’s strengths would be a love of learning. This clip highlights the passion he had for his work. What other strengths can you see in the crocodile hunter?

If you don’t know what your strengths are, go to www.viacharacter.org and complete the free survey.

This term we will be running our mindfulness program, Peaceful Kids. This program has been receiving volumes of positive feedback from the students that have participated in it. It has provided them with skills that they can use now and for later life. Rock and Water will also commence this term for Year 9. This program looks at developing self-confidence, self-awareness and self-control through many activities. It allows students to identify triggers that they will feel and strategies to use in various situations.

As there are no wellbeing days this term, we will be using this time to plan for next year. So if there are any other topics you would like to see in our wellbeing days or parent evenings please don’t hesitate to let us know.

The weather is warming up so make sure you slip, slop, slap and keep hydrated.

Hints for Creating Resilient Families

Parents are reliably unpredictable

With young children it is important to provide consistency and predictability. This allows them to feel sure of you. After a while though, a bit of predictability can go a long way. To many children, most parents are about as predictable as a washing machine cycle. It is imprant to have structure and consistency but it is also useful to act in ways that your children wouldn’t expect. This keeps them interested in learning from you or least wondering what you are up to.

Perhaps the most important feature of parents in healthy families is that they realise that all of the above is desirable but not always possible so they look at how to promote good functioning while not wasting energy on blaming themselves for the times when things don’t quite work out as they had planned.

Information supplied by Andrew Fuller.

Vintage Formal Wear

If you are after Vintage Hair and Make-up for the formal contact Chrissy on 0409727888 or visit www.thelindycharmschoolforgirls.com for more information.

Learn How to Make Natural Face Masks

The Broadbeach Library is once again hosting a workshop for 13 – 17 year olds on “How to Make Natural Face Masks” on Thursday 19 October from 4.00 to 5.00pm.

Diving event at Southport Pools

FINA Diving Grand Prix takes place on the Gold Coast from 9 – 12 November 2017.

Make Create Day at Broadbeach Library

Explore your creative side on Saturday 28 October at your local library, as we celebrate all things maker and creative, with hands-on workshops, programs and events for the whole family!

Comics, Manga and cartooning workshop - Saturday 28 October 10am - noon

Learn how to create your very own cartoon character and make a comic creation during this hands-on workshop. Bookings essential.

Sessions are free. Please book online at the link below or phone 5581 1555.

Slime-tastic science fun – Saturday 28 October 10am – noon

Explore the science behind making slime with Griffith University’s School of Natural Sciences. A drop-in-session – no need to book!

Aerospace engineering – design and build a rocket – Saturday 28 October 10am – noon

Learn the engineering concepts of building a rocket. In this interactive workshop you will work in groups to design, construct and launch a solid fuel model rocket. This session is suitable for 10+ year olds. Bookings essential.

Sessions are free. Please book online at the link below or phone 5581 1555.

Guitar basics 1-0-1 - Saturday 28 October 1pm – 2pm

Learn the basics of guitar, easy play methods and how to maintain your instrument. Guitar 1-0-1 is suitable for adults and teens. BYO guitar. Sessions are free. Please book online at the link below or phone 5581 1555.

Dash and Dot – Saturday 28 October 1pm – 2pm

Meet Dash and Dot, our adorable interactive robots! Bookings essential.

Sessions are free. Please book online at the link below or phone 5581 1555.

Finance Office New Trading Hours and Payment Options

Opening Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 8.00am to 12.00pm (closed Friday).

Student Payment Times: Before school or during first break

INTERNET PAYMENT

IN PERSON

BY PHONE

BPOINT

Receipts will always be given for payments made over the counter and will always be available on request for payments made by Internet Banking or Credit Card over the phone

Kellie Johnston
Business Services Manager

Important Information from TransLink

From January, use TransLink’s online journey planner to find the best travel options for your child to travel to and from school. Our helpful tips for journey planning for school services makes planning your child’s school journey even easier.

Alternatively, you can also use the school timetables search if you already know your bus route number.

Travel to school with go card

When your child travels to and from school on public transport with go card, they can save at least 30% compared to the cost of a single paper ticket. That’s in addition to the 50% discount that school students pay compared to adults. These savings quickly add up!

Grab a go card for your child online or at selected retailers today.

Visit the TransLink website for full details on school transport, tickets and fares.

Is your child eligible for STAS?

The Queensland Government provides eligible school students travelling to and from primary and secondary schools with assistance via the School Transport Assistance Scheme (STAS).

Find out if your child is eligible and beat the rush – apply now and pick up your child’s travel pass from your local operator today!

Kind regards
TransLink Customer Relations

Update your Contact Details

ARE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS UP TO DATE – INCLUDING EMERGENCY CONTACTS?

We have been experiencing a number of students presenting to sick bay with serious illnesses/injuries to warrant the school needing to urgently contact a parent/guardian or an emergency contact but with no success. Could you please make sure that your contact details are up to date and ensure your emergency contacts are available if you’re not able to be contacted. This is especially important for when parents are travelling away during the school term and leaving students with guardians. Please feel free to contact the school either by email admin@miamishs.eq.edu.au or telephoning 5554 0333 to confirm your current details.

Parent Contact

NOTE TO PARENTS/CARERS

The school database program can only allocate ONE address per student. If a student is residing equally between two addresses, the parents/carers must decide which address will be allocated as the main address for the student. The second address can be noted on the student’s hardcopy personal file.

If a second report is required to be emailed, please contact the school in order for us to record this.

Helen O’Brien
Human Resources Manager

RTC SMS Text – Home Communication

To improve the communication between parents and the school, Responsible Thinking Classroom (RTC) SMS text messages will be sent daily for all students referred to the RTC. This will provide immediate feedback for parents allowing them to discuss issues with their student, and if they have any concerns, contact the school for clarification. The following texts will be used:

SMS text for daily RTC referral.

Dear parent, please be advised your student was referred to RTC today. Please discuss with your student and contact Miami SHS 55540333 if concerned.

SMS text for student reaching RTC Level 3.

Dear parent, your student has reached Level 3 on RTC. Please support by discussing this with your student. Thank you from Miami SHS.

SMS text for student reaching RTC Level 5.

Dear parent, your student has reached Level 5 on RTC. Please contact Miami SHS on 5554 0333 to arrange an intervention meeting time asap. Thank you.

SMS text for student reaching RTC Level 7.

Dear parent, your student has reached Level 7 on RTC. One more referral may result in suspension. Your urgent support is appreciated. Thanks Miami SHS 5554 0333.

Please take the opportunity to discuss this with your student, should you receive a text message regarding RTC. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Glenn Smits
Positive Behaviour Coach