A passion for science has seen Trinity Anglican School (TAS) graduates 2011 Henry Harding and Sally Graham (both pictured) compete as two of only 16 finalists in the prestigious 2012 BHP Billiton Science Awards held in Melbourne from 4-7 February.

Henry's project which investigated Human Echolocation and Sally's project investigating Cranial Collisions in Rugby both achieved Silver CSIRO CREST Awards and subsequently were chosen as two of the 16 national finalists in the 2012 BHP Billiton Science Awards.

Henry's project, 'An Investigation into Human Echolocation', considered echolocation (the use of echoes to analyse surroundings) and evaluated the capability of humans to use it.

Sally's project, 'Cranial Collisions in Rugby', tested the protective effects of different types of headgear worn while playing rugby and similar sports.

"We are extremely proud of Henry and Sally and congratulate them on this wonderful achievement. As a school we are very proud of our science curriculum which has afforded our students opportunities such as this," said TAS Principal Christopher Daunt Watney.

TAS students are frequent entrants inThe BHP Billiton Science Awards which are Australia's most acclaimed student science awards recognising students who have undertaken practical research projects demonstrating innovative investigative approaches using scientific methods.

Trinity Anglican School provides a variety of bus services to transport students to and from TAS White Rock and TAS Kewarra Beach. The services are operated by TAS' bus fleet partnered with chartered operaters and offer the following return routes:

• Innisfail to White Rock
• Gordonvale to White Rock
• Port Douglas to White Rock and Kewarra Beach
• Northern Beaches to White Rock
• Cairns City and Suburbs to White Rock (Suburbs include Palm Cove, Clifton Beach, Kewarra Beach, Trinity Beach, Trinty Park, Smithfiled, Caravnica, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach, Redlynch, Freshwater, Stratford.)  

Loves Bus service offers a variety of services for students travelling to and from TAS White Rock from inner city suburbs. For more infromation visit www.lovesbus.com.au.

There are no Government subsidies available on TAS bus services or TAS contracted bus services. Subsidies may be available on some State Government school services.TAS reserves the right to change the bus services.

For more information regarding TAS bus services contact Kathy Hennigan on 4036 8120.

My School 2 has been launched and not without some considerable early controversy mainly to do with inaccuracies in the data.

The major issue that I have with the new iteration of My School is that the data are not consistent and suitably validated in any transparent manner. ICSEA scores which changed from the first edition to this mean that it is not possible to compare year on year performance because the basket of ‘similar schools' has changed from My School 1 to My School 2. In addition to that, where previous assessments of student populations were made on ABS data that had been rigorously validated, the new ICSEA scores are based on data that have not been validated in any transparent way. One of the schools that apparently has a similar population profile to TAS (which of course does not include educational context and whole school environment) is the Sydney Distance Education Primary School. It might be pointed out that ‘serving similar student populations' does not equate to similarity of school cohorts.

My School was initially intended to be a site that focussed on education and academic measurement. It has become a political site that is focussed on money and one has to question the figures published when it is clear that many schools dispute their figures and in one case - where the school involved refused to sign off on its figures which ACARA in its wisdom published anyway - My School overstates their recurrent income by $1m and the recurrent income per student by $1000. These are significant errors that throw the accuracy of the whole site into doubt. On the financial side, it is revealing that the chairman of ACARA has indicated that debate might be ignited about how the resources committed to education are spent by the State bureaucracies, "It is not only going to be parents who might be surprised, some principals of government schools might be surprised about how much is being spent on their behalf centrally."

Once again, I can only observe that essentially it is not possible to capture all that it is that makes the school what it is, in a set of numbers. The apparent transparency touted by the minister is in fact an illusion. It is only transparent in that any close scrutiny will see through it.

Christopher Daunt Watney

The Federal Government's 'My School' website was launched on the 28th January 2010 with Version 2 launched on 4th March 2011. Below are links to a variety of media stories and comments regarding the My School Website and NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) and are provided for your information.

New My School Data Questioned by Independent Schools 132.85 Kb - ISQ Media Release 3 March 2011

My School Website Version 2 Comment - TAS Principal Christopher Daunt Watney Comment, 4 March 2011

My School Website Version 1 Comment - TAS Principal Christopher Daunt Watney Comment, 28 January 2010

• Auditor-General Inquiry needed into 'My School' - Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education, 6 December 2010
• CEO concerned over My School website changes - The Catholic Weekly, 5 December 2010
• Website delay a win, claim independent schools - Justine Ferrari and Lanai Vasek, The Australian, 3 December 2010.
• My School 2.0 delayed until 2011 - Josh Taylor, ZDNet.com.au, 3 December 2010.
• Uproar over My School Rankings - Jewel Topsfield, The Age, 2 December 2010.
• Schools caught cheating on tests -  Jenny Dillion, The Daily Telegraph, 2 December 2010.
• My School is fatally flawed - Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph, 2 December 2010.
• Naplan and My School: Call to Scrap Like School Comparisons on My School - Trevor Cobbold, Save Our Schools, 23 November 2010.
• Private schools' fury over MySchool website - Matthew Franklin and Lanai Vasek, The Australian, 26 November, 2010.
• Site 'an utter mess' - Lanai Vasek, The Australian, November 27, 2010.

Sources:

• www.aisq.qld.edu.au
• www.acsso.org.au

The TAS Early Learning Centre is located opposite the TAS White Rock Junior School reception.

The TAS Kindergarten programme introduces children to the values and ethos of TAS and provides a smooth transition into their first full year of schooling at TAS.

TAS Early Learning Centre is a safe education and care facility that is linked to the rest of the school so students are able to access many of the school's resources as part of their introduction to TAS including the Library, Multi-Purpose Hall and the Bishop Centre for Performing Arts.

The TAS Early Learning Centre:

• Offers a Queensland Government funded program run by a qualified Early Childhood Teacher
• Offers a high quality education and care centre provided by a dedicated team of qualified staff.
• Provides an adult to child ratio above minimum requirements to allow more individualised engagement for each child.
• Offers a balance of structured and spontaneous, teacher and child initiated learning opportunities to develop children's skills, knowledge and interest in the world around them.
• Provides stimulating and dynamic indoor and outdoor play spaces, allowing children to explore, discover, investigate and learn.
• Provides an environment focused on a smoother transition to the larger TAS community
• Is a well resourced Education and Care centre.
•  Download the TAS Early Learning Centre Handbook. 1.11 Mb

TAS Early Learning Centre is an approved Queensland Government Kindergarten programme provider. The Centre uses a play-based, emergent curriculum which is guided by The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) Belonging, Being, Becoming and The Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines.

The programme offers a balance of; child-initiated, group interest and intentional teaching learning experiences designed for children in the year prior to their first year of school. During a Kindergarten day, children typically transition through; two sustained play periods (inside and outside) two structured Group Times, Morning Tea, Lunch and Rest Time.

A Finger Gym, Perceptual Motor Program (PMP) and Oral Language Programme are integrated into the Kindergarten week in order to nurture children's skills in preparation for future learning. Kindergarten children visit the TAS Library weekly to develop and foster their interest in books, story telling and shared reading.

TAS Kindergarten promotes holistic learning. We believe;

• Children have a strong sense of identity.
• Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
• Children have a strong sense of wellbeing.
• Children are confident and involved learners.
• Children are effective communicators.