Well this term has flown. I really can’t believe that I am penning another update for you all. Once again I am rejuvenated by the hard work and dedication of staff, the enthusiasm and commitment of our students and the constant support of parents.

We are working hard on further improving our practices and developing

our Business Plan with further refinements and resourcing. We welcome new staff into both established and new roles – Sharyn Wren as Deputy; Brooke Burns as Program Coordinator – Teacher Development, Engagement and Innovation; Lisa Coates as Program Coordinator – Teacher Development Teaching and Learning; Jane Nikora as Student Support Officer; Kathy Roser as Training Pathways Support Officer, Arnold Blumenthal as assistant groundsman. We have additional new roles coming up around IT support, attendance and facilities, as well as Head of Learning Area for the Arts and Head of Learning Area for Technologies. With our growth in student numbers these roles are important for these areas in the future to offer the best for our students.

Our term has been marked by some amazing achievements – Addams Family Musical was a spectacular night marked by stunning sets, great acting, singing and dancing that brought the story to life. I have fond memories of Lurch careering around the stage on stilts with his deadpan face, some impressive dancing and some moments that were tender, hilarious or dramatic. It was a tremendous achievement by our students – polished and professional both on stage and off. This was a credit to all of the Arts department as well as teachers from around the college, many of whom lent a hand with set construction, photography and other aspects. It made me smile.

Also the Arts department followed up just three weeks later with an Arts Spectacular which showcased the breadth and depth of this area within our college. It was great to see such talent and

opportunities for our students to be creative and perform to an audience.

Credit also goes to our Training Pathways Team. Halls Head College has been acknowledged nationally as a best practice model – identified as one of fifteen schools across the country. We will be filmed and this shared with other schools around the country. I would like to commend Sean Wrigley and his team for all of their work around this.

All of our Learning Areas have had incursions and excursions throughout the term – providing our students with unique authentic opportunities - whether it is a visit to the zoo or the Law courts, a Shakespeare performance, a sporting event, a trip to Canberra or a surfing competition. We have now a Commercial kitchen and our business students are developing their own printing business so enterprise opportunities will help build more authentic learning opportunities for our students. All of this is made possible due to a very dedicated group of staff. From Student Services to Learning Areas, from our wonderful Library ladies to our cleaners and groundsman, our leadership team and our teaching staff, education assistants, school officers – I am grateful to have such a group working to make this a great school for our students.

I would please ask that parents and students support our Dress Code into Term 4. No changes have been made to this and we are working on how to reward those students who are doing the right thing and representing the school so well. Aside from the obvious benefits around appearance and setting the bar – on everything, high, it is important for safety alone that we can easily identify intruders. This is something that we will be sharpening our focus on next term.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work and wish you all a safe and enjoyable holiday break.

Principal

HALLS HEADCOLLEGE

1 Casuarina Drive HALLS HEAD WA 6210

P: (08) 9581 0600 F: (08) 9581 0636 E: hallshead.cc@education.wa.edu.au www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au

NewsMonday 19th September 2016

TERM 3 - VOL 19

Principal’s

PARENT/CARER SuRVEy WHiCH WiLL bE SENT OuT iN WEEk 10, END OF TERM 3. We will be inviting our Parents/Carers to participate in a quick survey to assist the college in evaluating areas that need

improving and that requires attention.

The survey is an important part of every school’s parent engagement strategies and assists with future planning and improvement.

Parent satisfaction is the strongest endorsement a school can receive. We want to quickly and clearly identify and address key issues. With your participation, we can do so.

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au2

Alex Pestrucci - Dragon Master

Library News

One of our year 7 students, Alex Pestrucci, has a talent for origami.

His speciality is dragons. He happily shares his knowledge by teaching others during recess and lunch. Yes, students really come into the library and ask for the Dragon Master! He has mastered incredibly tiny dragons and has even begun developing Dragons to his own designs.

Should you ever receive a dragon as a gift, feel honoured. Among many meanings the dragon is a symbol of power, strength and good luck for those who are worthy. The dragon keeps the pearl that is the key to a heart. A dragon never serves unworthy people and only connects to kindness and love.

Thank you Halls Head College P & C!

In June the Library bought its first collection of Manga – the Japanese Graphic Novel style which is its own subculture. It was in response to interest shown by students when a mixed box of Manga was processed for the English Department.

With student input we chose a boxed set of 1 - 23 volumes from One Piece, the highest selling Manga series of all time. It’s been written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda since 1997. There are currently 746 episodes plus animations, trading cards, films and video games.

Wow! So far there have been more than 100 loans and lots of in Library use. Everyone from Year 7 to 12 has borrowed including one Year 12 who had never borrowed a book before.

Prompted by demand, a request was made to the P & C for funding to purchase the second boxed set of 24 – 46. The very quick answer was – YES! Not only that, but extra funding was provided to order the third boxed set which will be released in October.

Next came frantic accessioning into our system then over to Perry Trivett, our most experienced book covering volunteer. Even before the new books were added to the display cabinet there were two students leap frogging each other through the set.

Karen Thomson Library Officer

Perry Trivett adding Set 2 to the cabinet ready for students to loan

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au3

NAIDOC DayOn 22 July, Halls Head College held their biggest NAiDOC event to date. Aboriginal Islander Education Officer Jo Bell organised and coordinated the day which included lots of activities.

NAIDOC celebrations kicked off with an awesome traditional Aboriginal “welcome”, didgeridoo and dance performance at the whole school assembly performed by local Binjareb Middar Group. They also held interactive workshops which saw students engaged and participating in dreamtime creation stories and had them hopping, crawling and jumping like kangaroos, lizards and emus as well as dancing around the fire like they used to in traditional corroborees. Artist Sharyn Eagan spent the whole day holding workshops on basket weaving where students learnt the technique and got to create their own baskets. AIME mentors came to visit students and spent the day helping face paint and making wristbands too. The Shedda catering company supplied and cooked bush tucker food like emu and kangaroo sausages, sausage rolls with quondong and bush tomato chutney as well as slices with wattle seeds, bush honey and quondong jam. There was also a sausage sizzle to help raise funds for a cco m m o d at i o n when our “sister” school, One Arm Point remote college visit us later this term.

Halls Head College were very fortunate to receive PALS funding to undertake a unique reconciliation project that aims to teach our students more about our unique Aboriginal culture.

They used this funding to hold their NAIDOC activities which were a huge success and a great celebration of Aboriginal culture and history.

PALS are an initiative of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs which encourages Western Australian school’s to develop projects that promote reconciliation in their local community.

Parents of year 7 & 9 GirlsAs the Community Health Nurse for Halls Head College, I am writing to inform you of an important on-line Self Detection Brochure for Scoliosis.

Scoliosis (spinal curvature) is an important health problem for adolescent girls. When school screening for scoliosis was abandoned the self-detection programme was introduced as a practical alternative. In the early stages the condition is most often asymptomatic, screening in the age range 11-13 years is a sound preventative measure.

The brochure can be accessed directly via a link on the Scoliosis Australia home page at www.scoliosis-australia.org. The website also contains comprehensive credible information about the symptoms and treatment of scoliosis.

Donna Stokeld Community Health Nurse

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au4

Year 9 Zoo ExcursionDuring Term 2, the year 9 Science classes went on an excursion to Perth Zoo. On arrival, each student was given a sheet to fill out about some of the animals. We were all taken to a giant grassed area in the middle of the zoo and once the rules were set, we were amongst the animals.

Everyone set off in small groups and hurried to see their favourite animals first. My friends and I started at the Australian Bushwalk Trail. Whilst we were on our way to see the wombat, we found a kangaroo lying in the middle of the path. We all stopped to pat it and kept moving as we only had three hours to explore the whole zoo. We ran around in circles looking for the wombat and when we finally found it, it was sleeping so we didn’t really stop to watch it. After we found the wombat, we went all the way around the rest of the zoo.

In the Asian rainforest, we sat there for five minutes looking for the red pandas and when we finally spotted them, they were way too high to get a proper look at. We moved on from the Asian rainforest into the nocturnal house. It was really dark inside and we had to be quiet. All of the animal enclosures were slightly lit up by a red light so you could just see the animals. For many of the nocturnal animals, we had to be patient and wait because the animals were very little and hard to see.

After the nocturnal house we went to see the monkeys. We saw many types of Lemurs as we went through the part of the zoo that housed the monkeys. They were very playful and came right up to the edge of the enclosure to say hello. We kept moving as we were short on time and went to the African Savannah. We stopped and looked at every animal and took photos along the way. When we finished exploring the African Savannah, we went on to see the penguins and wetlands. Whilst we were there we spotted the reptile house and finally completed our worksheet.

Thanks to all of the hard working Science staff for a great day.

Madeline Locke Student

year 10 Course Counselling SessionsHalls Head College Year 10 students were recently involved in selecting their Year 11 Courses for 2017.

It was a great turnout from Parents and we are very excited to plan for the up and coming year.

This is a great opportunity for them to consider what they might like to do in Year 11 and 12 which will help them on their way to career and life success.

If your child has not selected their subjects for next year, could they please see Jo Plater in Student Services for an appointment time.

The Year 11 Course Handbook 2017 is available on the College Website

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au5

uWA High Achievers Program

News from the HHC Leadership Team UniformWelcome to our parents and students of Halls Head College. As a part of our new college development, we have created a college uniform policy. The basics of this policy are that the college uniform is to be worn during school hours and on college excursions. The uniform consists of a light blue button up shirt which is to be worn by both males and females, and for boys the navy blue formal college shorts are to be worn and for females the navy blue college skort and/or skirt; both males and females are able to also wear the navy blue bomber jacket, or the woollen knit jumper. All students are required to wear this uniform throughout the day, unless you are attending a physical education lesson where you will be required to wear the college house shirt and airflow shorts, but to clarify, you MuST be wearing the formal uniform and NOT the sport uniform throughout the day. When you are wearing the college uniform you are representing the college, this means after and before school students must behave appropriately and accordingly to best represent the college. There will be frequent uniform checks being reinforced from Term 4 onwards and anyone out of college uniform will be asked to remove the non uniform items. if you are wondering as to how you would attain a uniform, the uniform shop is open on Tuesdays 7.30-10.30am and Thursdays 1.00-4.00pm.

Corey Miller Year 9 Leadership Student

Athletics CarnivalThe athletics carnival is an event held every year at Halls Head College, allowing students to participate in a wide range of events and demonstrate their individual sporting capabilities. usually the sport carnival is held on the second Friday of term four, however this year Halls Head College decided to hold the event on Friday 13 May, meaning our most competitive and durable students will be able to further compete and represent our college in interschool events. The athletics carnival symbolises participation, not victory or loss, to acknowledge participation. Students who participate are rewarded house points. For those students who went the extra mile in demonstrating their strength and determination - they were rewarded with medals. Those students who accumulated the most medals over the day from each year level were rewarded with champion boy, and champion girl. At the end of the carnival all of the points are counted and an overall winner is announced. Over the last few years the carnival has been won by Avalon. This year Miami took the top spot, Avalon second; blue bay third and Melros in fourth. Apart from the winning aspect, the sports carnival allowed all students to be a part of something bigger which promotes a healthy lifestyle. The day ran smoothly to which all students, teachers and parents enjoyed.

Ruben Droogmans Year 10 Leadership Student

Halls Head College Year 12 Ballyear twelve students at Halls Head College have numerous events which make their school life overall, worth the pain. One of these events is the College ball. The theme this year was ‘Hollywood’. Many girls completely blitzed this theme, looking beautifully breathtaking in their gowns and the boys scrubbed up quite well too. There were 2 students in particular that took home the winning prize which were the belle and beau of the ball. The belle of the ball was Emilie Johnstone-Maher who dressed in a stunning dark blue sequin dress with the beau taken out by Jared Middleton. Jared, who was accompanied by his trusty walking cane, was much like Nat Fyfe. bendigo bank stadium provided a lovely 3 course meal for the students and the DJ played some funky tunes for all to enjoy. Overall, the night was definitely one to be remembered by all, and all students were pleased to have a memory to look back on.

During the school holidays in July, i was lucky enough to be invited to attend uWA’s High Achievers program at the university, with around 60 other year 12 students from schools all over WA. Over three days, we got to experience a taste of university lifestyle, and were introduced to all sorts of areas we could choose to study. We learnt about the Square kilometre Array, a super telescope being built in WA’s desert, and did activities ranging from law, to politics, to engineering and physics.

We also were given tours around the various colleges that students can live in while at uni - one of them even had an ice-cream machine - and it was great to learn about the huge variety of scholarships and other opportunities available for students.

Thank you to the college for arranging this great experience!

Matilda Boyce Student

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au6

TRAiNiNG PATHWAyS

Learning & Employment Expo 2016Halls Head College’s 2016 Learning and Employment Expo proudly hosted 10 external providers supporting around 600 students in years 10, 11 and 12 with up to date information that will guide decision making around pathways and a variety of career options.

External providers included representation from Western Australia’s five universities; including Curtin, Edith Cowan, Murdoch, UWA and Notre Dame, whilst Engineers Australia attended to discuss pathways and opportunities in Engineering. The Energy Apprenticeships Group (EAG), South Metropolitan TAFE, Motor Trades Association, and the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network provided students with employment opportunities and pathways across the trades.

Students could select to participate in a variety of short presentations and engaged in proactive discussion, and questioning prior to attending the walk through expo style where students could seek more detailed information from the providers. There was no shortage of giveaways, which also included brochures, open day information, and approximate timeframes for advertised apprenticeship opportunities and training courses.

Halls Head College 2015 Year 12 graduate Kiara Lee Totton, representing EAG returned to the College to speak with students about employment pathways and training in the oil and gas sector. Kiara Lee is completing a Process Technician Traineeship and is sponsored by Shell Australia.

The 2016 Learning and Employment expo was well received with providers complementary of the way our students conducted themselves and the collective effort of our staff to deliver this activity for our students.

Halls Head College and its partners look forward to a bigger and better Learning and Employment Expo for 2017.

COLLEGE LINKS WITH PEAK INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

Halls Head College Year 11 Certificate III Business students had the unique experience to participate in a boardroom meeting with Western Australia’s peak industry association the Chamber of Commerce and industry of WA (CCi).

Students participated in the two-hour meeting, which included a professional agenda with timeframes and outcomes clearly outlined. Each of the students represented members from a range of companies from different industry sectors. Agenda items encouraged interaction and questioning which the students were both professional and diligent.

CCIs Chief Operating Officer discussed tips for becoming a CEO, leadership, motivation, and the importance of looking after ourselves, to be well and to have a balanced lifestyle. Other agenda themes centred on leadership and career journeys, information on what employers are saying they want from future entry level employees, and presentations from young people starting their careers on how they landed their job and are seeking to continuously improve aiming to move up the employment ladder.

This activity further enhances the student’s experiences in linking with industry, which has included the Australian Mines and Metals Association, Monodelphous, Thiess Australia, Georgiou, Fortescue Metals Group and attendance at the 2016 Australian Oil and Gas Conference hosted in Perth.

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au7

Canberra TripRecently an intrepid team of year 10 students and 4 brave teachers conquered the nation’s democratic heartland during our traditional Sydney and Canberra Tour.

The excited troupe headed off in the early hours of August 20 to fly to Sydney. Once arriving in Sydney, we went to the Opera House, strolled around Circular Quay and admired the 3D model of Sydney under the floor of Customs House and then we caught the historic ferry to Manly. Later, we checked into our awesome accommodation at the YHA and got some rest and recovery. On Sunday, we awoke to a glorious day in Sydney and set about making the most of it! We went to Channel 7 ‘Sunrise’ to get a glimpse of the show however were thwarted by the Olympics. We then recovered quickly with a trip up the Sydney Tower and at the same time a whole heap of people were completing the annual Stair Climb. The view well made up for the chaos! We then headed over the Harbour Bridge by bus to get dropped off for a stroll back across, down through the Rocks and a look at the Paddington Markets. We then stopped at the Gap as we headed to Bondi for lunch and a chance to chat with some lifeguards. In the afternoon we explored Darling Harbour and had some very interesting encounters with the celebrities in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. We rounded the day off with a night walk to the Opera House where we admired the iconic beauty and enjoyed a little Jokemon with all the Pokémon hunters around Circular Quay. After logging over 25,000 steps for the day, we were well set to enjoy the long bus trip to Canberra on Monday!

Our first stop in Canberra was to the Civic Centre to gather supplies for our cabins that night. We then headed out to Tidbinbilla aka The DEEP Space Centre. Here we learnt a lot about Australia’s role in the moon landing as well as shared the good news that they had just regained contact that morning with a satellite data recorder that they had thought lost for over 47 years! We then headed out to our home for the week at the Eaglehawk Camp ground.

On Tuesday we delighted in the wonder of science at Questacon, some of us braved the drop chute, whilst others discovered the fun of different forces at work with the interactive displays. The stringless harp and keyless piano were like bits of magic straight out of Harry

Potter! The National Gallery was a real eye opener for many of the students with all of our guides giving us vivid interpretations of some of the art pieces on display. The outside sculptures that worked on the power of illusion, depth and space were enthralling, even if a slightly wet experience for some. In the afternoon we went to the Australian War Memorial where some students were able to find their families information about relatives who served in the War. The displays allowed us to get a real sense of how enormous the cost of war is to people and countries. We were fortunate to participate in the very solemn and moving Wreath laying ceremony in which we were proudly represented by Sierra Smith, Damien Beddoe and Mrs Burgess.

After a quick trip back to Eaglehawk we headed off to the

bright lights of Belconnen for a couple of rounds of ten pin bowling. Little did we know that Mr Grasso and Dave our bus driver were actually more than casual ten pin players and Yara proved herself a ten pin bowling wonder woman achieving the highest score of the evening.

Wednesday dawned a bit grey and cloudy and after a tour of the Embassies we headed to the Australian Institute of Sport which was void of Olympians but full of athletic challenges.

Next was the Portrait Gallery where one group viewed a majestic painting depicting the Franklin Dam protests and everyone tested out their drawing skills. After lunch we discovered the history of Canberra at the National Exhibition Centre before viewing history in the making at the High Court where we were very fortunate to view a case in action and see five of the Chief Justices of the High Court put a loud lawyer in his place! As exciting as this was (who needs soap operas) it couldn’t compete with the anticipation of SNOW day on Thursday.

Even getting up at 4am didn’t faze the ski bunnies. After a long trek out to Perisher we donned skis and snowboards and had lessons that caused much laughter and several bruises. We enjoyed hot chocolate, made snow angels, attempted to build a snow person and then had one huge snow ball fight before heading back to Canberra tired, wet and exhilarated!

Friday we prepared to come home, so after packing up we headed into Canberra one last time to experience the wonder of democracy in action. We visited new Parliament House where we saw the Magna Carta and the houses of Parliament (all empty unfortunately). We had the chance to uphold a bill of national importance (Free Wi-Fi) and view Canberra from the rooftop. We then went to Old Parliament House where we got to do another role play in the Parliamentary Education Program Offices and actually sit in the real seats of Parliament. We finished our visit off with a trip out to the Governor General’s house where we were awestruck by Kaitlyn having the chance to play the piano and Rylee the chance to sit in the Governor General’s seat!!! Then it was off to the airport for the long flight home.

We arrived back ready for our own beds in the middle of a massive rain storm on Friday and spent the weekend recovering!!! We all had a great time, learnt about our own tenacity and have marked down plenty of places to visit again. We would like to thank Mrs Burgess, Miss Cresswell, Mr Grasso and Mr Robinson for volunteering their time to organise and escort us and the PACER program for helping make it all possible!

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $240 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au8

Canberra Trip

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au9

1 Casuarina Drive HALLS HEAD WA 6210 P: (08) 9581 0600 F: (08) 9581 0636 E: hallshead.cc@education.wa.edu.au

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au

Silent DiscoIn week 9 the college held a Silent Disco as a reward incursion for students with over 90% attendance in Semester 1 from mainstream and ESC.

The Silent Disco was held in the Performing Arts Centre and provided each student with access to headphones from which they could select from several different music sources.

Feedback from the students is that they would like to have the opportunity to have another Silent Disco in the near future.

Well done to the 90% attendance students.

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HALLS HEADCOLLEGE

College Website! The new College website is now live where you will be able to navigate around to find important

information for parents and students.

www.hallsheadcc.wa.edu.au

English DepartmentRecently we have had the good fortune to see a performance by a theatre company that visited the college to present a Shakespeare play to our Academic Extension year Nine & Ten students and year Ten and Eleven Drama students. it was an excellent opportunity to see live theatre and gain an insight into Shakespeare’s works. The 76 participants were treated to an entertaining mix of modern version and traditional Shakespeare that has blended well with their class work this semester.

Many students have also, as part of their work in English, been writing short stories that – should they choose – can be entered into some of the Writing Competitions that we have the chance to submit entries to before the end of this term. Some very creative writing has already been submitted. Well done to those students and good luck in winning some of the great prizes available in the competitions!

The English Department is seeking the assistance of all parents in two specific

areas. Spring has arrived and it is a great time to get your child to

do a “Spring Clean”

of their bedroom to find those very overdue English novels (and other Library books!) that might be sitting on a shelf, bedside table (hopefully!) or under the bed. We need them back so that we don’t waste money replacing forgotten books. Any texts – and some are from earlier years! – can be returned to the library, again hopefully, before the end of this term. Please make sure it is not the one they are currently using in English.

Secondly, a regular part of our work is finding high interest and recent reading material for the students to use in the class. Often magazines are a great source of feature articles, advertising and general interest reading. If you have an unwanted stack of magazines – either general magazines like Woman’s Day, Dolly, Time, or any of specific interest areas such as sports, hobbies, computing, National Geographic, etc. – we would really appreciate getting them for use in class. These can be brought in by the students to give to their teacher or dropped in to the office to be passed on to the English Department. Any will be well received – a few from many parents will replenish the supply!

Mark Crook

HOLA English