Term 1 Week 7 12 March 2021 Deputy Principal Matters by Nathalie Bodley Year 7 ‘Virtual’ Welcome Evening Unlike previous years where parents were greeted by our school leaders and met their child’s teachers, this year we have organised a virtual experience. Despite Covid restrictions being lifted, the uncertainty has meant that parents and students can listen and view the Principal and Head Teachers highlight the details of what year 7 will learn in their subjects. Please find attached an invitation to the Year 7 Welcome Night Video featuring the link https:// youtu.be/3wWxjT9Q6Hs This has also been emailed to all year 7 parents on Thursday night with an attached invitation. Enjoy! Consent talks with boys and girls This week and last, Year 7-11 students explicitly discussed and learnt about issues around consent — what it looks like and how to support each other in their relationships. Boys and girls participated in separate meetings led by Ms Paterson, Mr Lawler, Mr Mitchell and Ms Bodley. A cup of tea acted as a metaphor for consent, and despite the giggles all students responded with respect and sensitivity. They learnt about protective behaviours, defined online harassment and came to a very strong understanding of what ‘NO’ looks like. Also, the PDHPE Syllabus has strengthened content relating to respectful relationships, and explicitly refers to consent. Year 12 will also meet early next week. I have attached the ‘Tea Consent’ Youtube clip for your viewing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGoWLWS4-kU I would recommend that you discuss issues around this topic at home with your child. International Women’s Day On Monday, March 8, the strong females of the St Ives High School community celebrated International Women’s Day, a Global day that acknowledges the achievements of women. It is a call to action to continue the fight for equality and make a positive difference for women. The students on the Girls Committee filmed a video and creat- ed a Kahoot about feminism and creating an equal world for all genders. Staff and students presented their ideas on what it means to be a woman, feminism and their favourite female icon – many stated that it was their mum! This was screened for first few minutes of period 1 on Monday to all students. Staff and students wore purple and raised $1117.25 for the charity, One Girl, an organisation that encourages the education of girls in Africa. The Girls Commitee Respect ~ Perseverance ~ Growth Artexpress Exhibition of Outstanding Year 12 works! Year 12 Visual Arts classes took part in a long-awaited excursion to see two Artexpress exhibitions, firstly at Newing- ton Armory at Homebush, then the Art Gallery of NSW where our talented 2020 student Esther Wong had her work hung. The 2020 students’ bodies of work, as always, were inspirational both for their skill and their conceptual con- tent, so hopefully this has given our students the momentum to work hard on their submissions for 2021. Our stu- dents were highly engaged the whole day and keen to discuss their work and make plans for their own artmaking. As there was quite a long wait in between the 2 visits we managed to fit in lunch at Pancakes on the Rocks which was great fun! Year 10 Geography Excursion to Auburn and Lidcombe Year 10 Geography is currently exploring the impacts of international migration. On Friday, students went on a field trip to the Auburn-Lidcombe region where they were able to observe the cultural diversity of the suburb, visit the Au- burn Gallipoli Mosque and put their geographical skills into action. While in the Mosque, students had the opportunity to ask Ergun, the Mosque representative, questions about Islam and the Islamic community in Auburn. From there, students conducted questionnaires where they were able to interact with members of the community and grasp a better understanding of the reasons for international migration. Our final stop was in Lidcombe where students com- pleted field sketches of the Russian Old Rite Orthodox Christian Church. - Emily Hung, Maria Miller, Lucas De Palo, Andrew Shannon Year 10 History Excursion to Sydney Jewish Museum Last Friday, year 10 History students travelled to the Sydney Jewish Museum as a part of their study of the Holo- caust. Students were given a guided tour of the museum, attended a lecture focusing on Resistance to the Holo- caust and finally heard either the testimony of a Holocaust survivor Lucy or Aviva and their experiences of the Holo- caust. Students showcased a keen interest displayed by the insightful questions they ask throughout the day. Year 9 experiencing history through project based learning Year 9 history have been working on making artefacts that reflect individuals who lived during the industrial revolu- tion. They made a variety of primary sources such as diaries, miner’s lamps and other objects and the students were asked to comment on how that artefact represents an answer to the “driving question” of “Did the (wo)man maketh the Revolution or did the Revolution maketh the (wo)man?” the artefacts were presented to History students from Macquarie Uniiversity who formed an authentic audience and provided feedback to the students on their communi- cation and historical interpretations. Term 1 Week 7 Page 2 Writing Centre targeted workshops for seniors The Senior Writing Centre has begun running writing workshops. Each week, the Writing Centre will focus on a dif- ferent area of literacy development crucial for student success in senior subjects. This week, students from years 10 - 12 came together to focus on writing stronger, academic sentences. We started with a review of grammar to build a strong foundation of knowledge, discussing subjects, predicates, subject-verb agreement and fragments. Following this, we used scaffolds to write strong academic sentences using prepositional phrases and action verbs. Each student wrote a sentence based on a text they are currently studying in English and was challenged to use conjunctions to add greater detail to the key concepts, ideas or values in their sentence. From this session, students walked away with a glossary to improve their academic register when working independently. The remaining Senior Writing Centre workshops for Term 1 are: Week 8 – Deconstructing essay questions and constructing thesis statements Week 9 – Preparing for unseen questions with ALARM Week 10 – Building better topic sentences Additionally, the Junior Writing Centre continues to focus on building the basics of literacy to become confident writ- ers. The Senior Writing Centre runs from 7.45 - 8.45am on Tuesday mornings in B16 (next to the English staffroom). The Junior Writing Centre runs from 7.45 - 8.45am on Monday mornings in B16 (next to the English staffroom). For more information, please contact Miss Abraham at [email protected] We need a hairdresser please! World's Greatest Shave: This year we have 10 participants and are looking for hairdressers to volunteer for the event on the19th of March. If you know of anyone who could as- sist us, please contact Ms Siddiqui (Maths department) [email protected] Tell Them From Me student survey This term, our school is taking part in the Tell Them From Me student survey. The survey will provide us with valua- ble feedback on what our students think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Schools in Australia and around the world have used the 'Tell Them From Me' sur- vey to help them improve. The survey is completed online and is run by an independent research company, The Learning Bar which specialises in school-based surveys. Staff in schools will not be able to identify individual stu- dents from their responses. To ensure confidentiality, participating students will receive a unique username and password. Where fewer than five students respond to a question, the results will be suppressed. The survey typically takes 30 minutes or less to complete and will be administered by the school during normal school hours. Once the surveys are completed by students, reports are prepared and in most cases are available to schools within three business days. As well as schools getting student feedback, the Department of Education, through the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE), has access to data from across NSW and is running a research project to look at state-wide patterns of student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices. The research is looking at how these things impact on student outcomes, including academic performance. Individual students will not be identified in any CESE publications, and all information will be handled in accordance with the relevant priva- cy legislation. Students’ personal information will not be disclosed by the department to any other person or body other than as required by law. This research will help schools in New South Wales to better understand how to im- prove student wellbeing and engagement. It will also help teachers and principals discuss what works to improve student outcomes. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary. Your child will not take part if either you or your child do not wish. If, during the survey, your child is uncomfortable, he/she can choose to stop the survey at any time. The majority of questions in the survey can be skipped. If you do not want your child to take part in the survey, please contact Mr Lawler on [email protected] More information about the survey and the research is available at education.nsw.gov.au/ttfm The Open Girls Touch team’s determination The Open Girls Touch team hosted Cherrybrook Technology High School in round one of the knockout competition.