Term 1 Newsletter 2023

Principal's Report

Greetings everybody,

Term 1 is always busy and this year has been no exception. We always have significant flows of students enrolling or leaving, so getting up and running is always a challenge.

This year we also had to start the year with a new learning delivery platform – Qlearn/Canvas. The good news is that it worked and despite the occasional glitch we have a system which we believe will allow us to provide an even better service than previously. Another new feature of term 1 was NAPLAN. Previously a term 2 event it was brought forward to term 1 this year. The change from term 2 to term 1 placed considerable extra stress on our systems to get all students enrolled. I am happy to report though that NAPLAN was completed, on line at various locations, without major incident.

I can also report that our department’s new strategy document, Equity and Excellence, has been launched. It guides our work including our Annual Implementation Plan. The goal is to focus our work to further improve student outcomes.

As a school of distance education it is the case that our learners are spread far and wide. We are often referred to as an online school but we offer a blended approach with regular face to face opportunities for our learners. Week 10 was an enjoyable catch up with our students and home tutors at our Let’s Connect events at various locations. We have also hosted our school concert band here in Cairns for their termly workshops. It is always a joy to see the dedication and team work that underpins the work of our young musicians.

We are now looking ahead to term 2 and our Annual Camp. Please check the dates and try to ensure that every student who can attend does so. Camp week is always a great week. An outdoor education camp followed by a Cultural Day here on site at school and our Sports Day on the Friday. We are really looking forward to seeing you!

In the meantime, enjoy your holidays.

Kind Regards,
Chris Rigden

QLearn transition complete

Congratulations to students, parents, carers and educators for embracing QLearn. It has been great to see how well students have navigated their new learning system.

The QLearn support sessions for parents, carers, home tutors and students had very high levels of active participation and we will be rolling out future sessions using a just in time approach when needed.

We are now looking forward to continuing our future-focused digital learning practices through QLearn into Term 2!

How is your QLearning?

We want to know about your experience with QLearn. That’s why we’ve sent out a short survey to parents, carers and students enrolled at Cairns School of Distance Education.

The information we collect from the survey, will allow your voice to be heard alongside the rest of our community. So that we can make informed decisions about future training and support sessions and offer the best possible support for the most important people at our school – you.

Separate surveys have been sent to

• parents/carers
• students
• educators/home tutors.

We have kept the survey short so that it will only take a minute or two to complete, but we have also allowed space for those who may want to take a little longer to provide more detail. We want to know about as many individual experiences as possible and encourage everyone to respond. The more responses we get, equals more relevant quality support to help your learning.  

QLearn tutorials for Students

Don’t forget there are QLearn video tutorials in the CSDE Student Space so you can hone your skills or better understand the many functions of the new platform. These will be updated as additional training and support needs are identified. You can access the CSDE Student Space from your QLearn dashboard.

Student Wellbeing

"Working together at Cairns SDE to move from Anxiety to Resilience in Learning."

This resource provides information and current research to support our families who encounter challenges that are faced by people who suffer from anxiety.

Presented by Carolyn Alchin and Beth Keane, there is a padlet of resources for parents and carers to support their young people find success.

Click the link below to access the wellbeing padlet.  

Meet our Cairns SDE School-Based Nurses

We have two school-based nurses at Cairns SDE - Sally and Carola.

Sally and Carola can talk to students about a range of topics:

• Healthy eating and physical activity
• Feeling unhappy or stressed
• Healthy skin
• Personal and family problems
• Sexual health
• Growth development
• Pregnancy including pregnancy testing
• Smoking, alcohol and other drugs

Watch their YouTube video to find out more about their role at our school. 

Sally

• Availability: Alternate Wednesdays and (odd school weeks) Thursdays.
• E: sally.blanco@health.qld.gov.au
• Ph: 07 4080 9272

Carola

• Availability: Tuesday mornings
• E: csche58@eq.edu.au  
• Ph: 07 4080 9272

2023 Student Leaders

Introducing the 2023 Student Leaders!

• Ashley (Year 12) - School Captain
• Micaiah (Year 6) - Junior School Captain
• Amaya (Year 7) - STEAM captain
• Finnlay (Year 9) - STEAM Captain
• Jonathan (Year 11) - STEAM Captain
• Jax (Year 6) - Sports Captain
• Mason (Year 10) - Cultural Captain
• Jazz-Way (Year 9) - Social Captain

For more information about our student leaders, please visit the Student Portal. 

Student Leaders

2022 DUX Award Recipient

Congratulations to the Cairns SDE 2022 DUX Award recipient - Amy Joshua.

Amy is undertaking a double degree: Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Medical Science in 2023. 

Well done Amy. 

Year 2 Poems

Thank you to our wonderful Year 2 stduents for sharing their poems with our school community. 

Meet our new Teachers

Nathan Kelly

Hello, I am Nathan. I am passionate about the Arts and am a keen photographer when I am not being the father of my two children (12 and 14).

I love music and concerts and when not working can be found at the beach.

I am looking forward to meeting you all and working with you at Cairns SDE.

Carmel Bakurski

Hi, my name is Carmel Bakurski and I am looking forward to joining the team at Cairns School of Distance Education in 2023.

My passion is Health and Physical Education, and I have been teaching this subject area for 17 years from Prep to grade 12.  Before I commenced my teaching career I was traveling and playing hockey with the Australian Women's Hockey team, fulfilling a long-term personal goal of competing in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. This amazing experience allowed me to gain an intimate knowledge of what it takes to balance study commitments with personal sporting aspirations and travel.  

I have always enjoyed living a healthy and active lifestyle, and participate in the many adventure races and activities Far North QLD has to offer. I continue to run as a way to stay mentally and physically fit, and I thoroughly enjoy camping, riding mountain bikes and walking rainforest trails with my husband and two boys. 

I'm excited about meeting many new faces at Distance Education, and continuing to teach our next generation of future students how to live happy and healthy lifestyles. 

Les Canfield

Hi, I'm Les Canfield. I try and make life an adventure, travel an adventure and now work an adventure.  Growing up in Brisbane, moving to Ayr, Gordonvale then Cairns where Mandy and I raised two girls.  Manual Arts, then Design Technology teaching has been my passion for 25 years.  I'm looking forward to the next challenge and adventure of teaching new subjects, within a new environment.  

Vishanthri Hayne-Keon

Hello, my name is Vishanthri Hayne-Keon and I teach Math and Science at Cairns SDE. I worked at Gordonvale State High School before coming to Cairns SDE.

I was born in Sri Lanka and moved to Australia with my family as a teenager. I lived in Sydney for most of my young adult life and then worked in the Northern Territory before moving to Queensland, where I have lived for the past 13 years. I have 3 children, 2 have moved away and the youngest is still at home. My favourite activities are going for walks, reading and painting.

OLC Community Lunch

Thank you to Ms. Gates and the wonderful OLC students for putting on a spectacular community lunch in Week 9 of this Term. 

They prepared a variety of delicious items including dumplings, pasta, chia seed puddings, a chocolate cake, salads and bbq meat. 

OLC Community Lunch Photos

Community Engagement

Let's Connect

In Week 10 of this Term, staff, students and Home Tutors engaged in a range of learning experiences at the Let's Connect days in Cairns, Tablelands (Malanda), Peninsula (Cooktown) and South East Qld (Brisbane). This was a great opportunity for students to meet their fellow peers and create valuable connections. 

Students and Home Tutors took part in a range of activities including, eSports, yoga, jungle drums, bubble art, body percussion, rainforest restoration, escape room, drumming, science experiment, and a scavenger hunt. They also went on excursions to GO Bowling, Riverbend Boat Tour, Botanic Gardens, Cooktown Historic Museum, Planetarium and Historic Herberton Village. 

Thank you to the Cairns SDE staff for organising the Let's Connect days and to the students and families that attended. 

Let's Connect Cairns

Let's Connect Tablelands

Let's Connect Peninsula

Let's Connect South East Qld

Annual School Camp

It’s that time of year again, our Annual Camp Week is coming! Get excited because we are!

We invite all our Cairns SDE full-time families to join us for this exciting week. The link to register your attendance, and all the event information of this action packed week can be found in the link here.

To register your attendance at the 2023 Cairns SDE Annual Camp Week, please click on the link at the bottom of the letter or here to complete and submit the online attendance form. 

Please complete a separate form for each child attending. 

All submissions must be completed and submitted in full by 2:30pm Friday 28 April (Term 2, Week 2). Due to planning, resourcing and staffing requirements, no late forms will be accepted.

Please note: Successful submission will be confirmed on screen and you will receive your submission to your nominated email address. You must click the final SUBMIT button at the end to ensure full completion of the online form. ( Please check Junk/Spam folder if you do not receive it)
For any questions or further information please contact the team at community@cairnssde.eq.edu.au. 

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at our 2023 Annual Camp Week.

Parent Liaison Officer News

Ahoy-hoy lovely Cairns SDE families

“Today I found out…..” that Alexander Graham Bell, best known for his invention of the telephone, preferred to answer the phone with “ahoy-hoy”.  Bell's salutation, “ahoy-hoy” was derived from the nautical term – “ahoy”. Popular TV show Simpsons character Montgomery Burns, also answers the phone like this.

Let’s Connect events (Term 1, Week 10)

Any-hoo…. it’s been great getting feedback and input from our Let’s Connect participants during our preparation stages for the 4 events conducted in Cairns, Malanda, Cooktown and Brisbane – your communication regarding your preferences and interest was fantastic. The positivity flowed through to the event with super enthusiastic students, teachers, parents and Home Tutors enjoying meeting new friends and catching up with the regulars.

I really feel like this year we designed a program that was not only beneficial but also entertaining; for young kids, teenagers, Home Tutors and parents. A survey is in the making as there is always room for improvement and we need YOUR feedback so WE can make the next event even better. Some activities included bowling and yoga in Cairns, jewellery making and ‘Just Dance’ing in Malanda, creating colourful excursion bags and Reading/Editing Student Work workshops in Cooktown, and Neurographic Art and Aussie Origami in Brisbane.

A Home Tutor pack with copies of workshop presentations, information sheets and activity outlines will be sent out as soon as possible – maybe next term.

Annual Camp Week (Term 2, Week 6)

A three-day program of activities will run for our parents and Home Tutors while the students are off on Camp; this includes the Biannual Forum, P&C Meeting, and Cairns to Karumba Bike Ride preparation activities; as well as the usual skill development, arts and crafts, and wellbeing and networking activities. The sessions for Home Tutors are on site at Cairns SDE along with the day camp program for students in Prep to Year 3. As the designated Home Tutor, we are expecting your full participation in the allocated program – to maintain your skills, wellbeing and connections required for this very important and sometimes difficult role.

After the 3 days of camp for students and program for Home Tutors we encourage you to join us for Careers Day and Cultural Celebrations on Thursday, as well as Sports Day on Friday. During Annual Camp week this year we will also have NQ School Photography on site on Thursday morning – look out for the online school code so you can order photos of your child. Even if you don’t wish to purchase photos (or keyrings, magnets, packs etc) please encourage your student to participate as the photographs will be uploaded to their OneSchool profile. A visual image of your student is helpful for teachers and school staff to get to know your child.

Other services available for families during the week are as follows;

• Prep Vision Screening
  • Tuesday 23 May, time TBA
  • information will be sent to our Prep families next term
  • as per a great request from the Tablelands cluster this week, I will also investigate vision screening for other year levels and Pre-Prep too

• Dental Health promotion and check-up bookings
• Thursday 25 May, 2.30pm onwards
• Meet Oral Health Specialists from Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service.
• Make check-up bookings directly
• School Immunisation Program
• Thursday 25 May, 2.30pm onwards
• For Year 7s, Year 10s and catch-up vaccinations
• Queensland Health consent forms will be sent out via Schoolzine in the first week back next term.

School Immunisation Program (SIP)

Included in this year’s Annual Camp Week is the School Immunisation Program. Students in Years 7 are being offered free vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough). Year 10s are being offered free vaccine against meningococcal ACWY disease. The school will provide vaccination consent packs through an electronic form via Schoolzine in week 1 next term. An electronic consent will also be sent to parents and carers of all other high school year levels to allow for catch-up vaccination bookings.

Why immunise your child; is it important?

• he/she needs a booster dose for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough)
• some immunisations need to be given in early adolescence (e.g. human papillomavirus)
• vaccination is free for your child through the School Immunisation

If my child misses the school immunisation, can he/she still be immunised?

• Yes
  • at a catch-up school immunisation clinic
  • at a free community immunisation clinic (if offered by your local council or immunisation service provider) or at your doctor
  • for HPV it is important the second dose is given 6-12 months after the first dose. If your child does not commence vaccination until 15 years or older, three doses of HPV vaccine are required at 0, 2 and 6 months. The third dose is not funded and will cost approximately $150-$200.

Recommended external sources to seek assistance from regarding immunisation:

• Call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84)
• Visit qld.gov.au/health/conditions/immunisation
• Visit the Australian Immunisation website http://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/immunisation
• Contact your doctor

Are you interested in learning more?

• Queensland information on vaccinations for adolescents and School Immunisation Program qld.gov.au/health/conditions/immunisation/adolescents
• Consent card and information booklet for Year 7 and Year 10 vaccinations publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/school-based-vaccination-program
• National Immunisation Schedule Queensland https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/ immunisation/schedule
• Benefits of immunisation qld.gov.au/health/conditions/immunisation/benefits
• National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance—Information resources for parents, legal guardians or authorised persons and care givers http://ncirs.org.au/public

Feedback | Questions | Suggestions | Enquiries | Ideas | Tips

Planning sessions were conducted at each Let’s Connect event and our programs for Annual Camp Week and Mini Schools will be created taking this into account. If you didn’t attend then please feel welcome to share your feedback and ideas to me via phone or email (details below).

I am like your Care/Support staff member so please be in touch if you have any concerns or questions. Your first point of call can always be your Care Teacher however I am here to help you too; specifically as a Home Tutor. Please feel welcome to make agenda requests for the bi-termly Home Tutor Connect Sessions

• these are online informal opportunities to discuss upcoming events and school requirements
• delve into topics relevant to distance education and being a Home Tutor
• as well as network with other Home Tutors that you have things in common with
  • eg tutoring styles, children’s ages and interests/hobbies, place of residence etc.

This is a community so we all want to hear your tips and ideas. There is most definitely not one method of learning in the diverse world we all live in, and there is also certainly multiple and various ways of tutoring and parenting.

Hope to see you at;

• a Home Tutor Connect Session – the next one is on Thursday of Week 3 in Term 2 (4 May), from 3.30pm
  • this session will include a quick wrap-up of Let’s Connect
  • predominantly it will focus on – JET and SET Planning, and the Careers Day (25 May)
  • anything else we need to discuss – let me know!
• Annual Camp Week – Term 2 Week 6
• Mini Schools – Term 3 Week 10
• and/or, Celebration Week in the final week of the last term

Have a fabulous Easter/Term 1 holidays. However you plan to spend it I hope you get to spend quality time with family and friends, AND, chuck in at least a moment of self-care – because we need to remember to attach our oxygen mask first before we can provide oxygen/effective learning opportunities, positive environments and pathways for achievements and success for our children.

Kind Regards,

Clare Macpherson
Parent Liaison Officer 

Let's Connect Home Tutor Photos

Parents and Citizens Committee

Greetings to the Cairns SDE School Community,

At our recent AGM on 20^th March, there were no nominations for office bearer/executive positions (President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer) so we did not elect the minimum of two executives required to function as a P&C. We risk going into caretaker mode.

During Caretaker mode the P&C cannot do the following:

1. Hold meetings – including AGMs.
2. Fundraise – this includes any fundraising in motion (and C2K!!).
3. Access any P&C bank accounts.
4. Make any urgent Executive decisions.
5. Contribute funds to the school, irrespective of whether they have been approved at a previous meeting.

This impacts several school activities and events that we subsidise and/or organise, including Sugarworld Breakup Day, Year 12 Graduation, Movie Night, training for home tutors, and other important school activities.

The AGM has been adjourned to Wednesday 19^th April and will commence at 5pm with the aim to encourage more people to attend and elect a new executive team for 2023.

We encourage you to join the P&C and nominate for an office bearer position to help keep our P&C alive. Forms are available here: https://cairnssde.eq.edu.au/our-community/pandc.

There are many great benefits from being on a P&C:

1. Build self-esteem and self confidence
2. Keeps you informed on school operations
3. Provides opportunity for you to give input on key issues within the school
4. Develop friendships with other parents
5. Sets a good example – educating your children on the importance of giving back
6. Self-validation
7. Give you a sense of purpose and/or belonging within the school community
8. Increases brain function by learning new skills
9. Provides professional development that could enhance future career aspects (I can relate to this point personally!)

I am happy to have a chat to anyone interested in taking on one of the executive positions and be a mentor if needed. 

Thank you.

Judith Eriksen

P&C Member

April School Holiday Activities

Get ready for a very animal-ey school holiday experience this April!

There are so many FREE activities and events for families to enjoy over the break. We are also celebrating QLD Youth Week from 11 – 17 April,

Please see below 2023 April School holiday flyer. 

For more information on our events, visit Cairns Libraries’ events calendar.