Woonona High School EXCELLENCE INNOVATION SUCCESS

PO Box 155 Woonona NSW 2517  Ph: 4284 1513  Fax: 4285 1485 Web: http://www.woonona-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Email: [email protected] HSC Trial Examinations Issue No. 13 27 August 2012

All Year 12 students today completed their trial HSC In the next few weeks Molly Dugan Year 11 will also be examinations. All students are to be congratulated on the representing NSW in the Australian Open Netball responsible, mature manner in which they approached this competition. We wish Molly and her team every success. potentially stressful period of time. Well done.

Students will be receiving vital feedback from their teachers in the coming week. This feedback is critical to students in their final preparations for the HSC in October. In effect students only have four weeks of timetabled lessons before the HSC begins.

All Year 12 students will have the opportunity to access HSC Assisted Preparation Study Sessions to be held during the upcoming school vacation period. Mr Steve Boyle will be supporting students and conducting the study sessions. Additional information regarding the study sessions is Molly Dugan available within this newsletter. I would strongly advise all A number of students are participating in weekly athletics students to take advantage of the support, structure and coaching in preparation for the Combined High Schools State guidance that will be available to each of them during the Championships to be held on September 6th and 7th. Thank study sessions. you to Mr Landy for his enthusiasm and commitment to Sporting Success assisting each of our athletes, the personalised coaching will no doubt result in many personal bests for our competitors. Year 10 student Khalia Rasch recently represented NSW at the School Sport Australia 15yrs National Netball Cyber Safety - An issue many parents are grappling with. On Championships in Darwin. Khalia’s NSW team were the Monday and Tuesday of this week Snr Constable Sian Popp successful grand finalists. Not only was Khalia part of the addressed each student in Years 7 & 8 on the potential pitfalls winning team she also gained selection to the Australian and dangers of social media. Constable Popp also discussed Under 15 Netball team, an outstanding achievement! Khalia individual responsibilities in the appropriate and lawful use of and her family will now spend many hours travelling technology and the consequences of breaching between NSW and Victoria to fulfil her representative Telecommunications Law. The workshops were interactive commitments. and well received by students. I would encourage parents to ask their Year 7/8 children what they discussed and learnt at Congratulations Khalia, we look forward to vicariously each of the workshops. participating in your future success!

Ms Belinda Wall Principal

Khalia Rasch Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success Page 2 Yr12 ASSISTED STUDY SCHEME UPCOMING EVENTS Date Event Parent Information Sept 3 Yr12 Music Submission Sept 6-7 CHS Athletics During the first week of the approaching school holidays, Sept 10-19 Yr11 Preliminary Exams (Yearly) 24/9/12 to 28/9/12, Woonona High School will be offering Sept 20 Yr12 Graduation & Presentation Day (to be supervised study time at the school. On each of the five days, confirmed) there will be two 3 hour study sessions, 9.30am-12.30pm and Oct 11-13 Yr10 Yearly Exams Oct 12 HSC Commences 1pm-4pm. Oct 15-19 Yr11 Hospitality Work Placement The study sessions will be conducted/supervised by a retired Oct 19 National Leaders Day—New School Captains Nov 2 Elevate Leadership Day teacher, Mr Boyle. Two students will be allocated to a room Nov 5-9 Yr11 Construction Work Placement and in the final hour of each study period, there will be an Nov 12-16 Yr11 Metal & Engineering Work Placement opportunity for student group work to trouble shoot Nov 13-14 ESSA Tests problems in any subject. Nov 17-18 Yr9 Yearly Exams Nov 19-23 Yr10 Work Experience The overall aim of this study scheme is to provide structured, Dec 5 Yr7 2013 Orientation Day—9.30am distraction free time in order to improve your son/daughter’s Dec 13 Presentation Evening Yr7-11—7pm marks in the Higher School Certificate. Dec 19 Last Day of school 2012 - for students Dec 20-21 Staff Development Days Numbers in each session will be limited to 35 students. A booking system will operate through the School’s Front Office and the cost per session is $5.00. Students are invited to make multiple bookings.

Entry/exit will be at the Campbell Street ramp.

This Assisted Study Scheme will be most useful for students who are keen to do well in the HSC but find it hard to study at home, find it hard to implement a study program or for those who get easily distracted due to social media interests. CANTEEN NEWS A “BIG “ Thank You to our Year 10 Canteen Helpers for your ongoing assistance in the canteen, your help is very much

appreciated by all the canteen staff.

Parents please inform the canteen staff if your child has any special dietary needs e.g. Gluten free, Celiac etc. We will en- deavour to provide foods that will meet their daily require- ments.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Yr12 Assisted Study Scheme Page 2 CANTEEN HELPERS Canteen Roster / Canteen News Page 2 Mon 27 A Rindlisbacher Career News Page 3 Tue 28 K Austin Years 7/8 Premier’s Debating Challenge Page 4 Wed 29 HELP NEEDED Chaplain’s Corner Page 4 Thu 30 HELP NEEDED Year 10 Report Page 5 Public Speaking Competition Page 5 Fri 31 HELP NEEDED Library News Page 6 Mon 3 W Regan SRC Visit to Page 7 Tue 4 J Overton / L Wallace Southern Stars Page 7 Wed 5 C Core Community Noticeboard Page 8 Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success Page 3 Careers News University 2013—Selective and Early Entry Thirteen Year Twelve students have applied for early offers John Chamberlain from universities. Twelve applied to the University of and one to University of Notre Dame. We eagerly Australian Defence Force await their results. Technical Scholarships Applications Congratulations to Year eleven student, Shannon Harris- Any students planning to apply to universities in New South Cross. Shannon is the deserving recipient of a lucrative Wales or Canberra must do so through the University Defence Force Technical Scholarship. Admissions Centre (UAC). Students have received UAC Shannon invested his time in researching and answering the handbooks and more information will follow. in depth questions in the application and has been rewarded This is a fairly involved process and students should begin for his diligent effort. immediately following HSC trial examinations. These scholarships are designed to encourage students on a Scholarships trade’s employment pathway to stay in school and complete the HSC. The monetary award helps them invest in resources Booklets informing Year Twelve of the scholarships on offer to achieve their best in senior years at high school. from the and how to apply for them Applications for 2013 will close in February, information will be given out following HSC trials. should be available in November. School Based Apprenticeship and Traineeship Information Session On Wednesday 22 August Year Ten students had the opportunity to learn more about how they can use a

Traineeship or Apprenticeship to contribute to their HSC and gain qualifications towards their career after high school. A representative of Workplace Learning spoke to

students all about the ins and outs of achieving a traineeship or apprenticeship and follow up sessions for keen students will follow. Shannon being presented with his Scholarship by Ms Wall Congratulations Year Ten Uni Links Visit Two Year Eleven students recently began School Based Recently thirty seven aspiring university students Apprenticeships at Mark M Industrial. Ayden Osadczuk and accompanied Mr Chamberlain and Ms Coote on the Year 10 Sam Robinson are both setting themselves up for rewarding Uni Links Excursion. The students were given a tour of careers in the fabrication industry. facilities and services offered at the University of Wollongong by current uni students including one from Woonona High Apprenticeships and More School. The major employers of the Illawarra are currently recruiting Students had the opportunity to ask questions about for their 2013 apprenticeship intakes. The Careers Office has university life and the opportunities afforded by it. The been emailing information to students. opportunity to study abroad for a portion of their degree was Parents and students should keep their eyes open and check a highlighted option. out seek.com, The (Saturdays and Sundays especially) and the websites of the areas employers such as BlueScope Steel, Illawarra Coal and Wollongong Council.

TAFE—The annual Tafe Careers booklet will be out soon

outlining the course and opportunities on offer for 2013.

Reminder

Remember the Careers office is for the service of students. I

am in my office every lunch and recess except when I am on

duty. Counselling is offered at these times and appointments

can be made for follow up sessions.

I can offer help with discovering your career interests and Students pose with their student guides. how to achieve them; looking for and applying for jobs; tertiary education and training opportunities as well as opportunities for gap years and volunteering.

Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success Page 4

Years 7/8 Premier’s Debating Challenge Chaplain’s Corner On the 10th and 14th August, Woonona High School fielded The latest news from the Chaplaincy Program is that a Brekky two teams in the Department of Education and Training’s Club has started at Woonona High! Thursdays in the Canteen Debating Competition. Lucy Rouse, Donevan Moss, Jay Arch- from 7:30am-8:15am, students can get a free breakfast. I er, Kaitlyn Smith and Holly Forrest made up the Year 7 team. have started with pancakes and toast, and hope to expand Corey Schwarze, Taylah Carter, Paige Walker, Amelia McPher- our selection, pending further support from businesses and son and Makayla Moore represented Year 8. Kanahooka and the community. Coles Corrimal and Baker’s Delight Corrimal Dapto High Schools completed the teams in our zone. The have already pledged to support the Brekky Club, for which students debated a variety of topics including whether people we are very thankful. Some volunteers from Woonona under 18 should be allowed to run for parliament, the merits Presbyterian Church have helped make and serve brekky, and of computers in education and the appropriateness of home- I have also had some wonderful Student Volunteers – a big work for students in Years 7 and 8. Both teams performed thank you to Emma Donnelly, Adrian Merrill and Amanda admirably against seasoned competition. Congratulations to Cornwell. all the students who participated and best of luck to our Year Also a reminder that students are welcome to make 8 team who has made it through to the Zone finals to be held appointments to talk to the Chaplain during school times in the coming week. pending approval from their class teacher for that period.

Susan Reynolds & Marnie Whiddon Kind regards,

Rowan Keyzer

School Chaplain

Brekky Club Supporters:

Uniform Shop The Uniform Shop now has an email address. To contact Renae or Jackie for any enquiries regarding uniform orders please email them at [email protected]. The Uniform Shop is open each Thursday from 8.00am— 9.30am.

Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success Page 5

YEAR 10 REPORT PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION Term 3 has been a busy one for Year 10 students as they face many important decisions for the future. Our first On Tuesday 7th September Shania Everson from Year 8 trav- round of senior subject selections have now been complet- elled to to compete in the Legacy Public ed online, and we are currently in the process of collating Speaking Competition. This competition is run by Legacy, an this information to determine what courses will run. Stu- organisation that supports defence force personnel and dents will then have the opportunity to choose their final their families. The aim of the competition is to promote round of subjects from each line on a grid. The preparation for senior subject selection has been extensive this year, public speaking among Years 7 and 8 students in public with all students participating in an interview process with schools across Australia. a teacher mentor, along with taster lessons in each course There are two sections to the competition; prepared speech offered, as well as another guided session with teachers to discuss their choices before submission. I would like to and impromptu speech. This yea r the competition included thank all of the teachers who assisted in this process, and I participants from a number of local Illawarra schools. As the am sure that our students have made more informed sole participant from Woonona High School, Shania pre- choices than in the past. Please feel free to contact me if pared her speech ‘Whaling’, sharing her passion in support- you have questions. ing the cause to stop whaling in the world’s oceans. Her

Year 10 Camp performance was commendable, and she delivered her Our Year 10 students will face many new challenges with speech with poise and confidence. Shania also showed ma- senior school and/or work in the near future. As part of our turity beyond her years when performing in the impromptu ongoing commitment to supporting the wellbeing and so- section. Despite never performing an impromptu speech cial development of our students at this time, a 3-day before, let alone in front of an unknown audience, Shania camp has been proposed for Term 4 at Waterslea Confer- th used her 5 minute preparation time to her full advantage ence Centre, near Nowra, from Wednesday 7 of Novem- ber to Friday 9th of November. An expression of interest and did a great job in what is a most daunting task. The Leg- letter was sent home on Thursday last week. If your child is acy Speech competition provided Shania with wonderful interested in attending this camp, please ensure the note opportunity in public speaking, developing her confidence in is returned by Friday. If you did not receive a note, please performing in front of an audience and thinking on her feet, contact me at school or via email. skills that will be invaluable to her in the future. Well done Monitoring Shania! Academic monitoring has been completed recently and students should have received cards with grades for each of their subjects. Louisa Smith—English Teacher The following students achieved an E for Excellent in each subject:

Kirsten Armstrong Amy Bradbury Sheridan Brown Amber Burden-Hill Jessica Cotterill

Brooke Farrow

Megan Fowler Melinda Gray Tahlia Kipp Kate Linsley Keely Mar Taleah McPherson

Kayla Reay Kate Stewart

James Walker

If you have any concerns or did not receive a card, please feel free to contact me on 42 841 513 or via Shania Everson [email protected].

Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success Page 6 All these books are now available in the library. LIBRARY BOOK CLUB

Book Week 2012 was celebrated with an Olympic flavour in the library to tie in with this year’s This fortnight our guest Children’s Book Council of Australia’s theme of Champions speaker was Ms Smith Read. A morning tea, competitions, music and a book sale from our English were held. department. She spoke th about her favourite New LIBRARY – BOOK WEEK 18th – 24 August Zealand authors.

I reviewed the very funny zombie book the Undead by Kirsty McKay. We also discussed the Saving Zasha, a wonderful animal story set in Russia during WWII.

NEW BOOKS

Also to help promote reading on the day we used our Lots of new books have arrived. Interactive Whiteboard to show the flash mob dance “Gotta Keep Reading” which was lots of fun. View it on http://

Older Readers Book Winner of the Year 2012

Author Title Publisher

Gardner, The Dead I Allen & Un- WINNER Scot Know win

A Straight HONOUR Condon, Bill Line to my Allen & Unwin Heart Penguin Newton, Rob- When We Books, Pen- HONOUR ert were Two guin Group (Australia)

Younger Readers Book Winner of the Year 2012

Author Title Publisher

Constable, Crow Coun- Allen & Un- WINNER Kate try win Angus & Rob- Nanberry: Mrs Roddis French, Jack- ertson Harper HONOUR Black Brother ie Collins Publish- White ers Teacher Librarian The Truth HONOUR Green, Susan about Verity Walker Books Sparks Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success Page 7 Keira High District Leadership Forum Southern Stars—Show Week Begins!

On Wednesday the 15th of August, Year 11 members of the This week almost 3000 students (and quite a few teachers SRC Tara Bain, Tiana Stevens, Thomas O’Brien and Dean and principals) from around the Illawarra and South East Cambourn attended the District Leadership Forum held at Region will be putting the final touches on the Southern Stars show Inspire at the WIN Entertainment Centre in preparation Keira High School. The day was about strengthening the for four shows on Friday and Saturday, August 31 and relationships between schools throughout the district. We September 1. met with School Captains and leaders from Bulli High Southern Stars has been going strong for 11 years now and School, and Keira High School and has given many thousands of public school children in our talked about leadership in their respective schools and the region a unique experience to be part of large scale initiatives the schools have set up. It was a great and professionally run show. Many of our performers have gone productive day and we thoroughly enjoyed it. on to bigger and better things in the worlds of music, dance and drama after leaving school.

Community support is vital to ensure that Southern Stars continues in the future, and with that in mind we encourage everyone in our school community to support Southern Stars by coming to see one of the shows. It doesn’t matter if you know anyone performing in the show or not – Southern Stars is a high energy arena style show which provides great entertainment for people of all ages. This year’s show Inspire will be divided into six segments titled LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE, DREAM, ASPIRE, and ACHIEVE and will include eclectic and diverse dance and musical styles from the National Anthem sung in Dhurawal language, to an African inspired gumboot dance, to a re enactment of You Tube favourite Duck Song, to gospel numbers, hard rock, tango and for the first time ever, a teacher’s choir. Over 12,000 people are expected to attend the four performances at the WIN Entertainment Centre - make sure you are one of them! Tickets for some shows are still available from Ticketek (Adult Tiana Stevens, Dean Cambourn, $45, Pensioner $35, Student/Child $25 and Family pass $130). Thomas O’Brien & Tara Bain Music News—Nine Sons of Dan

Nine Sons Of Dan, the band that performed for us during the lunchtime Rock The Schools concert got in contact with me recently to ask for everyone’s help with their new single ‘Diamond Skin’. The band are hoping to make it the most requested song on Channel [V] and have put together a special video message for you.

Link to video message: http://youtu.be/cCTcqxSUrB8 (Check your DEC email for this link.)

So if you’re a big fan of Nine Sons Of Dan you can request the song now on the Channel [V] website. Just go to the Request A Song page at www.vmusic.com.au

Ben Bretag - Head Teacher Administration & Music

Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success Page 8

Corrimal Cricket Registration Aug 25th, Sept 1st & 8th at Ziems Park Corrimal, 11am – 2pm. Ages: 5-7/Milo In2Cricket, 8+/T20 Blast, U10, U11, U12, U14, U16. New games, new formats.

For more information contact Sally m. 0425 227111, e. [email protected] Bulli Junior SLSC – 2012/2013 Registration Summer is on the way and what better way for kids to stay fit and active than Nippers! Bulli Junior SLSC is taking registrations for 6 – 14 year old boys and girls. Existing and new members can register online via the surf clubs website: www.bullisurfclub.com.au The link is in the top right corner. Existing and new members can register at the clubhouse, Bulli Beach: 9am – 12pm Sunday 26 August 2012 9am – 12pm Sunday 16 September 2012 The uniform shop will be open on both days of registration For further information on registration including fees please visit our website: www.bullidurfclub.com.au or email us [email protected].

September Holidays at Circus Monoxide. This September Holidays Circus Monoxide is holding it’s very popular “A Day at the Circus” Workshops. For a whole day you can try being in the circus! Have a go at juggling or tumbling, sit on the trapeze or walking on stilts. For five hours (with breaks for lunch and morning and afternoon tea) you will try a wide variety skills and do things you never thought you could…

Workshops will be held in both weeks of the holidays and are expected to fill up so get in quick to avoid disappointment!

To book your place contact [email protected] call us on 4285 0066 or check out the website www.circusmonoxide.com.au

Delivering excellence, innovation, opportunity and student success