2 June 2025

Principal’s Report

Hello and welcome to our second newsletter for the term. As you may be aware, Mr Stehbens is currently working on a strategic project in Regional Office and while I act as Principal, Mr Ross has returned from Bundaberg North State High School to act as Deputy Principal alongside Ms Christensen. We look forward to welcoming Mr Stehbens back next term.

School Review Report

Recently, Gin Gin State High School underwent a School Review which is completed every four years.  As a school we have much to celebrate, and the report will now be used to inform the school’s Strategic Plan for the next four years.  I would like to share a summary of the Key Affirmations for Gin Gin State High School which are:

• Students and parents appreciate how the broad curriculum and community partnerships foster engaging learning experiences and meaningful pathways for students.
• Staff speak of a strong collegial culture of mutual trust and support that helps maintain high levels of efficacy and morale.
• Staff and students highlight how innovative resourcing, and high-quality facilities support student learning and contribute to their pride in belonging to the school community.
• Students and parents speak appreciatively of positive relationships as a hallmark of the school’s culture of care.

As you can see there is much to celebrate at Gin Gin High.  The review was a rewarding experience and the strategies for ongoing improvement detailed in the report will help make the outcomes for students and staff even better into the future.

Roadcraft

Our first group of Year 11 students attended the two-day Roadcraft excursion in Gympie at the beginning of last week.  The second group headed down on Thursday to complete the course. This is an invaluable theoretical and practical experience, highlighting the safe use of motor vehicles and is especially relevant as our students start driving on their L plates and then their P plates.  My thanks to the Bendigo Bank and the Road Safety Grants from TMR for their sponsorship of this vital real-life experience for our students.  I also thank Mr Hume for his organisation of the event as well as Mrs Acworth and Mr Webster for their roles as supervisors alongside Mr Hume.

Parent Teacher Interviews

The Parent Teacher Interviews held on 13^th May were once again a positive experience. It is wonderful to see parents and teachers working together for better outcomes for students in our school. If you were not able to make the interviews but would like to speak with a teacher, please know that you can call the office and make a time for a meeting or a discussion over the phone about your child.

Yr 10 Future Pathways Process

The Year 10 cohort will begin their process of future pathways investigation this week, with an introduction to the QCE system and a discussion about SET Planning.  Further into the process, parents will be invited to make a time to meet with their child’s Study Coach for a meeting in Term 3. Our Guidance Officer, Ange Mitchell will also be involved in this process, alongside Mr Ross in his role of Senior Schooling Deputy Principal.

Gin Gin Show

Our GGAP students last week contributed to a major community event, the Gin Gin Show, which took place over the weekend.  Under the supervision of Mr Wesche and Mr Matthew, our students provided vital aid in preparing the grounds and specific sites at the showgrounds.  I know the organisers of the show appreciate the help our students provide in the preparation and the clean up of the event. On another note, I would like to congratulate Ella Grabbe of Year 12 who was selected to represent the community as the 2025 Gin Gin Junior Showgirl. She was heavily involved in all proceedings at the show on the weekend. Well done Ella!

As we are at the mid-way point of our term, I encourage all students to be checking their assessment calendars, working with their teachers on feedback on their work and making sure they are Owning Their Learning.  Thank you for your ongoing support of our great school and I look forward to a positive remainder of the term.

Regards
Liz Walker

Coming Events

Bully Proof Update

We have had a busy start to our Bully Proof sessions after all the public holidays at the beginning of term. So far this term, we’ve been focusing on the STOP, THINK, CHOOSE process.

This simple, practical strategy helps students (and adults) handle situations where conflict may arise. It encourages them to pause, think about their options, and choose the action with the best outcome - rather than reacting in the heat of the moment, which can often lead to negative consequences, especially when emotions are high.

But STOP, THINK, CHOOSE isn’t just for conflict – it is useful in any situation where taking a moment to reflect can make a difference. You might even try using it at home with your children - it’s especially helpful for resolving sibling squabbles or moments of frustration.

Here is how the process works.

We have been exploring how this process can help students feel more confident, in control, and respectful when handling tricky situations. Try asking your child about a time they’ve used STOP, THINK, CHOOSE lately!

Bully Proof Team

OWN YOUR LEARNING: Partnering for Success in Term 2

As we move into the second half of Term 2, the focus at Gin Gin State High School turns to a crucial part of the academic journey—assessment and reporting. With Semester 1 reports on the horizon, now is the time for students and families to come together and continue to embrace the Own Your Learning initiative, which commenced in 2023.

This approach empowers students to take responsibility for their learning, while also giving parents a clearer window into how their child is progressing and how they can support from home.

What Is “Own Your Learning”?

“Own Your Learning” is designed to help students become more independent, reflective, and confident in their learning. At the heart of this initiative is the Assessment Literate Learner Placemat—a practical tool used in every subject to help students:

Set Personal Learning Goals

Students begin each unit by setting clear, achievable goals—like aiming for a particular grade or improving a specific skill. These goals give students direction and help them stay focused.

Track Feedback and Progress

The placemat includes space to record teacher feedback and assessment results. This helps students reflect on their strengths and identify areas for improvement.

Understand How They’re Being Assessed

Learning goals are directly linked to the marking guide (the criteria used to assess student work). By unpacking these guides in class, students gain a clearer understanding of what success looks like.

Why It Matters for Parents

For parents, the placemat offers a valuable insight into your child’s learning journey. It shows:

• What your child is working towards
• How they are being assessed
• What assessment goal your child has set and where they may need support

After reviewing the placemat, parents can help reinforce learning goals, celebrate progress, and encourage reflection after assessments.

Building Confidence Through Understanding

Each subject has its own language—terms like “analyse,” “evaluate,” or “justify.” These words are unpacked in class and added to a growing list on the placemat. Understanding this terminology helps students decode assessment tasks and feel more confident when completing them.

Reflect and Grow

After each assessment, students are encouraged to reflect on their performance. What worked? What could be improved? This reflection is key to continuous growth and helps students take ownership of their learning journey.

A Shared Responsibility

By working together—students, teachers, and parents—we can ensure every learner at Gin Gin State High School is supported to reach their full potential. The Own Your Learning initiative is more than just a classroom strategy—it’s a school-wide partnership that prepares students for success now and into the future.

Let’s finish Semester 1 strong - together.

Aaron Ross - Acting Deputy Principal

New Communication Guidelines

#1 Connect with us

There are a number of ways you can connect with us to stay up-to-date about your child’s education and our school community:

• contact school admin on 0741332111 for general inquiries
• contact Administration Staff to organise a meeting with teachers or staff
• subscribe to our school communication channels including Facebook and QParents.

#2 Parent communication guidelines

We value open and respectful parent/carer communication, to support your child’s learning and engagement. Guidelines are now available to help parents/carers understand the types of information they can expect to receive from state schools and appropriate contact channels. Find out more about these guidelines in Queensland state schools: https://education.qld.gov.au/parents-and-carers/positive-school-culture

Communicating with your child’s school

We value open and respectful communication with parents and carers, to support student learning.

You can expect schools to:

• recognise and celebrate your child’s achievements
• report on your child’s academic progress
• communicate about your child’s learning, wellbeing and development
• inform you of any serious issues concerning your child
• alert you on the same day if your child is absent without a reason
• forward requests needing your consent or payment
• provide regular school updates and notify you of school events
• offer opportunities and ways to give feedback
• offer parent/carer-teacher interviews twice per year.

You should not expect:

• an immediate response to non-urgent inquiries - it may take a minimum of 2 or more business days
• staff to return calls or reply to emails outside standard business hours (including evenings and weekends)
• a response from staff to social media messages from their personal account
• access to teachers’ personal phone numbers or emails
• teachers to discuss school matters when not at work (e.g. if you see a teacher outside of school hours in the community)
• meetings with staff during the school day without an appointment
• to be allowed on school grounds if you have been aggressive or harassed staff or students.

Contact your child’s school if:

• your child will be absent, providing the reason
• you are concerned about your child’s learning, social progress or wellbeing
• there are changes to your child’s medical information
• there are changes in family circumstances
• you notice safety issues or behaviour changes at home
• issues arise that may affect student and/or staff safety at school
• you need to make or change an appointment.

When contacting your child’s school:

• contact the school administration for general inquiries
• follow the school’s processes for requesting meetings or contact with teachers
• for more complex or sensitive issues, request a face-to-face meeting to give the matter the attention it needs
• allow staff time to respond to your inquiry, remembering that teachers’ priorities during the day are in the classroom.

How you can help your child’s school:

• keep your contact details up-to-date
• read school communications
• use polite language in all spoken and written messages
• be open to ideas and willing to compromise if needed to reach an agreement.

If you are unhappy about something that has happened at school, you can make a complaint:

• first raise your concern with the school by making an appointment or sending an email
• if you’re not happy with the outcome, you can speak with the principal or take your complaint to the school’s Regional Office. All complaints about staff or school operations are handled fairly.

Sally Christensen – Deputy Principal

Year 9/10 Geography

This week, our Year 9/10 Geography class took their learning outdoors, collecting field data around the school to investigate erosion and the urban heat island effect. Students applied essential fieldwork skills such as mapping, and collecting soil, light and temperature readings along transects. A highlight was the use of drones to capture aerial imagery, helping students observe landscape features from above. A fantastic hands-on learning experience!

Gail Gregson - Teacher

QUT Future you Summit 2025

Luke Olsen in Year 12 has been selected to attend the 2025 QUT Future You Summit, joining high-achieving students from across Queensland and northern NSW for a four-day on-campus experience this July. They will explore university life, collaborate with like-minded students, and engage in hands-on learning led by QUT academics and industry experts. Congratulations to Luke and thank you to the teachers who supported his applications.

Liz Walker - Acting Principal

QLearn Course Design Workshop

Making Learning More Engaging for Our Students

Mr Ward and Mr Napier recently attended a QLearn Course Design workshop to explore how we can make the most of our new Learning Management System. QLearn is now the main platform our school uses to deliver learning online—helping teachers organise lessons, share resources, and track student progress in one easy-to-use system.

The workshop gave staff the chance to dive into QLearn’s powerful tools, including how to create and embed interactive games and learning activities to make lessons more engaging. These features help bring learning to life for students, encouraging active participation and deeper understanding.

Teachers also learned how to structure their courses clearly, provide instant feedback, manage assessments online, and personalise learning for different student needs. With QLearn,students can access their work, feedback, and resources at any time—even from home.

Mr Ward and Mr Napier came away with a range of ideas and strategies, and they’re excited to support the rest of our teaching staff in using QLearn to its full potential.

As a school, we're committed to using technology to enhance learning—and QLearn is a big part of that. We're looking forward to seeing how it helps improve outcomes and keeps parents better connected to their child’s learning journey.

Stuart Napier – Teacher

QParents

Gin Gin State High school is aiming for 100% of parents, using the Q Parents online secure web and mobile platform that allows parents to access and manage their child’s information including, attendance, report cards, timetables and consent forms.

The Q Parents application is all about making parents' lives easier. No more missing forms with instant access to school issued notices concerning your child. This reduces the need for printed documents and aims to improve the transparency between the school and parents

Do it for Dolly

The generosity of our school and community was clear once again on Friday 9th May when students and teachers wore blue to support the Do it For Dolly Foundation. Together we raised just over $500 that will be donated to Dolly’s Foundation where it is used to fund anti-bullying and suicide prevention programs throughout Australia.

Not only were students wearing many shades of blue, but they also showed their generosity when buying a ribbon. The ribbons are a new smash hit where any student can wear it for the day as part of the uniform or their free dress. The ribbons were 50c or a gold coin donation and it’s very heartening to see so many students donating a gold coin for their ribbon.

Well done Gin Gin!

The next Free Dress Day will be on 18th June and will be State of Origin themed! The money will go towards funding the sports buses required each week for Inter-School sport.

Indy Prisk - Teacher

Wide Bay School Sport

A huge congratulation goes to Lebron who represented Wide Bay in the15 yrs and under AFL 2025 State Championships which were held over 4 days in Hervey Bay.

Caitlin Taylor - Teacher

P & C Meetings

Gin Gin High School P&C is seeking volunteers to assist in the tuckshop. If you can spare even just one day a month, we’d love to hear from you! Let us know your availability and we’ll pass your details on.

You're also warmly invited to attend our monthly P&C meetings, held on the 4th Monday of each month at 3:30pm at the school. It’s a great opportunity to get involved and have your say in what’s happening around the school. Everyone is welcome!

Celebrating National Bee Day – May 20

Bees do more than make honey—they sustain life. Their role in pollination is essential, supporting not just global food production but the entire ecosystem. Around 90% of wild flowering plants and over 75% of food crops rely, at least in part, on animal pollinators like bees. In short, bees are crucial for biodiversity and food security.

Yet, these vital pollinators face growing threats—habitat loss, intensive agriculture, diseases, and pests are placing enormous pressure on bee populations.

Sweet Facts About Honey

• Honey contains enzymes, water, minerals, and vitamins—everything needed to support life.
• Raw honey never spoils thanks to its natural preservatives. One jar found in an ancient Egyptian tomb was still edible!
• The flavor of honey comes from the nectar of the flower’s bees visit—each batch is unique.
• Beekeepers harvest only the surplus honey, which can be up to 45kg from a single hive!

Let’s continue to protect and appreciate bees—for the environment, for our food, and for future generations.

Michelle Findlay - Teacher Aide

Positive Partnerships Workshop

Event Management Bootcamp for FREE

You may have heard already, but for those who have not, Bundaberg Regional Council have engaged Australian Centre for Regional Events to facilitate an Events Management Bootcamp to upskill the Bundaberg region in events management.

We would like to offer senior students and young people out of school aged 16 and up interested in event management the chance to attend for free to gain an insight into the industry, learn some very practical skills and even as an opportunity to see if it is the path that want to follow.

When is it: Saturday 21 June, 9am-3pm

Where: CQ University, University Drive. Building 5 lecture room.

Morning tea, lunch and refreshments will be included in the day.

Participants just need to bring themselves, something to write on and with 😊

Please use the following link to view the registration page with a little more information.

Gin Gin Little Athletics

Bundaberg Table Tennis

Are you curious about trying something new or want to get active in a fun and supportive environment; Come along and try table tennis. See flyer below:

Growing Minds Australia

Blue Light Disco