Term 4 Newsletter 2024

Principal's Report

A Term of Exciting Progress!

Term 3 was filled with exciting events and initiatives!  Our new building is almost ready for delivery, providing 4 new multi-functional spaces catering for a wide variety of activities and events including robotics, eSports and instrumental music.  Keep an eye on Facebook for our latest photos of the new building.  

We saw 259 interviews conducted at our recent parent teacher conference event.  My sincere thanks to every parent who took the time to celebrate their child's school performance.  It is critical that our students see us celebrating their successes.  My thanks to our wonderful teaching staff who thoroughly prepare for these meetings, providing valuable insights into student progress and fostering stronger partnerships between teachers and families.

Our recent STEAM workshop has been a highlight, encouraging students to explore science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics in creative, hands-on ways. These workshops align with our goal to foster critical thinking and innovation. Recent Mini Schools were a great success!  Students had the opportunity to immerse themselves in team-building activities, urban challenges, and skill development, while forging strong bonds with peers, parents, and teachers.  We value these opportunities for face-to-face learning.  My thanks also to the sizable number of staff who prepared for, attended, and enhanced our Mini Schools this term.  This term saw a record number of staff put their hand up for Mini Schools for the very first time.  Mini Schools success was celebrated at our recent full staff gathering. Stay tuned for the release of our new school song!

We are also thrilled to confirm the introduction of Campion, our new digital resources provider, designed to support families and students in accessing what they need to commence learning at our school each year.  We are excited that families deal directly with Campion online to order all their learning needs in one place and have them delivered directly.  During term 4, the school will be running some learning opportunities for families and students to become familiar with Campion. 

Term 4 sees many wonderful formal celebrations of student success.  I cannot wait to hear our wonderful musicians perform again soon.  I look forward to celebrating with families the journey of our Year 12 students as they enter the next phase of their lives.  I would like to acknowledge the many parents, families and colleagues from other schools who constantly remind us all of the value of trust, collaboration and good spirit.  Working together for our children is truly a blessing.

Warm regards
Peter Linnehan

Cairns Mini School

For three days in week 10 of Term 3, we had fun at our Cairns Mini School themed "Our Bright Sustainable Future". Students, parents, and staff came together to participate in a wide range of engaging activities that highlighted sustainability, creativity, culture and technology.

Day one started with our special guest, Josh Arnold, and his engaging song ‘Global Learning’. Students and staff members wholeheartedly joined in. A tree-planting activity brought everyone outdoors, encouraging students to get their hands dirty while learning about the importance of reforestation. We also enjoyed an Origami workshop, met Buddy, the school’s adorable and hardworking support dog, and created ecosystems in jars to take home. Secondary students and staff crashed and tumbled in a joyful Sumo wrestling competition. The day ended with another highlight: The captivating Chemistry show and hands-on Chemistry experiments. Students even created lava lamps to take home.

On the second day, we saw robots whizzing around in the Sphero-Stem lab. We made beeswax wrappers to replace single use plastics, immersed ourselves in hands-on forensics, solving fun mysteries through science, and art and literacy stations. Students expressed their visions for a sustainable future through creative storytelling and vibrant paintings. Secondary students participated in an inspiring excursion to the Manunda Palustrine wetlands, guided by an Indigenous leader who shared knowledge about the local ecosystem and traditional sustainable practices.

Our final day saw us travel to the Tablelands, where we visited the Hou Wang Chinese Temple in Atherton to explore the history of the Chinese community. Josh Arnold rejoined us for more singing and filming before we stepped back in time at the Herberton Historical Village, even assisting the blacksmith with his work. We also stepped back in history experiencing a very impressive demonstration of a school in the past. What a day!

The event was a great success, filled with learning, fun, and a shared commitment to creating a more sustainable world. This would not have been possible without the help of many people: The fantastic event leaders, who put their hands up to plan and run activities with the kids. The fabulous partnership team: Laura, Cheryl, Clare, Katie, Sarah and the wonderful Jo! We couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks!

Kind regards,

Martin Kohler

Mini School Organiser

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Mt Garnet Mini School

This year, students travelled to Mt Garnet to ‘Rumble in the Jungle’!  What a Mini School we had!

We introduced some science to students by running sessions on using the microscope to look at some items that students had brought and some interesting water from the creek.  We also looked at our solar system from a different perspective by using the telescope and learning more about the night sky.

The Arts were also a main focus of the Mini School with students learning the techniques of batik and tie dye and working on creating a bag.  Home Tutors also enjoyed batik and made some beautiful tea towels.

We also had fun with English, recreating a story with visual quilt pieces, acting a story and even some song writing.  We also hit maths with a cool game of ‘Battleships’ on a cartesian plane using jungle animals.

Our highlight would be working with the wonderful Josh Arnold, creating, acting and singing for our film clip.  Josh was wonderful in encouraging our students to share their beautiful voices and act.  We can’t wait for the final release!

Night activities were also great!  Stargazing, the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fancy dress ball with lots of games and prizes and our Connect Four tournament on our last night.

We had lots of fabulous food thanks to our wonderful catering from Emmalee and her super team, we were super spoilt!

Lots of new friends were made, lots learned and much fun was had!    Bring on Mt Garnet Mini School 2025!

Kind regards

Janice Pearson

Mini School Organiser (Who probably had the most fun!)

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South East Queensland Mini School

“The Amazing Race” – Based at the State Library of Queensland and the Queensland Museum and Galleries precinct on South Bank.

Thirty-two students attended the Mini School.

Following the theme of our School’s Positive Expectations of Responsibility, Respect and Resilience we conducted our school on the basis of rewarding actions and behaviours that were demonstrating these wonderful values. What a great success it was, with all students striving to do their best. Each one of the young people involved shone brightly with great enthusiasm and curiosity achieving many healthy outcomes in all sorts of subject areas. Friends were made and many wonderful conversations were had as we got to know each other.

On day one we completed some energisers, “Live at the Library” tour and worked together in small groups on acrobatic and coordination skills. On day two we completed sustainability activities in Science, fully immersed ourselves in museum activities, finishing at the Spark Lab. On day third we started with Maths and created board games, followed by Drama and expression activities. We finished off with a fantastic interactive presentation and awards ceremony, including movies and even two songs that were created especially for the occasion.

All staff worked hard, and we returned back to Cairns after completing our Amazing Race reflecting on the great time we all had.    

Kind regards

Gary Davis

Mini School Organiser

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Chemistry Magic Show Wows Students

As part of the Cairns Mini School events in week 10 of term 3, CSDE provided a captivating Chemistry Magic Show for visiting students from around the region. The event, led by our senior chemistry teacher, Natalie Hermon aimed to spark curiosity and interest in science through exciting demonstrations that combined chemistry concepts with fun and interactive experiments.

The highlight of the show was the theme: “Science or Magic?”, designed to reveal the wonders of chemistry hidden in everyday reactions. The students were amazed as seemingly magical transformations unfolded before their eyes, from colour-changing precipitation reactions to projected elephant’s toothpaste, amazing flame colours, the science of fireworks and even a volcano eruption.

The student activities included using universal indicators, acids and bases found around the home to create a rainbow of colours to show the wide range of pH levels in everyday products. This visually stunning demonstration showcased the power of pH and chemical indicators.

Students were also shown how to construct lava lamps with the material to make them, distributed by Ms Susanne (Science teacher aide at CSDE) to all the participants so that they could make them at home.

One of the most crowd-pleasing experiments involved making a potassium permanganate Volcano erupt and using hydrogen peroxide and potassium iodide to create a huge foamy explosion that bubbled up like toothpaste for an elephant. The reaction, which releases oxygen gas, propelled foam high into the air and is a fun example of an exothermic reaction.

The purpose of the show was to inspire the students, by showing that chemistry is not just a subject to study, but a world full of wonder and excitement. Judging by the smiles and amazement on the students' faces, we can confidently say that the Chemistry Magic Show achieved its goal with one student proclaiming he loved science.

We look forward to hosting more of these educational and entertaining events in the future, bringing the magic of science to even more young minds.

Kind regards

Natalie Hermon

Senior Chemistry Teacher

Prep 2025 Transition Sessions

We are excited to announce that prep enrolment applications for 2025 are now open!

If your child was born between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, they’re eligible to start Prep in 2025. We invite you to join our Prep Transition Sessions to get a head start on the journey.

Registration is now available! Please email us at lxqui3@eq.edu.au to sign up. We look forward to welcoming you and your child!

Celebration Weeks - Term 4

2025 CSDE Student Leader Applications Now Open

Are you passionate about making a difference at CSDE? Apply now to become a 2025 Student Leader!  This role is your chance to have a say in school planning and impact decisions that matter to students.

Applications Open: Now

 Deadline: 11 October, 2:30pm

To apply:

1. Download and complete the application form from our CSDE Student Space - https://qed09.instructure.com/courses/17322/files/8574589... .

2. Create a short reel explaining why you want to be a Student Leader.

3. Submit your form and video to fstoe1@eq.edu.au.  Curious about what it’s like?

Join a 2024 Student Leader Meeting this year! Email Ms. Stoetzel fstoe1@eq.edu.au to learn more.

We look forward to seeing your application

CSDE Student Clubs - Term 4

All students are invited to participate in the CSDE Student Clubs.  Follow this link to see the clubs and find out more information: https://qed09.instructure.com/courses/17322/pages/clubs-home-2

• Homework Club on Mondays – Ms Stoetzel, Ms Hadijah, Mrs McCoy

• Robotics Club on Mondays – Mr Rijken

• Auslan Signing Club on Tuesdays – Ms Walgampaya and Cynthia Loader

• Student Writers’ Club on Wednesdays – Ms Stoetzel

• Art Club on Wednesdays– Ms Hadijah & Mrs Begley

• Minecraft Club on Wednesdays and Fridays – Mrs McCoy

• Film Club on Thursdays– Ms Connolly

• Philosophy Club on Thursdays – Ms Fedrizzi, Mr R Hutchins, Ms Goyal, Mr Kenny, Ms Warriner

• Anime Club on Thursdays – Ms Zhao

RFDS

Recently our CSDE teacher, Mr Hutchins had the pleasure of flying with the Royal Flying Doctor Service from Cairns to Pinnacle Station to visit Year 10 student, Megan and her family during the Royal Flying Doctor Service Field Day. Mr Hutchins took materials from Megan’s teachers at Cairns SDE to provide targeted curriculum support. Megan, a dedicated student has studied with CSDE for nearly a decade and her family graciously shared their experiences with Distance Education and online learning. It was inspiring to see Megan’s dedication to independent study and the family’s success in managing a business in such a remote area. A big thank you to Megan’s family and RFDS for making this visit possible.

Kind regards

René Hutchins

Teacher of Mathematics, Science and French

Creative Generation-State Schools on Stage

As Queenslands largest award-winning annual youth performing arts event, Creative Generation- State Schools on Stage involves over 2000 state school students, including 500 voice choir, 66 piece symphony orchestra, 980 dancers, vocalists, drama students, drum-line, musicians, as well as student stage and media crews. 

This year, Cairns School of Distance Education was represented in the stand alone items by Dynamite Dance studios in the opening number for the 20^th Year of C-Gen at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Their show stopping dance piece to 'Live and Let Die’ and ‘The Greatest Show’ consisted of nearly 60 dancers, complete with acrobatics and aerialists as well as a perfectly timed ensemble dance work.  Year 11 Student Emily joined in as part of the Senior Massed Dance group, lighting up whilst on stage. Senior Dance Teacher Mrs Allen was part of the Teacher Backstage crew, managing the items as they went onto stage. This year, to mark the 20 years of CGen,  State School Teachers were welcomed on stage to receive recognition from the crowd.

The whole spectacular event was filmed by Channel 9 and will be broadcast later in the year.

Kind regards

Belinda Allen

Experienced Senior Teacher | Dance Subject Co-ordinator

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Student Achievement - Let us know

If your child has an achievement or you would like to share a story about your child with our school community, please send us an email with information and photos regarding your child’s achievement and it will be shared in our newsletter and on social media. Email: marketing@cairnssde.eq.edu.au 

Under 18 National Indigenous Tennis Champions

Congratulations to CSDE year 11 student, Amali for her incredible tennis achievements!  Amali recently competed and won both the Singles and Doubles Under 18 National Indigenous Tennis Champions in Darwin.  Well done Amali!

Home Tutor Connect Sessions

Hello Parents, Carers and Home Tutors

I’m Clare, your Parent Liaison Officer, and I host online Home Tutor Connect Sessions throughout the year to share information and support Home Tutors/parents. The next online session is on Thursday 17 October and it would be great if you could join in and meet some other home tutors/parents. 

📆 Thursday 17 October, from 1.00pm AEST via TEAMS

💻 Session Link - Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 432 490 838 890

Passcode: U7jbQh

Need help?

The session will cover the following;

• Rollout for Campion/Jacaranda – processes, due dates, what you need to know for 2025
• Year 7 & 8 Maths and Year 11 General subjects for Term 4
• Some info on Celebration Week

Please feel welcome to reach out and say hi. I'm here to help with all your Home Tutor enquiries and to put you in the right direction when you're not sure about how to go about something, while supporting your student on their learning journey with Cairns SDE.

Kind regards,

Clare Macpherson

Parent Liaison Officer

PLO@cairnssde.eq.edu.au

QLearn & TEAMS

The Queensland Department of Education is replacing Blackboard Collaborate Ultra with Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) in 2025.

To ensure a smooth transition to the new platform, the Cairns School of Distance Education (CSDE) will start trialling MS Teams this term.

The CSDE Learning Systems Team has developed resources for students so they can become more familiar with how MS Teams interacts with QLearn. They have been uploaded to Student Space in QLearn.

The main difference students will notice when we switch to MS Teams is how they access the online classroom and interact with their teacher during live lessons. 

Although some of the collaboration tools in the MS Teams classroom may look a bit different to Blackboard, the functionality remains almost the same.

MS Teams has been deployed as both a digital classroom, and staff communication and collaboration tool. It has been enabled for all staff and students in Queensland state schools.

It was chosen by the department based on the safe and secure online environment it offers and its integration across the Microsoft 365 technology suite.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Connect Teacher.

P&C Meeting

We look forward to welcoming families to Cairns SDE P&C Meeting online on Wednesday 16 October, 2.30pm.

For all those who will be joining us online, the meeting will be accessible via TEAMS.

Join the P&C Meeting via the TEAMS Guest link below

Microsoft Teams Need help?

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 496 128 532 795

Passcode: BBMzS2

To become a member of the Cairns SDE P&C please complete a membership form - https://cairnssde.eq.edu.au/SupportAndResources/FormsAndDocuments/Documents/2023/PandC/2023_P%26C_Membership_Form.pdf. 

CSDE New Building Works

Exciting progress is being made on our new double-storey building, with handover scheduled for Thursday, 3 October. Once complete, we will begin relocating instrumental music to its new space on the ground floor, while STEAM – VEX / Robotics will occupy the top floor. Additionally, two extra rooms will be dedicated to staff collaboration, meetings and student engagement. We look forward to seeing these new facilities enhance learning and collaboration at our school!

School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI)

Do you have school-aged children who don’t currently have internet access at home? You may be eligible for the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI). The SSBI provides free nbn broadband access to eligible families to ensure all students have equal opportunity for online learning. To find out more, call the National Referral Centre (Monday to Friday) 1800 954 610 or go to https://bit.ly/41UEMYR

What’s included in the offer?

• Free home internet until December 2025
• Free WI-FI router (you can keep it)
• Unlimited data• 50 / 20 plan (this is a typical household plan)
• No lock in contracts
• Choice of participating internet providers
• Ongoing support from the National Referral Centre to apply – callback, webchat, and interpreting services available

SchoolTV

Schools Tree Day

Why are trees so important? That was a question we posed to primary and secondary students as part of the Sustainability Team’s Schools Tree Day initiative in the Cairns Mini-school.

Students planted trees with great enthusiasm and then watched a short video on how trees talk to each other on the ‘Wood Wide Web’ using mycorrhizal funghi -see the film here: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/the-wood-wide-web-how-trees-secretly-talk-to-and-share-with-each-other (1:47). After, students decorated a bare tree with all the wonderful things trees do and how much they benefit the planet and humanity. There was a lot of chatter about the benefits of trees with many students saying the greatest thing they learned was how trees talk to each other.

What can you do to ‘tree-up’ your life?

Kind regards

Andrea Watters for the CSDE Sustainability Team

Body Kind Youth Survey 2024

Butterfly Foundation is inviting all young people aged 12 - 18 to share their views on body image and what needs to change to create a more Body Kind Australia. The annual Body Kind Youth Survey is voluntary, anonymous, online and ethics approved.  It takes around 15 minutes to complete and requires parental consent for under 15's. A better understanding of the body image experiences of young Australians will help Butterfly help more young people to be kinder to their body, so please encourage your child to take part.  They can enter the draw to win a gift voucher when they participate. To find out more and to access the survey visit: 

www.butterfly.org.au/bkyouthsurvey

INSTALLING SZapp

Cairns School of Distance Education now has a school app - SZApp.  Schoolzine’s SZapp mobile application is a fantastic way to stay up to date with all of the latest news and calendar events.  The App is free and available for Android and iOS devices.

CSDE Facebook and Instagram page

Did you know we have a Facebook and Instagram page? Follow us for regular updates, news, photos & more.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cairnssde 

Instagram:  #cairnssde

Advertising in the CSDE newsletter

If you would like to advertise your business in our school newsletter, please contact Jude Dawson, Schoolzine Advertising Accounts Manager, on 5414 2363, 0432 538 927 or email jude.dawson@schoolzine.com.au or contact our school office and we can pass your details on for them to contact you.