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TERM 4, 2016

PLUMPTON HIGH SCHOOL

At Plumpton in 2016 we have continued building and developing students intellectual capacity, ensuring

that they have developed skills and ability to solve complex problems, develop and understand concepts

and be the leaders of tomorrow in our future focussed world. Plumpton believes in a Growth Mindset and

for students to have a growth mindset, they understand that trying harder - and trying new strategies - not

only helps them succeed at the current task but also helps them succeed in the future by strengthening

their brain. We believe this will bring out the best in every student, the ultimate goal of education and this

is a timeless objective. It has not changed over the years. Our educational perspectives and priorities will

shift to reflect the changes in our global society as Australia and Plumpton continue to compete success-

fully in the future focussed world where the one constant is change and evolution at a pace never experi-

enced previously.

We work tirelessly ensuring students have the essential skills and capacity to develop quality professional

and personal relationships that are essential for life success – a key focus of our Wellbeing Framework

through Positive Psychology, Growth Mindset and Choice Theory – Congratulations to Ms Lawson and

her Team. Successful employment as stated by great leaders, entrepreneurs, business people and re-

search requires our young people to have the ability to collaborate and work successfully as part of a

group or team within an organisation, be able to develop solid positive, productive partnerships with cli-

ents or customers and an ability to build a network to mutually benefit the individual and business.

The third critical pillar at Plumpton has, and continues to be, building students self-concept or self-esteem,

again a central focus of our Wellbeing Framework. Having a positive self-concept will allow a student to

challenge themselves and be courageous so as they can take the necessary educated risks with their

learning. This ensures that students will have the confidence to solve new and challenging problems and

seek assistance when they require it. Ultimately fostering greater engagement and a deeper love of learn-

ing, on their journey to be the best they can be. And as we know the most powerful opportunity we can

provide people is the gift of education.

Plumpton has accomplished significant milestones over this past year, some examples include; The fur-

ther development of Scope and Sequence and programming throughout the school in a systematic and

comprehensive way that has seen our students work towards innovative at a creative level – the highest

level of achievement, but there is more work to complete. Credit needs to be payed to the Ms Mathews,

Ms Cook and the executive team for leading this important work to build intellectual capacity.

This work has been complemented by the outstanding work continuing to be undertaken by the PACE

team lead by Ms Groth, Mr Domingo and their team. They are working with all staff to embed our 10 key

‘Learning to Learn’ skills essential in the supporting of student learning and engagement.

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Examples of great intellectual achievement in 2016

is that of our mathematics students who competed

in the Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympi-

ad – Chau Bui of Year 10 achieved a Distinction.

Chau sat a 4-hour exam following assistance from

Ms Prasad for the 2 weeks prior to the competition.

1829 students participated from 187 schools

across Australia. Chau was 1 of only 77 students in

year 10 in Australia to receive a Distinction. Con-

gratulations to both Chau and Ms Prasad, a great

example of teachers and students working together

to attain a great achievement. The school also

achieved significant results in the Australian Math-

ematics Competition; 1 High Distinction (Chau Bui),

3 Distinctions, 20 Credits and significant numbers

of students attainment at Proficient.

Christina Rathod of Year 11 has been successful in

being accepted for the Western Sydney Academy

Access Awards. This means she receives a $500

scholarship for next year and a conditional Aca-

demic Excellence Scholarship of $20,000 to study

at Western Sydney if he gets the ATAR required.

She will also have access to the campus library

next year – congratulations Christina.

Congratulations to Ashlyn Kumar of Year 12 who

sat an examination at Western Sydney University

and because of her outstanding result was offered

an Academic Excellence Scholarship worth

$20,000 to study at Western Sydney if she

achieves the ATAR required.

Congratulations to Cassie Ormsby and Mal

Lavemai has been selected in the 2017 u18 Pen-

rith Panthers women's rugby league squad.

Plumpton has just entered into a partnership with

ABCN (Australian Business Community Network)

for the next 3 Years and as a part of this Citi Bank

is partnering our school. Citi will provide mentors

for students and work with the school to provide

access to significant programs aimed at developing

skills in students that are essential in industry. One

of the first incredible achievements from this part-

nership has been by Jessica Szakacs from Year 10

who applied for an ABCN Scholarship and was se-

lected as 1 of 21 students throughout Australia to

be selected for a scholarship. Over 300,000 stu-

dents access ABCN programs across Australia.

Jessica will have a corporate executive Mentor

from Citi Bank over the next 3 years to the end of

her first year of university as well as financial sup-

port to assist with her studies.

The school launched a Computer Coding and

Phone App writing course for students in term 4

this year. Four Year 8 students from Plumpton

High school, Nafessa Rishad, Haven Tedeschi,

Reese Berry and Saad Babar have won the Coding

and Programming Challenge hosted by ABCN

(Australian Business and Community Network),

powerhouse museum and Microsoft. These stu-

dents will now have the opportunity to visit and

work at Microsoft Headquarter for a day.

Nafessa, Haven, Reese and Saad worked collabo-

ratively to designed an interactive game-based pro-

totype technology to find solutions to a real world

problem using Unity (programming language used

in game development) and Arduino (a microcon-

troller based kits for building devices and interac-

tive objects).

Peter Mahony, Education and Digital Manager of

POWERHOUSE museum who announced the win-

ners congratulated Plumpton's winning entry for its

strong and relevant concept - global warming. He

also mentioned that the interface design was visu-

ally appealing and the coding language used to run

the interactive game was credible.

Australian Teacher Magazine as implementing

highly innovative programs to support student

learning and opportunity in careers beyond school.

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PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE CONTINUED

Duke of Edinburgh Scheme – The purpose of the

Duke of Ed program is to promote and preserve a

framework of Award participation that equips, en-

gages and empowers all young people to explore

their potential. This program aims to move students

beyond their comfort zone to gain a sense of real

life achievement and self-confidence. This year 20

participants will receive their Bronze Award and in

2017 all of Year 9 will participate in the scheme.

Plumpton continues to develop strong corporate,

tertiary and local business partnerships that support

its future focussed strategy. We are ensuring that

our students have teachers that can offer industry

based experience as in the case of Engineering and

Technology, Media and communications, Forensic

Science, computer coding and Robotics. Having

each of these partnered by a tertiary institution such

as the University of Technology Sydney with our

Media and Communication program and an industry

based expert such as the ABC brings authenticity to

these programs. Other Partners include our invited

guests, Social Ventures Australia, United Way,

Western Sydney University, The Royal Melbourne

Institute of Technology (RMIT).

Curiosity is captured through the future focussed

programs we provide with innovation and creativity

at the forefront to ensure our students are provided

the skills they require enabling them to feel empow-

ered to take the necessary risks to succeed in their

chosen field securing the jobs of tomorrow.

In the words of George Lorimer

“You’ve got to get up every morning with determina-

tion if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”

Plumpton High School this translates to “being the

best we can be”.

Our students also excelled in School Spectacular

with 10 of our Aboriginal students selected to per-

form on the main stage in a dance item. Elysa Vil-

lareal won First Place in the Western Sydney Uni-

versity Unlimited Creativity High School Competition

and was a part of a feature Item for PULSE at the

Opera House this year. Other Creative and Perform-

ing Arts students and staff presented a high quality

MADD performance evening.

I would also like to congratulate the Student Execu-

tive Council led by School Captains - Prabhjot Kaur

and Christian Hipolito and School Vice-Captains -

Joy Tedeschi and Jonathon Inman along with their

prefect team for the tremendous start that they have

in implementing a new structure. This is seeing

them building strong project teams to undertake sig-

nificant work in areas of fund raising, development

of school spirit through redesigning the Merit Sys-

tem I 2017 and charity to name a few. To support

the development of student leadership capacity in

our student leaders the Student Executive Council

Teacher Coordinators, Mr David Smith and Ms Chi-

ara Viscontini were successful in commencing the

implementation of a new model. This model will con-

tinue to evolve in 2017 with the SEC having devel-

oped new criteria and processes to encourage

greater participation with a higher standard of entry.

Congratulations to Mr Temby and Ms Linaris who

are taking over the coordination of the SEC in 2017.

Cassie Ormsby- I had a cold reading audition for a

company called "The Celebrity Experience" which

was founded and run by Adrian R'Mante who is a

current Disney Star from " The Suite life of Zac and

Cody " Adrian also starred on NCIS and CSI, and

was heading from my audition to shoot for " Hawaii

5.0" in Hawaii.

At 12 noon on Saturday 5 November Cassie went

along to the audition held at the Shangri - la hotel on

Cumberland street, Sydney to audition in front of

Adrian.

I had never done anything like this before but as the

advertisement on KISS FM mentioned no experi-

ence necessary I took my opportunity, we went

through an interview session first with a contact from

the program, from there we were ushered into an-

other room in front of Adrian and everyone else au-

ditioning, including parents who were there to sup-

port. I was so nervous but really wanted this so bad,

I learnt my lines and before I knew it, I was called

up. i delivered my lines to the best of my ability,

shared a smile and Thanked Adrian for his time,

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Later that evening we got the call from the inter-

viewer, we were informed that I had made the cut,

and to be back in the hotel Sunday Morning to sort

the finer details to set sail for Hollywood. yay so

happy.

In this Program I will be trained and mentored by

some of the best actors, I will get the opportunity to

meet Disney Stars, walk the red carpet, shoot my

very first scene at universal studios Hollywood, hair

and makeup and have a copy of my reel to add to

an extensive resume that will be built during and

after this Program to bring away with me

I am so grateful for this opportunity to represent

myself, my family, friends, my school community

and everyone who has been a part of helping with

my success thus far

Welcome and congratulations to newly appoint-

ed permanent staff and staff achieving success.

I would like to congratulate Chris Holmes who has

been appointed to the substantive Head Teacher

Administration position at Plumpton High School

following a merit selection process. Chris holds a

Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Design and

Technology from the University of Newcastle, a

Cert II in Engineering and Production and Cert IV in

Training and Assessment.

Chris commenced his teaching career at Plumpton

High School in 2011 as a member of the TAS facul-

ty teaching Tech Mandatory, Industrial Arts, and

Metals and Engineering – for which he has been

nominated and holds a position as Pilot Marker and

Exam Assessor for VET Metals and Engineering

HSC with the BOSTES. In his time at Plumpton

Chris has undertaken may roles including; Year

Advisor, Literacy Coach, Duke of Edinburgh Coordi-

nator and for the past 2 years has been the Acting

Head Teacher of Administration. He has also sup-

ported and worked side-by-side with the Head

Teacher TAS in developing and implementing the

compliance strand of the School Plan in TAS.

Chris has, in his time as Acting HT Administration

has contributed significantly to the executive team

and has developed systems and processes to sup-

port the Wellbeing System. This has been particu-

larly evident in the increased attendance statistics

for Plumpton that have improved by 2% in 2016, a

credit to the work Chris undertakes. In addition,

Chris has worked to develop and implement sys-

tems/processes for the management of administra-

tion at Plumpton especially related to staff.

I would like to congratulate Sally Cain who has

been appointed to the substantive Head Teacher

Teaching and Learning position at Blaxland High

School following a merit selection process. Sally

holds a Bachelor of Education (Secondary: Human-

ities and Social Sciences) from Sydney University.

Sally commenced her teaching career at Rooty Hill

High School in January 2011 and in her 5 years

undertook the following roles; English teacher, Year

Advisor, SRC Coordinator, Information Computer

Technology team, General Capabilities team and

Assessment and Reporting team.

Sally joined Plumpton High School in November of

2015 in the Relieving Head Teacher English posi-

tion and has undertaken the following roles in her

time at our school; Leader of IPI Team, Differentia-

tion Team and the Project Based Learning Team.

I would like to congratulate Matthew Baxter who is

the successful applicant for the position of Acting

Head Teacher Wellbeing Plumpton High School

EOI process.

Matthew holds a Bachelor of Education, Physical

and Health Education and is qualified to teach

PDHPE and Community and Family Studies. He

has taught in a high needs school in London for

over 2 years teaching year 4 and 5 low ability, high

need classes. During his time in London he created

and coordinated a number of Wellbeing programs

across the whole school. Matthew has also taught

in the Parramatta Catholic Diocese for 1 year prior

to joining Plumpton High School.

In his time at Plumpton Matthew has been a lead

teacher of Positive Psychology since its inception (2

years) created tools and co-developed and run Pro-

fessional Development for the whole school. He

has been instrumental in co-leading, developing,

implementing and coordinating the Garden Class-

room program with 2 colleagues in partnership with

the Mitchell Institute and Yong Zhao.

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In addition, Matt has been a PACE member for 2.5

years, where he has co-lead, developed and facili-

tated professional learning for the whole school,

coordinated the AIME program, SALSA program for

2 years, has held the position of Mt Druitt Zone Girls

Soccer coach and coached the Plumpton High

School Boys Rugby League team.

Congratulations to Amy Galea who has been ap-

pointed to a permanent position as a media industry

studies and English teacher. Amy holds an under-

graduate degree in arts/education from the Univer-

sity of Wollongong graduating in 2012. She is quali-

fied to teach English Years 7-10 and Years 11-12,

film studies and media industry studies.

Prior to teaching Amy was working in arts journal-

ism and copywriting for Broadsheet Media also as a

copywriter, editor and in company branding for a

number of advertising companies for three years as

a contractor. Amy continues to be active as an arts

journalist and lifestyle writer online.

I would like to congratulate Renee Hunt who has

been appointed to a permanent position as an Eng-

lish teacher. Renee joins us with seven years’ expe-

rience, teaching at Richmond, Parramatta and

Bossley Park High Schools.

Renee is an innovative teacher who is experienced

in project based learning, the strategic use of tech-

nology in the classroom (Google drive and has

worked in a BYOD environment) and the use of da-

ta to inform practice. She is well known for her

work on the English Studies pilot program and the

subsequent syllabus and is passionate about creat-

ing modules of work to build the literacy skills of the

students in this Stage 6 course. She has previously

worked with teachers to create an integrated Project

Based Learning unit across English Studies and

Sport Lifestyle and Recreation courses for Year 11

students. This year Renee has also worked with

disengaged Year 10 students using project based

learning to reframe their thinking and reconnect

them to learning.

Beyond her faculty area Renee has worked as a

year advisor, an SRC leader and had experience of

a successful whole-school literacy initiative. She

uses 8 Ways pedagogies and has led Aboriginal

and multicultural initiatives.

Congratulations to Priyanka Bromhead who has

been appointed to a permanent position as an Eng-

lish teacher. Priyanka holds a Postgraduate Diplo-

ma of Teaching (Secondary English & Society &

Culture) from the Australian Catholic University and

a Bachelor of Arts (Majors: Cultural & Social Analy-

sis and English, Text & Writing) from Western Syd-

ney University.

Prior to coming to Plumpton in September this year

to work in the Learning and Support Faculty, Pri-

yanka held a permanent English and HSIE teaching

position at Tyndale Christian School Teaching Stag-

es 4-6 for 6 years, 2009-2015. Priyanka has also

worked in a Project Based Learning environment.

In her time at Tyndale Priyanka undertook several

roles beyond her faculty role including coordinating

the Slum Survivor strategy in Stage 4 HSIE working

with Year 7 to raise in excess of $20,000 for devel-

opment projects. She coordinated Middle Years

Wellbeing and Pastoral Care programs, coordinated

and taught Poetry Slam, Public Speaking and de-

bating. In addition, Priyanka ran Senior Study Skills

workshops and mentoring for students.

I can announce the returning of both Cara Cobden

and Carly McPherson in 2017 to the shared roles of

Teacher Mentor and Head Teachers of Literacy

Strategy 2017. Both Carly and Cara have previously

occupied the role of Teacher Mentor providing out-

standing support and guidance to all Beginning

Teachers developing their teaching craft through to

completion of their Teacher Proficiency. They have

also provided their expert knowledge and support to

teachers completing their Maintenance process for

accreditation.

I would like to congratulate Peter Nicholls who has

been elected to the position of Sport President for

the Mt Druitt Sporting Zone. This is a significant po-

sition that requires patience and skill to ensure stu-

dents who excel in sport have the same opportuni-

ties as those who are more academically inclined.

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I welcome both Ebony Brennan and Priyanka

Bromhead to the position of Duke of Edinburgh

Coordinator where they will work closely with the

Wellbeing Team in 2017 to implement the program

across the whole of year 9.

I wish all families a safe and enjoyable holiday peri-

od and thank you for your significant contributions

to our great school in 2016. Overall 2016 has been

another great year for Plumpton High School

where students are the centre-piece of all decision

making and the culture of learning for students, but

also staff is at the core of this success. I would

suggest, to achieve your best in 2017 you should

continue to pursue that challenge of finding your

set of life and vocational niches where, with disci-

pline, commitment, determination, thinking, learn-

ing, courage and risk taking, you can continue to

achieve excellence.

In closing I would like to leave you with this quote

by Orison Swett Marden

“Success is not measured by what you accomplish,

but by the opposition you have encountered, and

the courage with which you have maintained the

struggle against overwhelming odds.”

Be Courageous enough to challenge yourself.

Tim Lloyd

Principal

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See article from Mt Druitt Standard last week. A great credit to Bec Cross, Bret Hartmann, Claire Leihn and Sarah Pacey and the students who have developed the team into a quality learning experience.

In addition, a big thank you to Michele Fonseca, Jo Elms, Paula Kruger and their teams from the ABC

and the journalism school from UTS. They have provided significant expertise to support the explicitly

immersing of our students in real world future focussed learning and assisted in providing expert

knowledge to develop our Stage 5 Media Industry Studies School Developed Board Endorsed Course

through the BOSTES.

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See below a great story about Maryanne Latu. Significant credit needs to be attributed to the LaST staff

including our SLSOs and the PDHPE Faculty who have supported Maryanne throughout her schooling

at Plumpton assisting her to develop the elite sporting capacity she demonstrates.

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DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents and Carers,

As parents of our school community it is important that we inform you of new initiatives in all facets of our school, to ensure that you are active partners with us in your child’s education.

Throughout 2016 staff have been working on updating and enriching our Teaching and Learning pro-grams. As a result of professional learning and evidenced-based and informed research in this area we are embarking upon Project Based Learning (PBL) at Plumpton High School.

PBL is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students work collaboratively to explore real-world problems and challenges. In our school-developed model, thinking is visible and ongoing assessment ensures that students only move to the next stage of learning when they can demonstrate that they have mastered the existing knowledge and skills. With this type of active and engaged learning stu-dents are motivated to think more deeply about the subjects they are studying. All activities, skills and knowledge development contribute to the creation of a final product, demonstrating the students’ ability to transfer the knowledge and skills gained throughout the unit.

At Plumpton High School we will gradually introduce PBL to ensure that teachers are thoroughly trained, resources are available and programs and timetable structures are appropriately embedded into the normal running of the school. In 2017 we will run one pilot Year 7 class across Maths, Science, English, PDHPE, Technology, HSIE and some electives.

The 7Mabo pilot PBL class will be a mixed ability class which runs a little differently to the other Year 7 classes. There will be times when the class is working on one unit of work across two or three subjects, while at other times subjects will run completely independently. However, for the majority of subjects, 7Mabo will be working on PBL units of work. As the year commences we will send more information to 7Mabo parents outlining the initiative in more detail.

The 7Mabo team of teachers have been working all this term to prepare for next year. They are facilitat-ed by Ms Cook, our Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning, and Mrs Mathews, our Deputy Principal, responsible for Teaching and Learning.

Throughout 2017, our whole staff will continue to receive professional learning around PBL with a view to have all Year 7 classes operating as project based learners in 2018, with a pilot Year 8 class also in operation. We will continue in this manner until all junior classes are project based learners by 2021. This gradual roll out ensures that data is collected, analysed and acted upon. As teachers will continue to be professionally developed we expect to see some implementation by teachers in classes that are not officially marked for PBL.

We believe that this model will help students to be ready for a future work force that calls for collabora-tion, critical and creative thinkers and excellent communicators.

We look forward to working with you and your child as we start this exciting initiative,

Tim Lloyd & Virginia Mathews

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In November, four teams from the Plumpton High

School Gifted and Talented Engineering Studies

(GATES) class attended the state final for F1 in

schools at WSU, Werrington Campus.

‘Mission Infinity’ competed in the Professional Senior

Class. They were required to create publicity, raise

funds and design a display booth as well as design,

build and race a car. They attended the event over

three days and impressed with their professionalism.

‘Project Zoom’ competed in the Development Class

and consisted of students from Plumpton Public

School. This team was one of the youngest ever to

compete at the state level in NSW and they also

built and raced a car. This team was praised for their

effort and maturity as displayed over the three day

event. Their car was the fastest in their class and

they won three awards:

Encouragement Award

Fastest Lap

Fastest Grand Prix time

‘Neoen’ and ‘Smash’ both competed in the Cadet

Junior Class. These teams consisted of Year 7 and

8 students and they designed a built a car. They on-

ly attended a single day at the event, but the quality

of their cars impressed. One more award was won:

Fastest Lap – Team Smash

This was a fantastic event and the students enjoyed

themselves tremendously.

Plumpton High School’s Professional Class Mission Infinity team is on its final day of the F1 in Schools State Championship The team of four students Christine Inman, 12, Jes-sica Szakacs, 15, Haseeb Nabeed, 15, and Asad Malik, 14, were tasked with designing, engineering, building, marketing and promoting their F1 design under the guidance of their teacher and engineer Stephen Attard. The students applied their knowledge of engineering to designing the car but for most of them the chal-lenge was marketing and sponsorship. Jessica was in charge of marketing but said she was excited to see what their competition had done. “Learning about all the different processes,” she

said. “I liked working on something different rather than normal class room work. “Getting the sponsorship was a good challenge.”

The 15-year-old said she was keen to see what oth-er schools brought to the table. “It’s fun racing other schools and seeing what ideas they have.” Asad said he was fascinated by the science involved

in the project.

Mission Infinity:

Jessica Szakacs (yr10)

Haseeb Naveed (yr10)

Asad Malik (yr8)

Christine Inman (yr7)

Project Zoom:

Riley Henman (yr6)

Maas Ali Bukhari (yr6)

Jashanpret Singh (yr6)

Smash:

Tyrell Lobo-Jones (yr8)

Nafeesa Rishad (yr8)

Jai Carless (yr7)

Neoen:

Teaghan Drew (yr7)

Sophie Allen (yr7)

Liam Clarke (yr7)

F1 IN SCHOOLS

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F1 IN SCHOOLS

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F1 IN SCHOOLS

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DUKE OF EDINBURGH CAMP– BRONZE AWARD

The next instalment of the Duke of Edinburgh is here! A few months ago our Bronze award Duke of Edinburgh team set off in Katoomba to ‘get a feel’ for the wild and untamed environment and winding tracks snaking the epic cliffs of Echo point and the 3 Sisters.

This time 17 eager year 9 and 10 students took on this challenge again. This time unassisted and much more physically and mentally strenuous. An-other challenge this time round was the heat. Leav-ing Plumpton on a 36-degree day to go to Katoom-ba would be nice to cool off in the mountains 100 metres above sea level right. Wrong! It was a few degrees cooler but trekking in this heat was at times mind and energy sapping. Luckily for us the heat calmed itself down enough for us to begin our first journey.

The practice journey paid off as Tents and camp were set up in no time. However, there were still tent casualties, again from mother mature and her belting winds. The talk of sleeping in cars and the bus was thrown around but after some tetras play-ing with sleeping bodies all was good in the camp-ing world. (Although sleeping in my car may have been more comfortable!)

After lunch we were ready to go. Most had learnt form last time, what you bring you carry! Smarter, lighter packing this time was a life saver in this heat. However, this time round no fun cable car rides or 45-degree train rides, just hard leg and mental work!

After a short drive to Leura Cascades, students lead the walks themselves and explored the end-less lookout vantage points on the Fern Bower cir-cuit. Groundhog day moments were had throughout this circuit as never ending staircases teased us and burnt the thighs and glutes, the burn was real and intense. After the first leg shaking descent of stairs we were rewarded at the base of beautiful

waterfall and her refreshing off spray to cool our bodies. The build-up of lactic acid never seemed to disappear long enough before the next set of stairs. Scaling 130 flights of stairs in total invited the po-tential for vomiting for a few. The physical and men-tal challenge of getting through this trek was all-consuming at times. We rustled and climbed our way through changing micro climates, some dry and dusty, others sub-tropical and cool. Overall, once finished everyone felt a sense of achievement and pride in their efforts. Some even “strangely op-timistic and positive”. This truly pushed some to their limits.

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DUKE OF EDINBURGH CAMP– BRONZE AWARD

After our first leg shaking trek, students went back to camp all sweaty and needing showers and a well deserved rest. Alas this did not last long as teenag-ers regain their energy quicker than you can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Activates re-sumed in the way of cricket. Most joined the group in presence on the oval but understandably were in sloth mode, lazing around the grass and cricket pitch working on their ground fielding or being a target for the cricket ball.

Young bodies needed refuelling, so came the task of cooking dinner with mini propane gas bottles and basic metal camping saucepans. One interesting concoction was 2-minute noodle cooked in chunky

beef soup. Snaps for being inventive! While the fairy floss coloured sky retreated into tomorrow, dinner was not a enough, this called for an emer-gency run to the shops for dessert and sugar load-ing.

Driving to the shops enabled us to test the range of the walkie talkies, this was a novelty and provided Mr Baxter the stage to perform his singing abilities reciting songs from Dirty Dancing. After the sugar

tsunami, a few needed their precious beauty sleep and retired to bed early, however a game of Capture the flag on the oval was in the making by night fall. Worn out but still buzzing, sleep was begging us to visit. Mother Nature was much kinder to us this journey, the hot temperature eased with a fresh crisp-ness on the skin.

The change in season and day light savings since our practice jour-

ney meant that a bouquet of native birds brought in the new day at 5am (far too early for my liking). The kookaburras were entertained by us packing up the tents, cackling at our efforts to fit our sleeping bags into their bags (never the same as you get it!). Breakfast, showers and an early pack up had us leave camp by 8:20 for our next hike. After a route detour and google maps getting confused, we made our way to Miniehaha Falls in North Katoom-ba. This trek was shorter than the previous day, even so perhaps more rewarding and magnificent. Students powered through the trail winding our way down vertical stairways to the glory of the falls. This oasis gave us respite and space to contemplate all of life’s mysteries or at least what to have for lunch. Alas, back to reality and back to school after the glute busting workout back up the top of the trail to the bus.

Another exhausting but gratifying camp was over. The Blue Mountains is a place that always takes your breath away regardless of how many times you have been there or how long you have lived there. This places just leaves you feeling like an ant, but with a heart full of wonder and gratitude.

Written by: Mrs Abrahams. Photography by: Mrs Abrahams, & Mr Baxter

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ART GALLERY OF NSW WORKSHOP & LAUNCH

Plumpton was an easy pick for Jonathan Wilson, Community Engagement Officer of the AGNSW. After working with Blacktown Gallery on a previous project, they threw in a good word for us. Adding to this, Plumpton houses one of the highest Filipino communities in NSW, so it was an easy choice. Then it happened, the Art Gallery of NSW reached out for contact just like Leonardo Da Vinci’s the Creation of Man.

The AGNSW was working on a massive yearlong project to celebrate 70 years of relations between Australia and the Philippines. In 2017 The Art Gal-lery of NSW will collaborate with a number of other Sydney Art Galleries on a project known as the Bayanihan Philippines Art Project.

The project will feature historical contemporary art, performance art, community engagement and ex-hibitions across all of these galleries. It was an or-ganisation frenzy like no other to have Filipino Art-ist Alwin Reamillo come to Plumpton High School for our help to make an important Filipino artwork. To launch the project to the public and the Filipino community artist Alwin Reamillo come to Australia to create a version of his Bayanihan Hopping Spirit House.

A major component of Alwin’s work is working with the community to create chimes and objects that attach to the house through facilitated workshops, which we were lucky enough to participate and contribute to.

A second workshop Run by Eunice Andrada Per-formance artist & poet, (who last year represented Australia and the Philippines as an artist at the Paris Climate Change Talks). Within this workshop students investigated self-expression, confidence building and cultural connections. While our stu-dents group who participated in these workshops were not all Filipino, it was a great way to respect-fully and with intrigue, discuss cultural differences and similarities amongst our diverse range of eth-nicities at Plumpton.

At the completion of this workshops all participants are invited to the launch, at the Art Gallery of NSW with their families, where we were to attach the chimes and origami dragon flies and butterflies just before the house parades around the Gallery. The AGNSW wanted us there that desperately that they hired a bus for us to travel into the gallery and back home. This demonstrates their commitment to engaging the broader community and that art is for everyone.

This workshop and generous offer by the AGNSW gained so much attention that students who didn’t participate in the workshops wanted to come along to the gallery. In total we had roughly 40 Plumpton students and family attend the event. Launch day came around on Saturday October 29th, students and family members hauled themselves on the bus ready for the trip into the city. Driving on the Har-bour Bridge gazing over the beautiful cityscape and Opera house on a sunny morning was a de-light for most, a number of students having not been over the bridge before or even into the city for that matter.

16

ART GALLERY OF NSW WORKSHOP & LAUNCH

Before the formalities began we took a brief tour around the numerous exhibitions within the gallery. During the events students were assisting Elwin to attach the chimes that they made onto the Baya-nihan Hopping Spirit House. Before the proceed-ings a number of musical and dance performances where showcasing the variety and talent of Filipino people and culture. We sat and watched in delight as all manner of bright, colourful and traditional costumes were adorned and paraded with pride.

Following the performances, we were invited to begin the procession around the gallery with the Bayanihan Hopping Spirit House. It felt like we had been transported to another country, no longer in the confines of the gallery wall as the artworks be-came part of the audience. The paintings observed the hoard of people shuffling their way through the rooms and narrow doorways. It reminded me of my travels throughout Asia where events like this are common place, but exciting for an outsider like my-self. By the time the procession and performances

had run their course, our ravenous students had been patiently waiting for hours to have taste of the Philippines in the way of halo-halo. For the new folk to the Filipino world and culture the halo-halo was unusual to say the least. For the Filipinos or the Filipino chameleons, it tasted like home. This brought us the end of the event and outside the gallery for more food to fill the empty bellies that are used to more frequent feeding.

Back on the bus and on our way home. It was an epic few days in the lead up and the event, but well worth the time and effort for our kids to be a part of art and making culture. For the AGNSW to reach out so generously as they did was bewildering and humbling all at once, I am still pinching myself. This gesture and new connection has opened us up for a number of amazing opportunities to work together in 2017 and beyond.

A conversation that I had with Jonathon was inspir-ing and empowering, originally a fellow greater Western Sydney inhabitant in his schooling days, he stressed the importance and power of opening the doors to the broader community and acknowl-edged that most people feel intimidated by art. However, Art is not something to be apprehensive about, it should be seen as something to question,

inspire curiosity, wonder and challenge your under-standing of the world. Art is not for the elite, but for you and by you. After all, we are life imitating art. We are art in varying forms and are therefore cul-ture in the making.

Life without art is just meh!

Written by Mrs Abrahams

17

PDHPE

The Happiness Cycle

On Wednesday 26th of October, a se-

lect group of 37 students were invited

to participate in a program called The

Happiness Cycle. This program pro-

vides a great platform for students to

become involved in their communities

and experience the benefits and joy of

cycling, through social inclusion and

interaction. This fantastic initiative pro-

vides each attending student with new

skills, awareness of the fun riding can

provide and unbelievably, a brand new

bike free of charge!

The program was held at Fairfield

Show Ground, only a short distance away from school. Once the students arrived, they were registered

and shown a demonstration on how to assemble their bike. They received some safety gear such as a

helmet, flashing lights and of course a bike lock. Once geared up, students were quizzed through some

true and false questions on safety procedures while riding a bike.

Then the real fun began, where students went outside to receive their bike and used their new found

knowledge to assemble the seat, peddles and pump the tyres. Some students were using tools such as

a spanner and screwdriver for the first time and really enjoyed this sense of independence. Following

the fitting and adjustment of the bikes, it was time for a nutritious lunch to ensure the students would

have the energy for the best part of the excursion which was coming up next.

The moment the students had all been waiting for was finally here. Students now had the opportunity to

ride their brand new bike! Those brave enough were going off jumps and ramps, while others took their

time and just rode around with big smiles on their faces, which pretty much sums up what the day was

about - excitement, fun and happiness. As the name suggests, this was The Happiness Cycle!

As the day neared to an end, the

students were involved in a pho-

toshoot where a drone camera

was used to capture a bird’s eye

view of the group to be used in

future promotional material. Stu-

dents then loaded their bikes into

trucks to be delivered to the

school. Going by the fun experi-

enced by this group, it is ex-

pected that the streets around

Plumpton High School will be

flooded with students making the

most of their new bikes.

Mr Cabrera (PDHPE)

18

SCIENCE

Farewell Mr Smith

Mr Smith has been a member of the science faculty for 8 years. In his role as a

classroom teacher, positive psychology teacher and SEC co-ordinator he has

supported, mentored and facilitated student development into leaders and active

participants in our society. The positive energy that he brought into any room he

entered will be missed. We wish him all the best in his new role as head teacher

at Katoomba High School.

Science has newly

acquired Agriculture

We have 4 new baby lambs on our farm!!

Another new addition is baby Billy, the goat. ‘

Year 10 STEM Project

Crystals made by the year

10 students who participate

in the STEM program with

Mrs Khin.

19

SCIENCE

Year 7 Forensic Science elective

The year 7 students in Miss Linaris’ forensic sci-

ence elective extracted DNA from a strawberry

and observed it under a microscope.

Year 9 Science

Mr Aguiar’s year 9 science class were given the

challenge of creating traffic lights in a circuit based

on their knowledge of electricity.

Year 8 STEM incursion

Engineering students from Macquarie University

came to our school and challenged our year 8 stu-

dents to make a bionic hand that was able to grasp

and pick up a ball using their knowledge of sci-

ence, technology, engineering and maths.

20

SCIENCE

Year 8 ABCN Coding and Programming Challenge Four Year 8 students from Plumpton High school, Nafessa Rishad, Haven Tedeschi, Reese Berry and Saad Babar have won the Coding and Programming Challenge hosted by ABCN ( Australian Business and Community Network), powerhouse museum and Microsoft. These students will now have the op-portunity to visit and work at Microsoft Headquarter for a day.

Nafessa, Haven, Reese and Saad worked col-laboratively to designed an interactive game-based prototype technology to find solutions to a real world problem using Unity (programming language used in game development) and Ar-duino ( a microcontroller based kits for building devices and interactive objects). Peter Mahony, Education and Digital Manager

of POWERHOUSE museum who announced

the winners congratulated Plumpton's winning

entry for its strong and relevant concept - glob-

al warming. He also mentioned that the inter-

face design was visually appealing and the

coding language used to run the interactive

game was credible.

21

SCIENCE

Our Forensic Gifted & Talented Program: Young Einstein

Miss Linaris runs a Forensic Science gifted and talented program for years 5, 6, 7 and 8 students in the

Plumpton Education Community. Students used a variety of techniques to analyse evidence to solve

the Double Murder case.

22

PACE REPORT

The Plumpton Aboriginal Celebration Education (PACE) Team has had a busy year. Our Aboriginal stu-

dents were involved in many cultural programs extending their knowledge of their Aboriginal culture.

The programs that Plumpton High School participated this year were:

AIME

Pathways to dreaming

AFL Indigenous Program

School Spectacular

Deadly Dreaming Dance troupe

Ted Noffs Deadly Dreaming program

Aboriginal students from Year 7 to 12 Graduated from the Pathways to Dreaming program and they

were presented with certificates and gifts by local Elder Uncle Greg Simms.

Our Aboriginal students performed at the School Spectacular in the Aboriginal Dance Ensemble choreo-

graphed by Bangarra Dance Theatre.

23

PACE REPORT

Our Aboriginal students took part in Connecting to

Country educational program at Taronga Zoo with

Pathways to Dreaming.

Logan, Taliah and Rhonda learning how to put

arms in cast at Blacktown Hospital.

Riley, Shontelle, Tahlia, Shylah and Lachlan per-

forming with Deadly Dreaming Dance Troupe at

Daramu for National Reconciliation Week 2016.

Final AIME Day at Parramatta South Campus.

Plumpton High School celebrated NAIDOC

Week with Aboriginal dance workshops and per-

formance led by Fred Reid.

We would like to say thank you to Karlene Rex,

our Aboriginal Education Officer, for her tireless

efforts in supporting our Aboriginal students.

Thank you to the following people who have

shown their support to our Aboriginal students

and the PACE TEAM this year:

Mr Lloyd, Ms Groth, Mrs Mathews, Ms Lawson,

Taryn Beatty, Terri Melohn.

Mr Baxter, Mr Nicholls, Mr Streatfeild, Ms Leihn,

Ms Morais, Ms English, Ms Prasad, Mr Lowe, Mr

Hartmann, Ms Weithaler and Ms Viscontini.

24

PACE REPORT

Learning to Learn

skills How well do you know the follow-

ing learning to learn skills?

Do you know the power phrase?

What about the non-verbal

actions?

25

LIBRARY

And so another year of the library at

Plumpton High is coming to an end and

it is my last one here. So let us review

some highlights of 2016 briefly as a

small sample of my time here. Our Wednesday Book

Club, begun about 12 years ago, to promote read-

ership is still going, our readers enjoying the peace to

read undisturbed for one half hour lunch time a week.

Many Books of the Month have been read and dis-

cussed over cool drink and cake or doughnuts. Prab-

hjot Kaur and Abby Foster (Yr11) completed the Lit-

erature Classics Challenge, reviewing 8 agreed

classics over a two year period. The annnual CBC

Book Week in Term 3 was again a lot of fun for

those who moved out of their comfort zone to partici-

pate. We had a record number of students (many

from Year 7) for National Reading Hour. Nafeesa

Rishad (Yr 8) was our Book Week Champion.

Our chess teams were chosen after the Junior Chess

Challenge, won by Joel Willson (Year10) and they

performed well, developing their skills in the inter-

school contests of Term 2 and 3. We had two junior

teams for the first time for the Friday Chess League

matches which we have been playing for the past 16

years. Thanks to Mr Silva who helped with transport.

We also competed at the annual Penrith RSL Inter-

school Contest again and came fourth out of

about 15 schools. This term for the first time we are

holding a staff/student chess challenge with players

from Year 9-12 and Mr Valero, Mr Silva and Mr Salter

in a Round Robin contest. At lunchtimes it has im-

pressed me to see a hardy few doing the ‘right ‘thing’

in the Quiet Reading Corner, despite the disorder in

the rest of the library. The Readership Trophy for

2016 goes to Emily Potloka (Yr9) who has read and

diarised over 100 books over the year – an amazing

achievement. I congratulate particularly the following

library patrons, all of whom have a good borrowing

record, or have showed exemplary behaviour, read

quietly, or were always helpful, polite, cooperative

library citizens showing ‘positive behaviour for learn-

ing’ and generally brought pleasure somehow to my

last year here: Leah Gray, Nafeesa Rishad, Emily

Potloka, Sean Bell, Aharoz Asif, Naseer Shah Ali,

Maddy Kiaupa,Evangelo Bandeleon, Isabella Crock-

er, Afifa Kausar, Kinza Ilyas, Probhjot Kaur, Abby For-

ster, Alex Park, Joel Willson, Josh Lamb, Zac Con-

nell, Volkan Mert, Sophie Allen, Julia Pourino, Jake

Pitura, Naveed Haseeb, Shaleen Datt,Chau Bui,

Ashraf Amena,Tyla Hendry, Kimberley

Knight,Jennifer Lachmund,Amtul Kafi,Faith Lavender,

Cheyenne Meally, Edith Yankuba, Areebah Nazim,

Destiny Salt, Byron Willis,Josephine Yankuba, Byron

Willis, Miranda Morgan, Rana Alkozai, Sarah

Rice,Urooj Hussain, Moeroa Joseph" and all my clev-

er chess team members". Looking at library records

and every day positive, polite attitude, you are the

students who have made a difference to my days in

the library. Some of you are my library monitors and

Book of the Month readers for November who deco-

rated the library for Christmas this year. We had fun

and many have complimented us they walk in to the

festive library.

26

LIBRARY

During Term 3 and 4 the library was transitioned

from the ‘Oasis’ operating system to a new and im-

proved one called ‘Oliver. This system has a far

more user-friendly interface for the students to find

the resources easily, being modern and colourful. It

has several attractive features, like a carousel of

new book additions to the library, and a facility to

write a quick two line review on a book they have

enjoyed. The Year 7’s have had a lesson this term

to explore the possibilities of ‘Oliver’, and several

students in the Reading Club have already placed

personal reviews. Anyone can do this. You can also

access ‘Oliver’ at home through the school portal –

just look on the Home Page for the ‘Oliver Library’

link.

I would like to thank my team of library monitors this

year for their contributions of time this year. I have

enjoyed your helpfulness and cooperation – you are

a delight of PHS that I will miss. I wish you all the

very best for your future.

In conclusion, I would like to thank my dedicated as-

sistant, Margaret Vincent, for her work and friendship

over the years – we made such a good and happy

team - and all the staff and students, past and pre-

sent who have been an encouragement and support

in my role of teacher-librarian at PHS. You have

been my life-savers, my joy, and you all know who

you are. It has been great working with you over

these past 18 years. Many have left before me -I be-

lieve I am the longest serving TL this school has had,

and Margaret the longest serving staff member of all.

We have both seen many changes with staff and

students, the comings and goings, the highs and

lows. It has certainly not been boring and I have

many wonderful memories to take with me. Happy

Christmas and safe summer holiday to you all. Don’t

forget to keep books alive - Readers are Leaders!

I leave you now with an African farewell: ‘Hlala gahle’

-Stay well. Mrs Pitt

27

Can I answer YES to these questions? Am I in the right place? Am I doing

the right thing? Am I being fair? Am I being helpful? Am I being kind?

At Plumpton High School, we understand that all actions have consequences.

As a school, we work together in peaceful, helpful and kind ways so that the consequences of

our actions are positive ones. There are many rewards for working together in such a way, in-

cluding:

Feeling good about ourselves and others

Enjoying our lives at school

Being able to participate in great learning and many school activities

Being acknowledged for our work with merit certificates and other awards

Being involved in leadership activities

Being successful in our learning

Sadly, it happens that people sometimes lose their way and forget their responsibilities to

themselves and to others in our school community. We have to make sure we have good sys-

tems in place to prevent such things from negatively affecting our lives at school and our learn-

ing. Some of the consequences for people behaving badly include:

Warnings and action by your teacher if you fail to meet the behavior standards

Referral to the head teacher for action if the problem persists. This means your behav-

ior has reached a very serious level. It is a very strong warning to you that things must

improve immediately.

All Actions Have Consequences

ACHIEVING HIGH BEHAVIOUR STANDARDS TOGETHER

We all have a shared re-

sponsibility to help the

learning and wellbeing of

the large majority of stu-

dents. To do this we need to

re-establish our standards in

a number of focus areas

It must be clearly under-stood that there will be con-sequences for people who fail to meet the behaviour standards outlined in this document. We cannot accept behaviors which impact negatively on our school learning environ-ment. We each have a re-sponsibility to be the best learners, citizens and lead-ers we can be. We must respect the wellbeing of others and the learning of others.

Our School Expectations We want our students to be

Be Safe

Be Respectful

Be a Learner

Great Learners

Responsible, Productive Citizens

Leaders Now and in the Future

Kind and Respectful to ALL Others

BEING THE BEST WE CAN BE

28

Be Safe Be Respectful Be a Learner

Common

Areas

I wear school uniform.

I walk at school.

I keep my hands and feet to myself.

I report any problems.

I stay where I am supposed to be- in

class during lesson or in bounds

during lunch.

I say no to bullying.

I follow teachers’ instructions.

I speak politely and use appropriate

language.

I put my rubbish in the bin.

I leave banned items at home.

I keep the school vandalism and graffiti

I actively participate in class.

I do my best to learn and achieve.

I attend class and school every day.

Class I ask permission to leave my seat/

class. I sit on my seat properly. I sit at my desk properly. I follow the safety procedures of

the class.

I listen to the person who is speaking to

the class. I put my hand up and wait silently to speak. I take my hat off when I enter the room. I am accepting of the opinions and

contributions of others.

I do my class work to the best of my

ability.

I bring the equipment needed for

each lesson.

Playground I stay inbounds. I act and play safely. I report any dangerous or damaged

equipment.

I report strangers to a teacher.

I wait my turn at the canteen. I start walking to class when the bell

goes.

I put my rubbish in the bins.

I use the toilets during breaks rather

than during class.

I use lunchtime effectively by having

something to eat, talking to friends,

playing a game, visiting the library or

seeing a teacher.

Hallways I stay to the left when walking.

I line up as directed by my teacher.

I use the banisters for my hands.

I carry my bag safely so it won’t hit into

others.

I walk quietly so others can continue

learning.

I stand and wait until instructed to enter

the room.

I enter and exit classrooms without

pushing.

I move to class quickly.

I encourage other students to get to

class.

I show that I know how to go from class

to class.

I have a permission note if I am out of

class.

Toilets I wash my hands after using the toilets.

I keep the toilet facilities clean.

I use the toilets correctly.

I save water by turning off the tap.

I use the toilets during lunch times.

I have a permission note if I go to the

Bus Bay/Bus I wait patiently for the bus.

I stay behind the green fence while I wait for

the bus.

I get on and off the bus without pushing.

I keep myself and my belongings inside the bus.

I line up when I see my bus

approaching.

I speak politely to the bus driver and

other passengers.

I model the right behaviour on the

bus.

I have my bus pass and T-Card.

Formal

Exams

I sit properly on my chair.

I sit properly at my table.

I walk carefully to my table.

I am silent. I put my hand up and wait silently to ask a

question. I face the front. I listen to instructions. I sit where I am asked. I leave banned items at home.

I do my best and attempt every question.

I bring the necessary equipment.

I keep my eyes on my own work.

I allow others to concentrate.

Assemblies I enter & exit in an organised

manner.

I sit appropriately.

I am quiet throughout the assembly.

I listen to all announcements.

I act as a mature audience member.

I congratulate the achievements of others

appropriately.

I think about what is presented at

the assembly.

Free Periods I remain seated in the appropriate area. I am respectful of classes by sitting

quietly. I use the time to complete all homework

or study.

BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS

29

SKOOL BAG APP

Assist in Communications with Plumpton High School

Get the Skool Bag App For Your Phone.

At Plumpton High School we are constantly working on creating opportuni-

ties to allow students, staff and the community members to be ‘the best we

can be’. As part of our commitment to innovation and communication,

Plumpton High School now has its own app that can be downloaded onto

Apple and Android Devices. This exciting tool will give parents and guardi-

ans increased access to vital information about important events being run

at the school as well as being able to fill out e-forms at the click of a button

to help explain student absence or give permission for extra-curricular

events.

As technology continues to evolve, Plumpton High School is dedicated to

evolve with it in any way that enables us to best support our students and

their community.

You can download the app by searching Plumpton High School Skool Bag on your devices app

store.

Just look for the Plumpton Phoenix Crest. More information will be coming out soon regarding the use of

the app and the specific functions for parents and guardians for our students.

As a Year 11 or 12 student at Plumpton High School you have been provided with a ‘Pass-out Card’ that will allow you to enter and leave the school at different times to that of junior students (Years 7-10). Plumpton High School sees the Year 11 and 12 students as young adults and as such the school seeks to provide a level of responsibility equivalent. Outlined below are the expectations and guidelines associated with your Pass-out Card.

1. You will only be permitted to leave the school if YOU have YOUR Pass-out Card

2. If you do not have a class Period 1 you may arrive at 10am

3. If you have no class P4 you need to leave during lunch 2 (gates are locked at the end of lunch 2, if you are still here you need to be in the library)

4. All students to be present Period 2 and Period 3 = Senior Study or Library

5. You may attend the shops Lunch 1 and Lunch 2 with your card

6. You need to return before the bell goes at the end of Lunch 1 or Lunch 2

7. Food purchased at the shops is to be consumed at the shops (please do not buy for juniors).

8. If you attend TAFE you are to depart at 1:00pm unless alternate permission is granted.

N.B. The front gates are closed during the course of the normal school day. Please ensure you enter/exit at set times to reduce inconvenience to office staff.

Should you make decisions and take actions that contravene the expecta-tions and guidelines associated with the Pass-out Card the privilege may be removed.

MANAGING MY PASS OUT CARD RESPONSIBILITIES

30

Attendance Updates via email & SMS

Dear Parents / Carers

If you would like to develop an email link with our

Head Teacher Administration, Mr Holmes regarding

your child’s ATTENDANCE at Plumpton High School,

please just send him an email at:

christopher.holmes14@det.nsw.edu.au

The email should state your name and your child’s name and year. He will then

add you to his Parent / Carer contact list. This will enable him to send you a graph-

ic (as shown below) displaying your child’s attendance record for the term. The

graphic will be sent as an email attachment (Word file). This will be a quick form of

communication if he has any attendance concerns regarding your child.

In 2013, the school has introduced a new attendance tracking system, that has re-

moved the need for paper rolls and runners to collect the rolls. Teachers are now

marking rolls electronically in class, giving the school instant data on student

attendance in class (as shown below). The new system has been an Instant success

giving all staff access to an excellent attendance profile of all students, so that any

concerning patterns of attendance can be addressed promptly. Remember that

there is a very close relationship between high attendance and student success.

To encourage students to set high standards for attendance, 3 awards will again

be presented at Presentation Day & Graduations in 2016: Gold, Silver & Bronze

Attendance Awards.

SMS Notifications

In 2016 you will have been receiving SMS notifications if your child is either absent

from school or late to school. Please reply to these SMS notifications promptly so

that your child’s attendance record can be updated. If the school does not have

your most recent mobile number, could you please contact the school on 9625

7020 or 9625 7525.

ATTENDANCE

31

32

33

CONCERNED ABOUT CYBERBULLYING

& YOUR CHILDS ONLINE ACTIVITY?

The information below has been provided by the Department of Education for parents

HELP FOR PARENTS TO KEEP THEIR CHILDREN SAFE ONLINE FROM THE OF-

FICE OF THE CHILDREN’S eSAFETY COMMISSIONER

The Commonwealth Government’s Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner has

developed a resource for parents – iPARENT – which is designed to help parents learn

how to be safe and secure with the connected devices in their children’s lives.

iPARENT – found at https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent - provides

facts and stats about Australian children online, managing technology in the home and

strategies used by parents to keep children safe online.

A Parent’s guide to online safety can be downloaded from the site and a range of useful

information is available. For example parents can access information about cyberbully-

ing including:

• how to talk to your child;

• a parent’s guide to responding to cyberbullying;

• what to do if your child is being cyberbullied or cyberbullying others; and

• sources of professional support and help.

Information is also available for parents about unwanted contact, inappropriate, offen-

sive or illegal content and sexting.

You may like to check out the Office of the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner’s eSafety

Christmas Gift Guide, if you are contemplating buying technology for your chil-

dren this year.

The Department of Education also has a cyber safety resource for parents on its web-

site – Raising Good Digital Citizens which is accessible at:

http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/en/technology/using-technology/raising-good-digital-

citizens.

Check them out when you get the chance.

COMMUNITY NEWS

35

UNIFORM SHOP

36

I

TERM 1, 2017

PLUMPTON HIGH SCHOOL

27 January 2017

Staff Development Day

30 January

Year 7,11 &12 Start

31 January

Year 8,9,10

February 8

Swimming Carnival

February 23

School photos

February 28

School photos catch-up

March 2

Zone Swimming Carnival

March 21

Vaccinations