Welcome to my short newsletter article while I am filling in for Tyler, Hogan who is away for these first two weeks. All students have settled in well, with the Year 7 and 8 students travelling to Jamestown yesterday to compete in the 9-aside football competition. We wish our Year 7's and 9's good luck with NAPLAN, which will be conducted in weeks 2 and 3. The start of the term has been very fortunate with very few Covid cases within the school community, and we are hoping that it continues.

While I was setting some homework for one of my SACE classes this week, I noticed some loud groaning from my students. I contemplated the reasons that we give homework as a school. Middle school students should be getting some homework each night, while SACE students, especially Stage 2 students, should receive several hours each night. These are four of my reasons for setting homework:

• Homework makes students more responsible and develops time management skills.

(When students receive homework from a number of different subjects, they need to manage their time allocation for each task)

• Students learn perseverance (The teacher is not present to ask an immediate question, so students need to look through their notes and try again)
• Homework gives students another chance to review class material. (In many cases, students are not paying enough attention during class to learn everything. When they receive homework, they have to reread things they wrote down or read in a book. This is vital to help form more effective memories of the subject matter).
• Parents get to see what is being taught at school and interact with their children with a common purpose. Parents can see how their children are coping with the standard of work and their progress.

Stephen Bosch - Acting Principal

On ANZAC Day, dawn services were held in both Crystal Brook and Gladstone. Both ceremonies were attended by student representatives of GHS who laid a wreath to honour those who have served and died in the war. These valiant people fought to defend our way of life. Gladstone High School was represented at the Gladstone service by Mackenzie Myers and Matilda Heinrich with Takeria Crosby-Woods raising the Aboriginal flag.  Bodi Freer represented the school at the Crystal Brook service. The service included a combination of military, symbolic and religious traditions presented to the many participants who attended both of these services. 

Alison Johnson

In Week 10 the Year 11 & 12 Outdoor Education students went on a canoeing trip to Port Augusta for 3 days. The trip was originally meant to be on the Murry River at Renmark but due to covid restrictions, the trip was moved to Port Augusta. During the three days of canoeing, we learnt lots of new skills on how to complete a variety of paddling techniques and how to rescue each other if there was a capsize. On the second day of the trip, we completed a 12km paddle to the old Pt Augusta Saltworks. On the way back from the salt works we were working against both the tide and wind which required a lot of determination to make it back to the bus.

A highlight of the camp was the opportunity to paddle through the mangroves. The mangroves tested the maneuverability of the canoes and our teamwork. We tried to make the trip as sustainable as possible by minimizing our impact on the environment and collecting any rubbish we found.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Port Augusta Aquatic Centre for having us again!

Chad Flavel

On the 24^th March 2022, our Stage 1 & 2 SAASTA students attended the Aboriginal Power Cup workshop located at John Pirie Secondary School. Our students were given the opportunity to learn about the importance of culture, education and setting both short and long-term goals for their futures. Throughout this learning experience, they made connections with Aboriginal AFL players who shared their life goals and the importance of developing a connection to country.  

Our students also participated in a practical football training session that required them to work collaboratively to complete challenges and further develop their football skills. This workshop was designed to prepare students for the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup that will take place in Week 4 Term 2.  

Overall, our students enjoyed the experience and are excited about the opportunity to learn about their cultures. We appreciate the efforts from Mr Martin and other staff members who made this excursion possible. 

Tyler Norton - Aboriginal Education Teacher

Supporting your child's journey to university

Date: Tuesday 17 May

Time: 5:30PM - 6:30pm (ACST)

Link to register: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/supporting-your-childs-journey-to-university-tickets-302329033277

 In this webinar we will be answering questions frequently asked by parents, such as:

How can I support my child if they are undecided about what they want to do?

1. What is university like compared to high school?
2. How does my child get into university?
3. What if my child isn’t offered a place?
4. What resources are available?

We encourage you to share this information, along with the image attached, with your school community to encourage parents and guardians of your senior students to register for the webinar.

For a full list of webinars available for 2022, visit unisa.edu.au/webinars

On Tuesday of Week 11 Term 1, a large group of GHS students were part of a team representing MNSEC at the Secondary School Athletics Carnival. This event was held at the SA Athletics Stadium at Mile End.

This was one of many events with a bit of uncertainty relating to COVID restrictions so I would like to say a big thank you to all of the parents who provided transport and helped out on the day.

With the Jamestown MNSEC carnival being cancelled this year, the team was selected by submitting times from our school carnival. Those selected had the best results from the MNSEC group for their events. We had a large number of students selected across both track and field events.

The competition in Adelaide is always fierce! While this can be a bit disheartening we were very proud of the positive attitudes and teamwork demonstrated by the whole MNSEC team. This is a great opportunity for our students to work with those from other local high schools.

The team photo was taken prior to the first event and doesn’t include our entire team There were also some students who were unable to attend at the last minute due to isolation requirements – we hope you all get another chance to attend next year! The students who represented Gladstone High School in 2022 were:

Bridie Anderson Bodie Freer Asia Brand Jaxon Brand Sataya Spencer Tess Clegett Hudson Seidel Max Pedler Chloe Crawford Imogen Cunningham

Cooper Seidel Leani French-Sherlock Riley Hoskin Jobe Stevens Chloe Nettle Francis Venning Grace Hollitt Madi Clogg Mia Chapman Nate McInerney

Kate Seidel - Middle School Coordinator 

Late last term our two Year 8 Home Groups went on an Aquatics Excursion to Port Augusta. On Wednesday 8A went with Mrs Seidel and Mr Watson, and on Thursday 8B were accompanied by Mrs Seidel and Mrs Hogan.

We were very lucky to have some amazing weather which made the two days very enjoyable. One group had a pretty windy afternoon for sailing and needed a little bit of rescuing after getting blown across to the other shore! This was a little bit of welcome excitement for Simon from the Aquatics program as he got out of the office and out on the water – the GHS teachers observed safely from the jetty!

All students demonstrated positive attitudes and had a go at all of the activities – kayaking, sailing, canoeing and windsurfing. While we hope that 2023 sees a return to the Aquatics Camp, we are very grateful that the Year 7 and 8 students were all able to access the program this year!

Kate Seidel - Middle School Coordinator 

On Wednesday of Week 7, 10 students travelled to Blyth to take part in Open Boys’ Knockout Cricket against Clare. Clare won the toss and elected to bat first. Clare’s openers made 105 runs before losing the first wicket, batting all their overs and making 228 runs. Their highest scorer was Riley Sterling who made 89 runs before being bowled out by Luke Hombsch. Once Clare’s innings had finished, Gladstone’s opening batters padded up and made their way out to the pitch. The opening batters were Luke Hombsch and Finn Cunningham. They made one run before Finn was bowled out for a duck. Bodi Freer took to the pitch, but then, not long after, Luke was caught out with only one run. From there on, the wickets kept falling, the only standout batsman was Ben Flowers who made 33 runs before being bowled out. The day ended with Clare winning by 151 runs. Despite the loss, the boys enthusiastically made their way to Subway for lunch which lifted their somewhat deflated spirits. Thank you to Mr Bartlett and Leon Hams for helping the team out on the day.

Bodi Freer

Grape harvest started at 9:00 am in Week 8 of Term 1, with the whole school participating. 2 tonnes of grapes were quickly picked by recess. These 2 tonnes will be sent to Stonebridge Winery, who professionally makes our wines for sale. Shiraz wine can be bought from the front office for $10 a bottle. 

Students were divided into homegroups and given snippers, to start their pickings. Our new year 7's showed great enthusiasm and enjoyed themselves with some good music playing in the background. It was good to see all the school learning and practising some good collaborative skills through the light physical work.

700kg were picked for the school's winery, which our year 11 students quickly crushed and added yeast to start the fermentation process, which lasts a week. Tests were conducted, and the school wine has made a good start; we hope it is as good as the professionally made wine! Students have pressed the grapes in our wine press and have learned excellent theoretical and practical skills in conducting further tests.

The wine is now maturing with some French oak to enhance its natural flavours.

Stephen Bosch - Deputy Principal

On the 17^th of March, the Student Leaders held a Casual Clothes Day with a splash of green, to bring awareness to coeliac disease. We raised $140 to donate to Coeliac Australia for medical research and treatments.

We would like to thank everyone who got involved by wearing a splash of green and donating. Also thank you to everyone who helped organise this fundraiser.

Thank you,
Student Leader Team – Lara Zanker and Mackenzie Myers

This year for Harmony Week we celebrated on Friday the 25th of March. We wore orange accessories including scrunchies, socks, and hats. We each wrote our families' backgrounds on leaves to produce a school-wide tree to show the diversity throughout our school, The S.W.A.T decorated our picture frame and brought that out at lunch to take photos. Many people enjoyed coming up and taking pictures with their friends and teachers.

Matilda Heinrich

Thank you to those who have volunteered your help in the Canteen in Term 1. Below is the roster for the next 5 weeks. We are always happy to have more volunteers. 

Please contact Phillipa for any further details.