newsletter 31 may - millennium schools · rational approach to the idea of gaining experience....

Newsletter Kincumber High School

“Enabling to achieve and excel”

Bungoona Rd, Kincumber, NSW 2251

Ph (02) 43691555 F (02) 43631265

email [email protected]

"The Kincumba Learning Community acknowledges the Darkinjung people and their neighbours as the traditional custodians”

Issue 8 Term 2 – Week 5 31 May 2013

Leadership Team across the student body

Over the coming months the senior leaders and members of the Leadership team will be speaking to all years regarding applications from students who would like to be part of the new look Kincumber Leadership Body. Limited numbers of students across all year groups will be selected to be part of this group and start to build the role of students in the leadership, governance and student voice in the school. If your child is interested in applying for one of the positions I would suggest they start to think about why they would like to be involved and what they can bring to the position. More information and application forms will be available before the end of term.

Uniform

I congratulate all students who are wearing the correct uniform with pride, they look fantastic.

Unfortunately some students are still not supporting the wearing of full school uniform and this reflects poorly on the school in the community. I will email home a separate sheet that outlines what is acceptable winter uniform and what is not.

TRACK SUIT pants are definitely NOT UNIFORM. The correct uniform is blue dress pants.

A uniform review will commence shortly. P&C members who have already nominated and been accepted to be part of this group and students will be invited to participate in this review. Until this time the current uniform needs to be worn.

Athletics Carnival

The Carnival is a compulsory school day and students are expected to attend. It will be held at McEvoy Oval, Umina. It is important to participate or support others in these extra curricula events. More information is available in the newsletter or from the sport department. Students are encouraged to wear House colours and get with the spirit of competition and school / House pride.

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Jake O’Brien who has been selected into the NSW Combined High School Rugby Union Team. This is the highest State representation as it means you have been selected from all high schools. Jake will be competing in events over the coming months. We wish him good luck in these games.

Congratulations to a number of girls who have been selected in the Sydney North Water Polo team—Kaitlin Clague, Chloe Kennedy–Rollason, Jess McCarthy, Lana Queripel, Nikki Sillato and Becky Sillato.

They are strong performers and I wish them well in future competitions.

Congratulations to the Drama students Melouise Hucker, Libby Ingels, Jessica McKellar, Elizabeth Payne, Montana Huettner and Catie Marks, who have been selected in the GATS program at Drama Works in Newcastle. This is a fabulous opportunity for these students and I am sure they will learn many new things. And last but not least, congratulations to our students who successfully competed in the Central Coast Surf Titles (article and pictures will be in the next Newsletter).

We have students performing in Central Coast Dance Festival and awaiting word on acceptance into Showcase later this year. Tara Scalas, Tom Hutchins and Tom Mahler all gained places in Youth and Performing Arts at Laycock St Theatre. Congratulations to these students.

Subject Selection Time

Subject selection time is fast approaching for Years 8 and 10. The decisions to be made are very important ones in terms of future directions for the next two years. Careful thought is required and should be based on a range of things.

What subjects you need to follow a particular career or university course.

What you enjoy.

What you are good at.

It should not be about what your friends do or who the teacher is this year.

Good advice can be gained from talking to students who have done the subject previously, parents and children discussing options and aspirations, speaking to staff and accessing the expertise of Mr Fortey regarding career options.

The school will hold a selection evening in Term 3 week 2. More information will be posted re this night closer to the event.

Janine Debenham, Principal

Scenic Snorkelling at Terrigal haven

Year 10 students had perfect snorkelling weather during an excursion to Terrigal haven. The excursion supplemented the course outcomes with practical water activities of diving, fish and rock pool identification and board paddling. Students showed off their finning skills as they snorkelled in the clear water of the haven, discovery pieces of the Lord Ashley ship wreck and identifying amazing sea life such as the giant bull ray, wobbegongs, garfish and cuttlefish. Students were ambassadors of the environment as they participated in the Take3 initiative and cleaned up the rubbish they found on the beach. Students worked up an appetite for lunch and then enjoyed a leisurely walk around the Skillion looking for fossils. Some clever students spotted a school of mullet which migrate from the Hawkesbury River to the sea this time of year. Students had a wonderful day engaging in inquiry activities related to their local environment.

Denise De Paoli, Science


KHS Girls Debating Team, Undefeated!

“ONE DAY A FORTNIGHT OF WORK EXPERIENCE FOR ALL YEAR 9 AND 10 STUDENTS”

Our Year 10 debaters took on Brisbane Waters Secondary College, Umina Campus, on Tuesday and added yet another debate to their long list of speaking events during their many years here at Kincumber High.

Olivia Bayliss, as first speaker, outlined their affirmative position and the details of the model. They considered how the idea of work experience once a fortnight would improve job prospects. Her easy body language and determined stance gave her credibility in this argument as did her logical, rational approach to the idea of gaining experience. Olivia addressed the possible flaws in the system in advance and made a strong case.

Libby followed, surging forward with a strong voice and a determined attitude that refused to be ignored. Her argument included examples of

venues and matching occupations to students. She highlighted the opportunities gained from work, the possibility of further employment and noted that it would motivate students. She also noted the benefit to the employee. A lovely, articulate argument from our Libby placed the girls in a solid position.

Beginning by pointing out some flaws in the opposing team’s argument, Tahlia stepped forward and took on their OHS arguments by drawing an analogy to the cooking rooms at school. She polished her team’s points by prioritising work experience over non-work related subjects and thoroughly dismantled the opposition’s stress defence. Tahlia has the unique ability to think on her feet and to improvise as she advances her argument. Her approach is powerful and she wrapped up the team’s line beautifully.

After an enlightening debate, Kincumber won. Well done to our team who presented convincing arguments and congratulations to the girls whose current status as ‘undefeated .’

Dawn Sexton, English


Central Coast Dance Festival!

Congratulations to all the dancers involved in the Central Coast Dance Festival this year. You represented Kincumber High School to a high level during this week’s technical rehearsals held at Laycock St Theatre in Gosford. After watching you all on stage I am very excited to see your performances in June. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Miss Taylor for all her hard work in the lead up to this week and congratulate her on her fantastic work with all our dancers.

I would like to invite you to come and watch our fantastic dancers in motion during the dance festival, so please find below our performance dates and ticket information.

Tickets cost $18.00 for adults and $15.00 for concession and can be purchased from Laycock St Theatre. We look forward to seeing you there.

Kirsty McRae & Eleisha Taylor, Creative & Performing Arts - Dance

PDHPE Covering important issues

As part of the PDHPE syllabus developed by the NSW Board of Studies, students cover a number of important issues that relate to the health and development of young people. It is often useful when addressing these issues to include guest presenters to help reinforce the knowledge, understanding and personal skills that students are developing in PDHPE lessons. This year, Years 9 & 10 PDHPE students will have the opportunity to be involved in a number of workshops presented by outside agencies in relation to some of the topics that they are studying. These workshops include:

The Core of Life program in Term 2 for Year 9 students. This is a program developed and presented by qualified midwives that aims to give students a greater understanding of pregnancy, child birth and parenting, with the intention of assisting young people to make informed and responsible decisions about these issues. This program runs for three lessons and will complement the work that students are covering this term on relationships and sexual health.


Year 9 Dance Elec ve Class

Year 7 & 8 Junior Dance Ensemble

Central Coast Senior Year 11 & 12 HSC Dance Classes

Show A

Monday 17th June 6:30pm & 8:15pm

Show F

Wednesday 26th June 6:30pm & 8:15pm

Show F

Wednesday 26th June 6:30pm & 8:15pm

Show G

Thursday 27th June

6:30pm & 8:15pm

Tickets on sale

Monday 27th May

Tickets on sale

Wednesday 5th June

Tickets on sale

Wednesday 5th June

Tickets on sale

Thursday 6th June

The GP’s in Schools program in Term 3 for Year 9 students. This program gives students a greater understanding of how to access health facilities and services, with a particular focus on General Practice and Mental Health services. This will involve some local GP’s coming into the school and discussing relevant issues in Year 9 PDHPE lessons as part of a unit of work on mental health.

The Love Bites program in Term 3 for Year 10. This program is being conducted in conjunction with the Welfare team, and aims to give students a greater understanding of rights and responsibilities in relationships, and how to deal with abusive relationships. These workshops will go for a whole day, where students will be divided into small groups to discuss these issues. This program will supplement the unit of work that students will be covering in Term 3 on safe relationships.

Many of the topics that are covered in PDHPE can be sensitive and confronting issues for many people. Issues that are discussed include drug use, relationships, mental health, sexual health, abusive relationships and reproduction. The workshops listed above will also cover some of these sensitive issues. Some of these workshops may also use images and footage that some people may find confronting, such as the Core of Life program showing naked and semi-naked women during childbirth.

Information notes will be sent home prior to each workshop with more details of each individual program. Please take the time to read the information notes when they come home. If you have any questions or concerns about any of these workshops or the wider PDHPE program, please contact the school on 4369 1555.

Mr P Batey, Head Teacher PDHPE

Outstanding Half Yearly results in Maths!

We’ve had some really outstanding results in Half Yearly Mathematics exams over the last couple of weeks – congratulations to all those students who have tried so hard across all levels! Jake McLean, in particular, managed 100% exam in Year 9 – what an outstanding effort! Also, congratulations to Michael Young, Finn Mitchell and Kyle Fletcher, who have all been nominated as ‘students of the week’ so far this term.

Term 2 has seen Kincumber High School Maths department working with Pretty Beach Public School as part of our effort to smooth the transition from primary to high school. It’s been wonderful to participate in lessons with the students and see how excited they are about having me visit. The photos from my first visit are a bit blurry…but they show students practising their basic skills to show me how much fun they have!

We plan to have our bronze award barbeque toward the end of this term for those students who consistently do the right thing in class. Students should make sure they have got stamps in all of the boxes on their merit sheets before then!

Yet another reminder that students are expected to have a calculator, workbook and pen every lesson for Mathematics. We are still having issues with students not having everything they need and causing concern about being unable to complete their work.

Jacqueline Woodley, HT Mathematics


Dates for the Diary

Monday 3 June Zone Cross Country Carnival

Wednesday 5 June KHS Athletics Carnival, McEvoy Oval Umina

Monday 10 June Public Holiday, Queen’s Birthday

Wednesday 12 June Back up day for Athletics Carnival

For more important dates check out the calendar on our website.

https://www.millenniumschools.net.au/kincumber/

KHS Wins Big At the Central Coast Poultry Show!

The Poultry Show team has spent most of this term preparing our Silver Pencil Wyandotte birds for this show. Their efforts were worth it, with a first, four seconds, and three third prizes received. The birds were well presented at the Show. They had been washed, and obviously handled a lot, as they were so calm for the judges.

Many officials at the show remarked at how pleased they were seeing the students of Kincumber High School taking the challenge to breed, and show such a rare variety of poultry.

The Poultry Team’s next target is the Hunter Valley Wyandotte Show, late in July. We will be taking 20 birds and 20 students, testing our skills against the leaders in the Wyandotte industry. After the Show we will carefully select which hens and roosters to join to improve the quality of our show birds next year. All the fertile eggs will be placed in the KHS incubators with many students hoping for many little fluffy chickens to hatch out.

Our students are learning a lot from rearing poultry. Spending more quality time with the birds usually turns into better show results. This year KHS poultry has received many prizes from the Morriset, Sydney and Central Coast Shows.

Well Done To the Poultry Show Team.

Stephen Boyd, Agriculture


“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts ”

-Winston Churchill-

Marine Master Chef

It was an early start for Year 12 Marine Studies students as they caught the 4.45am train from Gosford on excursion to the Sydney Fish Markets (SFM). The excursion supplemented the Marine Studies outcomes with a hands-on opportunity to prepare seafood for eating. The module is designed to make students aware of the fragile nature of marine organisms and their rapid spoilage after capture. It introduces students to the theoretical and practical aspects of catching fish.

The excursion started with a tour of the fish market during the busy Dutch auction offering buyers the fastest and most efficient method of trading seafood. Approximately 1,000 crates or 20,000 kg of seafood are sold every hour or 50 tonnes of fresh seafood, traded every day. SFM hosts the largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's second largest seafood market outside Japan. Students saw a large variety of seafood; Prawns, Balmain Bugs, Mud Crabs, Blue Swimmer Crabs, Flathead, John Dory, Squid, Cuttlefish, Bonito and Mackerel. Some seafood was sold at extraordinary prices; Abalone $119/Kg, Giant crabs $80/Kg, Yellow Fin Tuna $50/Kg. The tour finished at the crab and lobster pen where oyster shucking and sashimi preparation was demonstrated. The students were keen to use their coffee vouchers at the local cafes and had worked up an appetite for the next part of the excursion, the Seafood Cooking Class. The class was led by demonstrator, Brigid Treloar, who explained some useful tips and tricks to cooking seafood.

Then it was the students turn to cook up a storm in a well equipped kitchen that looked like a scene from Master Chef. Students worked as a team to prepare three yummy dishes for lunch; crab cakes and horseradish dressing, stir fry prawns, asparagus, sugar snap peas with garlic, ginger and green onions and smoked trout and orzo salad. By the end of the cooking class, Blake and Brandon were proficient prawn peelers, Owen and Luke were delicate crab cake makers and Stuart and Ms De Paoli were skilled trout dismantlers. Students couldn’t wait to taste the dishes that were plated onto quality crockery in a beautifully decorated dining room and served with fancy San Pellegrino soft drink. The students were very impressed with their efforts as they finished off their meals with Lindt chocolates and a George Clooney espresso. Students had a long and productive day and were keen to take their free aprons and recipes home to cook for their families.

Denise De Paoli, Science


KHS Athletics Carnival

On Wednesday 5 June, Kincumber High School is holding its annual Athletics Carnival at McEvoy Oval, Umina. The Athletics Carnival is always a great day, with all students having a fantastic time participating in traditional events as well as a number of fun novelty activities. It is also important to realise that the Athletics Carnival is an official school day, and therefore it is expected that all students attend the carnival.

The cost of the carnival is $5 to cover transport to and from the venue, which students should pay on the day of the carnival as they are boarding the buses. Students will attend roll call as normal, then board buses to head to the oval immediately after roll call. At the end of the day, the buses will return to school by 2.30pm in time for students to make their normal way home.

On the day of the carnival, students should dress in House colours or in their PE uniform. Students should bring sun protection, including hat and sunscreen, as well as wet weather gear just in case it is needed. A limited canteen will operate to raise funds for Year 12. Students should bring money to purchase food from this canteen or bring their own food and drinks.

In the case of wet weather, students will be notified if the carnival is going to be postponed on the Tuesday prior to the carnival. If the carnival is postponed, it will be held on the following Wednesday at the same venue.

Keep an eye on the newsletter for details of the results of the school carnival and to see who has qualified to attend the Zone Carnival, which will be held on Monday 24 June.

Students have been given permission notes for the carnival in roll call this week. If you have any questions or concerns about the Athletics Carnival, please contact the school on 4369-1555.

Phil Batey, HT PDHPE


Competitors and Mr Trigg at the KHS 2012 Athletics Carnival!

Reconciliation Week

Last week Australia as a nation celebrated Reconciliation Week. At Kincumber High we embrace our cultural diversity with a culture of acceptance and respect. I would like to congratulate the students and staff on making KHS a great place to be.

Kerry Turner, A.S.L.S.O

Thank you to all the families that have brought in stickers for The Woolworths Earn & Learn promotion. When shopping at Woolworths please ask at the register for your Earn & Learn stickers and send them to school as soon as possible. This promotion ends on 9 June so please keep collecting the stickers so we can purchase some very needed resources for the school.

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WHAT IS THE A.E.C.G. ?

The Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (A.E.C.G.) is a community based voluntary organisation that has been operating from a grass roots level since the late 1970’s and is the peak advisory group for Aboriginal education in N.S.W. The A.E.C.G. caters for pre-school through to Tertiary education.

WHAT CAN THE A.E.C.G. DO FOR YOU?

A.E.C.G. is an avenue for parents and community members to have a “voice”. It’s your chance as a parent, caregiver or student to have a say in what happens in your child’s education and be aware of what’s happening in your local school and community.

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?

Membership is open to parents, Aunties, Uncles, caregivers and community members. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members are invited at a cost of $2 per year.

WHAT HAPPENS AT A MEETING/YARN-UP?

Well first we grab a cuppa, our meetings are short, very informal and informative. An opportunity for you to voice your concerns, hear about opportunities for the kids and families, meet new people and little ones are very welcome.

Our next A.E.C.G. Yarn-up as we call them is on in July (date to be advised).

Enquiries :Tjudibaring A.E.C.G. Vice President, Kerry Turner 0424 686 329.

TAKE HOME A BIG BROTHER OR BIG SISTER !

Give your children the wonderful opportunity to have an international big brother or big sister by hosting one of our exceptional international students arriving in Australia in July 2013 for their five or ten month programs. Our international students from France, Germany, Italy, Austria Japan, the U.S.A and Canada will live as a local, attend a local secondary school, arrive with their own spending money and comprehen-sive insurance cover – all arranged by Southern Cross Cultural Exchange.

Call your local coordinator, Dianne on: 0429 406 126 for more information.

newsletter 31 may - millennium schools · rational approach to the idea of gaining experience....

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