2013-03-07 - Meridan State College

Meridan State College Newsletter
Learning Today, Creating Tomorrow
214 Parklands Boulevard, Meridan Plains Caloundra Qld 4551
Phone: 07 5490 2666 | Fax: 07 5490 2600
Email: enquiry@meridansc.eq.edu.au | Web: http://www.meridansc.eq.edu.au/
Subscribe online: http://meridansc.schoolzinenewsletters.com/subscribe
7 March 2013
College Report
A MESSAGE FROM THE COLLEGE DIRECTOR &
PRINCIPALS
Dear Parents and Carers
I was delighted to receive a number of emails from parents
following my invitation for feedback to my email address in
our last newsletter. Some of the emails suggested solutions
to some of the challenges we have as a College (such as car
parking of course!), others raised issues they were concerned
about and some complimented us on the job we do at Meridan.
I personally read and respond to every email I receive and can
assure you that suggestions made receive our full consideration.
The bigger we get the harder it is to know how members of
our parent community are feeling so please keep those emails
coming in: Julie.Kornmann@eq.edu.au
MERIDAN’S PARENT ENGAGEMENT
INITIATIVE!
Last year Meridan was invited to join the ‘Empowering Local
Schools Program’, funded by the Federal Government. We are
very proud that Meridan was one of only 131 schools out of
approximately 1300 schools in Queensland invited to take part
in this program which provides funding to strengthen community
engagement. We are very aware that we have become a large
school very quickly and the sheer size and complexity of our
College can make it difficult for parents to feel informed and
involved in their children’s education, especially when so many
of our families have both parents working and are time poor.
Consequently we decided to use the funding to introduce a part
time Innovations Officer position whose role it is to use digital
tools, online environments and social media to enhance parent
communication and participation.
Kristine Kopelke, who is not only a qualified teacher and highly
skilled in technology but is also a parent of our College, has been
appointed to this position. Kristine has set up and will manage
our Twitter account (www.twitter.com/Meridansc) throughout
2013 and will provide parent training and information on this
technology and other platforms we are setting up to allow you to
keep up to date with what’s on at Meridan. Please see the flyer
attached on Kristine’s latest training session for parents.
Twitter Parent Sessions
Kristine is also supporting teachers to manage digital spaces
that enable you and your child to make connections with their
learning from home, such as EdStudio. This will not only extend
your child’s learning but will enable you to be better informed,
involved and interactively engaged with what is happening in
their classroom. An additional exciting initiative Kristine will be
involved in is setting up our Digital Learning Hub. This hub will
provide support and training for our teachers on the effective
use of technology to make their classroom programs even more
relevant, innovative and exciting for our students.
Kristine’s position is an exciting and innovative strategy and
demonstrates how much we value the involvement of our parent
community. It is also in keeping with our reputation of Meridan
as a ‘high tech’ College!
P&C AGM
This coming Tuesday 12 March, is our P&C AGM and Meet and
Greet for parents. Sometimes parents avoid AGMs because
they’re worried that they might feel obliged to take on extra
responsibilities when their lives are already busy enough, but
some members of our current P&C have indicated they would be
interested in nominating for executive positions so the election
of office bearers should be very straight forward. The Meet
& Greet is our first social event of the year and a wonderful
opportunity to welcome new and old parents to the new year at
Meridan. Please note that the Meet & Greet starts at 6.30 pm
in the Rainforest Retreat and the AGM follows at 7.00 o’clock.
We were delighted with the great attendance at our February
meeting and look forward to seeing even more parents this
coming Tuesday, so please put it in your diaries.
STUDENT SAFETY
Thank you to the many drivers who are courteous and patient
and put the safety of our students first when coming to school or
leaving in the afternoon. However, on a daily basis we continue
to receive reports of that small minority of drivers who cut
people off, refuse to allow others to merge, block roundabouts or
park and leave their cars in the pick-up zone or on yellow lines.
A number of people have already been booked by the police and
there will be more to come. Please help us keep your children
safe!
Regards
Julie & the Exec Team
Julie Kornmann
College Director
Sue Esposito
Principal -
Primary School
Meridan Diary
Coming Events
Tuesday 12
Friday 15
Friday 15
Monday 18
Tuesday 19
Wednesday
20
Thursday
21
Friday 22
Tuesday 26
Wednesday
27
Fiona Free
Acting Principal
- Junior
Secondary
School
March 2013
Karen McCord
Principal
- Senior
Secondary
School
P& C Meeting - Rainforest Retreat – 7pm
Community Day - ‘Say No To Bullying Day’
Brainstorm Production
Primary School Parent Teacher Interviews
Primary School Parent Teacher Interviews
Primary School Parent Teacher Interviews
Primary School Parent Teacher Interviews
Primary School Parent Teacher Interviews
QCS Practice
QCS Practice
Meridan State College Newsletter

Tuesday 14
Wednesday
15
Thursday
16
Tuesday 18
Wednesday
19
May 2013
Naplan
Naplan
Naplan
June 2013
QCS Practice
QCS Practice
CASHIER OFFICE HOURS
Monday – Friday 8.00am – 11.30am
Please Note: The minimum amount for a credit card
transaction is $10.00
UNIFORM SHOP HOURS
Monday, Wednesday & Friday 8.00am – 10.30am
PRE-LOVED UNIFORM SHOP
Tuesday: 2.00 – 3.30pm
Thursday: 2.00 – 3.30pm
Friday: 8.30am – 10.00am
Situated in the Old Tuckshop in the large undercover area
Tuesday 3
Wednesday
4
Friday 15
College Contacts
September 2013
QCS Test
QCS Test
November 2013
Last Day for Year 12 Students
214 Parklands Boulevard
Meridan Plains Qld 4551
Postal: PO Box 3908
Caloundra DC Qld 4551
Ph: 07 5490 2666
Fax: 07 5490 2600
Junior Secondary School Fax: 5490 2667
Senior Secondary School Fax: 5490 2788
Client Services Fax: 5490 2602
Email: enquiry@meridansc.eq.edu.au
Website: www.meridansc.eq.edu.au
College Director: Julie Kornmann
Primary School Principal: Susan Esposito
Junior Secondary School Acting Principal: Fiona Free
Senior Secondary School Principal: Karen McCord
Primary School Deputy Principal: Jenny Williams, Lisa Cutter
& Amanda White
Junior Secondary/Senior Secondary School Deputy
Principal: Glenn McIntosh & Michelle Lyons
Business Service Managers: Shannan Gniel & Colleen Bryce
Administration Officers: Linda Fraser, Michelle Davies, Sandy
Carr, Lou Canov, Lee Gray, Claudia Wallis, Bronwen Stewart, Lisa
Price
P&C ASSOCIATION
President: Amanda Gibbs
Vice President: Thor McElligott
Secretary:
Treasurer: Vicki Jansz
Assistant Treasurer: Naomi Cavalli
The P&C meets second Tuesday of each month at 7.00pm
in the Rainforest Retreat.
EXECUTIVE CENTRE OFFICE HOURS
Monday to Friday 8.00am – 3.30pm
CLIENT SERVICES
Monday to Friday 8.00am – 3.15pm
JUNIOR SECONDARY AND SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS
Monday to Friday 8.15am – 3.15pm
RAINFOREST CAFÉ
Open Monday – Friday
Convenor: Jo Lundie
Assistant Convenors: Julie Allen, Melanie Dean, Kelly Hill
Ph: 5490 2668
Fax: 5490 2669
ASSEMBLY
Monday Year 4 – 6 (Primary School) 2.20 pm
Monday Year 7 – 9 (Community – Junior
Secondary)
Monday Year 10 - 11 (Senior Secondary
School)
8.45 am
8.45 am
Tuesday Prep – Year 3 (Primary School) 2.20 pm
Friday Year 7 – 9 (Mentor – Junior
Secondary School)
STUDENT ABSENCE LINES
Primary School Prep – Year 6 5490 2660
Junior Secondary School Year 7, 8 & 9 5490 2688
Senior Secondary School Year 10 & 11 5490 2799
FINANCE NEWS
8:45 am
Thank you to all those parents who elected to join the Student
Resource Scheme (SRS), and who have paid in full or entered in
to a payment plan for 2013.
Our Finance Department is in the process of contacting all
parents to ensure the return of the SRS Participation Agreement.
This form is required for audit processes, and must be returned
even if the parent is purchasing all textbooks and resources
themselves.
We are here to assist, so if you are having difficulty meeting
payment deadlines please contact us to renegotiate your
payment plan.
Invoices for user pays subjects in years nine to twelve were
invoiced over the last two weeks.
Statements will be issued to all families on 7 March 2013.
Please contact us if you need clarification on any invoice
appearing on your statement. If you believe there is an error,
please contact the Cashier to investigate the issue.
Student Resource Scheme
Meridan State College operates a Student Resource Scheme
(SRS) across all year levels. The 2013 SRS was endorsed by the
P&C in August 2012.
In accordance with the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006,
the cost of providing instruction, administration and facilities
for the education of students enrolled at State schools who
are Australian citizens or permanent residents, or children of
Australian citizens or permanent residents, is met by the State.
Parents are directly responsible for providing textbooks and
other personal resources for their children while attending
school. In recognition that these costs can be high, the school
Meridan State College Newsletter
2

operates a Student Resource Scheme (the “scheme”) that
enables a parent to enter into an agreement with the school
that, for a specified annual participation fee, provides for the
temporary use by the student of prescribed textbooks and/
or other resources, and/or the purchase of consumables and
materials for the student.
A Student Resource Scheme is separate to and distinct from a
request for a voluntary financial contribution.
Benefits of the Scheme
The purpose of the scheme is to provide the parent with a cost
effective alternative to purchasing textbooks and/or resources
elsewhere, through reduced prices gained from the school’s bulk
purchasing practices.
The scheme also ensures that students have consistent personal
resources for their education, and saves the parent time and
money in sourcing the prescribed materials elsewhere.
The scheme is not used to raise funds for other purposes, and
revenue collected through the scheme is applied only to the
operation of the scheme.
Participation in the Scheme
Participation in the scheme is voluntary, and there is no
obligation on a parent to participate in the scheme. A parent’s
decision to participate or not is based on consideration of the
value afforded to them by the scheme.
The completed and signed Participation Agreement Form should
be returned to the school by the advertised date to indicate
participation or non-participation in the scheme.
If a parent chooses to participate in the scheme and completes
the Participation Agreement Form, a fee will be due and payable
by the parent for the items provided by the scheme to the
student.
Payment of the participation fee is a requirement for continued
participation in the scheme. An unpaid fee will be subject to the
school’s debt collection processes.
A parent who does not wish to participate in the student
resource scheme shall inform the school by completing
the Participation Agreement Form and returning it to the
Administration Office. Arrangements will be made for the parents
of students in Years 8 to 12 or of secondary education age to be
paid the value of the Textbook and Resource Allowance for each
of their eligible children.
A parent who chooses not to participate in the scheme is
responsible for providing the student with all items that
would otherwise be provided to the student by the scheme as
detailed on the Year Level Requirements List and/or Subject
Requirements List in the SRS booklet, to enable the student to
engage with the curriculum.
The Government supports a Student Resource Scheme with a
Government Textbook and Resource Allowance (GTA) for those
students enrolled in years 8 to 12. Current allowance rates are
available from: http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/grants/
state/core/textbook.html.
The College curriculum budgets are supplemented by the GTA
and SRS monies received. The College provides copies of the
school budget at P&C meetings. The summary expenditure of
the previous years’ GTA and SRS is provided to the P&C at the
February meeting.
2013 Student Resource Scheme (SRS) charges per student:
Prep $138.00
Year 1 $188.00
Year 2 $188.00
Year 3 $197.00
Year 4 $208.00
Year 5 $216.00
Meridan State College Newsletter
Year 6 $261.00
Year 7 $300.00
Year 8 $300.00
Year 9 $300.00
Year 10 $400.00
Year 11 $500.00
Year 12 $500.00
In addition to our Student Resource Scheme (SRS), some
elective subjects in Years 9 to 12 are user pays subjects.
Year 11 subjects requiring additional camp payments (as
indicated in subject information); will require all instalments for
these activities to be paid by nominated dates as indicated once
classes are formed.
ALL TAFE / Trade Training Centre (TTC) enrolments require
payments in full prior to course commencement. The College
cannot secure payment plans for TAFE.
School policy is that students cannot participate in school
excursions / camps / formal / other activities if the Student
Resource Scheme charges are not fully paid or an up to date
payment plan in place. Those students who do not attend
excursions will be provided with alternate learning/assessment
activities. Please note that payment for excursions will not be
accepted on the day of the excursion.
Full “Terms and Conditions of Participation in the
Scheme” are on Page two of the Student Resource
Scheme Participation Agreement Form, which was
provided to all families on enrolment or for existing
families during term 4, 2012.
You can find a copy of the Student Resource Scheme
document which details what is covered under the scheme
at https://meridansc.eq.edu.au/Supportandresources/
Formsanddocuments/Documents/Enrolments/student-resourcescheme-2013.pdf
A Participation agreement form MUST be completed by all
parents to indicate whether they do or do not wish to join the
scheme. https://meridansc.eq.edu.au/Supportandresources/
Formsanddocuments/Documents/Enrolments/participationagreement-form-student-resource-scheme.pdf
Whilst it is voluntary to join the Scheme, it is the responsibility
of non-participants to provide all textbooks and resources
provided by the Scheme.
Payment Due Dates: Year 10 to 11
Option 1 Payment in full by 20 September 2012
Option 2 Deposit by 20 September 2012
2nd Instalment by 23 November 2012
3rd Instalment by 8 February 2013
USER PAYS Elective costs for any subjects incurring
additional resourcing will be invoiced in week 2, 2013
with payment required by 26 April 2013, in full.
Payment Due Dates: Prep to Year 9 and Year 12
Option 1 Payment in full by 23 November 2012
Option 2 Deposit by 23 November 2012
2nd Instalment by 8 February 2013
3rd Instalment by 26 April 2013
USER PAYS Elective costs for any subjects incurring
additional resourcing will be invoiced in week 2, 2013
with payment required by 26 April 2013, in full.
PAYMENT DEADLINES
Payment deadlines for excursions and camps are 48 hours prior
to the day of departure. No late payments will be accepted.
Deadlines must be met so that the College can confirm bookings
with buses, venues and other suppliers.
3

PAYMENTS
Please could you ensure that you pay for excursions, swimming
and surf skills at the finance window at Client Services? It is
unfortunate when students lose the money on the way to school.
This could result in them missing out on these very valuable
Educational experiences. Teachers are not encouraged to handle
money for the students so therefore it is important as parents
you follow up with payments personally.
BPAY
As a College we have decided not to continue with BPAY. This
is due to a few issues with the BPAY system not being able to
match against a specific invoice a parent may be wanting to
pay. The P&C have approved that we remove this as a payment
option.
DIRECT DEPOSIT
Parents are able to continue making payments directly into our
school account. Our bank details appear on all invoices and
statements. We ask that parents clearly identify what they are
paying for in the reference field for their payment.
BSB: 064-420
Account# 10567850
Reference: Debtor ID / Invoice no or description of
payment (e.g. dance DVD – Project Dance)
CENTRELINK
Parents can nominate to pay Student Resource Scheme and
Subject Fees via Centrelink Deduction. We ask that parents
make a commitment of a minimum of $30 per deduction.
Parents will also need to complete an individual payment plan
with our Cashier - this will then allow you to calculate when
your fees will be paid off within the current year. Any additional
activities, camps and excursions must be paid in full or a
separate payment plan entered. This may mean increasing your
Centrelink Deduction to cover the additional costs.
Customer Reference Number (CRN): 555069157H
Receipts for students paying by Centrelink will be sent home
via the class teacher. Please note that your receipt will show
a transaction of 99 cents in addition to the payment that has
been made. This 99 cent fee is paid to Centrelink by the College
to enable you to use this fortnightly service. Our Cashier will
phone you if/when your account is in credit, so that you can
contact Centrelink to cease your payments. Please note that
payment via Centrelink is not available for extra-curricular
activities.
FAMILIES IN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY
Families unable to meet our payment deadlines may negotiate
an individual payment plan by contacting the Business Services
Manager Finance & Facilities or our Cashier.
STATEMENTS
Statements are issued to parents in Week 5 of each school term.
These statements are for your information only and will show
you balances outstanding on your child’s account.
These statements are emailed directly from the finance system
to parents for whom we have an email address registered as the
default contact.
REFUND POLICY
Student Resource Scheme and subject fees: If a student, having
paid a participation fee, leaves the school through the year, a
pro-rata refund will be made to the parent, calculated on the
participation fee paid, less the cost of consumed materials
and the replacement cost of scheme items that are lost or
negligently damaged or not returned, plus the pro-rata Textbook
and Resource Allowance calculated on a 40 week school year
basis.
At Meridan State College, we are committed to providing a safe
and supportive learning environment for students, staff and
volunteers. This commitment includes the health and safety of
Meridan State College Newsletter
staff and students when conducting curriculum activities in the
school or in other locations.
School excursions and camps enhance a student’s learning by
providing opportunities for the student to participate in activities,
both curriculum-related and recreational, outside the normal
school routine. All planned school excursions are approved
by the Principal and endorsed by the Parents and Citizens
Association.
State schools are able to charge a fee for:
• An educational service including materials and
consumables not defined as instruction, administration
and facilities for the education of the student;
• An education service purchased from a provider other
than the school where the provider charges the school;
and
• A specialised educational program.
A school fee is directed to the purpose for which it is charged.
School fees for excursions and camps are calculated on a cost
recovery only basis, according to the number of students who
have indicated their attendance.
Participation of students in an excursion or camp is indicated
through payment of the excursion or camp fee and provision of a
permission form completed by the parent/carer.
As the school budget cannot meet any shortfalls in funding for
an excursion or camp due to the subsequent non-participation
of a student who had previously indicated attendance of the
activity, fees already paid for an excursion or school camp may
be refunded in full or in part or not at all, having regard to the
associated expenses incurred and the circumstances of the nonparticipation.
Please note that some excursion/camp payments are nonrefundable
due to the nature of prepayment of the event.
If a parent/carer wishes to apply for a refund due to their child’s
non-participation in an excursion or camp activity, they may
do so by completing a Request for Refund form available from
the Client Services office. Where possible, the request should
include the receipt relating to the payment for which a refund is
being sought.
Refund amounts $10 and under will be processed as a credit
on the student’s account. This credit can be used for a future
activity.
CLIENT SERVICES CASHIER
Open Monday to Friday 8am to 11.30am
(School Days only)
Phone 5490 2684
Email accountsreceivable@meridansc.eq.edu.au
Shannan Gniel
Business Services Manager – Finance & Facilities
P&C NEWS
MEET AND GREET’ INVITATION
I would like to cordially invite all interested parents to our P&C
Annual General Meeting commencing with a ‘Meet and Greet’
with light refreshments next Tuesday 12 March from 6.30pm in
the Rainforest Retreat.
We enjoy a close working relationship with our College Principals
and the meetings are always a great opportunity for us, as
Parents to find out what is happening in and around the College.
Whilst our P&C Executive team work tirelessly throughout the
year (and remember that we do this voluntarily) being part of
the P&C also has great rewards – our children are proud to see
us involved in their schooling, we get to work with College staff
who are always available to guide us and we feel a great inner
pride that we know we are giving back to our College and our
Community.
Hope to see you on Tuesday night at 6.30pm.
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MERIDAN FAMILY FIESTA
Our first meeting of the year was fantastic with many
enthusiastic parents coming along to work on the planning for
this great family event on Saturday 27 July.
We will keep you informed as we head toward the big day and
will also be asking you to be involved. Please email our College
Business Services Manager, Colleen Bryce on cbryc1@eq.edu.au
if you would like to register your support!
Amanda Gibbs
P&C President
Meridan State College
TWITTER PARENT
INFORMATION SESSIONS
Meridan State College is on Twitter. We are
using this social media platform to keep our
College community informed of all the great
things and events that are happening at our
College. We are also using this tool to post
reminders about what’s on in the coming
days.
We realise that whilst some of you are probably already
tweeting, others may need some help to get started. That’s why
we’re offering Twitter Information Sessions for our parents. Our
Innovation Officer, Kristine Kopelke will introduce you to Twitter
and will show you how to follow our tweets and set up your own
Twitter account if you wish to. She’ll even show you how you
can use Twitter to connect with people, groups and communities
that are of interest to you.
All sessions will be held in the Rainforest Retreat which is in the
building behind the Uniform Shop. If you wish to come along,
please select one of the session times to come to from those
below and email us at twitter@meridansc.eq.edu.au to book
your place. Bookings can also be made at Client Services.
Session Option 1 :
Monday 11 March 8:00 – 8:30am
Session Option 2 :
Monday 11 March 9:00 – 9:30am
Session Option 3 :
Thursday 14 March 3:30 – 4:00pm
Did you know?
We now have our Twitter feed embedded on the home pages of
our College website. Visit www.meridansc.eq.edu.au to have a
look.
“GO FISH WITH THE NUMERACY
NET – 2”
Hook-On To Maths Hints In Helping Your Child
With Mental Calculations
Much of our daily calculations are worked out in our heads
although we still feel compelled to sometimes use a calculator or
even the old ‘pencil and paper’ routine! However if we compare
this to when we watch a sports game and we mentally calculate
how many tries are needed to win and if there is enough time to
do so, we are capable of applying mental calculations. Shopping,
preparing meals, paying bills – all of these examples involve
various mental calculations, which are often different methods
compared to just writing down a sum. The process of doing
mental calculations can be difficult for some and that is why
we need to explore different strategies to problem-solve rather
than just believing in ‘the one size fits all’ method or ‘just do
it the way we were taught in the good old days’! Calculating
998 X 3 may prove difficult for some people but if we realise
that by subtracting 6 from 3000, we can find exactly the same
answer……. so how do children learn to do mental calculations?
Meridan State College Newsletter
Initially children learn to add 2 numbers mentally by starting
with the larger number and counting on by ones. This can be
an effective strategy when adding smaller numbers but children
need to calculate larger numbers and so need to develop other
methods than just counting on in ones. For example – to find the
answer to 35 + 79, children could:
• Make the 79 up to 80, then add 10 and add another 10
and then add 14 or
• Add 30 and 70 to make 100, then add 5 and 9 which =
14, then add 100 and 14 or
• Add 10 three times to 79, then add 5 more
As in everything that we do in life, we do not all think or act
the same way and so we need to ensure that we help students
understand a variety of methods of calculating Maths so that
they can apply a range of strategies - for the best outcome to
solve the problem. In the Primary School, staff will begin to do
regular Maths Mental Warm-Ups so that students understand
the connection of their prior knowledge and use it as building
blocks towards new knowledge. We will promote our focus of
higher order thinking skills and students will be actively engaged
in learning about Maths with their teacher, with their peers and
sometimes doing investigations by themselves. So what does
a ‘Maths Mental Warm Up’ look like? Primary School teachers
are currently working on the ‘partition, jump and compensate’
strategy. Talk with your child’s teacher to find out more!
How Can Parents Help At Home?
1. Ask your child how they worked out the answer, mentally.
Explain a different way that you did or could work out the same
answer. If your child is having difficulty working out mental
calculations, give them objects to use for counting, to start with.
2. When shopping, involve your child in the decisions – ask them
how much change should you receive from the money you gave
or for an older child, work out what percentage of the original
price will you save if the item was half price or 33% off.
3. If watching sports, ask your child what the difference is
between the 2 teams’ scores. For the older child, ask them to
calculate if one team was able to score 10 points in 2 minutes,
how long would it take that team to score 30 points.
4. Encourage your child to ‘estimate’ the cost of 3, 5, 7,etc.
items that you have purchased. Ask them how they calculated
their estimation – did they round up or down.
5. When playing games with 2 dice, replace the dot dice with
numbered dice. You can even purchase dice with squared
numbers to extend older maths students. Children could roll the
die and calculate double that number; double the number and
add 5 ; multiply the 2 numbers that you throw; roll a 2 and 3
and ask how much more do we need if we add those 2 numbers
together, to make the total of 20.
6. Encourage your child to calculate costs for holidays eg: how
much will it cost for our family of five people to stay at this
resort that charges $85 per night?
Bait Up With Brain Teasers:
Last Newsletter’s Answers – www.eduplace.com/kids/mhm/
brain/gr3/index.html (solutions); Upper Primary School =-
www.eduplace.com/kids/mw/bt/bt_5.html (solutions);
Lower Primary School – Tom is taller than Sue. Sue is shorter
than James. James is taller than Judy. Judy is not the shortest.
If Tom is not next to Judy in height, which is the order of these 4
friends, from tallest to shortest?
Upper Primary School - George bought a bag of 70 lollies on
Monday, but he liked the lollies so much that every day after
that, he ate 3 more lollies than he had the previous day. The
next Monday, George was about to eat his first lolly for the day
and he noticed the bag was empty. How many lollies did George
eat on the first Monday?
Junior Secondary - Some engineers want to empty a dam to
do some repairs. There’s a creek running into the dam, which
will keep filling the dam, unless someone opens up some of the
drains. Each drain could empty a swimming pool in a week. If
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they open 2 drains, it will take 6 weeks to empty the dam. If
they open 4 drains, it will take 2 weeks to empty the dam. How
many drains do they need to open to empty the dam in one
week?
Naplan Nibbles:
Children will come across multiple choice
answers in an estimation question such as
this: Estimate the answer to 422 divided by
62. To solve this children need to be able to
identify that is could be estimated as 42 tens
divided by 6 tens or even 42 divided by 6 =
7. Similarly – Estimate the answer to 2025
minus 795. Children can use 20 hundreds
minus 8 hundreds, to estimate the answer of 12 hundreds =
1200. Simply by using these 2 examples of estimation, changing
the numbers and giving children a choice of 4 possible answers,
parents can help prepare their child for some Naplan style
questions.
to collect if they wished. The majority of students went home
happy and grateful for receiving these generous gifts. Working
closely with me as Chaplin, City Edge Church aimed to lift the
spirits of the two sub schools.
Many students struggle to come to school on a day like
Valentine’s Day because many Junior and Senior Secondary
students have low self-esteem, especially on a day like the 14th.
With a lot of pressure to have a relationship, many students feel
unworthy but because of us being able to get City Edge involved
with our College, the majority of students went home at the end
of the day happy and hopeful.
A grateful thank you to City Edge Church and the Events
Committee.
In this way, we are ‘Making Maths Matter’.
Jenny Fietz
Numeracy Coach
jfiet1@eq.edu.au
CYBER SOCIAL SENSE
Social media awareness issues for your children
Kelly Davis
Chaplin
Facebook!
Well, in today’s world, it is often difficult to
find the person who doesn’t have a Facebook
account, and among teenagers in particular,
it’s often the preferred method of social
interaction. Today’s attachment to this article
is aimed at parents, helping you understand
this form of social media and what is
appropriate for your children to disclose online.
Safety First
Social media is so different to other forms of social interactions
that you, as a parent are able to view and understand. Ever
wondered how your child could have that many ‘friends’; why
do others comment on posts (where are the fences?); liking and
poking seem to be something that you do to someone, but how
does that work? It’s a different language, but your kids know it
all...or do they?
Research is showing that many children are engaging in these
forms of social media, without knowing the dangers of disclosing
so much information online. They often don’t know that they
are breaking the law with some of their posts, and could actually
offend their friends when they think they’re encouraging them.
Parents, their source of information and common safeguards, are
not necessarily aware themselves of the intricacies of these new
interactive tools that allow 24/7 access to the goings on in the
lives of their child. To find out more, and be the informed parent
you need to be, follow the link to this downloadable document.
It contains information you need to know for yourselves and
your children’s online profile to keep them safe and secure while
they’re online. http://www.connectsafely.org/fbparents.pdf.
Deb Ernst
HOD eLearning
VALENTINE’S DAY FLOWERS!!
This year for Valentine’s Day, City Edge Church was kind enough
to bring the Junior and Senior Secondary students a gift on a
day when our society celebrates love.
Each student received a bag containing chocolate and
information about City Edge, and they made each girl feel
beautiful by giving them a gorgeous rose with a choice of red,
white, yellow, orange and even pink. Although they ran out
of the bags, there were just enough roses to give one to each
girl and one to each female staff member within the Junior and
Senior Secondary schools. The flowers and bags were given out
in the second break by City Edge Church members for students
DON’T PLAY IN STORMWATER
DRAINS
As the wet weather season continues please take the time to
warn your children about the dangers of playing in or near flood
waters and stormwater drains.
Queensland Fire and Rescue’s Swiftwater site can help you get
this important message heard by your children or listen to flood
stories told by young people.
https://www.fire.qld.gov.au/communitysafety/swiftwater/
default.asp
http://www.emergency.qld.gov.au/redalert.asp?details=flood
MESSAGE FROM THE PRIMARY
SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents and Carers
CLASS VISITS
I have been visiting each class and been involved in a variety of
activities from reading groups to maths rotations. I have been
so impressed with the way the students are settled into the class
routines and are following their class rules very well. The way
Meridan State College Newsletter
6

they are moving around the College is a credit to them. To see
the Preps lining up with their buddy and walking orderly to the
Resource Centre, or to their specialist lessons is wonderful. I had
the pleasure of taking 6SB to Health and Physical Education and
bring 6SA back to their class and both classes were modelling
great behaviour.
The students are moving into the assessment phase of their
units and this guides the teachers as to how they have
progressed and are then able to use this information to complete
the School reports that are provided in Term 2 and 4.
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
In the week beginning 18-22 March teachers will provide you
with an opportunity to speak with them about your child’s
progress so far. A letter has been sent home to outline the
on-line booking process that we use at the College. There will
be a computer set up in the Executive Centre for parent use if
you have difficulty accessing the internet at home. If you wish
to have a phone interview you will need to book in an interview
slot. I would ask that you ensure you book into the interviews
in that week. This is set aside specifically for parent teacher
interviews and outside of this week teachers have other task
that they need to focus on. Thank you in advance for your
assistance with this.
YEAR 6 CAMP
We had to make a decision to postpone the camp based on
the safety and well-being of the students. Also, many of the
activities would have had to be cancelled due to the inclement
weather. The new date is in the last week of Term 2 from
Monday to Wednesday.
RAISING THE BAR IN NUMERACY
We recently had a Regional Officer, Rob Profitt White come
to speak to our teachers about Maths. They learnt about the
importance of teaching strategies for using Mental maths to
solve number problems. In the future we are hoping to get
information out to you about how you can help your child do
mental maths. It is fun and definitely needs practise but will be
so beneficial in their practical day to day lives as well as in the
classroom.
UNIFORMS
It is very understandable that in the recent wet weather that
shoes, white socks and hats have gotten soaked. However,
could you please help your child to come to school with the
correct uniform every day. A note is required if they do not have
the correct shoes or socks. Their hats are needed every day
to ensure sun safety practises. At present there are too many
students coming to school without hats. A note will go home to
remind you of this.
ENTERING THE SCHOOL GROUNDS
The Learning Development Centre roundabout is only for the use
of families of our students who have a disability. They require a
parking permit that can be displayed on their windshield from
Colleen Bryce in the Executive Centre. Any other parent who
requires one will need to apply through Colleen. Parents are
not permitted to drive up to the Sports Performance Centre or
along the road towards that area. This endangers the lives of
our students. After assembly last Monday and Tuesday there
were cars driving towards students who were returning to their
classes.
Regards
Sue Esposito
Primary School Principal
Stars of the Week
Another wonderful week of students demonstrating amazing
skills, whether it is academically, socially or physically.
As teachers, it is always difficult to pick just one….
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Week 5
Year Prep – Year 3 Tuesday 26 February 2013
PREP – Peta R. PM, Summer M. PLM, Hannah A. PG, Patrick C.
PR, Rebekah J. PLS
Year 1 – Aaron S. 1H, Lachlan M. 1D, Aiden S. 1P, Ethan W. 1M,
Mackenzie B. 1G, Harmony C. 1BF
Year 2 – Paige B. 2PD, Tyler B. 2HL, Ashleigh S. 2R, Dekotah
B. 2HL, Dylan T. 2R, Michela S. 2/1BA, Trae L. 2P, Riley M. 2BL,
Teira W. 2HK
Year 3 – Elmira J. 3M, Ben E. 3PD, Ethan M. 3W, Bailey S. 3PM,
Lily S. 3/2C, Ben D. 3L,Akela N. 3O
Year 4 – Year 6 Monday 25 February 2013
Year 4 – Georgia R. 4W, Nicholas J. 4C, Kieren W. 4BL, Jayden
H. 4F, Zulema S. 4BE
Year 5 – Callum C. 5M, Tayla M. 5K, Morgan D. 5B, Kaitlin M. 5W,
Jass M. 5/4N, Amelia T. 5F, Taylor S. 4BE
Year 6 – Emily O. 6KB, Nick M. 6H, Seth W. 6SA,
Star Passes – Morgan D. 5B and Torri M. 5B
Week 6
Year Prep – Year 3 Tuesday 5 March 2013
PREP – Cyrus M. PLM, Bree D. PG, Samuel M. PLM, Stevie C.
PLS, Annabelle W. PR, Max F. PM
Year 1 – Lleyton B. 1/2C, Kynan S. 1G, Libby S. 1H, Travis A. 1P,
Ava B. 1M, Sebit O.1BF
Year 2 – Chloe R. 2HK, Lachlan G. 2HL, Daniel S. 2P, Thomas B
2/1BA, Jada W. 2BL
Year 3 – Micayla C. 3W, Haily D. 3O, Sophie C. 3L, Hannah G.
3PM, Ryan N. 3M, Aleah. B
Star Pass – Rachael D. PG
Principal’s Award – Shelby W. 1D
Year 4 – Year 6 Monday 4 March 2013
Year 4 – Harrison G. 4C, Kody B. 4BE, Rohan L. 4F, Zianna W.
4W, Kieren W. 4BL, Siobhan N. 4H
Year 5 – Fletcher Q. 5/4N, Brady M. 5B, Amber N. 5F, Jesse R.
5M, Isabella S. 5L, Shania B. 5W
Year 6 – Savanna H. 6/5K, Julianna M. 6SA, Joshua J. 6KB, Emily
O. 6KB, Alex C. 6SB, Monique T. 6SB, Georgia W. 6H
Star Passes – Rohan L. 4F and Sam D. 4F
Principal’s Award – Callum C. 5M
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Just a reminder that a note was issued this week that gives
you detailed instructions on how to access our online booking
system for Primary School Parent Teacher Interviews. These
interviews will commence on Monday 18 March with Tuesday
19 and Wednesday 20, being later appointment times. Parent
Teacher Interviews will conclude on Friday 22 March. There will
be computer access for parents in our Executive Centre and our
administration staff are very happy to assist you in using these.
To access, follow the link to www.schoolinterviews.com.au and
use the event code: W4SJ5. By choosing your child’s teacher,
available appointment times will be shown. Please note that
the booking system will open on March 8 at 3.00pm to allow
equitable access for all our families. Bookings will close at
3.00pm on March 15.
PARENT PARTNERSHIP
INFORMATION SESSION
RECORDINGS
For those parents who were unable to make it to our Parent
Partnership Afternoons, we have created recordings with key
information shared for you to access online. The links and
passwords are below:
Prep Parent Partnership Information Session Recording
https://iconnect.eq.edu.au/play_recording.html?recordingId=13
37670053097_136162208335
Password: meridan
Meridan State College Newsletter
7

Year 1 Parent Partnership Information Session Recording
https://iconnect.eq.edu.au/play_recording.html?recordingId=13
37669186683_1360900963391
Password: meridan
Year 2 Parent Partnership Information Session Recording
https://iconnect.eq.edu.au/play_recording.html?recordingId=13
37670100605_1361496912892
Password: meridan
Year 3 Parent Partnership Information Session Recording
https://iconnect.eq.edu.au/play_recording.html?recordingId=13
37669799706_1361158546539
Password: meridan
Year 4 Parent Partnership Information Session Recording
https://iconnect.eq.edu.au/play_recording.html?recordingId=13
37669186744_1361140368625
Password: meridan
Year 5 Parent Partnership Information Session Recording
https://iconnect.eq.edu.au/play_recording.html?recordingId=13
37669186835_1361152692589
Password: meridan
Year 6 Parent Partnership Information Session Recording
https://iconnect.eq.edu.au/play_recording.html?recordingId=13
37669186839_1361145665711
Password: meridan
A Chat with Nat.....
SOUNDS and LITERACY
The English language has 44 speech sounds yet we only have
26 letters to represent these sounds. If a young child does not
have good awareness of single sounds then they will find it more
difficult understanding the code we use for these sounds ie. the
alphabet.
A very young child with average hearing can isolate speech from
non-speech sounds very early (eg. mums voice versus a loud
bang or clapping). As our children grow, we need to teach them
to become interested in individual speech sounds though playing
with words and language.
A child needs all of the following sound and word awareness
skills to develop literacy (and are listed in stages of development
up to Year 2);
• sound/word/sentence boundaries
• rhyming words
• syllables in words
• beginning sounds
• breaking sounds up
• blending sounds together
• swapping sounds around
• taking sounds away.
So to help our children develop and maintain these early literacy
skills, we can help in many ways every day;
• clap out syllables in words and mention if they are long or
short (eg. cat vs but-ter-fly)
• talk about what are words/pictures/letters/sounds and
the differences between these
• when reading with your child, highlight word boundaries
and what sounds some of the words begin with
• use lots of rhyming books and talk about how they sound
the same in the middle and the end of the words (but
they may look different)
• point to individual words in books, count them
• talk about sounds in the environment as well and relate
this to the sounds our mouth can make
• pick out things that start with the same sound or group of
words that rhyme
• play I spy using beginnings sounds and ‘rhymes with’ as
clues
• if you have concerns about these skills, firstly have your
childs’ hearing checked, then talk with their teacher.
NATALIE YOUNG
Speech/Language Pathologist
MESSAGE FROM THE JUNIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents and Carers
MERIDAN SCIENCE ACADEMIC TALENT
PROGRAM – LEAP INTO SCIENCE
Meridan State College, in partnership with Talara Primary College
have again applied for a regional grant to continue the “Leap
into Science” Academic Talent Program for students in Years
6-9. Last year this program was well received in the College
community. The program involved Year 6 and 7 students
participating in hands on science investigations to build their
scientific understanding and skills with support from the Year 9
student mentors from our Science Investigations class. Teams
of students were responsible for designing and conducting their
own scientific experiments using the skills they had developed as
a result of visiting Meridan State Colleges’ science laboratories.
We look forward to seeing some amazing scientists in action
if we are fortunate enough to secure this grant so that the
program can continue.
MERIDAN MATHEMATICS ACADEMICALLY
TALENT PROGRAM FOR YEAR 9 STUDENTS
I am delighted to inform you that, through our school reporting
processes and National Testing data, 33, Year 9 students have
been identified as having outstanding aptitude in the field of
Mathematics. Meridan State College Mathematics Department
has recently introduced a new program designed to ensure our
highflying academic math’s student’s learning remains both
challenging and rewarding.
The program aims to engage students through a series of
inquiry-driven activities that involve higher-order thinking so
that students develop a richer and deeper understanding and
connection of mathematical topics. The suite of investigations
has been designed to supplement the current Year 9 program,
while preparing students for the conceptual understanding and
rigour required by Senior Mathematics subjects.
Under the leadership of our Maths HOD, Mr Greg Blanch and
our Numeracy Coach, Mrs Jenny Fietz, each week, students
in targeted groups will undertake investigations to explore
mathematical concepts being studied at the time. The delivery
and access to these resources will be aided by a digital
environment. In this virtual environment, students will find
resources from their regular curriculum lessons as well as
interesting activities that extend learning. Each topic has links
to video tutorials that explain and provide examples of specific
lesson content. Students are further encouraged to contribute
to the discussion board and be involved in on-line tutorials to
discuss aspects of learning that arise from the investigations and
activities undertaken during the week.
Congratulations to the following students who have been
invited to join the first round of the academically talented in
Mathematics program!
9A
Jessica A, Jake E, Ryan E, Jasmine F, Kelsey J, Jacinta R,
9B
Asha B, Caleb H, Lottie J, Jessica M
9G
Mahli B, Cameron K, Jessie M, Eleanor S
9H
Max C, Locky G, Michael H, Courtney P, Laura S
Meridan State College Newsletter
8

9M
Zoe C, Jarred C, Ethan D, Jarod G, Mathew G, Hayden J, Cooper
M, Joyce M
9N
Adam C, Riley l, Matthew l, James M, Montanna M, Monish S,
Jack S
9S
Emma H, Summer M, Callum M,
Mr Blanch leading an Academically Talented in Mathematics
extension lesson with Year 9 students.
Year 9 students enjoying the new academically talented Maths
program introduced by our Maths HOD Mr Greg Blanch and our
Numeracy Coach Mrs Jenny Fietz.
NAPLAN 2013 PREPARATION
Last week our Year 7 and 9 students completed a practice
NAPLAN (National Literacy and Numeracy Test) in preparation
or the actual testing which will be held across Australia in
Term 2. Students completed a Language Conventions and
Writing Test, a Reading Test and Numeracy Tests (Calculator
and Non-Calculator). The practice test allows students to
familiarise themselves with the routines and expectations
of a testing regime, as well as providing our teachers with
valuable information about how students are progressing in
their preparation leading up to the actual testing. Data collected
from the practice tests will be analysed by our staff and used to
guide ongoing classroom instruction as we ensure our students
have the literacy, numeracy, thinking and test-wiseness skills to
achieve their very best.
Testwiseness is not just about NAPLAN testing. Testwiseness
is a skill that relates to all subjects and KLAs, therefore the
activity of practicing is not just about NAPLAN. In fact, it has
a greater holistic purpose, to support students to learn how to
approach test taking in general. At Meridan State College we
recognise that as students move through our junior secondary,
we need to prepare them wherever possible for assessment
routines that they will experience in senior secondary. Please
help us to congratulate our students on their excellent behaviour
during the practice tests and I was very proud to see everyone
‘doing their best’.
EXEMPTIONS, WITHDRAWL AND
ADJUSTMENTS FOR STUDENTS WITH
DISABILITY.
Forms are available from the Junior Secondary Principal,
Fiona Free. Parents of SWD students can also seek support
or information from our Head of Special Education Services
(HOSES), Anne Slattery.
NAPLAN 2013 Parents Brochure
UNIFORMS
Please ensure your child has a Meridan State College backpack
as part of their uniform. This is an important part of the
high presentation standards we have set for our College, in
consultation with Parents and Citizens Association. Thank you to
the parents who have been waiting patiently for the new stock
to arrive. Meridan bags are now available from our uniform
shop. Community Leaders are working closely with parents
and students to maintain our high expectations and standards.
Junior secondary boys ties are also on back order and should
arrive in the next week.
Presentation and commitment to the school’s uniform policy
is an important part of taking in pride in and being part of our
school team. Students and parents have been involved in the
design of our formal and sports uniforms. Student safety is an
important aspect of the uniform and includes minimal jewellery
(watch and one pair of stud or sleeper earrings only), a widebrimmed
hat and appropriate footwear. Students are required
to wear black closed in shoes made of non-pervious material
(leather or vinyl) that cover the upper part of the foot. These
shoes ensure that the safety requirements for students working
in scientific labs, art studios, industrial technology workshops
and outdoor and physical activities are met. Students, who
require alternate clothing for a specific school activity, must
bring these items to school and change at the required time. And
don’t forget – all students should be in full formal school uniform
including ties on the first day of each week and when attending
special events.
WHAT’S COMING UP IN JUNIOR SECONDARY?
Brainstorm Productions “The Hurting Game” – This drama
presentation presents scenarios and strategies for combating
bullying and highlights to all students the personal accountability
they have in ‘saying no’ to bullying! Year 7, 8 and 9 students will
attend this performance during school time on Friday 15 March.
Say No To Bullying – Community Day
Friday 15 March is the National Day of Action Against Bullying.
To acknowledge this event, our Primary, Junior secondary and
Senior Secondary School students will participate in our first
Community Day for 2013 on this day. Classes will buddy-up
across the College to participate in activities that:
• promote positive relationships P-12.
• reinforce the 5Cs and the FISH Philosophy.
• empower students to say no to bullies and report bullying
if it occurs.
Meridan State College Newsletter
9

JUNIOR SECONDARY LEARNERS UNDER THE
MICROSCOPE – WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING
TO MY CHILD?
Our Year 7, 8 and 9 teachers are constantly asked by parents/
caregivers about the changes that the young adolescent mind
goes through. While there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach
to dealing with the complex issues that parents of young
adolescent children face, understanding how your child’s brain
is changing and developing can be a key to developing more
effective proactive and response strategies to challenging
behaviours.
Young adolescents have particular physical, intellectual, cultural
and social needs that are different from those of children and
young adults and therefore they respond differently than their
younger and older counterparts in almost all situations. The
neurochemistry of the adolescent brain undergoes considerable
changes during the pre and early adolescent years. One of the
keys to successful engagement in learning and productivity in
life is to have the right chemical mix within the brain. These vital
chemicals include dopamine, adrenaline, cortisol and serotonin.
A student with low dopamine levels is likely to be less motivated,
while a student with high cortical levels is likely to be highly
stressed. In turn serotonin – the feel good chemical, produces
feelings of calmness. Tests have shown that adolescents have
naturally occurring lower levels of dopamine which in turn affects
task motivation.
The structure of the brain itself also undergoes considerable
changes during the early teenage years including:
• Synaptic Pruning: Shedding of the connections and
knowledge that are not strong so that the brain becomes
cleverer and stronger. The adage here is “use it or lose
it”.
• Restructuring of the frontal lobes: The part of the brain
that is concerned with planning and impulse control, is
the last to mature hence the teenage brain is tuned for
emotions such as fighting, running away and developing
connections with the opposite sex, but not so well tuned
for planning and forward thinking.
So what does this mean for those of us who interact with
adolescences every day?
Teachers and parents need to remember that adolescents are
not ‘mini adults’. They do not have a fully mature brain or body.
Adolescents are emotionally focused. Therefore they learn
best when emotion is involved. They remember things about
themselves and things that are relevant to them. Adolescents
like excitement and intense experiences and often respond
inappropriately and in exaggerated ways as they are not good
at reading signals from others and the environment around
them. This is coupled with an intense need to belong and avoid
isolation and rejection.
The answers then lie in forming and maintaining positive
relationships with teenagers that reflect the values of generosity,
acceptance and understanding; in providing rich and meaningful
learning experiences within and beyond the school setting; in
modelling good habits and productive thinking that become
lifelong patterns and in balancing freedom and independence
with clear boundaries.
LATE ARRIVAL AT SCHOOL
Arrival on time for school is an expectation and a good practice
to develop for future work life. If on occasion you do arrive
late to school for whatever reason, you must be signed in by a
parent/carer, bring a written note or ensure that a parent/carer
informs the office of your anticipated arrival. No students can be
admitted late to school, without advice from a parent/carer as to
their whereabouts, before their arrival at school. Please ensure
you have a plan in place if you are going to be late to school.
College Captain representatives, and our Junior Secondary
captains, Adam and Jasmine. It was lovely to hear the
reflections of a past Currimundi student leader, who is now
studying Law at Queensland University. What a fantastic role
model for the incoming 2013 student leaders! The ceremony
definitely had a personal feel, with parents invited to the stage
to pin the badges on their students. The pride on the parents’
faces was very evident.
Congratulations to the 2013 Currimundi Captains, Josie and
Jacob and Vice-Captains, Lily and Cody and the Meridan State
College community wishes them a fun and prosperous year.
STUDENT INVESTITURE AT TALARA PRIMARY
COLLEGE
On 25 February, Talara Primary College held its annual Student
Investiture in its school hall. Mrs Kornmann, Ms Acres and
myself had the pleasure of joining in the ceremony, by escorting
our College captains, Josie and Ryan and our Junior Secondary
captains Adam and Jasmine. Josie and Ryan gave an excellent
speech on leadership, from a student’s perspective.
The proceedings began with a speech from the Principal, Mr
Stephen Adams, and then student Leaders from each of the
state high schools had the pleasure of giving a speech about
what leadership means to them. This was a very proud
moment, as a number of the student leaders who spoke were
former Talara students. Following that, there were speeches
from both the Kawana Waters State College and Caloundra State
High School representatives, as well as the newly appointed
Talara leaders. What an inspiring bunch of State School
students!
Student Councilors, Sports Captains and Arts Captains were
presented with their badges, followed by the students giving
their leadership pledges.
Congratulations to the 2013, Talara student leaders: Sam,
Kayla, Luke and Charlotte!
Fiona Free
Principal – Junior Secondary School
JS STUDENT HANDBOOK – FOCUS
OF THE WEEK
Monday 11 March to Friday 22 March
Please support your students to focus on, and develop their
learning skills by asking to see their student handbook and
discussing how the focus of the week can help them as learners.
The student handbook is also an excellent communication tool
between teachers and parents / carers. Attached is a summary
of the focus of the week for Junior Secondary students from
their Handbook.
STUDENT INVESTITURE AT CURRIMUNDI
STATE SCHOOL
On Friday 22 February I was delighted to attend the Currimundi
State School leadership investiture with Ms Acres and our
Meridan State College Newsletter
10

VOCABULARY BUILDER
Please help your child to build their vocabulary by encouraging
them to practice spelling the words featured in their student
handbook in the vocabulary builder section. Another good
strategy is to get them to write out the definition of each word
and then use the words in sentences and/or paragraphs.
Week 7
enemies coarse similar
desirable quality detectable
specialist actually physician
Week 8
spectator stark reverberate
refrain animosity spectacle
aspect dissent armour
PARENT ASSISTANCE IN NAPLAN
PREPARATION
The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy
(NAPLAN) tests were first implemented in May 2008 when
national tests were held in literacy and numeracy for all students
in Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. These tests replaced the
previous State and Territory-based assessments and have the
support of all Education Ministers.
The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority
(ACARA) has been appointed to manage the tests for 2013. It is
Meridan State College Newsletter
11

esponsible for monitoring and reporting progress of the project
and for the development of:
• individual items and tests
• agreed marking standards
• quality control standards and risk management.
Although ACARA manages the national tests, the Queensland
Studies Authority (QSA) coordinates the administration, marking
and reporting of the assessments for Queensland.
PURPOSE OF THE TESTS
In 2013, NAPLAN tests will be held on 14-16 May.
Information specifically for parents and carers can be found in
the 2013 NAPLAN information brochure for parents and
carers attached.
Exemptions, withdrawal and adjustments for students
with disability.
Forms are available from me as the Junior Secondary Principal.
Parents of SWD students can also seek support or information
from our HOSES, Anne Slattery.
The NAPLAN tests are designed to assess the skills of Australian
students in literacy and numeracy. The specific purposes are:
• to collect data from the population of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9
students for reporting to parents/carers and schools for
systematic reporting
• to accommodate the assessment of students against
national minimum standards.
WHAT IS TESTED?
A series of tests will assess areas of literacy and numeracy.
The following areas of literacy are assessed:
• Language conventions - spelling, grammar and
punctuation
• Writing - knowledge and control of written language
• Reading - comprehension.
As in other years, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be required
to respond to a stimulus in the 2013 NAPLAN Writing test.
In numeracy, the content areas assessed are:
• Number
• Measurement, chance and data
• Space
• Algebra, function and pattern (formal algebra for Year 9
only).
Results from the tests will provide important information about
children’s progress in literacy and numeracy. Following the tests,
schools and students will receive a statement of performance in
relation to the national minimum standards.
FORMAT OF THE TESTS
The program is conducted over 3 days from 14–16 May 2013.
Usually students sit the tests in their own schools.
For Years 3 and 5 there will be 4 tests: Language conventions,
Writing, Reading and Numeracy.
For Years 7 and 9 there will be 5 tests: Language conventions,
Writing, Reading, Numeracy-non-calculator and Numeracycalculator
allowed.
For the Writing test, students will be given a stimulus and asked
to write a response to the task in a maximum of three pages.
The response formats for questions on all other test papers will
be either multiple choice (shade a bubble to indicate the answer)
or constructed response (write the answer in a box or on a line).
Information for parents about the NAPLAN tests is available from
the NAPLAN website: www.nap.edu.au/. Sets of test preparation
questions and examples of the tests for literacy and numeracy
are available for each year level.
NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child
to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing,
spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember
that NAPLAN tests are not pass/fail tests. NAPLAN tests provide
very valuable information, but there are no consequences
for individual students for poor or good performance. At the
classroom level it is one of a number of important tools used by
teachers to measure student progress. To provide an overview of
the format of the tests, a full set of example tests is available
on the website www.nap.edu.au/.
Fiona Free
Principal – Junior Secondary School
LITERACY AND NUMERACY FOCUS
At Meridan State College, the Junior Secondary campus is
focussed on improving student outcomes. Our Built-In, Bolt-On
literacy and numeracy program is researched-based, data-driven
and student-focussed.
The Built-In program in the core subjects of English, SOSE,
Science and Maths involves teachers delivering 10-20minute
micro lessons that are linked to the curriculum to deliver each
week. Our Bolt on program involves several Turbo Days. On
these days students attend their normal timetable, with their
usual teachers and participate in specialised, targeted learning
activities. For this program to be affective, teachers actively
engage with the materials and make it meaningful to Junior
Secondary learners.
Junior Secondary students actively engage to improve their
test wiseness skills through our NAPLAN practice testing. This
occurs in Year 7, 8 and 9, and are externally marked. The data
from this testing will be provided to teachers to further build
the profiles they are developing about their students. Teachers
are also informed about the needs of their Junior Secondary
students through the implementation of the PAT R and PAT M
tests. Students are tested at two key junctures throughout
the year to analyse their progression through a literacy and
numeracy program and inform the targeted areas for these
students.
The Built-In, Bolt-On program is founded on the creation
of ‘Learning Profiles’ for all Junior Secondary students.
ONE SCHOOL data sets, learning inventories and anecdotal
information all inform teachers on the types of learners they
have in their classrooms.
In 2013 the following literacy and numeracy areas have been
identified as areas our students need extra enrichment in.
Literacy
Persuasive writing
• Persuasive techniques
• Audience
• Vocabulary
• Ideas and cohesion
Inferential comprehension
• Making inferences
• Drawing conclusions
• Visual literacy
Interpreting, integrating information and ideas
• Compare and contrast
• Explanation
• Making flow charts
• Synthesising information from texts
Meridan State College Newsletter
12

Numeracy
3D Geometry
• Shape
• Patterns
• Symmetry and transformation
Problem solving
• Problem solving and number
• Problem solving strategies
• Working backward
• Elimination and hypothesis testing
Interpreting graphs and tables
• Data analysis
• Making tables
• Specialised graphing
Over the coming newsletters I will be supplying tips and
strategies for parents to help you support and develop your
students’ abilities in these areas. Please check student diaries
and their STS book for further details.
Fiona Free
Principal – Junior Secondary School
ATTENDANCE – STRATEGIES
TO KEEP YOUR STUDENTS
ATTENDANCE ABOVE 90%
Regular school attendance - Information for
parents and carers
Did you know? Research shows that in Queensland, higher
student attendance at school is associated, on average, with
higher student achievement. Why is regular attendance at school
important? Regular school attendance will mean that your child
has a better chance in life. Your child will achieve better when
they go to school all day, every school day.
• they learn better
• they make friends
• they are happier
• they have a brighter future.
Why must I send my child to school?
Under Queensland law, you must make sure your child of
school age is enrolled and attends school all day, every school
day unless they have an acceptable reason. Illness, doing
work experience or competing in a school sporting event are
acceptable reasons for being absent from school.
Principals decide if the reason given for your child’s absence is
acceptable.
Avoid keeping your child away from school
for:
• birthdays, shopping, visiting family and friends, if they
sleep in, looking after other children, minor check-ups or
care such as haircuts.
Routine medical or other health appointments should be made
either before or after school or during the school holidays. What
should I do if our family is going on a holiday in school time?
You are encouraged not to schedule holidays during school time.
If your family holiday is during school time, let the school know
in advance and talk about what arrangements can be made for
your child. Depending on the circumstances the school may be
able to provide tasks for your child to complete while they are
absent or assist you to organise an exemption from schooling.
Do I need to let the school know if my child
has been away from school?
Yes, you must let the school know the reason why your child
has been absent from school within two school days of their
return. If possible, advise the school beforehand. Are you having
problems getting your child to school for some of these reasons?
• won’t get out of bed in the morning
• won’t go to bed at night
• can’t find their uniform, books, school bag …
• slow to eat breakfast
• haven’t done their homework
• watching TV
• have a test or presentation to do, have an assignment to
hand in
• it’s their birthday.
If so, a set routine can help
• have a set time to go to bed
• have a set time to get out of bed
• have uniform and school bag ready the night before
• have a set time for starting and finishing breakfast
• set a time for daily homework activities
• speak about school positively
• be firm, send your child to school every school day
including their birthday and the last day of term!
What should I do if my child won’t go to school?
You should contact the school as soon as possible for advice and
support.
Fiona Free
Principal – Junior Secondary School
TERM 1 TURBO DAY
On Friday 22 February, Meridan Junior Secondary College began
the first Turbo Day of the year. All students arrived at school,
their bags lighter than usual, ready to start their very first Turbo
Day, many of them wandering what exactly it was.
Those students soon discovered that the concept of Turbo Day
was to focus on many areas of learning within NAPLAN. Each
lesson of the day was focused on either Literacy or Numeracy;
shape, symmetry, vocabulary or identification skills.
Throughout the day, students felt that they had learnt a great
deal of worth-while skills which they could use throughout their
schooling, whilst also preparing them for the upcoming NAPLAN
tests.
Turbo Day was different to a normal school day, it was a
challenging experience yet everyone left their classes learning
something new. Students found Turbo Day to be very useful,
and it seems many are looking forward to the next Turbo Day, in
Term 2.
Adam C
Student
Y LEAD
On Friday 15 February, the Year 9’s participated in a day of
learning about what it meant to be a young leader whilst
developing their knowledge of leadership skills. This was an
amazing experience for all of the students. This day was run by
qualified experts on young leaders. During the day the students
participated in many different activities, such as changing things
about themselves and then getting their partner to guess what
they changed. Games like, jumping from one place to another
as a group helped develop team-building skills. The Year 9’s also
developed an appreciation of other motivated people. We learned
about stories of people around the world who have changed the
world in amazing ways, such as one girl, who stood up against
whaling, and got to go to Antarctica, to speak about stopping it.
Meridan State College Newsletter
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Another was a young man, who attempted to organize a small
concert but it ended up being a huge concert, hosting some of
the biggest bands in the world. The concert was held in a place
that could seat 15,000 people and was a huge success. Overall,
the students thoroughly enjoyed this experience and hope that
there would be lots more of these fun days to come.
Jasmine F
Student
MESSAGE FROM THE SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents and Carers
STUDENT MONITORING OF PERFORMANCE
I have already had the opportunity to talk with many of our
students, particularly, from our new Year 10 cohort. It is so
pleasing that these discussions have centred on expectations for
performance, with our students expressing their clear goals for
2013.
A positive relationship between school and home must exist if
we are to ensure that each student is provided with the best
opportunity to succeed. Positive relationships are developed
when mutual expectations are similar – each party being on the
same page so to speak!
Just as parents outline expectations and allow students to set
family centred goals, accordingly, schools must also clearly
outline to students and parents our academic and behavioural
expectations, and we have a responsibility to ensure explicit
strategies are put in place to allow students the opportunities to
perform well.
In 2013, Meridan Senior School staff will ensure your child
clearly understands their role in delivering outcomes. It is the
child’s personal responsibility to ensure they then perform to the
best of their ability. How will this be achieved?
1. Our Year 10 CORE class groupings for 2013 are based on
Year 9 performance. This allows us the opportunity to ensure we
are engaging individual students at their level – to allow them
success, and deliver new learnings in supportive environments.
Our Year 11/ 12 classes are based on subject selection according
to OP/VET eligibility or career requirements.
2. All students have signed a Senior School agreement after
going through our induction program in our first weeks. These
agreements clearly outline what each student should be doing to
ensure they reach their potential.
3. For Year 10, with Workplace Practices as the driver, and then
within each subject area, we will be focussing students toward
goal setting activities across the year, to ensure we support
students in reaching their performance goals, if they choose to
act to implement their goals.
Our driver in Year 11 is Pathways to Success, and in Year 12 it is
our Successful Futures program. These sessions occur Mondays
and Thursdays.
4. Class teachers have started the year ensuring students have
developed goals around their results for Term 1, Semesters 1
and 2, including, in Years 11 and 12, the use of a Queensland
Studies Authority performance grid as the visual for students
to determine where they want to be positioned in relation to
the rest of their class by the end of the year. Clear guidelines
around required Term definitions/concepts/assessment/
homework have also been delivered.
5. General class discussions have centred around students’
preferred learning styles and how they learn best, in addition to
the importance of demonstrating knowledge in preferred ways,
and ensuring students organise their class notes accordingly, in
assisting future demonstration of knowledge.
6. Homework will be provided consistently to ensure good study
habits are being developed, and our Senior Handbook will be
used as a means of reinforcing various skills around study and
learning.
7. Teacher / Parent contact will occur as required.
8. Any student who failed 1 or more Core subjects in 2012 has
been interviewed over these last few weeks, by me, our Hods
– Senior School, their Year Level Student Mentors, or the Head
of Department for a particular faculty area. This will allow us
a clear picture of what didn’t work for the student in 2012 and
to more fully inform your child’s decisions around performance
this year. At these meetings, we outlined all steps we have taken
as a school to ensure students have been provided with the
foundations for good study and personal organisation habits, and
secure from students their personal action plans.
9. Any student interviewed by our HOD Senior School, around
past performance, MUST have submitted a post interview action
plan to the relevant staff member.
10. As assessment approaches, staff will ensure students are
aware of assessment guidelines.
11. Core classes will also work through various learning practices
to ensure students are able to study / complete home tasks
more efficiently.
12. Week 6 has been identified as our juncture for identifying
initial poor performance by students. Teachers with concerns will
inform the subject area HOD, Year Student Level Mentor and me,
so we can discuss action plans for individual students.
13. Results of all assessment tasks will be forwarded to HODs
and myself so we can ensure student performance is being
tracked over time. This will allow us more fully informed decision
making opportunities in relation to student career choices.
14. Students who fail an assessment task will participate in after
school tutorials, until they pass the next assessment piece, or
in the case of students who chose a course of study that has
been difficult, they will be placed in a more appropriate course of
study.
15. Student/Staff debriefings will occur after results for each
assessment task is completed, so goals can be reset as required,
and action plans updated.
16. It is important to note that Subject selections for Year 10 /
11 are based on prerequisite entry results.
I am thrilled by the way in which our Senior students have
stepped up and taken on their learning responsibilities so far
this year. Having clear processes in place around student
performance will assist each student to have the opportunity to
achieve their dreams!
The key ingredient for real success is that students take on
personal responsibility for their learning. This will be expected
at all times by our Staff, as we move students into “work ready”
skills for the future.
If you have questions regarding your child’s performance at
any time, please be aware that our staff encourages contact
with their students not only during class time, but at tutorials
and through their school email address. We forward all general
information to students, once it is sent home to parents via
email also. Your student should have their teacher email
addresses, should you wish to make email contact. Secondary
Campus phone contact is 5490 2662.
Interim reports will be provided to Senior School students in
Week 1 of Term 2, with Parent Partnership evenings in the weeks
following.
Please contact class teachers in the first instance for any
curriculum queries, and should you require further assistance,
the Head of Department for the subject area should be your
next port of call for curriculum areas, or the Year Level Student
Mentor for general questions.
Karen McCord
Principal – Senior School
YEAR 12 – THE YEAR AHEAD
For many of our families, Year 12 is a new experience. It is
essential that students remain focussed on their learning
throughout Year 12 - every assessment item can make a
Meridan State College Newsletter
14

difference to your son or daughter’s overall performance. We
would like to highlight some key events for Year 12s in 2013. As
the key dates approach, more detailed information will be sent
home via Year 12 students.
At this point, given the strict guidelines around OP (Overall
Position) and QCE (Queensland Certificate Education) eligibility,
our Year 12 students will stay in their subjects for the rest of this
semester, as they must complete a full semester of class work to
meet QSA (Queensland Studies Authority) requirements.
It is imperative that all students continue to keep track of their
OP and QCE eligibility as they progress through Year 12. We
have several systems in place to assist students in this process.
All students have been reminded of the two systems and
students have been in the process of checking their individual
learning accounts.
A BRIEF SUMMARY
OP eligibility (to determine University entrance opportunities)
is determined by the number of Authority subjects that your
student is enrolled in
• If they are enrolled in a minimum of 5, they are
automatically OP eligible and must sit the QCS test in
2013. (provided they have 20 semester credits across
the two years, have completed at least 3 subjects for 2
years etc.)
• If they are enrolled in less than 5 Authority subjects,
or predominantly VET subjects, or do not complete 20
semester units, students are NON OP eligible, but may
sit the QCS test in 2013 and receive a RANK entry for
possible University entry if they choose.
QCE credit is determined by the number and type of courses
studied from Year 10. Students must complete set types of
courses from a set pattern to ensure they meet all criteria for
a QCE. QCEs can be completed after school study has been
completed. To obtain a QCE, students must
• Exit subjects with a pass (see detail in QCE info)
• Keep at least 3 CORE subjects the same across 2 years
• Pass the literacy and numeracy requirements
• Achieve 20 credits at school or through other institutions,
provided they meet the criteria
All final OP and QCE results are dependent on student results
and the processes around these, and students will be reminded
frequently that they must continue to work hard in Year 12.
KEY EVENTS
Senior Jersey
A tradition in Senior Secondary is for Year 12s to have a ‘Senior
Secondary jersey’ which is seen as a symbol of recognition for
their cohort. The Student Council members have been speaking
to their peers and surveying students regarding designs and
cost. Currently, the style that has been selected by the majority
of the Year 12s is a reversible jacket. The cost will be no more
than $110. The delivery time is approximately 8 weeks.
A deposit will be required before an order can be placed. A
more informative letter including payment details will be sent
home via students next week, once their final selections have
taken place. A deposit amount of $50 will be required with the
payment advice when ordering.
QCS Practice
There are strict procedures and processes concerning the
conduct of the Queensland Core Skills Test. It is customary for
secondary schools to conduct QCS test practices to familiarise
students with the rigorous process. To prepare students as best
we can our practice dates are:
Tuesday 26 March and Wednesday 27 March - first practice test.
Tuesday 18 June and Wednesday 19 June - second practice test.
The practice tests are compulsory for all OP eligible students and
those students who desire a rank for university entry. A medical
certificate is required for an absence.
QCS Test
Tuesday 3 September and Wednesday 4 September 2013.
Graduation
The Graduation Ceremony will be held at Meridan State College
on Wednesday 13 November, 2013. The ceremony will be held
in the morning and we welcome parents and family members to
attend the Graduation Ceremony. It is compulsory for all Year
12s to attend the Graduation Ceremony, if they have met the
participation guidelines. A medical certificate is required for an
absence.
Formal
The Year 12 Events committee have also been speaking to
their peers and surveying students about venues, food, and
themes for Formal. The venue for the formal was voted by the
majority of the Year 12 students. The Year 12 Formal will be held
on the evening of Wednesday 13 November at Crowne Plaza,
Pelican Waters. We welcome parents to accompany their son
or daughter for light refreshments prior to the formal dinner.
The formal dinner is restricted to Meridan Year 12 students.
Please note, the Formal is an extra-curricular activity, which only
students who have met all prerequisites will be invited to.
Final Day
The final day for Year 12 students in 2013 is Friday, 15
November. This is mandated as a compulsory day of attendance
for all Year 12 students in Queensland.
We hope this gives our families some insight into the Year 12
‘experience’ for 2013. Please don’t hesitate to contact either one
of us should you have any concerns.
Brejetta Acres
Year 12 Student Mentor
Karen McCord
Principal - Senior
Secondary School
SENIOR STUDENTS VISIT PREP
On Thursday 21 and Friday 22 February, Meridan State College’s
Year 11 Children’s Services class visited Mrs Gower’s and Mrs
Low’s Prep classes to conduct some learning activities. The Year
11 girls engaged the Prep students in a number of activities
including lucky number, dot-to-dot, a collage on safety, jigsaw
animals, Old MacDonald’s Farm and Simon says. All the activities
devised and implemented by the students had a learning
outcome.
Lorraine Lehmann
Children’s Services Teacher
REBRANDING THE WORLD
Year 11 ITN students have been pondering the question: “What
would a twitter logo for a prep class, or a year 4 class look
like”. Some of the results are stunning, and while we are yet to
Meridan State College Newsletter
15

fully investigate the possibilities of year level twitter feeds, we
certainly have the icons to make it happen. Well done to Patrick
and Courtney, today we showcase your work as examples of the
possibilities of the future!
Courtney
Students (from Year 10 onwards) are encouraged to visit the
websites of tertiary institutes which they may be interested
in attending in the future, not just for transition programs
like those above, but also for information about scholarships,
bursaries and other forms of extra support for university
entrance.
It is never too soon to start building bridges with future
providers of education, training and/or employment, whether
this is about tertiary education, vocational training or a
combination of these.
Patrick
Joe Hannan
Guidance Officer (Secondary)
RAFTER PROVES THEY’RE AS GOOD
IN THE POOL AS PAT WAS ON THE
COURT
Year 4- 6 Swimming Carnival
On Thursday February 7, the Years 4-6 Primary Intercommunity
Swimming Carnival was undertaken. Students competed in a
number of events across the day, from freestyle, backstroke and
breaststroke to novelty events. Distances varied from across the
pool to 25m and 50m events, allowing all students to contribute
points to their Community. All students need to be applauded
for their efforts over the day and thank-you to the teachers who
performed their roles well.
Ms Ernst
HOD eLearning
HEADSTART: A CHANCE TO STUDY
UNI WHILE STILL AT SCHOOL
(Years 11 and 12)
Some universities in Queensland allow talented students the
opportunity to study University whilst still completing Year 11
and/or 12.
The University of the Sunshine Coast offers such a
competitive program in the form of Headstart. (Since 2003,
more than 850 students from as far as Gympie and Redcliffe
have participated, with 75 Headstart students studying in
Semester 1, 2013.)
USC is now preparing to inform students about Headstart study
for Semester 2, 2013, and are holding an information session for
interested students and their parents. Those who have attended
this session in the past indicated that they found it to be very
informative and useful in planning and preparing for their
Headstart studies.
Students (and parents) can find out more about USC’s Headstart
Program:
1. Students can obtain a Headstart brochure from the
Guidance Officer at school (arriving soon)
2. Obtain information online about Headstart at www.usc.edu.
au/headstart
3. Attend the Headstart Information Evening at USC on
Wednesday 13 March
At 5:15pm, students and parents can take a tour of the campus
with a current USC student and get insight into university life.
At 6pm, they can attend the information session to learn more
about Headstart and hear Headstart students share their study
experiences.
Register online at www.usc.edu.au/info or phone 5456 5000.
Applications for Semester 2 study (starting in July) close
on Friday 10 May 2013.
Congratulations to the three students that performed
exceptionally well on the day by setting seven new records
between them.
Record Breakers
Age Group Event Swimmer Time
10 yrs 50m
Butterfly
10 yrs 50m
Backstroke
10 yrs 50m
Freestyle
10 yrs 50m
Backstroke
12 yrs 50m
Butterfly
12 yrs 50m
Backstroke
12 yrs 50m
Freestyle
Max H 46.46
Max H 45.41
Max H 37.20
Gemma C 44.88
Lucy H 42.51
Lucy H 43.93
Lucy H 37.34
Congratulations to the outstanding efforts of those students
that were crowned College Age Champions from the day.It was
a exhausting but fun day full of enthusiastic people all willing to
jump in a gain a point for there house It was a exhausting but
fun day full of enthusiastic people all willing to jump in a gain a
point for there the 2011 inter house swimming carnival started
off with high spirits, which quickly developed into a friendly
rivalry the 2011 inter house swimming carnival started off with
high spirits, which quickly developed into a friendly rivalry
AGE CHAMPIONS
Girls
9 Years Abbey S
runner-up Maddy Q
Boys
Liam D
runners-up Colby M
and Jak G
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AGE CHAMPIONS
10 Years Gemma C
runner-up Mikayla B
Max H
runner-up Angus H
11 Years Amanda S
runner-up Amelia T
Elliot T
runner-up Aiden W
12 Years Lucy H
runner-up Abbey B
Blayd B
runner-up Ryan R
Jack B Boys 13-14 400m Freestyle 4:30.57
Boys 14 100m Freestyle 1:04.02
Boys 13-14 200m Freestyle 2:12.83
Billy D Boys 13-14 400m Freestyle 4:40.21
Boys 13-14 200m IM 2:35.16
Boys 13-14 100m Breaststroke 1:17.55
And finally well done to all Rafter students - their participation
and effort throughout the day saw them take out the
Intercommunity Swimming Carnival trophy for 2013.
COMMUNITY RESULTS
1ST Rafter 426
2ND Freeman 380
3RD O’Neill 328
4 TH Bradman 307
From this carnival the following students were selected as part
of the Meridan State College Swimming Team for 2013: Max H,
Darcy H, Angus H, Gemma C, Mikayla B, Kiarni W, Erin T, Aiden
W, Elliot T, Keenan B, Amanada S, Amelia T, Billie P, Gemma
C, Mia E, Jade P, Tayla Q, Amy Sam P, Max H, Jack C, Lucy H,
Mackenzie B, Brittany B, Caitlyn H, Grace H, Lili N.
SHANE WILL
PRIMARY SPORT CO-ORDINATOR
BRITTANIE HEADS TO
QUEENSLAND TRIALS
Congratulations to Brittanie C who has made the Sunshine
Coast Tennis Team to attend the Queensland trials next week.
Brittanie became Meridan’s first regional representative for 2013,
when she was announced as a Sunshine Coast Team member
following trials at the Mooloolaba Tennis Centre on Thursday 21
February.
As a Year 10 student, Brittanie’s achievement is made all the
more impressive when she is competing against girls up to 3
years her senior in the open division.
Brittanie will play for a spot in the Queensland Tennis Team from
March 14 to 17 in Toowoomba. We wish her all the best in her
quest for State selection.
Ross Stewart
Head of Department
Health & Physical Education & Sport
A GAGGLE OF MERIDAN SWIMMERS
HEAD TO STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
After the unprecedented success of our Secondary swimmers at
the Central District Swimming Trials, our students have backed
up again with outstanding performances at the Sunshine Coast
Trials.
On Thursday 28 February, less than one week after the Central
District Trials, swimmers were once again at Cotton Tree Pool
vying for a sport in the Sunshine Coast Swim Team.
Excellent performances were shown by the following students:
Jake D Boys 15-16 400m Freestyle 4:13.94
Boys 15-16 200m IM 2:19.16
Boys 15-16 200m Freestyle 2:02.24
Boys 16 50m Freestyle 28.36
Boys 15-16 100m Breaststroke 1:13.47
Lily H Girls 13-14 400m Freestyle 5:08.99
Girls 13 100m Freestyle 1:07.96
Girls 13-14 200m Freestyle 2:28.07
Jake O Boys 15 50m Butterfly 31.40
Boys 15 50m Freestyle 28.74
Alexandria
P
Girls 13 50m Freestyle 31.65
From these performances, six students have been selected in
the Sunshine Coast Team to compete at Chandler Swimming
Complex in Brisbane from March 21 to March 23. This is the
greatest number of representatives Meridan has ever had in
a single Sunshine Coast Team and we are very proud of their
performances.
We wish Holly A, Jack B, Billy D, Jake D, Lily H and Jake O all the
best.
Ross Stewart
Head of Department
Health & Physical Education & Sport
PRIMARYS SWIM IN COASTAL
DISTRICT GLORY
On Thursday 21 February 2013, twenty-one swimmers from
Years 4 to 7 at Meridan State College attended the Coastal
District Primary Swimming Carnival at Cotton Tree Pool. All
swimmers put in a huge effort on the day with a lot of personal
best times being set. In a demonstration of commitment to
swimming and Meridan Team spirit some students swum in up
to six races on the day; with some students qualifying across all
swimming disciplines as well as racing both the 50m and 100m
distances.
Big Congratulations to all swimmers who represented Meridan
State College on the day as well as to our swimmers selected
into the Coastal District team to compete at the Sunshine Coast
Swimming Trials. Those students are: Mackenzie B, Sam P,
Gemma C, Elliot T and Caitlyn H -Good Luck at Regionals!
Shane Will & Amy McGrath
Meridan Primary Swim Team Managers
Holly A Girls 15 100m Freestyle 1:00.68
Girls 15 50m Freestyle 28.38
Meridan State College Newsletter
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MERIDAN CENTRAL DISTRICT
SWIMMING SUCCESS
The Sunshine Coast Central District swimming carnival was held
at Cotton Tree Pool on Friday February 23 and turned out to be
a fantastic day for all who were involved. The 34 swimmers
that represented our College put in a huge effort, with these
competitors putting in 110% on the day.
As B Division Champions in 2012, we were there to prove
ourselves and show that we were worthy of the A division spot
that we had now claimed. And prove ourselves we did! Those
that attended filled lanes and events wherever they could.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to fill every age of relay teams as
we were short some team members, however we still came in
3rd overall and 2nd on average points. This was a wonderful
effort as we have some amazing swimmers coming through our
secondary school.
We also had 7 of our 34 strong team chosen to go on and
represent our Central District at the Sunny Coast Carnival held
on the 28th. Well done to Holly A, Jake O, Jake D, Lily H, Jack
B, Billy D and Alexandria P.
Kylie Bilsen & Andrew Southey
Meridan Secondary Swim Team Managers
SWIMMING CARNIVAL - “THAT
DAY”
It was that day, yes the day where the students and teachers
alike applied zinc to their face, came to school in the most
ridiculous outfits possible (obviously this included the famous
morph suit),and began to chant their house war cries. Oh yes,
this was the day of the swimming carnival.
Well, it started off like any other swimming carnival, with
a splash! As I walked around I was amazed at the amount
of students who had smiles on their faces, (don’t worry the
teachers didn’t pay us to act happy) they were honestly
enjoying themselves. This was nothing yet, as soon as the races
started each house took on a whole new vibe. I am sure that
everyone who attended that day saw the competitiveness and
the sportsmanship of the students, I know I did. As soon as the
canteen opened it was like all chaos had broken loose, at least
that’s what I thought would have happened, but yet again my
fellow students had amazed me. They lined up quietly, in an
orderly fashion and waited patiently for their turn to order. So as
the day came to an end it was time for the final race; which was
every one’s favourite: the student/teacher race. Of course the
students won, being awesome and all, but it was the teachers
and the students happiness that had made, not only that race,
but the day as a whole.
I can tell you now, that it was quite a day and that it made me
and many others very proud of the students that participated in
this carnival. I would also like to thank the teachers for all the
effort they put into organising the carnival and wish them better
luck next year in the race. I can’t wait for the next one.
Ryan E
Student
Meridan State College Newsletter
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