22 August 2025

PRINCIPAL’S ADDRESS

School Opinion Survey – closes today!

Last chance to provide us your view through our School Opinion Survey. Your voice is important! With almost 1300 students, hearing the voice and opinions of a large portion of our parents is crucial for us to gauge how we are travelling and the key work ahead.

Student Attendance

We need your kids at school, all day every school day. At present, the attendance of our students on a Thursday and Friday is of genuine concern. We need to remind parents that every day we run 4 lessons and each day a child misses, they must catch up the work missed in each of these four classes, and that is just for one day. If they are in the habit of missing multiple days, catching up missed work gets incredibly difficult. We need your kids at school!

Student Recognition Parades

As a school, we value the opportunity to recognise the quality of our students. We have recently held our Semester 1 Student Recognition Parades. These parades worked across our Junior School and our Senior Schooling areas and recognised those students with strong outcomes across their academic studies, their effort and behaviour within classes, and those with high attendance at school. Over 1400 individual certificates were generated for our students; this is an amazing result! What makes it even more remarkable, is that for our core subjects in junior secondary and all subjects in our senior school, these certificates recognised both term 1 and term 2 results. This means that they have performed strongly across two reporting periods! We are very proud of our students!

SET Planning

At this time each year, our Year 10 students start making decisions around subjects, courses and direction for Year 11, 12 and beyond. These discussions started many months ago, with information in classes, presentations from our individual subject HODs and the preliminary selection of subjects for 2026. Week 7 onwards will see specific, individual meetings with students and their parents to work through future pathways. These SET Plan interviews will enable discussions around appropriate pathways, culminating in decisions around subject selections for Year 11. This process is crucial for students to make strong appropriate decisions to enable them to be successful. We encourage our students and parents to make these meetings a priority.

Recent Year 6 into 7 Information Night

On Wednesday night, our first Year 6 into 7 Information Evening took place. With a strong showing from our parents and future students, the opportunity to provide key information about Gladstone State High School was well received. The transition process for our 2026 Year 7 students is very important, with an understanding that moving into high school can, at times, be a little daunting. We will hold another information event on Thursday September 4 at 3:30pm for those who were unable to make this first one. This will then be followed by an opportunity for a site tour in early term 4. I would like to recognise the ongoing work of our Junior Secondary team to ensure that our incoming students get the best opportunity to transition well into high school.

Year 12 students – nearly there…but not yet!

To use a sport analogy, our Year 12 students are essentially in the last five minutes of a State of Origin game, and we have all seen how crucial this last five minutes is in deciding the result. This is not the time ‘to drop the ball’; this is the time to work hard and finish what they have started. Again in 2025, our Year 12 students have been impressive, and we want them to continue to strive for excellence so they can achieve their very best. We have spoken to them during parades, our teachers continually encourage them, and we ask that our parents also remind them of the importance of these ‘last five minutes’ in setting them up for future success. It is also important to remember that we have many key staff for support if it is needed, with Mr Hooley (Head of School), Ms Burdett (Deputy Principal), Mr Jackson (Guidance Officer), Ms Henderson (Year Coordinator) and our Youth Support team are also available for our Year 12 students.

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) focus

Follow Instructions first time every time

With close to 1300 students at our school, the importance of students understanding the need to follow instructions is crucial. Our staff will not instruct students to do anything that is unsafe or unreasonable, with the expectation that instructions are followed immediately. As you can imagine, the disruption caused to learning when students decide that instructions do not have to be followed creates difficult learning environments for our students and difficult teaching environments for our teachers. Please discuss this expectation with your child.

Mr Garry Goltz
Principal
Gladstone State High School

FLEXI SPACE NEWS

This term we welcome a new group of students to Flexi-Space English. Students in our class have started the term strong with their creative personalities. Students have engaged in creating chalk timelines of First Nations History, had fun at Drum Beat with Mr Nietfeld, and participated in a range of teambuilding and English related activities. We look forward to moving into our new classroom very soon.

SCIENCE WEEK NEWS

SCIENCE WEEK: Curious Minds of Tiny Scientists

Katelyn is a Year 10 student and STEM Ambassador passionate about sharing her curiosity and love for science to the younger generation. Katelyn organised an engaging Science Week activity at Stepping Stones Kindergarten on Friday the 8^th of August.

The activities introduced basic concepts of science through hands-on experiments and interactive demonstrations suited to the kindergarten age group. By engaging the children in exciting, age-appropriate challenges, Katelyn inspired their imagination and encouraged critical thinking skills. They learned how important STEM is in our daily lives; about the amazing advancements that have led our world to where it is now.

Katelyn’s initiative created a memorable and positive experience for the children, hopefully stimulating their interest in science.

SENIOR SCHOOLS VOLLEYBALL CUP

Volleyball Senior Schools Cup is one of the most prestigious Queensland school competitions for Year 11 and 12 players to compete in. The different divisions range from Honours to Division 2. The senior girls chose to compete in the highly competitive Year 12 Division 1 and the senior boys competed in Division 2.

The senior girls had a brilliant start to the competition winning three out of four matches which resulted in them setting themselves up positively for the remainder of the competition. Service pressure and serve reception were major strengths demonstrated across the competition. Despite being up, there were matches in which the playing group struggled to finish the game, unfortunately losing in the final set. Despite these losses, the girls did a fantastic job finishing 8^th out of 22 which is an outstanding result to achieve considering the Division 1 competition.

Alternatively, the senior boys playing group demonstrated fantastic ability on par with the girls group. From the first day, the boys showed that they could play at the highest level in their pool losing to the overall gold winner by a total of four points across 3 sets. The quality of volleyball on display was outstanding with defence being the team’s greatest strength, keeping play alive when it should have ended. Back-to-back losses resulted in the boys being unable to play for medal contention despite arguably being capable of playing at that high level. The senior group then proceeded to win their final 3 games convincingly to finish in 5^th place. From the ability shown in both the senior girls and boys space, the tournament was a success and each and every player should be proud of the teamwork and effort they put in across the week.

Go Sharks!

SPORTS NEWS

SENIOR SCHOOLING NEWS

DOORWAYS 2 CIVIL CONSTRUCTION (D2CC) 2026

The D2CC program teaches students to respect power tools and use them in a correct and safe manner. The course is broadly structured around the Civil Construction Industry. Each student will be given one week of work experience in either the metal or wood trade.

Students will gain experience in using: 18-volt drills, 18-volt circular saw, 18-volt planer, 240-volt router cutting around a template and a 240-volt compound slide saw with the blade plumb to the cutting table and at 90 degrees to the back fence.

The course is open to all students who will be in Year 10 in 2026. The course is available to students from GSHS, TSHS, TSSHS, MVSS, CSHS and MLSS. The course will be facilitated at McCosker Contracting Pty. Ltd, 19 Morgan Street, Gladstone. The course runs for one (1) semester with two courses of 12 students per course each year. The course is conducted on a Thursday commencing at 7.50am and dismissal time being 3.00pm.

The cost of the course will be $200.00 per head. It also includes a Senior First Aid Course.

Application forms can be collected from the Senior School office at the Technical College as of today 21/08/2025.

Application forms must be returned to the Senior Schooling Office by 17^th September 2025.

SOCIAL WORKER NEWS

Social media 'ban' or delay FAQ (eSafety Commissioner 2025)

“From mid-December, Australian children under 16 will not be allowed to hold accounts on certain social media platforms. The age restrictions are likely to apply to Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, among other platforms. Online gaming and standalone messaging apps are among a number of types of services that have been excluded.  Being logged into an account increases the likelihood that they’ll be exposed to pressures and risks that can be hard to deal with. These come from social media platform design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing.” (eSafety Commissioner 2025).”

Find out the facts about the social media age restrictions that will help keep Australians under 16 years safer:

Tuning into Teens Term 4

You are invited to join a parenting program that aims to help you, and your adolescent manage the many emotional challenges of this stage of life.  The program will teach you how to manage your emotions and your adolescent’s to help you both to remain close and keep communication channels open.  By learning new skills, you are less likely to have as much conflict within your family and your teen is more likely to talk to you about the challenging issues they face.  These are factors that have been found to reduce the risk of mental health and substance abuse problems.

This group is also available to parents who have a young person transitioning to GSHS in 2026. 

YOUTH HEALTH NURSE NEWS

Screen Time & Teen Mental Health

This week I have included an article from the Black dog Institute looking at the links between screen time and poor mental health for teens.  If you would like to read more head to:

Adolescence in today’s world looks very different from a generation ago. With screens central to how teens learn, connect, and unwind, parents and teens alike are asking: Is all that screen time hurting mental health?

A study of nearly 4,000 Australian teens revealed that higher total screen time is linked with more symptoms of depression and anxiety—but not necessarily causing them.

These links are stronger in girls than boys, with even higher rates among gender- and sexuality-diverse youth.

Importantly, when screen use is broken down by activity type, some behaviours appear particularly problematic while others may beneficial.

POSITIVE: Using social media to interact with friends you know in real life

Teens who connect socially online tend to report lower levels of depression and anxiety compared to those who passively scroll or consume other people’s content.

NEGATIVE: Passive scrolling

Spending large amounts of time viewing content without interacting is associated with higher rates of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and disordered eating, especially among girls.

Gaming time

Most teens who game a few hours daily don’t show significant mental health issues. But those exceeding 6 hours per day are more likely to meet clinical criteria for depression.

Stricter rules and blanket bans often backfire—especially with older teens. What helps more are open conversations and support aimed at building healthy digital habits.

Parent Tips for Building Positive Screen Habits

• Encourage teens to use apps to chat with friends they already know in real life.
• Support them to reflect on how a post or content made them feel, rather than just how long they look at screens.
• Promote offline activities, physical exercise, and restful sleep—with screen-free wind-down times, especially before bed.
• Start open, non-judgmental discussions about online experiences, including comparisons, negative content, and peer pressure

“It’s not about banning screens—it’s about building healthy habits.”— Black Dog Institute, 2024

QPARENTS

NURSE PRACTITIONER NEWS

BREAKFAST CLUB

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Please note that as of week 7 this term, the tuckshop will only accept preorders for 1^st and 2^nd break via the QKR app only.

UNIFORM SHOP

Uniform Shop Hours

SWOOPING BIRD SEASON

Some native bird species, including magpies, plovers, butcherbirds, and crows, are well known to swoop during the spring breeding season. Swooping may occur from July to November, peaking between August and October. When native bird species have eggs or young in their nest, a small percentage can become protective and may swoop people entering their nesting territory. Research suggests aggressive swooping occurs when the birds have had previous negative interactions with humans, for example, had stones or sticks thrown at them, their chicks, or their nests.

Some ways to manage swooping bird interactions during the breeding season are to:

• Avoid swooping hotspots and find an alternative route by consulting the ‘Gladstone Regional Council Swooping bird hotspot web map’ (https://www.gladstone.qld.gov.au/wildlife) Or https://www.magpiealert.com/
• Ensure children wear appropriate headwear (helmets, hats, umbrellas), eyewear (glasses, sunglasses) and clothing to help protect them from unwanted swooping risks.  
• Ensure children avoid threatening or scaring nesting birds, as this will increase the intensity of swooping.
• For more information about swooping birds and tips to avoid being swooped, a ‘Living with Magpies’ fact sheet and an interactive swooping bird hotspot map, jump on Council’s website https://www.gladstone.qld.gov.au/wildlife#swooping.

Additionally, Council manages swooping birds by providing community awareness and information, undertaking swooping bird assessments, and implementing an appropriate response on Council-controlled land. If your establishment has a problem with a swooping bird, you may contact a licensed wildlife contractor to assess the bird for relocation. Please note that Council is unable to respond to swooping bird complaints on private or state-controlled land.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss this further, please contact the Environment & Conservation team on 07 4970 0700.

TERM 3 CALENDAR

COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS