TERM 1
NEWSLETTER
LETTER FROM THE
Principal Welcome back to the 2019 school year.
It has been such a pleasure having our current students back after a long summer break and welcoming new students to our learning community that is The Girl Academy. This year has begun well. Students have worked hard to engage with our diverse program that attempts to acknowledge that learning can happen in so many different ways and in many different spaces. Most importantly it happens on the Country of our First Nations Peoples – no matter where this Country is. For this reason we at The Girl Academy attempt to learn, teach and play, acknowledging that we are always on Country and that central to this is becoming aware of how we enter, use and leave space, so that Country is looked after. If this happens then we can look after ourselves and each other. 2019 will be a year in which we will build on foundations that we set in 2018. The central question that our students are reminded of is “What Are You Hungry For?” The Girl Academy prides itself on being and becoming a learning environment wherein students can complete their education, where they are serious about their learning and can begin to feel more confident in their abilities and strengthen their understanding that it is only through making mistakes and failing that they can truly learn and grow. It is a place that attempts to guide them to believe that they are strong enough to stay with challenges rather than giving up on themselves, so they can become more assured of ‘who they are’ and the kind of life and future they see for themselves. We reinforce that such growth can only happen if they are willing to participate, to be part of all that is being offered, to keep opening the door for themselves , take up opportunities given, stop allowing fear or self doubt to get in their way and in so doing, begin to realise their potential. You will see as you read this newsletter, the diverse programs and experiences we attempt to offer our students. These occur during the day as well as after school and during weekends as part of Boarding. We hope you enjoy seeing and reading about what your
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children have been learning and experiencing during Term 1. I would like to introduce you to 2 new staff members of the school. Karen Reys who is part of our Wellbeing Team and facilitates the Junior and Senior Culture Circle programs in the school. And Moana (aka Emmaline) Anderson who has continued to teach Drumming to our students as well as this year becoming part of our Teacher Aid team who work in the classroom to support the class teacher and the students. Both have added so much richness to the Girl Academy – through their care for our students and the knowledge and wisdom they bring. You will learn more about them in the pages that follow. Finally, we are very proud to share with you the news that The Girl Academy is the 2019 winner of the “Excellence in the Provision of Indigenous Student Health and Wellbeing” Award. This is a National Award given by Indigenous Education and Boarding, Australia. Kathy Hamilton, our Head of Boarding, was present to receive this award on behalf of The Girl Academy, whilst attending The National Indigenous Education and Boarding Symposium held in Brisbane during March. This recognition has helped to affirm that the work we are doing with our students is best practice through providing them with a culturally safe, caring and peaceful of environment within which they can learn, complete their education and create a positive future for themselves. Thank you parents for your continued support of your children and The Girl Academy. Without this support it would be very difficult to continue with our work. I would also like to thank all the staff and students for their care, hard work and efforts during this term. Wishing you all a restful break and blessings for Easter as you celebrate this time with your family and friends.
Shoba Kalos PRINCIPAL, CAPE YORK GIRL ACADEMY
NATIONAL AWARD
CYGA wins award
FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING Published in the Cairns Post - March 28, 2019
Cape York Girl Academy has proven their immense worth in a short amount of time after taking home the national boarding award for health and well being. The school focuses on encouraging indigenous girls who are chronically disengaged from school to finish their education and achieve their QCE. At the National Boarding Symposium in Brisbane, indigenous Education and Boarding Australia recognised the Girl Academy’s “Excellence in the provision of indigenous Students Health and wellbeing”. Principal Shoba Kalos said the school takes pride in creating a safe learning environment for all students. “It is a place of healing with daily cultural practices that help to ground the girls on country, reinforcing their sense of belonging and identity,” she said. “We offer a holistic, embedded health, wellbeing and academic program that meets the cultural, physical, social/emotional and spiritual needs of our students”. “It is humbling to be recognised for our work especially given that there are very well established private schools,” Mrs Kalos said. The school incorporates health and wellbeing throughout the curriculum and takes a unique approach
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to teaching as the mainstream school system wasn’t working for students. Student Esther Brim, from Kuranda said she dreams of working in the tourism industry as an flight attendant. “I’ve learned to take a step back and have the confidence to get where I want to be,” she said. “I’m doing heaps of work experience, and they help us try things out and I never thought I’d get to do that.” Esther said the school has been so encouraging compared to other schools she’s been to. “They really care about all the students here,” she said. The Girl Academy became Australia’s first boarding school for young mothers and their babies to live and learn together. The Cape York Institute saw the need to ensure motherhood did not prevent girls from pursuing their education. Head of Boarding Kathy Hamilton brought the award home from Brisbane and couldn’t wait to share it with the small team. “We are a boutique offering, a very specialised care and education, for a specialised clientele, reshaping the future for our girls who deserve a quality education.”
OUR TIMETABLE
TERM DATES TERM 1 (10 WEEK TERM) TUESDAY 29TH JANUARY – FRIDAY 5TH APRIL Term Starts/Students Travel Day – Tuesday 29th January Term Ends/Students Travel Day – Friday 5th April TERM 2 (9 WEEK TERM) FRIDAY 26TH APRIL – FRIDAY 28TH JUNE Term Starts/Students Travel Day – Friday 26th April Term Ends/Students Travel Day – Friday 28th June TERM 3 (10 WEEK TERM) MONDAY 15TH JULY – FRIDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER Term Starts/Students Travel Day – Monday 15th July Term Ends/Students Travel Day – Friday 20th September TERM 4 (8 WEEK TERM) WEDNESDAY 9TH OCTOBER – FRIDAY 29TH NOVEMBER Term Starts/Students Travel Day Wednesday 9th October Term Ends for Graduating Year 12 Students Friday 15th November Term Ends for Years 7 - 11/Students Travel Day Friday 29th November
TERM ONE, 2019
Childcare
Elicyah has joined us for another year here at Cape York Girl Academy. She is now starting to talk both in English and home language. She requires next to no assistance with feeding herself and radiates with confidence. This term we focused on her milestones through gross motor, fine motor and social skills. Elicyah continued to attend playgroup twice a week in Mossman and visited the Smithfield Library’s Baby Rhymes program on a number of occasions. These programs allow her to socialise and connect with other children her age and engage in group play activities. Next term, Elicyah will continue to develop her language skills and explore her environment with a focus on the animals that live within it. Childcare Coordinator: Lana Assman
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TERM HIGHLIGHTS
English This term, both junior and senior students have enjoyed reading two texts; Storm Boy by Colin Thiele and The Loaded Dog, by Henry Lawson. They also viewed two film versions of Storm Boy. They have used the texts, essentially to predict and confirm meaning of new vocabulary, study the authors' writing styles and analyse plot. They used the film versions of Storm Boy to examine the similarities and differences with the book. This term, the junior girls worked closely on punctuation and how to write more complex sentences. They analysed how the authors of Storm Boy and The Loaded Dog, both created powerful description with adjectives and metalanguage that enables a reader to picture or create images in their mind. . Next term the juniors will continue to practice applying these skills to improve the quality of their own writing. This semester the senior students main focus was to explore the concept of personal identity. They commenced this work by examining their own character and afterwards, of the characters from the two books studied. They discussed events and concepts such as loneliness, trust and success that impacted on the book characters and how this effected their personalities. Since finishing the reading of the books and watching the films, the seniors have brainstormed to identify other social issues they believe can have an affect on personality. Next term they will begin to research a chosen topic that effects personality to create a written response to. In order to achieve higher levels in the use of Standard Australian English, all students will continue to practice and learn through reading, writing and speaking during English. Teacher: Karen Charlton.
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STUDENT WRITING EXAMPLES Storm Boy - By Kameek Brim
Storm Boy is a book written by Colin Thiele. It has been produced into two movies. In the book, the first or original movie and the second or new movie, the stories are all set at Coorong Beach in South Australia. They all have the same characters; Storm Boy, Hide-Away Tom, Finger Bone Bill and the three pelicans and a similar story line. Storm Boy and Hide-Away live in a little shack on the beach where, close to the beginning of the story, Storm Boy nursed the three pelicans that he had found in a nest destroyed by some thoughtless tourists. When the pelicans grew up. They began to eat too much. This was a problem because Hide Away couldn’t pay for their food and Storm Boy couldn’t catch enough to feed them. The pelicans also became so noisy in the mornings that Hide Away demanded Storm Boy take them away to live within the sanctuary. This upset Storm Boy greatly because he loved his pelicans that he had named, Mr Percival, Mr Proud and Mr Ponder. After letting the birds go, Storm Boy was sad for days. But Percival finally came back. Seeing Storm Boy so happy again, Hide- Away agreed that he could keep Mr Percival but only if the other pelicans didn’t come back. Storm Boy was kind of hoping they wouldn’t come back because he knew that his dad was serious. Storm Boy loved Percival, taught him to catch fish and to retrieve lines, hooks and sinkers. One windy day, some people were on their tug boat when they got caught in a storm. The wind was so loud and the waves were crashing in. They didn’t know how to get off the boat and it was starting to sink. They cried out for help.
After lots of thought, Storm Boy was able to get Percival to drop a line out to them, which they used to get into shore. Percival saved the men! A reward was offered by the men to pay for Storm Boy’s schooling and for Percival to be stuffed in a museum when he passed. This thought horrified Storm Boy. He didn’t want to go to school and leave Percival behind. He didn't even want to think about his Mr Percival ever leaving him.
Storm Boy and Percival were walking on the shore when Storm Boy heard their cries and noticed their boat was tipping. He quickly ran to the shack for Hide-Away and Finger Bone to come with him to help save the people stranded on their tug boat.
But after Percival was sadly killed by some thoughtless duck hunters, Storm Boy changed his mind and agreed to go to school. Was Percival stuffed? No way! Instead, he was buried underneath the lookout post where Mr Percival often sat looking out at the sea.
Snake - By Jaydah Brim 14/03/19
Yesterday afternoon, Bon'naia, Shakara, Miss Di and I, were on the basketball court playing volleyball. The ball went underneath the net so Bon'naia went to get it. As she was about to pick up the ball she saw a snake right next to it. Bon'naia thought it was cute but the rest of us all screamed. Miss Di ran fast while us girls all stood there investigating. It wasn't long before miss Di was telling us to get away from it and other girls running up to see why we were screaming.
TERM ONE, 2019
SENIOR
Maths
From January 2019, Senior students have been completing units in the Numeracy 2018 Short Course for their Queensland Certificate of Education numeracy requirement. This term, the students assignment was to plan an alternative holiday trip, to Schoolies. In this project, students were expected to calculate airfares, costs of accommodation, passport and visa fees, travel insurance and other necessary aspects of travelling to locations around the world and create a budget for the trip. Working with numbers can be quite challenging for students in years 10, 11 and 12. At the Girl Academy, extra help and one-on one assistance are provided by the teacher and teacher aide to ensure that any gaps in the understanding and grasping of mathematical concepts are clarified and understood. Â Teacher: Ms Dianne Austrai-Ombiga
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Science
Students in years 7, 8 and 9 have been studying Water as a Natural and Renewable Resource, this term. We are fortunate to have 'just a stone's throw away' the Hartley's Creek which we use as part of our resources for teaching this unit. The students carried out an observational survey of the plants around the creek, how much erosion has happened and the flow of the water to determine the health of the water system in the area. Students enjoy their time at the creek; which is an optional teaching area for science this term. Teacher: Ms Dianne Austrai-Ombiga
Humanities
& SOCIAL SCIENCE
This term our junior students studied life in Ancient Egypt based on the analysis and interpretation of physical and written remains. Their study provided an opportunity for them to understand and consider reasons for the social structure, daily life, Â beliefs and funerary practices, art and architecture and other interesting facts, including the writing systems they created and the inventions they made. Students conducted their own research, and prepared paragraphs to include in a group report. Â Next term students will investigate a different ancient civilization in order to develop texts that integrate appropriate evidence from a range of sources to explain the past and to support and refute arguments. Teacher: Karen Charlton
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TBC CONFIRMED WHETHER THIS WILL BE INCLUDED
Chef Shakyla and Chef Aretha hard at work and having a blast!
SENIOR
Hospitality Senior Hospitality is taught to students in years 10, 11, and 12. In the first term, students studied the unit 'Introduction to Hospitality'. They are currently completing their project which is a 'Mobile Juice and Beverage Bar'. As well as that, the students have a 2-hour Food Preparation and Production block which is used for our formal school lunches. This term, the students have prepared, with the assistance of Miss Annette, our very talented and multi-skilled teacher aide and Ms Dianne some very 'scrumpdelicious' meals. Â Â We have some very talented chefs-in themaking: Aaliyah, Esther, Noeleen, Tamiley, Reshmae, Tanya, Rahenna, Aretha and Shakayla. Teacher: Ms Dianne Austrai-Ombiga
As always, on a Friday, senior hospitality students prepare a formal lunch for students and staff. It truly is a blessing to have the girls back at school sharing a scrumptious meal together!
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JUNIOR
Technology Junior Technology is the new label for Home Economics which has been offered to our Junior students in years 7, 8 and 9. It has been a very exciting term, especially with our cooking lessons. The students prepare and produce edible products which are served as morning tea for all students. Teacher: Ms Dianne Austrai-Ombiga Teacher Aide: Ms Annette Assman
YOGA AND MEDITATION
The knowledge of Hatha Yoga was first recorded in a book The Yoga Sutras around 800-600 BCE. Prior to this all knowledge was passed on verbally, intuitively and by observation. One of the key elements the ancient yogi’s knew, practiced and passed on is that of the technique of breathing. It has been the core breath technique of using the diaphragmatic breath that has been our focus this first term. We’ve unpacked the use of the full lobes of the lungs and the chemical exchange that occurs along with the calming of the mind and working the body and breath in unison. Schell Clancy.
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SPORTS AND RECREATION Sports and Recreation this term has been enjoyed by both senior and junior students. They have participated in touch football and volleyball activities to support the development and maintenance of health and physical performance. All students have demonstrated improvement in their skills and are working well within teams. An extra lesson each week to support Senior students' understanding of nutrition and nutritional requirements for performance in sport has been conducted. During these lessons they have analysed the physical skills important in both volley ball and football. They have also been investigating and justifying the development of a nutritional plan for a threeday football competition. As many of our students are playing AFL after school this season, the knowledge they are gaining around suitable nutrition used in fueling before activity and the recovery afterwards, is useful and we hope that this will be able to apply their knowledge during a lifetime of participation in sport and recreation. Teacher: Karen Charlton
ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER
Languages
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages is a newly introduced subject to Girl Academy's academic program. It is offered to senior students in year 10, 11 and 12. This term the students have been studying about culture, the aspects of culture that are visible as well as the unseen aspects of culture, and kinship and the importance of connecting to country. This subjects aims to reengage our students to their cultures and connect to country and be proud of their identity. Teacher: Dianne Austrai-Ombiga
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Culture STUDIES My name is Karen Reys. I am a descendant of the Gugu Yimithirr nation and the Badjala and Djiribal people. It is an honor and privilege to be on Yirrganydji Country and to work closely with the students as the Wellbeing Support Officer at the Girl Academy. I commenced with the school at the beginning of the Term 1. My role is to facilitate the Culture Circle for both the junior and senior students. The aim of the program is for the students: • To be proud of their Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander culture and identity; • To believe in themselves and to know they are here to make a difference. • To believe they can have the life they want for themselves. • To be an authentic expression of themselves. • To have fun and enjoy learning. The key questions we have been focussing on are, how well do we know ourselves and how well do we know the people in our community? So the girls can feel comfortable and can be themselves it was important to create a culturally safe space. We
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have been able to create that space happily both inside and outside the classroom. In our first guided meditation outdoors the girls were curious about the visitors i.e. caterpillar, cricket, cockroach and flies that came into our circle. For many it was an opportunity for the girls to look closely at their own lives and to consider what was important to their own health and wellbeing. Through their reflective journals the girls shared the following: “Keeping culture strong.” – Reshmae Bani “To help one grow we must support and encourage each other through their journey.” – Tamiley Genai “Trust that everything happens for a reason and it is a journey.” – Esther Brim “Don’t let people put you down and ruin your dreams because if that happens you might not find yourself.” – Aaliyah Brim The cultural activities have enabled the students to connect back to nature and value the importance of walking on country; to identify.
VISUAL
Arts
SENIORS This Term during visual arts, senior students have incorporated their understanding to design and create a mask depicting their own personal identity. They have worked tirelessly on their designs and skills to ensure quality work. They will endeavor to create final work incorporating themselves, their mask and a background in a series of magical photographs. Watch closely to see their finished work in next terms newsletter and on Facebook. They will be amazing!
JUNIORS Junior students have enjoyed a number of projects during Art this term. They have worked hard to illustrate their understanding of stories read during English, and concepts explored relating to the Ancient Egyptian civilization, during HASS. They have used a range of art techniques to produce some pleasing and creative work. Most recently, the junior students have enjoyed creating cartoon sketches depicting the humor from the story of The Loaded Dog. Their use of water colour has enhanced their work. Teacher: Karen Charlton
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VISUAL
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Arts
Music Music is a universal language that speaks to all in different ways.  It has been my privilege to teach music to a wonderful group of young people since last term. As a continuation to develop their skills in this area, music theory is part of their weekly instruction. Music is a language, another form of literacy when they learn to read notes and numeracy when they learn to read rhythms. Through constant review from week to week, new concepts are added to the scaffolded learning approach. Students have learned about staff, clefs and ledger lines, note duration, bars and time signatures, rests and accidentals too. They have ear training where they have to write the rhythm they hear or the pitches they hear. They then put this into practice on the keyboards which the Academy invested in. Additionally this term, they have been learning about Instruments in the Orchestra and around the world from East to West to the Islands of Polynesia. They have learned about musical families - Strings, Woodwind, Brass and Percussion - and how the sound is produced for each. They then identify, using this knowledge, what families the world instruments belong to. As there is an interest in singing, we have also integrated that into the last part of our lesson. Songs with positive and good messages are the types of songs we choose for our repertoire. It is my hope that they take these messages and use them to buoy them up or inspire them when life may not be so easy. I use music as a vehicle for developing holistic beings and good citizens. I believe goodness is an intrinsic part of who we are. I believe music can help to draw that out from individuals and the collective alike. It really is a universal language regardless of age, ethnicity or any other barrier we put between us as humans. I hope to break down barriers these students. It is a process, but one I've chosen to take. They are worth it. Everyone is! Ms Kimiia.
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Drama
WITH JUTE THEATRE COMPANY The entire team at JUTE Theatre Company are beyond thrilled to be delivering drama to the vibrant students at Cape York Girl Academy. It was a wonderful treat for one of our drama facilitator's, Taeg Twist to see the students and staff at one her performances of 'Woven' at CPAC, it was a great moment of pride for us all at JUTE, including Writer of 'Woven', JUTE Creative Producer, Kathryn Ash. We are all excited about the potential and talent of the students and are looking forward to a creative, powerful and fun year together.
Drumming Hi, Kiaora, I have been known as Emmaline, but am fully re-embracing my Maori name, Moana. I was born and raised in Australia, by my Aussie Mum, without my Maori family and culture. So I am learning and growing stronger in my identity as I learn more about my culture, and ancestry. Music is my joy and healing. I write songs and perform solo, and in bands, also with Sounds of AustraNesia and Women of AustraNesia. Students participate in drumbeat first thing Monday mornings to kick start the week. This has been wonderful! They commence the lessons by gently make abstract sounds on the drum to express how they are feeling after the weekend. Through practice, students are able to retain past rhythms, gain concentration and satisfaction. Students participate in passing the rumble, which always gets them smiling and laughing. This activity gives students an opportunity to be brave and have their drum heard individually, to be respectful, await a turn, and to communicate with each other non-verbally as a beat is passed across the circle. Students must fully pay attention, follow who has the rumble and respond when that person 'eyeballs' indicate they are passing it to them. Each student is given a chance to 'be a conductor' to get the group to follow their hands and vary the sound of the rumble. We are learning new rhythms and to work in teams. Students break up into different groups and play different rhythms at the same time. These activities help to develop student confidence.
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Boarding REPORT
Term 1 2019, has got off to a great start. We welcomed 13 girls back from last year and 3 new girls have joined our community this term. When students come to the Girl Academy, they join a family where an inclusive community and culture create a sense of belonging. Term 1 has been a busy term filled with loads of activities and experiences. A range of events has given the girls many opportunities to be engaged across academic and co- curricular activities. Some of these include “Woven” the musical. A continuum of Hope, Love, Strength, Endurance, Courage and Wisdom. This performance fitted in well with International Women’s Day. The girls also attended the Bangarra dancers at the Cairns Performing Art Centre. The Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Indigenous Australian contemporary dance company. It was founded in 1989 by South African woman Cheryl Stone and Carole Johnson, an African-American and founding director of National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA). Bangarra is the Wiradjuri word meaning "to make fire". The girls also had the opportunity to attend the Drive In theatre at Mareeba to watch the film Storm Boy, a 2018 film based on the book. Some of our girls have been attending AFL training this term with the competition due to commence next term. This term I had the pleasure of attending the National Indigenous Education and Boarding Symposium held in Brisbane. The Girl Academy was the WINNER of the Inaugural Award – “Excellence in the Provision of Indigenous Student Health and Wellbeing”. It is humbling that what we are doing at the Girl Academy works and is recognised as better practice by others. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and look forward to seeing the girls next term.
Kathy Hamilton HEAD OF BOARDING
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Camp
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Girls had a successful camp, full of fun and adventure! They participated in a challenge requiring them to capture photograph's of various things found on the country. They achieved this as a group and in the form of a scavenger hunt. It would have been interesting to calculate the number of kilometers each of the girls traveled to complete their challenge. The animals, hot water springs and fishing were big hits among the girls. Hopefully there will be many more camps to follow.
Fun & FRIENDSHIPS
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WHAT AN EXCELLENT TERM ENJOYED BY ALL HERE AT CAPE YORK GIRL ACADEMY. HERE’S SOME EXTRA PHOTOS OF GIRL ACADEMY LIFE’
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HAVE A SAFE HOLIDAY AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ALL OF OUR STUDENTS IN TERM 2!
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We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians, past, present and still to come, of this country upon which the Cape York Girl Academy stands.
4099 Captain Cook Highway, Wangetti Cairns – Port Douglas QLD 4877 PO Box 57, Clifton Beach QLD 4870 P 07 4038 0200 | M 0438 951 486 E administration@girlacademy.org.au capeyorkpartnership.org.au/girlacademy