Around the Classrooms at RGS Highlights

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Scientific Amazement

RGS Headmaster Dr

Phillip Moulds shared his passion of Science with the three RGS Prep classes during Term 2. The young scientists watched on in awe as Dr Moulds amazed the students with experiments featuring chemical reactions - looking at solids, liquids and gas. The Prep students also enjoyed a picnic under the stars this term to expand on their Science knowledge. The students, and their families, gathered on the School’s bottom oval to learn more about constellations.

Bugs on Parade

Year 1 students became miniature entomologists and immersed themselves in the world of bugs and celebrated with a Bug Ball! Little heads are now bursting with factual knowledge. Did you know …

– Bees can fly up to 100kms a day to gather nectar.

– Insects have inhabited our planet for about 350 million years.

– About a third of all insect species are carnivores and hunt for live food.

– If humans were as strong as ants, we could carry about 4.5 tonnes in weight.

– Ancient dragonflies had a wingspan of about 60 cm and were fierce predators.

Building Connections

Entering Year 7 can be an exciting and life changing time at RGS, and as in life, also presents many opportunities and challenges to grow. The RGS Outdoor Education Year 7 programme is designed specifically for students to be given the best chance of making their experiences filled with new opportunities that develop their character through challenging endeavours, whilst at the same time sharing this with their class Form Teacher and mentoring Form Seniors. Students are encouraged to try new things, meet new people, work on team building and have fun!

Speed Machines

CO2 dragsters are miniature balsa wood racing cars that are propelled up to 60 kph along a 20 metre track using carbon dioxide ‘soda’ cartridges. This unit provides a unique, interactive and exciting way for students to learn about physics, engineering concepts and the design process to build a race car that meets a rigorous set of specifications. Students design, build, test, evaluate and redesign their own dragster after exploring the concepts of aerodynamics, friction, drag and weight distribution. Creativity, critical thinking and teamwork are required. The highlight of all CO2 dragster programme is race day.

Glowing Success

Bacterial transformation required the Year 12 Biology students to perform a heat shock treatment to induce the bacteria to uptake the plasmid containing the Ampicillin resistance gene and a jellyfish fluorescent protein gene. Transformed bacteria were then grown on agar containing the antibiotic Ampicillin and the IPTG ‘switch’ to turn on the green fluorescent protein so that the bacteria would glow in the presence of UV light.

Thank you RGS sponsors for sharing with us our mission of developing whole people through a balance of academic, sporting, co-curricular and social activities.

If you would like to become a sponsor of RGS Sports or any co-curricular activity please contact Todd Wells, Director of Co-Curricular on 0488 778 300 or email twells@rgs.qld.edu.au

The values that we espouse at The Rockhampton Grammar School are more than just words; they are our school’s foundation and guide all that we do.

These values are essential for preparing our students for their future success and providing the foundation for their role as members of their communities.

At RGS, our ambition is to develop and grow young people to be intelligent, independent, interdependent, creative thinkers who are hopeful, resilient, innovative, globally minded, and successful lifelong learners. Our values play an essential role in successfully achieving this ambition.

The RGS values of:

Integrity and Honour are evident when we are honest, principled, and trustworthy in all that we do.

Respect and Care are evident when we value the worth of people and property and treat people with consideration, compassion, acceptance, and empathy, or as we would like to be treated ourselves.

Endeavour and Responsibility are evident when we work hard, try new things, are reliable team members and are accountable for our words and actions.

Courage and Resilience are evident when we are prepared to take responsible risks to advance our learning and support others, and we have good coping strategies for when things go wrong.

I am proud to say that our students live these values daily. They are curious and engaged learners. They are kind and respectful to each other. They are compassionate and helpful. And they are making a difference in their community.

We are committed to upholding our values and ensuring they are lived out daily in our school community. Our values are the foundation of our school, and we are proud to be a school that is guided by these.

By supporting our efforts to promote these values, together, we can help a generation of young people be the best possible version of themselves and positively impact the world.

The Rockhampton Grammar School takes seriously the challenge of preparing students for today’s world. We treat each student as a whole person through a balance of academic, sporting, co-curricular and social activities. Our School motto is Macte Virtute et Litteris or Grow in Character and Scholarship.

Capricornus Quarterly is published by:

The Rockhampton Grammar School

Archer Street, Rockhampton

QLD 4700, Australia www.rgs.qld.edu.au

(+61) 07 4936 0600

ISSN 1839-4663

©2022 The Rockhampton Grammar School

Dr Phillip Moulds, Headmaster

07 4936 0615 Headmaster@rgs.qld.edu.au

Enrolment enquiries

The Registrar, Mrs Marissa Holloway

07 4936 0700 Registrar@rgs.qld.edu.au

Editorial & Advertising

Ms Sue Moloney, Director Development and Communications

07 4936 0668 smoloney@rgs.qld.edu.au

Mrs Rachael McDonald

07 4936 0776 rmcdonald@rgs.qld.edu.au

The Rockhampton Grammar School became the first school in Australia to receive an iFarm.

The iFarm is a fully computerised interactive farm science research station designed specifically for Australian secondary schools. Supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as part of the Educating Kids About Agriculture: iFarm programme, interest in the iFarm attracted 150 applications and RGS was one of 50 successful schools across Australia.

RGS Head of Agriculture Sarah Streeter said the iFarm tied in well with the School’s programme, from Year 8 agriculture to Year 12 Agriculture Science.

“The students have hit the ground running with the iFarm,’’ Ms Streeter said.

Year 9 horticulture studies assessed the growth patterns of spring onions, basil and snow peas, measuring fertiliser treatments and response in plant growth.

The iFarm captures wind energy and solar energy, and stores that in batteries, which runs the computer system and pumps to deliver water and liquid fertiliser to the unit.

“We can programme each of the eight individual plant growing cells in the unit to receive specific irrigation schedules or fertiliser treatments. These can be accessed and managed remotely,’’ Ms Streeter said.

The iFarm’s purpose is to improve student’s understanding of the resources required to produce food and fibre, and to stimulate interest in careers in agriculture and related fields.

RGS Year 10 students put their knowledge, and team work, to the test when they won the Science and Engineering Challenge at St Brendan’s College in Term 2.

The challenge engaged students in eight tasks testing team-work, creative thinking, innovation and critical thinking across the STEM disciplines.

The RGS team undertook the challenge with an amazing approach, with some standout performances both individually and as a team.

Leadership was evident across the day, with many demonstrating adept skills in leading, collaboration, overcoming challenge and supporting their team members.

The challenge, which gained success at the United Nations Day Honours Award 2022, allowed students to test their STEM skill, cement ideas for those considering STEM, build confidence with STEM and encourage students into STEM careers.