How easily are you distracted from what you are doing when you get a notification on your phone? How strong is your self control to not look to see what it is until you have finished what you are doing?

I suspect for many people, a buzz or ding on your phone or laptop grabs your attention immediately and leads to you reading and responding to the message, email or post you have been alerted to. Some of you would have a healthy relationship with work emails, social media and other notifications.

Adolescents, however, find these things much harder to ignore. It has been shown in studies that having a phone on a desk reduces attention and learning even if it isn’t alerting students of a notification. We also know that there is a connection between phone use (especially social media) and poor mental health in adolescents. For these reasons, this week we have begun to expand our no phone policy, extending it to the time students arrive at school. We know that we can have positive impacts on the learning and mental health of our students by making school a phone free zone.

Year 12 Extension Science Presentations

Chloe H and William R are dedicated science students at GPCC, enrolled in Year 12 Science Extension, along with Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

In January this year, they participated in SciX, a program by UNSW in Sydney designed to immerse Science Extension students in university-level scientific research. During this program, they joined the nanomaterials for medicine research group for a week, where they synthesized and characterized the physicochemical properties of gold nanoparticles using techniques such as absorbance spectroscopy and electron microscopy. Nanoparticles have applications in medicine and across various industries due to their unique properties.

Having acquired these skills, Chloe and William are continuing their independent research at GPCC under the guidance of their teacher, Dr. Langley. Chloe is exploring the antibacterial properties of silver nanoparticles with the goal of developing a water filtration system that utilizes these nanoparticles for purification. William is studying the potential adverse effects of gold and silver nanoparticles on the germination and growth of mustard seeds, considering the environmental accumulation of nanoparticles over time.

In Week 5 of Term 2, they presented a progress report to a small audience and aim to complete their research by early September

Bake Sale

Please support our Bake Sale on Thursday 6 June to support the Bali Life Foundation. 

Students that are going on the Bali Life Trip will be selling baked goods at recess outside the MPC. Prices range from 50c - $2. 

Year 7 History Exhibiton

The Treasures of Ancient Egypt Exhibition has been displayed in our Library this past week featuring over 110 intriguing objects including canopic jars, Tutankhamun’s gold sandals and death mask and the momentous Rosetta Stone.

Congratulations to our Year 7 students that have worked hard on these, and produced some fabulous work. 

Youth in Performing Arts (YIPA)

Senior Music Students from GPCC were well represented at Youth In Performing Arts Annual concerts where aspiring musicians, dancers, and other creative Arts students are given the opportunity to perform at Laycock Street theatre.

The students performed brilliantly showing the diverse range of talents that GPCC can generate every year.

Below is a list of these talented individuals:

Year 11 Performances

Dance: Monique C

Music

Year 11 – Murder on the Dancefloor

Olivia S, Sonny S, Leila C, Isaiah C, Sienna S, Sophie S, Zachary S

Year 11 - Linger

Joshua R, Jeremy R, Matilda W, Amelia H, Dominic H, Kendall L

Year 11 Solo Guitar

Christian N

Year 12 Performances

Year 12 Solo guitar

Samuel F

Jessica H / vocal (original song)

Year 12 Solo Piano

Aiden D

Year 12 – Armandos Rhumba

Joshua A, Aiden D, Bailey P, Samuel F

Year 12   Solo Vocal

Bailey P – Your Song

Grace T – The Ballad of John Doe

Also featured was Elise Leonard our vocal tutor singing Sway.

Well done to all these students who excelled over the four nights of performances.

Our group is growing. Such fun each Thursday at Crochet Group in the Library. All welcome.  

Advancedlife Photography Orders 

Please note: There is a delay on the Secondary photo orders due to a supply issue of the plastic inserts that the photos are slotted into. We hope to receive the photos in two weeks time. Advancedlife and GPCC apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Year 7: School Vaccination Program - 4 June 2024

If your child is in Year 7 this year, you can now provide online consent for their routine school vaccinations.
 
In Year 7, students are offered free vaccines for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV).
In Year 10, students are offered the meningococcal ACWY vaccine.

This year our Year 7 Vaccination Clinic date at GPCC is:
Year 7 - HPV and dTpa - Tuesday 4 June 2024

Year 10 – Meningococcal ACWY were conducted in February. Students who missed their vaccination may do a catch-up on 4 June if parent consent has been given.

Vaccination will only be provided at school if consent has been received.

How to provide consent:

1. To complete online consent for your child’s school vaccinations, visit: https://nswhealth.service-now.com/school
2. Follow the steps to log in to your existing ServiceNSW account. This is the same account you may already use to renew your driver’s licence. If you don’t have a ServiceNSW account, refer to ServiceNSW to create one. 
3. Update or confirm your personal details in ServiceNSW as required. 
4. Complete the School Vaccination Consent Form for your child/ren. You will need to:  
   1. Enter your child’s personal details 
   2. Provide the Medicare card details for you and your child  
   3. Read the linked Parent Information Sheet and privacy statement
   4. Provide consent  

If you or your child do not have a Medicare card, consent can still be provided by requesting a paper-based consent form directly from your child’s school.
The benefits of providing consent online:

• easily update your child’s details
• receive SMS and/or email notifications when vaccinations are given 
• faster upload of vaccination records to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

For more information on routine school vaccinations, please visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/schoolvaccination.
If you require information in your language, please visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation/Pages/school_vaccination_language.aspx