Upcoming Events

1 March Years 9 & 10 Stage 5 Curriculum Night

3 March Year 10 Geography Nunn’s Creek Excursion

7 March Years 11 & 12 Stage 6 Curriculum Night Years 9 & 10 Touch Football

8 March eTEC Parent Information Evening

9 March Zone Swimming Carnival, Woy Woy Pool Selective Schools Test

10 March School Photos

15 March School Photos Catch Up P&C Meeting 6.30pm Year 11 RYDA Excursion

17 March Sydney North Swimming Carnival, Homebush

27 March Yr 12 Exams commence Open Table Tennis

30 March Under 14’s Rugby League

Message from the Principal PRAISE AND REWARD

Congratulations to the many students who are clocking up positive mentions. The following table represents the progression of awards that students will receive as a result of demon-strating positive behaviour, academic achievement, commitment to school community, 100% attendance each term and attendance at school carnivals and events.

 

ERNEST STREET UPGRADE

A joint partnership between Central Coast Council and Department of Education will fund the new work in Ernest Street to improve safety, parking and traffic congestion. Additional street parking will be made available with kiss and ride spaces on both sides of the road. The chi-cane will be replaced with a round-about and access to EHS car park will be through our Agriculture farm at the top where our student car parking space currently is. The current front gate access to our car park will be reduced to one gate and only accessible for service deliv-ery trucks. The bus stops at the top of Ernest street have been re-located further down the street and a give way sign will be installed on James Sea Drive at the Ernest street intersec-tion (to the left) to allow traffic coming from Green Point to flow more freely. A copy of the design is available at the front office which provides greater detail. Work will commence in March scheduled to be finished by July. I am confident this upgrade will make a significant difference in ensuring student safety is better managed.

CURRICULUM EVENINGS

During first term we have been delivering parent information sessions for each stage group that provides curriculum updates specific for each year group. I appreciate the support of parents at these meetings as it is an opportunity to be well informed about the demands and expectations of secondary schooling and gives parents an oppor-tunity to learn more about ways to improve their children’s application to their studies. Our Stage 5 meeting will be held on Wednesday night March 1, and Stage 6 on March 7 both starting at 6pm in the library.

Bronze  5 positive mentions Silver  10 positive mentions Gold  15 positive mentions Bronze Principal  20 positive mentions Silver Principal  25 positive mentions Gold Principal  30 positive mentions Pearl Principal  35 positive mentions Diamond Principal  40 positive mentions 

Erina High School 152 The Entrance Road Erina 2250  

Phone: 43677353 Phone: 43677246 Fax: 4365 3086  

Email: erina-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au Web: www.erina-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Facebook: www.facebook.com/ErinaHighSchool  

Issue No: 2 Date: 1 March 2017

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 2   

 

 SWIMMING CARNIVAL

What a fantastic day on Monday for our 53rd annual swimming carnival with a huge crowd at Gosford Pool with another record number of students attending - last count at 405!! Congratulations again to Bean the winning house. It was a great day of strong school spirit with many students participating and others cheering on their class mates. Thank you to Mr Keyes for another great carnival, highly organised and efficiently executed. Well done Mr Keyes and our House Captains!

OPEN NIGHT

On Wednesday night February 22 we hosted our annual information night which attracted many potential year 7 students for 2018. It was a terrific night that showcased the high quality programs we have in place to support the learning, social and emo-tional needs of each and every student. With over 120 people attending there was nothing but admiration of the amazing work being done at Erina High School and the quality of our staff and students. I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the many staff who attended and promoted their curriculum areas and to our wonderful students who assisted with catering, classroom displays and demonstrations and as tour guides. They were a credit to their school and families.

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 3   

 

  UINFORM

Thank you to the many families who have strongly supported our uniform code. I appreciate the effort students make to be in full school uniform as it demonstrates the pride we have at Erina High School. If families need assistance with uniform, please con-tact me at school. I am aware that Lowes have had difficulty keeping up with demand particularly for the new sports uniform. A courtesy note explaining students are waiting on a back order for their uniform, would be greatly appreciated. SCHOOL INVOICES

2017 school invoices will be posted this week. Thank you to the many families that have already paid course charges, school fees and the P&C levy. It is greatly appreciated. Families of children in the junior school that need assistance with school costs are asked to contact me at school on 43 677 246. Please be aware that year 12 students are expected to have paid all course charges to be eligible to attend the school formal.

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs Karen Nicol

Principal

HOUSE CAPTAINS 2017 Congratulations to the following students who have been elected as House Captains for 2017:

Bean: Dunlop: Captains - Shane Annabel and Jaclyn Chambers Captains - Blake Irwin and Janai Edwards Vice Captains - Kane Douch and Norma-Rose Bell Vice Captains - Brad Jay and Brooke Favetta

 

Henderson: Kendall: Captains - Baxter Langlar and Bella Masia Captains - Oliver Vanderslot and Chloe Reynolds Vice Captains - Blake Muscat and Casey O'Connell Vice Captains - Marko Zetovic and Caitlin Thain

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 4   

 

  

OPEN GIRLS TOUCH FOOTBALL Congratulations to the Open Girls Touch Team for their 6-5 victory over Kariong HS. It was a well fought match with no team leading by more than one try at any stage of the match. Erina HS was down by one try at halftime but rallied in the second half, for the win. Well done girls. Grant Keyes Erina High School PDHPE Co-ordinator/CHS Sports Organiser  

 

 

OPEN GIRLS VOLLEYBALL One word describes the Open Girls volleyball match against Killara High School: INTENSE! The girls were very nervous heading into the game, with many never playing a full game of volleyball before. However, the girls knew what they had to do: learn from their mistakes, try their best, and have fun, which they definitely achieved all 3. Best and Fairest goes to Kim Meyer who showed great leader-ship skills and amazing calmness. Coaches award goes to Paige Binstead for always being enthusiastic, particularly at training sessions, and for being a leader in communication on the court. For a game by game run down: Game 1: Erina 26 to Killara 24... win Game 2: Erina 23 to Killara 25... loss Game 3: Erina 25 to Killara 18... win Game 4: Erina 24 to Killara 26... loss Game 5: Erina 13 to Killara 15... loss And this is why Miss Walsh has no fingernails left. Looking forward to see what these girls will produce next year. Well done! Coach Walsh

OPEN BOYS VOLLEYBALL On the 23/4 Erina High hosted Terrigal for the second round of the Open Boys Volleyball. Although Erina had the home game advantage Terrigal had the benefit of an additional game due to Erina receiving the first round bye. At the beginning of each set Erina came out with an excellent performance taking the lead, however, it was not enough for the experience of Terrigal with our boys going down 3 sets to 1. Well done Boys. Coach Austen

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 5   

 

 MATHS FACULTY

For all years we are about to start our assessment cycle. It is essential that students give their best effort in assessment as the grades on reports are completely based on student’ results in assessment tasks. The following is what parents can expect for the rest of the term:

Years 7 and 8 For Year 7 and 8 parents this has already commenced with the fortnightly quizzes. We are developing our assessment of Year 7 and 8 students so they develop their study skills. In the first week students will be given a simple homework sheet outlining the questions that will be asked in the following weeks quiz. This allows students to review the work that will be in the quiz, and seek help if necessary. This allows students to make use of the homework club (Wednesday break 1, break 2 or after school) or ask their teacher for assistance. Over the year this will account for 40% of the final grade and will reward students who want to demonstrate their learning from classwork.

Years 9 and 10 The first task will be handed out over the next couple of weeks and will be set at a level that all students can demonstrate their classroom effort. It will be a common task that will be a take home test and give students the opportunity to use their notes or seek assistance from homework club (Wednesday break 1, break 2 or after school). This will allow students who have difficulties with examinations to display their understanding in their first task. Students will have 2 weeks to complete the task.

Years 11 and 12 Both grades will be sitting formal examinations this semester and should be actively revising for these tasks. It is essential stu-dents are able to make a valid attempt under HSC regulations. This is judged by the faculty, but in essence students must be able to attempt a range of questions with valid working. For students who have aspirations of University studies this task is es-sential in ensuring a successful revision pattern to succeed in HSC examinations. Once again assistance is offered in the home-work club (Wednesday break 1, break 2 or after school).

I wish all students and families the best of luck in their upcoming assessment tasks.

Joshua Wade (HT Mathematics)

ENGLISH / DRAMA

It was wonderful to welcome so many families on Open Night and to allow them to see the fantastic things that are happening in the English/ Drama faculty. They were able to see Year 10 drama students performing and pose questions to Year 11 students who happily spoke of their studies of English at Erina High School.

Students are working hard in all aspects of their study of English. Junior classes have examined poetic techniques in recent weeks and how ideas about particular themes are communicated to the reader. They are now working toward assessment tasks, as in week 9 they will be required to submit a narrative based upon one of the poems they have studied in class. Students will need to maintain the message and mood of the poem as they construct their own text. The Year 10 students have studied either the works of a particular poet, or poems related to the theme of war. Year 9 students are studying poems composed by refugees, while Year 8 have examined various song lyrics and Year 7 have looked at Aboriginal poetry.

Our HSC students in both Advanced and Standard English have been developing their understanding of Module A. The Ad-vanced students are conducting a comparative study of the novel The Great Gatsby and the sonnets of Elizabeth Barrett Brown-ing, examining how these composers represented their ideas within their context. The Standard cohort has learnt about how Dis-tinctively Visual techniques have been used to convey ideas in the short stories of Henry Lawson and various related texts. Our English Studies students are studying the media unit Playing the Game. All Year 12 are also preparing for their Half-Yearly Ex-aminations which will take place in Weeks 10 and 11.

The students studying Preliminary Advanced and Standard English will submit and present speeches for the Area of Study- Change, due March 22. The Preliminary Extension students have a Viva Voce due in week 10, which will examine their under-standing of the Gothic genre. English Studies students are engaging with a range of texts related to the idea of travelling in their On the Road unit.

If you have any questions regarding your child’s progress in English or Drama please do not hesitate to contact their class teach-er.

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 6   

 

 HOME ECONOMICS FACULTY

Hospitality and Extension students did a wonderful job preparing and serving staff and community at the Staff Wellbeing High Tea and Erina High School Open Night. The students received feedback in response to the tantalising variety of foods and to their excellent presentation and service. Students complete these events to attain a Certificate II in Kitchen Operation and the Specialisation class can attain a Certificate II in Hospitality. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HSIE FACULTY

Year 7 Water Quality Excursion Year 7 students attended an excursion to both Nunn’s Creek and the Punt Bridge to examine the health of the waterways. They used a range of water testing techniques to test the pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity in order to make compari-sons between the two sites. Students are now required to use the data they collected to create graphs as well as to answer the essay question ‘Are the waterways around Erina healthy?’. They are required to structure their response using the TXXXC para-graph structure. The students should feel proud of both their conduct and application throughout the day.  

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 7   

 

 

Visual Arts 2017 Last year’s Year Twelve H.S.C. Bodies of Work. As I took leave at the end of last year, I wasn’t able to publish the efforts of our brilliant Year 12 students in last publication of the year, however I am so pleased to be able to do this now. After so many students enjoyed the Visual Arts ‘Art Express’ Excursion to the AGNSW at the beginning of last year they became inspired to develop their own Bodies of Work as we progressed through 2016. These students had developed so many great concepts during the year, like the effects of ‘Colonisation’ and ‘Globalisation’ across the world’s cultures. This Body of Work was developed using twine and wool illustrating the “Ties that Bind” of all peoples across the world - an exceptional series produced by Ethan Howard. Some of our other great pieces included Emily-Jo Blackad-der’s sculptures on Materialism, Monica Anderson’s introspective black and white photographic images, Lara Turner’s superb watercolour illustrations of Nursery Rhymes ‘with a twist’, Emerald Betteridge’s wonderful book of perceptions of human beauty, Jake Mottershead’s visual studies of music as a Universal Language, Jess Pennell-Spry’s depiction of the human ‘canvas’ with tattooed images on a mannequin and of course Angus Temrak who created an amazing time based work after winning an award for his video work this year. We had a very large and enthusiastic group this year. We also had fantastic Bodies of Work from Jasmine Carabott, Phoebe Flores, Kintan Golledge, Sarah James, Jennifer Martin, Kirsten McIntosh, Eden Windshuttel and last but not least Claire Worsman. A fantastic group of Year Twelve students whom I was so pleased to be able to teach for the past two years. Congratulations on a sterling effort !!!

Visual Arts [Bodies of Work] workshop during the Holidays

Some finished Bodies of Work ……

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 8   

 

 Visual Arts continued… More Year Twelve H.S.C. Bodies of Work.

P. Mottershead – Year Twelve Visual Arts Teacher.

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 9   

 

 LANGUAGES FACULTY

Year 7 students who are studying Japanese during Semester One are currently working through a Japanese Culture unit, study-ing the culture and geography of Japan. Students are also learning about the use of the TXXXC scaffold at Erina High School and how this can be used when completing assessment tasks. Students have been issued with their first assessment task the “Japanese Culture Poster”. This task required students to answer a series of questions relating to their chosen Japanese cultural theme using the TXXXC scaffold. Submissions for this task were due during Weeks 4-6 of this term and the quality of work pro-duced has been exceptional.

Year 8 students who are studying Japanese during Semester One are currently working towards creating a Jikoshookai – Self-introduction, throughout their “About Myself and Japan” unit of study. Students have been set with the challenge to learn and perform their Japanese self-introduction from memory. This task is due at the end of this week, Week 6. Year 11 Japanese Beginners students will complete their first assessment task this week, challenging their reading and compre-hension skills of the 3 Japanese alphabets learnt in just 4 weeks! They have been working diligently and it is pleasing to see that many of the students in this class have set their sights high to be a benchmark for their peers in this course.

Year 11 students also supported the Erina High School Open Night which was held on Wednesday 22nd of February. Thank you to Logan, Krystal, Jayde and Kobi who keenly volunteered to exhibit the work and learning culture that they enjoy at Erina High School. They are fantastic ambassadors for our school community.

Year 12 Japanese Beginners students are working towards their next assessment task, which will be part of the Year 12 Half Yearly Examinations. These students are completing weekly homework tasks requiring them to read short stories in Japanese. Students are also targeting areas of development by completing past HSC examination papers and will engage in an online tutor-ing program where students have the opportunity to access one-on-one tutoring with native speakers all the way from Japan via an online video conferencing tool. What a fantastic opportunity! Mrs Julie Ruming

INDIGENOUS WELLBEING PROGRAM

This term Brock Wilson and Tyrece Tohu will take part in the Indigenous Wellbeing Program. The program aims to develop a strong framework to building a better connection with Aboriginal culture, developing positive relationships and helping to set and achieve realistic goals to fulfil their future potential. This program runs for eight (8) weeks every Friday.  

THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE ADF runs a program known as Your Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) Session which gives young people the opportunity to apply themselves towards ADF. Kobi-Dylan Myers has been invited to participate in a YOU session to be held at an ADF base. He will also attend the NRL Indigenous All Stars game in Newcastle in a Corporate box provided by the ADF, to chat with military staff from all three services ( Navy, Army, Air Force). J Ruming, P White, R Miller

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 10   

 

 ‘TOURNAMENT OF MINDS’ TEAMS … our Problem Solvers and Lateral Thinkers.

At the beginning of 2017 we would like our clever students, problem solvers and lateral thinkers at Erina High School to start thinking about entering the national ‘Tournament of Minds’ competition. We will be recruiting new members soon and will look toward to forming a couple of teams for this year’s tournament.

During 2016 we entered another very enthusiastic team for ‘Tournament of Minds’ who expressly stated they enjoyed their efforts so much this year held at Roseville College in Sydney that they wished to all work together again next year. The students selected were chosen from nominated candidates who demonstrated an aptitude in the areas of Maths, Engineering, Language, Literature, Drama, the Social Sciences and/or Lateral and Divergent Thinking. These new Year Seven, Eight and Nine students demonstrated their partic-ular abilities in their classroom lessons and then developed them in the ‘Tournament of Minds’ national competition.

Choosing costumes and props

During the 2016 year our ‘Tournament of Minds’ team, Allie Pedzikiewicz, Catherine Boyack, Liam Arrell, Sam Farnsworth, Darcy Wat-terson, Cassie Eliasson and Brooke Wilkin-Poole performed superbly, gaining accolades from the Judges. They had so much fun put-ting their ideas together and they worked so well as an integrated team. In earlier years our Tournament Teams have been documented and praised for being ‘Outstanding’ in their concepts, performance and props. Whilst our teams from a few years ago have also re-ceived an ‘Honours’ award for their response using an animation, and our inaugural Tournament Team received a ‘Special Award’ for their spirited performance. Students have always expressed themselves very well in our school’s performances which is a particular compliment to the accomplishment of our Erina High School teams considering a multitude of the competing schools are North Shore private schools. Our young team did extremely well this year and we look forward to the Tournament of Minds Workshops to come in 2017 as we begin to work with our growing number of candidates. These students have paved the way for the future efforts of our new teams as they become engaged in their own performances. P. Mottershead [‘Tournament of Minds’ Facilitator]. ERINA MOVES INTO A NEW ERA WITH THE PARENT PORTAL, PARENT TEACHER NIGHTS AND STUDENT REPORTS From Term 1, 2017 families of students at Erina High school will have access to a range of online services that are designed to improve com-munication and save time with some school related functions. Student Portal In the February newsletter, we released information regarding access to the Student Portal. Feedback from those that regularly access the Student Portal has been very positive. From a computer or phone, students can access up to date information like daily and weekly timeta-bles, Praise and Reward awards and attendance data which is proving to be very useful. Parent Portal The next stage of this rollout will be the widespread access of the Parent Portal. Parents who were part of our pilot program at the end of 2016 already have access and do not need to reapply. For the remainder of families, during Week 5 of Term 1 you will be sent a letter that details the registration and subsequent use of the Parent Portal. Please watch for the letter as it contains the instructions for registration and unique codes for accessing your student’s information at Erina High school.

It is essential a that family details are as current as possible for this process to work as it is intended. If your family details have changed since the start of the 2017 school year, please contact our Administration Staff and provide us with the new details.

Parent Teacher Interviews Access to the Parent Portal will bring about some changes in some administrative and communication tasks. For instance, the next Parent Teacher Interview sessions will be available for booking via the Parent Portal. More detailed information on how this process works will be provided closer to the date.

Student Reports Additionally, the way we distribute Student Reports will change in the future. The next Interim Report and Semester 1 Report will be distributed as paper and digital versions, but then all subsequent reports will be available via the Parent Portal as digital copies only. If families would like a paper copy of a report, they will need to contact the Admiration Office with their request.

More Information If Parents or Students have any questions about the Parent or Student Portals, including log in issues, password changes etc. please email the Sentral Administrator for Erina High School at brendan.jones@det.nsw.edu.au

Students can see Mr Jones in the Library before school or during Break time.

Rehearsing the performance

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 11   

 

 TRANSITION TO NEW FINANCE SYSTEM

Dear Parents and Carers

Erina High School will transition to the new NSW Public Schools’ finance system and a new bank account on 22 May 2017.

To ensure a smooth transition, there will be changes to the way we accept payments from parents and carers.

Direct deposits: As of 12 May 2017, we will no longer accept direct deposits into our current school bank account as we prepare to close this account and transition to the new one. Any payments made using direct deposit after this date cannot be properly allocated to a student’s account in a timely manner. Please ensure you have made any outstanding direct deposits before 12 May 2017.

EFTPOS payments: We will not be able to accept EFTPOS payments between 17 May and 22 May 2017. Please ensure that you have made any outstanding EFTPOS payments before 17 May, 2017. From 23 May 2017, EFTPOS payments will be accepted as before.

Cash and cheque payments: Between 17 May 2017 and 22 May 2017, we will also not be able to accept payments by cash or cheque as we prepare to close our current bank account and transition to the new one. Please ensure that you have made any outstanding cash or cheque payments before 17 May 2017. From 23 May 2017, cash and cheque payments will be accepted as before.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we transition to our new finance system. If you have any questions, please contact:

Karen Kruit School Admin Manager MENINGOCOCCAL SCHOOL-BASED VACCINATION PROGRAM IN 2017

The NSW Minister for Health announced the start of a school-based meningococcal vaccination program targeting Year 11 and 12 students in Term 2 2017. EHS senior students are to be vaccinated 29/6/2017.

Meningococcal W has emerged as a significant cause of invasive meningococcal disease with the number of cases almost tripling in NSW in 2016. Meningococcal disease is a rare but serious illness that can present as meningitis or septicaemia.

Evidence from Australia and overseas suggest that meningococcal disease caused by serotype W is significantly more severe than the other serotypes currently circulating in Australia. More information about meningococcal disease is available here: www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/Meningococcal_disease.aspx

The vaccination program will target and protect Year 11 and 12 students based on national expert advice that older adolescents have a greater risk of carrying and transmitting meningococcal disease and that school-based vaccination programs are the most effective way of achieving high vaccine uptake in this group. The vaccine is given as a single dose, protects against serotypes A, C, W and Y and has been shown to be both safe and effective.

The Meningococcal W Response Program for students in Years 11 and 12 will run alongside the routine Year 7 vaccination program, with some modification. The second dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine normally given to Year 7 students in Term 2 will be deferred, which will allow school immunisation teams to commence the Year 11 and 12 Meningococcal W Vaccine Program from 1 May 2017 at that Term 2 slot instead. There is no harm for Year 7 students in delaying the second dose of the HPV vaccine.

  

 

DON’T FORGET TO ‘TAP ON’ & ‘TAP OFF’

How to replace a lost, stolen or damaged School Opal card

To report a lost, stolen or damaged School Opal card, please ad-vise the student to go to https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/reportPass. If the student proceeds with replacing their School Opal card, it will be cancelled immediately and a new card will be sent within 8 to 10 working days.

Issue         2                                                                                                                                                                                            Page 12