Malanda State High School eNewsletter

News from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carer/s,

So much has and is happening at the school of late and I am so appreciative of the effort from staff and students in making Malanda the great place it is.

For this fortnight’s edition, I wish to extend my thanks sincerest congratulations to our ‘Chookies’ and ‘Beefies’ as they undertook their handling camps now start their preparations for the upcoming agricultural shows. I also want to thank Mr Dave Kilpatrick, Mr Bruce Dane, Mr Kev Mallyon and all the staff and volunteers involved who give up many hours outside of school hours to make these events occur. These students received their certificates and recognition on parade this week and their commitment to these programs is outstanding.

Over the last fortnight we have had many excursions and camps take place – Indigenous Leaders of Tomorrow, Japanese students visiting Kuranda, Year 12 reset day, Reader’s Cup, iEngage Reef Shipyard visit, and a chess competition. It is opportunities like these that make learning hands on, and I thank all the various staff involved for the planning that goes along with these events; a lot of this is above their regular duties of teaching, and it is very much appreciated.

In the world of sport, congratulations is given to Liam who recently represented the school at the Tablelands District 10-12 years cricket trial, where he was successful in gaining a shadow position. Well done Liam! Also I write this article our volleyball teams are making final preparations to travel to Townsville to compete in the NQ Schools Cup, and we wish them all the best for safe travels and a great tournament. We also have students competing at the state touch football competition this week, and once we have updates from these students we will share this also – good luck to all involved.

This fortnight we also acknowledged our Principal Award winners with a breakfast where parents were invited to help celebrate the effort and achievement of our academic students. Parents and students reported that they appreciated the event and the connection it allowed them with the school, and I will continue to look for ways to engage with parents when celebrating student success. As well as the Principal Awards, we acknowledged our year 10 gold level students on parade this week, this is the first time these students have made this level – congratulations and well done!

In the last newsletter I advised the community that our school will be having some safety works being carried out in the removal of some of the pine trees from the front entrance of the school. I can advise that this work will commence from Friday 13 June, with parking at the hall and in the street impacted for the duration of the works. This has been communicated with students who are already driving to school, and parents are still able to use the drop and go zone for drop off and pick up of students. As previously communicated, this is due to the trees being a hazard and I thank the community for their support to make sure our school is safe for all to use. An email was sent yesterday to all parents outlining the changes from Friday 13 June. Thank you for your patience while this vital work is undertaken.

I wish to also remind our community as we draw closer to the end of the term, our tuckshop will be closed from Wednesday of next week, 18^th June, until further notice. This is so the upgrade to the building can occur and also as a result of the P&C handing the tuckshop to the school for operational purposes. Whilst the tuckshop is undergoing its expansion, I will be working with the Business Manager to secure a fulltime tuckshop convenor and to have the tuckshop operational as soon as the works are completed. In the last week of school the P&C and student council are hosting BBQs Monday through Thursday to ensure students have access to food, and we will work with the P&C in order to offer food options after the mid-year break.

The final day of the school term, Friday 27^th June, coincides with the local show opening and the primary school moderation day. As a result of expected low attendance, we will undertake an alternate learning day with no new learning occurring and students will rotate through activities on this day. Normal school SMS absence texts will be sent on this day, please reply to this text so we are able to ascertain absences of students on this day.

At the beginning of week 10 I will be in Brisbane undertaking a school review as a Principal Peer Reviewer, and so Mr Adam Catalano will be in charge. I am looking forward to our annual Athletics Carnival on the last Wednesday and Thursday of this term and wish all families and students well for the final weeks of term two.

Yours in learning,

Natasha Lyndon

Principal

QPARENTS

Parents and Carers,

Malanda State High School is moving to online consent via QParents for all excursions, this will commence at the beginning of Term 3, 2025.

Parents/Carers will be able to grant consent for excursions via the Department of Education-QParents, if you have not already singed up for QParents an invitation will be sent to the nominated student/s Parents or Carers (Invitation will come via email).

I have attached the QParents Registration Process to assist, for parents/carers who have already sign up- please ensure you login to make sure your student/s are linked and re-set any password if unable to login.

If parents and carers do not wish to sign-up for QParents, you will be able to visit the front office to obtain the students excursion letter and sign the consent form. Unfortunately we will no longer be sending home hard copies.

All QParents enquiries can be emailed to bsm@malandashs.eq.edu.au

We look forward to introducing this new process to assist with future excursions at Malanda State High School.

Kind Regards,

Sharon Brown

P&C News

Volunteers Needed! Our amazing P&C is looking for volunteers to help out at the Malanda Show gates by wrapping on wristbands. It’s an easy, fun way to support our school — and one of our biggest fundraisers of the year! Dates: Friday 27 – Sunday 29 June Just a 2–3 hour timeslot in the ticket booths is all it takes!Parents, carers, senior students — we’d love your help.Follow the link below to sign up and be part of something great!https://docs.google.com/.../1-vLVKWaGbxoNaVw6kmVm.../edit... Thanks for supporting our school and community!

Parent Talk - https://view.publitas.com/p-cs-qld/parent-talk_term_2_2025/page/1

Ergon Energy Site Visit

On Thursday the 29^th of May fourteen year 10 and 12 students from our school visited a large workshop site operated by Ergon Energy. The purpose of the visit was for students to gain information on employment opportunities that are offered within this large Queensland wide company. Students rotated around 4 different areas where Ergon staff explained their roles within the company and showed us the type of work they do. Students gained valuable information around the numerous apprenticeships that Ergon have to offer namely Electrician, Line Technician, Boiler Making, Diesel Fitting and Mechanic. Ergon also employ Engineers where a first year graduate from Uni earns $128000 and they also offer scholarships whilst you are at University.

Students were able to talk with individual Ergon employees and gained valuable insight into possible career paths within the company. If you are interested in a career in Ergon the best advice provided was for students from grade 10 upwards to do work experience where they will allow students to experience a snapshot of each of the areas on offer. Students will then apply for the area that is better suited to their interests.

If you are interested in a Career with Ergon Energy and would like to apply for work experience, please note the next round of applications starts on the 1^st August with limited spaces available. https://www.energyq.com.au/careers/work-experience

Students gained lots of practical information and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I would like to thank on behalf of our students Ergon Energy for hosting this event and the Business Liaison Association for organising the experience. Also thanks goes to Karen O’Shea, Peter Nightingale and Bruce Dane, staff who providing the transport and supervision on the day.

Thank You for Supporting Shave for a Cure!

What an incredible show of community spirit! A massive THANK YOU to everyone who supported Malanda State High School’s Shave for a Cure event. Whether you braved the clippers, sprayed your hair in wild colours, lent your hairdressing skills, or donated with your heart – you were part of something special.

To our courageous students who shaved or coloured their hair, our talented student and parent hairdressers who made it all happen, and the generous individuals who donated – you helped us raise over $2000!

Your support will go a long way in helping families facing blood cancer. We are so proud of our school community for coming together for such an important cause.

Thank you for making a difference! 💙✂️💰

News from the Sports Department

Communication with the School

At the end of Term 1, 2025, the Minister for Education and the Arts committed to releasing a set of consistent state-wide expectations for communication between parents/carers and their child’s school. These resources are designed to support respectful communication between parents/carers and schools.

Business Expo

Business Brilliance on Display!

This morning’s Business Expo was a shining example of the talent, creativity, and professionalism of our Malanda State High School business students. From innovative product ideas to polished presentations, our students showcased not only what they’ve learned, but their passion and entrepreneurial spirit.

The displays were impressive, the pitches were confident, and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement. It was fantastic to see students stepping up, engaging with visitors, and demonstrating real-world business skills.

A huge congratulations to all involved – you should be incredibly proud of what you achieved. The future is looking bright with young minds like yours leading the way!

Raffle tickets will be available from the stall at the next Malanda markets on the 21st June!

Visiting Author

News from the Support Staff

Boosting body image

Creating more body satisfaction, acceptance, self-confidence, self-love, or even body neutrality will look and feel different for everyone. Moving to a place where you can appreciate your body is an individual journey, but there is support for you along the way.

Our body image is formed by the thoughts, feelings, attitudes and beliefs we have about our bodies and how we look. This includes our shape, size, weight, gender identity, and the way our body functions for us.

We may feel many different things about our body and appearance: sometimes satisfied/positive, sometimes dissatisfied/negative, sometimes a bit of both, or even neutral. Either way, our body image can influence how we engage with the world.

Helpful tips to creating healthy body image

What works for one person, may not work as well for someone else. Keeping an open mind, experimenting, and finding what works for you will help you improve your relationship with your body and appearance.

Some simple things you can try include:

Understanding and challengingsociety’s manufactured and constantly changing ideals of beauty: Our bodies are vessels for us to function, enjoy, and do amazing things.
Limit your exposure to highly stylised and flawless images of fitness, beauty and appearance: These can increase feelings of body inadequacy and dissatisfaction.
Diversify what you see: You can control and curate what appears in your social media feeds. Follow people and pages that make you feel good about yourself and your body.
Resist the temptation to engage or buy from the diet industry:The diet industry’s business model is based on manipulating your body image concerns.
See and value yourself as a whole person: Your qualities, talents, strengths and attributes (and yes, you have lots of these) make you who you are. Celebrate and nurture the things that make you, you.
Create strong and affirming positive statements:These can be powerful weapons to combat unhelpful body comparisons. Some you might like to try include, “I am enough”, “My body is great”, “I am more than my body”, “I am worthy as I am” and “I don’t need to change a thing about myself”.
Focus on your body function: You’re more than your shape or form.
Practice body gratitude: What you’re grateful for that your body can do.
Be media savvy: Practice critical thinking of media and social media messages. Remember, what you see might not even be real. Images are often digitally enhanced with editing and filters, which can trigger body insecurities. This is used by advertisers to sell us stuff.
Combat unhelpful and toxic negative body and appearance talk:Toxic body/diet/appearance talk and dialogue destroy body confidence. Shut it down by using strong words or statements; “Stop”, “That’s enough” or even “Can we talk about something else?”
Reduce unhelpful and unnecessary body comparisons: It’s unfair and unhelpful to body compare.
Move and nourish your body in ways that make you feel good: Move and eat for health gains, enjoyment and to improve mental health (instead of for weight or muscularity change).
Nurture your whole self: Practice body kindness, mindfulness, and self-care. What works for you?
Be realistic: No one feels great about their body all of the time. Poor body image moments happen; it’s only important we don’t respond to negative feelings with unhelpful behaviours.
Allow time to heal:Learning to respect and appreciate your body for what it is/ isn’t, how it looks, what it can and cannot do, takes time. Do your best to be kind to your body in its moments of discomfort and dissatisfaction. Your body is not a problem to fix.

For more information:

https://butterfly.org.au/body-image/boosting-body-image/

Parents/Guardians/Staff/Student additional information

Community Notices

🎶 Honouring a Legacy Through Music 🎶

We are proud to share the story of a special bursary that honours the memory of our former guitar tutor, whose passion for music left a lasting impact on so many students.

This bursary helps young musicians follow their dreams and continue their musical journey — a fitting tribute to someone who gave so much to our community through the gift of music. 🎸✨

If you would like to support the bursary and help keep this legacy alive, donations can be made by contacting Herberton State School. Every contribution helps create more opportunities for our young musicians.

Read more about this inspiring initiative here:
👉 https://www.theexpressnewspaper.com.au/making-musical-dreams-happen-2025-05-30