MSB Messenger Friday 13th May 2022

Principal's Report

Greetings MSB Community,

Over the past fortnight, the College Leadership Team has placed great emphasis on the implementation of the Clarity Framework, a systematic school improvement tool, developed by Canadian Professor, Dr Lyn Sharratt.

The college will use this approach to guide and inform our improvement strategies and build upon the great work in which we are doing, at both a classroom and administrative level. At the core of this work, we remain focussed on our students, ensuring high impact strategies are used to support engagement, learning and ultimately, student wellbeing.

As a subset to this work, our college continues to refine and development our Reading Program. This has been identified as a cornerstone to literacy development and is designed to support all students, regardless of their learner disposition. Literacy tutors have been allocated in both the day school and residential sector, to support this program. Under the supervision of our Literacy Coordinator and Leader of Diversity, these staff will be deployed in a targeted and systematic manner, to ensure maximum student learning gain.

On a personal note, I will be assuming leave from my position at the college for the remainder of term. An Acting Principal will be appointed during this period, who will lead the college in my absence. I am confident that the College Leadership Team will ensure ongoing leadership of the community and maintain college operations in my absence. I would like to thank my team in advance for their support and flexibility during this time.

Sincerely,

Matt Brauer.

Deputy Principal - Curriculum & Admin

NAPLAN testing commenced Tuesday, 10 May. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows Parents/Carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. Students will sit one assessment each day over four days in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar, and punctuation) and numeracy. For any students who are absent on these days, we will have some allocated catch-up sessions until the 20th May when the testing window closes.

More information can be found on the NAPLAN website (https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support) as well as in the two support documents attached.

A NAPLAN individual student report will be provided to you later in the school year. If you wish to find out more information about NAPLAN you can contact the school or visit www.nap.edu.au

If you have any questions or concerns with your student undertaking these tests, please feel free to contact the college on 040961444 or email myself at kryan4@cns.catholic.edu.au.

Kieran Ryan

Deputy Principal Residential

Dear Families and Friends of MSB

Weekend Leave

Due to numerous reasons, we have had to amend our Weekend Leave process. We are no longer able to run a bus to Cairns each weekend for students wishing to have weekend leave. We will return to the former process whereby there will be two exeat weekends per term. This is in line with all other boarding schools across the country.

Designated exeat weekends will be at the end of week 3 and week 6 each term. Students will be required to return on the MSB Bus Sunday afternoon departing Cairns at 3pm by our staff. Any student who does not make this bus will require their host to return them to MSB at their earliest convenience.

Please contact the College if your student misses the bus or is late for other reasons. All families are aware that whilst a student is on weekend leave, they are completely responsible for that student. Only in exceptional circumstances will MSB staff be available to collect a student from the bus stop in Atherton.

Weekend leave on other weekends will only be approved if the host is picking them up from MSB and returning them on Sunday back to MSB.  We will not be taking students to Atherton to catch Trans North Bus on a Friday.

Please ensure all leave applications are completed and sent to MSB by Wednesday 4pm prior to the designated exeat weekend.

I thank you for your understanding and cooperation with this amended procedure.

Kind regards,

Scott Whitters

Assistant Principal Wellbeing

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Lessons at MSB 

Each week in Homeform, students engage in PBS lessons to support their Wellbeing. The time that students put into the PBS lesson reaps wonderful rewards in life. 

This week the topic is GRIT; we need GRIT to be successful, as life throws us lots of curve balls.  GRIT stands for Guts, Resilience, Initiative and Tenacity. We need guts or courage to try new things and to continue when things are hard. Resilience is getting back up again, after we get knocked down; it requires energy. Initiative refers to finding new ways to do things and taking the lead. Tenacity requires you to stick at things over time. Together these ingredients make up GRIT- and if applied in our everyday lives, bring us success. Nothing worthwhile in life comes easy. Ask your son/daughter about how they can apply GRIT in their life. Share with them a time in your life when you showed GRIT.  

 The schedule for delivery of PBS Lessons during Homeform this term is as follows:  

Week 1 -   Code Switching 

Week 2 -   Being a Tough Cookie 

Week 3 -   Rumours, Gossip and Carry Yarn 

Week 4 -   Grit 

Week 5 -   Playing or Harassment 

Week 6 -   Perseverance 

Week 7 -   Taking Responsibility for your Choices 

Week 8 -   Accepting Differences 

Week 9 -   Making a Sincere Apology 

Week 10 - Safe Holiday Choices 

The PBS is a great program. Michelle Davis-Griffith organises it and it is a strength in our MSB Wellbeing armour. 

Sharon Boyd 

HPE & Sport Middle Leader

SPORT - CROSS COUNTRY 

Our school Cross Country event went off smoothly following its postponement from last term, with the weather breaking as our races commenced.  A new course was charted this year, providing a new challenge for returning students and the school spirit on display throughout the event was evident for all to see. 

The competition was very tight for house champion, but Flynn proving too good on 165pts, ahead of Rush on 153pts and Power on 151pts. Well done Flynn! 

There were three records set on the day and we congratulate Trayquarne Gibbo, Anton Coleman and Alfred Passi on their record-breaking achievements. 

This school event provided the opportunity for our students to progress to the District Cross Country at Tinaburra last Wednesday.  We had 12 students participate, with two of them qualifying for Peninsula Cross Country to be held on 20th May.  We wish Anton Coleman and Alfred Passi all the best with this. 

See below for age group placegetters and enjoy a few of the photos of our students. 

Andrea Goetze

MSB Cross Country 2022

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The Arts Middle Leader

Junior Art Term  2

Ben Avlis (Key Artist Study)

His works can give any kid a nightmare, but that’s Ben Avlis for you! His artwork was describes by the Junior Art students as awesome, fun, surprising and colourful. They enjoyed learning how to fold the paper and drawing on it to create their own Ben Avlis design.  They were certainly able to breathe life into their little animations with colour and movement. Well done!

The transformation of sketched figures into something unexpected and bizarre is what catches the viewers by surprise. It’s always a mystery what Ben’s creation will transform into, once the folded paper (Links to an external site.) is stretched out. This metamorphosis of his creations is what lends uniqueness to his form of art.

Traylea Sexton

Junior Art

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     Student art by Sannah Pearson

Surumau Dhari is the name of my artwork. The front of the artwork shows a huge resemblance of the Dhari and other island animals such as baidam (shark), dhangal (dugong), waru (turtle) and a snake. There’s also Torres Strait cultural designs on my artwork. I have also added a drawing, or my background of the artwork is mostly blue which describes the big blue ocean we have all around us in the Torres Strait. It is where we get most of our food sources from.

My artwork inspired me to create a Dhari because of our class talk about NAIDOC, we had to brainstorm ideas about the theme ‘Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! In our group we discussed the ancestor warriors and how they protected our land and helped our people to thrive and enjoy island life. The word Surumau means an ancient tribal leader who used to kill unwanted guests when they came to our homeland uninvited to try and start a war. He killed all of them using a Gaba gab (a war club) he also carried a bow and arrow to kill all the other warriors. When he killed them, he carried their skulls on a rope and walked around with it like a trophy.

The materials I used to create my artwork were felt pens to make the Dhari stand because it is an important symbol of my culture. I also added watercolour pencils in my background to enhance the animals. I wanted them to be vibrant and show how beautiful the colours are on the islands. The animals look more realistic with the use of watercolour pencils.

English Middle Leader

It’s NAPLAN week for our hardworking Year 7 and 9 students. It’s been great to see them approaching the NAPLAN tests confidently, evidence that their teachers have prepared them thoroughly but also imparted the important message that standardised testing is just a small part of their education and nothing to become stressed over. Students in all year levels seem to be enjoying their new topics for this term. 

Sarah Riber

Term 2 English topics: 

Maths & Science Middle Leader

In Physics and Biology, our senior students are drafting experimental reports about the “Ecology of the Wild River” and “How to Maximise Electromotive Force.” Both topics are very current as the world grapples with climate change as well as the potential introduction of driverless, electric vehicles to decrease pollution and vehicle collisions. Our year 11 chemistry class are studying Solubility. 

Our Senior maths classes are completing their second piece of assessment for the year. Preparing for exams can be an incredibly stressful time so please support your child during this time as your child strives to do their absolute best. 

This term year 10 maths are working on linear and non-linear relations as well as measure and geometry. These incudes plotting straight line graphs and using them to solve problems. This can be used in many areas of real life such as when selling products like fish when you get paid a value per kilo. Measure and Geometry will see us solving problems to do with perimeter, area, surface area and volume as well as working with right-angled triangles. These are great skills for many jobs including construction, landscaping, art, and design.  

Malcolm Fahey

Senior Years 10 - 12 Middle Leader

Senior students have had a very busy couple of weeks with sporting events, wellbeing events and academics back in full swing. As we are now in week 4 of term 2, a friendly reminder that MSB offers senior study sessions Wednesday afternoons from 3.15 – 4.15pm with afternoon tea provided. We encourage all senior students to attend where possible. These sessions are run by teachers and are extremely valuable, especially as we start to get closer to assessment due dates! Parents and caregivers can access student assessment details for each year level in the Assessment calendar found under the Curriculum tab on the college portal.

Grade 10 – 12  female students had the pleasure of attending a Period pain, Pelvic pain and Endometriosis health information session with Liz Lush, a clinical educator from the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia.  

There was some lovely feedback from students including:

• It was really interesting
• Would love more time!

If you would like more information on any of these topics please see the links below

https://www.endozone.com.au/

https://www.pelvicpain.org.au/category/for-teens/

Regards
Nikki Symons

Save the Date - Year 12 Formal

Saturday 29th October 2022

More information to come

Digital Technologies Middle Leader

Senior Digital Solutions students enjoyed an afternoon out at the Bakerville Tearooms, Herberton Historic Village, researching information for their current assignment.

This term, Senior students of Digital Solutions are tasked with creating a prototype web app for a local business.  A chosen business is the Bakerville Teahouse.  Students were able to spend the afternoon collecting resources and interviewing the client to understand the needs of the Digital Solution and desired user experience.

Of course it was essential to sample the cafe produce! 

Thank you to former MSB student and local business owner Georgia Rivett for enabling the interview and experience for these students.

Saffron Belkessa-Wood

Staff Profile

Hello MSB community, my name is Lisa Carroll and I started as a new Learning Support Officer at the end of last term.

I am a local resident and mother to 3 children. I have previously worked as a horticulturist at garden centres on the Tablelands.

I volunteer for the Herberton Junior Rugby League team where I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous MSB students.

I look forward to working alongside your children at MSB.

QATSIF Scholarships Opening Soon

QATSIF Scholarship applications for senior students in Years 10 and 11 open on the 16th May 2022.

We are currently looking at attendance, effort, behaviour and cultural pride in our nomination process. 

Forms will be sent home soon to families of the students nominated. 

For further information please contact Andrea Gower - Transition & Engagement Officer 

agower@cns.catholic.edu.au or phone the College on PH: 07 40 961 444 

Community News

Apply For A TRC Sports Bursary

Two lucky students have the chance to take home a Tablelands Regional Council Sports Bursary.

‘We’re encouraging local year 11 and 12 athletes to apply for this bursary to help with the costs of competing and developing their skills,’ said Mayor Rod Marti.

‘Eligibility criteria and application forms are available on our website. 

Applications are open until 5pm Monday 30 May and conditions apply.

APA - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Atherton Performing Arts Youth Theatre production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is on from this weekend 14th - 21st May. Come along and support our students and staff. Tickets available online here or at the door. Thanks for your support!

Ravenshoe Qld Day Tournament Weekend

Ravenshoe Queensland Day Tournament Weekend is part of the 2022 Queensland Government’s Queensland Day Celebrations.
Let’s face it Queenslanders love their sports, so we are about to launch the Ravenshoe Queensland Day Tournament Weekend 4th, 5th & 6th June …so mark your calendar save the date!
Celebrating all things Queensland. Place to be Ravenshoe Pony Club. See attached flyer for full program of events to enter, support or spectate.

Understory Film Festival 2022

2022 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

Entries for the ninth edition of Understory Film Festival are now open.  Aspiring, emerging and professional filmmakers in Far North Queensland are invited to submit films for the chance to have them shown on the big screen and to be in the running to receive awards and recognition.

We are excited to announce the return of cash prizes in 2022 with $2,500 on offer each for the Best Film and People’s Choice Awards. Residents from Townsville to Cairns, across Cape York, the Gulf of Carpentaria region and the Torres Strait Islands are eligible to submit their films.

Awards will be presented to the following categories: Best Film Award, Best Young Filmmaker Award, Best High School Student Filmmaker Award, Best Emerging Filmmaker Award, Best Animation Award, Best Experimental Film Award, Best Music Video Award (only music videos for original compositions are eligible), Best Documentary Award, Best Fiction Film Award and People’s Choice Award (voted by the public on screening night)

Entry is free. Duration of films must be eight minutes or less, including credits. Submissions close on 11 October, 2022. The Understory Film Festival Screening and Awards Presentation will take place at Munro Martin Parklands on Saturday 26 November at 6pm. For more information and to enter please follow the link. https://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/understory

Upcoming Events

Term 2 - 2022

Tuesday 17 - Friday 20 May - Year 10 Expedition - Tinaroo

Friday 20 May - Year 11/12 ICT Blue Spaces Excursion

Tuesday 24 May - Cyber Safety Presentation @ MSB

Wednesday 25 May - Year 9 Herberton Historic Village Excursion

Friday 27 May - Year 9 Maths Enrichment Day

Tuesday 31 May - P & F Meeting MSB Boardroom 5 - 5.30pm

Friday 3 June - Rosies Outreach Program

Friday 10 June - MSB Athletics Carnival

Wednesday 15 - Fri 17 June - Year 8 Camp

Thursday 23 June - Students end Term 2 @ 3pm

Friday 24 June - Boarders Travel Day