Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Cumberland High School Excellence in Education

183 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford NSW 2118 Phone: 02 9871 7718 Fax: 02 9872 5381 www.cumberland-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Email: Cumberland-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au Events for Term 3, 2018

22 Aug Book Week Party

24 Aug HSC Trial Examinations Conclude

27 Aug Year 11 Preliminary Yearly Exam Week

28 Aug AIME School Visit

28 Aug Year 11 B Smart Event

03 Sep Year 12 HSC Information Night 7pm

04 Sep P&C Meeting – All Welcome 7pm

05 Sep Combined High Schools Athletics Carnival – 2 Days

07 Sep Legal Studies – Law Day Out

11 Sep MAD Concert – 2 Nights

17 Sep Year 12 Hospitality Work Placement Week 2

18 Sep Prefect Induction Assembly

25 Sep Sports Presentation Assembly

26 Sep Year 12 Formal

27 Sep Community Mentoring Breakfast

27 Sep Prefects Car Wash

28 Sep Year 12 Graduation Assembly

28 Sep Last Day of Term 3

Ginko Writing Project - 2018

Congratulations to Cooper Hall one of Cumberland High School’s

6 finalists in the 2018 Ginko Writing Project which took place on

Monday 6th August for Education Week.

Our Writer in Residence, Dr Bernard Cohen has been a mentor

and inspiration to the students throughout the process. Refer to

page three of this newsletter for more details and photos.

Congratulations to all students and teachers involved!

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Following this there were

workshops and presentations to

support the subject selection

process. Together with the

information provided through

our Careers Conference Day and

the Work Experience Program

last week, students have been

able to experience real work life

in a career that they are

considering pursuing. We had

outstanding feedback from the

employers with many students

offered employment as a direct

result. All these experiences

were then discussed with a

member of the Executive, the

Year 10 student and a parent at

the Year 10 Report/Subject

Selection conference. Again, what

a fantastic response from our

students and parents!

Congratulations Ms Sisala for

coordinating this rich program

for our Year 10 cohort.

MYSCIENCE@MQ

This term has also marked the

beginning of our Macquarie

University Science Leadership

Partnership. Our Year 10 Red

Class has been invited to lead a

Science mentoring program with

our friends at Carlingford West

Primary School. Mr Walford and

Mr Tang are leading this

wonderful enrichment

opportunity for our highly gifted

and passionate Year 10

scientists. Our students will be

trained by Macquarie University

academics and then will be

mentoring Year 5 students in

scientific practices and

investigations. What a wonderful

opportunity for our student

leaders!

Principal’s Voice -

Thank You!

What an extraordinary beginning

for what is indeed emerging as a

very productive and high-impact

term!

Before plunging into the exciting

news and initiatives for Term 3, I

would like to express our

heartfelt thanks to all the

students, teachers and most

importantly, families that billeted

students from Wauchope at the

end of last term. It was a highly

competitive tournament and we

played with a great deal of

passion and heart! As our parent

partners, your generosity and

support of our school is just

magnificent and for your ongoing

commitment to Cumberland High

School – WE THANK YOU!

Cumberland Community

Connection Staff Development

Day

Week 1 showcased our

outstanding partnership with our

primary school partners –

Carlingford West, Carlingford,

Dundas, Burnside, Oatlands,

Ermington West, Yates Avenue,

Rydalmere and Rydalmere East

Primary Schools.

The Cumberland Community

Connection combined Staff

Development Day enabled all

staff to come together and

engage in professional learning

so that our collective efficacy and

united focus has the greatest

impact for our children. What a

remarkable day!

Report Conferencing and

Information Evenings

Our Year 8 and Year 10

Information Evenings were a

tremendous success with a

positive response from our

parents and students. We value

our parent participation as we

truly believe that working

together we can ensure that we

are achieving the best outcomes

across our school community.

Again, with our strong

commitment to lifting academic

attainment, we continued with

the Year 8, Year 9 and Year 10

report conferencing! Students

were given their reports and

asked to engage in a reflection

process. A member of the

Executive Team then interviewed

each student to have discussions

around setting personal goals

and improving results for the

next reporting period.

Year 10 Careers Conference,

Work Experience Program,

Subject Selection and

Executive Conferencing

Our Year 10 students have had

wonderful opportunities

presented to them through our

very rich Year 10 Career

Development Program. In

devising the Cumberland Journey

program, we have created

authentic leadership

development pathways for each

cohort as they progress from

Year 7 to Year 12. Term 3 is a

particularly dynamic period for

Year 10 students as they

participate in several exciting

programs. Parents and students

provided excellent feedback at

the Year 10 Information Evening.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Ginko Writing Project

Cumberland High School

celebrated Education Week with

our annual Ginko Writing Project

celebration together with our

Writer in Residence, Dr Bernard

Cohen and our learning partners

James Ruse Agricultural High

and Carlingford West Primary

School.

The project involved Year 5 and

Year 6 students from Carlingford

West Primary, Year 7 students

from Cumberland High and Year

8 students from James Ruse

Agricultural High exploring the

farm at James Ruse and then

returning to school to engage in a

creative writing process

culminating in the production of

fine narratives and poems. The

celebration event enabled us to

showcase the creative work of

our students and was a

tremendous success!

Images of the Ginko Writing

Project Finalists with author Dr

Bernard Cohen and our

Director Mr Dean White.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

The Sydney Metro Challenge

Our two Year 10 teams were

finalists at the Sydney Metro

Challenge and were given the

opportunity to pitch their ideas

and present their prototypes to

expert panellists at the ICC at

darling Harbour last week. They

were outstanding in their

presentations and had the panel

of judges most impressed with

their innovative thinking!

Congratulations Sydney Metro

Finalists Team DDDAN - Danial

Amin Rahmanlou, Dev Chopra,

Dylan Lay, Alex Warnecke and

Team ARI - Adwithya Puri,

Ronald Leung, Isaac Wu! We are

all so proud!

Clockwise from top: The Metro

Challenge boys, with Ms

Czislowski and their works, the

fantastic parent support team

and at the ICC on presentation

day.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Honour Roll Celebration

Breakfast for Year 8 and Year

9 Students

We celebrated the outstanding

academic achievements of our

Year 8 and Year 9 Honour Roll

students earlier this term. It was

delightful to have our dynamic

Year 8 and Year 9 Advisors

and Assistant Year Advisors, Ms

Sisala, Ms Cassell, Ms Abbott and

Ms Back acknowledge the

exceptional academic results in

the Semester 1 reporting period.

Congratulations! It was also

wonderful to have our Director,

Mr Dean White address the

students and parents and offer

his congratulations to our

talented students.

Honour Roll

Year 8 Semester 1, 2018

(In Alphabetical Order)

Howard Bancan

Serena Carvajal

Cynthia Chen

Sarah Haswell

Pamela Koutoulas

Sion Lee

Zenas Lister

Will Low

Kierre Ramos

Georgia Ryan

Olivia Skeoch

Blayke Yoo

Ingrid Yoo

Kevin Zhang

Alwin Zhao

Top Right: Year 8 Honour Roll

Students

Bottom Right: Year 9 Honour

Roll Students

Year 9 Semester 1, 2018 (In Alphabetical Order)

Aditya Agnihotri Husain Alhashemi

Charlotte Ballard Fay Bekiaris

Harry Choi Rachael Edmonds

Rachel Harkin Jun Jo

Nihar Kadkol William Lukman

Pat Ryan Corelle Spagnolo

Sai Sriman Tadepalli Joanna Wang

Mason Zhang

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Enrichment – Tournament of

the Minds, Robotics and AIME

Our Year 8 leaders had the

opportunity to participate in the

Tournament of The Minds

Competition for the first time

this year. The students loved this

experience and are very keen to

coordinate teams for next year’s

challenge. A massive thank you

to Ms Bovill for coordinating this

enrichment opportunity for our

Year 8 students!

Our robotics team has been

launched with fantastic

opportunities to further develop

the team’s passion and expertise

in robotics. Ms Alexander is

leading this exciting opportunity

in the library.

The Australian Indigenous

Mentoring Experience (AIME)

program has been launched for

Term 3 with students engaging in

the NRL mentoring program, PLP

student/parent meetings and

cultural enrichment excursions!

On Monday the 30th of July our

wonderful Year 7 student leaders

did a fabulous job as mentors at

the Cumberland Community

Connection Primary School

Leadership Day held at Burnside

Public School.

Our students mentored the

younger students through

various challenges including an

escape room challenge and the

production of a short film to

showcase their concept for the

future of Education.

Year 11 and Year 12 Trial

Exams

We wish our fabulous Year 12

and Year 11 students the best of

luck as they approach the

examination period. For

additional support with the new

HSC structure for Year 11, we

will be running an “Ace Your

Exams” workshop to assist in the

effective preparation for those

exams next week.

School Upgrade

Included in this newsletter is

information regarding our school

upgrade. We are thrilled with the

news that we will be getting a

school upgrade and will be

seeking your input and

involvement in the future to

ensure that this upgrade enables

our school to flourish and access

building resources and

infrastructure that will benefit

not only our school but also our

primary community partners!

(Please refer to the following page

for more details).

SchoolBytes

Over the next few days you will

receive through email, updated

student school

invoices/statements.

School Bytes is the name of a

new software system that is

extremely user-friendly and

efficient. As always, we

appreciate your support in

paying these school fees as this

enables us to invest all money

collected back into the school –

into resources and opportunities

to benefit each child at

Cumberland High School! We

thank you in advance for your

support!

Ms. M Pikoulas

Principal

Below: Year 7 student Isaac

Hemsworth-Smith creating a

film about the school of the

future at the Cumberland

Community Connection

Leadership Day held at

Burnside Public School.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Deputies Report

Year 8 and Year 10 Subject

Selection for 2019

On Wednesday 25 July, we held

our Subject Information Evening

for Year 8 and 10 students for

their 2019 elective subjects. The

purpose of this night was to

ensure that students and their

families had the correct

information before choosing

subjects for the following year.

All subject selection forms have

now been submitted and our

Curriculum team is now

developing 2019 line structures.

Subjects for 2019 will be

confirmed with students at the

end of Term 3. We would like to

thank all families who attended

this evening.

Year 12 Trial HSC and Year 11

Yearly Examinations

A reminder about the upcoming

examination periods for our

senior students. All seniors have

now been issued with an

examination timetable, which

can also be found on our school

website.

Year 12 will be completing

their Trial HSC examinations

from August 13 – August 24,

2018

Year 11 will be completing

their Yearly examinations

from August 27 – September

3, 2018

Some tips for a successful exam

day:

Eat a good breakfast

Leave home early to ensure

you have more than enough

to get to your exam

Check that you have all the

required equipment you

need for each exam

Check and double-check

your exam timetable

Wear full school uniform

Please remember that your

mobile phone must be in

your bag and SWITCHED

OFF during examinations

There will also be a Year 11

Information Night for the 2019

HSC on Monday 3 September,

2018.

Punctuality and Being on Time

to School

A reminder that school begins

EVERY DAY at 8:40am. If

students are late to school, they

must bring a note from their

parents, contact the Front Office

and explain the lateness. The

most common excuse for

lateness to school is sleeping in.

Here are some tips to help you

get up on time in the mornings:

Early to bed, ready to rise -

When you get enough sleep,

you are more likely to wake

up cheerful, energetic and

ready to learn at school

Be prepared - Take the

pressure out of the morning

routine by getting prepared

the night before. For

example make lunches, pack

bags and get your clothes

and shoes ready before you

go to bed

Get up on your alarm when it

goes off - Do not hit the

‘snooze’ button on your

alarm or phone

In regards to buses:

For students that catch the

M54 - please ensure you

allow plenty of time as this is

NOT an official school bus

For students that catch the

717 - please be advised that

there is an EARLY and a

LATER bus. The first bus will

get you to school on time

Mrs J. Ashton

Acting Deputy Principal

Ms C. Brown

Deputy Principal

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Science at

Cumberland!

Wow! Another action packed

semester for Science at

Cumberland. We’ve had many

engaging Science experiences

within and beyond the classroom

not only to complement studies,

but also to challenge and inspire

our students. Excursions to

Jenolan Caves, Lake Parramatta,

Field of Mars Environmental

Education Centre at Lane Cove

River, UWS Year 12 Chemistry

Day, Macquarie University Year

12 Physics, Year 12 Biology

UNSW Museum of Human

Disease just to name a few.

Our student Science Team,

coordinated by Mrs Stead has

exceled, delivering our

Community of Schools Science

program to Stage 3 local primary

students on Wednesday

afternoons as well as developing

and presenting science

experiences at Open Night.

We are expanding our

Community of Schools links with

a new program entitled

MyScience @MQ starting this

term involving our Year 10 Red

students.

We have had many students not

only take part in, but achieve at

the highest levels in competitions

including ICAS and Big Science.

Several scientists from Years 11

and 12 are for the first time

taking part in the Science

Olympiads.

Cumberland continues to be part

of the innovative Future Project,

Above: Evan, Bella-Star, Gus and Maryam from 9Zn cleaning up the

school boundaries for Clean Up Australia Day.

Below: The team also decided to clean the school bus!

with our latest select group of

Year 11 scientists working with

universities and biotech

companies.

Students also participated in

Schools Clean Up Australia Day

and many other Science

experiences as highlighted in the

stories below.

Enjoy!

Schools’ Clean Up Australia Day

Cumberland students again

volunteered to join Mr Walford

and Mrs Kalpage in this long-

running, prestigious community

event. Under clear skies, we

roamed the school collecting

litter. We collected approximately

28kg of rubbish. Our focus was on

the school’s boundaries along

Pennant Hills Road and adjoining

properties. The main offender

was

was single use plastic items

including straws and sauce

containers. Remember, most

plastics are not biodegradable

and will persist for many years to

choke and poison ecosystems,

even the one we have here at

Cumberland. We are looking at

this issue in Science. Stay tuned.

Thanks again to all the volunteers

and we hope to get more

participants next year.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Science Cont.

Cosmos Lessons

Cosmos Lessons (developed by

Stile) is an online interactive

learning platform utilised by

Cumberland teachers in or

Science classes.

I'm thrilled to announce Stile's

upcoming release of 'Squiz': a fun

new mobile app to help students

quickly master basic scientific

concepts and terminology.

Squiz is designed to be the

ultimate companion to Stile for

your students. The content

mirrors Stile's award-winning

science lessons, making it perfect

for homework. The best part?

Squiz will be included in your

Cumberland’s 2019 Stile

subscription at no extra cost.

The Conolcophillips Science

Experience

This is a fun 3 or 4 days of

science activities for 2018 Year 9

and 10 students. The program

takes place in over thirty-five

universities and tertiary

institutions, within many

different laboratories and lecture

theatres. Participants perform

experiments in the laboratories,

meet and hear senior lecturers in

the lecture theatres, attend site

visits and walk around and

experience what it is like to be on

the campus of a university or

tertiary institution. More than

65,000 students have taken this

rare opportunity, up to date.

Interested students should apply

before the 31st October for

Macquarie University 15-17

January 2019.

Check out the poster on the

Science Faculty noticeboard and

the weblink following.

https://www.scienceexperience.

com.au/

The Ultimate Challenge for

Science Students

The Australian Science

Olympiads are a national

extension program for top

performing secondary science

students that culminate the

International Science

Olympiads.

The program is a rewarding

opportunity for high achieving

Year 10 and 11 students to

extend themselves way beyond

school science through

challenging exams, stimulating

residential programs and

international competitions.

There are three stages to the

Australian Science Olympiads

as outlined below.

We wish the very best to our

candidates taking part in the

stage 1 Physics, Chemistry and

Biology exams this term. Stay

tuned!

Stage 1: Australian Science

Olympiad Exams

The Australian Science

Olympiad Exams are designed

to select the top students to

attend the Australian Science

Olympiads Summer School and

are the first step in being

selected to represent Australia

at the International Science

Olympiads.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Mr M. Walford

Year 11 Biology Teacher

The Australian Science

Olympiads Cont.

Stage 2: Australian Science

Olympiad Summer School

Based on their performance in

the Australian Science

Olympiad Exams, around 100

students are invited to

attend the Australian Science

Olympiad Summer School.

Stage 3: International Science

Olympiads

Based on their performance at

the Australian Science

Olympiad Summer School, 17

students are invited to

represent Australia at one of

the International Science

Olympiads in Biology,

Chemistry, Earth Science and

Physics. For the 1st time, we have

several talented young Scientists

from Cumberland tackling this

exciting challenge.

https://www.asi.edu.au/progr

ams/australian-science-

olympiads/

Year 12 WSU Chemistry Day

Our Year 12 Chemistry students

attended the WSU Chemistry Day

at Western Sydney University on

21 June 2018. The following is

the reflection from the students.

Year 12 Chemistry students

attended the WSU Chemistry Day

on the 21st of June 2018 at the

South Parramatta campus of

Western Sydney University. We

conducted two mandatory

experiments, analyzing the

sulfate content of a fertilizer and

and participating in the Atomic

Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS)

Challenge, that contributes to our

understanding of the Chemistry

syllabus content. The facilities

and establishments of the

University were built into a

modern way, and the staffs were

very enthusiastic and helpful

during our stay at the University.

The first experiment was to

determine the percentage of

sulfate content in a provided

fertilizer. During our experiment,

advanced equipment was

available to us such as vacuum

pump, ultra-purified distilled

water and Buchner funnels. We

enjoyed doing this experiment,

not only were the students in the

University assisting every

problem we encountered, the

experiments also demonstrated

us how to apply Chemistry

theory to real world problems.

In the AAS Challenge, we needed

to dilute the Powerade drink first

and found its absorbance in the

Atomic Absorption

Spectrophotometer. The sodium

concentration in the drink was

then calculated. All students

submitted their results and

waited to see which group

received the best result.

Overall, all students enjoyed this

excursion to Western Sydney

University, reinforcing and

enhancing our knowledge in the

Chemistry syllabus content.

John Bekiaris and Anson Zhang

Year 12 Chemistry

Congratulations to Andy Song

and Eden Wong who are one of

several groups of students

achieving the best results in AAS

Challenge in the Chemistry day. A

certificate was presented to each

one of them respectively.

Mr R. Tang

Year 12 Chemistry Teacher

Science @ CHS Snapshots

11 Biology: Transport Systems in

Plants. In this experiment, Year

11 Biology students placed celery

stems in a dye solution, then cut

sections to be mounted on

microscope slides. The elements

dyed red represent xylem tissue

responsible for transporting

water. (Photos below by Ruijie

Chen, Year 11 Biology)

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

2018 Science Competition

Results

60 students from Cumberland

High School sat for the Big

Science Competition on the10th

of May and 68 students sat for

ICAS Science Competition on the

29th of May this year.

The results are as follows:

Over 50,000 students in

Australia took part and enjoyed

the experience of testing their

science skills in a competitive

situation outside of the normal

school assessment framework. It

consisted of 30 multiple choice

questions based on skills and

knowledge.

We are very proud of the efforts

of our students this year. One

student was awarded Certificates

of High Distinction (top 5% in

the competition), 11 students

were awarded Certificates of

Distinction (top 15% in the

competition) and 13 students

were awarded Certificates of

Credit (top 40% in the

competition). More than 40% of

our students who entered the

Competition achieved these

awards.

Australian Science Innovations also congratulate our high-achieving

students for their excellent results by offering ten Free Registrations for

our Year 10 students in the Australian Science Olympiad Examinations this

year.

Congratulations go to the students listed below:

Year High

Distinctions

Distinctions Credits

Year 7 Connor Spurdle Isaac Hemsworth-Smith

Arunachan Jayakanth

Rebecca Edmonds

Karthik Shenoy

Junmo Shin

Year 8 William Low

Kevin Zhang

Rocco Pow

Samuel Meguerditchian

Year 9 Husain Alhashemi

Aditya Agnihotri

Fotini Bekiaris

Rachael Edmonds

Alexander Mozaffar

Mason Zhang

Charlotte Ballard

Nihar Kadkol

Saisriman Tadepalli

Year 10 Alexander

Warnecke

Dev Chopra

Dylan Lay

Rowan Chate

Ronald Leung

Brendon Yue

We are also very proud of the efforts of our students in the ICAS Science

Competition – the world's largest Science Competition! Seven students

were awarded Certificates of Distinction (top 10% in the competition), 27

students were awarded Certificates of Credit (top 30% in the competition)

and 8 students were awarded Certificates of Merit (top 40% in the

competition. More than 60% of our students who entered the Competition

achieved these awards - an excellent performance! The average scores of

our Years 7 to 10 students are all above that of the state.

Congratulations to those students listed over the page.

Upcoming Events:

Year 8 VALID Test 1st November Term 4

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Congratulations to the following ICAS award winners:

Year Distinctions Credits Merit

Year 7 Junmo Shin Sansita Verma, Arunachan Jayakanth

Rebecca Edmonds, Devansh Gupta, Vidushi Gupta

Harshil Kumar Jain, Karthik Shenoy

Connor Spurdle, Dieter Zadow

Hwan Bae

Year 8 Cynthia Chen, Zenas Lister, Ingrid Yoo

Kevin Zhang

Himanshu Kopparthi

Samuel Meguerditchian

Year 9 Aditya Agnihotri

Husain Alhashemi

Fotini Bekiaris

Nihar Kadkol

Mason Zhang

Alexander Mozaffar, Charlotte Ballard

Kathleen Birrell, Rachael Edmonds

Rachel Harkin, Jeffrey Hui, Jaineel Pathak

Toby Richardson, Jessica Xue

Year 10 Manav Bansal Pauline Bal, Dev Chopra, Dylan Lay, Rajiv Makada Debbie Adeniyi-Kazeem

Jacinta Chen

Ronald Leung

Brendon Yue

Year 11 Feng Ye Isabelle Alley

Mr R. Tang

Science Competitions Coordinator

Field of Mars – Year 11 Biology

On the 15th June, Year 11 Biology

students via our school minibus,

visited the Field of Mars

Environmental Education Centre

with Mr Walford to complete

mandatory field tasks associated

with our Depth Study for the

modules Biodiversity and

Ecosystem Dynamics. Activities

were undertaken to determine

abiotic factors such as soil pH,

temperature and light intensity.

Also, the abundance and

distribution of plants and

animals were studied in two

different locations within coastal

gully sandstone dry sclerophyll

woodland on Sugarloaf Point.

Students completed the day

observing adaptations of plants

and animals and their

interactions in this environment.

A fantastic day was had by all!

Images: Field of Mars Excursion

on the banks of Lane Cove River

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

12 Biology UNSW Museum

Human Disease

Recently, our two Year 12

Biology classes visited the

Museum of Human Disease at the

University of New South Wales in

Kensington as part of their latest

assessment task linked to the

module, The Search for Better

Health.

This was a valuable first hand

investigation exposing the

students to the physical impacts

and effects of the diseases

studied in class. Both Ms Stead's

and Miss Coster's class found the

experience a great learning

experience.

Right: Modelling DNA Double

Helix

Below: Lachlan and Kaitlin

with a bony friend.

MyScience @MQ

My Science is a new and exciting

primary school science and

technology program, which

supports primary teachers and

their students to think and work

scientifically. The program is

sponsored by the Department of

Educational Studies at Macquarie

University.

Primary students work in teams,

with mentor support, to answer

a scientific question of their

choosing, hence the name

'My'Science. Science expertise is

sourced through local Mentors

and MySTics (MyScience

Trainees in the Classroom

students) who provide in-class,

face-to-face support to small

groups of students.

Our Year 10 Red Science

students have been selected as

MySTics for the program,

working together with Year 3

and Year 5 students in

Carlingford West Public School

(CWPS).

Our students will visit CWPS and

work with the primary students

during their science sessions

from 10.25am to 11.35am on

Thursdays of Weeks 4, 6 and 8.

The program will culminate with

a Science fair in Term 4 on the 5th

December.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Earth and Environmental

Science – Jenolan Caves Field

Trip

Late last term, our Year 12 Earth

and Environmental scientists

undertook a field trip to the

Jenolan Caves. Surprisingly, it

was the first visit there for most

of the students. We left

Cumberland just after 7am in our

fantastic school bus and travelled

over the mountains to Jenolan. A

tour of the Chifley Cave

highlighted many speleological

wonders including stalactites

and shawls. The excursion

fulfilled mandatory field work

for the course and

complemented studies of all HSC

modules. Despite the cold

weather, our close encounters

with local red-necked wallabies,

rainbow lorikeets and awesome

limestone karst formations made

it a great day for all.

Mr M. Walford

Earth and Environmental

Science Teacher

Images from the Year 12 Earth

and Environmental Science

Excursion to Jenolan Caves.

Clockwise from Right: Emily

and Ashley-Maree, The 12EES

Crew, Carlotta Arch, Tamara

and a friend, Grand Arch.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Science Subject Selection 2018

Currently, our Year 10 students

are in the process of selecting

their subjects for Years 11 and

12. At Cumberland, we offer all

Science courses to our students

(see list below). We are also

excited to offer for the first time,

next term, the brand new Science

Extension course to outstanding

Science students.

• Students can study 6 units of

Science in Year 11

• 2020 HSC Exam students

can study up to 7 units of

Science including the new 1

unit Science Extension

course

• Students may study one of,

or any combination of, the

following Stage 6 Science

courses:

Biology Chemistry Earth and

Environmental Science

Investigating Science

Physics Science Extension

(Year 12 only) • All courses are 2 unit, ATAR

based and contain

Australian curriculum

content

• All courses contain in-depth

studies in Year 11 and in

Year 12 to provide

opportunities to investigate

areas of interest in more

depth. A minimum of 15

hours of in-class time

allocated in both Year 11

and Year 12 (30 hrs each

year for Investigating

Science)

•

• Syllabuses located online,

interactive publication –

http://syllabus.nesa.nsw.ed

u.au/science/

National Science Week 2018

The school theme for National

Science Week in 2018 is Game

Changers and Change Makers.

In developing the theme and the

teaching resource book

we took inspiration from three

significant celebrations in 2018:

200th anniversary of the

publication of Mary Shelley’s

Frankenstein (genetic

engineering,

biotechnologies, prosthetics,

bionics, genetic

modification, brain

enhancement and ethics)

40th anniversary of the

birth of the first IVF baby

(genetic engineering,

biotechnology,

nanotechnology)

International Year of the

Reef (coral reefs and the

scientists who study them)

Science Week at Cumberland will

take place after Stage 6 exams

and will include many old

favourites and a few new

experiences.

More to come soon!

Science on the Box

Sciencey is a new series on the

ABC that delivers quick,

illuminating answers to some of

the strangest questions in the

universe.

Can you control your dreams?

Why do we sound Australia? Can

you 3D print another you? Why

are things cute? Why do

headphones get tangled?

In the process of answering the

seemingly unanswerable, the

series showcases the latest in

Australian science and offers a

platform for the best young

minds and thinkers in the nation.

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

The Future Project

The Future Project provides

opportunities for Year 11

students to collaborate with

scientists, engineers and

students from other schools to

solve real-world problems and

to communicate innovations to

the broader public.

This year, we again have three

outstanding young scientists

participating in the program;

Feng Ye, Isabelle Alley and

Edison Ruan.

Feng and Edison are working

with Aegros Innovations on a

project entitled Turning Plasma

into Medicine. Their team is

working on improving the

efficiency of the ElectroCyl

process extratrcting

therapeutics from human blood

plasma.

Isabelle’s team is working with

Sangui Bio to devlop an at-home

blood sampling technique. Their

project is entitle The Bleeding

Edge.

http://www.thefutureproject.co

m/

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Did You

Know?

The longest word in

English is

Pneumonoultramicroscop

icsilicovolcanoconiosis.

This term literally

translates to “a lung

disease caused by

inhaling very fine volcanic

ash and sand dust”.

Science Joke of the Month

Science Quote of the Month

Cool Science Link

Developed by Macquarie

University, HSC Study Lab covers

the whole NESA NSW HSC

syllabus including all dot points

and every experiment for

Physics, Chemistry and Biology

It’s all there! 6 courses. 345

lessons. 332 videos. 464 quizzes

and 139 interactive activities.

See the link for more info and

pricing.

https://hscstudylab.com.au/

Science App of the Month

Very cool free app from

Geoscience Australia.

Great for senior Earth and

Environmental Science students

or anyone with a passion for

geology.

How old is the Earth? Find out

with Geoscience Australia's

"Australia through time" app!

This app provides information

about the various Geological

Timescale periods, including life

and minerals for each.

Enjoy!

Science

Teasers The 1st student to

submit/present Mr. Walford

with correct answers for all

questions will receive a prize.

Answers next edition.

1. Which is larger: Australia or

Antarctica?

2. What plastic are soft drink

bottles typically made of? Is

it:

a) Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

b) Polystyrene c) Polyvinyl Chloride

(PVC) d) Polyethylene

3. How many legs does a

butterfly have? Is it

a) Four b) Six c) Eight d) Ten

4. Which of the following

would a herpetologist

study?

a) A virus b) An asteroid c) A steel bar d) A frog

5. Order these objects from

closest to farthest away

from Earth:

a) The International Space Station (ISS)

b) The National Broadband Network’s Sky Muster satellites or

c) The Moon

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Science at Home!

Shrinking Plastic

Have you ever wanted to draw really small pictures? Here’s a trick – you

can just draw normal sized ones, and then use some special plastic to

shrink them!

Safety: This activity uses an oven. Use oven mitts and avoid

touching hot surfaces. You must have adult supervision.

You will need:

Plastic containers with recycling number 6 (not foam)

Scissors

Sandpaper or steel wool

Coloured pencils

Baking tray

Baking paper

Cooling rack

Oven mitts

What to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 120° C

2. Cut a piece of baking paper to line your baking tray

3. Carefully cut your plastic into flat pieces

4. Rub your plastic gently with sandpaper or steel wool to make it easier

to write on

5. Draw some pictures on the plastic and cut them out

6. Put the plastic pieces on the paper on the tray

7. Using your oven mitts, put the tray in the oven

8. Watch the plastic in the oven as it moves and shrinks. This should take

about 30 seconds

9. When it has stopped moving, open the oven door and wait for a few

seconds for any fumes to blow away

10. Using oven mitts, take the tray out of oven and put it on a rack to cool

11. In about 10 minutes, the tray and plastic pieces should be cool enough

to touch!

What’s happening?

Polystyrene is a very useful and

common plastic. One reason it’s

so popular is because it’s easy to

mould into different shapes.

Polystyrene melts into a liquid

at about 240° C, but it’s easier to

work with at about 90° C. This is

called the glass transition

temperature, and it’s where the

plastic becomes softer and more

rubbery. Below this temperature

the plastic is hard and relatively

brittle, so it’s in a glassy (or

glass-like) state.

To make a plastic cup,

polystyrene starts as a flat sheet.

It’s heated until it’s soft and then

stretched into a cup shape.

When it’s cooled, it becomes

rigid again and won’t change

shape until heated back up. In

this activity, the polystyrene is

heated back to its glass

transition temperature. A plastic

cup has a lot of stress in it from

the stretching process, so when

it’s heated it will remove that

stress by shrinking back down

to the sheet it was originally

made from.

You might notice that your

pictures don’t shrink evenly in

every direction when heated.

This is due to the unevenness in

manufacturing. When cups are

made, the plastic sheets are

stretched down a long way, but

they are not really stretched

wider at all. Maybe you can find

interesting ways to use this

uneven shrinking in your

pictures! Source: CSIRO Helix

Mr M. Walford

Head Teacher Science

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Library News

Reading Success

Our school continues to improve

in literacy and reading. Last

terms borrowing statistics

showed that our students are

reading 50% more than last year

and that student borrowing has

more than doubled in the past

two years. This year we have had

many more students completing

the NSW Premier’s Reading

Challenge. Please continue to

encourage your students to keep

reading for pleasure.

Mrs Alexander is very keen to

assist students in finding a book

that matches their interests and

reading level. Every few week’s

new books are added to our

amazing Fiction collection in

order to inspire student reading.

Free e-Books are available 24/7

by simply installing the

“ePlatform” app on a mobile

device. A trial of Audio books will

be available via this app for the

rest of the year. Listening to

these audio books while reading

the written book is a brilliant

way for students to improve

their English skills.

Robotics Workshop

Some of our talented Year 9 and

10 students had the opportunity

to test out various robotics

machines earlier this term. The

lunchtime hands-on workshop

hosted by OfficeMax was greatly

enjoyed by our students who

worked together to test out the

robots capabilities. Feedback

from these students will assist

the library in deciding which robotics devices to purchase for our library

robotics group.

Robotics – Coding with Edison

This term the library is planning to offer students a chance to experiment

with coding/robotics by connecting the Edison robots with Lego, the

possibilities are almost limitless. The library is seeking donations of pre-

loved Lego to help our students with their robotics projects.

Ms K. Alexander

Teacher Librarian

Below: Year 9 and 10 students in the

recent Robotics Workshop

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Exploring

Economics!

Tim Riley, former teacher and

text book writer presented to

Cumberland’s Year 12

Economics class on the last day

of July on the labour market.

Year 12 student Jason Diep said,

“We learnt a lot and Tim

managed to condense a lot into 2

hours. His PowerPoint and notes

were great and made it easier to

get the message across”.

School Captain, Aleksandra

Najdovska presented Tim with a

Cumberland High School

umbrella and said, “Tim is a very

knowledgeable and passionate

economist”.

Wishing the class well in their

upcoming trials.

Mr K. Thomas

Year 12 Economics Teacher

Below: Tim Riley with Year 12

Economics students

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Michele Glossop

Accountant and financial advisor Parramatta Accountants & Tax Agents

Pty Ltd

Sandra Mascaro

General Manager Centrum Printing

Shane Skeen

Member Services Manager Club Plus Superannuation

Tom Emeleus

General Manager/Electrician Neca Training and Apprenticeships

Trent Deaves

Electrician/Mentor Neca Training and Apprenticeships

Mock Interviews

Debra McDonald - Nurse

Kerry Duck - Australian Training Company (ATC)

Kirah Pillay - Student Macquarie University

Paula Conca-Viviani - Sarina Russo Apprenticeships

Peter Troup - Aussip

Work Health and Safety Workshop

Hamish - Youthsafe.org

Ms. A Sisala

Careers Adviser

See images from the

day over the page.

http://www.facebook

.com/CareersCorner

Year 10 Careers Conference

Our annual Year 10 Careers

Conference was held on

Thursday 3rd August with great

success!

Year 10 students came to school

dressed in their finest business

attire for the day, hearing a

motivational talk, attending

mock interviews, speed dating a

career, work health and safety

and goal setting workshops.

We has some exciting guests

again this year, including:

Motivational Talk

Paul Wade

Former Captain of Socceroos

Speed Dating a Career

Adriana Carvalho

Telecommunications Technical

Support Engineer Nokia

Annie Rogers

Executive Director Sydney

Pacifica

Ari Yeganeh

Data Scientist and Entrepreneur

Jochen de Jager

Director de JAGER Executive

Search

Maha Dunne

Director Dunn Pty Ltd

Matthew Caruana

Forex Trader and Public Speaker

on Mental Health in Young People

Robert Marangon

Ship Captain Sydney Ferries

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Careers Conference

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Sport Report

Wauchope Recap

Wow is the first word that comes

to mind in regards to Wauchope.

The event, in its 43rd year was a

spectacular sporting

extravaganza which showcased

the true spirit of Cumberland;

passion, perseverance and

teamwork.

Our students participated to the

best of their ability in all of the

sporting events, which included

touch football, soccer, tennis,

netball, volleyball, basketball,

athletics and for the first time

ever, futsal. Throughout the

three days, the events are held at

various locations in the

community, and at all times,

Cumberland students

represented their school with

pride.

Congratulations is in order for all

students, especially the Most

Valued Players of the event,

Llubijica Momcilovic and Peter

Lee.

Unfortunately, Cumberland lost

the overall event, though are still

as passionate as ever to take

back the title from Wauchope in

2019.

A special mention is also needed

for all of the billet families from

Cumberland High School, who

were kind enough to open their

family homes to host students

from Wauchope during the

event. The Wauchope students

and organising staff of

Cumberland are extremely

grateful.

Lastly, thank you to all of the

wonderful students and staff

involved in the Wauchope event,

as either caterers, media crew,

coaches and/or organisers. Your

commitment helps make the

event such a memorable time in

the Cumberland calendar.

Knockout Sports

Lately, Cumberland High School

students have been representing

the school in knockout sporting

competitions, including boys and

girls basketball and girls netball,

competing against other local

schools in the Western Sydney

region. All students have

represented Cumberland with

tremendous efforts, with some

teams progressing through to the

next round of the competition.

Friday Lunchtime Sporting

Competition

A new initiative starting this

term, is the Friday lunchtime

sporting competition. Students

will be able to participate in a

round robin style event, with the

sport for this term being

volleyball. Hopefully, there will

also be a staff team involved as

well. Good luck to all involved!

Ms B. Hoppe

Relieving Head Teacher PDHPE

Below: Cumberland High School

Knockout Netball team defeated

Muirfield High School 22 to 17.

Congratulations

Girls!

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Wauchope 2018

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Wauchope 2018

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018

Issue 7 – 10 August, 2018