Secondary News

Co-Curricular Photo Ordering

Co-curricular photos will be available on-line for ordering from Friday 9 December 2022.  

All orders are to be placed on-line via the Studio Kirby Website as per the following details: 

Gallery Link:      https://studiokirby.shootproof.com/gallery/clayfield

Password:          CLAY

All orders placed will be processed by Studio Kirby in the New Year, with delivery direct to your home address.

Accessing Academic Reports 

Academic Reports are due for release by 9 December 2022. 

If your child is not continuing at Clayfield College in 2023, please ensure you download any Academic Reports from Parent Lounge by no later than 21 December 2022. After this time, you will no longer have access to Parent Lounge as part of our rollover process.

Central Australia Immersion, Service & Trek Learning Journey

Recognition for Highly Accomplished Teacher

Clayfield History and English teacher, Ms. Clair Monnickendam, attended an ISQ ceremony yesterday to acknowledge the 42 Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers (HALTs) in independent schools who have achieved national certification this year. Clair has achieved certification as a Highly Accomplished Teacher. Highly accomplished teachers are highly effective, skilled classroom practitioners who are knowledgeable and contemporary in their practice. They work with, support and assist teaching colleagues and contribute to professional learning within the school environment. They have a positive impact on student outcomes. Teachers who have achieved certification undergo a rigourous assessment process involving an annotated portfolio of evidence addressing all 37 of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) and observation of their practice. There are currently 1000 certified HALTS Australia-wide. 

Congratulations Ms. Monnickendam, on this significant achievement.

Looking Back in Secondary

Reindeer Action

In the final weeks of this term, Year 9 Social Science students put inquiry into action when they chose to take action to support reindeer herds in the Arctic Circle. Following investigation into the ability of different biomes to provide food and in particular the tundra biome, Year 9 Social Science students became aware of the plight of reindeers and reindeer-based communities within the arctic circle. 

Year 9 Social Science students write:

Reindeer reside in Arctic tundras, which are semi frozen areas of the world. Here the reindeer feed off a diet of mosses, lichen, herbs, ferns and numerous other plants. However, due to climate change, in recent years their food has become extremely limited and when available, often covered by a sheet of ice, which they cannot penetrate. This can lead to starvation and decline in reindeer numbers, meaning they are now categorised as a vulnerable species. As part of our inquiry learning this term, we have decided that we wish to take action and instigate positive change by spreading school-wide awareness of this situation.

The students spoke on assembly to spread awareness of the plight of reindeer herds in the Arctic and the communities which are based on their survival. They then held a reindeer-themed bake sale, which was fully operated by members of the Social Science class. Amazingly, this bake sale raised more than $230, which the students have decided to put towards sponsoring a reindeer herd in the Arctic Circle. This amount is almost enough to sponsor 3 reindeer herds. 

We are all so proud of their efforts.

Year 11 English preparation for assessment

Educational researcher Dylan William argues that one of the most powerful strategies for helping students progress is to activate students as learning resources for one another. In the week before block exams, Year 11 English students did just this as they shared their speeches with each other. Students gained ideas and inspiration from reading someone else’s work and benefited through achieving additional feedback from expert peers. Through conversations with their peers, they were able to understand how they could improve their draft speech scripts and went away with some clear, actionable feedback.

Student Achievement 

In October this year, Year 9 student, Caroline Zhang, participated in the Australian Intermediate Maths Olympiad Competition organised by the Australian Maths Trust. The exam was four hours long and Caroline had to answer ten challenging Maths problems. She achieved a high distinction which is a remarkable result. 

As a result, Caroline has been offered a place to attend the University of Queensland Mathematics Summer School where she will be working on mathematical problem-solving challenges with students from all over Queensland. In addition, Caroline is training to take part in the International Mathematics Olympiad where she hopes to represent Australia in the future. 

We congratulate Caroline on her outstanding achievements.

2023 STEM Ambassadors

Our 2023 UQ Ambassadors are Dimity Whitaker, Roxy Bohn, Caitlin Pett, Sophie Lloyd, Hana Costello and Kiki Bell. These dedicated STEM stars have begun running clubs and planning for 2023. Our Secondary STEM club is getting a revamp for 2023, with a focus on connecting Clayfield Students with STEM competitions offered by Australian Universities. The future of STEM at Clayfield is bright with these amazing leaders at the helm.

Primary STEM Clubs

Primary STEM Clubs have had their last activities for the year. Tech Club had a great time in Minecraft with a Christmas theme and IGNITE made ice-cream using salt and ice as the freezing agents. 

Ignite: Fuel their potential 

The inaugural Clayfield College ‘Ignite: Fuel their potential’ Program and associated Connections Day took place in the final week of Term 4. The Ignite Program was facilitated by Future Anything. Future Anything transforms young people’s passion and curiosity into innovative ideas that make their world a better place. The program was high-energy, creative, passionate engagement in real world learning of students and driven by the student’s own areas of interests. The program culminated in a Showcase Evening on Monday 28 November, which was a great success. Students in Years 7-10 pitched their ideas to a panel of judges. We saw so many innovative and creative solutions to real life problems and the audience was left truly inspired by our students. Students also set up trade displays for the evening to share their ideas. 

Congratulations to our grand final winners: Running Rural (Roxy Bohn and Caitlin Pett) and runner up: Beat Bands (Meghan Guthrie-Quinn and Georgia Johnston). The People’s Choice prize for the trade displays was awarded to My Pencils (Kiki Bell, Sophia Corness, Hannah Dryden and Dimity Whitaker). Student feedback has been very positive. They enjoyed the challenges presented to them and working in teams to solve a problem they felt very passionately about. 

Connections Day was filled with many laughs, action, and energy, as students took part in a variety of activities. The morning session developed students’ skills in the areas of aquatics, basketball, and touch football. The middle session had a kahoot and students rotated in a variety of activities facilitated by the House Leaders, including origami, paper plane construction and card making. Energy levels increased in the afternoon as students took part in Zumba and Salsa dancing. 

I wish you all a safe and happy festive season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.