June

Friday 30 June Last Day of Term

July

Monday 17 July Staff Development Day

Tuesday 18 July Students return to school

Friday 21 July CHS State All Schools Cross Country

Tuesday 25 July Year 11 2018 Subject Information Night

Monday 31 July Year 10 Interviews/ Subject Selection

August

Tuesday 1 August Year 10 Interviews/ Subject Selection

Thursday 3 August CHS FNC Athletics Championships

Thursday 3 August Yr 12 HSC Trial Exams begin

Issue 10 28 June 2017

Newsletter

DATES TO REMEMBER Ballina Coast High School is a school that is being built in a different world to the one we all grew up in. Today our young people are entering a rapidly changing world and Ballina Coast High School will have graduates ready for success in this world. The skills such as leadership, oral communication, collaboration, critical and creative thinking are being embedded in our Stage 4 and 5 curriculum.

We have made a commitment to engage all our students in learning. Over the coming term we will be holding Information Evenings for students entering Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10) and Stage 6 (Years 11 and 12). Students, parents, carers and community members will be invited to look at how we will engage our students in habits for lifelong learning. Ballina Coast High School students will have more choice, develop their own pathways and obtain the skills for success.

I read an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald. The father, a cardiologist, in Sydney wrote an article on what he hopes from schooling for his young daughter. It resonates with what the staff at Ballina Coast High School want for their students.

“...Therefore, despite the fact that both of us were once model students who finished high school with a perfect UAI of 100, products of an egalitarian state school system where every child had an opportunity to excel, my wife and I will not encourage our daughter to be a bookworm. Instead, we care more about how she makes friends. We will encourage our daughter to play sport, just as we did, not only because healthy lifestyle habits should be promoted and reinforced at a young age, but also so that she understands the true meaning of being part of a team – that everyone, irrespective of skill level, is valued and has an important role to play. But most important of all, so that she can learn to lose. This is because in the wider world, and unlike schoolwork, effort does not necessarily result in success, and it is extremely important to learn how to deal with disappointment when things do not go our way.

We will emphasise to her that the real world is filled with people of all different walks of life, and that being able to relate to them is crucial to her own future. Like every other schoolkid, she will no doubt spend countless hours doing exercises in numeracy and literacy. But for us, it will be more important that she understands how people use numbers in everyday life, or why the characters in the book felt the way they did or chose to make certain decisions, and what we can all learn from their example. This way, she will learn the important concept of obtaining a balanced perspective, appreciating another person’s viewpoint so that she can better formulate and communicate her own.

It will be a proud moment for all of us first-time school parents when we watch our children take their first steps into the classroom. Especially at a time when fear, ignorance and prejudice remain a constant threat to our way of living, perhaps these living embodiments of our own future will help shape our world into a cosmopolitan place where inclusivity is promoted, every life matters and even the smallest person has a voice.

At school, our children will work from the syllabus; at home, we can also help them understand not only what they need to know but also the sort of person they should strive to be. We can role-model compassion, integrity, resilience in the face of adversity, tolerance and acceptance of other people’s differences, respect for one another and the environment, the importance of hard work, and the satisfaction of doing a job well. And as our children cross the threshold into school, not only do they carry our hopes; they also remind us of our pledge. With everything that is going on in this world, theirs is the generation that may one day help save us all. We just need to show them how.”

The full article can be read on the link below.

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/general/sandpit-playground-lessons-beyond-syllabus

Janeen Silcock Principal

How2Learn Sonnet Challenge Last week, as part of the schools How2Learn program, Year 11 Advanced classes combined to take part in a ‘Sonnet Challenge’. Students were given the challenge of writing a sonnet, using the rules of the form, and were given specific literary periods and a topic to include such as forbidden or unrequited love. Students shared their poems with their classmates and were awarded prizes. It was a great activity that had students focused on ‘Self-regulation’ and ‘Absorption’ from the How2Learn framework. Well done to all involved.

The Purrfect Pair

The first time I saw your eyesPierce through the nightA bright green that broke your disguiseMore stunning than the moonlight

Your confident strideAnd the way you slick your hairSparks butterflies inside Could we be the perfect pair?

It was a slow and subtle embraceThat felt like a gift from heavenI felt his whiskers against my faceAnd his breath hinted of devonAnd as you pulled away, I knew you couldn’t stayI saw the swish of your tail as you walked away

by Brooke Jager, Taisha Evans, Allyssa Harland and Angela Whiting

Peta Yaxley English Teacher

Year 7 DiscoLast Thursday was the Year 7 Disco which went from 5:30 to 7:30 and was held in the gym. With Mr Mittag as the DJ, the disco was awesome and really fun. About 100 Year 7 students showed up in their masks. We all had a great time. The entry fee was $5, which included a sausage and we got a stamp on our hands to say we had entered. The theme was ‘Masquerade’ and all profit being donated to the Year 7 camp. The SRC also sold some sausages, lolly bags, chips and drinks. During the night we played a few games, like a modified game of ‘spin the bottle’, where whoever the bottle landed on had to dance. Whoever won got a free lollipop. Overall, the night was a huge success and we would do it all over again.

By Arwen Casey

Staff Profile Head Teacher PDHPE - Jesse CoatesLength of Service? 19 Years

Best thing about your job? Seeing students learn and enjoy themselves

Hobbies/ Interests? Basketball, surfing, family, snowboarding

What was the last book you read? The Use & Training of the Human Voice by Arthur Lessac

What was your favourite TV show growing up? Too many to choose from! Cartoons!

If you could have any one superpower, which would you choose? Flight

If you could visit anywhere in the world you’ve never been, where would you go? Somewhere with surf and snow!

Year 8 Art - Superb Grid Portrait Drawings

Drawing by Ally Baldwin

FILM FESTIVALLeon Elman - Year 9, has recently entered a national Short Film competition called “Focus On Ability”.

Leon’s film called, “The Can Do People”, focuses on our schools Inclusive Education Policy and showcases a number of our students participating in school life and a few interviews from our principals and teachers. It will be sent all over the world for viewing. His film is in the running to win prizes valued up to $145,000. Good luck Leon. You are already a winner as your film is totally awesome!

Jodie Crowther Head Teacher Special Education

Teachers Vs Students DodgeBall Fun!

Drawing by Jessica Harper

SRC Day 2017On Friday the 9th of June, the SRC had a day to go over all the things necessary to do in the school, this was set over an entire school day. First we went over all we had to do during the day, and then we went to do our first activity. The Year 7 group finished the disco posters and checked who had put there hand on our ‘Year 7 of 2017’ while the Year 8 students started their ‘Jeans for Genes Day’ jeans. Some Year 7 students created a ‘Be Brave’ poster and Year 9 created a video using this sign. For the rest of the day we decorated jeans that are going to be displayed in the 7-12 library.

We would like to thank all students and teachers who attended on the day and a special thanks to Glenda Brown and Amanda Pratt for organising this day and for an amazing lunch.

Peta Yaxley English Teacher

2-40 Chickiba Drive, East Ballina, NSW 2478T 02 6686 0503 F 02 6686 0508 E sthcross-c.school@det.nsw.edu.auwww.sthcross-c.schools.nsw.edu.au

“Road to Nowhere” Slam Poetry by Riley GreenEarlier this year, Year 8 students studied a unit on Slam poetry. Slam poetry is performance poetry about issues in society. All students completed an assessment task where they wrote their own slam poem on an issue of their choice.

This piece by Riley Green in Year 8, is a good example of the student responses.Look around, we live in a place of beauty and grace … will it stay this way? Or are we on a journey on the road to nowhere.No-one knows …. but we can do everything we can to keep it the way it is.As the bull-dozers roll in … the trees and the vegetation roll out. They are no longer ……… flattened …… in preparation for the road.This is progress.The animals are left stranded, like a floating log adrift in the ocean.But the never ending road of progress flows on.We try to control the flow of our rivers, but they break their own banks as they try to escape.Our waste washes away through the drains, snaking and making its way to our waterways. Polluting …… destroying.The rivers don’t like it.Fish kills are happening more often and declining species are growing in numbers.Sea levels are rising and encroaching on low lying islands and communities.What are we to do about it? … …STOP cutting the trees down and desecrating our land,STOP flooding our land with toxic chemicals,STOP polluting our waterways.STOP the overuse of greenhouse gas emissions.Recycle, Reuse and Revegetate.As Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”We have that power …… We can make change!Every breath counts.Fill our open spaces with trees again.Only take what you need …From the oceanFrom the landProgress will happen BUT we need to live in harmony with nature and respect the environment that surrounds us, it is crucial for our survival.We want to continue on the road that leads to somewhere.

Year 11 Ancient HistoryYear 11 have had a fantastic first semester in Ancient History. We have been learning about the famous boy King, Tutankhamun, and have had lots of opportunities to put our learning into practice. The students had the opportunity to recreate a mummification ceremony, by researching the steps involved and then wrapping each other in makeshift linen.

Of course, we then had to make the most of the fact that the film ‘The Mummy’ was screening, so we had a movie morning watching that.

Tutankhamun’s tomb was relatively small for a pharaoh, but filled with hundreds of pieces of gold, jewels, and things he would need in the afterlife. To give the students an idea of the size of the tomb, we went outside with some chalk and drew the outline in our playground. We then walked through, role playing the feelings of excitement Howard Carter must have felt when he found this magnificent discovery in 1922.

Glenda Brown HSIE Teacher

Evans Head Fishing Classic (EHFC)Date: 7th – 14th July

EHFC is now in 22nd year and is the largest fishing competition of its kind in NSW.

Highlight: This year sees a dedicated kids event.There are tutorials, kids random prize pool including bikes, TV’s and

other equipment. Plenty of other activities including face painting, jumping castles and more entertainment over the weekend.

Make sure you get your children down there to have some fun!More information at

evansheadfishingclassic.com.au