Care | Opportunity | Success

S O U T H S Y D N E Y

Principal’s Report

HIGH SCHOOL

Newsletter | Term 3 Week 8| 8 September 2017

Congratulations to:

Tayler Lyons in Year 11 who received the Deadly Kids Doing Well Award for her positive commitment to all

aspects of school life.

Malikye Kessie from Year 7 who won his U13’s Long jump at School State

Athletics Carnival. He came 1st winning GOLD with a very good jump of 5.66

M. A fantastic effort.

Ruby Dummett who was awarded the Ultimo Region’s VET Excellence Award in

Business Services.

James Grimshaw for his excellent Solar Schools project in Elective Geography.

Year 9 Commerce for their outstanding conduct on their excursion to the ASX

and Investec.

All students who applied for a Student Leadership position.

Students who participated in the Business Partnership Committee meeting held last week.

Student Leaders and House Captains 2017/8

Year 10 and Year 11 students have participated in workshops focusing on interview skills, resume writing and

public speaking to assist with the selection process. Many thanks to Mr Benischke, Mr Flewellen and Ms

Maynard for conducting workshops which builds the capacity of our future school leaders.

Congratulations to the following students who have been elected to the following positions:

Year 12 2018

School Captains

Miya Thornton

Leo Charnas

School Vice Captains

Ketti Ketmontri

Michael Mellick

School Prefects

Sera Accetta

Dabin Haam

Year 11 2018

Amy –Lee Targett

James Grimshaw

Christian Clemenz (International)

SASS Recognition Week

We were very pleased to acknowledge the great work carried out by the School and Administrative Support Staff

(SASS) as part of SASS Recognition Week. These key members of staff carry out a range of tasks which are the

foundation of keeping a great school like South Sydney High School running so smoothly. From managing the

school finances, answering phones, assisting with broken limbs, mowing the grass, fixing broken windows, typing

certificates, managing the front desk, handling new enrolments, calling ambulances, photocopying exams,

purchasing ingredients, measuring out chemicals, assisting students with payments – the list goes on! Thank you

- your efforts are very much appreciated.

Ellenie Boyadgis Carolyn Brander

Christine Browne Rebecca Deeks

Sue Donohue Rick French

Vicki Pontifix Debbie Schilling

Leonie Stevens Kathleen Bujeia

Rhonda Turner

Community Feedback

It is always lovely to receive positive feedback about our students and this student is certainly a wonderful

example:

“I'm not certain this is the correct portal through which to compliment your school.

However, I am a bus driver and on Friday last week (18/8/17) one of your students, a young lad, asked me to

wait at the Kingsford stop so he could help an elderly man, who had difficulty walking, board the bus.

I was very impressed by his caring and empathic attitude towards the gentleman, a regular on our service.

I would like to congratulate the student and your school for promoting the importance of community and those

who struggle with everyday tasks.”

Student numbers

If you know anyone else that is wishing to apply to come to South Sydney High School, please contact the school

as soon as possible as we are currently working on the number of classes and the timetable. Also, if you are

moving please let us know as soon as possible so can accurately forecast our student numbers for 2018.

P&C Meeting

The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 12th September at 7.30 pm in the Teachers Common Room, entry

via the side gate.

Kind Regards

Robyn Matthews

Solar my School

Sustainable Ritz

As part of the Year 10 Geography Elective Research

Action Plan, James Grimshaw welcomed Waverley

council to SSHS for a feasibility study into the potential

use of solar energy at SSHS. Our appreciation is

extended to Ms Alison Maynard and Mr Rick French for

their highly valued assistance.

Ms Rocio Lopez

As part of our Sustainability topic within Year 10

Geography Elective, a small group of students found a

deeper understanding of climate change and inspirational

viewing of An Inconvenient Sequel at the Ritzy Cinema in

Randwick.

Ms Rocio Lopez

What’s happening in Year 9 Child Studies?

We have been studying the “Caring for the Newborn” unit as part of the Child Studies syllabus. As part of the

course we spent some time learning how to bath and clothe a new born baby. The students had to record the

process and send it to the teacher as part of their assessment. As you can see the students got very involved in

the whole process.

NAPLAN Online

This term from 14th August to 22nd September schools across NSW will be participating in the NAPLAN Online

school readiness test. The school readiness test is a ‘practice run’ designed to help schools assess their technical

and administrative readiness for the transition to NAPLAN Online.

South Sydney High School students in Years 7 and 9 will be participating in the readiness test between Tuesday

11th September and Friday 15 September 2017.

The readiness test will involve students in Years 7 and 9 sitting two, 40-minute assessments, a writing test and a

combined numeracy/literacy test.

Student participation in the readiness test is an opportunity for them to become familiar with the NAPLAN

Online test format. It is not an assessment of student ability and there will be no reporting of student results.

It is important to note that participation in the school readiness test has no effect on students’ NAPLAN results

from the paper-based tests students sat in May.

There’s a lot more information on the department’s NAPLAN Online website: https://education.nsw.gov.au/

teaching-and-learning/student-assessment/naplan-online

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about NAPLAN Online and the NSW school readiness test:

Visit the DoE Website

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/student-assessment/naplan-online

Contact the NAPLAN Online transition team

NAPLANonline@det.nsw.edu.au

1300 790 844

Crack the Code—Technology Mandatory

George Vitsaktsis in Year 11 has had a fabulous week

working as a Plumber. George completed his OH&S White

Card training which allowed him the opportunity to work in

the Building & Construction industry. He visited a number

of work sites around Sydney during the busy week and was

able to observe and experience lots of different on the job

plumbing problems. Thank you to Mr Dimaris and all the

staff at Sollina Plumbing who gave George this wonderful

opportunity.

Work Experience—George Vitsaktsis

In class during Term 2 and part of Term 3, we have been learning how to code and about the importance of

coding. We used an Arduino board and had an electronic portfolio to fill out and guide us through what to do.

Throughout this unit, we have been able to successfully code our own programs for the Arduino board.

We have created scripts (codes) to make LED’s flash, buzzers sound and play songs with the buzzer. We each

designed a program to safeguard something of our own choice that was important to us. We ended up creating a

system that alerts you when someone opens your valuables. This was able to happen as we have included an LDR

(light dependant resistor), 8 wires, a breadboard, LED, buzzers and a MAAS Thinkershield. We then successfully

programmed the alarm system to alert us if light was applied to the LDR. It was all an amazing experience and we

thank the tech teachers, Ms Kelso and Ms Lawrence for giving us the opportunity to trial this unit of work.

By Dayna Scheihing and Hayden Ingle.

Work Experience—Jarrod Turner Jarrod Turner had a terrific week of Work Experience as a plumber’s

assistant. He travelled to many different work sites, one of which was

Randwick Public School. Learning on the job meant having to solve various

plumbing problems and work out solutions at each site. Many thanks to

Mark at M&M Fisher Plumbing Services for giving Jarrod this wonderful

opportunity.

Mrs Brookes

Careers Adviser

Showcase @ Juniors and Daceyville Big Band Bash Showcase @ Souths Juniors is an annual event where local primary and secondary schools showcase their

talents. This year, South Sydney High was represented by a group of students from the year 11 music class. The

group opened the 2nd concert with their performance of Faith by Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande. The song

was featured in the animated movie Sing. The year 11 band included Serafina Accetta, Ketti Ketmontri, Omeed

Ayub and Riley Bregonis on vocals, with Aden Hennings on lead guitar, and Jaeyong Sim on bass guitar. Two Year

9 students also performed on the night, Brendan Wardrop helped out on Tenor Saxophone and Emmanuel

Raimundo added his funky beats on the drums. The performance was a great success; the students showed

great teamwork, professionalism and truly looked like they were enjoying themselves on stage.

On the 24th of August, South Sydney High School Band participated in the Daceyville Big Band Bash. It’s a great

day where local schools perform a 15 minute program, in an atmosphere that feels more like a fair than a day of

back to back band performances. Students watch other schools perform between buying waffles and hot dogs,

but the highlight every year is watching the Navy Stage Band perform. They always impress and have the

students mesmerised. I am extremely proud of the students’ conduct and performance on the day. It is

experiences like these that bring us closer as an ensemble. I would also like to thank the parents who helped out

on the day; they made the day run a lot smoother. Thank you to Graham (Hope Winter’s Grandfather), Melissa

(Jessica Haussman’s mother), Amy-Lee Targett’s mother, Brendan Wardrop’s mother and the fabulous Pam

Bregonis.

We are hosting an information session in week 1 of next term Tuesday 10th October at 7pm in the Staff Common

Room.

Mr Askounis (HT Mathematics) and Mr Flewellen (HT English) will present information about our NAPLAN results

2017. Ms Walton will also explain the steps the school will be taking to support our students who have yet to

reach the minimum standards in Literacy and Numeracy required for the HSC.

All are welcome.

NAPLAN results explained

A Welcome mystery visitor at SSCIM Club

An announcement was made on Monday morning 28th August, that a mystery visitor might be making an

appearance at SSCIM Club. The curiosity of those who usually gather in the Drama room on a Monday at

lunch-time was definitely aroused. Mr Wagg our wonderful SSCIM mentor and enthusiast appeared to thank us

all for the package he’d received with messages, chocolates and a USB of supportive messages. It really reminded

us that within our school community SSCIM is a pretty caring little family and we hope that Mr Wagg might be

strong enough to join the rest of us on the annual Junior SSCIM Camp that will take place in early November.

Stage 4 Enrichment Project Presentations

Year 7 and 8 students in our enrichment classes are busily finalising their collaborative project based learning

journeys in preparation for presenting these projects to our school community. Enrichment project

presentations will take place on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 September from 4.30 – 5.30pm in our staff

common room. Come along to discover how education is offered in other countries, why video games may offer

opportunities to engage young learners or how we in our school might improve our engagement with the

environment.

Enrichment Project Presentations

Enrichment Projects to be presented by year 7, Wednesday 14 Sep, 4.30 – 5.30pm

Here’s a taster of what you can expect to learn about if you come along to the ‘Show & Tell’ of our Year 7

Enrichment Projects on Thursday 14 September in the school Common Room.

What makes a villain?

How can we stop teens taking drugs?

How does plastic in the ocean affect us?

How dangerous are BMX bikes, scooters and Sk8 boards?

Do things happen for a reason? Is Karma a real concept?

Why has rubbish become such an important issue?

How do civilisations of the past affect our world today?

How can we raise awareness of littering habits at school & in the

community?

Why do people bully others?

How can soccer become more popular at SSHS?

Enrichment Projects to be presented by year 8, Thursday 14 Sep, 4.30 – 5.30pm

Here’s a taster of what you can expect to learn about if you come along to the ‘Show & Tell’ of our Year 8

Enrichment Projects on Thursday 14 September in the school Common Room.

1. What might the benefits and the potentially harmful effects of video games be for teenagers? How might we

use video games (at home, school, leisure) more productively to improve their image in our school

community?

2. Is there enough evidence to support the use of music as an aid to study in the classroom? How might the use

of music as an aid to concentration be more widely and efficiently utilised at our school?

3. How can we protect our environment and slow down pollution? How can we improve what we are currently

doing in our school to protect the environment?

4. How have humans evolved to this point in time and how might they continue to evolve into the future? How

much do students in our year group know about or are interested in evolution and how can we interest them

more in this topic?

5. Do schooling systems in other countries show us alternative ways to better organise our school day, school

buildings, how we group students and how we study? Are there aspects of educational delivery in other

countries that we could apply to South Sydney to improve student learning

Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge

All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 Yellow Mathematics classes, Year 9 and 10

Information and Software Technology and Year 11 Information Processes

and Technology classes participated in the Bebras Computational Thinking

Challenge this week during their normal classes. Two additional students

who are not in these classes also chose to participate. Stages 4, 5 and 6 sat

a different challenge with 45 minutes allocated to complete the challenge.

Bebras is aligned with and supports the Australian Curriculum: Digital

Technologies. The challenge introduces many of the learning areas in the

new digital technologies curriculum with a particular focus on

computational thinking.

We look forward to the results which will be available next week. We aim to participate in this Challenge twice a

year to measure student growth in this area.

Some feedback from the participants…

“It was really good because it challenged your brain.”

“It was an enlightening experience. I will definitely do it again next year.”

“Some questions were difficult but it was good to be challenged.”

“There were a lot of sequence based questions which is useful for coding.”

Congratulations to all participants!