28 October 2022

Newsletter Articles

Executive Principal’s Report

As this school year nears end we are at high point in the academic calendar with students either preparing for or in case of Year 12s well into their external exams. Year 11 students are into their first summative assessment units of work.

I am looking forward to our seniors’ graduation and junior and senior awards ceremonies. While we acknowledge a rite of passage and the high achievers, I will also be looking out for those young people who grew in their learning journeys by their own measure, and progressed to their potential. While “topping the class” is great, recognition for striving and applying and esteem that progress delivers is at the heart of the purpose of teaching.

School Opinion Survey. Can we do better and in what aspects do we give priority? This is our school improvement theme. Always is. There is some discussion of the relevance of some of the items and even of the survey itself, but nonetheless is still a tool for reflection and where we may have some priorities to address and areas to celebrate. At last week’s P&C I shared some details of this year’s school opinion survey, did same with staff at last staff meeting and also shared with students their opinion results at full school assembly. Only the top and bottom 3 items are provided in the summary that I reproduce below. It is notable this year that the number of respondents in every stakeholder group was well up on last year.

Last year our survey was best on record in terms of rates of satisfaction. Cav Rd was a “pin up” school. There was a halo effect I believe, of returning to a sense of normality after the height of Covid. This was reflected across all state schools.

This year, the social context is different as communities and workplaces have struggled to adapt with changes to work, staff shortages in just about every industry, economic pressures being realised on the home front for everybody, and our abilities to manage this change. Schools are perhaps the one of few constants.

This isn’t to say we do not have our own work to do to aspire to be better year on year particularly of course for even better student outcomes. As a high performing school, if we do not “keep at it”, and it is tough to stay at the top, then we can only expect to regress. While our survey shows a marginal decline overall, we remain above secondary schools indicating but nonetheless, we need to address some issues.

Continuous patterns of positive agreement are apparent in all common items and in relation to the secondary schools generally as a reference. These include: expectations are clear, gender equality, being a good school, liking school, feeling safe and teaching & learning, having opportunities, being given good feedback, and being challenged to think.

The benchmark is how we compare to other secondary schools across all the items in the survey. In the parent group we consistently and across every item have satisfaction rates above all secondary schools and notably that our school is a “good school” and that the core business of teaching is rated highly. High up on the student opinion just outside the top 3 is that students know the expectations, that teachers help them learn and that school is a safe place. People want to be listened to more. I have already spoken here of the protocols for doing that.

Next Steps Survey

This survey was posted to our website as required some weeks ago, but as Year 12 is in full blush in their last exams a measure of encouragement that their work at Cav Road will pay dividend, is that this year’s cohort is returning similar progressive results as last year’s group. Of the 256 Year 12 students in 2021, 221 returned the survey with the following. I expect a similar result for this year’s Year 12 cohort, not only in ATAR scores but also in post-school employment and continuing education or combinations of, which is again, above State.

Respectful relationships and community are inter-connected and one item that is recognised as high rate of satisfaction in our school opinion survey that I speak of below. In our school respectful relationships are taught, modelled and practiced. We aspire, but of course these skills need to be honed by everybody. I wish to clear the air on a particular point and for vast majority of parents who support and trust how our school is led and managed and the relationships valued across the school community. We seem to live in a time where these values are challenged.

Even after 40 years in State education and a senior Principal for almost 15 years, I sometimes, or at least on one recent occasion failed to choose words precisely on a school assembly that raised the passionate ire and upset to some students. Necessarily I received a few strident parent communications. Though few it caused concern not only because this rare, but of the assertions made but also tone and language. While I do not appreciate being “verballed” to some degree that inspired the contacts, I take responsibility for any communications to any audience that my meaning and intent is clear and precise. But I also believe that the first step in bringing up a point of concern or disagreement is also best done respectfully and through a dialogue where negative inferences and misunderstandings are clarified and resolved. They are not resolved with angry emails or phone calls. I know there are a number of parents who have brought issues to me and done so with good grace. Such is the depth and respect I have for the parent community at large and that shown to me and my staff.

Thankfully, it was 2 students who sought to speak with me, to air their concerns with grace and in a respectful personal approach, rational conversation followed and satisfaction that matters were not as they were perceived. An apology was offered and accepted, because I take responsibility. What is not reasonable is to attack and accuse based on what they heard as first receivers, and certainly not an entitlement to do so if based on hearsay.

There seems to be too much outrage and certainly not a model we would want children exposed to as a way of being heard. Though as a society we have some way to go in matters of domestic violence, gender equity and equality, dealing with disadvantage and other issues, before jumping in it needs to be remembered that as a State school we deliver egalitarian, secular secondary education where inclusion is paramount and at Cav I have led significant investment and resources in ensuring those values are actioned in our school. Do we as a school, and I as Principal get it “right” all the time? No, but we have a great record and take responsibility and attempt to rectify when we do not. For me personally, a lesson learned, but a question of the quickness to dam and the manner in which expressed I do not accept as being the way we build and maintain respectful relationships. I know that to be a belief and practice of parents generally.

Richard Usher BA LLB Dip Teach
Executive Principal

Head of School

Darren Beebe

Selection to a student leadership role, be that Year 12 Senior Leaders or Year 9 Junior Leaders, is an exciting and proud moment for students and their families. I am very pleased to announce the Year 8 and 11 students below who have been selected for these roles. Congratulations to the 2023 School Captains Tillee C and Sonny O as well as the Junior Leaders Charlotte K and Loucke O as well as all of the selected leaders for your appointment as student leaders. All of these students are wonderful young people who will be excellent leaders in 2023.

Over 40 excellent students nominated for senior leader positions with and equal number for junior leader, and as is often the case, it was a difficult and challenging decision to select the students listed below. The selection process was rigorous. Students commenced by submitting a written application. Mr Hazzard (Year 11 DP), Mrs Potter (Year 11 Dean) and Mrs Nuell (Year 8 DP) and Mr Rutter (Year 8 Dean) read all of these applications and were amazed to view the depth and breadth of activities and experiences students have in leadership beyond those demonstrated at school. Students involved or leading community activities. Students leading sporting teams. Students heavily involved in volunteer activities. All very impressive.

In what I hope becomes a new tradition at Cav Rd, the 2022 Captains Megan S, Ben M and Vice-Captains Bonnie N, Sophie D and Nathan N were called upon to make the announcements at a special Year 11 parade on Thursday 8 September. Congratulations to all of our 2023 leaders. We look forward to working with you on your leadership journey at Cav Rd.

LEADERSHIP POSITIONS for 2023

Head of School

Catherine McCarthy

Term 4 is always a busy time of year with numerous events celebrating the end of another year of learning. As we go to print, our Year 12 students are in the final external assessments before their graduation. Year 11’s are starting Unit 3, sporting academy end of year celebrations are in full swing as are our Awards Ceremonies. There’s been great success on the sporting fields and in arts arenas in recent weeks which just demonstrates the tremendous breadth of opportunities available to Cavroadians each and every day.

Awards ceremonies

Awards ceremonies will be hosted in the Alan Sampson Sports Centre here at Cav Rd. The year level award ceremonies are occurring at the following times:

Years 7, 8, 9 – Tuesday 15 November 1:20pm
Years 10, 11, 12 – Wednesday 16 November 1:20pm

Last week, students received the checking list for awards and these have now been sent for printing and engraving. Shortly, parents of students receiving awards will receive an invitation via email with RSVP details. Please ensure you reply with in the required time frame to allow our planning team to have accurate details.

Inclusion

In our most recent School Opinion Survey Data it was pleasing to see that across families, students and staff there was strong agreement about the range of support provided for students to ensure inclusion. Cara Beers (HOD ESS) and Ben Reynolds (HOD Education Services) work with their teams across the school to ensure students with disability receive appropriate adjustments and support. Their teams have expertise that is invaluable to our community and this is reflected in the fact that 97.7% of staff said that students with disability are well supported at this school. One of the highlights for our school this year is the nomination of Rosina Tucker, one of our ESS teachers, for a Qld College of Teachers Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award. You can read about Rosina’s nomination on the QCT website from the link below.

Attendance

I want to take this opportunity to thank the Cav Rd community for your support and communication around student absences. We thank you for keeping students home when they are sick and communicating with us about your circumstances. If you receive a letter in the mail in relation to unexplained absence, please sign the letter and ask your student to return it as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can contact the school directly with explanation of absences on attendance@cavendishroadshs.eq.edu.au.

A remind to our community that if a student is ill at anytime during the school day, they need to go to Student Services. They should not be communicating with parents/carers via mobile phones. The process is that they get a note to come to student services and our administration staff with contact the relevant parent/carer. This ensures that we can keep students safe in sick bay and record absence from classes accurately.

Parents and Citizens’ (P and C) Association

Parent and Citizens’ Association

P&C Volunteers

Thanks again to our wonderful sponsors for donating fabulous prizes, all those volunteers who made the trivia night such a success on Saturday 15 October.

The winning Quizzers were – The Big Bang Theorists, and Best Dressed went to – The Simpsons, in a close competition with the Moira’s from Schitt’s Creek.

P&C Upcoming Events

Junior School Dance on Friday 2 December – 6:00pm – 9:30pm in the Alan Sampson Sports Hall. DJ, mirror photo booth, food trucks, slurpees and popcorn will be available. Tickets online via MSA. We need about 30 volunteers, so register now via VolunteerSignUp . Any questions, email them to Sally B.

Meetings

Our 18 October meeting was held in the library and online via TEAMS. Updates on ongoing projects were tabled and some new ideas for planning events in 2023 were introduced. Our last meeting for 2022 is on Tuesday 15 November 7pm – please join us.

The P&C Facebook page posts TEAMS meeting links, and notifications when we are also holding the onsite option. Like us for the latest updates or join us in becoming a member. Members receive minutes delivered via email, membership forms and meeting dates can also be found from the link below.

CRIMS Musical Events

Crims working group is part of the P&C and supports the Cav Rd Instrumental Music program in fundraising and catering for student performances. Christmas Concert – Tuesday 22 November 7pm.

Uniform Shop

Book Uniform Fittings appointments (new and current families) by visiting the uniform page of the school website Uniform shop then press ‘book an appointment’ in the righthand margin. Appointments are limited so please BOOK NOW.

Orders are placed online via MSA (My Student Account) with all links and information available on this page of the website. Several options are available for collections of orders and orders need to be collected asap as room is limited in the shop at this time of year.

2023 Uniforms and Second-hand

We no longer accept the “PHASED OUT” style uniform tops for second hand stock. We do accept donations of “NEW” style uniforms, grey shorts, trousers, winter jacket, jumpers and trackpants. The second-hand Facebook page also allows parents to buy & sell items but buyers be aware that old-style items will not meet the 2023 uniform requirements. See 2023 uniform images here.

Uniform Shop New Opening Hours:

Monday’s 7.30am to 11.30am (Open at first break)
Wednesday’s 7.30am to 9.30am
Friday’s 7.30am to 9.30am

Canteen

Our school canteen continues to provide healthy meal options for hundreds of students each day and provide special catering for on-site events like these World Teacher’s Day lunch boxes.

Friday 4 November is Tuckshop Day. The daily efforts of our canteen workers and the many volunteers who support our students and our school have been tremendous this year. We should remember to say please and thank you every day, but on Tuckshop Day, we will say a very special thank you to this wonderful team.

Our Canteen provides a great service that helps out families who have to juggle many different tasks at the start of each day and some good food helps the students study and play through the day. We don’t take their hard work for granted and it is great to see parents putting up their hands and getting involved with our school. Thank you everyone.

Laena Trueman
Vice-President Communications
Cav Rd SHS P&C Association

Finance

Cavendish Road State High School is a cashless school.

How to Make Payment at Cavendish Road State High School

DET Preferred Payment Method - BPoint

Please use the CRN (Customer Reference Number) located on the bottom left hand side of your invoice. Payment can be made through the Payment Portal:

This is a secure site and receipts are issued immediately. Our records are updated within 24 hours.

Copies of invoices and receipts are available on your QParents Portal. Payments can also be made in QParents.

Payment Plan Via eDDR (Electronic Direct Debit Registration)

Contact finance@cavendishroadshs.eq.edu.au or phone 07-3394-0777 to speak to our Finance Team to discuss a payment plan.

By Phone with a Credit/Debit Card

Please phone 1300 BPoint – 1300-631-073.
When making a payment please have your invoice ready as you will need your CRN (Customer Reference Number) and Invoice Number.

In Person at Cavendish Road State High School

Office Hours are Monday to Friday 8.00am to 1.30pm on school days.
Payment can be made by EFTPOS. American Express not accepted.

CentrePay Deductions

Please contact our Finance Team to discuss this option.

Year 12 News

Year 12 The Final Push

Year 12 timetabled classes officially finished on Friday 21 October. All VET and Applied subjects have successfully completed their assessment and the playground area is eerily quiet as we settled into the first week of the External Exam Block.

The External Exam Block for all General subjects commenced Monday 24 October – Tuesday 15 November inclusive. In this first week our Year 12 students really impressed me with their focussed and committed approach to their exams.

It is essential for the remaining exams that students arrive on time with the necessary equipment for their allocated assessment. Should, however, students experience illness or misadventure it is equally important that the school be contacted as soon as possible for the necessary protocols to be put in place. Failure to do so could have significant consequence that we all wish to avoid.

An update for your calendar of upcoming events for Year 12’s and families/caregivers:

Awards Ceremony Wednesday 16 November by invitation.

Rehearsal for Graduation Thursday 17 November. All Year 12 students required Per 1-2 only, in uniform then home.

Graduation Ceremony Friday 18 November 8:45-11:00 am by invitation. All students required in formal uniform.

More information will be sent home regarding these events in coming weeks. We all look for a positive finish to 2022 and will provide the opportunity for students and parents/caregivers to celebrate the successful completion of their schooling together at Cav Rd.

Best of luck in the remaining exams Year 12’s! Super proud of you all and thankyou to you – the parents and caregivers for all your support.

Mr Paul Cox – Deputy Principal Year 12

Guidance Support Team

The end of year is a challenging time, we are much more likely to feel tired, bothered by the heat, sensitive and emotional and just wishing the break was near. This is the time of year we can be easily irritated, make poor decisions or not be bothered. The way we respond to this challenge is very important. Monitoring self-talk and our mood is really essential, as is thinking before doing. While our energy and vigorous drive may have dwindled, now is the time to finish strong, and remember the goals we set at the start of the year. To finish strong in term 4, why not try the following tips;

Remain focussed on your goals you set earlier in the year, now is just as important

Remember the purpose and reasons behind your goals
Reach out to those who can help you
Don’t leave anything to the last minute, plan ahead and allow extra time
Reward yourself by praising how far you have come this year
Manage your self-care – eat well, sleep well, exercise.
Remember it is only a matter of weeks to go before we are awarded a longer holiday
Wishing the best to the Year 12 who are currently undertaking external exams and for those in Year 11 who are commencing Units 3 and 4 assessments.

Guidance Team – Jane Larsen, Michael Lynch, Rob Stewart and Alycia Wilkinson

Ski Trip Wrap 2022

During the first week of the September school holidays, forty-one Year 11 and 12 students and four teachers travelled to Perisher for the 2022 Cav Rd Ski Trip. This was the first ski trip after two cancelled trips due to Covid. The number of applications we received was proof that students were excited about the opportunity to attend trips like this again.

After 17 hours on the bus, we arrived at the Station Resort in Jindabyne where students dropped off their bags and we headed up to Perisher to collect our ski equipment and attend our first lesson. The weather conditions leading up to the trip weren’t looking promising, however, on the weekend of our arrival they received 65cm’s of snow, setting us up for a fantastic week. After a few hours on the slopes, we headed back down to our accommodation for a shower and buffet dinner. Already there were plenty of stories, but the smiles on everyone’s faces showed that they all enjoyed the first day.

Each day students had lessons at Blue Cow where they continued to progress their learning of skiing and snowboarding. After the lessons, students had the opportunity to explore the other areas including, Mt Perisher, Back Perisher Mt, and Guthega Peak. Due to the snow, most lifts were still operating and we were able to ski between each mountain or make use of the ski tube. We had a mix of snow days, foggy days and days with clear blue skies, however the snow conditions were fantastic, some of the best of the season and some of the best conditions for late September in a number of years. At the conclusion of each day students would be sharing stories, videos and photos of their progression. For some, it was conquering the T Bar or chair lift without falling off, or perhaps the jump they went over, or the stacks they had. Regardless of their daily adventures, the conversations were full of excitement and laughter.

All forty-one students represented Cavendish Rd SHS in an exemplary manner and their behaviour for the duration of the trip was of the highest standard.

I would like to thank the other three staff members who gave up a week of their holidays to attend the trip. Without their support, we would be unable to continue offering such experiences. Therefore, a big thank you must go to Mr Caruso, Miss Russell and Miss Farrelly.

After a fantastic trip, we are already looking forward to the 2023 Ski Trip to Queenstown, New Zealand, where thirty senior students have already been selected from an overwhelming response to the expression of interest. These students will travel during the July school holidays and have the opportunity to ski Cardrona, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak, as well as experiencing jet boating, luge rides and an amazing buffet dinner at the Stratosfare Restaurant at the top of the Skyline gondola.

Mr Mitch Baker – Senior Recreation Sport Coordinator

Education Support Services

Braille Literacy Challenge Success!

Cav Rd students Arckan (Year 9) and Dominic (Year 7) continued the school’s winning tradition in September’s event held at Braille House, Annerley. The Braille Literacy Challenge occurs every year, with Braille users from all across Queensland meeting either in person or via video- link to showcase their Braille reading and writing skills. This year’s theme was ‘fun facts’.

Arckan returned to the Braille Literacy Challenge and took out TWO categories, winning firsts in Advanced Reading and Intermediate Writing. Congratulations Arckan for these superb results!

Congratulations are also in order for Dominic (Year 7), who attended the Challenge for the very first time. Dom placed second in the early writing, and backed this up with a speech on his year parade. What an amazing start for Dominic!

The Braille Literacy Challenge is an important social and educational event for the Braille using community. It provides an opportunity for students to assess their own Braille skills and compete against others through friendly competition. It is also a great opportunity for attendees to reconnect and rekindle friendships with other Braille using students from across the state.

Thank you to Teacher for Vision Impairment, Ms Val Spiteri, for her endless dedication and support of our students and enthusiastically representing our school at the Challenge.

Post-school plans for Harmony

Year 12 student Harmony has recently had her post-school plans boosted by being accepted as a trainee with Jigsaw, which is based at Mt Gravatt TAFE.

Harmony works as part of a team at Jigsaw, contributing to their overhead scanning service, in which they scan books, periodicals and fragile documents for clients such as the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads and the councils of Brisbane, Logan and Redland. She started with Jigsaw in Year 11 with work experience and began the traineeship modules this year, attending Jigsaw for one day each week.

We are sure that Harmony will continue to flourish in her new role post-school.

Recognising Mrs Rosina Tucker, Teacher for Vision Impairment, German and music

Our very own Mrs Rosina Tucker has been nominated as a finalist in the prestigious state-level TEACHX Awards, which recognise dedication, innovation and excellence in the teaching profession. There are only thirty teachers statewide who have been selected as finalists.

Senior Experienced Teacher Mrs Tucker extends and supports students with disability, their families and the community in endless ways, and is a consistent advocate for students. She has previously worked in the languages and arts departments at Cavendish Road in the earlier years of her career. Mrs Tucker works closely with Vision Australia, TAFE Queensland and Jigsaw to ensure students with disabilities can achieve their full potential.

Mrs Tucker has also contributed her expertise to panels for the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) and Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) and has worked determinedly to help others develop their teaching and learning strategies.

For the complete article detailing Mrs Tucker’s achievements throughout her career at Cavendish Road SHS since 1987, please access this link:

The winners of the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) TEACHX Awards will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday 27 October, on the eve of World Teachers’ Day.

We all wish Mrs Tucker the very best of luck and are thrilled that she has been acknowledged for this award.

Ms Cara Beers – HOD Education Support Services

Opti-MINDS

Opti-MINDS State Final: Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 October

On Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 October our Opti-Minds regional winning team competed in the Opti-Minds State Finals at University of Queensland. Lily, Sophie, Ashley and Alex competed in the Language and Literature division against schools from all around Queensland.

This year marked the 34th year of Opti-minds. It is an annual competition for students around Queensland and was formally known as the Tournament of Minds. It is a creative problem-solving event where students must work together in a team to create a solution to an open-ended challenge.

While our team didn’t come home with a trophy on Sunday, Lily, Sophie, Ashley and Alex are to be commended for their hard work preparing for the weekend and conduct over the two days. Their Ideas Market display on Planned Obsolescence was popular with the other schools and parents. The students are to be commended for their teamwork, innovative ideas, cooperation and manners. They should be very proud of their achievements. Many thanks also to teacher Ms Clare Convery for volunteering her time on Sunday to assist with the event.

Ms Tracey Laidlaw – Opti-Minds Coordinator

Science

We wish all the senior students all the best in their external exams including our first ever cohort of Year 12 Psychology students. Our Year 11 Biology students are heading to Toohey Forest Environmental Education Centre at Griffith university this week to learn firsthand about ecological sampling methods. Year 8 students have been studying Geology in their Earth Science unit and have been working collaboratively to identify a range of rock types based on observable physical and chemical properties.

Monique Robin – Head of Department Science

Sport @ Cav Road

A massive congratulations are in order for Kai F of Year 9!

Over the September school holidays, Kai competed in the Australian National Volleyball tournament in Bendigo.

Kai’s team played valiantly and went on to win the Australian title in the Boys Under 15 Division 1 competition. On top of being a part of the winning team, Kai was also given the Most Valuable Player award for his contributions to the team throughout these matches.

Kai had the chance to showcase his skills in his debut season of volleyball in our interschool sports team. Despite our side not accruing many wins, Kai was consistently driving the standards of how to train, warm-up, strategies for what to do in-game and was humble and gracious regardless of the result or his individual performance.

Further to this, Kai has recently been selected into the QLD Beach Volleyball squad and will commence training for that soon for their tournament in February.

Kai is truly to be commended for his fantastic job in representing Cavendish Road, both on and off the court.

Mitch Evans – Year 9 Dean

IN TOUCH - October

The last month has been a whirlwind, the touch academy’s biggest of the year so far. The carnival marathon started on Monday of week 10, with four teams making the early morning journey to the Gold Coast Touch Association to compete in the second and final School’s Touch League day for 2022. Even though the results didn’t all fall in our favour, there were many memorable moments that will be remembered for a long time.

The next two days involved the same four teams, plus our opens contingent, making an even earlier journey back down to Southport for the Kings College – formerly Ormeau – touch competition. In our second year at the event, our 13 girls team managed to make the grand final, coming off second best to Keebra State High, a national rugby league powerhouse. With south-east Queensland’s very best competing, Cav didn’t look out of place, a phenomenal effort by everyone involved.

However, both these events, along with every previous carnivals and training session all led to week 1 of Term 4 for the prestigious Queensland All Schools. This event is the biggest touch competition in the world, contested between over 450 teams and over 6000 students across a huge 30 fields. Leaving at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, our u13’s and u15’s teams, accompanied by Mr Loth, Mr Cross and Ms Farrelly all made the trek to Runaway Bay. What followed was a day like no other – full with making new friends, catching up with old ones and winning cross bar challenges. 14 hours and either 3 or 4 games later the bus arrived back at Cav, ready to go again the next day. Thursday followed the same pattern, with the u13 and u15 girls finishing their 7 round games undefeated, topping their pool, and advancing to the Round of 16.

Friday gave the junior teams a break and the opens their time to shine, displaying their prowess across the open’s boys, girls, and mixed divisions. Accompanied yet again by Mr Loth and Ms Farrelly, as well as Mr Faulkner and Mr Lynch, every team dug in and put in a shift, with the opens mixed team topping their pool undefeated at the close of play on Saturday. Additionally, Saturday meant the arrival of finals footy. Although the 15’s advanced to the quarter final, they were knocked out by Palm Beach, whereas the 13’s fought hard but fell to The Cathedral College in their first finals game. Finally, Sunday rolled around, presenting our last chance of winning any silverware. Despite their valiant efforts, the opens mixed team succumbed to the sheer quality of the oppostions, knocked out in the quarter finals.

Off the field, Thursday 27 October hosted our postponed Big Day Out leadership day, followed by our annual awards ceremony. Congratulations to all the student award winners, referees and coaches for their incredible achievements.

Without any official carnivals left to go, that ends our school calendar for 2022. Regardless of the results, we couldn’t be prouder of our teams and thankful for the commitment of our coaches. Week in week out we practice for these events, and it couldn’t be possible without Mr Loth, Mr Cross, Mr Faulkner and Mr Lynch. However, our biggest thank you goes to Ms Farrelly. She truly is the engine behind our academy, doing all the paperwork, the constant training and the endless logistical planning needed to keep us going. No one truly appreciates what she does, but we are all indebted to her efforts.

Will Atchison
(Touch Academy Captain 2022)

The Sport Department at Cav Road has been in over drive the past month.
Check out what we’ve been up to…

Student Success

Shout out to Adalena Con (Year 8) – who has just been named amongst 33 athletes as part of the 2023 New Zealand Development Tour. The tour will take place in early January and athletes will spend the days training and competing to better their craft. Congrats Adalena!

Congratulations to Ella O (Year 11) has been named in the Young Matilda’s Squad (National Under 20 team) for the upcoming Pacific Woman’s Four Nation Tournament which is being hosted by Australia and played in Canberra and Sydney between 6 -16 November 2022. Ella was also selected in the Australian Schoolgirls Football team to tour the United States early in 2023. We wish her all the best for these amazing opportunities.

Congratulations to Sam F (Year 11) on his selected in the Australian Schoolboys Football team. This team will tour the UK and Ireland early in 2023. We know Sam will use this opportunity to better his Football craft but also share these experiences with his Cav Rd Football community.

Congratulations to Kai Topp (Year 8) after representing Cav Rd at the National Schools Judo Championships in late September at the Gold Coast. Well done Kai on your achievement.

Raider of the Year

This year was the first of the Inaugural Raiders Awards. Nominations were taken from Interschool Sport students to vote for their Coach of The Year and from Interschool Sport Coaches to vote for Raider of the Year

Interschool Sport Coach of the Year - Mrs Harnischfeger

The recipient has been a keen Interschool Sport coach for a number of years here at Cav Rd. As busy as our teachers are, she always managed to find the time to attend morning trainings and go that little further to support her students. Her heart is always in it and we as her students clearly appreciated her efforts. This year she coached our Open Boys Futsal and both Girls and Boys Netball Teams for Vicki Wilson and Open Girls Interschool Sport. Congratulations Mrs Harnischfeger for your efforts throughout the year

Raider of the Year – Lennox D (Year 7)

There is only one award across both Junior and Senior Interschool Sport. The successful students did not need to be the best player or most talented, they may have just turned up every week, doing the little one percenters every week to support their team. They are a true Cavroadian. Interschool Sport Coaches nominated over 117 students or this award. This recipient was the perfect player and coach throughout the year. Each week he would have the team organised with the line-up and have them warming up. During games he would be coaching the team and offering encouragement whether he was on the field or not. Despite being one of the better players he would often start off or be the first to sub so that others got game time. He missed the last few games including Metro Finals due to injury but he just stepped up his coaching role even further. A well-deserved nominee for this award. Well done Lennox!

Trimester 2 Interschool Sport – Winter Metro Finals 2022

Congratulations to all the staff and students involved in the Metropolitan Finals Series across SEQ this year. One of our best years to date. Our Champions were:

Staff: Ms Russell, Mrs Williams and Mrs Southwell

Sport – Trimester 3

All students across Years 7-10 are enrolled in a recreational sport on either a Tuesday or Wednesday for Period 4, which sits in their timetabled allocated time. At this stage of the year (Trimester 3), there is only Recreational sport and no Interschool Sport. Significant effort and planning has been implemented to get these programs off the ground and allow opportunities for over 1600 students to be active. It is important all students follow the processes involved. Involvement in this program is mandatory to provide planned physical activity for our students. Should your child not be able to participate due to injury, please write a note or send an email to the appropriate Sport Coordinator (see below). For some sports, finance is involved with parental permission. This is not an opportunity for students to complete extra study or make external appointments and leave our campus.

Cav Road Sport Team

Should you have any questions about our weekly Recreational, Interschool Sport Programs or representative school sport pathways, please contact the appropriate coordinator.

• Junior Recreational Sport Coordinator – Mrs Sally Miller (Email: sebut1@eq.edu.au )
  Year 7, 8 & 9 Recreational Sport
• Senior Recreational Sport Coordinator – Mr Mitchell Baker (Email: mbake131@eq.edu.au )
  Year 10, 11 & 12 Recreational Sport
• Sport Director – Ms Nikki Bairstow (Email: nbair4@eq.edu.au )
  Interschool Sport, Academies, Representative Sports – District & Met East Regional Sport

2022 & 2023 Sport Dates

GO CAV!
Ms Nikki Bairstow – nbair4@eq.edu.au
Sport Director

Creative Arts and Industries

Visual Art in Practice

This assessment activity is always very enjoyable for students as they combine research of a culture and foods to create an individual response in clay. They then photograph their own work in a collaborative setting followed by the use of edible food items immersed in the setting to complete the task.

Delightful outcomes and collaboration made this assessment task a success.

Ms Gen Tippett – HOD Creative Arts and Industries

Year 11 students engaging in Queensland’s Anita Holtsclaw artist talk at Museum of Brisbane and Ken and Julia Yonetani’s exhibition at QUT Art Gallery. Students gained valuable knowledge and insight as stimulus for the IA1 focus in Visual Art. Looking forward to seeing their body of work in the new year.

Ms Vicki Schafer – Visual Art Teacher

DRAMA

Final Scheduled Class of Year 12 Drama

After weeks of diligent preparation for external assessment, it’s finally time to let these capable Year 12’s take the wheel and tackle the upcoming wave of exams and essays. These students have been working tirelessly throughout the completion of their IA1s, IA2s, and IA3s, and there remains just one final hurdle. To celebrate and commemorate all of their fantastic achievements over the year, we gathered for our final Drama lesson to reminisce on the best moments of senior Drama. There was a scripted live student performance, with appearances of “the ghosts of drama past,” videos and photos of beloved memories, “The Toni Awards,” and a rap with verses dedicated to each of the students. It was truly the perfect way to say goodbye to this amazing group of young people, and the Drama department wish you all the best on your final assessments

Year 11 Drama

As week 3 finishes and the Year 12 students have departed to prepare for final exams, this leaves our Year 11 students to take the reins and begin preparing for their first Unit 3 assessment task IA1. For Drama IA1 is a Performance Task on Theatre for Social Comment. Our Year 11 students are focusing on Absurdist Theatre and have read the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. They are currently preparing to complete their first Unit 3 assessment task and we wish them the best of luck.

Year 8 Drama – Commedia Del Arte

Our Year 8 students are currently immersing themselves into Italian drama which involves learning movement and Italian character names. So, when your student comes home saying character names like Pantalone and rubbing their hands together chanting “money, money, money” they are immersing themselves into Italian drama. Be proud and ask them about the other Master and Servant characters and their movements, it is very entertaining.

Year 7 Media Arts – Film & TV

With four groups of Year 7's, the PAC is absolutely buzzing with budding cinematographers planning, storyboarding, filming, and editing their montages for assessment. With the introduction of iPads this year as teaching and learning tools, it’s now easier than ever for our juniors to fully engage with the varieties of media languages. Apps like Procreate allowed for students to design the Mise-en-scéne for a spooky forest scene, making them think purposefully about things like colour pallete, costuming, lighting, and more.

We are looking forward to seeing the amazing work our students will produce this final term for 2022.

Ms Toni Ryan – Drama Coordinator
Holly Banks - Creative Arts and Industries Drama

Music

Battle of the Bands

Congratulations to the Cav-famous ‘Roundhouse’ for their phenomenal performance at Battle of the Bands at Clairvaux MacKillop College on 6 October. After months of rehearsals and practice gigs around school, the boys took the stage and were a vision of musical stagecraft. They took home a well-deserved 3rd place and are already aiming higher for next year Cav Rd will return to compete for the top prize for 2023. The success of the night was testimony to the huge effort by both Roundhouse and their mentor Mr Arnold.

Dreamworld Excursion

Last term our instrumental and choir students took to the stage to entertain park visitors at Dreamworld. The performances brought some life to what began as a rather cloudy day. They opened with a bang, performing a collaborative version of ‘My Shot’ from the musical Hamilton, before the band ‘Rick Rolled’ park goers with their closing number.

Cav Quest

The Creative Arts and Industries Department went on a quest in search of Cavendish Road’s greatest talents for 2022. The night was phenomenal, with singing, dancing, and some light comedy. Well done to all of the student performers, backstage crew, and teachers who took part. The overall winner of the night was Sophie Zimmerman, her moving rendition of ‘Bleeding Love’ earning her the Golden Guitar Trophy for 2022. 2nd place went to Asha-Rose Field with the item ‘Cherry Wine’.

The crowd favourite by a landslide was the Frozen Medley performed by Patrick Cowel and his crew. They left no Frozen song untouched and no tree unchoreographed. Thank you to all of the parents, teachers, CRIMS and students who came to watch and support on the night. It was truly a night that displayed the ‘Commitment’ of our Cavroadian community.

Creative Generation 2023

Has your student got a special talent for singing, dancing, acting, or acrobatics? Have they got a passion for behind the scenes production work and want to experience working with industry professionals? Creative Generation – States School on Stage is taking expressions for 2023.

The extravaganza runs for 4 shows across 1 week (13, 14 & 15 July) and airs Channel 10 around September every year month, it is already time to start planning the extravaganza for 2023. Any students who wish to be a part of Creative Generation 2023 can collect an Expression of Interest form from the PAC staffroom.

Ms Emily Nelson – Music Teacher

International Languages

Japanese Report

Japanese Prime Minister Visits Australia

The Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, met with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, in Perth last week for the annual Australia-Japan leaders’ meeting. The leaders discussed issues such as defence, climate change, energy and trade and reaffirmed the strong relationship between the two countries. It is a relationship that will continue to provide opportunities to those Australians with an understanding of Japanese language and culture.

Farewell to Year 12 Japanese Class of 2022

The members of the Year 12 Japanese Superclass of 2022 are poised to take advantage of these opportunities in the future. Despite missing out on the Cavendish Road Japan Study Tour in the preceding three years, they have expressed a strong desire to travel to Japan and continue their Japanese study. The class created their own graduation gift by decorating mugs with Japanese motifs. They will also celebrate together with a dinner at Kotobuki Izakaya in the city after the Japanese external exam. We wish them all the best in their upcoming exams and look forward to seeing where their study of Japanese takes them in the future.

MLTAQ Speech Competition

Cav Rd were represented at the MLTAQ speech competition held at Griffith University in September. The following students- Year 7 Rose J., Sasha S., Year 8 Ione S., Year 10 Trinity O., Chloe A., Nino B received participation certificates. Two students Ciara D. and Indigo B. of Year 10 received highly commended awards. We are proud of these students for stepping up to represent the school can see how preparing and participating in the competition has improved their ability and interest in Japanese.

Year 7 Japanese

Year 7 classes engaged in a range of cultural activities at the end of Term 3 including making origami. Some of the students Niamh P., Harrison A., Genevieve B. and Erin B. are pictured with their creations. The Year 7 Japanese Obento Lunch Day is 11 November for students who returned permission forms at the end of Term 3. Please remind your student to collect their obento lunch on that day. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept late orders for the lunches so please remind your student of the necessity to return permission forms by the due date in order to avoid disappointment.

Ms Joy Balfour – Japanese Coordinator

German Report

Oktoberfest for Teens

Thursday of week 2, saw 56 German students and 3 excited German teachers head off to enjoy the Oktoberfest for Teens excursion. We were super excited, as this is the first time the Excursion has run since 2019 (due to Covid).

Students were able to get a ‘taste’ of the real Oktoberfest in Munich, as the Brisbane festival is the largest and most authentic version of this iconic cultural icon. Of course, the Beer stalls were closed to us on this day.

Nonetheless, students were able to eat Wurstbrot (sausage) and Lebkuchen (gingerbread). There were lots of other tasty traditional treats to purchase too. A highlight was the Festzelt – the main tent and the German band who played a range of songs including ‘Rock mi’, ‘Fliegerlied’,’99 Luftballons’ and of course – the ever-popular ‘chicken dance’. Students were also able to participate in activities such as the Gummi bear relay, the Pretzel competition and the lemonade race.

It was a great day and the students represented Cav Rd incredibly well with their excellent behaviour and participation.

Auf wiedersehen Klasse 12

We would like to wish the Year 12 German students ‘Viel Gluck’ with their external exams and Frau Gav in particular would like say Auf wiedersehen to this beautiful class, many of whom she has been teaching since Year 7. They have been a delightful group of students and we wish them all the best with their lives outside of school.

End of term activities

In the final weeks of the 2022 school year, we will be undertaking some creative and delicious cultural activities. Year 7 and 8 students will construct their own mini Gingerbread houses and the Year 9’s are going to try and create their own Schwarwälderkirschtorten (black forest cakes). This is a tasty addition to our curriculum and celebrates the end of a successful year of learning. More information about these activities will come closer to the end of term.

Ms Sarah Gavranich and Katherine Gallagher – German Teachers

Student Services

Lost Property

Please remember to write your child’s name on all their personal items. There are many unnamed lost property items awaiting collection at Student Services, (B Block). If you lose any personal belongings please go to Student Services as this is a collection point for Lost Property.

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