Care | Opportunity | Success
S O U T H SY D N E Y
Principal’s Report
HIGH SCHOOL
Newsletter | Term 1 Week 10 | 5 April 2019
Congratulations and well done to:
Year 11 students for their focus and commitment to the Year 11 Elevate Study Skills program
Our Year 7 students and Ms Corlija for successfully negotiating another round of vaccinations
Our fantastically talented and enthusiastic sporting team members for their sportsmanship and successes
Our Year 7 students and their Year 11 coaches for a very successful Gala Day
Our Year 7, 9 and 11 students for navigating the NAPLAN online and Minimum Standards practice tests
Empowering Young Women’s Workshop
We are very fortunate to have many influential business
links which provide outstanding opportunities for our
students. Ms Stell led an exciting workshop focusing on
leadership, goal setting and emotional intelligence at
the Empowering Young Women’s Day held on Thursday
at T. Rowe Price, in the City, on the 50th floor – what a
view! This was a wonderful opportunity for our Year 10
and 11 girls to foster and nurture leadership aspirations
and ambitions.
Phones
We all love our phones! It is important that they are used judiciously when at school and we expect that
phones will only be used in class for educational purposes, by teacher request or assent. Thank you for your
support in ensuring that Teaching and Learning continues to be our Number 1 priority.
Exciting News – Parent and Student Portal for Year 7 coming next week….
Our Parent and Student Portals give you access to a range of information including record of attendance,
student timetable, school calendar and NAPLAN data. For Years 8-12, as we come up to the 12 month
implementation, we will be resending information about access. If you have not logged on before, you will
receive an email early in Term 2 with details of how to set up an account to gain access. You will be
provided with a new access code but will need a valid email address to register. We advise you to update
your current email account details via our Front Office if our file records are incorrect.
Year 7 students will be shown how to access the Student Portal in week 11 and given their school ID cards
by Mr Yasaman.
Interim Reports
Please take the time to discuss interim details with your child/ward. These will be posted home to students in
Years 7-10 early next week.
Kind Regards
Catherine Walton (Acting Principal)
Gifted, Talented & Enrichment Making a Film in a Day
Students from South Sydney High School joined our SSEP students on Wednesday 26th March to make a short
film in a day. Jack Bond, Rayan Brahimi, Jude Carla and Fionn Hughes from Year 8 became a film crew for the
day and turned their film concept into a narrative film entitled, ‘An apple a day…..’. They worked with Simon
and Lindsay from Star Time Studios who came to our school with professional film equipment and assisted
students in navigating the various stages of the intricate film making process. These students adopted a very
professional approach to their work and Jack Bond deserves special commendation for demonstrating his skills
as a Director.
We look forward to future ventures of this nature that will encourage potential film makers in our school
population and equip them with the skills to make engaging short films.
The Gifted Awareness Forum for Educators On Saturday 23rd March the Gifted Awareness Forum for Educators took place at Newington College,
Stanmore. Ms Aine de Paor, South Sydney High School’s Gifted Education Coordinator was invited to offer a
session as a presenter in which offered colleagues strategies for engaging and challenging high aptitude
learners whose giftedness lies in the creative arts. Those who took part in this session were particularly
impressed by the range of ways in which we at South Sydney High School cater for our high aptitude learners
both within and beyond the classroom. Programs offered at South Sydney High School and shared with
participants via a powerpoint presentation included:
Our focus on differentiation in the classroom to challenge all students at their level of ability
South Sydney’s Club for Intelligent Minds (SSCIM)
SSCIM Camps
Project Based Learning as a key element of our provision for high aptitude students in our enrichment classes.
The South Sydney Enrichment Program offered to high aptitude students from our local primary schools (SSEP)
On the 27th March 20 students from our school
visited Google to experience the amazing work space
of this 21st Century. We were escorted by Mr
Armanios and Mr Chadwick and they too were
impressed with what they saw. We discovered a
variety of opportunities can happen when you select
to study engineering and IT. It was both fun and
educational. We thank all our teachers for arranging
this excursion as it has given us much to reflect upon.
Linh Huynh, Meg Wighton, Michael Chieng
Student Ambassadors
Beacon & Opportunity - Google Visit
NRL Rabbitohs Program
Year 7 attended a NRL Rabbitohs talk which
included a powerpoint on Gratitude. Students were
asked to be grateful and show gratitude to their
parents, teachers, friends and others.
Two male Rabbitohs players and one female player
attended. The students were given prizes and asked
the players questions. They were thrilled to have
Alex Johnstone, the Rabbitohs current fullback
visiting.
Thanks to the players, the Rabbitohs and the NRL.
Sports News Frederick Mravec results at Sydney East Region Swimming Carnival
Place Event Time
1st Place 200m Freestyle 2:22.33
1st Place 100m Breaststroke 1:24.15
1st Place 100m Freestyle 1:07.11
1st Place 50m Freestyle 30.64
1st Place 210m Butterfly 1:16.07
Simply Outstanding!
Quality Behaviour Winners of the Quality Behaviour Slip Draw for the term:
Year 7: Rainne Drummond-Paki, Makaylah Scarff, Myles Flynn, Ryan Kloner, Ezekiel Filipaina, Sean Terrey,
Hannah Al-Idrus
Year 8: Jasmine Mederos , Taylah Moore , Bryan Guzman Cares , Elise Harris
Year 11: Easton Churchill , Brendan Wardrop
Congratulations to all students for their hard work and dedication this term!
Article from the Southern Courier
Parent Teacher Nights Term 2 Tuesday 14th May - Year 11 and 12
Tuesday 25th June - Year 8 and 10
Term 3 Tuesday 30th July - Years 7 and 9
Interim Reports Interim Reports for Year 7-10 will be posted home next week. If you have any queries, please contact the
Head Teacher of the faculty:
English: Ms Hasking
Maths: Mr Askounis
Science: Ms Mifsud
HSIE: Mr Moreland
CAPA: Mr Wiseman
PDHPE/TAS: Mr Wood
A sample report is included for your reference.
Library News
Featured Library Displays
During the course of my day as a Teacher Librarian, I receive many student queries about what is good to read
and where to find specific information. The display “I don’t remember the title, but the cover was blue” was
inspired from multiple queries I have heard over the years. As a promotion of fiction texts, the blue display
has been a success as it has had to be refilled a few times and brought a smile to the faces of students and
staff. Anzac Day is a significant day in Australian history. There are many non fiction and fiction texts in the
library collection for students to learn about the events at Gallipoli and other Australian wartime experiences.
Year 7 Gala Day softball
A wonderful Gala Day carnival was held on 3rd April this week. Our three Softball Teams participated in the
spirit of fun and fair play on the day. Each of the teams played well and learnt lots from our competitors and
coaches. The excitement started to build after the fifth game as our players realised that we had won enough
games to make it an all-South Sydney final. The final score was a tie.
I was very proud of our Year 7 teams. I would also like to pass on an enormous thank you to our Year 11
coaches and those who assisted on the day. These students are a great credit to our Senior School and I
acknowledge the wonderful work that they have done each week preparing our Year 7 softballers for Gala
Day. They are, Ernie Gilshenan, Jessica Vu, Eric Raman, Balsam Badeea, Lucas Cosstick and from Year 12, on
the day, William Crowley and Sharlise Te Hira.
Ms Brookes
Writing Competition
Tournament of Minds South Sydney High School encourages participation in Tournament of Minds. This is a voluntary program.
Teams of seven students from Years 7-10 are invited to participate in the Secondary Division. Students work
collaboratively and creatively to find solutions to real world 21st century problems. Training sessions will
commence at the beginning of Term 2 and will take place weekly during the lunch break. After initial training
sessions and exposure to Spontaneous Challenges, teams are expected to work on a Long Term Challenge
(unsupervised) for a period of six weeks prior to the Tournament Day on the last weekend in August. Parents/
Carers will be expected to provide the students’ transport on the day. The Tournament will be held at St
Scholaticas High School, Glebe. The current challenges are drawn from the following disciplines: STEM, THE
ARTS, LANGUAGE LITERATURE and SOCIAL SCIENCES.
Jennifer Tilby, Facilitator
Students are encouraged to enter the Whitlam Institute’s 2019 WHAT MATTERS? Writing Competition. Entries
close on 10th May 2019 and need to be entered online. This competition is a catalyst for students to develop a
perspective or a point of view on where we are heading as a society. It provides a forum for young people to
be involved in the shaping of Australia’s future. Students must submit an original written work between
400-600 words in prose or poetry, of either fiction or non-fiction on a subject that interests them. Prizes are
awarded in four categories. South Sydney High School has supported this competition and its cause for a
number of years. Student involvement is highly recommended to continue to develop current Literacy skills
and provide a platform for sharing concerns and ideas.
Jennifer Tilby, Facilitator
In Week 11 Term 1 2019, our school is taking part in the Tell Them From Me student survey. The survey will
provide us with valuable 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 survey to help them improve. The survey is completed on-line 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 students 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.
This research will help schools in New South Wales to better understand how to improve 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. For
further information please contact Mr B. Benischke
Tell Them From Me Survey