Silkwood High School in Gold Coast, Queensland | High School

Silkwood High School

Locality: Gold Coast, Queensland

Phone: +61 7 5655 0300

Address: 39 Shepherd Hill Lane 4211 Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.silkwood.qld.edu.au

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25.01.2022 Year 12 Wild Mob conservation expedition, Motutapu Island. On Day 4 we accomplished a lot of work! A couple of the students helped tighten a kilometre of fencing while the rest of us tidied up around a heritage homestead and cleared blown-in plastic off fences. We had a vet visit to talk about the work he’s doing with the endangered shore plover (only 3 pairs are currently breeding on the island) and we talked about other endangered species doing well here, including the takahe bird. In the afternoon we did some upkeep along a native habitat trail - unblocking drainage pipes, pruning overhanging canopy, clearing branches and leaf litter along 3km of trail. We’ve had lots of experience doing this back at school, so job well done! Kalindi

24.01.2022 High School students seek donations to support women in need this Christmas. Please help by leaving any of these items with either Silkwood reception by Friday 23 November: preloved handbags in good condition... unopened toiletries, such as... shampoo conditioner body wash soap toothbrush toothpaste sanitary goods hairbrush other personal care items For more about supporting women in need this Christmas, visit https://www.sharethedignity.com.au/christmas-charity/

23.01.2022 Year 12 have landed in New Zealand for their conservation expedition in the Hauraki Islands. Today was Auckland exploration day and Fraser our city itinerary coordinator organised for us to hire bikes and make use of the extensive cycle network. After doing a circuit of the city, we made our way along the harbour front to Mission Bay and up to Achilles Point to take in the views. We enjoyed fish and chips for lunch in the park, followed by a decadent giapo ice cream after our big ride - about 30km in total! Kalindi

23.01.2022 Year 12 honed their Defensive Driving skills at Willowbank Training Centre today. They were taken through basic engine check and maintenance (including tyres), plus setting up the driver’s seat and steering wheel for best technique and safety purposes. With expert guidance, they drove a range of vehicles (manual/automatic) through circuits and obstacles to practice using peripheral vision, working on cornering, effective braking and varying speeds. There was lots of valuable insight and information shared about driving rules, potential dangers, driving under the influence and navigating hazards. A fantastic day of confidence building, expert instruction, practical application and a whole lot of fun! Kalindi

22.01.2022 Yesterday thousands of school children marched to demand climate action from our government. At Silkwood we actively encourage our students to use their voice t...o make a difference, in fact it is our motto! Today we proudly share this video made by our students as Silkwood’s contribution to the student voices advocating for environmental change. Please rise with them and share this video far and wide... their message matters See more

22.01.2022 We look forward to gathering family and friends of our Silkwood community on Friday afternoon. Browse 30 stalls and enjoy a picnic in the park, live music, and a variety of free games and activities including a jumping castle, face painting, and giant Jenga. With unique, locally made products available, do some Christmas gift shopping too! Stalls open for business at 4pm, but we encourage you to relax and enjoy the Country Paradise Parklands straight after school. Please brin...g your gold coins and support a local charity, Friends with Dignity. A gold coin donation upon entry to the market would be greatly appreciated. Any changes due to the weather will be communicated via text, email and on social media.

21.01.2022 Max from Year 11 receiving a young indigenous leader award at his exhibition yesterday. Over the last couple of years, Max has been on a journey of learning about and connecting to his Aboriginal identity. He has recognised and embraced the responsibility he has to be a leader and taken opportunities to venture into the unknown to increase his knowledge and extend his network. He is a QATSIF senior scholarship holder, has a traineeship at NAB through an indigenous program and in recent months found himself in Canberra at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for a week long immersion in culture and politics. So proud of Max for finding the courage to embark on this journey of growth and share it with others. Kalindi

21.01.2022 Eden from Year 11 has just signed up for a school-based traineeship at Threeworlds! They manufacture fire twirling and circus gear and djembe drums, plus stock a large range of musical instruments for wholesale and retail. To complement her traineeship, Eden will study a Certificate 3 in Business with an ICT focus. She will be mostly based at the warehouse to support their online business work. Threeworlds have been friends of Silkwood for 17 years, helping Year 6 with their drum making projects and the many fire performance elements woven into our Winter Festivals. Eden is a wonderful fit with the Threeworlds team and she is already thriving in their positive, fun and engaging work environment. Kalindi

21.01.2022 ‘Bush Interaction for Learning’ field trip for Australian Association for Environmental Education 2018 conference delegates - facilitated by Kalindi and Mel and Ben from Numinbah Valley Environmental Ed. Centre. We explored Silkwood’s beautiful native habitats engaging in place responsive activities to build connections to self, others and environment, led by Year 12 students Fraser, Ethan and Kalila. Fraser continued with the group as we journeyed into Numinbah Valley and Springbrook National Park to extend the deep ecology interaction. Proud teacher moment when Fraser was invited to run the end-of-day guided reflection for the group. An inspiring day in the field with connected, passionate and diversely skilled educators and students. Kalindi

20.01.2022 Make sure you've liked our Silkwood School page to see future posts from the High School

20.01.2022 Year 12 - Day 2 Motutapu Island (Sacred Island). In the morning we worked at the nursery transferring & potting natives and cleaning up the various nursery zones. The students were very productive & accomplished 2 days worth of work by lunchtime! In the afternoon we crossed over to Rangitoto Island to walk through lava fields and up to the peak. From here we viewed the volcano crater and could see 360 degree views of Auckland and other islands. Kalindi

20.01.2022 Year 12 - Day 5 Wild Mob conservation expedition. WE RELEASED THREE KIWI INTO THE WILD!!! Because Motutapu is now a predator-free island and native habitat zones have been restored, young kiwis are being reintroduced. We prepared the burrows for them and met the Department of Conservation boat with kiwis onboard. We had a Maori elder from the local iwi conduct a welcome for the taonga (treasured) birds into their new home. We were able to name two of them (male and female), ...so we named them ‘Silky’ & ‘Woody’ in honour of us coming from Silkwood School. A very special conclusion to our time on the island. The people we have worked with from Wild Mob and the Motutapu Restoration Trust have been warm, welcoming and exceedingly generous in sharing their passion for conserving islands in the Hauraki Gulf. The students were very well received and impressed the team immensely with their positive attitude, work ethic and enthusiasm to engage. Fantastic Youth Ambassadors for Wild Mob and Silkwood. Kalindi (photos in reverse - for added kiwi impact!) See more

19.01.2022 Year 12 enjoyed their outing to the ‘Somerset Celebration of Entrepreneurship’. We sat in on interactive and inspiring presentations from Yasmin who started the ‘World’s Biggest Garage Sale’ initiative, which is a profit for purpose business; John Surie from ‘FireShaper’ who shared his perspective on how possibilities become probabilities; and Navdeep (pictured) from ‘iYouth’ who modelled how to find someone’s passion point and spark their enthusiasm to engage. It is always energising to see people in action who love what they’re doing while getting paid! Kalindi

19.01.2022 Big thanks to Grant from Inspired Financial Planning for bringing his energy and enthusiasm for developing financial literacy to our Year 12 students. They have loved his weekly workshops throughout Terms 3 and 4 and feel much more money savvy and ready to manage their own finances. Today we celebrated the journey with some gratitude and a shared morning tea. Kalindi

15.01.2022 Congratulations to our Year 12 graduates of 2018! We are so proud of you all for journeying this far and wish you all the best for the future.

14.01.2022 Year 12 - Wild Mob conservation expedition in NZ. With picture-perfect conditions on Day 3, we had the unique opportunity to visit the Noises Islands in the Hauraki Gulf. These privately owned islands are exclusively given over for Wildlife conservation and as such, very few people visit them, so a real treat for our Year 12 students to explore. It is a penguin breeding site and we saw plenty of burrows and even sighted a penguin swimming in the ocean! We traversed a biodiverse island through pristine sub-tropical rainforest and learnt about the reintroduced species thriving there. Then after lunch we swam, snorkelled and explored the coastline. A very special day. Kalindi

14.01.2022 Successful Marine Debris Clean-up run by Year 11 student Charlie Hamblyn. Here's her reflection about the day. 'Last Friday I organised and took a team of five keen Year 11 students out to Burleigh Heads beach to conduct a beach clean-up and debris auditing workshop. As a Wild Mob Youth Ambassador, I decided to run this event to get some students involved with cleaning up their local beaches and helping their local communities. I also wanted to prepare for the upcoming Youth... Ambassador Mackay campaign that involves a huge community audit of debris collected from islands in the Great Barrier Reef. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW261dxs_fs We grouped up in the morning at the Memorial Park and went over the required safety precautions, clean up tips and the day's plan. Then we set off to perform a thorough beach clean-up, covering from around the main beach area to the rocky headland, which is roughly an 800m stretch. At the end of the day after two and a half hour clean up, some of the things included in the four collection bags were: 80 bits of glass, 30 cigarette butts and 40 plastic food packaging items. After a successful audit, the data was sent off to the Tangaroa Blue database.'

14.01.2022 Year 8 students enjoying some guided reflection time down by the creek. Working with Year 12 students Harrison and Kalila, they explored their strengths in a nature context, using practical tools to vary perspectives on how we view what’s happening within and around us. Learning in the Silkwood environment is always special. Kalindi

13.01.2022 Outstanding achievement by Ethan, Kalila & Waimarie to have attained their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award - in addition to their Bronze & Silver Awards.

13.01.2022 Longtime arts mentor and former Silkwood teacher Alyson working with Year 12 student Sophia on developing her fine art skills. Sophia has been exploring fashion design this year and wants to extend her ability to visually communicate fabric diversity using different mediums. This week they focused on creating texture and shade with water colours. Kalindi

12.01.2022 Congratulations to these young creatives. Their book, Gone Astray, was awarded Best Illustrated at the Write a Book in a Day competition. They had just twelve hours to write and illustrate a book from start to finish! Gone Astray will be published and donated to children in hospitals all around Australia. It will also be available in the school library.

11.01.2022 That’s our girl! Year 9 entrepreneurial student Kea making a name for herself with her amazing cake making business ‘A Piece of Cake by Kea’. This business and passion for baking is interwoven into her learning program at Silkwood too. We’re proud of you Kea and well done for getting this recognition of your talent, creativity and hard work. Kalindi

10.01.2022 Over recent months, two of our Year 12 students have been working with the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, linked to their personal learning goals of becoming full-time firefighters. Harrison Tippett has been deployed to Esk, Townsville, Sunshine Coast and Cairns fighting bushfires, as a member of Bonogin Rural Fire Brigade supporting QFES crews. Fraser Kemp has been working with the Gold Coast Burns Team as a member of Guanaba Rural Fire Brigade, helping with controlled burns in the SE Qld. region. Both these young men have been volunteering with their brigades since they were 16-years old and have had extensive training and experience in the Fire Services. We’re proud of their efforts to support local communities and to be deemed skilled enough for deployment to fire events. Kalindi

08.01.2022 Congratulations Sophia (Yr. 12), Bianca (Yr. 11) and Jaymee-Lee (Yr. 10) for completing their Certificate 3 in Tourism / Hospitality and traineeship at Village Roadshow (Movieworld & Seaworld)! These young women are all hard working, focused & motivated, with excellent social skills. An added treat was seeing Bianca awarded the ‘most valuable person’ award by her trainers for her exemplary efforts at Seaworld. It was wonderful to see Sophia, Bianca and Jaymee-Lee graduate with their peers tonight and celebrate this milestone. We’re very proud of you! Kalindi

08.01.2022 Pop in for a cuppa and stay for the SCCA AGM on Thursday morning. No need to RSVP.

07.01.2022 Lovely words we received today from long time parent and Silkwood community champion, Anahera Walsh. Hi All, I am a proud Mama right here. Kea Walsh from Year 9 is kicking goals this year with her earlier article with the GC Bulletin and then an interview with both Channels 7 & 9, which aired last night on the 5:30pm News. We have been at Silkwood since 2007 and started with both kids from Prep and now into the High School. I have also been involved with this school on va...rious projects over the years working with amazing founding teachers like Kalindi, Alicia, Till, Shaun, Gabby; just to name a few. From the days of the yellow straw golden path to what it is today. It has been an amazing journey. Without Valerie and her team’s vision and striving for the stars, I really don’t know where we would be today. Silkwood for me was more than just a school it actually became like a family to me. My husband and I are expats and have no family here, so we were it. And when you are not from Australia you tend to make communities part of your family. That is what Silkwood is to us and our small family of four. So thank you Valerie and everyone who have been part of our lives. I’m feeling the feels today!!! I have attached Channel 9's News Clip as I cant seem to do that with Channel 7's link. https://www.9news.com.au//gold-coast-teen-kea-walsh-cake-b

07.01.2022 The end of Shepherd Hill Lane is, sadly, a regular rubbish dumping site. Thanks to the Year 9/10 Bush Regeneration Group, 12 tires and a tray-load of rubbish has been cleared from this pocket of bushland that leads into our creek. Students are keen to take action, declaring and sign-posting the site a ‘no dumping’ zone. Congratulations Silkwood students. Another community project success story!

07.01.2022 Year 12 have arrived on Motutapu Island to begin their 5-day conservation expedition with Wild Mob. Working with the Motutapu Restoration Trust we graded native plants in the nursery and undertook some invasive species removal in a degraded patch of land. Interspersed with tracts of native habitats is a working sheep and cattle farm. We are right amongst it in our Shearer’s Hut accommodation and enjoying the rolling green hills complemented by dense vegetation. We explored a battery (gun emplacements) from World War 2 and took on the ‘Flying Kiwi’ at the Outdoor Recreation Centre in the afternoon. Kalindi

07.01.2022 Fantastic event held on the High School site to celebrate 20years of Land for Wildlife!

06.01.2022 Harrison (Yr. 12) and Jayden (Yr. 11) started work experience at Telwater today! They are the largest manufacturer of aluminium boat and trailer packages in the Southern Hemisphere. Harrison and Jayden are keen boaties and welders and have been recommended by their trainer Adam (pictured) to explore industry opportunities. Excited for the possibilities ahead for these young men. Kalindi

06.01.2022 October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. Thomas Edison, Stephen Spielberg, and F. Scott Fitzgerald are among many brilliant people with dyslexia. There is no cure for dyslexia, which is caused by a different wiring of the brain. Individuals with it need to learn coping strategies. Research shows that dyslexia has no relationship to intelligence. In fact, the way individuals with dyslexia think can be an asset. ... Ref. https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-at-a-glance/

05.01.2022 Congratulations to Charlie and Zara from Year 11 for successfully completing their Head-start Biology Course at Southern Cross University (SCU). They are shown here with senior students from other participating schools at the presentation ceremony. Successful completion of an early entry uni course will mean they can look forward to being offered a place at SCU, post Year 12. Well done to Charlie and Zara for putting in the effort and commitment required to engage in the Head-start program. Kalindi

05.01.2022 Year 11 students working with long-time Silkwood mentor Paul Craft and Rite Journey leader Dan Byron to learn about and create stone tools. Using traditional indigenous materials they crafted a knife - breaking stone to create the perfect sharp edge, crafting a wooden handle and securing with plant resin. Aboriginal Science in action today! Kalindi

04.01.2022 Silkwood senior students and alumni presenting at the Australian Association for Environmental Education 2018 conference. These young folk are Wild Mob Youth Ambassadors and readying to launch their annual campaign in the Great Barrier Reef to address the problem of accumulated marine debris. They shared their journey and perspectives as environmental ambassadors and advocates for change, inspired by the experiential learning opportunities and authentic community engagement they connected with at Silkwood. What an amazing group of diverse and active leaders making a difference through their shared passion for the environment. Kalindi

03.01.2022 And it’s a wrap for Year 12 Camp! We returned to Auckland for the weekend and continued our city adventures. We visited the night markets for street food and live music on Friday night and retired early after a big week. On Saturday morning, Fraser - our itinerary coordinator - had us exploring the marina before boarding a ferry to Davenport. As we arrived, we saw a flotilla of yachts sail by; including two that sailed in the America’s Cup. We walked up to North Head to visi...t the Naval Museum and gun emplacements atop the hill and took in the Remembrance Day tributes. We loved the spectacular views, especially looking back on Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands, our recent home. After lunch, we decided to watch an afternoon movie at ‘The Vic’ and enjoyed a Mexican meal with two of our new island friends in the evening. This morning undertook our final wander of the city and hit the retro & vintage shops on ‘K Road’. We’ve had a fantastic time together and it’s been a memorable, meaningful expedition to undertake prior to graduation. Kalindi See more