This week our Year 7 and 9 students began the latest round of NAPLAN testing. This is the first year where the tests are online across the entire country. Our organisation for these literacy and numeracy assessments have been well prepared, as we were a trial school for the online platform so have already ironed out any of the issues that have been experienced by other schools. Ms Thomas has done a great job of setting up the roster to be able to get all of the form classes through all of the exams and minimise disruption to regular classes and other year levels. Reports on individual students’ performances will be available to parents and carers later in the year.
Our Year 10 students and interested Year 11 and 12 students had the opportunity on Wednesday to attend the Fraser Coast Careers and Jobs Expo which was held at the Brolga Theatre in Maryborough. This was the first opportunity for our year 10 students to be involved in an event focussed on future opportunities for employment and/or study and begin their SET Planning journey. Over the coming weeks, year 10 students will start to receive information pertaining to subject choices and opportunities in the senior school. Many are already well on track to achieving their QCE at the end of year 12 by participating in a variety of VET and TAFE courses already. Each of these courses attract valuable points towards their QCE and expand opportunities for students in Year 11 and 12 and beyond.
This week I have met with the team from Advancedlife Photography about the photography services that are offered to our school and families. We discussed the process around a virtual tour of our school, that will enable us to showcase the fantastic facilities and activities that we have at Hervey Bay State High School. This video will be placed on our website and Facebook page and linked to our enrolment information to allow new and existing families the opportunities to take a tour of the school without leaving the comfort of your "screen"! While the days of us needing to advertise to attract students and families to our school are well and truly behind us, not many people have the opportunity to see the myriad of resources that we have behind our fences.
Letters for our Year 8, 9 and 10 camp have gone home with eligible students this week with payments already beginning to flow in. This camp to Mapleton will take place in the last week of term and will be an excellent opportunity for our students to take part in some great activities. This camp was originally planned for year 8 and 9, however with our ability to secure spaces, we were fortunate to be able to increase this out to eligible Year 10 students as well.
Over the last five days we have been able to celebrate Guidance Officer Week, where we give thanks to our wonderfully skilled guidance officers Bern and Matt, who support our school community and contribute to the development of comprehensive student support and wellbeing programs. Guidance officers may work directly with students in addition to working with a student's teachers, school support personnel, family, other specialists or external support providers. Bern and Matt provide advice and counselling about educational, behavioural, vocational, personal, social, family, and mental health and wellbeing and are an integral part of the T.L.C and the work that happens there. We are very lucky to have the support of these two wonderful people.
Another valuable member of our T.L.C. team is our School-Based Nurse Deb. Thursday this week was International Nurses Day. International Nurses Day is a day observed around the world on 12 May each year, to mark the contributions that nurses make to society. Thanks Nurse Deb for all of the great programs and initiatives that you do in our school to keep our students informed and healthy.
Even though the weather gods were not necessarily kind to us this week, many opportunities still existed for our students to get some real-world experiences by getting involved in activities beyond our school fences. Over the last 2 years there have obviously been some restrictions put in place about what we can approve in regards to excursions. The health and safety of our students and staff is our number one priority and will always be taken into consideration when putting together an itinerary for an excursion or camp.
Rob Burke | Head of School - Senior