In this issue

Calamvale Community College has had their first finalist in the Queensland Tourism Industry Council’s Salute to Excellence Awards, which recognises Year 11 and 12 students that are undertaking or have completed vocational education and training in tourism, food and beverage or cookery. Saige Amos is a Year 12 student studying a Certificate III in Hospitality at the College who has been recognised for her leadership, skills and dedication to Hospitality through her nomination for the Food and Beverage Category. Throughout her studies, Saige has excelled in a variety of roles at Calamvale’s 3 Trees Restaurant & Cafe along with participating in work experience opportunities at Royal Pines Resort and Suncorp Stadium. Saige is currently preparing to participate in the upcoming Become a Barista Competition and hopes to go on to study Events Management at university next year.

Congratulations on a fantastic achievement Saige!

Esports, also known as electronic sports, is a form of competition through video games which is on a rapid rise globally. On Saturday 20 July, the Calamvale team consisting of Year 12 students; Chris Jeong, Thang Truong, Matthew Shearer, Xavier Lee and Ethan Mackinlay, competed in the live finals at the University of Queensland for the Queensland High School Championship. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game in which players must strategically work together in order to win.
Over a ten week period that included over 40 schools and 300 students from Queensland, the team went through the round robin stages of the tournament undefeated, and cemented their place to compete in the live finals at the Schonell Theatre. With great teamwork, grit and determination, the boys worked together and defeated Merrimac SHS in the Semi Final and had their sights set on the Grand Final.

In the Grand Final, the Calamvale team faced off against Kelvin Grove College to decide who would be representing Queensland in the National Finals. Albeit hard-fought and with great determination from both sides, the boys fell in the Grand Final and had to settle for the second best team in Queensland. Although falling just short of reaching the national stage in Melbourne, the team as a whole garnered something not many others have; an insight into competitive gaming, and an experience to what it would feel like to play on a live stage as an Esports Professional. Just recently, American 16 year old Kyle Giersdorf took out the first-ever Fortnite World Cup winning $3 million in prize money, which is more prize money than Novak Djokvic winning Wimbledon or Tiger Woods winning the US Masters. This truly demonstrates the reality of Esports becoming a strong part within sporting society.

Written by CCC student Brad Szakowski (Team Captain)

In the last week of Term 2, 8 of our Taiko students, along with Mr Simmons and Mrs Ferguson headed off to Japan for a week of Taiko activities, School visits and cultural exchange. After some initial dramas with their flight being cancelled, they still made it to Japan in time to attend their first activity. They no sooner checked into their Hotel and they were off again to visit “Matsugaya High” for an afternoon of Taiko playing with their Taiko Club.
On day 2 they went to the “Taiko Lab” in central Tokyo for a 2 hour Taiko lesson with a professional Taiko Instructor. Then that evening they were all part of a Taiko Concert in Tokyo where they performed 2 of their pieces as well as getting to watch other Taiko groups perform, including professional Taiko Group, “Mugen”. Day 3 they went to Flute making workshop and made their own Bamboo Flutes. This was followed by an afternoon of sightseeing as well as catching up with Fumiko, the Japanese Percussionist who visited our School last year. They went to Asakusa and visited Tokyo’s oldest Temple and Shrine. Then in the evening went to Tokyo Tower for some great night views of Tokyo City. Day 4 they went to Kamakura which was the medieval capital of Japan. It was good to get out of Tokyo and see a different side of Japan including ancient Temples, beautiful gardens and a massive statue of Buddha! Day 5 they visited our sister School, “Tama Meguro High” and were made to feel incredibly welcome. They picked us up from the train station, welcomed us with a Tea Ceremony, provided us with lunch and invited us to their classrooms to engage in various activities. It was a very enjoyable day, and many students said it was the highlight of the trip. That evening they went to a Japanese family’s home for dinner and had a smorgasbord of very delicious Japanese foods. Day 6 we went to “Shoyo High” for an afternoon of Taiko activities as well as visiting classrooms and engaging in activities with their students. Once again, it was a very enjoyable exchange and as with all the Schools, the Japanese Teachers and Students made us feel very welcome. That evening we went to the famous “Shibuya Crossing” in central Tokyo and braved the crowds to make our way across the “5- way scramble crossing” in a sea of people! Day 7 was our final day. Before our long haul back to the airport, we went to “Ginza”, which is one of the “flahsiest” suburbs in Tokyo and did some shopping in a 7 story stationary store!

All in all, it was a very successful and rewarding trip. We learned more about Taiko, became to understand Japanese Culture a little better, made friends at the Schools we visited and enjoyed visiting some wonderful places in and around Tokyo.

On 20 July, 20 students, 5 teachers and 6 members of the Support Crew embarked on the Gold Coast Kokoda Challenge. Teams competed in the 48km course, hiking through the night in hilly, rough terrain.

2019 saw CCC’s best performance to date, with 18 of 20 students completing the challenging course. On top of this, the time taken by teams to complete the course improved remarkably. Mr Bunn’s Team finished in just 10 hours and 40 mins, 3 hours faster than any of our teams in the previous two years.

Overall, the teams demonstrated grit and determination and wonderful teamwork to achieve their goal. It is important to note that the event itself is only a part of the challenge. Students must train for 6 months, as well raise money for the Kokoda Foundation, so the Kokoda Challenge is a long-term commitment for our students.

We are extremely proud of all the teams and look forward to our 2020 campaign. Special thanks must go to our Support Crew and sponsors who made the event possible.

On Monday 22 July, Suzie G, electric violinist and entertainer visited Calamvale CC to give a show in CPAC for all the Instrumental Music Strings students and then a coaching session for our new Electric String Quartet, Cadenza Quartet.
Suzie dazzled everyone with her musical performance, lighting and smoke machine! Some Junior School students won a free CD of Suzie G’s music in the quiz! Several Senior School students were fortunate to have a play on Suzie’s bright pink violin or our school electric cello!

In the last week of Term 2, our Year 11 IB students journeyed their way to North Stradbroke Island. Here they spent three days residing at the University of Queensland’s Moreton Bay Research Station. The main purpose was to focus on the IB Core; Theory of Knowledge, CAS and the Extended Essay. Students undertook some mindfulness activities with a scenic ocean backdrop and focused on exploring their creative side with some artistic work.

The group also developed their teamwork skills with a specific focus on precise communication and the importance of this. Lots of fun with Duplo, balloons and puzzles.

A main component was exploring the strong indigenous history of the island. We were guided through the mangroves and heard stories of oral traditions and the importance of sustainability and balance. The students also then worked with a local Quandamooka gallery to develop their own indigenous art pieces using traditional techniques, which are now proudly on display in our IB Hub.

There was a strong emphasis on the initial thinking and planning of the Extended Essay with some workshops on designing research questions and mindmapping.

The group demonstrated many of their attributes of being communicators, knowledgeable, inquirers, balanced and risk-takers and braving the wet weather. Fantastic trip!

On Sunday 18 August, 108 of our Year 6 students embarked on a six-day trip to Sydney and Canberra by bus. The bulk of the places visited directly linked to classroom lines of inquiry, which brought the students’ learning to life.

During the 2019 Cultural Tour, students enjoyed visiting:

• Parliament House
• Australian War Memorial
• Questacon
• Old Parliament House
• Australian Institute of Sport
• Government House
• Mount Ainslie Lookout
• National Museum of Australia
• Perisher Snow Fields
• Circular Quay in Sydney
• Taronga Park Zoo

There are many people who need to be thanked for making this year’s trip one of the best yet. Thank you to our wonderful staff who accompanied our students on the trip – Ms Connor, Ms Bertoli, Ms Haslam, Ms Leatherbarrow, Ms Pearn and Mr Loriaux

We also need to thank the Federal Government who recognise the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion, the Australian Government contributed $60 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

The Hospitality Excellence Program for 2020 has now officially launched and applications are now open. The Hospitality team would like to extend thanks to all of the Year 9 students and their families that came to our showcase evening in 3 Trees Restaurant & Café on Wednesday 7 August. It was great to be able to share what we do with you and information about our subject in Year 10 and beyond. We enjoyed seeing what our budding chefs have been up to in Year 9 Food Technology and look forward to sampling their Bento boxes.

Students who are interested in studying Hospitality or Kitchen Operations next year contact the Program Coordinator, Leah Cremen (lwell55@eq.edu.au), if you have any questions.

Thanks Mr Butler, College Chair, for accepting the invitation to become an advisor to the .  He was delighted to received a signed copy of Melody Chen’s new book.

We have reached the end of Term 3 and there is some sense of satisfaction across our school. In Senior, our Year 12s have completed the QCS and were unphased by it and well prepared. It is always a difficult task, as it is the only time that these students actually face an external test. We are confident in their capability as they head into the last six weeks of their school lives.
Our Year 11s have also negotiated their first taste of either the IB Diploma curriculum or the new Queensland curriculum, units 1 and 2. As is always the case in Year 11, everyone has realised that you need to work harder in Year 11 than you perhaps thought you would. Our students in Applied and Certificate courses, are also experiencing what it is like to have more autonomy but also more responsibility for the completion of their tasks.

I want to encourage all parents and carers to provide constant encourage and perhaps some time management for our Year 11 and 12 students. They are constantly faced with challenges to their time and whether they know it or not, they would benefit from advice and then support. Thank you for your engagement with our students, your children, in partnership to achieve their best possible outcomes.

CCC matching the World in the TIMMs testing.
All schools, at some stage, participate in the TIMMs testing, and CCC is no different. Here are the statements from the TIMMs website regarding school performance across the world:
Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Japan continue outperforming all participating countries in mathematics at the fourth and eighth grades, maintaining a 20 year edge according to results released today from TIMMS, the longest running, large scale international assessment of mathematics and science in the world. Read more at https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/ then have a look at CCC level pegging with the world, not yet at the front! I can’t put the graphs into this newsletter as the quality or reproduction is poor, but I will have them up on the website for next term.

Key Successes
In Mathematics and Science, CCC is equal with the world average
In self confidence in learning mathematics and science, CCC is above the world average in all categories
In positive thinking about learning mathematics and science, CCC is above the world average
And then there’s this one, we are the black bar and being less than the world numbers is better in every aspect – our students feel safer, calmer, less anxious and more included than the students across the rest of the world.
This is one time that we want to be less than the world. Go Calamvale!
I will post the general Naplan results on the website for next term. Our results are strong and they reflect our increasing focus on supporting students to achieve at their greatest potential. It takes account of the fact that our youngest learners who are becoming bilingual achieve mastery in Year 5 and 7 in the majority – supported by our College in specialised support for their considerable capacity.

NAPLAN Feedback.
It’s good, we are always improving and we are proud of our students’ success. I will post the general NAPLAN results on the website for next term. Our results are strong and they reflect our increasing focus on supporting students to achieve at their greatest potential. It takes account of the fact that our youngest learners who are becoming bilingual achieve mastery in Year 5 and 7 in the majority – supported by our College in specialised support for their considerable capacity.

Thank you for all your support this term, happy holidays!