Bayside Bulletin Newsletter, 3 March 2023

Principal’s Message

What is in a KPI?

From time to time, businesses must assess their performance. Parents of children within a school, parents considering enrolment, and of course students themselves, will all have a view as to the performance of the school, as will the media and governments. The questions that now appears are – what do each of these groups measure? Are the measurements the same? Are they related? Are they reliable measures? Are they valid measures? So many questions …

One measure often used in the media is that of educational achievement – student results. I am the first to agree that schools need to ensure students achieve at their very best, but is this a valid KPI? Does the school have a large number of students who have come from other schools? Do they have significant numbers of students with learning needs? How do these variables affect results?

NAPLAN is one such instrument which has now moved from being a simple and yet important diagnostic and feedback tool for staff, to that of a ranking tool – something for which it was never intended. It is here, that I need to go on record to state that I do not consider NAPLAN in itself (and on its own) a valid measure of a school. I have held this view for a great many years and will never change from this stance.

Schools are so much more than a mere number on a scale, and a single assessment should never be used to solely judge performance on anyone. While holding this position, I nevertheless write to advise you of our wonderful success in NAPLAN in 2022. Recent analysis of ALL SCHOOLS in the WIDE BAY REGION indicated that our very young and little school has truly outperformed the more established and better resourced schools. This was noted in the Courier Mail newspaper only last week. This is absolutely tremendous news, and our staff, parents, and students should be very proud indeed of this wonderful achievement.

I will reiterate that even with this outstanding success of coming 2nd out all P-12 schools in the Wide Bay Region, it is not this result that I would wish our school to be judged on. The most important achievements in life are those things that sometimes cannot be so easily seen, and when we do, it is not assessable through a test!

The most important achievement of our school is made when we open a distant heart and troubled mind to the love of Christ; when we speak the words of the Gospel and the Lord ignites a fire within someone’s soul; it is found in the kindness we offer each other; the care we provide; and the gentleness and grace found within our own hearts. These are the things that truly matter.

Matthew 13:23
“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

May all our students go forth and bear much fruit, be a light for Christ in all they do, and continue to achieve such inspired results!

Junior School Meet and Greet

Mrs Amber and Mrs Donna ready for Meet and Greet with refreshments ready to go.

Sunshine Kindy children practice being safe

Every day during week 4, Kindy children learnt and practiced how to do an emergency evacuation and lock down.

At group time we read a book all about feeling and being safe, who is around to help us, and what number to call – “000”.

We also talked about important fire safety rules: “don’t hide! Scream and shout“, “get down low and go go go“, “stop, drop and roll” and “get out and stay out“.As a group we were able to identify safe and unsafe fires, explain the differences and what to do when there is a fire around us.

During our evacuation practices we left the Kindy building and walked to the emergency meeting point.

For our lock down practices the children stayed very quiet inside until we were told it was all safe. (Can you see us hiding back there in the dark?

Every child did an amazing job – following every instruction provided to them.

Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guideline – Wellbeing – Exploring ways to be healthy and safe.

Australian Maritime College – University of Tasmania Visit

On Wednesday, 8th February, the Year 10 students were privileged to receive a visit from the Australian Maritime College Representative, Mr Brendan Sinnamon, who spoke to students about the various opportunities and courses that exist in studying at the Australian Maritime College (University of Tasmania).

Students learned about the entry requirements, careers, accommodation and various scholarships and bursaries that are available to students wanting to pursue a career as a specialist in ocean seafaring such as Marine Engineering, Ship Deck Officers, Marine Pilots etc. The opportunity to receive first-hand information from a past graduate was extremely beneficial as students gained valuable insight into the various career opportunities and current projects and technologies that are incorporated into the Maritime Industry.

Impact Community Services

On Thursday 23rd February, the Year 10 student engaged with Impact Community Services staff. The students found the sessions very informative and beneficial in understanding and using JOBScan to check if their resume suits the key criteria for an advertised job position. With many organisations using Applicant Tracking Systems to scan resumes, students now have access to the free JOBScan tool that will scan and support students in tailoring their resume to a specific job to increase their chances of gaining employment.

Students also learned how JOBHelp can further assist them in their employment endeavours.

Stymie

Do you have concerns about a student at Bayside? Are you concerned that someone is being bullied or harmed in some way?

Stymie is one way that you can help. Stymie is an old-fashioned word that means to stop or thwart.

Stymie is an online, confidential messaging service for anyone who is needing help or concerned about someone else. Stymie provides a proactive opportunity for students to say something about harmful behaviours or anything they are concerned about for themselves, or someone else.

It works, because it is accessible 24/7, anonymous, easy to use and messages are typically delivered in a few seconds to approved notification recipients.

More information about Stymie can be found here. You will also find a link to Stymie is in SEQTA Notices, with an encouraging message each week.

For more information about Stymie at Bayside, email Marissa.francis@bayside.qld.edu.au

News from the Bayside Library

In week 6 we celebrated the wonderful stories of Dr Seuss. At lunch time students enjoyed playing Dr Suess themed games including Cat in the Hat ball toss, pin the eggs on the green eggs and ham, Dr Suess themed find-a words, mazes and puzzles as well as colouring in pages. Children loved hearing and reading his books and discovering the whimsical and entertaining way Dr Seuss writes with rhyme and rhythm. His stories also had many great quotes to live by and one that is a favourite in the library is …

Year 7 Camp

From the 21–24 February, Year 7 attended Maranatha, Boulder Creek for camp. It was a fantastic week full of challenging activities and amazing opportunities for students to connect with one another outside of the classroom.

Leonidas (7Q) has written the following report on behalf of his peers.

On behalf of Year 7 camp was fun and enjoyable. The instructors ran so many activities for us including harness activities, hikes and team building activities. We were based just short a walk from Woondum National Park, where both groups enjoyed the creek exploration. It was so refreshing dipping our feet in the rockpools.

They also had a 20m pool, an air hockey table, table tennis table, chess board, pool table and a basketball ring for our convenience. There was always so much to do! Now, let’s get into the food, we had curry and other exotic meals for dinner. Breakfast was the usual eggs on toast with sausages, yet I never got over it. Lunch was usually wraps or burgers. Our Chef Brigid was treating us with dessert, nobody ever once complained about dessert. One night it was ice cream the next it was homemade brownies. Every day was a new adventure. Thank you, Maranatha Recreation Camp.

Leo Bekos, 7Q

Hervey Bay School Captains’ Breakfast

On Wednesday 1st March, Storme and I, accompanied by Mrs Taylor, had the privilege of attending the Hervey Bay School Captains’ Breakfast, hosted by Urangan State High School. This was a great opportunity to be able to network and connect with like-minded students from Hervey Bay and share our aspirations for next year, whilst enjoying a meal together.

We had the privilege of receiving valuable input from the Mayor, Cr. George Seymour, about leadership and working as a team. As the next generation, we were able to learn, and to share our opinions towards current local legislation amendments and put our ideas forward. Storme and I thoroughly enjoyed this valuable opportunity and hope to be able to attend many more of these networking events throughout the year.

Rebekah Nicholls

Bayside Baldies – World’s Greatest Shave Team

The World’s Greatest Shave annual fundraising event is on again and the Bayside Baldies team are having their heads shaved.

Why we’re taking part

With no screening programs available and no means of prevention through lifestyle changes, blood cancer is Australia’s hidden cancer crisis. Every day, 53 Aussies are diagnosed with blood cancer, and 16 will lose their life. It requires teamwork to stop blood cancer from wrecking lives. That’s why we’ve decided to team up to take part in the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave together. We’ll be raising crucial funds that will give people facing blood cancer all the support and information they need, while driving breakthrough research projects discovering better ways to diagnose and treat blood cancer. You have the power to help us make an extraordinary difference. Big or small, every donation counts.

Will you help by sponsoring us? For every $5 you donate, your child will be in the draw to shave one of the team member’s hair.

If you wish to be in the draw, be sure to leave your name on the team page when you make your donation.

Please make your donation via this link: Bayside Baldies Team donation page

Secondary Swimming Carnival

On Friday the 17th of February students in grades 7-12 participated in the annual swimming carnival at the Aquatic Centre. We were blessed with beautiful weather and an energetic atmosphere full with enthusiasm and competitiveness. The best dressed award went to 1st: Noah Byrnes, 2nd: Damon Smith and 3rd: Fletcher Cox. Our cheer competition was an exciting addition to our already packed program. Johnson impressively won this with an outstanding War Cry. Congratulations to all participants including our age champions and runners up winners.

House Placings

1. Chisholm
2. Johnson
3. Stace
4. Burrows

Congratulations to CHISHOLM house for winning the secondary swimming carnival. Students who finished the top two in each event will be invited to attend the district swimming carnival on the last week of term. More information will come out on Consent2Go soon.

Gladstone Little Athletics

Congratulations must go to Sophia and Ava Carza for each coming second overall in the Gladstone Little Athletics combined events Carnival in their age group last weekend. Sophia competed in the 100m, 800m, shot put, highjump and discus. Ava competed in the 100m, 200m, long jump, discus and shot put. Well done girls!

Mr Carter – A-grade Coach for Hervey Bay Seagulls

Hard work and dedication have paid off for our very own Brett Carter as he was appointed as the A-grade coach for the Hervey Bay Seagulls rugby league team.

We are very proud of him and wish him and his team the very best of luck.

Futsal Champions

Wednesday March 1, saw a mix of 10, 11 and 12yr old boys travel to the Hervey Bay PCYC to play in the U12 Hervey Bay Schools Futsal Competition. After practising at breaktimes, all were keen to go. There were 2 other teams in our group, from Urangan High and Maryborough State High schools. We played four games in the group stages, winning all four with our best result being 8–1.

As we won the group stage we were up against Maryborough State High School in the finals. The boys started off nervously but had several attempts at goal just miss in the early stages. Maryborough later scored first, a run away goal. The boys rallied and equalised soon after. Maryborough scored a long range goal after that and Bayside again equalised. At the end of normal time it was 2–2. That meant we went into extra time and “golden goal” came into effect. With two minutes played, we crossed the ball from our right wing and took the shot to secure the win. It was a very tense and exciting game and I was super inpressed at the way the boys handled the extremely stressful situation.

I must congratulate all the boys for playing their part during the day. Everyone played with great determination and commitment, never giving up and making me very proud.

The skill everyone showed was inspiring to see and as a result 7 out of 10 boys were chosen to play in the Queensland Country Districts Futsal Competition later in the year. A bonus for these boys was that they also received a free Movie World pass to use. My thanks must also go to the parents who were able to come and support the team. Everyone had a great time and the experience gained was invaluable.

Would you like to learn how to operate a Sound Mixer Board?

Would you like to Run the Sound systems for our Assemblies and Events?

If so, send an email to Mrs Shelley Bennett on shelley.bennett@bayside.qld.edu.au to register your interest.

This opportunity is available for students from Year 8–12.

For weekly pre-orders, please fill out the form emailed to families earlier and return to:

belinda.france@bayside.qld.edu.au

Years 7 and 8 Science

This week Year 7 Science students have started a new unit ‘ Separating Mixtures’. Photos of students are investigating the solubility of various compounds.

Year 8 Science have began a new unit, ‘States of Matter’. This week students have researched and made ‘Oobleck’, a non-Newtonian fluid that has properties of both solids and liquids.

Year 8 Science students also investigated the particle theory of matter.

Senior Biology

Senior biology students have been busy this week conducting experiments for their IA2 assessment.

Senior Food and Nutrition

Senior students studying Food and Nutrition have been busy cooking recipes for their assessment.