Although it was a very hot day this didn’t dampen our students’ enthusiasm in learning and participating in the various operations led by the Station Manager and Stock Hands. We were given the opportunity to get up close and personal with some cattle - which provided some nervous moments for some. Our students were taught how to prepare a horse for riding and some of them displayed impressive horseman skills by trotting around the yard. One of the highlights of

the day was watching the station workers drafting a paddock full of cattle.

Our students were in awe of the process and loved some of the big hits when the cattle were divided between yards. Overall the Industry Day proved a huge success! The 9 VET class participated wholeheartedly in the day’s activities and were a credit to their school.

Dan Lewinski - Participation and Pathways Coordinator

On Friday 19th October the Year 9 VET students took part in an Industry Engagement and Information Day at the Cattleman’s Association. The day provided a great opportunity for them to put into practice the skil ls they had gained while completing their Certificate I in Rural Operations under expert trainer Doug Jenkins.

Cattleman’s Association visit

Fourth Edition - Semester 2 2012 Centralian Middle School Scoop

Welcome to

our 4th edit ion

of Scoop!

A sneak peek at

what’s going on at

Centralian Middle

School...

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon throws its shadow over the Sun. In Alice Springs 67% of the Sun was covered.

This hasn’t happened in the NT since 1760 and the next one will not occur until 2400, so it was very special. - Kurt Kenny

The partial eclipse started at 5.15am achieving around 70% coverage by 6.20am.

A solar eclipse is a celestial phenomenon that does not occur very often, but they are fascinating to watch when they do. On those rare occasions when you are in the right place at the right time for a full solar eclipse, it is amazing. - Garnette Pareroultja

An eclipse of the Sun (or solar eclipse) can only occur at new moon when the Moon passes between Earth and Sun. Since the new moon occurs every 29 1/2 days, you might think that we should have a solar eclipse about once a month. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen because the Moon’s orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. At least twice a year, the geometry lines up just right so that some part of the Moon’s shadow falls on Earth’s surface and an eclipse of the Sun is seen from that region. - Shane Gregurke

It is safe to observe the total phase of a solar eclipse directly with the unaided eye, binoculars or a telescope, when the Sun’s photosphere is completely covered by the Moon; indeed, it is too dim to be seen through filters. The Sun’s faint corona will be visible, and the chromospheres, solar prominences, and possibly even a solar flare may be seen. However, viewing the Sun after totality can be dangerous. - Rachelle Craig-Lake

Students from CMS trekked up to the summit of ANZAC Hill on November 14th to view an exciting celestial event; the solar eclipse. Here’s what some Year 7 students had to say about this excursion:

Solar eclipse

Fourth Edition - Semester 2 2012 Centralian Middle School Scoop

From the principalGreetings and welcome to another edition of Scoop, the premier community newsletter from Centralian Middle School. The past 18 months has been a period of intense activity at CMS as we have been implementing much of our current strategic and operational plans, and I believe the changes are really quite significant. But there is still much to do in the years ahead.

Semester 2 of 2012 saw some monumental firsts for many of our students and staff. A group of almost 50 students worked under the guidance of director Jordan VanderSchuit to produce a Hal Leonard production of Disney’s Aladdin Jr. They wowed their audiences and the whole of Araluen Theatre was upstanding at the closing of the curtain.

The Intensive Needs Unit travelled to Ross River for their school camp, for many of these students it was the first time they had been on a school camp and they were all ecstatic upon returning to school!

The Reboot group wrapped up their community engagement project with a visit to Harts Range Primary School where they handed out the boots they had worked so hard to collect. Well done fellas!

For the second time in 2012 residents of Alice Springs were able to witness an amazing astronomical event with a partial eclipse of the Sun. A group of Year 7 students had the best views from the summit of ANZAC Hill.

Our Year 9 VET students engaged with the local Cattleman’s Association for the Industry Engagement and Information Day where they watched experienced wranglers at work.

Members of the Richmond Tigers visited CMS as part of the continuing REAL Leadership program.

Year 5 and 6 students from local primary schools visited CMS on many occasions throughout the semester and I look forward to welcoming many of them as our Year 7 cohort in 2013.

So much happens at CMS over the course of a semester, for more regular updates go to www.cms.nt.edu.au/contact-us to subscribe to our regular eNewsletter, join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Sincere Regards,

Andrew Leslie - Principal

Reboot 2012 was born when a group of Year 9 students from CMS visited a remote NT community and witnessed young footy players playing in socks or barefooted. The students decided that they would make a difference through providing footy boots and educational knowledge to young players in remote Territory schools.

After travelling to Melbourne earlier this year to collect pre-loved football boots the lads once again set off on another adventure in October with community spirit at the helm.

The Reboot lads ran a footy clinic at the Harts Range Primary School and played a couple of scratch matches with the young

fellas from Harts Range who are completing a work training and schooling program called Plenty Pathways.

The CMS Reboot group and the Harts Range fellas worked alongside each other well, playing footy, building fences in the community and prepared the ground in the new school facility for concreting. The footy boots were well received and the people of the Harts Range community supported all the young men by coming down to the football oval to watch the match.

Reboot student, Mitchell Couchman said “It was hard work but it was worth it and a great experience.”

Once again, we thank the community and businesses of Alice Springs for your continued support of the young leaders from Centralian Middle School and Reboot 2012!

Cassandra Connelly - Reboot Coordinator

Reboot 2012 - Phase 2

CMS plays host to REAL Tigers!

Sixteen Year 8 students acted as local guides during the afternoon visit; Grimes, Arnot and Conca were given guided tours around CMS before sitting down for a light afternoon tea and an excursion to the top of ANZAC Hill. Matthew Arnot remarked of CMS “This is a great school, I love the bright colours and inspirational quotes. There’s a really positive feel here.”

Shelly (of Year 8) brought her extra-special pet, Barkly, a thorny devil along for the visit. Dylan Grimes was really interested in the little lizard!

The sixteen Year 8 students had earlier this year travelled down to Melbourne for a Richmond Emerging Aboriginal Leadership (REAL) Camp at the Korin Gamadji Institute (KGI), which is a centre for Indigenous youth located in the ME Bank Centre at the Richmond Football Club.

Over afternoon tea the students asked the players questions about their inspirations and aspirations. The players were all happy to answer questions in a friendly and social manner. Of particular interest were the players’ diets which turned out to be much larger than any of us had imagined!

After a bite to eat students, players and staff piled into the CMS bus and journeyed up to the summit of ANZAC Hill for a bird’s eye view of Alice Springs and more photo opportunities.

Suzhanna (of Year 8) said that “It was really good of the fellas to visit us here in Alice Springs because we didn’t meet [those players] when we were in Melbourne in February.”

Rebecca Ralph - Promotions Manager

On Friday August 24th, Centralian Middle School was visited by members of the Richmond Tigers. Dylan Grimes, Matthew Arnot and Reece Conca, along with Community Manager Michael Lacey were in Central Australia as part of the Club’s Outback Tigers program.

Fourth Edition - Semester 2 2012 Centralian Middle School Scoop

Year 5 and 6 students from local primary schools have been visiting CMS to experience what middle school has to offer.In Science Mr Matt Skoss walked Braitling, Sadadeen and Larapinta students though an experiment which saw milk and food dyes do amazing things! This experiment highlighted the difference between hydrophilic and hydrophobic forces (the difference between attraction and reaction of compound ingredients).

Gillen Year 6 students were treated to a ‘hands on’ activity with Mr. Adam Richter where they blew up a latex glove using vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. This chemical reaction demonstrated increase of mass and the Gillen students were very impressed!

Students from Sadadeen and Ross Park Primary Schools created dice in the Design & Technology workshop under the guidance of Ms. Rainnie Carter. The students all displayed very mature attitudes towards working with the machinery and paid attention to the workshop guidelines.

Bradshaw and Gillen students were in for a yummy treat when they baked chocolate chip cookies with Ms. Kylie Brown and Ms. Marnie Phoenix in Food Technology!

Health and Physical Education teachers, Mr. Danny Fraser and Mr. Ben Balmer ran Larapinta and Ross Park students through a fitness test using the recently upgraded fitness room and gymnasium area.

Visual Arts teacher, Mr. Stone Lee guided Ross Park and Larapinta students through Renaissance styles and students created their own interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Meanwhile, up in the CMS library, students from all primary schools were on a mission to create comic strips. Miss Cassie O’Bree and Ms. Viv Penman captivated the visiting students with story time and then introduced them to the computer program Comic Life. The students relaxed on comfy bean bags and sofas whilst gathering information for their own comic strips.

Transition coordinator, Mrs. Rebecca Ralph said of the program: “In 2012 our transition program has run over Terms 3 and 4 which has been really successful in terms of acclimatising Year 5 and Year 6 students to the CMS environment. All visiting students and staff have enjoyed the class activities and many of the students are eagerly anticipating the start of Year 7!”

CMS Principal, Mr. Andrew Leslie wishes all participating Year 5 and 6 students a restful break and “We look forward to welcoming them as Year 7’s in 2013 and 2014.”

Transition Report

The INU (Intensive Needs Unit) class of the Learning Hub went on camp to Ross River Resort over a week in October. The students were fantastic when it came to cooking, cleaning, hiking and playing sports. Each evening everyone enjoyed campfire activities with songs, yarns and even some ghost stories! The hardest part was getting enough sleep each night to continue on the next day.

All students in the INU class have a physical and/or learning disorder which requires additional support. Despite this, many volunteered for extra camp duties such as loading and unloading the bus and utes, and all exhibited good spirits throughout the extended excursion.

Supervising teacher, Ms. Marnie Phoenix said “I am so proud of them – so many new things to experience in life, and they willingly tried several at camp – snake handling with the ranger at Trephina Gorge, cooking kangaroo tails and veggies underground, learning new games, and making great use of quiet time during the hot afternoon! Well done campers!”

Thanks must go to all staff that supported and attended this trip, without this support the camp would not have taken place. This was the first Centralian Middle School INU camp and its overwhelming success has teachers already planning one for 2013.

INU take on Ross River!

2013 EvENTS

SATURDAY, 26 JANUARY • Australia DayMONDAY, 28 JANUARY• Australia DayPublic HolidayTUESDAY, 29 JANUARY • Start Term 1, students resumeFRIDAY, 8 MARCH • CMS Swimming CarnivalFRIDAY 29 MARCH • Good FridayMONDAY 1 APRIL • Easter MondayFRIDAY 5 APRIL • End Term 1MONDAY 15 APRIL • Start Term 2, students resumeTHURSDAY 25 APRIL • ANZAC Day

FRIDAY 3 MAY • CMS Athletics CarnivalSUNDAY 6 MAY • May DayTUESDAY 14 – FRIDAY 17 MAY • NAPLAN testingTHURSDAY 23 MAY – SUNDAY 2 JUNE • Centralian EisteddfodFRIDAY 7 JUNE • Interschool ActivitiesMONDAY 10 JUNE • Queen’s BirthdayFRIDAY 21 JUNE • End Term 2 MONDAY 22 JULY • Start Term 3, students resume

Fourth Edition - Semester 2 2012 Centralian Middle School Scoop

There’s no business like SHOW BUSINESS!

Under the guidance of tutor and well-known local talent,

Jordan vanderSchuit, Centralian Middle School students

took to the stage in a performance of Disney’s Aladdin Jr.

Auditions for the main characters began in Week 1 of

Term 3 and the cast and crew rehearsed throughout the

Term for the performances on Friday September 28th.

Two performances were held, the first at 11:30am

was sold out with the whole of CMS, in addition to

students from Larapinta and Ross Park Primary Schools

and members of the public in attendance. The encore

performance at 7:00pm was very well attended by the

general public and invited guests. The Araluen Theatre

was silent with anticipation as the curtains opened

and the narrators took to the stage to set the scene.

The professional costumes and set transported the

audience members to the mythical city of Agrabah

where the story of Aladdin unfolded.

Songs such as ‘A Whole New World’ and ‘Friend

Like Me’ filled the theatre and many audience

members couldn’t help but sing along as the

dancers brought the musical numbers to life.

Before anyone knew it, Aladdin had freed the

Genie and the whole cast was in song once

again for the show finale.

The energy of the cast and crew was at fever

pitch as the curtains closed. Narrator, Pearl

Moffat later commented “It was so much fun;

I wanted to do it again!”

This musical was a first for CMS and all

students involved in 2013 we will bring another

musical performance to Alice Springs and look

forward to working with another

group of talented actors.

Rebecca Ralph - Promotions Manager

Our Year 9 VET students have been working under the guidance of Mr. Robert Beckett to transform the area from barren ground into a fruitful oasis. Already we have well-established shade trees, planters containing tomatoes, strawberries, onions, potatoes and mint and a chicken coop and are collecting eggs on a daily basis. The VET students were put to work laying irrigation, trimming trees, mowing the grass, mulching garden beds and landscaping the area as part of their Certificate 1 in Horticulture and Rural Operations.

One of the involved students, Kyle Monkerud said “People who don’t have space for their own garden can come [to CMS] and use the Community Garden to plant fruits and veggies; they can take the veggies and eggs home too. It’s like a little farm.”

In 2013 Mr Beckett aims to build a shade house with automated sprinklers to enable bush tucker and vegetables to be grown all year round, as well as opening up the garden area for school classes as an alternate classroom environment.

The garden at Centralian Middle School is part of the Alice Springs Community Garden Network. The idea behind Community Gardens is to grow community resilience and engagement through gardening.

The Centralian Middle School Community garden has come a long way from where it was at the start of 2011.

Community Garden