Community DEC Newsletter 2020

LEARNING SUCCESS

FEATURED

IMPORTANT DATES

DATE EVENT DATE EVENT DECEMBER 1 YEAR 6 DECEMBER 3 RESCUE ED TRANSITION DAY DECEMBER 4 CAROLS IN DECEMBER 9 ACADEMIC AWARD CORRIMAL CERMONY

Corrimal High School t: 42851199 e: [email protected] w: www.corrimal-h.schools.nsw.gov.au What an amazing and busy few weeks it has been. Given everything that has happened this year, I am so proud of what we as a school have achieved throughout this year.

Week 5 saw a continued focus on staff consultation and feedback to inform the new Strategic Improvement Plan. It has been fantastic to see everyone getting involved in the evaluation and decision making process as we work together in the development of our new plan. Parent and community consultation will take place over the next few weeks. Please keep an eye out for information on this. PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Huge congratulations and thanks go to Mel are. Congratulations to all of our Year 12 Bourke and Sarah Whiddon for the amount students for completing their studies. Now of work that got done to prepare for both we wait in anticipation of results as well as the Graduation and Formal on the one day university and job offers. in our school hall. Of course, it took more than two people to ensure that everything Our Construction and Agriculture staff went as planned. Thank you to every single and students combined with Ron and person who contributed in some way, Dave in the Ag Farm to continue their shape or form. This includes the staff who improvement projects to ensure that we donated something for decorations, people provide an outstanding learning and who helped to set up or pack up as well as development resource for our school as well everyone who shouldered additional load to as an environment which is well suited to cover for someone else who was organising the wellbeing needs of our animals. Some the day. It was such a lovely opportunity to be of the projects completed this year include able to provide events such as this to celebrate the construction of new workbenches in the the conclusion of school for the 2020 Year 12 Ag Sheds, the removal of old greenhouses, cohort. All of the students looked amazing the installation of new gates and fences, and their behaviour was a credit to them all. the construction of new stairways, paths and retaining walls as well as the planning This past few weeks also saw the conclusion and building of a new dual paddock shelter of the HSC exams. Again, this was quite a for the animals to protect them from the challenge for all schools and all students, and weather. The work that has been completed is I am very pleased to say that our students absolutely outstanding and is a real credit to again demonstrated their quality as the the staff and students. engaged in their exams around all of the uncertainty that surrounded them. The feedback that I received from the Presiding Officer highlighted how good our students

Corrimal High School Respect Responsibility Safety We have also celebrated Remembrance Day further refine the role heading into 2021. I am and NAIDOC Week this term with a variety also happy to confirm that both Mel Bourke – of activities taking place across the school, Head Teacher, Wellbeing and Alicia Van Loo as well as the whole school Assemblies to – Deputy Principal will be continuing in their celebrate both events. Thank you to all of respective roles in 2021. the teachers and students who worked on activities to celebrate the significance of these I am extremely happy to be able to announce events. that after 12 years as a temporary staff member in the English Faculty at Corrimal As our school continues to grow, so to do High School, this term I had the pleasure our staffing numbers. In week 5, I had the of appointing Mark Allen as a permanent pleasure of welcoming our new PDHPE member of staff to the English Faculty teacher - Zach Finn to Corrimal as he commencing in 2021. As you can imagine, completed his first visit to familiarise himself Mark very enthusiastically accepted the with the school. After spending the past 6 1/2 position. I am very glad that I was able years at Cobar HS, Zach is very excited to be to do this as it is a reflection of the time joining us in 2021. and commitment that Mark has made to Corrimal HS over the past 12 years. This term has also seen interviews take place for the position of Head Teacher Teaching There are also a number of Expression of and Learning. I am pleased to announce that Interest applications currently advertised for Belinda Arthur was the successful applicant Corrimal HS to commence in 2021. These are for this role and she will be continuing to for the following temporary positions: work closely with the Senior Executive to

Corrimal High School t: 42851199 e: [email protected] w: www.corrimal-h.schools.nsw.gov.au • EAL/D teacher the school year will end on Wednesday • English teacher x 2 December 16. Corrimal High School staff • Maths / Science / STEM teacher have been completing Twilight Professional • Head Teacher Transition & Engagement Learning sessions through the year in place - Aboriginal Learning & Engagement of the two Staff Development Days previously Centre scheduled for the Thursday 17 and Friday • SLSO Transition & Engagement - 18 December, meaning that there will not be Aboriginal Learning & Engagement staff present on site after December 16. Centre I have recently been meeting with the school In addition, I have recently declared a leaders in both the Koori Leadership Council vacancy in Special Education to fill the and the Student Representative Council to permanent position left vacant as a result discuss how we can continue to progress of Jenny Kennedy being successful in forward. One of the areas that I wanted her application for Head Teacher Special them to focus on is Student Voice. They Education at . We wish were tasked with developing questions that Jenny all the best in her new role. could be provided to students so that they can inform some of our future directions. I So what does this all mean for CHS in 2021?? have compiled the questions into a Google It means that there is the potential to see up survey and attached the link below. I would to 7 new staff arriving at Corrimal next year. encourage you to ask your child to complete This is a reflection of the increase in student the survey by providing constructive enrolments for 2021 which demonstrates suggestions. I will keep the survey open until a continued growth in confidence and Friday 4 December. perception in the Community about what our school and our staff can provide for our https://forms.gle/kkRbqHYN3HLU3dap8 local students. This equates to a 32% increase in student enrolments at our school since the I am again offering scholarships to students middle of 2018. This is outstanding growth in all year groups heading into 2021. I have which is expected to continue beyond 2021. notified students about this and application forms can be collected from the front office. I am extremely proud of what the school They are due back no later than Friday 4 has achieved as we move forward in our December. Successful students will receive improvement journey. I am very appreciative $300 towards educational expenses including of the work of all staff as they support our excursions, course costs and uniform. students, our community and each other. As you know, it is a little over two years since As we move towards the end of the year, the fire which burned down the Industrial I would like to remind all families that Arts building. In that time, I have been

Corrimal High School Respect Responsibility Safety working very closely with the Industrial Arts Well done also to Demi Simmonds who made faculty as well as our architect, Public Works it to the last round of the selection trials, but and Asset Management Unit in the design unfortunately just missed out on selection. and structure of the new building. You may have recently seen the design for the new I would also like to congratulate Keisha building – something that we are all very Baldwin for her selection into the Greater excited about! The tender for this significant U/16 Representative Cricket team build is scheduled to close early in December to participate in the Country Championships with excavation and construction scheduled in Canberra in January. Keisha will also be to start shortly after that. playing representative cricket in Albury in January – a very busy holiday for this young In addition to this work and to assist with lady. We wish her all the best. preparation of the site, there are going to be some other projects taking place which To finish off, I would like to thank all of our should commence in the next couple of families for their support this year. I know weeks. The fence line at the front of the that we have all faced challenges both with school bordering both Pioneer and Murray the education of our students, as well as Roads is going to be changing. The new personally and professionally with many fence will be installed out to the full border of you having to change work conditions, of our land, just off the existing footpath, working from home, as well as supporting the creating a clear space for construction and school and the students with learning from providing additional secure land at the front home. Like the students, we have all learnt of the school. The existing fence line will some valuable lessons this year about what then be removed and reinstalled down near is important and what we can do moving our Agriculture Farm to create an additional forward into 2021. I am very hopeful that the paddock for our animals – another exciting new year brings with it new opportunities change to further enhance our facilities. and challenges that will allow us to continue to move forward on our improvement In sporting news, I would like to congratulate journey. a number of students on their selection into Regional Representative teams recently. I would like to wish all of our families a safe and enjoyable Christmas break. I hope that Congratulations to the following students you all get to spend time relaxing and maybe for their selection into the U/14 Redbacks even get a chance to get away for a break. Illawarra Representative OzTag team to play I look forward to hearing about all of the in the 2021 State Cup: students adventures when they come back in 2021. • Taylor Crutchley Merry Christmas • Misha Sassall Paul Roger - Principal • Lohla Wilton

Corrimal High School Respect Responsibility Safety It has been a busy term with a number of exciting events on offer for our students. Corrimal High Award Tokens (CHATS) update:

Every few days, there are students going to see their Year Advisers and then coming to see me as they have accumulated 40 CHATS. At this milestone, the students earn a gift card of their choice. Our most recent gift card recipients are: Imogen Jenkins; Natasha Aoun, Isabella Rylewski; Alyssa Morales; Molly Wilkinson; Gazal Al Shaar; Arianna WELLBEING Morales; Lochlan Griffiths; Jye McGarry; Beau Roberts and Trent Roach. Brainstorm Productions Congratulations to these students who On Tuesday 10 November we had our consistently uphold the values of our school. first visit for the year to perform “Cheap Thrills” for Years 9 – 11. This was a timely At the end of each year, we usually send performance outlining the peer issues and the Top 40 CHATS earners to Jamberoo temptations that young people face and the Action Park for a free excursion as a reward dire consequences that can occur from a for their commitment to their learning, split second decision. We hope that students their positive behaviour and their valued learned lessons from this presentation and contribution to our school. This year, due to will weigh up all consequences of their COVID restrictions, we will not be running actions prior to acting upon them. the Jamberoo excursion. Instead we will Our second performance is on Thursday be purchasing 40 gift cards, from a variety 26 November for Year 7 – 8. This is called of stores, and these students will be able to “The Flipside” which is a live theatre randomly select a gift card. Students will be experience that addresses issues of (cyber) informed by Week 8 if they are in the Top 40 bullying, online safety, digital citizenship, and will then have the opportunity to select a bystander behaviour and online ethics. The gift card. performance highlights the importance of personal responsibility, empathy, respect Also by Week 8, we will need to wrap up and values in the online AND offline our gift cards for 40 CHATS as we need to worlds. Again we hope that the students consolidate all budget expenditure by then. learn valuable life-ling lessons from this performance.

Corrimal High School Respect Responsibility Safety White Ribbon Day all of the key staff who support our students White Ribbon Day is held on Friday 20 each and every day. The well-being of our November across Australia. It is a day where students is paramount to their success and the issue of violence against women is to making positive change to their lives. highlighted, openly discussed and hopefully In particular, the Year Adviser team and steps taken to prevent. Change can only the Learning Support Team, go above and happen when violence against women is beyond to care for and assist our students. addressed. We have had many positive stories this year This year’s message from White Ribbon where students have realized their dreams Australia is: and made improvements (big and small) to their lives and this has occurred due to Community by Community, Workplace by the hard work of the staff here at Corrimal Workplace, School by School High. You would be hard pressed to find a Our school is a White Ribbon School and more dedicated team of staff committed to we do not condone violence against women improving outcomes for students. in any form. We highlight this issue in our day to day role modelling as well as in the I hope this holiday season brings you love week leading up to White Ribbon Day, we and joy and I hope we are not faced with the focus on key messages to begin conversations challenges of bush fires the way we were last and allow reflection on our actions and how Christmas season. Please take care and we we can improve our relationships and show look forward to doing all this again in 2021. respect for all. Mrs Mel Bourke Our school has made its own pledge that we Head Teacher Well-Being encourage all staff and students to adhere to.

“I PLEDGE TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TO ENCOURAGE MY PEERS TO SUSTAIN HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS AND SPEAK UP FOR MYSELF, FAMILY AND FRIENDS. I PROMISE TO NEVER COMMIT, CONDONE OR REMAIN SILENT TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. I AM COMMITTED TO MAKING OUR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE.”

I would like to take this opportunity to thank

Corrimal High School t: 42851199 e: [email protected] w: www.corrimal-h.schools.nsw.gov.au In November, Year 7 and their Year 11 Peer Support mentors were lucky enough to go on PEER SUPPORT CAMP the previously rescheduled transition camp. While on the camp students got to undergo various activities and challenges across the two days.

environment for the year 7’s to create friendships with each other and with us, the year 11 mentors. This will make the 2020 transition into high school easier, knowing Across the two days students got to go rock they now have peers from an older year climbing, giant swing, flying fox, abseiling group that they can talk to. Cataract Scout and enter challenge valley. All activities were Camp offered a range of activities to us that really fun, in particular, the giant swing as created the opportunity for everyone to work you could see all around the areas from way together, and allowed the year 7’s to discover up high. We also got to play some fun team their individuality when it comes to skills building games before sleeping in tents for and group exercise. As a year 11 peer support the night. We had some yummy food as well mentor, I had just as much fun as they did. like fresh sandwiches, chicken parmas, fried I am pleased to say that I am confident the rice, potato salad and icecream. transition into high school for the year 7’s D Simmons will be a lot easier on them, and they are noticeably more confident within themselves The Peer Support Camp was really and with each other. entertaining, and it provided a safe, fun E Wiley

Corrimal High School Respect Responsibility Safety KOORI CONNECTION

This term the KLC supported NAIDOC Week at Corrimal High School running a full school assembly to showcase this year’s theme “Always was, Always will be”.

KLC members also got to go out to some of our CoS schools to help in their Traditional Indigenous Games day.

Finally, Mr Foster put on a lunch for the KLC to ackowledge us for all our hard work in 2020. Plans are already underway for 2021!

RELAY FOR LIFE On November 17, Corrimal High School held a mock Relay for Life event as 2020 did not provide the ability to be involved with the actual event. It was an amazing experience on and off the field. Whether it was helping the boys and girls out playing the novelty events or whether I was the one teaching them how to participate in the activities. It was a really awesome experience to be able to teach students new activities and even better getting them to run laps of the field.

Overall Relay for Life was an amazing event to participate in and I really enjoyed helping out Mr Foster and the team on the day. If you ever have the chance to participate in an event such as itself I recommend you go straight for it. And be sure to join to 2021 team! B Barnett

Corrimal High School t: 42851199 e: [email protected] w: www.corrimal-h.schools.nsw.gov.au On Tuesday November 17 Corrimal High welcomed our new 2021 students in the first TRANSITION 2020 Transition Day. Ten of our amazing Year 10 peer support mentors were there to welcome our student guests, to show then around our great school and work on their peer support pack.

The Year 6 students were given booklets and undertook fun activities while seeing the school grounds. The peer mentors got to know the soon to be Corrimal High students and we’re excited to watch these students grow and become future role models themselves.

This year saw a reduced Debating program DEBATING thanks to Covid but we still managed to gain some wonderful experiences. The year and Paige Rzeminski. I look forward to your started with a UOW debating excursion on debating adventures next year. February 20. An enthusiastic group of 17 debaters headed to UOW for a debating skills Senior Premier’s debating- we entered our workshop. This was the largest group we have experienced team of year 10 debaters - Justin had for some time, which was very pleasing. Berrell, Eden Goodier and Maddi Devitt and The workshop was hosted by SWORDS, the Year 9 student Suzanne Abou Shalah. Sadly, University of debating club. We due to Covid this competition was held as were very fortunate to experience a day on a knock out and we came up against a very campus, participate in workshops run by experienced Bulli High team who defeated us, experienced debaters and watch an exhibition but not without an excellent debate from our debate. It was a valuable learning opportunity team. Well done to all debaters and hopefully, and placed us in good stead to prepare for the 2021 will see a return to normal debating in a upcoming Premier’s Debating Challenge. covid-free world. Fingers crossed.

Junior Premier’s Debating – we entered a Year 7, 8 Debating team of very enthusiastic and wonderful debaters. They adapted well to the challenges of Covid and managed their debates over zoom. They were involved in three debates against Albion Park, Illawarra Sports High and the mighty Smiths Hill. They came away with a win and two losses but most importantly they grew in confidence every debate and were fantastic ambassadors for our school. Well done to Gemma Reed, Laura Kirkland, Eduardo Couto-Frontado

Corrimal High School Respect Responsibility Safety School Library – Any Place, Any Time LIBRARY NEWS Utilise your school library these holidays! Did you know you can access the school All students can access ClickView Online by library from your desktop, laptop, tablet or following these steps: phone??? 1. Go to this link (https://online.clickview. com.au/) Simply sign in to your student portal and add 2. Enter your NSW student email address “My School Library” to your essentials home (example: [email protected]. screen. au) 3. Select your school (Corrimal High You can access our database of library School) resources including books, journal articles, 4. Enter your student portal username and websites and videos from the comfort of your password to login own home during the holidays. You can also 5. Search for videos or look in your subject download the App! folders

Student access is restricted to videos that You can borrow and read 24/7 with exciting are appropriately rated for their particular eBooks (electronic books)! age group, according to the Australian Classification Standards.

If you wish to stream to your phone or tablet there is also a Clickview App (available for Android and iOS) that, once installed, behaves very much like Netflix or iView streaming services. Easily accessed at school or at home by: If students are having difficulty accessing this Downloading the Wheelers eplatform app on resource, please see the Teacher Librarian, you device, choose Corrimal High as your Miss Zalewski. library, use your DET login details Visit the website https://corrimalhs.wheelers. Premiers Reading Challenge 2020: co , choose Corrimal High as your library, Corrimal High School proudly acknowledges use your DET login details. and congratulates all students who For more information see the librarian. participated in and completed the 2020 Premiers Reading Challenge. Certificates Clickview will be handed out at the end of the year for successful students. A reminder that Corrimal High School has invested in ClickView for student access. Online access to our ClickView library means that every student can access videos easily at home for research, homework, assignments and leisure.

Corrimal High School t: 42851199 e: [email protected] w: www.corrimal-h.schools.nsw.gov.au Scholastic Book Club: It has been so fantastic to see the orders coming through as part of our Scholastic Book Club this year. A reminder that this terms orders are due back by the 30th November to ensure we receive and deliver your orders by the end of the school term. Teacher Librarian Thanks: Please continue to order and pay online via the website. You can check out this terms 2020 has certainly been a rollercoaster ride, I catalogue online by going to: https://www. would like to take this time to say thank you scholastic.com.au/media/5754/bc820.pdf to the students, staff and school community for their continued use and support of the Corrimal High School Library Website: CHS library. Special thanks to the library staff; Lisa Hughes, Sam Bridges and Tracey To continue to stay up to date with what’s Newman for their commitment and work in happening here in the CHS library, head the library this year – we appreciate all you to our website @ https://sites.google.com/ do! education.nsw.gov.au/chs-library/home The website is filled with new release titles, Have an enjoyable and safe holiday (try to access to wheelers online, clickview and read some books) and I look forward to renaissance as well links to author websites, seeing you all in 2021. study tips and educational games. Miss Zalewski

Corrimal High School Respect Responsibility Safety The Wellbeing Framework for Schools states that “The NSW Department of SRE@CHS Education and Communities is committed to creating quality learning opportunities for children and young people. This includes In the allocated time set aside for SRE, strengthening their cognitive, physical, social, students not attending are provided with emotional and spiritual development.” supervised alternative meaningful activities. This could include reading, private study or Christian Special Religious Education completing homework with their classroom classes (known as SRE or Scripture) involve teacher. Students continue the same open discussion and interactive learning arrangement as the previous year, unless based on the authorised curriculum (Think a parent/carer has requested a change, in Faith). The goal of these classes is to provide writing. I am always keen for new students students with opportunities to explore the to join my classes, to ask questions and bigger questions of life and gain a basic contribute to classroom discussions. understanding of Christian beliefs and study contemporary issues related to the Christian If you have any questions about SRE@CHS faith. Students will also develop the critical please feel free to contact me at school. I work literacy skills required to make informed Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. decisions about the Christian faith for themselves. Mrs Leanne Begg SRE teacher & Chaplain I have been employed by the local Christian Churches to teach Christian (Combined Churches) SRE at Corrimal High since 2016. These classes are taught fortnightly for students in Years 7-10 and seminars are held each term in Years 11-12.

Corrimal High School t: 42851199 e: [email protected] w: www.corrimal-h.schools.nsw.gov.au