Northlakes High School Newsletter

“Opportunities for future success” Find us at: Brava Avenue, SAN REMO NSW 2262 T (02) 4390 0555 F (02) 43991792 Email northlake-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au www.northlake-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Security No: 1300 880 021 Issue. 2 February, 2017

Principal’s Report: Already we are in Week 4! On Monday, 13/2, we held two Sorry Day assemblies, to commemorate the significant apology to our Aboriginal people by the Prime Minister in 2008, Kevin Rudd. Our Aboriginal students performed and presented the Welcome to Country. Talara Freeman spoke eloquently about the impact on government policy on many families, as did Mr Boake . Mr Boake had also orchestrated a message to the school from the amazing Jonathan Thurston! Special!! Last week, Ms Thornton, Mr Thomas and I had the pleasure of going to the presentation of a Sydney North Blue to Joshua McDonnell, who has achieved so much in his sport of lawn bowls. He is in our school's Sporting Wall of Fame, and now also has this regional award. He is a young athlete who has been an outstanding representative of his school, family, and community.

At this event, the keynote speaker was the extraordinary athlete David Hall. David was a student at Budgewoi Public School and Northlakes High School. While I have certainly heard about him, this was my first opportunity to talk to him. His perspective is that the misfortune which he suffered, losing both legs in an accident when he was a teenager, in fact catapulted him into a world he had no idea of. He has played and lived in many countries, and enjoyed a huge range of experiences. I found his positivity and tenacity admirable, and thanked him for his time. I have attached the page about him from the night's program. One of our core programs is AVID. On Wednesday, Mr Hextell, our AVID site co-ordinator, hosted nearly 150 people on an information night. We are seeing ongoing and definite improvement in our students' academic results, confidence in public speaking , ability to work collaboratively and organisation skills. We are heading in to our third year of this program, and this year we are embedding its strategies in all programs. All Year 7 and 8 classes are taught by teams of AVID trained teachers, and we are seeing amazing results. Just this week we were contacted by the D. Of E. Statistics Branch, who had noted the 30% drop in our suspension rate last year. They were interested in the programs in the school which had clearly had such a positive impact.

These include Positive Behaviour for Learning, AVID, Stage 4 teams , and the establishment of a number of specialised , supported classes to support the range of students in the school. We were very pleased to have such a situation! We are close to the end of the refurbishment of the front of the school. We have been very fortunate to have been selected as part of the School Renewal Program. While working in the middle of a building site for four months has been very trying at times, we are sure the end result will be worth it.

Lisa Muir and Merrilyn Rowley

Yours in Public Education Merrilyn Rowley HSIE FACULTY Welcome to the new year all our budding HSIE students. The HSIE staff for 2017 are Mrs Howard HT, Ms Bartlett, Ms Dean, Ms Ewer, Mrs Lawson and Mr Seaby. We are looking forward to a successful 2017. The staff have been working hard on updating our history programs and creating new geography programs in alignment with the National Curriculum and the schools’ implementation of AVID teaching and learning strategies. Assessment task 1 has been given out to all students and is Due Friday 3rd of March. The task for Years 7 - 9 is in 2 parts. The first is a research task. The second part is an oral presentation which can be live or pre-recorded.

This will be done in class beginning Week 7 or the 5th of March. All tasks, schedules, homework and extension activities can be found on the Northlakes High website in the HSIE folder, under Faculties. We are conducting a number of excursions this Term including: Rumbalara Field Study on Monday 27th of March. Year 10 which is a compulsory field study for Year 10. We will be visiting Norah Head and Soldiers Beach and doing numerous geography skills activities. Maitland Gaol Site Study Wednesday 29th March Year 9 The Australian Museum Sydney Friday 31st March Year 7 All excursions’ notes will be handed out and posted on the school website, and be available to pay for on Monday 13th March. We have been missing the enthusiasm and mothering of Mrs Moore who retired last year. After sharing a staffroom with her for over 15 years I have really noted her absence. She tells me she has been very busy enjoying her retirement! We send her our very best wishes and say a big thankyou to the staff and students who sent her off so well with our surprise flashmob!

Mrs Tracy Moore

Anna Howard HT HSIE

Creative Arts Creative and Performing Arts Report February I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the new Year 7 students and their parents and carers, on behalf of the CAPA Language faculties. The Art courses offered in Year 7 and 8 are Music and Visual Arts and they will be studied for one hundred hours each, over the course of Year 7 and 8. Our school is also looking for talented Dance and Drama students to audition for parts in StarStruck, a major Department of Education show performed at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre. Any interested Dance students should see Mrs Harridge in CAPA. Drama auditions are managed through Mrs Martin in the English faculty. I would like to congratulate Sharni Tonkin, Jasmine Rolt, Monique Drew and Ella Bryant for their participation and support in the Art House exhibition’ They came from across the seas’. These young ladies took photographs, helped mount them, and participated at the Opening on Thursday 2nd February. These images were also included in Love Lane Arts Festival held along Allison Road last Saturday at Wyong. This initiative was funded by the Central Coast Council, San Remo Neighbourhood Centre, with the support of two professional photographers from the ‘PhotoSpace Project’ and members from the community, who gave up their time to tell their stories to Year 11 Photography students before the photo sessions. These girls are donating their time for the next photographic paste-up and exhibition, once again sponsored, by the Central Coast Council and the San Remo Neighbourhood Centre. This time students from the Year 11 Visual Arts Class will be participating in Photographic workshops based on the surrounding waterways, with works being pasted up around the region. Other works will be targeting the ‘Exposure’ exhibition, also sponsored by the Central Coast Council. Workshops start on March 8 and conclude in April.

Works have also been selected for Central Vision, a major exhibition of artworks from Year 7 to 12; it is held at Gosford Regional Gallery and is funded by the Department of Education, with prizes being sponsored by Keanes Ceramics, S&S Wholesale, Eckersley, John Ralp Camerahouse, Toukley-Northlakes Rotary Club, Derivan and Chromacryl with other sponsorships in the pipeline. Other exhibitions that we are planning for, include Operation Art, Showcase 4 at Maitland Regional Gallery and Sculpture by the Bay at Gosford Regional Gallery. A very busy schedule, but one aimed at providing the best possible opportunities for all Arts students. Les Brimbecom Head Teacher-Creative and Performing Arts/ Languages DANCE & DRAMA EXCURSION On the 7th of February Year 11 Drama braved the floods in Sydney and went to the Seymour Centre, Sydney, to view Onstage 2016. This is a showcase of exemplary performances from the 2016 HSC year, involving both monologue and group devised projects. On the 10th of February Year 11 Dance braved the heatwave and made our way to the same venue to view Callback 2016. A showcase of exemplary performances in Dance in NSW. The performances involved Composition, Film and Major Study Performance. The students on both days were inspired and captivated by the talent of all of the past students, motivating them to think and plan for their up and coming HSC Dance & Drama studies in 2018. I would like to commend the students on their behaviour, and the respect they demonstrated throughout the performances. We hope to attend again in 2018. Mrs Harridge (Koteczky)

SCIENCE FACULTY Students are settling into class well at the start of what is looking likely to be a busy 2017 in Science. Currently students in years 7 to 10 are completing work on scientific design and the scientific method. Their first assessment task, which involves scientific investigations, will be handed out in the next couple of weeks. It is pleasing to see that stage 5 students have settled into their elective classes well, with agriculture being extremely popular. Students are planting the seeds for Mother’s Day flowers. Marine studies students are working on making some fish tanks, and the new course ISTEM is up and running. In Stage 6 I hope Year 11 students have settled into their chosen subjects and are realising the step up in expectations, as they move into their final years of High School. HSC students are quickly moving to the half-way point of their studies, I would like to remind students that constant reading over and summarising of their Cornell notes and other class work will help them achieve their best at the end of their High school career. G Fleming. HT Science

Podiatry Clinic

The University of Newcastle Student Podiatry Clinic at Wyong hospital is offering children age 0-17 free lower limb assessments from 6th March to 29th May. Would you please notify

families of your school by including the following notice in your School Newsletter?

Free lower limb assessment

The University of Newcastle Podiatry Clinic at Wyong hospital is offering children age 0-17 free lower limb assessments. Children will be assessed by final year students, supervised by a podiatrist. Children and their families can receive advice on footwear, flat feet, and normal development, and receive treatment of foot warts, foot and leg pain, walking problems, and night-time ‘growing pains’.

When: Mondays from 2.45 to 4.30pm from 6th March to 29th May 2017

To make a booking, or for more information, call 4394 7280

DATES TO REMEMBER 20/2/17 Swimming Carnival 21/2/17 P&C Meeting 3pm 22/2-25/2/17 Year 7 Camp 7/3/17 Year 7 Immunisation 9/3/17 Assemblies 23/2-24/2/17 Athletics Carnival 27/2/17 Year 10 Rumbalara Excursion 28/3/17 Parent/Teacher Interviews 3-

6pm 29/3/17 Year 9 Maitland Goal

Excursion 31/3/17 Year 7 Museum Excursion 7/4/17 Last Day of Term 24/4/17 Staff Development Day 25/4/17 Anzac Day 26/4/17 Students Return

NORTHLAKES HIGH SCHOOL Brava Avenue, San Remo, NSW, 2262 Phone: 4390 0555 Fax: 4399 1792 www.northlake-h.schools.nsw.edu.au northlakeschool@det.nsw.edu.au Dear Parents and Carers Northlakes High School will transition to the new NSW Public Schools’ finance system and a new bank account on 22 May 2017. To ensure a smooth transition, there will be changes to the way we accept payments from parents and carers.

1. Direct deposits (Parent Online Payments): As of 12 May 2017, we will no longer accept direct deposits into our current school bank account as we prepare to close this account and transition to the new one. Any payments made using direct deposit after this date cannot be properly allocated to a student’s account in a timely manner. Please ensure you have made any outstanding direct deposits before 12 May 2017.

2. EFTPOS payments: We will not be able to accept EFTPOS payments between 17 May and 22 May 2017. Please ensure that you have made any outstanding EFTPOS payments before 17 May, 2017. From 23 May 2017, EFTPOS payments will be accepted as before.

3. Cash and cheque payments: Between 17 May 2017 and 22 May 2017, we will also not be able to accept payments by cash or cheque as we prepare to close our current bank account and transition to the new one. Please ensure that you have made any outstanding cash or cheque payments before 17 May 2017. From 23 May 2017, cash and cheque payments will be accepted as before.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we transition to our new finance system. If you have any questions, please contact Lynelle Maude or Leanne Watson. Mrs Merriyln Rowley Principal Northlakes High School