Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

It is a pleasure to share with you the final newsletter of the 2021 School year.

Thank you for all of your support as we have successfully navigated the second year of the global Covid-19 pandemic. 

I was thrilled that our students were able to share in and celebrate our respective Junior, Middle and Senior School Speech days. A special thank you to our Tokyo Olympians Savannah Fitzpatrick (2012) and Madison Fitzpatrick (2014) who attended the Senior School Speech Day as special guests and presented the Sports awards.

Next week we will share with the whole School community our 2021 Speech Day booklet including the full list of award winners and a link to the respective ceremonies.

I congratulate all award winners, especially our overall Dux Award recipients for each Subschool. 

Junior School Dux - Isabelle Daniel Year 4

Middle School Dux - River Robinson Year 8

Senior School Duces - Madeleine Warner and Anjali Dutton Year 12

For only the third time in the history of Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School we awarded a joint Dux of the School.

A joint Dux had previously been awarded in 2003 and 2007 and this year we have two highly accomplished and exceptional students in Year 12 who simply could not be separated given their respective outstanding academic achievements.

One took a Mathematics/Science pathway and the other an English/Humanities pathway.. Both have demonstrated extraordinary commitment and achievement.

In congratulating Madeleine Warner and Anjali Dutton I share their outstanding achievements.

Madeleine - completed two HSC courses in Year 11 - Chemistry and Advanced Mathematics. Scoring the top mark in both with Band 6s. This year, Madeleine received the academic awards for Mathematics Extension 1 and Extension 2, Physics, Science Extension and Software Design and Development. 

Anjali has an equally impressive record. Completing Studies of Religion in Year 11 and receiving a Band 6. This year Anjali received academic awards in English Advanced, English  Extension 1 and English Extension 2, Standard Mathematics, Legal Studies, and Modern History.

On behalf of the Lindisfarne School community, I congratulate two exceptional students and scholars from the class of 2021 Madeleine Warner and Anjali Dutton.

Class of 2021

The last week has been exceptional for our much-respected class of 2021.

We completed the pushed back HSC exams, shared in the Year 12 Graduation Eucharist, the Year 12 breakfast, the Final Assembly, planted the Year 12 tree, and took that long-awaited walk of honour up the stairs of Mahers Lane.

The Formal on Saturday evening was much enjoyed - what a joyful relief and celebration this was for our class of 2021.

In closing out the year for our class of 2021 I want to thank your extraordinary teachers, the dedicated staff of the School, your parents who have loved and supported you and our School Captains and Vice-Captains, Tori Marchiori and Sam Cox, Neave Butler and Ocean Carrette who have led you and our school community with distinction throughout the School year.

Thank you Reverend Constantine for your prayers and example of respectfully living out compassion in action, inspiring us with your wisdom.

School Council

I pay tribute to the School Council led by our Chair, Dominique O’Neill (2004) and our Deputy Chair Bill Adler and members of the School Council.

The many hours volunteered to our School, strategic insight, and continued visionary decision making are greatly valued. On behalf of the Lindisfarne School community,  I thank our School Council for all of the work they do behind the scenes each and every year as we work on our vision to develop a world standard school for the families of the southern Gold Coast, Tweed Coast and northern New South Wales.

Parents and Friends Association

Thank you to the Parents and Friends Association for your exceptional support of the School in 2021. I have greatly appreciated the leadership of P&F President Ramesh Sivabalan and the committee and your constant encouragement and support.

The P&F supported a number of projects across the school:

• Recycling Hubs at both the Junior School and Mahers Lane campus to support our sustainability initiatives.
• Support was provided for the Robotics program and STEM initiatives at both campuses.
• Significant contributions were made in support of the solar project and also to moving The Boathouse facility to a fully off-grid building with solar panels and battery storage.
• The refresh of the Junior School library included the provision of new furniture and storage, providing a modern environment to encourage the next generation of avid readers. 
• A shade sail was also installed over the Kindy Deck, providing an enhanced outdoor learning area for the students to use while staying sun-safe on those warmer days.
• Funds were also provided for an AV upgrade at the Junior School, a large contribution to the outdoor learning spaces associated with the new Middle School Building, and towards new outdoor seating and picnic tables at Mahers Lane, with these projects expected to be completed and ready for the start of 2022 School year.
• In addition, the P&F under the leadership of Vice-President Steve Cornell undertook significant planning for Fun Fest only to see the event transferred to the 2022 School.
• The P&F still conducted the FunFest raffle for an MG3 and it was an overwhelming success.

Australian Education Awards

Lindisfarne has enjoyed a year of very public recognition - a reflection of the collective efforts of our staff, students and the community. In 2021, Lindisfarne was recognised as one of the nations most innovative schools by Educator Magazine. 

The school was shortlisted in three categories with the Australian Education Awards; I was humbled to be named as the Australian Principal of the Year (Non-Government). Mr Nathan Croft received an Excellence in Education Award for being shortlisted in the category of Primary Educator of the Year (Non-Government) and the work of the Information Services Team led by Mr Gavin Kennedy was recognised through Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar school gaining an Excellence in Education Award for Best Use of Technology.

B.E.E Charity Work - Food for Fyds

The newly formed Business, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise faculty under the leadership of Director Bryan Malone have undertaken some significant projects in 2021.

On Thursday, 2 December Year 9 and 10 Commerce students' entrepreneurship units culminated in a market day to raise money for charity. The Entrepreneurship unit guides students through the creative process of ideation, planning, production and selling. On the day, students sold food such as doughnuts, nachos, sausage sandwiches, drinks, snow cones and pizzas. Students also sold a range of products including candles, bath salts, jewellery and Christmas cards. All together they raised almost $4000 dollars to assist Mr Fydler with ongoing medical treatment and $1500 for charitable causes. The Business, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise faculty believes that through practical experiences such as this, students learn the skills of creative thinking, resilience and problem solving, which are the skills students need to thrive in the 21st century. 

Covid-19

New South Wales and Queensland Health continue to strongly recommend vaccination programs for Covid-19 as part of the strategy of living and working in the era of Covid-19. With the school holidays upon us, for those still considering or progressing vaccination for Covid-19, now would be an excellent opportunity to book an appointment or consult your medical professional. 

As New South Wales and Queensland continue to open up and holiday and Christmas travel intensifies it is anticipated that there will be community transmission of Covid-19. It is timely to remain vigilant and get tested even if you have the mildest symptoms of Covid-19 and self isolate until a negative test result is received.

Christmas Message

Thank you again for all the support throughout 2021. Wishing all families a safe and very happy Christmas and a great new year ahead.  

May the spirit of Christmas shine brightly in your heart and light your path and may God bless you and keep you safe during the holiday season and all through the year ahead.

Stuart Marquardt
Principal

Dear Students, Staff, Parents and Guardians,

Gratitude is the memory of the heart - A French Proverb.

As the 2021 school year draws to a close, it’s important for us to look back at the year with both the mind and the heart, given the challenges we’ve faced this past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We’ve had our fair share of challenges and difficulties, but equally have been blessed by so many graces, possibilities and opportunities. Looking back with the heart I’m very grateful:

• For the welcome my family and I received as we joined the Lindisfarne School community last May.

• To Mr Marquardt, our School Principal, Mrs Lush, our Deputy Principal, Heads of Subschools and all the staff for your strong and excellent leadership, and the way you rose to the challenges of the Covid-19 lockdowns with agility, flexibility and creative love.

• To all our students - one and all - for journeying with us throughout the course of another pandemic year, and for teaching us with your youthful idealism, enthusiasm and pursuit of your life’s dreams.

• To all the parents and guardians who partner with us in nurturing young lives to become the people God has created them to be and to realise their potential.

• For the opportunities presented by the challenges of the pandemic to concentrate on the things that really matter: family, friends, health, relationships, the natural world, and the simple pleasures of life.

• Above all, to God for the gift of life with all its joys and struggles.

Amidst all the rush and busyness of this Christmas and holiday season, let’s not forget to make space for rest and relaxation as well as for enjoyment of family and personal time.

We are mindful that with the birth of Christ, God has entered into our human experience and transformed it with God’s light, love and beauty.  “Christmas”, Avery Dulles said, "does not give us a ladder to climb out of the human condition. It gives us a drill that lets us burrow into the heart of everything that is and, there, find it shimmering with divinity.”  

Whether you have a faith tradition or not; whether you celebrate Christmas or not, my prayer and wish is that you and every person you love, as well as all the members of our community will experience the joy, hope, peace and love of the Divine-child, and may these be your real treasures in the coming year 2022.

Finally, I make mine the words of Dag Hammarskjöld, “Lord, for all that has been, thank you; to all that will be, yes.”

Thank you for who you are and for all you do.

Rev Constantine Osuchukwu
Chaplain

With the holidays upon us, many of our children will be looking forward to relaxing and spending time with their friends.  With the lifting of COVID restrictions, parties and get-togethers at the beach or at a friends home will be back on the agenda this holiday break.

While we all hope our child will be the sensible one, the one who looks out for their friends and uses their intelligence to make good choices, teens are unpredictable and peer pressure can be intense. Now may be the time for some important conversations around alcohol, other drugs, peer pressure, and risky behaviours. 

The Raising Children Network has a helpful online guide for parents of children 12-18 years discussing alcohol and other drug use:  https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/healthy-lifestyle/alcohol-other-drugs/alcohol-other-drug-use-how-to-help

Paul Dillon founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) has a website with fact sheets, readings, podcasts etc. that parents may find helpful.  There is even a Fact Sheet about hosting a teenage party. https://darta.net.au/factsheetsparents/

Another important consideration over the ‘party season’ is personal safety and Consent. Discussions about consent are important to have with both boys and girls. The Raising Children Network has another helpful guide on this https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/communicating-relationships/tough-topics/sexual-consent-how-to-talk-with-children-teens

If you haven’t seen it ‘Consent: It’s as simple as tea’ is a fun little video that may help to start this difficult conversation.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday break.

Julie Henry
School Psychologist

2023 Scholarships

Scholarships are offered at Lindisfarne to recognise high student achievement for new and current students across the categories of Academic, General Excellence, Music and Sport.

2023 applications will close at 5.00pm on Friday, 11 February 2022, following which applicants will sit an external exam on Saturday, 19 February 2022. Scholarship amounts awarded can vary, with up to 75% off the tuition component of the school fee account. This is at the discretion of the Principal, supported by a panel review.

Students who receive the benefit of a Scholarship are expected to fully participate in the life of the School and to undertake curriculum and co-curricular studies and opportunities in support of their Scholarship. For more information and to check eligibility please visit the Scholarships page of our website.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of our Lindisfarne Community for the generous donations towards the Lindisfarne Giving Tree. The total amount donated to the Tweed Women's Refuge was $6,520.00. Tania Robb from Tweed Women's Refuge was extremely appreciative of all the donations that were presented to her by Principal Stuart Marquardt and our Librarian Gail Dessman.    

International Competition for Australian Schools (ICAS) results

The 2021 ICAS results can be viewed via Parent Lounge. To view the results go to student details and then extra curricular activities you will need to select Term 3 to view the results.

Due to the extended testing window ICAS certificates which concluded at the end of November certificates had not arrived for all the tests done this term. Certificates will therefore be handed out at the start of the 2022 school year.

Reports 

Semester 2 reports for Kindergarten to Year 8 and Yearly reports for Years 9 and 10 are now available on Parent Lounge 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the school community for your support during 2021 and wish you all a Safe and Holy Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Caroline Jeffries
Dean of Studies

Last week on Thursday and Friday, Year 6 students embarked on two days that were action-packed and filled with challenging and fun activities. It was a great opportunity for the students to celebrate what has been an awesome year in Year 6. Over the two days, students were separated out into different groups so they had the opportunity to develop and build friendships with others across the cohort. On Thursday, we headed to the Lindisfarne Boathouse where students took part in kayaking and sketching. They then had the opportunity to go to Kingscliff Beach and take part in sand modelling and the Dowker Beach Challenge. 

On Friday, Character Builders joined us to take the students through a variety of team building games. What was really nice to hear were their ‘Big Ups’. This is where students stood up and chose a person that they wanted to give a compliment to and show their gratitude. It was heartwarming to hear these positive comments and to see the lovely bond that the Year 6 students have developed and nurtured over their year/s at Lindisfarne.

.

Amy Williamson and Kylie Thompson
Year 5 and 6 Coordinators

For the final newsletter of the year the focus is on our graduating class of 2021. During 2021, whilst completing their Higher School Certificate a number of students completed their Diploma of Business. This qualification was achieved in addition to their Year 12 studies with classes being completed outside of school hours. This required significant commitment and dedication to balance this alongside their studies. The students have attained a nationally recognised qualification under the Australian Qualifications Framework which also makes them eligible for an ATAR equivalent of between 82-87 and credit at some universities, including Griffith University and Queensland University of Technology.

I would like to acknowledge the following students.

• Ginger Allen
• Nilaya Cannon
• Oliver Churchill
• Olivia Duindham
• Bailey Gadd
• Lewis Koppel
• Charli LeBoutillier
• Brooke Morris
• Ruby Orford
• Paloma Peisajovich
• Dara Peters
• Jacob Sands
• Benjamin Snellgrove
• Oscar Veldhoven
• Grace Wagner
• Summer Wise

Over two thirds of our Year 12 students have received early entry offers to eighteen different universities across the country. These early offers are often based on Year 11 and Year 12 results and provide recognition of their hard work throughout this time. Some students completed additional essay responses and auditions in order to gain their offer. Early entry means these students have been able to receive an offer to study at University, in addition to any offers they may receive based on their ATAR in January 2022. 

As a School, we are aware of 98 early entry offers made by these Universities:

• The Australian National University
• Bond University
• Edith Cowan University
• Griffith University
• LaTrobe University
• Macquarie University
• Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University
• Southern Cross University
• Sydney Conservatorium, University of Sydney
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Southern Queensland
• University of Sunshine Coast
• University of Tasmania
• University of Technology Sydney
• University of Western Australia
• University of Western Sydney
• University of Wollongong
• Western Sydney University

The 2021 Year 12 cohort have shown immense strength and resilience and I wish them every success for the future.

Lauren Ward
Director of Careers

Club Netball

Tweed Netball Association hosted their Saturday Netball Presentation Day on Saturday, 4 December at Arkinstall Park. Thank you to all of the players and parents who attended.

Please don’t forget to let me know of your interest to play in the TNA Monday Night Social Netball competition, starting Round 1 on Monday, 31 January. The sign-up will open on January 24th so please let me know ASAP. Thanks to those of you who have expressed an interest already!

Sign-on day to play in the Saturday competition in 2022 will be in mid-February with March 26 as the Round 1  season start date. We will be calling for registrations very early in Term 1, but we have to wait for Netball Queensland to set up the league before we have anything to register for! 

Netball Centre of Excellence 

We are delighted to have chosen the 2022 Netball Centre of Excellence teams for Year 7 to Year 12 players. The letters of acceptance were sent this week along with a pre-season training program and an Athlete’s Agreement.

We had such an impressive amount of talented girls attend the workshops in November that we feel we would benefit from having a couple more sessions in order to finalise the Stage 3 Emerging Talent teams. These netball training games will take place in the first weeks of Term 1. It will mean that the girls will miss swimming practice in Sport time on Friday 4 February. The second workshop will be on Friday 11 February, also in Sport time.

If you have any issues with these proposals, please contact me at the beginning of the school year.

If you have any questions re: netball, please do not hesitate to email me.

“I’m here if you need!”

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Let’s Roar in 2022 Lions!

Gay Maynard 
Teacher in Charge of Netball

Merry Christmas to all our community members, thank you for your contributions to the Lindisfarne Sports program. Wishing you all the best over the holiday season, we are looking forward to seeing you back fully refreshed for the start of 2022. The Sports Departments calendar for 2022 is currently being populated as dates present - please find a copy here. Please note that we will continue to add to this document throughout the next six weeks, and some dates may be subject to change.

Basketball

Congratulations to the following Lindisfarne Lions recipients for winning awards at our recent covid-modified presentations held during lunchtimes. These awards are from the Winter League 2021 season in the Gold Coast Junior Basketball League competition.

Under 20 Boys - Kings
MVP - Monty Lush and Emil Woods
Coaches Award - Cooper Robins

Under 17 Boys - Kulas
MVP - Manny Leach
Coaches Award - Banjo Grimster

Under 17 Boys - Kions
MVP - Jye Walker
Coaches Award - Keaton Ebbott

Under 15 Boys - Hunters 
MVP - Liam Reardon
Coaches Award - Jeff Dunne

Under 15 Boys - Mufasas 
MVP - Cody Wilkes
Coaches Award - Will Roberts

Under 15 Boys - Sarafinas
MVP - Thomas Cunnah
Coaches Award - Benjamin Squires

Under 13 Boys - Lokis
MVP - Frank Spooner
Coaches Award - Sasha Leitch

Under 13 Boys - Fangs 
MVP - Marcus Williamson
Coaches Award - Oscar Pecht and Finn Whitaker

Under 15 Girls - Queens 
MVP - Yasmin Humphreys
Coaches Award - Ruby Lynch

Under 15 Girls - Auroras 
MVP - Danika Richards
Coaches Award - Uma Uprichard

A massive thank you to our parents/caregivers who car pooled, coached, operated scoreboards and managed our teams. Without your contributions we would not have been able to have such a successful inaugural season.

We are looking forward to a sensational 2022 campaign, and are on target for around 15 teams. 

Cudgen Headland SLSC

Since 2001 Surf Life Saving New South Wales has conducted a surf and water safety program for regional and remote students called Beach to Bush. This year, due to Covid, the program was delivered virtually. 

The Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club at Kingscliff was chosen as a Hub and broadcasted the program to over 20 schools. 

Six of our students, Fletcher Burdekin, Isabella Tate, Jules Loemker, Zoe Marshall, Isaac Deakes and Sienna Little, were chosen as lifesaving presenters for this program.

Duke of Edinburgh International Award

We are starting to receive some registrations being uploaded from our current Year 8 cohort. Please note there is no cut-off date with this award, with the exception of reaching the 25 years of age limit.

Please feel free to reach out to Mr Clucas for more information or a chat.

Two of our students - Hester Clark and Niamh Williams, had an overwhelming response to their Voluntary Service contributions at the Southern Beaches Community Gardens. Have a read here. 

Football - Sunshine Avenue Term One

Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School in conjunction with Total Football Academy are pleased to be  running the after-school program for soccer enthusiasts again in Term 1 2022 at the Junior School oval, Sunshine Avenue on Monday afternoons from 3.15pm to 4.15 pm.

Please see the attached flyer for full information. This will be capped at 60 students so it will be first in best dressed.

Sign up is available  for students from Kindergarten to Year 4  (2022 school year) through Parent Lounge under Events and Payments.

What a year it has been. As we look forward to borders reopening and being reunited with our friends and family, I would like to say THANK YOU.

To our students – thank you for being adaptable and resilient. We appreciate your dedication and determination. We look forward to working with you in 2022 to develop and strengthen your knowledge and skills.

To our parents and carers – thank you for your ongoing support of your students and our work. The collaboration between school and home makes for stronger students and is always appreciated.

To the English Faculty – thank you for being professional, collegial and always being student-focused. Your work is valued and appreciated.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Kylie Wharton
Acting Director of English

This Christmas our Year 8 Food Technology classes gave back to the community through The Ginger Bread Project. 40 of our students worked as a team, in mass-production, to batch, bake and decorate Ginger Bread for Fred’s Place. 

Gingerbread men, trees, and stars were packaged, labeled, and donated to the local charity. The edible gifts will be given out to the community who visit Fred’s Place over the next week. Well done to everybody involved!

Mrs Hayley McDonald and Mrs Caelie Drayson

Year 8 Students of Lindisfarne are the Future Architects of the Tiny House Industry

Tiny House living has become an architectural and social movement all over the world, and this term, Year 8 students at Lindisfarne have been tasked with researching and demonstrating the engineering and design principles behind this new way of living.

Students developed an understanding of current designs and then let their innovation and creativity run wild by modelling their designs in 3D CAD software – SketchUp. Some students have gone above and beyond by creating a real estate walkthrough video of their design. Please see below a few standout examples by Cameron Davis, Asher Drury and Joseph Maynard.

Gregory Dwyer
Design Technology Mandatory

メリークリスマス！

Merry Christmas!

KFC, Sponge Cake & Romance 

Year 5 students were surprised to learn this week that Christmas in Japan has a slightly different ‘flavour’ to what we may be used to in Australia. That flavour often comes from a special Christmas KFC feast and an ornately decorated cream-sponge Christmas cake. Keep in mind that Christmas is of course a Christian celebration and Japanese society’s beliefs are predominantly a combination of Shinto and Buddhist. So Christmas in Japan is less of a religious celebration and more of a time to spread happiness through gift-giving and perhaps even going on a date to view an illumination.

Christmas Carols & Origami

After exploring some of the similarities and differences between Japanese and Australian Christmas celebrations, the students enjoyed making some Christmas origami, including reindeer, Santa Claus and Christmas trees while listening to popular Japanese Christmas songs like ‘Merry Christmas for You’ by Aya Matsuura and traditional Christmas carols like ‘Silent Night’ and songs like ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ in Japanese. It was a lovely way to end the semester together!

ゴデン先生

Mrs.Godden

The leads for the 2022 musical ‘We Will Rock You’ have been cast. All auditions were submitted online this year because of restrictions and we were overwhelmed with the amazing content that was received by our talented students.

The ensemble cast has also been announced and we are excited to be working together to produce a dynamic performance in 2022

A fun holiday workshop will help to shape the musical ready for more rehearsals into Term 1.

Please congratulate the following students 

Galileo - Fergus Hogan

Scaramouche - Isla Martin 

Brit - Bodhi Neylon 

Oz - Romme Williams 

Killer Queen - Elise Matusch

Khashoggi - Tia Quagliata 

Buddy - Ronan Green 

It takes a team to put on a great show. A team of supporting cast and crew and teaching staff. 

Amy Skene
Director

2022 is shaping up to be a busy year for the school recording studio and Germinate Records. We have many exciting recording projects and community events locked-in and ready to go.

In February next year, we will be recording an episode of the Storykids podcast here at the school recording studio. Storykids is a podcast featuring celebrities who read stories written by school students. The podcast is presented in conjunction with The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation. 

The producers of Storykids are looking for a story from one of our talented young writers aged 9 - 14. The lucky author who is selected will have their story recorded by a local celebrity here at school. The episode will be filmed and will feature on the Storykids website & social media as well as our school social media and websites. Young authors are usually interviewed via zoom and are asked questions about their story and how they wrote it. 

 The project will also provide opportunities for students interested in the process of making a podcast. Students interested in taking part in the production of the episode should contact me directly (brett@germinaterecords.com).

 Here is a Channel Nine feature on the podcast as well as an episode featuring Tim Minchin.

 For details of how to enter, please see the information below. Students should be sure to mention that they are from Lindisfarne when entering. Good luck!

Brett Canning 
Recording Studio Producer

What another strange year 2021 has turned out to be!

However, let’s reflect on what we did achieve, despite the challenges we faced, and be grateful for all of the positives.

We should also start preparing ourselves for 2022 with some SMART goals … rather than numerous unrealistic resolutions …

SMART is an acronym for:

Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Relevant – Timed

Specific

This means the goal is clear and states exactly what you want to achieve. 

What: What do I want to accomplish?

Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

Who: Who is involved?

Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

Measurable

This means that the goal has to have criteria for measuring progress towards the attainment of the goal. This will help you stay motivated, reach target dates and experience the exhilaration of achievement 

How much improvement will I make?

How will I know when it is accomplished? (Target Dates)

Indicators should be quantifiable 

Achievable

Whilst an attainable goal may stretch you in order to achieve it, the goal is not extreme. 

That is, the goals are neither out of reach nor below standard performance, since these may be considered meaningless. 

• How can the goal be accomplished?
• How realistic is the goal based on other constraints?

Relevant 

It is important to choose goals that matter. A bank manager's goal to "Make 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by 2pm" may be specific, measurable, attainable and time-bound but lacks relevance. Relevant goals drive you forward. A goal that supports or is in alignment with other goals would be considered a relevant goal.

A relevant goal can answer yes to these questions:

• Does this seem worthwhile?
• Does this match your efforts/needs?

Time Framed

You need to have a target date for small, specific goals. A commitment to a deadline helps you focus your efforts on completing the goal on or before the due date. This part of the SMART goal criteria is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise. A time-bound goal is intended to establish a sense of urgency.

• What can I do today?
• What can I do six weeks from now?
• What can I do six months from now?
• What can I do in 12 months from now?

Good luck with your goal setting!

Have a happy, healthy and fabulously fun festive season with your family and friends.

The PDHPE Faculty

Merry Christmas 

As the 2021 school year winds down, it is well to remember that everyone thought that 2020 was as bad as things could get in terms of disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, here we are at the end of another year commiserating with Year 12 about how hard their year has been, worrying about crossing the Queensland border and weighing up whether we are brave enough to book an overseas holiday.

In a year when we thought we had put the pandemic behind us we are still grappling with mask wearing etiquette (does wearing a mask to visit a neighbour show that you are acting responsibly or is it considered unfriendly and antisocial? Do you wear a mask when you go to a church service or only when you are singing?). Likewise, can you drink standing up if you are double vaccinated but have your lemonade sitting down if you are not? The state borders are beginning to open up just as a new variant is beginning to swirl around the world. It is all very confusing and sometimes distressing. 

COP26 was another talkfest with no tangible outcome and served only to prove once again that perceived popular appeal still trumps scientific assessment and advice every time.

All in all we need some good news with which to finish off the year and head into Christmas. How about the discovery of a new frog right on our doorstep in Mt Warning national park? The male of this beautiful new species carries his precious tadpoles around in little pockets full of water until they turn into froglets. Then there was the successful coral spawning event on the Great Barrier Reef, the emergence of the desert spadefoot burrowing frog in the Simpson Desert for the first time in ten years and the sighting of bilbies outside the predator proof fence of Currawinya National Park for the first time since the park was established. These stories and more give us cause for optimism about the future and faith in the ability of the Earth to heal itself if it is given a chance.

As always, 2022 will arrive with many of the same old problems, a few new ones and a chance for each and every one of us to do something, however small, to make a difference.  

From all of us in the Science faculty to all of you, our students, colleagues and friends, may you enjoy a peaceful, Merry Christmas and a rational, Happy New Year in 2022.

Hamish Inksetter
Science Coordinator

Last week, we launched our Virtual HSC Art Exhibition. Due to level 3 restrictions this term and the uncertainty of being able to exhibit the work at school, we chose a virtual gallery format to share the remarkable work of our large cohort of 28 students with you, our school community.

The work showcases the variety of expressive forms our students are able to explore in Visual Art. The concepts they investigate through their work demonstrate what engaged and creative young citizens our artists are.

It's been an honour to work with Year 12 on their creative journeys and wonderful to have the option to curate student work in this gallery. We could not be prouder of them and would like to thank students for their continued effort in a very tough year and families for your dedicated support of your children in Visual Art. If you have any questions about how to navigate the space (full screen is best!), please be in touch and feel free to let us know what you think! 

Gallery Link: https://lindisfarne.artsteps.com/view/61956fa1c34011a56d15a60f

Bronwyn Dann
Acting Director of Visual Art

The Kokoda Youth Foundation is excited to announce our newest youth program; Digital Detox. Kids aged 12-14 years old will embark on a 9-day adventure at our Kokoda Park outdoor education facility in Laidley, Queensland where they will work with youth services staff and a professional counsellor to learn mindfulness techniques and how to have a healthy relationship with their device! Applications are open for everyone aged 12-14 to enrol in this free program.

Click on this link for more information.