This week's Featured Image is Fuschia Criss (Year 12) on her horse, Moonshine Mischief. Fuschia has just been selected as the Captain of the Queensland Schools Equestrian Team for 2020! The detailed story is in Sports News.

Michael Adams, Tamborine Mountain College Maintenance Manager, retires after 20 years of service on 14th August.

He has contributed significantly to the campus with its exceptional grounds and has been integral to the growth and success of the College.

Michael has seen many changes to the College over the years:

–         College acquisition of lands and property

–         Addition of Primary in 2015 to the Secondary Campus

–         Addition of the Early Learning Centre in 2019

–         beautiful modern buildings and facilities

–         additional staffing to compliment the College’s growth

It is truly a rarity these days for someone to remain in the same job for so many years – Michael certainly has displayed his loyalty and devotion to the College. He will be missed but never forgotten, and will forever be part of the College family.

Thank you, Michael.

James (Jimmy) Pearce joined TMC as the new Facilities and Grounds Manager on Monday 3rd August.

Mr Pearce is well known to the College having been the Site Manager for the construction company that built the Maureen Nicholls Learning Centre, Administration building and Early Learning Centre building at TMC.

With many years of experience as a qualified tradesman, he has spent a lot of time working on school building projects and is familiar with the daily life at a school.

Mr Pearce tells us that he is looking forward to working with the College community and in particular assisting classes with their projects, such as building sets for the drama class.

Mr Adam’s last day will be Thursday 13th August, which gives him almost two weeks to impart 20 years of TMC knowledge to Mr Pearce!

This term in week 6, between the dates of the 15th and the 23rd of August, TMC will celebrate our annual Science Week. Science Week has something for everyone, with events such as reaction demonstrations, quizzes and hands on experiments. The week is a celebration dedicated to the wonders of science and the joy of being a member of the STEM community. Be sure to contact Mr Hoyne if you are interested in getting involved. 

Hannah Clements 

Coming up at TMC is our art competition inspired by CC, our college cat. Years 7-12 will be painting a portrait of CC while prep to year 6 will be doing a colouring-in competition. For secondary school to enter this competition, all you need to do is go to Mrs Radley’s room and she will give you a canvas and a reference image that you will be painting, whilst students from prep to year 6 can collect their drawings from their teachers. All entries will be due by the 2nd of September and will be judged by Mrs Melbourne, Mrs Stevens and Mr Stevens. This is a great opportunity to have a bit of friendly competition, whilst showing off your artistic abilities and getting creative. 

Lily Parker

Being healthy is something that most of us aim for. 

Sugar is everywhere in supermarket staples, even some that might appear to be healthy on the surface, and so this Dental Health Week (3 - 9 August dentalhealthweek.com.au), we want you to become more “sugar savvy”. Figures show that the average Australian is consuming 14 teaspoons of sugar a day, a whole lot more than the maximum six teaspoons a day recommended by the World Health Organisation. Beyond that, we want to show how easy it is to keep your teeth and gums healthy by following a few simple tips: Brushing, Flossing, eat and drink well and say ‘Hello!’ to your dentist.  

https://www.goldcoast.health.qld.gov.au/our-services/oral-health 

Last week’s Maths Matters puzzle!

Well done to those that spotted the pattern and got it right! I’m logging the responses and am delighted with how many of you are responding each week, so keep going to win the Term 3 Maths Matters prize.

Find the value of x

If 9 = 10 9 x 1 + 1

8 = 18 8 x 2 + 2

7 = 24 7 x 3 + 3

6 = 28 6 x 4 + 4

5 = 30 5 x 5 + 5

4 x 6 + 6

then 3 = 28 3 x 7 + 7

Term 3 – Week 3

This week’s brain teaser…

If you have 30 white socks, 22 black socks and 14 blue socks scattered across the floor in the dark, how many would you have to grab to get a matching pair?

click here to submit your answer

This coming Monday, August 10, is the SRRC Show holiday. Next Friday, August 14, is the Gold Coast Show Holiday.

As I walked into school today. I was couldn't help but think, “What a beautiful day!” I decided to take my hot drink and sit out on the benches at the far end of the oval where the trees are. As I walked I noticed the fallen branches and burst out in laughter.

It is amazing to see our young people use their creativity. It impacts others. It just made my day complete, even before it started. We can all learn from these young ones who see things differently from us. They see with fresh eyes - where we see branches on the ground, they see something that can be used to create art and to make another’s day.

Mr Roshan Sabapathy

Students in Years 7, 9 and 11 were challenged to think outside the box this week during workshops delivered by High Resolves.

One of the concepts explored was the impact that micro behaviours can have on the 'collective group'. This was a great reminder for all of us to reflect on the micro behaviours we exhibit and promote to our students and our children.

Kindness and acceptance are two micro behaviours we value at Tamborine Mountain College. As we head into the two long weekends, I challenge our students and families to look for opportunities to demonstrate kindness and acceptance, and to acknowledge where we see this in others.

Mrs Fiona Stevens

In ARC this term, Secondary students have been focussing on the theme of 'Community'. Lesson activities have been designed to promote social justice and fairness, encouraging students to take an active role in fostering harmony both at TMC and their wider community. This week, Sam from High Resolves came and delivered a fun and thought-provoking presentation to Years' 7, 9 and 11. Sessions were tailored to suit the specific focus for each grade. It was wonderful to see students enjoying extracurricular activities and be thinking about how they can make a difference to our community. 

Photos and a review of the workshops by Year 11 student, Portia Ilaoa, are below.

Ms McCredden

"Throughout the course of Week 4, students from Years 11, 9 and 7 participated in workshops hosted by the organisation, High Resolves. Each grade’s workshop was intended to give a greater understanding about global issues such as climate change, equality, equity, etc. and how they can have an effect on changing the world.

To understand the effects of climate change and the world’s economy, the Year 11s all participated in a simulation in which each student was given a country to represent and one goal: reduce as many units of carbon emissions as possible and have as little effect on our respective countries' economies. 

The Year 9s learned about equity and equality through a series of games and activities. In groups they began with some games where they earned points. These points would contribute to their success in the next activity where the groups, now representing families, would purchase items such as food, water and shelter to help them get through everyday life. However, some groups found that the similar items were more or less expensive to other groups then theirs. Now realising this, they continued to discuss equality and equity around the world."

Portia Ilaoa (Year 11)

Another exciting opportunity returns this term with Mr Sebapathy coordinating the school’s Duke of Edinburgh Award program. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is an international award program targeted at youth aged 14-24. Students participate in one of three awards. Bronze (14 years and above), Silver (15 years and above) and Gold (16 years and above). To achieve an award, students must complete work in each of the four sections. 

The first section is service, this includes any kind of voluntary work such as picking up rubbish or volunteering at your local care home. The next section is physical recreation. In this section students are required to participate in their choice of ball sports, athletics, martial arts, etc. Students also must learn a new skill. This could be anything from cooking to photography to learning a new instrument or language. The last part of the bronze and silver award is an adventurous journey. Participants will plan their own adventure, and endure a demanding mental and physical journey. In addition, the gold award involves a residential project where participants live and work in a developing country for 5 days. Participants often come back with a fresh new perspective on life after broadening their horizons by learning about the culture and way of life in their chosen country.

The purpose of the Duke of Edinburgh award is to get young people out of the classroom and into the real world. The award gives young people a sense of responsibility and purpose as well as providing them with the opportunity to work towards something, make their own decisions, and learn to deal with any obstacles that come their way. “The benefits of the award are amazing and the effect can be life-changing”, quotes Mr Sabapathy. If you think you are up for the challenge, be sure to check out the Duke of Edinburgh Award. See Mr Sebapathy for more details. 

With this beautifully cloudy weather today, I have noticed some tired looking children at school. This motivated me to research and share some information about sleep for school-aged children. It is amazing that for an activity we are meant to spend 1/3 of our lives doing, for most of us sleep is generally an afterthought when we consider things like our mood, health, immunity and general wellbeing.

"Quality sleep – and getting enough of it at the right times -- is as essential to survival as food and water.  Without sleep you can’t form or maintain the pathways in your brain that let you learn and create new memories, and it’s harder to concentrate and respond quickly.

Sleep is important to a number of brain functions, including how nerve cells (neurons) communicate with each other.  In fact, your brain and body stay remarkably active while you sleep.  Recent findings suggest that sleep plays a housekeeping role that removes toxins in your brain that build up while you are awake. 

Everyone needs sleep, but its biological purpose remains a mystery.  Sleep affects almost every type of tissue and system in the body – from the brain, heart, and lungs to metabolism, immune function, mood, and disease resistance.  Research shows that a chronic lack of sleep, or getting poor quality sleep, increases the risk of disorders including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity." https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/understanding-Sleep

As teachers at school, we can sometimes see the results of poor quality or lack of sleep in the children's learning and behaviour. When children subtract from sleep time to add to their waking hours, the consequence can be inattentiveness and irritability at school. This of course results in a child who is unable to reach their potential the next day and, if this happens consistently, their learning suffers over time.

"Why is sleep important?

Sleep restores children physically. It helps them learn and remember things, and it boosts immunity. And sleep helps children grow. For example, children’s bodies produce growth hormone when they’re asleep. Children often need more sleep at times of rapid growth. Children of all ages need to get enough sleep so they can play, learn and concentrate during the day. 

Children 5-11 years: when and how much they sleep

Children aged:

5-8 years need about 10-11 hours sleep a night

9-11 years need around 9-11 hours sleep a night.

From about five years of age, children no longer need a day nap if they’re getting enough sleep overnight.

Primary school-age children are usually tired after school and might look forward to bedtime from about 7.30 pm.

Teenagers: when and how much they sleep

Children entering puberty generally need about 8-10 hours of sleep a night to maintain the best level of alertness during the day.

Changes to the internal body clock or circadian rhythm during adolescence mean it’s normal for teenagers to want to go to bed later at night – often around 11 pm or later – then get up later in the morning." https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/sleep/understanding-sleep/about-sleep

If you are struggling with your child's sleeping pattern at the moment, the great parenting website raisingchildren.net.au has a wonderful article called How to sleep better: 10 tips for children

After all this research, I am feeling tired and looking forward to a great night's sleep! I hope you enjoy some relaxing and enjoyable time with your family over the coming long weekend. See everyone on Tuesday!

Mr Mark Stevens

Thanks for your efforts with Readathon. Amazingly, we have already passed our initial school target of $1000 so it's been revised to $2000!

Thank you to those families and students who have registered and already begun fundraising as part of the 'Readathon' challenge. The aim is to read as many books as possible and raise money to help families affected by Multiple Sclerosis.  We are well on our way to reach our school target. All Primary students have been informed of this very worthy cause and encouraged to register, record the books they've read (including writing book reviews) and fundraise. To do so, they need to be registered by a parent or family member. The challenge started on Saturday (1st August) and will run the duration of the month. Please register your child for the challenge using the link below (under the school's name and your child/ren's year level) and sponsor them what you can. We have also shared the link on the school Facebook page:

https://www.msreadathon.org.au/register-2020 

There will be prizes awarded for class & student reading and fundraising efforts. Thank you in advance for your continued support. 

Mr Golden

This term our Year 3 students are investigating Earth and space sciences. Recently, we have monitored and recorded our shadows, at different points throughout the day. Students made predictions about the changing appearance of their shadows, reflective of their understanding of the relationship between our Earth and sun. At various intervals throughout the day we record the time, traced the position of our shadows (from the same position) and measured their length. 

This experience fostered our students' understanding of the world around them, as they planned, predicted, observed and investigated the relationship between our Earth and the sun.

Prep is celebrating 100 days with all manner of activities. We are dressed up as a variety of people from the past and have explored the number 100 through games and craft. We even had a weapons display showing off weapons from diverse historical backgrounds.

Level 3

Level 5

Level 7

This term Pre-Prep and Kindy students in the Early Learning Centre have been learning lots of animal songs with actions.  Students have also been learning to move and play instruments in time with the beat. We all look forward to singing together each week.

This term year 7 Vic created wearable art after being inspired by guest artist Russell Smith in Term 1. They used Aboriginal symbols and inspiration from mentor artists; Lin Onus, Wandjuk Marika & Michael Nelson Tjakamarra. They experimented with Aboriginal inspired techniques and colours to create their own wearable art with meaning. Students transferred their draft onto a white printing block and separately printed warm and cool colours, adding final touches after printing.

Fuschia Criss has been selected as the Captain of the QLD Schools Equestrian Team. This is a fantastic, amazing, wonderful achievement and she will have many roles to perform at the state championships as the state captain. Congratulations Fuschia on this reward for all your hard work over your time at TMC. In other Equestrian news the Fuschia and Talia Criss competed  in the 90cm Show Jumping rounds at the Somerville House Invitational.  Both riders gained qualifiers for our Interschool Queensland States event in October being held at the Toowoomba Showgrounds.

Bailey Kendall in Year 7 is currently playing for Brisbane Roar FC in the U13NPL. He  is due to travel with the team to Coffs Harbour in September  to participate in the National Youth Football Championships. Bailey's most recently played in the Regional Futsal Titles with West Moreton. Bailey was instrumental in their 7-4 grand final win over Ipswich, scoring or assisting each of the 7 goals.

Due to the potential rise in community transmission of COVID-19, the Principals and Sports Coordinators Committee of the Hinterland Independent Alliance have agreed to cancel HIA Round 3. We cannot be certain at this time that existing Covid safe requirements are up to date as cases rise in Australia.  I understand the disappointment that this will cause for all students involved. On the bright side I have been most pleased by the commitment shown at trials over the past seven Wednesdays!  All students that have been selected have been fantastic and deserve their places in the team.

Mr Andrew O'Loughlin

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