Next Tuesday our Prep Team will hold the annual Easter Hat parade. Parents and families are encouraged to come and help celebrate this occasion. You are also encouraged to assist to decorate an Easter Bonnet with your child. 

Our current 2024 Prep students can be seen in this year’s My First Year 2024 gallery of photos put out by the Cairns Post.  These galleries will be in the paper on Wednesday 27^th March, alternatively you can view them if you have a digital subscription by using the QR code below.

Our Year One Team has been host to 15 dental students from James Cook University. These students have been teaching the Year One children about dental hygiene and the importance of looking after their teeth. This program has been well received by our younger students and the JCU students have presented with enthusiasm and professionalism.

Prep 2025 enrolment packs are now ready to be collected from the primary campus. If you, or someone you know has a child who is eligible for Prep next year, please enrol early to ensure a position in next year’s Prep intake. There are also instructions on how to sign up for our transition programs in the packs.

The year 4 to year 6 classes have worked exceptionally well this term and there has been a lot of not only academic learning, but also social and cultural learning. 

Students in year 4 have built mountains in science to investigate water erosion and have enjoyed learning in the outdoors.  They have also had their day of camp familiarisation including creating their camp shirts which looked absolutely amazing.

Welcome to the end of Term 1 newsletter. As mentioned by Mr Hansen, while Mr Andrejic is filling in at Mareeba SHS, I am acting in the Secondary Head of Campus position for a few weeks.

I am happy to announce that this year we have re-instated our Term 1 Interim Reporting period for students in Years 7 to 12. This was standard practice in the past but was discontinued when the pandemic hit a few years ago. This year, at the end of the first week of Term 2, you will receive an Interim Report card for you child. The purpose of Term 1 Interim Reports is to provide students and parents with a progress level of achievement in each subject being studied. In some instances, this level of achievement may be based on completed assessment while in other cases it may be determined by formative draft work.

At the same time report cards go home at the end of Week 1, parents will be provided with information to assist in the online booking of Secondary Parent/Teacher interviews that will be held on Wednesday 1^st May, Week 3.  We look forward to meeting with parents to enable teachers to provide further feedback on how your child is progressing. If, for whatever reason teachers are not available on the evening, alternative arrangements (such as phone interviews at a later date) can be arranged.

Parents are reminded that students should be aiming for a minimum attendance rate of 90%. As the slogan goes - “everyday counts”.  Parents of students in Year 11 and 12 are reminded, as students regularly are, that in the post compulsory phase of education (turned 16 or completed Year 10), poor attendance coupled with non-submission of work and/or failing grades can see a student’s enrolment in Year 11 and 12 cancelled. As a result, it is vital that parents inform the school of known and explained absences. All students, if arriving late, leaving early, or leaving for an appointment, must be signed in and out with a parental note via the Student Services window.

Commencing Term 2, students in Year 11 and 12 who do not participate in Wednesday Period 4 CISSA Sport will have the option to study at home as opposed to attend Period 4 tutorial lessons.  For this to be approved students are required to have registered with the QCAA’s MyQCE, completed their online Academic Integrity course, then returned the “pink form” signed by their parents to the Student Services window. A similar process is already in place for Year 11 and 12 students who have a Period 1 or 4 spare. If your child falls into either of these camps, please ask them about the “pink form”. Please direct any enquiries to HoD of Senior Schooling Pathways, Mr Matt Crosby.

Parents would be well aware by now of the national teacher shortage. Thankfully, at RSC, our solid reputation and existing expert teaching team has enabled us to continue to whether this storm better than most. That being said, there will be some minor consolidation of some classes in Term 2. 

We also have a few unrelated staffing changes happening in Term 2. Ms Lueders is leaving us on extended leave to travel and teach overseas, Ms Collen Duke will be off Term 2 on some well-earned long-service leave, Ms Marg Ferguson will enjoy some long-service leave mid-term, Mrs Harcourt is departing on Maternity leave (with Mr Fleeting Acting as Head of HPE), and we are excited to welcome back Ms Kohlhardt, on a slightly reduced timetable, returning from maternity leave.

That’s all from me this edition. I wish you a pleasant Easter break, particularly if you have the opportunity for some family time. In the meantime, enjoy reading the other contributions from our wonderful RSC staff.

“Growing up I always learnt best from listening and viewing my surroundings, Boori Monty Pryor visiting was a perfect combination of all those things. I found it so interesting as we got to experience a real part of our education, and to hear the narrator with own voice. I find the reader’s point of view and an author point of view is so different which has made it so rare to hear the stories and unique opinions from his perspective. Boori Monty Pryor’s visit was an all-round wonderful and incredibly insightful visit that will be cherished in my heart for years to come.” – Lily N

“What I love about him is his writing is abstract and his ideas are coming from his surroundings and his mind which turns a regular story into a real piece of art.” – Nate W  

“I think the visit was very good I liked him because he was very funny and he told some really good stories 10/10!” – Andy W 

“It was fun and it taught me how to write better.” – Alex P

 “He was fun and it was a good first period and I believe he should be a stand-up comedian. 150/100!” Riley H

 “He was very funny and was telling descriptive stories making us wanting to know more.” – Rio K

 “He was a nice man and he seemed like a good person.” – Sjon N

“I liked when Boori Pryor told us the funny story that happened to him, that story made everyone laugh and Boori Pryor’s first impression to all of us was a 'really funny person.” – Yumi C

 “I Liked the interesting and funny story's he told and how we got to take a deep dive in depth to see how he made Binna Binna Man and My Girragundji. I still can’t believe that I met the author for the Binna Binna Man and My Girragundji - I had so much fun asking Boori questions about the way he wrote the story and asking about some of the slang he used.” – Jasper F

“What I like most about Boori Pryor is that he was funny and a very great storyteller and gave us advice on how to make our stories better. He also seemed really nice, and it was cool when he played the didgeridoo.” – Lollie K 

 “I liked when he asked questions whether you had experienced the same things that he did, for example : “Do you guys have a sibling that you always fight” and said how his sibling brought a whole tree into the house ? ?. He had VERY good humour and I was hooked by him and the stories he had told us I was very happy with the experience we had.” – Ollie D

“I loved Boori's visit he made the activities fun and interactive. The stories he told were so funny when we all laughed I thought I was going be sick from the positivity. The lesson's about how he uses breath is going to be useful when we write our assessment.” – Ivy S

“I just want to say thank you for coming to Redlynch State College because it was amazing. I loved your stories, they were so funny, and it made everyone laugh, they also made me think about how important sharing culture and stories to the future generations. He has a great personality, and he adds that to his stories, which I really like. Thank you for coming we really enjoyed it.” - Sasha

“Boori Pryor is an awesome author, his books are very entertaining, he uses amazing language features, and funny. He has super funny stories. I really enjoy the Aboriginal and the first-person words in the book. They had so many language features and definitely made me laugh. Thank you Boori Pryor!” - Isabella K

Throughout this term our Primary Defence students have been focussing on different ways they can stay connected with their loved ones. Whether the people we love are near or far, our Defence students are always reminded our loved ones are never away from our hearts. Meanwhile, our Secondary Defence students commenced a project which allows them share a small snippet about what life as a child in an Australian Defence Force family, is like for them. We will commence Term 2 with a focus on ANZAC Day as we prepare for our College ANZAC Ceremony.

Hello, I’m Cara and I am an exchange student here at Redlynch State College. I’ve been here for nine months, and it was a dream come true. Australia is great, and I loved to meet new people. Although at the start it was a bit difficult to get used to the new lifestyle and to step out of my comfort zone. After some months, however, it got easier, and I made some really good friends. Also, my host family took me camping so I got to see more of Australia than just Cairns. Additionally, the school here was pretty easy for me and it was really interesting to experience a different school in a different country.

Hello,

I am Marlene and I have been here at this school for nearly 9 months now. It has been a great time, actually, it has been the best 9 month in my life. Being here as an international student has been fun, enjoyable and filled with amazing memories with a lot of laughter. The experience of getting to know so many different people, trying to learn about a completely different culture, to join another family and to try to create a new life has been fantastic but hard at the same time. Just imagine you go to a new country and try to fit into a new family, find friends and improve your language skills at the same time. The start was overwhelming and I want to be honest with you, I did not think I could make it. However, everything turned out to be okay. My English improved, I found great friends and I started new hobbies such as touch football and dancing including ballet, hip hop, contemporary, tap and jazz. Due to my participation in dance, I was also able to join and perform in a dance concert and the Cairns Dance “Extravaganza”.

All in all, I was able to do things I have only dreamed of before. I went snorkelling to the Reef multiple times, enjoyed the beaches and the creeks and in the holidays I was even able to go on a South Australian caravan trip where, as one of the highlights, I went swimming with sea lions which was absolutely breath-taking. Thanks to that trip, I was able to explore this beautiful Country some more and made incredible memories that I will never forget.

Furthermore, even the school here in Australia with cooking classes for us internationals and nice teacher-student relationships has been extraordinary and filled with great support especially from our Homestay-Coordinator Ms Pearson.

I will definitely miss my life here when I go back to Germany, my friends, my host-family, the sun, the opportunity to go to the beach and the reef, the rain forest and the nice atmosphere in school. In fact, I am dreading to go back to Germany, even though I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends again back home. I do not want to leave this new life with all the lovely people in it behind. However, as a lovely friend said to me: “Do not cry because it is over, smile because it happened.”

Thank you for making this time so memorable!

Government Funded Financial Support

Govt_.pdf

Getting Loud in the Library - QLD Youth Week

We’re getting Loud in the library next month and celebrating QLD Youth Week at Manunda Library!

Where:  Manunda Library (Raintrees Shopping Centre)

When:     Wednesday, 10 April. 2pm – 4pm

What:            

• Hip Hop Performance and Workshop – Learn how to beatbox, make a beat, freestyle and Bboy/Bgirl with Morganics and Roger Dat!
• Glow in the Dark Rock Painting
• Blacklight art – Create a masterpiece, then see it come to life in blacklight!
• Glow in the dark temporary tattoos
• Pizza!

Join us for a relaxed afternoon, get arty, and grab a bite to eat whilst enjoying the vibe, as we celebrate Youth Week at the library.

Trinity Stingers Hockey Club