Page 1

Term 1

Week 2

Tue 20 Feb – Yr 7 Welcome BBQ

Thur 22 Feb – Year 11 Study Camp

Mon 26 Feb – Fri 2 Mar – Year 12 VET Work Placement Week

FROM THE PRINCIPAL Welcome back to the start of another school year and welcome to all our new families who have become part of the Melville community in 2018. It is an exciting privilege for me to start the year as the permanent Principal and I look forward to working in partnership with you all to provide the best educational facility in the Macleay Valley. I believe creating a culture of support, tolerance and acceptance will allow our students to feel happy and safe, enabling fantastic learning opportunities for all students. Our new Year 7 students have all settled in well and are enjoying the excitement of being in High School. I welcome Ms Christine Negus (Librarian) as our Year 7 Advisor. We also have quite a number of new staff members who will be introduced in the faculty reports below. With the start of the new year a few changes have occurred. There is no roll call at the start of the day as previously occurred, the day starts with period 1 where there is an allocated 10 minutes for roll call. We strongly encourage students to arrive on time or they will miss out on some of their important learning time. This initiative will be reviewed in week 8 and at present it has been welcomed positively, by students. Our newsletter, Melville Matters, will be produced monthly and will include a more detailed report from each faculty. We will continue to publish the newsletter electronically on the school website and Facebook page and

also email it out to parents. If you wish to receive a copy of the newsletter in paper form please contact the school via a note from your child or a phone call. At the end of last year we put in our newsletter a request to provide feedback on our draft 2018 -2020 school plan. This will remain open for another 10 days so if you missed out having your say please click on the link below. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=muagBYpBwUecJZOHJhv5ke21kMXgQp5Hs_DbOLZjTCdUQVVNSzBRVDY1M1U3WENBRUFQMzNRUVpIQi4u Alternatively, if you receive a hard copy of the newsletter the survey is on the last page. Please email your responses to Melville-h@schools.nsw.edu.au, post your reply or call in and drop it into the school office. Or scan this QR code with your phone. I would like to encourage you to ensure your child comes to school in uniform or has a note with them explaining why they are out of uniform. If you need assistance with excursions, uniforms or books please contact the office as we want to encourage full participation of students in their learning. I also want to remind you that we are not permitted to issue Paracetamol (Panadol). If you believe your child will need Paracetamol during the day they may bring that with them for their own use. I am excited about the future at Melville High School and I am sure we can work together to make your child’s time here extremely valuable and enjoyable. Victoria Staunton Principal

Page 2

Friday, 2 March 2018 Melville Matters

English in 2018 The year has started out well in English with many students enthusiastically applying themselves to their learning. In the faculty we have a new staff member, Korrin Chennell, who has come all the way from Broken Hill to join the faculty as Head Teacher. She is excited to experience the Melville way. Things to look forward to this year We are looking forward to another great year with some good things to come including the young writer’s club and the ICASS English Competitions. This year also signals a new syllabus for all Stage 6 English classes with all students starting with a unit called Reading to Write (which should get all those imaginations and creative writing happening) Korrin Chennell Head Teacher English Science Matters It is with great pleasure that we welcome two new staff members to the Science Faculty this year; Mr Scott White and Mr Paul Robinson. It is very pleasing to see that students have now settled well into their Science studies for this year. Term 1 topics currently being studied in Science 7-10 include: - Year 7: Starting Science, Separating Substances. Year 8: Matter, Elements & Compounds Year 9: Disease, Plate Tectonics Year 10: Working Scientifically All Year 10 students have now received information about their major assessment task for this term, which is their Student Research Project (S.R.P.). This project is worth 25% of the final Year 10 Science Yearly Assessment Mark. In this project students have been asked to choose a scientific problem to solve experimentally at home and then present their results as a formally written scientific report. The due date for this project is Friday 6th April. As this is a major task all students are encouraged to commence planning for their experiment now.

This year we are teaching new Year 11 courses in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Investigating Science. Investigating Science is a brand new course that explores the history and best practices of scientific research.

Mr I. Mavin Head Teacher Science Mathematics 2018 The Maths faculty for 2018 has had a few changes. We would like to congratulate Miss Lauren Walker on her promotion to Head Teacher at Parkes High School, we will all miss her greatly. Mr Dave McGrath is also taking a year leave, we will be welcoming him back in 2019. This means our faculty now consists of Mrs Lauren Rabie (Head Teacher), Miss Debra McLaren, Mr Cal Kalavala, Miss Faye Aspiotis and Mr Paul Scanlon. Just like other faculties our Year 11 Standard Maths students are starting a brand new syllabus. Mathspace In the coming weeks all classes will be using “Mathspace”. It is an online maths tutor program with a textbook and tasks that can be assigned. There will be an information letter coming home soon asking for a parent/caregiver email. This will allow you to see what tasks have been assigned and if there is any homework due. If you have any queries regarding Mathspace please do not hesitate to call and speak to one of the maths teacher. Textbooks Some students will be using textbooks in their classroom. These are heavy so we do like them to stay at school. If your child would like a copy at home we are more than willing to put an electronic version on a USB for them to use. Also, if by any chance you happen to have any maths textbooks at home from previous years, can they please be returned. There is always a Freddo Frog available for any returned textbooks. Calculators Calculators are a vital piece of equipment in the maths classroom. In Year 7 a lot of the content we try and cover without the calculator but from Year 8 onwards, the calculator is used almost

Page 3

Friday, 2 March 2018 Melville Matters

every lesson. The school sells Sharp calculators for only $17.55. This is a very good price as normally it is only 1 that you need to buy for the 6 years in high school. Maths Riddle Below is a little maths riddle. The first 4 students to come to the maths staffroom with the correct answer will get a righto and chocolate. “I add five to nine, and get two. The answer is correct, but how?” Lauren Rabie Head Teacher Mathematics 2018 Welcome from the TAS Department What is TAS? TAS is Technology and Applied Studies. At Melville High School the TAS teachers deliver a broad range of technology based subjects. STEM and Mandatory Technology are studied in Years 7 & 8. Graphics, Woodwork, Metalwork, Textiles, Food Technology, Electronics and Child Care are all offered as electives in Years 9 & 10. In the Senior School students can study Industrial Technology - Timber, Textiles and Design, Community and Family Studies and Engineering as ATAR subjects. As part of the school’s Vocational and Educational Training (VET) program TAS offers Construction and Hospitality, both of which provide work placement opportunities. TAS students at Melville High School have a history of engagement, success and satisfaction and many achieve very strong HSC results. Who teaches TAS? The TAS teachers at Melville are a dedicated group, focused on providing inspiring learning opportunities for all students. TAS is about “Making and Doing” with an emphasis on hands-on activities and problem solving. The TAS teaching team is Ms Lisa Gear, Ms Sarah Drinan, Ms Traycee McKay, Mr. Rob Fletcher, Mr Dylan Kinninmont, Mr Mick Davidson, Ms Faye Aspiotis and Mr John Kassel. This year is a very exciting time for TAS with a move to integrating new and emerging technologies into our teaching programs in the form of 3D printing and laser cutting.

I encourage all students, parents and carers to contact me here at school should you have any questions or would like further information. John Kassel, Relieving Head Teacher TAS

HSIE Faculty This year the HSIE faculty is: ● Mr David Barry our Geography expert

Ms April Kerr our senior Legal Studies

and Business Studies Teacher

Mr Kallmier our Modern History guru

Ms Sheriff taking on Aboriginal Studies

Ms Victoria Mascord has expertise in

Society and Culture

Ms Jacqui Richmond (Head Teacher)

continues to work with the distant past in

Ancient History

As you can see from this list this faculty has a vast number of subjects to offer and we look forward to teaching all our students in 2018. Each student has been issued with an assessment schedule that will be made available on the website. If your child has missed out on receiving one of these schedules they can ask their teacher or come to the HSIE staffroom. There are a lot of changes to assessment in Year 11 this year and major changes to the Modern and Ancient History syllabuses. It will be a busy year. Jacqueline Richmond Head Teacher HSIE Photography and Visual Arts Faculty Focus on Photography The Ilford School's Photographic Competition is a national competition which all students can enter. Last year we received merit awards each term. In Term 1 and 2 Kayleigh Russell received merits and in Term 3 we received merits for Honey Kassel's image "Capturing the Aura" and for Rachel Mugridge's image "On the other side".

Page 4

Friday, 2 March 2018 Melville Matters

We were placed Third in the nation as a school in Term 3, and because of the cumulative quality of the images entered throughout the year we were placed Second for 2017.

Alex Borger photographed by Kayley Russell

Kassidy Borger photographed by Rachel Mugridge

Tash Sultana (performer) photographed by Honey Kassell Any student wishing to enter this competition needs to see Mrs Lee to review and submit their digital images as jpegs, as the work needs to be printed on Ilford photographic paper to enter.

Visual Arts The Visual Arts Department has seen a change of guard with Mr Alan Guihot retiring after bringing years of experience to our department. A new Visual Arts Teacher Mrs Morgan who has transferred from Thomas Reddall High School. Ms Heath and Mrs Lee make up the rest of the department. Mrs Morgan is enthused about working with her classes and excited about the work that will be created this year. Year 7 are developing their drawing techniques, Year 11 are exploring “The Human Form Expressing Social Beliefs”, Year 12 are busy creating their Body of Works and Year 9 are making masks from cardboard and newspaper. PDHE Faculty The PDHPE faculty would like to introduce a new member to our five-strong team. Mr Gregson comes to us from snowy Jindabyne with a wealth of knowledge and experience and has already become an invaluable member of the PE team. Along with him, Mr Hoy, Mr Jacobs, Ms Hattenfels and Ms Ingles will be working hard this year to make sport and PDHPE a positive experience for everyone. Swimming carnival Tuesday of Week 2 saw the annual swimming carnival take place at Kempsey Memorial Swimming Pool. The carnival was filled with impressive individual performances, high levels of encouragement from our new crop of sports house leaders and fierce competition between the Houses. It was once again a successful day for the Melville High School community and the students in attendance can be proud of their participation and conduct. It will be great to see

the students who weren’t in attendance on the day contribute to the life of the school at both the Cross Country and Athletics carnival in Term 2. Sarah and Serenity

Page 5

Friday, 2 March 2018 Melville Matters

Blake, Sam, Brooman, Joshua, Logan, Brady The house competition result was one of the closest in recent years with 1st and 2nd place separated by only 2 points. Congratulations to Kinchela House on winning the overall point score for the day. Final Points for the day were: Kinchela House - 1280 points Belmore House – 1075 points Macleay House – 920 points Maria House -- 902 points Congratulations to the following students for achieving Age Champion.

Girl Age Champions

12 year Takira McKee

13 year Laura Buls

14 year Shae-Ala Marchment

15 year Sarah Buls

16 year Honey Kassel

Open Girls Kate Ferguson Boys Age Champions

12 year Rusty Gill

13 year Blake Gendron

14 year Alex Ford + Matthew Haigh

15 year Lachlan Munday

16 year Logan Davis

Open Boys Joshua Hughes + Sam Roberts

Thomas and Nigel make the Belly Flop Final The novelty events helped everyone cool down throughout the hot and sunny day with four Salmon Races and the noodle, crawl-ball and wet t-shirt relays, ensuring the points awarded to each house were constantly teetering in the balance. The belly flop championships saw 3 heats and a grand final between Nigel and Tommy. Tommy D was our proud winner, scoring precious points for his house. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the staff on another successful event. All the teacher duties assigned on the day are pivotal in ensuring the day was an overwhelmingly positive experience for our students. Thank you for your cooperation, participation and involvement.

Sarah and Serenity Sporting Event Calendar

Zone Swimming at Macksville on the 21st

February

U/15 Touch Boys and Girls competition in

Bowraville on the 23rd of Feb

Open Boy’ Soccer at Port Macquarie on the

27th Feb

Open Boys and Girls Basketball competitions

at Port Macquarie on the 1st March

Page 6

Friday, 2 March 2018 Melville Matters

Open Girls Soccer at Port Macquarie on the

2nd March

Opens Girls Netball at Macksville on 5th March

Open Girls League 9’s, on the 7th of March

Open Boys League 9’s, on the 8th of March

Boys 15’s and Opens Trials for League at

Wauchope on 12th March

Open Boys Rugby Union at Macksville on 20th

March

In Term 2 we have both our Cross Country

Carnival and Athletics Carnivals.

Dance Festival is going full steam ahead and

rehearsals are already underway. Notes will

be sent home soon for Week 8 Term 2.

Year 9 & 10 Sport Selections for sport have been made and any students who picked Crescent Head for Sport need to pay $40 for the bus for the term at the front office. All fees need to be paid by Tuesday 13 March. Support Faculty In the Support Unit we welcome Alex Moir, a new staff member teaching in the Resource Room. We also have nine Year 7 students beginning their High School years with us. We are off to a busy start for 2018 with all our regular programs starting and students about to engage in the activities of Riding for the Disabled, Sailability, work experience at various establishments within the community, cooking programs and sport. Individual Education Plan meetings are currently being conducted between teachers and parents/carers to ensure a quality individualised learning program is provided for each student. A lot of outings to various locations have been planned in Term 1 to coincide with the Geography program of “My Place” about the local environment of Kempsey and surrounds.

Kempsey Shire Council with the support of

NSW Roads & Maritime Services is running a FREE Workshop to HELP LEARNER DIVERS BECOME SAFER DRIVERS. When: Wednesday 7th March 2018 Time: 5.30pm – 7.30pm Where: Kempsey Macleay RSL Club RSVP: Marilyn Breen e: marilyn.breen@kempsey.nsw.com.au p: 6566 3282

Claudia’s successful salmon race and Blair’s furry encounter with the baby rabbit.

Page 7

Friday, 2 March 2018 Melville Matters

2018 - 2020 Melville HS School Plan

Your response is anonymous.

* Required

1. Vision Statement: "Melville HS is an outstanding comprehensive high school, fostering high

expectations through knowing and growing our students."

How do you rate our vision statement for the school plan? *

2. Could you please provide feedback on why you gave it this rating and make any further

suggestions.

3. Our draft strategic Direction 1 is, Improving Literacy. Do you think this is an important direction

for Melville High School to focus on for 3 years, this would including reading, writing and

comprehension? *

4. Please provide a reason for giving this rating for Strategic Direction 1.

5. Our draft Strategic Direction 2 is, Building positive relationships.

Do you think this is important in our school? *

6. Please provide a reason for giving this rating for Strategic Direction 2.

Submit

Never give out your password. Report Abuse

This content is created by the owner of the form. The data you submit will be sent to the form owner.

Privacy and Cookies (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839)

Powered by Microsoft Forms

Enter your answer

Enter your answer

Enter your answer