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Harbour Life

Term 2, Week 5

2017

Welcome to the first of our two Harbour Life newsletters for Term 2. As you will see

through the articles contained here, it has been a busy start to the term with

NAPLAN, Half Yearly Exams and a range of different excursions and activities. Thank

you to all of the parents, students and staff involved in these activities for your

enthusiasm and commitment to the school.

NAPLAN

Congratulations to our students in Year 7 and 9 who completed NAPLAN in Week 3.

Results will be available to parents in August. There has been much discussion around

the new relationship between NAPLAN and the Higher School Certificate (HSC). I

wrote a letter for Year 7 and 9 parents that was distributed to students and via

SkoolBag prior to the NAPLAN assessment about this with hints to support students

during NAPLAN.

In July 2016, the NSW government announced changes to the HSC for 2020, which

affect our current Year 9 students. Each student is required to meet a minimum standard of literacy and numeracy to qualify

for the HSC. This minimum standard is Level 3 of the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACFS), a nationally agreed standard of

functional literacy and numeracy.

Under these changes, students can ‘pre qualify’ for the standard by achieving Band 8 or above in Year 9 NAPLAN in reading,

writing and/or numeracy.

From 2018, Students will be provided with the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the required standard in reading,

writing and numeracy through an online assessment. This assessment will occur twice a year and it is expected that each

student’s literacy and numeracy skills will continue to develop as they move through Years 10-12. Students will only have to sit

the online test in areas where they have yet to meet the minimum standard. For example, if they achieve a band 9 in reading

and numeracy, but a band 7 in writing, they will only need to undertake the writing test.

As with everything they do, we want our students to do their best in tests such as NAPLAN and we will work with students,

staff and families to support students to achieve the expected standard of literacy and numeracy throughout their time at

Balmain Campus.

For more information about the changes, please refer to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) Resources:

Minimum Standards: http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/about/initiatives/stronger-hsc-

standards/minimum-standard

Advice for Parents: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/94134567-998a-4857-8776-

5cf650d3c556/minimum-standard-parents-p1.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID

Frequently Asked Questions: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/79820e77-ac86-4102-bd7c-

fc779b02b865/Stronger-HSC-Standards--Minimum-Standard-for-Literacy-and-Numeracy--FAQs.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID

Help for parents to support a student to prepare for NAPLAN: http://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support.html

In This Issue Page

Principal Report 1

Dates to Remember 3

Deputy Principals Report 3

Year 7 Study Skills Workshops 4

BYOD Security Update 4

Balmain Athletics Carnival 5

College Athletics Carnival 6

Indigenous ANZAC Ceremony 6

Support Unit Work Experience 7

Debating team 7

Glebe Pathways Program 8

SRC 8

Careers Department 9

IMP Camp 10

Principal’s Report

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Uniform:

Our primary focus at Balmain Campus is on students learning in the classroom and providing an outstanding array of extracurricular activities for our students. One area that should not be a distraction from this is student uniform. The current uniform for Balmain Campus is available at http://www.balmain-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/our-school/rules-policies/uniform . There are many reasons why we want students to wear a school uniform. These are primarily:

Identity: The uniform defines an identity for our school within our community. We have a great school where so much is happening. We want to extend students’ sense of belonging to the school and community, demonstrating a pride and connection with their school.

Health and Safety: Black leather shoes are a part of school uniform in schools as it protects students during technical and scientific subjects.

Safety: Uniform increases the personal safety of students and staff by allowing easier recognition of visitors and potential intruders in the school. This is particularly important as our school is in a busy location and we are not able to close the school gates during the school day.

Equity: A uniform promotes a sense of inclusiveness, non-discrimination and equal opportunity. School uniform is more affordable for families by eliminating the risk of peer pressure to wear transiently fashionable and expensive clothes.

Students can wear their sport uniform to school on a Tuesday, but for all other days, they are expected to be in school uniform, including leather shoes. If families have difficulty in ensuring their student is in uniform, please contact the school so we can discuss assistance.

When a student is out of uniform, they will be given a blue slip. Students need to carry this on them as they will be asked whether they have spoken to a teacher earlier in the day about their uniform. If they are unable to produce the slip, their next teacher will issue one to them.

We are conscious that as uniforms evolve over time, they need to be reviewed periodically. A survey will be emailed out over the coming weeks to seek wider feedback on elements of our current uniform. We will then work with parents, students and staff to review our uniform offerings.

We have an ordered and safe school learning environment. The uniform should not be a distractor, but assist the school in

reinforcing this perception and also ensuring the focus remains on teaching and learning. I seek your support in reinforcing the

uniform expectations with your child/children.

University and Community Partnerships to Support Learning:

Homework Club: Each Wednesday afternoon from 2:30pm – 4:00pm Balmain Campus hosts a Homework Club for students in Years 7-10 in room 1G.03. This is run in partnership with Glebe Youth Service with tutors from the University of Technology, Sydney. The Homework Club is for students who need assistance with homework, assessment tasks or course work. The information flyer is attached to this newsletter.

UTS Mathematics Matters Club: Mathematics Matters Club @ UTS is a mathematics club for Year 9 high school students. The aim of the club is to raise awareness of and develop a love of mathematics, its usefulness and importance. At each session, students will experience a practical component, hear from a guest speaker and leave with a puzzle to solve!

Balmain Campus students have been invited to be a part of this program, which is a wonderful opportunity. For more information and to register your interest, contact Coral Connor: Coral.Connor@uts.edu.au

Visiting Balmain Campus:

Schools are very busy places. Teachers and executive staff have classes to teach and meetings to attend throughout the school day. If you would like to meet with teaching staff or executive to discuss the progress of your child, please make an appointment, as staff are not always available and are often on their way to other events/meetings/classes. We have a duty of care for our students, so it important that when parents / guardians visit school, they report as visitors to the office. Please do not approach staffrooms, offices or classrooms directly. Thank you for your assistance with this and with the respectful partnerships we form in support of your child and their wellbeing and learning at Balmain.

Julianne Beek, Principal

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Cyber safety Police Talks

Last week Year 7 students attended cyber safety talks run by the School Liaison Police Youth Command. Students engaged

with information about their rights and responsibilities, as well as the legal repercussions of poor behaviour online. Year 8 will

be attending similar presentations later in the term. We will also be engaging with the Youth Command to deliver

presentations with Years 9 and 10 about a range of relevant issues in coming weeks.

It is important that messages regarding cyber safety are reinforced at home. You may like to look at the School A to Z:

Practical Help for Parents website. It has sections on cyber bullying, cyber safety and using technology.

http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/technology/ The Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner website is also a useful resource for students and parents. It contains

information about making cyberbullying complaints and reporting offensive and illegal content. It also provides resources that

target the specific needs of parents and carers in relation to online safety.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/ I would encourage parents to speak openly with their children about the kinds of interactions they have with others online,

and the ways that they can protect themselves and their online identity.

Louise Swanson, Deputy Principal

Upcoming events Date

Year 7 Conference May 29

ICAS Science Competition May 30

Year 9 Police talks May 31

Year 9 & 10 Multimedia Excursion to Powerhouse June 2

Support Unit Police Talks June 6

Year 10 Police talks June 7

Year 7 Digital Thumbprint June 9

ICAS Writing Competition June 13

Sydney East Cross Country Championships June 14

Year 10 Sydney Uni subject selection guest speaker June 21

Bligh Zone Athletics Carnival June 22

Year 10/11 Subject Information Evening June 22

Gold Award Excursion June 23

Great Debate at Parliament House June 23

Year 6-7 school visits June 26

Year 8 & 9 Parent teacher night June 27

P&C meeting June 27

Mind Matters Day June 29

Last day of term 2 June 30

Deputy Principal’s Report

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On Friday May 5th, Year 7 participated in Study Skills Sessions run by Ms Milos, Ms Hinchey and Ms Markovic. The opening session in the hall was interactive and students were very engaged as they decided on their study type with the help of Year 10 Drama students. Teachers have been working hard to support students by scaffolding tasks and reinforcing planning. We look forward to students implementing many of the new skills learned.

As widely reported in the media recently, a major malware outbreak has spread across the world affecting many Windows

computers running versions XP, 7, 8 and 10. The WannaCrypt Ransomware can spread via computer networks and does not

rely on a user opening an email attachment or visiting an affected website, making it particularly destructive. Once activated

on a PC, it will automatically encrypt every user-created file and document it finds including Microsoft Word, Excel, Power-

Point, Adobe PDF and JPG format as well as dozens of other file types, rendering them inaccessible.

It is critical that all students with a Windows based device ensure that their machine is updated with the most recent Win-dows update. On your Windows device, complete these steps:

Click the Windows button to open the Windows menu and in the box, type Check for updates then press Enter.

The Windows Update screen will appear. If it states "Your device is up to date" with a recent last checked date, nothing needs to be done with that PC.

If the device has not been checked or updated for some time, click Check for Updates and apply any and all security up-dates that appear as available. To ensure all security updates are installed completely, it is essential that the device be restarted from the shutdown menu option.

The above steps to check for Windows updates is not possible at school during school hours (9am - 3pm). It is

strongly recommended that students: ensure that BYO devices are running up to date anti-

malware software, application software versions and patched operating systems.

Student need to have their Windows security updates installed at home prior to bringing them to school, or check for and install

updates before 9am or after 3pm on school days.

BYOD Security Update

Year 7 Study Skills Workshops

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The Balmain Campus Athletics Carnival was held at King George Park and was a great day for the students and staff of the

campus. All students were able to compete in the various events being held around the grounds including shot-put, long

jump, javelin and the various track events.

The following students were age champion for the campus carnival

12 year girls: Bianca Chen

12 Year boys: Donovan Roberts

13 Years Boys: Joe Schmitzer

13 Years Females: Kiara Shine

14 Years Boys: Anthony Nyoon

14 Years Girls: Lauren Young

15 years Boys: James Olson Keating and Liam Maloney

15 years Girls: Holly Roberts

16 Years Boys: Sheldone Roussety

16 Years Girls: Maxine Franze

Balmain Campus Athletics Carnival

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College Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to those students who were awarded age champion at the College Athletics Carnival.

13 Boys: Joseph Schmitzer

14 Girls: Lauren Young

16 Girls: Maxine Franz

On Friday 26th May, Ms Graham accompanied Kahlia and Chelcilee to the Indigenous ANZAC Commemoration at the war memorial. Our two students represented the school wonderfully – whether it was on public transport on the way in to the ceremony or with the leadership role they were given supporting primary school students, they were great ambassadors for the school.

Indigenous ANZAC Ceremony

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The Year 9 debating team are through to Round 4 after defeating two teams from Randwick Boys' on Friday (they took part in two separate debates as it was a round robin event). Congratulations to Aya Adel, Carolina Cooksey, Oscar Iredale and Will Thomas. Good luck in Round 4!

Debating Team

Students in Years 9 & 10 are doing the elective Work Education. As part of the course, students do work experience at

different sites. S1 go to work experience at Fighting Chance in Frenchs Forest. They learn about researching products for

upcoming markets, taking photos and they really enjoy meeting new people and making friends. They travel via the College

bus and Emlyn is learning how to catch the public bus and travel independently.

Students from S3 attend Ozanam Industries in Stanmore and Target at

Leichhardt Marketplace. Students have been travel training for term 1 and

they now all travel to and from work experience independently. A fantastic

achievement! The students at Ozanam focus on completing tasks and

following procedures and the students at Target have been working as a

team to unpack boxes, shelve new products, tidy and present goods in the

electronic/audio visual section and return miscellaneous stock to

appropriate locations in store. Thank you to Mr Hackett, Ms McLaughlin and

Jo Catton for supporting the students during their work experience.

Support Unit work experience

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Students at Glebe Pathways are participating in writing workshops with Story Factory each Thursday. The program encourages students to develop their creative thinking and writing skills. This term students have made their own memes and written poems. In Term 2 the class will go on an excursion to Redfern to visit the Story Factory and participate in writing workshops. On Friday 2nd June students will access AIME (Australian Mentoring Indigenous Program) at Sydney University. The program is aimed to build a generation of mentors to create a fairer community (AIME 2017).

Glebe Pathways Program

Glebe Pathways Program

SRC (Student representative Council)

2017 has been a successful time for SRC, with many events and fundraisers both underway and planned for the coming weeks. Our goal as a group is to create and run events in our school for the school community, events in our school to help others and support events outside of school for others. At the end of last term, SRC gave out chocolate eggs around the school (thank you Ms Beek for donating them) wishing everyone a happy holiday. This term we have achieved one of the goals we set ourselves last year, financially supporting a number of causes. We have donated $1000 to the Balmain Rowing Club, which will go towards the purchase of oars for the new boat that the club has kindly agreed to buy for our school's use. We followed up our donation of tinned food to the Exodus Foun-dation last year with a $150 donation for the homeless of the inner west. We successfully raised almost $500 for Shave for a Cure, with Jack Reynolds bravely having his head shaved for the charity, while Mr Arvidson lost his moustache. In the coming weeks we aim to continue to raise more funds for our sister school in Maliana, East Timor, having already raised almost $200 through the gelato stall on Open Day. One of our projects this year will be to revive the school garden - with the kind assistance of the P&C. As a number of students have joined SRC to complete the service portion of their Duke of Edinburgh scheme, we have decided that growing food to give away to the homeless is an excellent use of the extra willing hands. We look forward to working with the school staff and parents to make the school and our community a better place during the rest of the year. By Ellie Woodward

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Dear Students, Parents and Carers

Highlight closing dates on a calendar Throughout the year you will be given a myriad of dates to stick to…assessment tasks, exam timetables and dates related to courses and competitions being offered by universities and TAFE colleges. Mark these in your diary or on a calendar so you do not miss an opportunity! Careful planning is needed in completing application forms, so plan ahead, especially if you have to gather reports and references from others. Start now and not in Term 3 of Year 12.

The Year 10 subject selection interviews seem to be too far into the future, however you only have 9 school weeks left! To assist students make informed subject selections for their senior years a number of activities leading up to the Subject Selection Interviews are planned. These include:

22 May – 17 June: A day at Blackwattle Bay – Year 10 students can spend a day at the Blackwattle Bay Campus attending courses they may want to include as part of their subject selection in 2018.

21 June: Subject selection presentations by Sydney University and TAFE NSW to Year 10 students 22 June: Blackwattle Bay Campus Subject Information Evening for Year 10 students and their parents/carers

(4:30-7:30PM). Subject Selection Information Packages will be given to students. Parents and students can go on faculty tours and talk to staff and current students. Formal presentation in the hall starts at 6:30PM. Food (BBQ) and coffee (cart) can be purchased.

23 June: Western Sydney Careers Expo at Sydney Olympic Park. All Year 10 students will attend this expo to explore career options and future courses post-secondary schooling. This event is free to Year 10 students. Permission notes will be coming home soon.

Students, in addition to selecting from a variety of subjects at Blackwattle Bay, can also choose courses delivered by other institutions. This can result in dual accreditation on successful completion. Vocational courses studied at TAFE are commonly referred to as 'TVET' courses. What is TVET? - TVET stands for ‘TAFE-delivered vocational education and training’. Students attend TVET classes as part of their regular school schedule. Courses are delivered at school (VET) or at a Sydney TAFE campus. When students finish their TVET course they will receive a nationally-recognised Certificate or Statement of Attainment. Inner West Council has some programs for young people between 12 and 18. These include a 4-week cooking program (www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/yondarling )and a skills development and capacity building workshop being held at the Balmain PCYC (www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/SteppingUp ). If interested in either of these activities you can ring 9367 9271. Remember there is no one way. If you are travelling and the road to your destination is blocked you find an alternative path. The same applies to your career - explore every avenue. I can be contacted on 9810 0471 (Ext. 127) or email hugo.floriani@det.nsw.edu.au I look forward in meeting you at upcoming school events and activities.

Hugo Floriani, Careers Adviser

Careers Department

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From the 22nd-24th of May, students attended the annual IMP (Instrumental Music Program) Camp. It was held at Stanwell Tops and the weather was perfect, with sunshine every day. The camp consisted of music practice and rehearsals in wonderful surroundings, live performances, entertainment evenings and fitness events. It culminated in a superb concert for the parents at Leichhardt Campus. Thank you to the enthusiastic and dedicated teaching staff and the incredible Mark Stevens and tutors for making this camp such a beneficial experience for the IMP students.

IMP Camp