december 2016 - elderslie high school...i wish everyone a safe and happy christmas and new year. we...

PARENT BULLETIN DECEMBER 2010

Elderslie High School Educating all students to achieve their personal best

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT Farewell and Thank You As this is the final edition of our Parent Bulletin for this year I would like to farewell the following staff and thank them for their contribution to Public Education and our school.

Firstly, Mr Raeburn our Head Teacher History will be taking leave until his retirement. Mr Raeburn has been an exceptional leader and passionate history teacher. He is a fascinating story teller and if you have ever had the chance to be in one of his classes you would know that this quality and skill has enabled him to make strong connections with students, frequently leading to outstanding results. To say that he will be sadly missed is an understatement but we wish him well and sincerely hope that he will keep in touch.

Ms Kelly has been a history teacher at Elderslie High School for 31 years and is currently the longest serving teacher at the school. She has been a year adviser numerous times and in this role she has been staunch in her support of students, in particular their welfare. Ms Kelly will be retiring at the end of this year and we wish her good health and happiness in the next phase of her life.

Mrs Raeburn our School Administration Officer will also be taking leave before her retirement. Mrs Raeburn’s attention to detail in all tasks that she was asked to fulfil was meticulous. In particular her willingness to step-up to the relieving office manager position was very much appreciated. She has also been an avid supporter of our school and we would regularly see her at whole-school events, selling tickets and programs.

I would also like to thank the following

Teachers for assisting us in delivering courses and programs at Elderslie High School this year. Without their involvement we would not have been able to complete the year successfully. In particular can I thank Ms Unwin, Ms Gray, Ms Reynolds, Ms Piers and Ms Luu who will be at other schools next year and Mr Quinn, Ms Roberts, Ms Hissey, Ms Kidd, Ms Mulligan, Mr MacAdam, Mr Stewart, Mr Russell and Ms Pitkin who have filled casual and temp positions throughout the year.

Sporting Excellence Once again in 2016 we have a number of students who have attained excellence in their chosen sport. On 2

nd

December 2016 Hannah Trethewy and Gabrielle Plain both received a CHS Blue in their respective sports of cricket and softball. This is a highly prestigious honour and like their parents, Ms Martin and I were honoured to have attended the ceremony and seen both of these outstanding ambassadors receive their awards. Congratulations!

Then on 5th

December 2016 I attended the SSW Regional Blues ceremony

where Brittany Stoker and Brianna Smith received awards for swimming and lawn bowls respectively. To hear the achievements of both the girls in their chosen sport was highly rewarding and engaging.

Upcoming Events

13 Dec Presentation Evening

14 Dec Jamberoo Excursion

16 Dec Last day of school

30 Jan Return to school 7,11 & 12

31 Jan Return to school All Years

3 Feb Swimming Carnival

6 Feb UOW – Discovery Day

See back page for more details

Inside This Issue Principal’s Report 1-2

Deputies Report 2-3

Student Volunteering Awards 3

SRC News 4

Duke of Edinburgh Awards 4

Support Unit News 4

Science News 5

Sports Report 5

Careers News 6

Uniform Shop Hours 7

Proposed Calendar 8

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR.

PARENT BULLETIN December 2016



Victor Chang Awards The 2016 Victor Change awards for the Macarthur area were held at the Camden Council Chambers, Oran Park. This year Jeremy Olliffe, Natalia Rimceski and Andrew Gardner were nominated by the school to receive this award. All were successful. Unfortunately Andrew was not able to attend the ceremony but Jeremy and Natalia were presented with their awards by Camden Mayor, Lara Symkowiak; Member for Camden Mr Chris Paterson; and a representative from the Victor Chang Institute. Congratulations on your outstanding achievements in the field of science. Uniform Shop The uniform shop has been up and running for the past few weeks. The hours of operation until the end of January 2017 have been advertised and until the end of this term the shop will be open until 5.30pm Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. I encourage families to take advantage of the extended hours and times of opening during the school vacation period as operating hours will change when school returns next year.

2016 End of Year Procedures and Being Prepared for 2017 An important part of finalising the school year and preparing for the next year is the “Clearance” process. This process has already commenced for Years 7 to 11 and involves the return of school resources (texts/costumes/library books etc) and payment of any outstanding school & course charges. All students are required to complete the clearance process. Forms are to be returned to the student office ASAP. This process is essential to allow re-issue of texts and other resources to students at the beginning of 2017.

Years 7 to 10 school reports will be issued at their recognition assemblies to be held on Thursday 15 December 2016. Included in the report package will be the 2017 school contribution & course charges.

Please remember if you are buying school uniform items over the holiday period make sure it complies with our school uniform policy, especially school shoes. There will also be a copy of this information on the school website for future reference.

Student Attendance 2017 Any student who is not able to attend school on the first day of the 2017 school year must inform the Principal in

writing by the end of term, clearly indicating the anticipated date of return and the reason. Years 7, 11 and 12 return on Monday 30 January 2017. Years 8, 9 and 10 return on Tuesday 31 January 2017. School Swimming Carnival will be held on Friday 3 February 2017, at Camden Pool.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. I wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. We appreciate you joining us on Tuesday 13 December 2016 for our Presentation Evening, where we showcased our 2016 achievements. Thank you for your ongoing support of our school M Fawcett, Principal

From the Deputy Principals Jennifer Lawrence (DP Years 8, 10 & 12) Year 10->11 Transition On 21 November, our Year 10 students commenced the transition to senior school. In their fresh senior uniforms, they commenced their new timetables including their new school starting time of 8.40am. I have been delighted to see that our new “seniors” have demonstrated an excellent attitude and are thoroughly enjoying the new array of subjects on offer. I would especially like to thank Ms Roberts, our new Year 11 Year Adviser and also our Careers Adviser, Mrs Whitfield for their tireless work in supporting our students. The four week program contains not only taster lessons in new senior courses but also a number of workshops designed to support the needs and interests of school leavers and also those continuing on. Amongst the workshops have been sessions on stress management, BOSTES information, goal setting, research skills and apprenticeships.

Year 11 Sport in 2017 All Year 10 students should have received a note recently about the cessation of normal school sport on Wednesday afternoons in 2017. Following the Department’s decision to make sport compulsory in only Years 7-10, Elderslie High School has decided to also implement this change. In 2017, Year 11 students will then be able to go home early on Wednesdays to complete homework, revision and assessment tasks unless they choose to participate in Wednesday afternoon sport. If there are any Year 11 students who still wish to participate, they may see Ms George in the PDHPE faculty to organise this. It should be noted that this change will not take place until Week 7 of Term 1 (from Wednesday 8 March) due to the Crossroads program that must take place first. Crossroads is a Department of Education requirement and is an excellent program that covers topical PDHPE issues that are suitable for this age group. The themes presented include mental health and stress, safe driving and partying as well as sexuality. All students and their parents should be aware that Crossroads is compulsory and any student absences during the program must be explained with a



doctor’s certificate. Students will be required to catch up any work missed due to absence.

Orientation Day Orientation Day for our new Year 7 students for 2017 was held on Tuesday, 6 December and was a great success. I thoroughly enjoyed intermingling with our new students and their families and helping to support their smooth transition to high school. Whilst we know it is a daunting time for the students, we firmly believe we provide a great program to ease anxiety and promote socialisation with incoming students from a wide range of primary schools. Our Year 11 Prefects played a pivotal role at Orientation and we hope Year 6 students have made lasting connections to a friendly, older role model that they can seek out in the months ahead. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Year 7 Year Adviser for 2017, Ms Sakr for her efforts in organising the day. Her attention to detail and enthusiasm for her new role are greatly valued. Kind Regards, Mrs Jenny Lawrence

Natalie Martin (DP Years 7,9 & 11) On 22

nd

November I attended the Macarthur Zone

Secondary Schools Sports Association Sporting ‘Blue’ Awards at Camden Lakeside. I was very proud to see that Elderslie High School students received twenty seven awards. Two noteworthy achievements were those of Jordan Cracknell and Erin Wooldridge who received two awards each. Jordan’s awards were for pentathlon and football whilst Erin’s awards were for cross country and triathlon. Congratulations to all of our students who were recipients of these awards.

On 25

th November Miss Dennis and I attended the School

Spectacular at Kudos Bank Arena. Mrs Carusi coordinated and supervised a group of dancers who participated in this amazing event. Our students performed in a large group to the song Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. The Schools Spectacular unites students to be a part of the biggest performance of their lives. They value everyone and challenge performers and audience alike to experience new perspectives through the creation of the Spectacular. This year there were over 5,000 participants and they broke a world record of the largest amateur performance. The choir also consisted of 2,700 members which was phenomenal. Congratulations to Mrs Carusi and all the girls who participated in this fabulous event.

On 29 November students from Mawarra Public School and Elderslie Public School participated in a choir workshop with Elderslie High School students. Mrs Prigg led this initiative and it was amazing to see our community members join together and sing so beautifully. All the students involved are to be congratulated for their efforts. Thank you to Mrs Prigg for coordinating this event and providing such a rewarding experience for the students.

Year 9 Christmas CAPA night was on Tuesday 6 December. This is a night where all of the Visual Arts, Dance, Music and Drama students were able to show off their talents. Thank you to Ms Dennis and the CAPA faculty for coordinating this event.

In conclusion I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to communicating with all of you again in the New Year.

DEC Student Volunteering Awards This year Ellyn Brown, Olivia Delamare and Tim Hannaford have achieved their Black Opal Award, an excellent effort. Also students have achieved 7 Diamond Awards, 9 Gold Awards, 17 Silver Awards and 21 Bronze Awards. This is representative of many of our Volunteers. Our Peer Mentors, Duke of Edinburgh Award students, Peer Reading Tutors, SRC, exam reader /writers, Entertainment crew, Referees and Animal Nursery helpers, who are volunteering regularly have logged in their hours. I encourage Year 9 students to start logging in their hours.

The DEC Student Volunteering Awards program encourages all students to undertake a minimum of 20 hours of volunteering during the time they are in Years 9 and 10. In appreciation of this contribution to the community, students will receive DEC Certificates (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond and Black Opal respectively) for completing 20, 40, 60, 80 or over 150 hours of volunteering.

How To Log On Log on to the student portal and follow the “other sites” prompt. Scroll down until P and find the Premier’s Student Volunteering Awards then enter new activity. The process only takes a few minutes. If you required assistance see Mrs Rouen or Mrs Shortt for help enrolling. Mrs Rouen and Mrs Shortt, Volunteering Coordinators



SRC News The SRC would like to thank all the students at Elderslie High for supporting our events throughout 2016, and what a big year it was! We have supported: World’s Greatest Shave, Harmony Day, Biggest Morning Tea, Wear it Purple, Genes for Jeans, R U OK Day, Udderly Awesome Day, International Teachers Day, and World Vision. Our PBL lessons throughout the year covered topics such as racism, homophobia, mental health, and stranger danger.

This is the last year that Ms Jan is running the SRC; she’s passing the baton on to Miss Le and knows she will do an excellent job at developing the junior leaders at Elderslie High.

We wish everyone a merry Christmas, happy new year, and fantastic holiday! Ms Jan and the SRC

Duke of Edinburgh Award Information. Bronze and Silver Award participants should now be well on their way to completing their respective awards. I am expecting that all participants will have completed their Bronze or Silver Award by the start of the 2017 academic year!! Let’s get those awards completed so that you can continue the award in 2017!! Silver and Gold expeditions will be starting early in Term 1 2017. Hopefully every participant who wishes to continue the award will be ready for another big year.

An Information meeting for students in Yr 8 interested in joining the award in 2017 will occur early in Term 1, 2017. Information regarding the requirements of the award can be found on the EHS website.

The proposed dates for camps next year are outlined below.

D of E Expeditions 17

LEVEL ACTIVITY TERM

WEEK

DATE DAYS

GOLD Sail Practice Sail Practice

Sail Test Sail Test

1 1 1 1

3 4 9

10

7-10/2/17 14-17/2/17 21-24/3/17 28-31/3/17

TUES-FRI TUES-FRI TUES-FRI TUES-FRI

SILVER Kayak Practice

Kayak Test

1 1

5 7

22-24/2/17 8-10/3/17

WED-FRI WED-FRI

BRONZE Training and Expeditions in Term 3 & 4 still to be confirmed.

The award fees will be as follows from January 1 2017. · Bronze - $115.00 · Silver - $125.00 · Gold - $150.00

I hope these costs will not deter participants form continuing as the award is a worthwhile achievement for students. If there are any questions or problems please see Mr Marshall. Paul Marshall, D of E Coordinator.

SUPPORT UNIT NEWS The Water Rocket Challenge Term 4 brings a new and exciting project-based learning unit designed to promote the development of 21

st century

learning skills including collaboration and teamwork, creativity and imagination, critical thinking and problem solving. The Water Rocket Challenge integrates outcomes across the Science, Mathematics, English and Technology curriculum, engaging students in the history and future of rocket science as they endeavour to design and build a water propelled rocket to compete against their peers to reach the highest altitude. Students are developing an understanding of and experimenting with Newton’s Law’s of Motion and applying these skills within the design process to achieve maximum thrust, decrease drag, increase stability and control and improve the aerodynamics of their rockets. We look forward to observing how our students’ innovative designs evolve throughout the rest of the term and may the best engineer WIN!

Work Experience Work experience has commenced for eligible students in the support unit. Students are enjoying honing their skills in the construction industry, developing a sense of responsibility and the skills required to be a reliable and committed employee. We wish our students good luck in their endeavours and would like to thank local businesses for supporting our students.

Community Access Program Community Access Programs are well underway for Term 4 with Cosmic enjoying Jump Zone and Aqua Golf, Titan testing their skills at Kingpin Bowling and Laser Tag and Galactica exploring the great outdoors as they challenge themselves on a range of recreational bushwalking tracks in the Macarthur area including the O’Hares Creek Lookout track in Dharawal National Park.



End of Year Celebration Day As the end of year fast approaches, we are looking forward to celebrating a successful inaugural year in the support unit by making a splash at Wet’n’Wild Sydney. Students and their families are invited to join us for a picnic and lots of fun in the sun. Further information will be sent home with students soon. Learning support Team

SCIENCE NEWS Compulsory Laboratory Coats During 2017 any student who starts Year 7, existing year 8’s and any student who is enrolled in Biology, Chemistry, Physics in Year 11 must wear during practical experiments, a fire retardant laboratory coat and full enclosed leather shoes as per the Department’s of Education Work Health & Safety regulations.

Year 6 into 7 would have had their sizes recorded on Orientation Day. Any older siblings please inform your family that a paper exchange voucher for the lab coat will be attached to your school fees receipt. Your child’s teacher will notify students to exchange this paper voucher for a lab coat once the shipment arrives early in Term 1, 2017.

Currently, any Year 8 students who does not have a lab coat please see Mrs Nath, relieving Head of Science immediately as your coursework will be in jeopardy, due to exclusion of partaking in experiments.

Current Year 10 students in transition would have had their lab coat sizes recorded, however a payment of $20 to the student front office and a receipt shown must occur before collection during Term 1, 2017. Alternatively the University of Western Sydney bookshop or any work uniform shop has white lab coats for sale and students can purchase these during the summer break. At the start of senior courses an N-Award notification may be issued if no lab coat is produced as it is a mandatory item and essential during all practical work. Mrs S. Nath, relieving Science Head of Department

SPORTS REPORT As we come to the close of 2016, we would like to say thank you to the skilful students, who with the support of teachers and parents achieved outstanding results. Elderslie High School has won all 3 Zone carnival point scores for the Macarthur Zone in Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics, therefore, retaining the Clutha Cup, for the most outstanding school in the zone for carnival performance in 2016. At the recent Macarthur Zone Blue Award’s presentation, students received 27 awards for a range of sports. This year many of our students represented at NSW and Australian levels for their chosen sport.

To all the students mentioned in past bulletins and this bulletin, congratulations on your achievements and we are looking forward to the promise of what 2017 can bring.

SCHOOL SWIMMING CARNIVAL 2017 The Elderslie High School annual swimming carnival will be held on Friday 3

rd February at Camden pool. The theme of

the day is “70’s flower power”. Busses will drop the students and pick up from the pool. There will be a DJ and lots of novelty events. All students are expected to attend for a day of fun and competition. Student will receive more information at the beginning of Term 1 in 2017.

Elderslie High School Cricket Teams The Open Girls Cricket team has again won their Sydney South West regional final and will progress through to the next part of that competition in 2017. The u/14’s cricket team were also regional final winners, competing in the Mark Waugh Trophy and defeated Macquarie Fields High School in the final. The boys displayed great sportsmanship and executed their skills tremendously and will now play Westfields Sports High School early next year. The u/14’s boys cricket team is pictured below.

MACARTHUR ZONE BLUES AWARD RECIPIENTS

EMILY McCARTHY SERVICE TO SPORT

DYLAN THORPE SENIOR SWIMMING

NATASHA BURKE SENIOR SWIMMING

JORDAN CRACKNELL

SENIOR PENTATHLON SENIOR SOCCER

TIARNE McDONALD

SENIOR CRICKET JUNIOR WATERPOLO

ERIN WOOLDRIDGE

JUNIOR THRIATHLON JUNIOR CROSS COUNTRY

MITCHELL VAN DER SAAG

JUNIOR CROSS COUNTRY

ELLA WOOLDRIDGE JUNIOR ATHLETICS- TRACK

SKYE IRVING JUNIOR TENNIS

REBEKAH LORD JUNIOR LAWN BOWLS

ASHLEIGH McMURDO SENIOR WATERPOLO

MADDISON LEWIS SENIOR KAYAKING

HANNAH WRIGHT SENIOR ATHLETICS- TRACK

REESE BACON SENIOR ATHLETICS-FIELD

LACHLAN TAYLOR JUNIOR ORIENTEERING

TIA KEIGHRAN JUNIOR ORIENTEERING

EMILY FICKEL SENIOR SOFTBALL



COURTNEY JONES

SENIOR TOUCH FOOTBALL SENIOR NETBALL

GILLIAN KOWALICK SENIOR CROSS COUNTY

DANIEL O’DALY SENIOR HOCKEY

SAMUEL DUKES SENIOR LAWN BOWLS

CHRISTOHPER HILL JUNIOR LAWN BOWLS

SSW REGIONAL BLUES AWARD RECIPIENTS BRITTANY STOKER SWIMMING BRIANNA SMITH LAWN BOWLS

NSW CHS BLUES AWARD RECIPIENTS HANNAH TRETHEWY GABRIELLE PLAIN

Equestrian Jessica Dunn placed 10th in combined training at NSW All Schools Arndell Competition. She gained the following positions-

1st Open hack 3rd Best presented

2nd Senior rider 3rd Senior lead

2nd Senior active rider 4th Western

2nd Senior keyhole 4th Bounce

Taekwondo Gabriella De Nuntiis winning the Gold Medal at the NSW Taekwondo Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Homebush Sunday 27th November.

National Junior Rodeo Finals Brianna and Chloe Doyle have qualified for the Australian Bushman’s Campdraft and Rodeo Association (ABCRA) National Junior Rodeo Finals to be held on 24th & 25th January 2017 in Tamworth.

Brianna qualified for Junior Breakaway placing 5th overall and Chloe qualified for the 14-U18 Juvenile Barrels placing 15

th.

Triathlon Ella and Erin Wooldridge raced at the Jackie Fairweather triathlon in Canberra. Ella placed 1st in her age in the Enticer and 1st in the all age category. Erin placed 2nd in her age group. Erin also placed 1st in the Enticer race at Huskisson.

CAREERS NEWS



PROPOSED CALENDAR – More detailed Calendar events can be found on our school website

Wk MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

10A

12 December 13 December Presentation Evening

14 December Jamberoo Excursion

15 December 16 December Last Day Of School

17 December / 27 January Holidays

1A

23 January School Holidays



26 January Australia Day

27 January Staff Development

2B

30 January Yr 7, 11 & 12 Students

Return to School

31 January All Years

Return to school

1 February New Enrolments

2 February 3 February Swimming Carnival

3A

6 February 7 February 8 February 9 February 10 February UOW – Discovery Day

Elderslie High School 40-48 Hilder Street Narellan NSW 2567

Phone: (02) 4658 1110

Fax: (02) 4658 0219 [email protected]

www.elderslie-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Excellence. Honour. Service.

EHS—Proud to be a public school

EHS—Proud to be a public school

P & C MEETINGS 2016

ALL parents of students and interested members

of the Elderslie community are invited to these meetings.

Our first Meeting for 2017 will be 7 February

In the Library at 7pm

We wish you a Very Merry Christmas and look forward to see you at Elderslie High

School P&C Meeting in 2017.

mailto:[email protected]

december 2016 - elderslie high school...i wish everyone a safe and happy christmas and new year. we...

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