Letter from Ruth Hoog-Antink:

I graduated from QAHS in 2010 and I didn’t know what I wanted to study at uni so I decided to do a gap year and take a few short uni courses in all the things I wondered if I might be interested in. First I did Architecture at UTS in Sydney, and then I did a few short courses at Berkeley in California, and now I’m at Harvard in Boston where I’m taking Evolutionary Psychology and Multivariable Calculus in the summer session. These are regular first-year Harvard courses, and if I pass I’ll get credit towards a degree at Harvard (though I’ve not applied for or been admitted to Harvard undergrad and I’ve already decided that I’ll go back and do my first degree in Australia next year). Soon after I got here a few weeks ago, I wrote to some of my teachers at QAHS to thank them for helping me to get in, and then Ms Sleeman asked me to write a little bit about my Harvard experience for the QAHS newsletter.

Well I’m living in the freshman residence and sharing a room with a girl from Texas who is majoring in Chemistry. As far as I know, I’m the only Australian here for the summer session. The lectures are interesting but challenging and there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t remember and draw on something taught to me by my teachers when I was at QAHS, especially by Ms Rohde, Mr Fox or Mr Marshall for my current courses. In fact if I hadn’t done the IB, I doubt I’d be able to cope here at all. Not that it’s a picnic or a holiday, but so far I’m managing to do ok. There is a lot of support for summer students including free tutoring, and lots of extracurriculars including bus trips to other unis in this part of the US (eg Princeton). I’ve made some good friends and have seen quite a bit of Boston. The atmosphere around Harvard is quite indescribable - kind of makes you want to study even when you don’t feel like it. If you are in Year 12 this year and getting fed up with the IB and wondering how what you’re studying is relevant to anything you’ll ever do in life (and I know how that feels….), keep in mind that the IB is actually preparing you to do something pretty amazing - like studying for a semester at somewhere like Harvard!

Curious as to where your assessment is going to be marked? See the video below!

Students at QAHS participated in the Leukaemia Foundation World’s Greatest Shave by Spraying their hair in their House colours today. Fun was had by all students and all money raised going to research Leukaemia.

Stamping out bullying is the responsibility of us all. It’s not just teachers, principals and bosses who carry the responsibility to create non-threatening learning and working environments, it’s also the job of every parent, student and co-worker to draw attention to intimidation so that both the bullied and the bully can receive the help they need.

QAHS participated in Say No to Bullying today by wearing orange.

The student executive in 2009 proposed the introduction of a House System for the Academy.  After a great deal of discussion, the student body voted at the end of last year and the House System is commencing in 2010.  There was a great deal of excitement last Wednesday when students were informed via the electronic noticeboards as to which house they had been allocated.  The allocation of students and QAHS staff was randomly done by Mr Pickering.

The four houses are:
Ignis (fire) – Ruby colour
Aqua (water) – Sapphire colour
Ventus (wind) – Topaz (yellow) colour
Terra (earth) – Emerald colour

It was decided to have 2 House Captains (Year 12) and 2 Vice House Captains (Year 11) and nominations for these positions closed last Wednesday.  Students will be voting for these positions next week.  Students can gain points for their house from entry into various competitions, challenges and events both at the Academy, locally or nationally.   Our first House meetings will be held after assembly on Tuesday.

There will be a trophy at the end of the Year for the House with the most points – good luck to each house for 2010.

This week we have presented to each student a name badge. It is a special token of what it means to be a student at QAHS.

We talk about this being an adult environment where we together decide on how many things work. From day 1 students have taken responsibility for governance of many facets of the school. This has included decisions on the uniform and the behaviour expectations of the school community. In all this, students have sent the message clearly that they wish to be treated as adults, in a professional environment. Guests to our school always comment on students’ behaviour in this light.

This badge provide students and visitors with the invitation to address each other in an adult manner. It provides us as a community with the opportunity for all staff and students to address each other by their names as we grow from a community of 250.  All incoming students will receive these badges as they arrive each year and take them with them as they leave. It is another token of the respect we have for students in our community and our belief in their ability to act as adults in a professional environment.

Ms Leanne Nixon, Principal