• ASPIRE Student time budget planner
    • Visual arts excel at National level
    • Mathematics on the learning Place
    • Yesterday
    • ICAS test high achievers
    • State school holidays
    • P&C Wednesday

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    ASPIRE  - Achievement, Success, Performance, Inspiration, Reflection,Excellence

    This time next Friday all will be in readiness for our night of celebration of academic achievement and creative endeavour at QACI. ASPIRE  ,our awards night, has  special significance as  we reflect upon everything that our entire community has achieved, overcome and celebrated in our  STILL young but very fast paced life. It is an occasion to reflect not only upon who we are but where we are going. We have called the event ASPIRE because we believe that   in recognising the outstanding achievement of individuals and groups they provide inspiration and motivation for the future to others. We also believe it is important for all of us to share in the success of the individual as in a highly collaborative environment, such as ours, everyone makes a positive contribution to the success of the individual. As we say at QACI “We stand on the shoulders of others to see further.”

    ASPIRE is not a typical awards night. It is not for just award recipients. It is a celebration of who we are at QACI. A celebration of the uniqueness of our being, our vision and the development and growth of our young people as the future leaders of our society. A celebration for all of our community.

    For those students and parents of QACI who have not attended an ASPIRE before, it is not a traditional string of students walking across stage or lengthy speeches (excepting mine) but an entertainment showcase. It is about not just talking about who we are but showing this.

    As young adults, who have a true sense of time and place ,students are not  expected to wear uniform but to dress to the formal, business like occasion it is, whether as an award recipient or audience member .

    I remember a hard lesson learned in my first year 2007, when lecturing the foundation cohort about what is required in this regard and the importance of the event, a young lady stood up and said politely and assertively.” Mr Jose we do not need this. We get it. We have been living it for 10 months. We will not let ourselves down, trust us”.

    Whilst I felt put in my place, and even a little offended at first, I realised she was right. If the culture and understanding at QACI is what we seek it to be, students do not me to reinforce such things. That year’s ASPIRE and the opening of the Academy and ASPIRE08 proved her insight to be true. All these have shown me that a QACI student’s ownership of our vision and emerging reputation is second to no other school I have been associated with.

    I hope I see you at our night of nights where we can, through our attendance alone, not only honour the hard work and ability of those achieving awards but honour the contributions of all students and staff to what we are creating as QACI.

     Common Life/Time budget planner now in use

    Throughout previous newsletters we have provided startegies and advice on how students can plan their time and develop good study habits essentail for not only their sucess at our academy but also and most importantly to remain healthy through a blanced life style. I have personally supported many students this year who have lost balance either by doing too little homework or study or working so hard that they lose the cahnce to just be kids and share their family. This worries me greatly. In recent times I trialled an electronic template with students with poitive reponses. The template allows a studnet to see exactly how they are spending their time(expenditure patterns) and then to create a sustainable budget  that can form the basis for when they expend and how much. Being electronic it is easy to adjust as new "bills" come into play.

    This budget then provides a first point of providing advice and support if stress starts to appear or set tasks or homework starts not to be completed.Wen combined with the weekly cycle of homework allocation for each subject students can get in a sustainable routine.

    All year 10 and 11 students were inducted on Wednesday and will work closely with their success coach in monitoring and applying it. I explained to students that it will be considered as a licence to "drive safely" at QACI.It must be kept up to date on their laptop for easy reference when requested. studnets will need to show this each time they apply for extensions etc. teachers may require studnet to refer to it when organising rehearsals or such.

    May  I ask that you ask your son or daughter to show and explain it to you. Understanding their budget can be a great source and first point of support.

     

    Visual Arts students continue to excel at National level

    Six of our Visual Arts / Film students have this week been announced as award winners in a national competition – the Monash IT Challenge.

    The IT Challenge is a multiple category competition for Secondary students and will be celebrated in a final IT Challenge Awards Night at the International Digital Entertainment Festival (Melbourne) on October 30.

    Categories entered by our students were Film, Digital Imaging and Machinima.

    Congratulations to our winners in the following categories:

    FILM 1st – Ben Cotgrove

    Digital Imaging 1st – Emma Hudson; 2nd - Cameron Ross

    Machinima 1st – Sheridan Eccleston; 2nd – Shuwei Zhang; 3rd – Aidan Hodbell

     

    To check out their work, go to Curriculum Highlights in the Creative Showcase on this website.

     

    Mathematics on the Learning Place

    The Mathematics faculty at QACI utilize frequently the 24/7 accessibility, convenience and technological facilities that the Learning Place provides.

    At any stage in the coursework for your student you may find

    • Course Details for the subject they are studying, including course overviews, information booklets for tests, guides to writing projects
    • Learning Resources which include homework schedules, links to relevant websites that support consolidation of ideas presented in the classroom, links to Project Rooms where larger files may be viewed (example of which is a Screenflow file, which represents both an oral and visual recording of skills required to successfully manage their Mathematics including Use of Calculator)
    • Worksheets to consolidate or extend work presented in the classroom

    Parents can also access the learning place using their son or daughters password and therefore can be familiar with what support is available for students. This is a very useful resource for private tutors as they can then support the student in parallel to the QACI program.

    Yesterday

    During the last few weeks, our neighbourhood turned purple.  Brunfelsias peeped over the fences that Petrea climbed; Wisteria hung from trellises and Jacaranda splashed the skyline.  These plants had been placed in suitable soil, watered, fertilised, trimmed, shaped and nurtured.  As a result, a glorious display of mauve and purple flowers is the reward for gardeners at this time of year. 

     Each season provides a different display of blooms and each term provides an opportunity to grow, to achieve and to flourish.  Fourth term is the culmination of the year for students and provides an opportunity to show all that has been learnt throughout the year.  This term is especially important for students who will sit their final IB exams.  To achieve their best, students must establish goals at the start of term; steadily implement these goals throughout the term in order to “bloom” at the end of term.

     Sonja Lyubomirsky, has identified a list of powerful benefits associated with setting goals. Establishing goals gives us a sense of purpose and control; adds structure and meaning to our daily lives; bolsters our self-esteem; helps us to feel confident and capable of achievement; allows us to master our use of time by subdividing big goals into subgoals and developing a schedule to accomplish them; enables us to continue striving at times of difficulty or crisis and to engage with others in accomplishing our goals. 

     Intrinsic goals are the most powerful.  These are meaningful goals in which we are personally involved and we pursue them because we know we will find the outcome satisfying and rewarding.  Goals that lead us to approach a desired outcome, as opposed to avoiding an undesirable outcome, are most effective.  This means that goals that focus on avoiding failure in an exam will not be as effective as a goal that focuses on a specific positive outcome in that exam.

     Goals that focus on activities that we can do in the pursuit of these goals are more likely to bring about change and create a positive outcome.   Flexibility is also important.  Circumstances can change and we need to be able to adapt our subgoals in particular in order to accommodate these changes.  This doesn’t mean that we give up our main goals, but we may have to be flexible in how we implement them.

     Authentic goals that are based on an individual’s interests and values – those that “fit” with our personality – are the ones that help us to feel good when we are pursuing them.  Similarly, goals that are harmonious work together.  They build on each other to achieve a great result. It doesn’t work if we have several goals that conflict with each other. 

     Setting goals is critical for success, but having goals alone is not sufficient.  Goals have to be implemented on a daily basis if we are to achieve these goals. Brunsfelsia flowers change each day from white to mauve to purple. The common name for this plant is “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”  Virginia Satir makes it clear that we must take action now when she wrote “The future starts today, not tomorrow.”

     © Michele Juratowitch

     ICAS Test  Achievers

    In past newsletters I have proudly quoted the statistics that QACI students attained for the National ICAS tests in English and Mathematics. On Tuesday’s assemblies we were able to present the faces behind those statistics and specifically those students who gained distinctions or high distinctions for the tests. Well done.

    Below is a list of these 61people.

    In addition to these another 108 students received credits. This from 140 and 161 students who, respectively, sat the Mathematics and English tests.

     

    Maths Yr 10

     

     

    TAYLOR

    DONALDSON

    DISTINCTION

    PATRICK

    DUTTON

    DISTINCTION

    INDIA

    GHARISS

    DISTINCTION

    SOPHIE-JANE

    HUCHET

    DISTINCTION

    DONALD

    ROBERTS

    DISTINCTION

    SARAH

    TIMSON

    DISTINCTION

     

     

     

    Maths Yr 11

     

     

     

     

     

    MEI WENG

    BROUGH SMYTH

    DISTINCTION

    BENJAMIN

    COTGROVE

    DISTINCTION

    JOANNE

    CUTLER

    DISTINCTION

    AIDAN

    HOBDELL

    DISTINCTION

    SOPHIE

    MURDOCK

    DISTINCTION

    ANGELINA

    PHENGPHONG

    DISTINCTION

    SHUWEI

    ZHANG

    DISTINCTION

     

     

     


     

    English Yr 10

     

     

     

     

    TARYN

    ALLEN

    DISTINCTION

    ELLA

    BAILEY

    DISTINCTION

    ARKIE

    BARTON

    DISTINCTION

    ADAM

    DIXON

    DISTINCTION

    JASPER

    FREE

    DISTINCTION

    INDIA

    GHARISS

    DISTINCTION

    SAMANTHA

    HORIG

    DISTINCTION

    JOSHUA

    ISELIN

    DISTINCTION

    IRINA

    KORENEVSKI

    DISTINCTION

    TIFFANY

    LANE

    DISTINCTION

    GABRIELLE

    MICKEL

    DISTINCTION

    MADELEINE

    NIGHTINGALE

    DISTINCTION

    HARRISON

    NORRIS

    DISTINCTION

    LARA

    PATTY

    DISTINCTION

    LUCAS

    PRICE

    DISTINCTION

    DONALD

    ROBERTS

    DISTINCTION

    SAMUEL

    RYAN

    DISTINCTION

    GEOFFREY

    TANCRED

    DISTINCTION

    SAMANTHA LARA

    CANIN-HENKEL

    HIGH DISTINCTION

    ISAAC

    CHO CHUEK TAK

    HIGH DISTINCTION

    ROHAN

    SEEKERS

    HIGH DISTINCTION

     

     

     

    English Yr 11

     

     

     

     

    JOSHUA

    BEATTIE

    DISTINCTION

    BENJAMIN

    COTGROVE

    DISTINCTION

    CAITLIN

    COX

    DISTINCTION

    JOANNE

    CUTLER

    DISTINCTION

    ANNABEL

    DOREY

    DISTINCTION

    CHRIS

    DRINKWATER

    DISTINCTION

    SHERIDAN

    ECCLESTON

    DISTINCTION

    MIRIAM

    EDWARDS

    DISTINCTION

    MAXIMILLIAN

    FOWLER-ROY

    DISTINCTION

    ALEXANDRA

    HACKETT

    DISTINCTION

    MOJMIR

    HLINCIK

    DISTINCTION

    MATTHEW

    HOOK

    DISTINCTION

    EMMA

    HUDSON

    DISTINCTION

    TEGAN

    HULL

    DISTINCTION

    JAZZIE

    ILLENBERGER

    DISTINCTION

    YASMIN

    MORGAN

    DISTINCTION

    ASHLEIGH

    MURRAY

    DISTINCTION

    BRIANA

    PEARSE

    DISTINCTION

    ELIZABETH

    SHEEAN

    DISTINCTION

    JOSHUA MARK

    HAMMOND

    HIGH DISTINCTION

    ALANNA

    KOH

    HIGH DISTINCTION

    SOPHIE

    MURDOCK

    HIGH DISTINCTION

    JOHANNA

    SEEKERS

    HIGH DISTINCTION

     

     

     


     

    English Yr 12

     

     

     

     

    CLARE

    ANDERSON

    DISTINCTION

    ROWAN

    HANDLEY

    DISTINCTION

    REBECCA

    KELLY

    DISTINCTION

    HANNAH

    WILLIAMS

    DISTINCTION

     

    Josh Hammond attracts attention of Pepsi

    Recently Joshua Hammond and another local young entrepreneur collaborated to make a short film for the London Film Festival and Pepsi. The film made the top 5 and was given special mention by the Pepsi CEO at the presentation Dinner.

     Bachelor degree now available at Jazzworx! Music Institute

    The Minister for Education and Training, the Honourable Geoff Wilson MP, has advised that Brisbane-based Jazzworx! Music Institute has been accredited to deliver a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance.  Only 27 Universities or private providers (25 in the USA and 2 in Australia) offer this qualification worldwide, with Jazzworx! being the only private provider.  The Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance course will commence in 2010.  The three-year full-time course is divided into three study areas:  Performance, Core Studies and Creative Studies.  For more information, visit:  http://www.myspace.com/jazzworx or email:  play@jazz.qld.edu.au.

      Queensland state school holidays

    The 2010 Queensland state school calendar is now available at: www.education.qld.gov.au/projects/educationviews.

    As a state high school, QACI follows all state school holidays.

    Parents and carers are reminded that all state schools will re-open for students on Wednesday 27 January, following the Australia Day public holiday on Tuesday 26 January.

    For student attendance, the 2010 term and holiday dates are:

     Term 1 commences Wednesday 27 January and ends Thursday 1 April

    • Term 2 commences Tuesday 13 April and ends Friday 25 June
    • Term 3 commences Tuesday 13 July and ends Friday 17 September
    • Term 4 commences Monday 4 October and ends Friday 10 December*.

    Year 12 state school students will finish school on Friday 19 November, while Year 10 and 11 students complete their year on Friday 26 November.

     State school teachers will have professional development opportunities on the following student-free days: Friday 22 January, Monday 25 January, Monday 12 April, Monday 12 July, and Monday 18 October.

    Generation Next seminars

    Presenters for the series: Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, adolescent psychologist on ‘Youth mental health’; Susan Mclean, Cybersafety expert on cybersafety and cyberbullying, Julie Gale, on 'Sexualisation of children in the media'; and Paul Dillon, on 'Teenagers, alcohol and drugs'. Dr Sally Cockburn, on ‘understanding sexuality of young people-How to have that conversation’.

    See participant feedback at www.gennextseminars.com  and click on the play button

    See the Today Tonight story at www.gennextseminars.com/overview and select the bottom video

    See Melissa Doyle’s opening speech at http://www.youtube.com/v/L-hijCyBDUk

    The seminar will focus on providing essential and up to date information for parents, teachers and carers about problems relating to bullying, drugs and alcohol, cybersafety, mental health and related issues that affect young people and on constructive solutions to these problems.

    The seminar will be held on SATURDAY afternoon, Nov 28th at the UQ LECTURE THEATRE, University of Queensland. Tickets are $45 and are available through Ticketek.

    Generation Next is supported by Headspace, the national youth mental health foundation, Beyondblue, the national, independent not-for-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety disorders and substance abuse in Australia; and recently the National Binge Drinking Initiative.

    For further information don’t hesitate to contact me or visit the Generation Next website: http://www.gennextseminars.com

     

    P&C meeting Wednesday

    7.00pm level 4 – entry via the car park and take lift to level 4

    There will not be the regular monthly barbecue this week as we will be gathering for ASPIRE.

     

    Upcoming Events



    17/10 Year 11 YES (semi-formal) benefit

    17/10 Queensland Music festival choral competition

    19 /10 Pupil free day

    23 October – ASPIRE – QACI awards night

    26 October – Free dress Pink Day for cancer

    26 October – year 12 SWOTVAC week commences

    29 October – year 10 Theatre performance 7.00pm

    30 October – year 10 Theatre performance 7.00pm

    3 November – year 12 Formal IB exams commence (run until 20 October)

    13/14 November –year 11 Theatre performances 7.00pm

    20 November – year 12 Graduation

    16-20 November – year 10/11 submissions block

    26 November – year 10/11 Film showing

    23-27 November – year 10/11 examination block

    30 November/1 December – year 11 Intensive Extended essay workshops