This term, our TMC Leo Club has been busily preparing and planning events around our school. One such example of plans include a food drive. The Food Drive will be running until the end of the term, in which different year levels have to bring in different types of items. The form class with the most items bought in will receive zooper doopers as a reward for their generosity and kindness to those in need. All of the donations will be going directly to OzHarvest to help those who are struggling this christmas.  Madam Rogers, the head of the LEO Club, has commented on how “It is important for students to engage with the community and provide resources for those in need.”

Year 7 need to bring canned foods with a pull ring (eg. tuna, stews, soups, canned fruit and baked beans). Year 8 students need to bring drink items (eg. long life milk, juice, cordial, tea and coffee). Year 9 need to bring grains and cereals (eg. pasta, rice, oats, flour and sugar). Year 10 include biscuits and spreads (eg. rice cakes and jams). Finally, Year 11 need to bring in toiletry items (e.g deodorant, toothbrushes, sanitary products, soap and hand sanitiser)

We would like to thank the Leo Club for organising this event and ask if students could bring in their designated items to school for a good cause. The more items we can donate, the more items people in need can have this christmas. Every little bit counts and will be very deeply appreciated by the community.

Over the past two weeks there have been an unprecedented number of Chromebooks broken through deliberate misuse or careless conduct. In line with our Student Responsibilities as outlined in our TMC Handbook, the costs associated with the misuse and subsequent damage of College Property is the responsibility of the student. This means that there is an expectation that the costs involved in the repair of the Chromebook will be covered by the student or their family.  

Students are expected to use their allocated devices, return them to charging docks as required, and ensure that they are safely stowed between lessons.

The IT department will attempt to repair damages wherever possible to reduce the cost for students that have broken their Chromebook. The costs vary, for example a broken screen is $100 to replace, whereas a cracked body/frame is not repairable and costs $400 to replace the device.

We request that parents speak with students about taking responsibility for their allocated device to avoid incurring any costs. 

This week's feature image is our winning Opti-MINDS team and the perpetual trophy presented to them today for the Social Sciences category. TMC Team 5 (Social Science Category, Division II) - Mia, Molly and Annia.

Last Friday two of our Year 11 students graduated from a dual certification of a Certificate II in Health Support Services and a Certificate III in Health.  Lachlan W and Talia C have been working towards their certificates for the past two years and have also completed one week's work experience at Gold Coast Hospital as part of their course.  Lachlan was also additionally awarded an Excellence in Academic Achievement for being an outstanding student in the cohort.  Congratulations Lachlan and Talia!

Mrs Peita Parker-Browne

The Opti-MINDS Creative Sustainability Challenge asks students working in small teams to “think, create and communicate” and collaboratively devise and present a ten minute dramatic performance to an open-ended challenge. At the State Final level, students must complete this challenge in just three hours! 

Our College was represented by three teams of students who competed against schools from across Queensland - Cairns to Roma to Gold Coast and everywhere in between - 94 teams in total across the state. 

Today, two of our teams were presented with their awards.

TMC Team 3 (Science Engineering Category, Division II) - Jack Armstrong, Emma Anderson, William Fern, Logan Hayden-Du Plessis, Luka Haydock, Phineas Thomson and Mia Walshe - received medallions for placing second in QLD.

TMC Team 5 (Social Science Category, Division II) - Zoey Adam, Mia Armstrong, Annia Regi, Molly Smith - received medallions and were presented with the perpetual trophy for winning their category!

Shortlisted from 500 entries, Hannah D has been awarded the only Regional Encouragement Award for Creative Generations 2022, Gold Coast, for her self portrait painting Behind the Mask.  Hannah has also been given immediate entry into TAFE Diploma of Visual Art as well as receiving a scholarship. We congratulate her and wish her well!

Ms Jenny Radley

In this article, I explore what vaping is, TMC’s policy on vaping, adolescence and impacts on decision making, and how parents can begin conversations with their child around vaping. 

Vaping and Adolescents

There has been a lot of information in the news this year regarding the increase in adolescent use of vaping. Vaping involves using an electronic device (E-cigarette, vape, juul) that heats a liquid (vape juice, e-liquid, e-juice) to produce a vapour that looks a lot like smoke, which users inhale. The liquid solutions contain chemicals and sometimes appealing-sounding flavourings, such as chocolate, bubblegum and fruity flavours. E-cigarettes might be shaped like cigarettes, cigars, pens or other common items including USBs. These products are not regulated in Australia and are often purchased online, meaning they can be made anywhere, by anyone and contain anything.

Vaping can be seen by many young adolescents as an accessible act of risk-taking.  It is often difficult to detect as it does not emit an odour such as cigarettes do. With the devices looking like other everyday items, such as USBs, it can be easy to hide them in plain sight.

Common Questions that Doctors at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne are asked include:

Do e-cigarettes contain nicotine?

Yes, most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. E-cigarette liquid may contain nicotine, even if it has been labelled ‘nicotine free’.

Are e-cigarettes and e-liquids safe?

No. The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has not safety tested e-cigarettes or e-liquids, so they should not be considered a safe product. In some countries, people have died due to lung injury caused by using e-cigarettes.

Vaping and the TMC Student Code of Conduct

Vaping is not permitted on campus or during College activities. Vaping is also not permitted by College students off-campus whilst wearing school uniform. Any students found to be involved in vaping acts in breach of our Student Code of Conduct will incur appropriate consequences such as suspension or cancellation of enrolment. 

TMC students are spoken to about the dangers and consequences of vaping during assemblies and ARC lessons. 

Adolescents and Parenting

It’s important to understand why a conversation about this with your child, who may have always been sensible and rule-abiding, is still necessary. 

Maggie Dent, teacher, counsellor, and parenting and resilience educator, sheds some light on this:

“The adolescent biological drive and hunger to belong with your peers is more powerful than their love and respect for you (the parent) – saying no to their social group could mean being excluded and rejected. 

Teens do not have a mature prefrontal cortex and so making sound, reasoned decisions can be difficult especially when around friends.

Teens also have a tendency when making decisions to exaggerate the good (i.e. the rewards) and positives and to diminish the possible risks or negatives and they have a tendency to think ‘that won’t happen to me!’

No amount of reasoning, logic or lecturing from well-meaning parents can change that tendency.

So adolescents, especially teens under 16, need strong parental guidance and expectations. They will break boundaries – that is also a part of claiming their autonomy and there needs to be some serious conversations about consequences if they do it more than once.”

How to Talk to Your Child About Vaping

The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne advises that ‘talking with teens about risky behaviours is an important way for parents to help keep them safe. Parents are already good at talking to their teens about alcohol, smoking and drugs. E-cigarettes should be included in the conversation. The earlier and more often you speak with young people about e-cigarettes, the more likely they are to listen. It’s important for parents to educate themselves, so they know the facts and what to say when the topic comes up.’ 

1. Start with small conversations based on real stories in the media
2. Approach it calmly, perhaps during an shared activity
3. Don’t make assumptions and avoid accusations
4. Talking ‘with’ your teen rather than ‘at’ them will improve communication. 
5. Focus on health and explain your concerns.

If you would like to speak with myself or a Year Coordinator about anything raised in this article, please reach out to us. A strong partnership between home and school will help develop resilient children.

References and Further Information Links

Alcohol and Drug Foundation - Talking About Vaping with Young People

Maggie Dent - Talking to Teens About Alcohol and Other Drugs

The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne - E-Cigarettes and Teens

ABC News - Queensland Schools and Parents Worried ‘lolly-flavoured’ vapes on the rise among students

Mrs Fiona Stevens - Head of Secondary

This week Year 11 ARC learnt all about how to do a simple self service of a car and the important art of changing a tyre.  Hopefully these lessons will save them money and keep them a bit safer on the road. 

Mr David Haskins

Braydon C (Year 10) has been completing his Work Experience on the Lismore Base Hospital Redevelopment. This is part of the N.S.W. Health critical infrastructure development plan. Braydon can be seen here installing Telstra Mobile Network system or DAS (distributed antenna system) . Braydon was tasked to run and tie cables, and also terminated a coaxial cable, which is a precision termination. Braydon is set on a Vocational Pathway and is on his way to an Electrician Apprenticeship next year. Well done Braydon!

Miss Liz Black

Throughout 2021 and moving into 2022, a number of TMC Year 11 students have participated in or are going to be completing a pre-entry university subject course. These courses are offered by a number of universities including Griffith Uni, University of Southern Queensland and University of Queensland and help give the students the opportunity to work on a university subject that they would usually complete during a degree while they are still at school. By doing this, students are able to try out university level work and assessments to see if they are interested in that particular field. The courses are free and potentially reduce the costs of a degree if students decide to pursue that career. On top of this, these courses also provide a chance for students to increase their ATAR at the completion of Year 12

Students in physics and chemistry have already begun to do a course through Griffith University, with others about to begin or finish courses including Lachlan Williams and Gilbert Griffiths. 

Lachlan Williams, who is about to start a Childhood Learner Developer course says that the reason behind why he wanted to complete the course was to help him, “Go on to do a degree in secondary teaching”, with the course going for the school holidays.

Gilbert Griffiths, who has finished a 13 week course in Concept Design Fundamentals, also says that the reason behind completing the course was “to help give [them] a better chance of getting into the animation course at Griffith.” For Gilbert,  their favourite part was the drawing involved in the course.  

We wish all students involved the best of luck and congratulate those who have completed the course. If you are a current year 11 student and interested in completing a university subject course you are welcome to go talk to Ms McCredden for more information.

As freedom fast approaches, so does responsibility. Starting in week 4, TMC’s graduating class of 2021 began their external exam block which, as Mrs Stevens, Head of Secondary shared, "is an important step in preparing for their future. The external exams are running from week 4 to week 7, ending during the Year 12’s last week of school."

These sets of exams are an integral part of our students' work towards attaining a Queensland Certificate of Education - also known as a QCE. These exams also play an important role in allowing students, who are eligible, to achieve an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). Participating in these exams can influence the future of a student's career path. Mrs Stevens says “While there are often nerves prior to the exams, our students have worked hard to be prepared for them”, giving us no doubt that there will be great results. 

Year 12 students, Olivia Parker and Benen Garvey were able to set aside a time in between all of these exams to enlighten us on what these exams mean to them and how they are finding them. Olivia believes that it is just a matter of being prepared, whether that is over prepared or not. Benen then said that, “Some exams can be stressful, but studying hard definitely pays off in terms of easing yourself before the exam and lifting a bit of that stress”. 

Finally, we would like to say good luck to all partaking in the exam process and would like to leave a word of advice for upcoming years taking the exams. Benen says to future Year 12 students, “Work as hard as you can and try your hardest.” Whilst Olivia says, “Just make sure you try your hardest and you understand that the best effort you put in will show".

Thank you to Year 5 students, Cassie, Annalise and Abby, who decided to investigate where rubbish could be found in the Primary school. They announced their plan to record and remove rubbish from the campus on an assembly a few weeks ago, and then they reported back to the whole Primary last week. They discovered the areas of most concern and collected a whole bag of rubbish to show everyone.

After limited live performances in 2020, our students in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 made an exciting journey ‘Under the Sea’ for our inaugural Early Years Music Concert in 2021.  After much preparation, students took to the stage to perform for family, friends and the Early Learning Centre’s Pre-Prep students.

All Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students presented a performance as a year level taking us on an aquatic journey with songs including Baby Beluga, Taba Naba and Sandcastles Underneath the Sea including Prep’s magical and graceful expressive movement to Saint Saëns ‘Aquarium’. The concert culminated in a combined performance of ‘Tinga Layo’ and ‘Three Little Fishes’ which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. 

Students also demonstrated various musical skills of beat, rhythm, melody and instrumental performance through singing songs and playing untuned and tuned percussion instruments all explored in our classroom music program. It was a journey Under the Sea thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Mrs Felicity Addison

On Tuesday 2nd November, Year 3 & 5 visited the Planetarium in Brisbane, as part of our Solar System units from last term. When we arrived we went straight into the theatre and watched the amazing light show as we leaned back in our seats and learned about the planets and stars. After the show, we all had a good look and read around the Planetarium as we answered questions to find out more information. We then had some spare time, so we went into the Botanic Gardens to have lunch and a play before returning to school. 

Thank you to Mr Golden, Mrs Noel, Ms Byron, Mr J & Mrs Visser for organising and helping out with the excursion. Here are some photos from the excursion.

The ELC and Prep are excited to share with our community this year's entry in the Tamborine Scarecrow Festival. We took  inspiration from the book written  by Julia Donaldson's titled 'The Scarecrows' Wedding'. 

Many of our children helped bring to life the characters either helping to stuff with straw or lending a hand to decorate.  Thank you to families both at the ELC and Prep for supporting us when we asked for donations of items so we could bring this entry together. Special mention to the maintenance team for constructing the stands for us. I am so proud of the team effort by everyone!  While adding the finishing touches this morning before judging it was a joy to have so many lovely comments from passers by. Congratulations to Lucca Hall in Pre Prep  who was awarded by the Festival Committee the under 5  category winner in the colouring competition. 

We are very excited to announce that our entry in the annual Scarecrow Festival won Best Kindy in this year! Mrs Starr myself and a couple of our families were presented with our certificate and prize last Sunday afternoon. Thank you to Claire and Lucca’s family for supporting us at this event.

Mrs Rachael Fernandez

Pre Prep are in full rehearsal mode this week in preparation for next week end of year celebration being held in the College Hall. We are looking forward to presenting an Australian themed selection of songs as we celebrate the children’s learning journey with you all.

If you have not already booked your ticket on Eventbrite please do so for our Covid safe procedure for next Wednesday’s Graduation held at the College Hall 1pm.

Kindy have shown an interest during the week role playing going to school, to develop this further the Educators have created a school themed learning area. Role playing develops social skills learning to take turns with resources and using new vocabulary and language. Taking on real life play is a child’s ability to process their world.

Another new experience is Puppet play which has been added to the Kindy room. One of the most obvious benefits of puppet play is that participating in this activity can allow your child’s imagination to run free. They can use these puppets to play out any number of scenarios, whether they’re a complete fantasy or truer to real life.

OZHARVEST

Please support the College as we participate in a food drive to support OZHARVEST, so if you are looking to give at this time of the year to a worthy organisation then please consider this endeavour. OZHARVEST takes excess quality non-perishable food to take directly to community organisations supporting people I need across the country. If you have any non-perishable food at home you’d like to donate, please add it into our donation box in the foyer of the ELC!

Have a great week ahead everyone.

Mrs Rachael Fernandez

On Saturday October 16, eight of our Senior Band members performed with professional ensemble Topology and renowned Australian drummer, Grant Collins, at the Boonah Cultural Centre. 

Earlier in the year, members of the Senior Band had the opportunity to attend a composition workshop with Topology's saxophonist and composer, John Babbage. Students created their own melodies, which John combined and arranged into an original piece.

It was wonderful to finally perform "Melodies Erupt" (reflecting the volcanic region around TMC and the variety of melodies created by students), after the March concert was cancelled due to flooding and the August concert cancelled due to Covid restrictions. 

Well done to the students involved - you performed wonderfully! It was a fabulous evening of music and a unique opportunity to perform with professional musicians. 

Ms Kristy Jewell

On the 16th of October several members of the senior band performed at Boonah Cultural Centre with the band Topology in their 'We Will Rise performance'. This performance was one of originals and cover songs, which were referred to as ‘tortured classics’.

At the beginning of the year John from Topology came to TMC, band members had to sign up for this event and take time out of their own schedules however it was truly worth it. On the first day John had split the participating band members up into groups between 2 and 4, each group would create a small piece that was a few bars long, then at the end of the workshop John took all the pieces and created the composition, later named Melodies Erupt, that would be performed. The performance was originally meant to be held earlier in the year however it was postponed twice, first due to flooding and then because of Covid, because of this TMC lost multiple of its original performance members due to various reasons. In the end, only 8 members and Ms Jewell performed.

Participating Band Members:

Flute:

• Emily Clarke
• Hamish Thompson

Clarinets:

• Ava Byrnes
• Harmony Cordon

Saxophones:

• Nicholas Brennan
• Jenna Thompson

Trombone:

• Mason Bowker

Trumpet:

• Luka Haydock
• Ms Jewell (on the flute)

The performance was truly a sight to behold and future members should definitely take the opportunity to experience this if the opportunity were to ever present itself.

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