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From the Principal's Desk

Dear Parents and Guardians

I have written an article for you to consider as we move to the next phase of education at Varsity College.  I hope that you find this article enlightening and encouraging as we seek to engage our students in a productive and inclusive education program.

I would like to endorse the Parent Internet Safety presentation that we are providing for all parents at Varsity College.  It is really important that as parents we know what we are dealing with in regards to this communication media and how our children are using this in their lives.  Brett Lee who will present on this night comes highly recommended and I am sure that we will all learn a lot from his presentation.  Please make an effort to attend.

Where are we in the Educational Computer Age?

The Digital Evolution now has the capacity to provide a new platform for education for the next era of learning.  The challenge to all involved in education is to make the change from the traditional to the new digital medium that currently presents itself to us.  This huge gap will not be filled through the gradual steps that have been the method in the last few years, but rather by a single Evel Knievel type jump from one side of the canyon to the other.  Only then will we be able to release the true potential of this medium in our learning programs. 

Currently there are 1,000,000,000 PC's in operation around the world (1 billion).  The current growth rate is 12% which means that there will be in excess of 2 billion computers before the end of 2014.  While currently 58% of the PC market is found in mature markets (meaning established computer uses), 60% of this growth will be in new emerging markets in practices that are being or yet to be developed practices.

There are two opposing views of technology is relation to the youth of today.  They form extremes and possibly the real solution is a point somewhere in the middle.  One extreme is that all technology is bad and that the behaviours of the youth of today can be blamed on the experiences they have from playing violent and perverse games on their computers, or their access to experiences on the internet that they previously would not have experienced.  This view is supported through the examples of extreme violence and mass shootings that are evident in many American communities.  The argument here is that these events did not happen prior to the advent of violent computer games.

The alternate view is the euphoric stance that suggests that computers are the only way that education should be heading as this is the way that students learn best and by avoiding this we are in fact limiting their opportunity to succeed in the real world of the future.  This theory has support from many angles particularly futurists who point out that, robots (computer driven mechanical devices essentially) are taking the place of so many different human activities that we are becoming totally dependent upon them to survive. This has reached new heights after a Japanese church introduced ‘Robo-Priests' to take confessions from parishioners all hours of the day.  The use of voice controlled answering services is so sophisticated now that most would have significant difficulty in determining if the voice was coming from a robotic solution or not.  Many companies in Australia have recently indicated that they will introduce this technology in the next year, but are not informing the public for fear of backlash.  

It is reasonable to assume that the actual moderate view lies somewhere in the middle which will enable computer driven technologies to support the learning programs, but the learning programs will stand apart from the technology so that it could exist without the technology.  This seems to be a more feasible option to move immediately to rather than have a curriculum solely based on ICT.  What remains unquestionable is the need to adapt our schools and teaching practices to meet the emerging awareness and use of digital technology by the students of the 21^st Century.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

This is not the first time that the education world has been through such a transformation.  In the early 1950's the advent of television provided a more passive example of how technology can significantly alter the abilities and perceptions of students and changed the way of education forever.  Teachers of that era were known to comment about how overnight their students became wiser, but they were not smarter.  They knew more, but weren't taught more.  This passive change to the education program transformed teaching to visual stimuli, not because film was previously not available, but now it was available to everyone everywhere.  This is the transformation that we can create through the inclusion of ICT in our learning program.

It is important to note that LEGO, went close to extinction four years ago, such was the impact of the digital age on their viability to sell a physical product. 

Under the guidance of key marketing gurus, LEGO management developed a financial rescue package that invested in ITC to create LEGO films and action characters that reintroduced LEGO products to a new generation of children and as a result, profit margins have enabled LEGO to restore their viability to new levels and are now not only profitable, but extremely wealthy.  The high level of social uses of games has become an industry that will see a four fold increase in market penetration in the next 5 years.  Currently this market is valued at $50 billion each year in Australia and is one of our leading exports, but this will significantly increase as people all around the world have faster access and become more engaged and capable of using these virtual world experiences as not only a leisure activity but also an integral part of their personality in many ways.  Of most interest is the modern research which shows that ‘Technology appears to be a medium that binds cultures' (J. Brand, Bond University, 2009).  Whereas social wealth and isolation appear to be limiting factors in the use of the internet and ICT in general, in every country, we can find great examples of where computers overcome the boundaries of ethnicity and culture.

It is interesting to note that companies such as LEGO were able to make the transition to a digital format after examining the data that showed where the market had moved.  Education on the other hand has had extreme difficulty in making this transitional step even when faced with the evidence that showed the change in student behaviour.  In 2003 a paper was published entitled "The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between internet savvy students and their schools".

http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/resources/papers/Digital%20Disconnect_New%20Format.pdf

It is disturbing to read this article, analyse the research and even without hard evidence begin to see how far the youth of today have moved in their use of digital media as their preferred communication and entertainment media. 

We talk about the need for our children to learn other languages, yet we are failing to recognise the diversity of digital languages that they are currently using.  Students today, email, twitter, text in a variety of dialects, communicate through Facebook and other virtual media, blog, wikki, play games in many different genre, create photo storyboards, publish opinions and often are capable of doing many of these simultaneously.  They are incredibly talented in using these communication media to learn and share with many different people.  From an educational point of view, students effectively use the internet for research, use virtual textbooks for their written responses, get help from virtual tutors, join virtual study groups to discuss their issues, and communicate with their teachers through email.  How is it that schools of this 21^st century still are unable to adapt to include these legitimate learning patterns in their curriculum program.  In most cases, the best that schools can do is to ban the use of these genres in order to gain the attention of children who long ago lost faith in the ability of schools to provide relevant information for their daily learning experience.

Educators world wide need to realise that the time has come where no longer can they remain complacent to the power of digital technology in transforming the learning in schools.  Adapting  communication patterns to reflect the emerging genre to engage students, is a simple but effective strategy in introducing digital technology to classrooms.  It must be recognised that administrators need to drive this change, in many cases through significant resistance if there is to be a transformational change in the use of digital pedagogy in classrooms.  Of course the limiting factor for this change will be the capacities of teachers to embrace and use this media as a significant component of the learning program.  It is inevitable that text books will become digital and instead of ‘buy a maths text book and receive a free CD', the catch cry will be, ‘buy a CD and get a free book'.  The dangers of this transformation by far linger in teachers' minds, rather than those of the students they teach today.  Any quick survey of them will result in an overwhelming agreement to move to a digital platform of learning.

This is also strongly supported by evidence that suggests that learning in digital platforms actually enhances and develops skills more quickly;

http://www.economist.com.specialreports/

There is also a growing body of research that is showing that the youth of today is actually neurologically different to youth of the past.  Our students today have grown up with different stimuli that has engaged and transformed their minds in a different way to the past.  The availability of high speed changes of colour and stimuli has developed brains that are literally different from those of us who were born prior to the computer age.  As a result we see an enormous divide in the use of electronic gadgets dependent upon age.  Those younger than 30 see electronic media predominantly as a game and communication tool.  Those of us over the age of 30 see electronic media as a means to get information.

There has also been a significant change in leisure activities.  Every year until 1999 the aggregate hours Australians watched TV increased.  Every year since 1999, these aggregate hours for TV watching have decreased.  (J. Brand, Bond University, 2009).  Does this mean that we have stopped our addiction to the small screen?  Of course not!  What it shows is that the TV is now just a medium for the youth of today.  Whereas in the past this has been the main distraction and relaxant, now we find that there is a plethora of ways that students can have down-time and are able to relax.  Indeed there is a growing suspicion that traditional print media is in danger of being totally removed from today's society.  When students were recently asked to comment on an article in a magazine, they responded with comments centred on ‘the frustration at not being able to tell the world that the article was lying'.  Such is the change in socialistic ideals that everyone now expects that they can have a say and that the use of the internet to provide this voice is an essential element of the modern child.  From a school perspective, how are we imbedding this in our classes?  Do we continue to provide examples of outdated media to engage students, or do we take bold steps into the future and meet our students where they are at?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=related

The social interactions that the youth of today are experiencing is far more complex than in any era previously, yet in the main, the older generations criticise the choice of this interaction on the grounds that it is not personal.  Youth today have hundreds of friends through the digital platform.  They interact with a broad spectrum of people all around the globe without fear.  They remain in contact with friends all the time through simple electronic communication which has resulted in the creation of the ‘collective' as opposed to the individual.  This connectedness has many advantages, but also results in examples of pack mentality such as the Cronulla riots in 2007 where text messages were used to gather many at a point where the violence escalated as a critical mass had been reached.  We often see this ‘Viral Communication' resulting in uncontrolled parties such as the example in Victoria last year where police were forced to retreat due to the behaviour of the group.  The lightning speed of Viral Communication will present an emerging problem for our communities and especially schools where examples of bullying and in some cases fights have been linked to the use of this technology to gather support.  However it is not the technology that is at fault here, rather the application of this technology.  This is akin to a person who crashes a car into a tree after driving at twice the speed limit.  It is not the car's fault that this occurred, rather the boundaries that the driver applied to his driving.  Hence it is the management of the technology that will provide the greatest challenge for schools today in ensuring that the use of technology increases the learning opportunities for our students.

The other contentious issue surrounding digital technology is the use of computer games and the supposed correlation to unsocial and often violent behaviours.  This myth can be supported only on the superficial level with many other factors impacting the core of our established social fabric.  Possibly a stronger argument could be raised to suggest that Baby Boomers, an older Gen X adults are not providing the same leadership of communities as has been the case in every other era. Their concerns have become self centred rather than community focussed, and hence the youth of today lack credible role models and community connectedness and are therefore more likely to develop more unsociable and unacceptable behaviours than in previous years.  The statistics on computer gaming certainly do not support the perception that gaming leads to unsociable behaviours.

Teens, Videogames and Civics; Lenhart 2008

This exploration of statistics surrounding the American market last year has just been released with some fascinating facts.

• 97% of American teenagers play computer games
• 80% play more than 4 different game genre
• 65% play other teenagers in the same room as themselves
• 27% play online with others, half of who they know
• 54% of all ‘Gamers' are male and 46% female (this gap is closing rapidly with the advent of many new games centred on engaging the female market)
• The average age of ‘Gamers' is 30
• The average age of the world in 36
• By 2011/2012, the average age of gamers will be 36
• 33% of ‘Gamers' play every day
• 24% play every other day
• The modal time for playing is 1 hour per day

Despite public opinion, this research showed that ‘Gamers' did not stop doing things that other children do.  They still went to the park to play.  They still completed their homework.  They still rode their bikes.  They still remained valued citizens. 

http://gamesinschools.ning.com/

One of the issues facing schools is how to effectively use electronic game based learning activities to enhance the classroom environment.  The interesting part of the research conducted above was that the learning and success of students increased significantly when their teachers were also playing on-line and the students were challenged with beating their teachers.

In conclusion, schools need to make a fundamental shift in their approach to education in order to remain relevant, purposeful and engaging to the students who come with the expectation of learning.  They must take a quantum leap.  The Digital Evolution is here and we must make this shift.  It will result in a transformation that has not been seen previously, and in the main will result in the ongoing change of education as technology improves and new digital media are created and used by the youth that we seek to engage.  As in most cases, this change will only occur through the hard work of those passionate about education and determined to ensure that our youth are not sacrificed in an attempt to protect the sanctity of our historical education system.  In a time where transformation needs to occur more than in any previous era, educators must seize the opportunity and push through the fears of basing our curriculum on a digital platform, engaging our students in mediums where they feel most comfortable and capable and where they will spend a significant part of their lives in the future.

Jeff Davis
Executive Principal

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eNews 

Dear Parent,

As a part of our school's new approach towards the way we communicate with you, we are excited to inform you that we now offer interactive, graphically rich, full colour electronic newsletters to all our parents.

The concept of eNews is similar to the printed paper newsletters which we already send out regularly, but with added benefits - eNews is personally delivered directly to your email inbox via the Internet. This delivery method has many advantages.

It is cost effective, time efficient and personalised to your name. Most importantly the school receives this service completely free of charge from Australian Newsletter Services who also supply our paper newsletters with the help of advertisers.

To receive this service all you need is a computer with internet access and email. Those who currently do not have internet access at home can still receive our traditional paper newsletter.

With our eNews service the distance between the school and the parents will be further shortened as the parents will be able to experience firsthand what activities the school is currently undertaking and the latest information on Academic, Health, Sport and other areas that may interest you. This way the whole family can share the success stories of your children as these eNewsletters can be forwarded to anyone with email.

To sign up for our eNewsletter please type the link below into the address bar of your browser. Australian Newsletter Services has made the signup process automated and only takes a few minutes when prompts are followed. Your email address will only be used to send out school eNews and nothing else.

This environment friendly approach to communication means that hard copy distribution of the Newsletter will be drastically reduced over the next 10 weeks. Classroom Newsletter distribution will cease at the end of Term 1.  Hard copy Newsletters will be available at Campus Administration Offices from the beginning of Term 2.

http://mailouts.austnews.com.au/subscription/V/varsity-college-signup.html

If you experience any difficulties please feel free to contact AustNews IT Department on 1800 245 077 or email help@austnews.com.au.

Thank you.

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Upcoming Events

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Preparatory School News

From the Head of Preparatory School

Congratulations to our Year 3 students on a fantastic effort with the National Literacy and Numeracy testing program. All students worked extremely hard on all aspects of the test and should be commended for their persistence and positive attitudes over the three days.  A special thanks to the Year 3 teachers and support staff who have prepared and supported students to ensure that they achieved their best.  A wonderful effort.

Under 8's Day will be held this Friday 29 May.  A range of exciting activities has been organised and all parents are welcome to attend to celebrate with their children.  Activities will run for Prep and Year 1 students between 9 and 10.30am, with Year 2 and 3 students participating between 11.30am and 12.30pm.  All activities will be held in front of the Prep classrooms.  Thanks to the P and C, there will be tea and coffee for parents and visitors.  Hope to see you there!

It has been great to see students immersed in the world of Mathletics both in the classroom and at home.  The feedback from students, teachers and parents has been overwhelmingly positive. Our students are not only enjoying maths, but are enjoying learning.  Recently at a feedback Thursday session we surveyed parents on whether they would be interested in a Literacy version of the Mathletics program.  There was strong support for a Literacy web based program.  After investigations, we were able to locate a company right in the middle of Varsity Lakes who is creating a Literacy interactive program. Intrepica has offered our College Prep subschool the opportunity to trial their product.  Similar to Mathletics, students will receive a log on and password that will allow them to access the program both at school and at home.  Please take the time to check out the program with your child and provide feedback through your classroom teacher. This is a great opportunity for our school and we thank Intrepica for their offer to involve our school.

Every week our subschool is blessed to have so many volunteers working in classrooms with our students.  The programs we deliver and our school's outstanding achievement in the Year 2 Diagnostic Net and the Year 3 test are because of the time given by so many parents to support our students.  Parents volunteering are reminded to sign the volunteer register each day when working in our school - this will ensure that we can recognise all our helpers during the year.

Our next parent contact meeting is Wednesday, 3 June.  If you have any agenda items that you would like raised please make contact with your class representative.  Names of parent contacts are displayed on classroom windows. Hope to see you at Under 8's Day.

Shirley Hadwen
Preparatory Head of School

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Years P-6 News

Congratulations

Current Varsity primary school student Taylor McKinley has recently achieved outstanding results over two competitions this month. Taylor currently trains at the Gold Coast Gymnastics Club 18hrs per week competing this year in the WAG L6 division. Earlier this month Taylor competed at Regional Championships placing 1st overall. Taylor also placed 1st on Vault, Bars, Beam and 2nd on Floor. Last weekend Taylor competed at the Splitz Invitational held in Brisbane placing 2nd overall. She also placed 6th on Vault, 2nd on Bars and Beam and 1st on Floor. Taylor is now currently training for the State Championships held in Chandler Brisbane next month between June 26th-1st July.

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Junior News

From the Head of Junior School

It is amazing to think that we are now half way through Term 2. Congratulations to all students, staff and parents for what has been a fantastic first half of the term. It is wonderful to see students engaged in their learning and teachers enthusiastically delivering a quality learning program. I am confident that an extremely successful time awaits us for the remainder of the school year.

Now that NAPLAN testing has been completed, our focus moves to a range of learning activities aligned to the College Four Pillars including:

• The Arts
  The mid year instrumental, strings and choir concert will be held on Thursday, June 11. The evening provides a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their talents. Tickets are available from the Preparatory Admin Office.
  
  Rehearsals for the upcoming College Musical are in full swing. The cast has been selected and props, costumes and make-up are now being arranged. Parents who are willing to assist are asked to leave their name and phone number at the Junior Admin Office.
• Sport
  The dates for the Junior School Sports Days for this year are:
  • Year 4 - Monday, June 15
  • Year 5 - Tuesday, June 16
  • Year 6 - Wednesday, June 17
  • Championship Day - Friday, June 19

All students will have the opportunity to participate in track and field events on their year level day, with selected students competing in events on the Friday. I encourage parents to set the dates aside in their diaries for what will be an enjoyable week of student activity.

• Academics
  Student Reports will be distributed on Thursday, June 25. This term, Varsity College will be reporting using the Education Queensland Oneschool Reporting system.
  
  A number of Junior School Teachers will be at mandatory Literacy Training over the next two weeks. Comprehensive programs have been left for replacement teachers to maintain continuity in student learning.  
• Community
  The next Junior School class Parent Contact Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 2 at 1:30pm in the Junior School staffroom.

The College is expecting a visit from our founding Executive Principal, Julie Grantham, on Thursday, June 4. We look forward to showcasing to Julie a variety of student performances and achievements. 

I would like to once again thank the school community for their continued support of the Junior School and encourage all community members to be actively involved in upcoming College events.   

Stephen O'Brien
Junior Head of School

Hall of Fame Recipients
Congratulations to Nelson Barter (Y6) on achieving the remarkable distance of 400km.

Congratulations to Dylan Bagley (Y5) on achieving his 200km milestone.

Congratulations to Harry Rigden (Y5) on achieving his first 100km milestone.

Beep Test
Mrs Maddison is going to run the second Beep test on Friday for students and parents interested in measuring their aerobic fitness.

The test is scheduled for 8am Friday May 29^th - weather permitting. The venue is the Junior School Basketball Courts. Bring along runners, water bottle and all your endurance skills!

Scheduled following dates will be Friday the 26th of June 2009.

Gold Coast Marathon
This week is the last week for children to register their interest in being part of the Varsity College Gold Coast Marathon Team. Parents who have any questions or, who would like to participate should contact Mrs Maddison in 5 Malaysia (Q Block Junior School).

Miss Maddison

Sports Herald
Our Year 7 interschool sport teams are at the end of the season with finals approaching.  Unfortunately, the weather has put a stop to last week's semi-finals. Good luck to the following Varsity Vipers Teams who are competing in the Grand Final on Friday.

Year 7 AFL -      Mr Zac Cane
Year 7 Netball - Ms Byram and Mrs Ferris
Year 7 Soccer Girls and Boys - Mr Irwin and Mr Jones

Cluster Sport
Cluster Sport has also come to an end.  Teams that won their final will compete as central cluster champions against the schools from northern and wider areas.  At time of publication, teams are yet to be finalised, but I look forward to reporting on our success.  The cross over finals date is Wednesday 17 June.

Good Luck Teams!!!

Katherine Tewes
Sports Master
Senior and Middle School

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Middle School News

From the Head of Middle School

National Assessment Program (NAPLAN)

On Tuesday 12 May through until Thursday 14 May, our Year 7 and 9 Middle School students were tested on Language Conventions, Reading, Writing and Numeracy as part of the National Testing Program. Our students are to be commended for their attitudes and efforts during this time. We would also like to acknowledge the work of our teaching staff who went ‘over and above' to ensure this event ran smoothly and that students were well prepared for all aspects of the program. Results and reports for these tests will be available later in the year.

Cyberbullying

In a continued effort to stamp out bullying in our school, we are offering a free parent information evening dealing with internet safety. The evening will be held on Tuesday 2^nd June in the Princeton Room at Bond University and will run from 6.00pm - 7.30pm.  The presentation will be a positive way to initiate discussion surrounding the use of the internet in your home and will assist parents in developing personal strategies to deal with cyber bullying behaviour.  The Varsity College Parents and Citizens Association is sponsoring the evening in support of our community parent body.

This information session is for parents only, as student presentations will occur during the day for students in appropriate year levels.  Unfortunately, we are unable to provide child minding during the evening. Notes were sent out last week for parents to reserve seats for this important evening. For more information, please contact our Middle School Office.

Student Leaders at Bond University

On Friday 22 May, our Middle School Leaders visited Bond University to participate in leadership and teambuilding activities. This was a fabulous opportunity for our leaders to interact with other student leaders from around the Gold Coast and learn practical leadership skills from experienced leaders.

A very special thank you to Mr Adam Marks and Mrs Carolyn Mills for organising this day for our leaders.

Term 2 Date Claimers:

• Wednesday 27 May - Varsity College Creative Arts Showcase (6.30pm-8.30pm)
• Tuesday 2 June -  Internet Safety Information Evening at Bond University
• Monday 8 June - Queen's Birthday public holiday
• Thursday 25 June  - Middle School Reports posted home

Have a great week!

Margaret Heiser
Middle Head of School

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Senior School News

Creative Arts Showcase

This week on Wednesday evening Varsity College will be holding its annual Creative Arts Showcase.  Involving student work from across the five areas of Visual Art, Dance, Drama, Film, Television and New Media and Music, it allows students to share their creative talents with the wider community.

Thank you to Geoff Watson and his team for organising this event.

TRAKS Assembly

Next Thursday 4 June will be our first TRAKS Assembly for the year. Our TRAKS Program encourages all students to demonstrate tolerance, respect, acceptance, kindness and support for everyone in our community. This Assembly will acknowledge students who are recipients of the TRAKS and TRAKS Excellence Awards for Semester One.

Ms Baillie, our TRAKS Co-ordinator, the Senior Team Leaders and the Middle School TRAKS Co-ordinators strive to encourage and reward students who embody and demonstrate the TRAKS qualities through such events as these.

These attributes are vital to the Varsity College Community and also establish positive lifelong behaviours that should be nurtured and established throughout our youth.

Internet Safety Presentation

Darren Rackemann, the Middle School Deputy Principal has organised for a leading presenter on Internet Safety to visit the school next Tuesday 2 June 2009. An expert on the topic will be conducting sessions with Year 9, 10 and 11 students, Middle and Senior Staff as well as offering a session for parents from 6:00 - 7:30pm that evening.

All the information for the parent session has been sent home with students. Due to seating capacity we request that any parent intending to attend return the Attendance slip to the collection box opposite Student services in the Senior Administration.

I urge parents to consider attending this presentation given the increasingly complex digital age in which we live

Excursions

Welcome back to our Geographers led by Bruce Standen, Jo MacDonald and Ann Heafield who braved near cyclonic conditions for their Camp at Fraser Island last week. Congratulations also to the Hospitality students who attended the UQ Guest Speaker Session last Friday.

To the staff who go ‘above and beyond' to provide this plethora of experiences for our students - thank you for your dedication to the profession.

Nicole Brazeau
Senior School Deputy Principal

Sailing Program Sponsorship

Towards the end of 2008, Varsity College, in partnership with Delfin Lendlease, purchased some small, second hand ‘Laser' sailing dinghies to start a sailing program for the Varsity Lakes community. Bendigo Bank has kindly donated $2200 towards the acquisition of these sailing dinghies. The sailing program has been implemented to provide students with the opportunity to participate in a healthy activity that utilises the surrounding waterways. Currently the program is being offered to Year 10s in their Sports Futures Program. We aim to provide the opportunity for other grades to participate in the near future. If you would like to know more about our sailing program or how your son/daughter can be involved please email Mr Geoff Watson at gwats9@eq.edu.au

Pictured  Peter Cummings, Jeff Davis, Steve Foster  & Amy Degenhardt

Girls' Defence Day - Amberley Air Base

On Wednesday last week, I had the privilege of attending a special event at the Amberley Air Base located near Ipswich. 

A limited number of schools across the Gold Coast and Brisbane were invited to attend with female students interested in a career in the Australian Defence Forces.  The aim of this day was to expose the girls to a hands-on experience to give them a clearer insight of career pathways available through the Army, Navy and Air Force.  The Defence Forces have committed themselves to increasing female participation in the forces to 20% overall by 2012/2013.

After arriving at the Base, we were treated to an on-board tour of the huge C-17 Globemaster; a troop and cargo aircraft used for national and international operations and major disaster relief efforts such as the Bali bombings.  The aircraft is also fitted-out to transport ambulatory patients during medical evacuations when required.  Loadmaster Julie Snell conducted this segment of the tour with C-17 pilot Samantha Webster treating us to a visit to the cockpit.

Annalise Bell & Tifne Lelievre with C-17 Globemaster ibackground.

Lunch was a three course meal served in the Officers' mess (complete with table service!) where we had the opportunity to ask questions of the various female Defence Force staff.  Live entertainment provided by Defence Force duo singer and guitarist was a lovely touch.

One of the highlights of the day was the simulated firing range.  Here, we all had the opportunity of testing our shooting ability under the strict control of the coaching staff.  We used identical replica weapons which were accurate, loud and heavy! 

This was a very worthwhile excursion which I am sure all attending students will have found to be a great experience.

TAFE Open Day

Gold Coast TAFE Open Day is being held Friday, 5 June.  Students will have the opportunity to experience trade demonstrations and experience hands-on try-a-trade activities such as automotive, hairdressing, beauty therapy and many others.

Students will also gain first hand knowledge of courses which can be accessed either as school leavers (current Year 12 students) as well as courses for current Years 10 and 11 students.  The courses are extensive and relevant to many vocations which students may intend pursuing.  This is a useful event to attend, with students being able to experience  the TAFE environment.

Students must register on the registration form posted on the Senior Staffroom door and complete and return a permission slip to Mrs Dallas or Mrs Reid by Friday, 29 May.

Linda Dallas
Industry Liaison Officer

SEP News

Chocolates are flowing out of the SEP door faster than a greyhound on steroids. A huge thanks to the parents who have offered to sell chocolates, and to all who have committed to gaining a few extra kilos for the cause; the more we sell, the more money we have for our camp in September. And with the weather the way it is, there is no better way to beat the wet weather blues than by settling in with a good book and a chocolate or two.

There have been a number of success stories over the past few weeks, including some great quiches made by India in Food Studies. I was called to the class to witness the great event and I have to say that I was absolutely flabbergasted at how perfect the quiches looked. If they tasted as good as they looked, then I know India's family had a great treat that night. Food Studies classes have the added bonus of a night off from cooking for mum or dad every once in a while.

Andrea has gained paid work for one day a week at the Florist Shop at Robina that she has been working at as part of her Work Experience. I know that Andrea is enjoying the work and gaining valuable skills in the art of flowers and arranging.

The SEP has made a few changes to the timetables for support of our students, and hopefully, the changes will result in more support being offered over the next few weeks. We are trialling the changes until the end of Term, but I am confident that the new routines will be in place until the end of the year.

Speaking of changes, Belinda Pearson, who has done a fantastic job of teaching our Middle School students, is transferring across to our Prep School. Belinda is trained in Early Childhood and is looking forward to working with the littlies. Kate Adams has stepped in to fill the vacancy in the Middle School and is already working hard on new programs to be used in our support program, as well as getting to know the Middle School students.

Homework Group is alive and well and survived the recent deluge and storms. Last week I thought I would have to cancel due to the weather, not expecting students to be thinking about homework at the end of a very wet day, but to my surprise, there were 12 students lined up at the door, eager to get started. The peer tutoring that happens each week in the group never ceases to amaze me.  Despite the soggy weather outside, the atmosphere inside was alive with creativity, and a lot of students set out into the dark damp evening at 4pm with all homework completed.

And Remember:

The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it.
John Ruskin

Maureen Durney
Head of Special Education

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P & C News

Uniform Shop

$10.00 One Day Sale

Yes is true! Mid/Senior Uniform shop will be having a sale of selected Bintax/Paddinton stock on Saturday 13^th June at 9am until 12 noon.  

Prep/Juniors day will be Friday 19^th June 9.00am until 12 noon. This coincides with the Junior Sports Championship Day so come down and support the students and pick up a bargain or two.

Caps

As of 18^th May caps have increased to $15.00.  On a positive note, Varsity College Sun Smart Wide Brim Hats have been reduced to $5.00. 

Closed Queen's Birthday

Both Uniform shops will be closed Monday 8^th June for Queen's Birthday.

New Hours

Prep/Junior Uniform Shop	Ph:  5576 9308
Monday & Wednesday	8:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Thursday	1.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.
Middle/Senior Uniform Shop	Ph:  5562 3512
Monday, Tuesday & Thursday	8:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

The new hours are working well.  Thank you for your patience and cooperation with this trial of new hours. 

Thank You

Robina Hoogendoorn
Uniform Shop Convenor 

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Free Internet Safety Presentation

In a continued effort to stamp out bullying in our school, we are offering a free parent information evening dealing with internet safety. The evening will be held on Tuesday 2^nd June in the Princeton Room at Bond University and will run from 6:00 - 7:30pm. The presentation will be a positive way to initiate discussion surrounding the use of the internet in your home and will assist parents in developing personal strategies to deal with cyber bullying behaviour. The Varsity College Parents and Citizens Association is sponsoring the evening in support of the community's parent body.

The presentation will be hosted by Brett Lee, not the cricketer, but the managing director of INESS (Internet Education and Safety Services). Brett has worked as a Queensland Police Officer for 22 years, 16 of those as a Detective in the field of Child Exploitation. He is a specialist in undercover internet crime and has personally been involved in the online investigation, arrest and prosecution of numerous offenders whose medium for preying on children is the internet.

Information for parents will include;

• where your children are going online
• what your children are doing online
• methods and techniques used by internet predators
• indicators that your children may be at risk
• protective and preventative measures

If you wish to attend this parent presentation, please sign the tear off slip below indicating how many seats you wish to reserve and return it to school with your child as soon as possible. This evening is open to all parents of the Varsity College community but numbers are limited to 400 so don't miss out on your chance to listen to one of Australia's leading internet education experts. This information session is for parents only as student presentations will occur during the day for appropriate year levels. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide child minding during the evening.

Please click here to download the attendance slip.

Yours faithfully 

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Influenza H1N1 09 (Human Swine Flu)

Dear Parent/Carer

As you may be aware, a decision has been made at a national level to introduce a range of additional measures to reduce the spread of Influenza H1N1 09 (Human Swine Flu). These measures are a response to the fact that Australia has moved from the Pandemic Influenza phase Delay to the current phase Contain. The key Government objective of the Contain phase is to limit the spread of the virus. 

Students returning from overseas

Among these measures is an agreement that all States and Territories move to excluding, for a seven-day period, school students from schools that are returning or arriving from the following overseas countries: Mexico, United States of America, Canada, Panama and Japan. This list can be found on the Department of Health and Ageing website: www.healthemergency.gov.au and is reviewed regularly in light of the current situation. In Queensland we are referring to this period as a seven-day timeout period.

The seven-day timeout period allows time for the illness to appear if the student has acquired the illness. The seven-day timeout period is only considered at this stage necessary for primary and secondary schools. This is because outbreaks overseas have only been reported in school settings to date.

If you have a child who has returned or is to return from one of the affected areas, could you please advise the school and ensure that your child remains at home for seven days even if they do not have symptoms. The seven days includes weekends and public holidays. If your child becomes unwell, please seek immediate medical advice from your general practitioner. 

This seven-day timeout period from school following travel in a country of concern will aid in slowing the spread of the disease and limit the possibility of school closure due to an outbreak in the school.

Event of school closure

In the event of a confirmed case of Influenza H1N1 (Human Swine Flu) in a student attending your school, the school will be closed for at up to seven days.

During a school closure - or if your child is involved in a seven-day timeout period - every attempt will be made to provide schoolwork. This may be placed on the school website, emailed or mailed home. Parents and students will be asked to remain connected to school via the internet and to keep in contact with teachers through email where possible. There will however be no school supervision provided to children on the seven-day timeout.

Parents can assist schools to manage the current situation in the following ways:

• Provide the school with current contact details including current address, telephone number, mobile phone number and email address and any other information you may consider to be relevant.
• Continue to follow standard good hygiene practices such as covering nose and mouth if sneezing or coughing and regular hand-washing.
• Be diligent in observing your family's health and seek medical assistance where uncertain.
• Ensure children avoid major gatherings e.g. sporting events and shopping centres during the seven-day timeout period or school closure.

Queensland Health continues to closely monitor this situation and should it change, the school community will be advised immediately. Please stay informed by paying attention to media reports. Updates will be available on the Department of Education and Training website as www.det.qld.gov.au and your school's website (insert URL).

If you have any questions about symptoms or illness you can call 13HEALTH (13432584) 24 hours a day, seven days a week or contact your regular health practitioner.

For other information please contact the School Administration.

Yours sincerely

Jeff Davis
Executive Principal