Principal's Points...... The Gap State (Contd.) High School (Continued from page 22)
games, bunting and a sausage sizzle. We held our Student Leader Investiture Ceremony in week two. It was great to have parents and grandparents attend the event. This year our leadership team will run differently to previous years, we will have four school captains, four junior school captains and eight house captains. We have a new house system this year which will be holistic of all learners therefore including sporting, academic and artistic endeavours. Our house captains will be there to provide support and encouragement for students to achieve their best in all areas of their schooling. We h a v e s o m e v e r y talented students at The Gap SHS, three of our students were invited to attend the MOST program. The MOST program is for Musically Outstanding Students, it is a ten day program of musical development in large and small ensembles, tutorial groups and a range of music and cultural activities. We also had three students selected for the Creative Generation E x c e l l e n c e Aw a r d s i n Instrumental Music. This is a biennial event offering an extension program for up to 80 musically outstanding students from Queensland state secondary schools. Some of the top volleyball schools in South East Queensland have united to compete for ultimate glory. The competition is called the VALD League. So far we have had two rounds and have been successful at each round. As a result the students are looking forward to the Senior Schools Cup in August.
In the last week of term 2 our Year 11 students had a choice of camps including sea kayaking in Moreton Bay, hiking on Fraser Island and Canoeing on Nymboida River. The annual year level camps are a significant part of our school’s Applied Positive Psychology Program. The camps test the students to navigate and overcome challenges that they don’t usually face. In completing these challenges the students displayed the school’s values of stepping up, thinking big, paying it forward and being kind. Anne McLauchlan – Principal
The Gap State School The Gap State School’s annual STEM Expo was held recently, a celebration of all things related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Over 40 students entered displays of their research projects and experiments, that they had conducted over many weeks in the lead up to the Expo. The students presented their entries to a panel of judges and received a Gold, Silver or Bronze award for their efforts. Thank you to our wonderful judges for taking the time to support our students in this way. Congratulations to the students who entered the Expo, your hard work was evident and you astounded us with your creativity and knowledge. After judging at the Expo was complete, the school community was invited to view these amazing student displays. We were also treated to exciting exhibits, presentations and activities provided by professionals who work in within the fields of STEM. These exhibits included rockets, creepy crawlies and explosions! We
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more info on: www.thegappianostudio.com would like to thank these contributors for their support of our STEM Expo: Ashgrove/ The Gap Lions Club, Bugs Ed, It’s Rocket Science, Iris Depaz, QUT, SEQ Water and Street Science. Congratulations also to Rachel and Ava who won our ‘Reality Reviewed’ non-fiction book review competition. Thanks to the Student Council, these students were awarded a book voucher that they could redeem for a non-fiction book of their choice. The school athletics carnivals were held in the last week of Term 2 and the first week of this term. As our students progress through the school, the competitive aspect of the carnivals becomes a more prominent incentive for our students vying to fulfil personal goals and attain school representation at district competition levels. Congratulations to all our students for their spirit of friendly competition and giving their best effort at the carnivals. Congratulations to two of our Year 6 students, Charlotte and Erin, who broke the 200m school record for this event! The record had been standing since 2007, at 30.64 seconds. Charlotte finished first in this race to achieve a new record of 25.96 seconds with Erin finishing in 29:38 seconds. The Kolomeitz Cup is a perpetual trophy awarded to
the most outstanding athlete of the day at the Year 4-6 carnival. Congratulations to Charlotte in Year 6 for earning the most points and receiving this award. The Castrisos Cup is presented to the sport house team with the most points earned at the end of the Years 4-6 Athletics Carnival. This year’s winning house was Investigator. The Sherlock Shield is presented to the sport house team that has shown the most improvement in points earned from the previous year’s Years 4-6 Athletics Carnival. 2021’s most improved house was Resolution. We d n e s d a y, 2 1 J u l y marked 100 days of learning for our Prep students, who enjoyed a morning celebrating this achievement with their teachers and other members of our community. Thank you to The Gap State High teacher, Mrs Dargusch and high school students who offered face painting and entertainment for the Preps. Delina and her staff from YMCA OSHC provided a silent disco while other activities organised by our talented teachers and teacher aides focussed on learning more about the number 100 - we even saw our Prep teachers dressed up to look like they were 100! Warm regards, Joanne Nicholls - Principal
The Western Echo August 2021 Page 23
