Respect ~ Perseverance ~ Growth

Principal Matters by Mark Watson

Matilda Months of preparations all come together next week when performances of the school musical, Matilda, begin. The effort that has gone into making the show a truly professional production, mean that this musical is not one to be missed. The show opens on Wednesday night and continues with evening performances up to and including Sunday 1 December. An additional matinee has been scheduled for Sunday the 1

st. Tickets have sold quickly and only a very limited number of seats remain for some

shows. There are some seats available on Thursday night and for the Sunday matinee, all other shows are sold out. A big thank you to all involved including the cast, musicians, stage crew, Sean Peter and the production team. Tickets are available online at events.humanitix.com.au/stiveshighschoolmusical VALID Science results This week we received the results from the Year 10 VALID science exam held at the end of last term. At the same time we received the very exciting news that one of our students, William G (Year 10), was placed equal 4

th in the State out

of 28,263 students who sat the exam, an outstanding achievement, congratulations! We are still waiting for individual results to be sent to school. When they arrive they will be distributed to students to take home. 2021 Year 7 Gifted And Talented Students Class The processes used to select students for our Year 7 GATS class will change next year. Students in the 2021 Year 7 GATS class will be the first to be selected using the new procedures. We will conduct a screening test of all students enrolling in the school. The test will provide valuable information to assist with class placement and identifying potential GATS students. These students will be invited to sit the GATS placement test. The new Department of Education enrol-ment policy prevents schools from accepting out of area enrolments when they are full. As we are at capacity, we are only able to enrol students within area and this includes students into our GATS program. Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards Abbey C J from Year 12 was presented with a Gold Duke of Edinburgh award at a ceremony held at St Stephen’s Uniting Church in the city this week. Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AO QC, Governor of New South Wales, presented the award to Abbey who was one of 75 recipients. The ceremony included an acknowledgement of the role played by award leaders in guiding Gold recipients to their award. Both Miss Paterson and Mr Leggatt were presented to the Governor during this part of the ceremony. The official function was followed by a Reception held at Government House. Congratulations to Abbey and thanks to Miss Paterson and Mr Leggatt for their support. School Spectacular Excursion The annual School Spectacular performance, which many of us watch when it is shown on TV, is taking place this weekend. A number of students from 7T and 7X were fortunate to be able to attend the matinee performance of the show on Friday this week. School Spectacular showcases talented student performers from across NSW and is pre-sented by the Department of Education’s Arts Unit. Thanks go to our CAPA staff for organising for our students to attend the performance. White Ribbon Day Friday this week was White Ribbon day. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness about domestic violence, which affects one in three Australian women and one in five Australian men. Office staff decorated the front office, students displaying posters around the school and an information booth was set up on the quad during recess and lunch. Here students and staff will be able to sign the White Ribbon pledge, or purchase a white ribbon created by SIHS students. All funds raised will be donated to Domestic Violence NSW, a service that supports survivors and campaigns on their behalf.

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Mufti Day The Students Representative Council (SRC) have planned for a mufti day to be held on Monday next week 25 November. The theme for the day is “Black and White” and it is the first part of a larger activity the SRC are plan-ning to hold next year. Funds raised from the day will contribute towards the cost of holding a school dance in the hall next year. Students should bring a gold coin and make sure they have appropriate clothing for practical lessons. C-Block Visit On Tuesday afternoon the TAS and CAPA staffs had the opportunity to view the new teaching facilities in the refurbished C-Block. The building looks amazing and feels so new. The classrooms have ducted air conditioning, the furniture and fittings are new, new machinery is on order and there is a new outdoor woodwork teaching space and store. The visit was a great opportunity for staff to not only view the teaching spaces but to consider how they will use them. The visit also gave staff an opportunity to suggest tweaks to final fittings. We will move out of the demountable buildings over the summer holidays and classes will begin in C-Block next year.

Bush Fires The bush fires surrounding Sydney have been causing problems for us in recent weeks. We have been monitoring the smoke conditions this week and last week had our first catastrophic fire warning day in Sydney. A catastrophic warning has different implications for different schools. Schools have been rated as either not bush fire prone, and bush fire prone with an increased risk of damage. Schools in the third category, bush fire pone with an increased risk of damage are listed on a bush fire register and close on a day with a catastrophic warning. These ratings have been determined in association with the Rural Fire Service. We have the second highest rating, bush fire prone and so will remain open on a day with a catastrophic warning unless we are told to close due to a direct threat of a fire. Year 10 Grounds Work In keeping with the theme of improving our facilities, we have been fortunate enough to have some Year 10 students volunteer to work with Mr Cullen and Mr De Palo to remove weeds and re-establish some forgotten garden beds around the school. A big thank you to all involved in this worthwhile project. Knitting Club Our knitting club has been operating out of the library again this year. They have recently installed knitted decorations on the bushes leading to the school office. They really do make for a great decoration. Thanks to Ms Romanov in the library for this initiative. Legacy Our students recently participated in selling badges for Legacy. This week we were contacted by Mr Douglas Chee from Legacy to tell us that our students had collected a sum of $ 2,346.95 from selling Legacy Badges and other items at various locations in the local area. Legacy Appreciation Certificates will be presented to the sellers and the Legacy Plaque will be updated to reflect the amount collected. Thanks go to Mrs Bodley for organising our students.

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What Are Your Plans for 2020? Planning for 2020 is well underway. It is anticipated that the school will be larger next year with student numbers ap-proaching 1100. Available spaces in some year groups are extremely limited and only available to local enrolments. If your circumstances have changed and you do not believe your child will be returning in 2020, please let the Office know as soon as possible. This will greatly assist us in our planning for next year. End of Year Events It is difficult to believe we only have three and a half weeks of the 2019 school year left. Next week will be Week 7 of the term and it will be dominated by Matilda performances. In Week 8, Year 7 will be on Water Awareness while Year 10 will be at Work Experience. During Week 9, Years 8 and 10 will be at camp. On Friday of Week 9 we will hold our annual Celebration Day with presentation assemblies for all year groups and our Sports Assembly. Week 10 will be a short week with classes ending at 3:15pm on Wednesday 18 December for the year. It is expected that all students will be in attendance up to and including Wednesday the 18

th. If your child will not be in attendance, please contact the Office and

follow the usual leave procedures. Congratulations This week, congratulations to;

Gavin H (Year 7). Gavin recently competed in the Australian Open Short Track Speed Skating Championship, held at the O’Brien Ice Arena, Melbourne. This is an open ice racing competition where skaters from across Australia, New Zealand and Asian countries compete over four individual distances and relays. Gavin competed impressively and came fourth overall in the Sub-junior Men division and came second at the Junior Men (skated up a division) relay.

Nina K (Year 10). Nina has been invited to sit the 2020 Australian Mathematical Olympiad (AMO) on 5-6 February 2020.

Jeff L (Year 10). Jeff recently made the Northbridge FC Academy team (U18). Best Wishes Mark Watson Principal

Thank you to the four Year 11 girls for decorating the Christmas tree in our office.

We are now ready to receive your donations for our Christmas Food Drive.

See details in the flyer attached to the newsletter.

MATHS COMPETITION NEWS

Congratulations to Edward K (Y7) who came equal first (out of 12 394) in the recent round of the online maths competi-tion called the Caribou Test. This level was attempted last week by students around the world in 463 different schools in Years 7 and 8. Well done also to Nina K(Y10) who came 23

rd top 2%, Will G (Y10) top 4% and Isla J (Y10) top 9%.

Congratulations also to Nina K (Y10) who has been invited to participate in the Australian Mathematics Olympiad next February. The problem below comes from a previous AMO A binary sequence is a sequence in which each term is equal to 0 or 1. We call a binary sequence superb if each term is adjacent to at least one term that is equal to 1. For example, the sequence 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1 is a superb binary se-quence with eight terms. Let Bn denote the number of superb binary sequences with n terms. Determine the smallest integer n ≥ 2 such that Bn is divisible by 20. Sue Berger Mathematics teacher

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ARCHERY—SOCIAL SPORT

This term for social sport I introduced a new sport to our social sports. Simon O’Connor, from Sydney Archery has over thirty years’ experience in the Australian Archery Community. He has represented NSW at a state level and competed in tournaments across Australia. Simon is the Managing Director and principal shareholder of Sydney Archery. Year 9 and 10 students had a great time shooting arrows for Social Sport. For many students, this was their first-time doing archery. Their skills improved within the lesson, with scores of bullseyes being hit. At the end of the session, the students played games, aiming for balloons and areas within the target. Congratulations to Jasmine Y who was the win-ner of the target competition. Ash Fong, Georgia Margalit,

Sandy Terrey, Sport Organiser

GATS ACTIVITY DAYS We traditionally offer two days of activities to encourage interaction between different T class year groups, to promote teamwork, leadership, co-operation, confidence and new experiences. Our theme this year was "Art vs Science" and we started at the Art Gallery of NSW to view the Japan Supernatural exhibition.We explored more than 180 works from historical master Hokusai through to contemporary superstar Takashi Murakami. Back at school students attended two workshops presented by the Fizzics company, the Liquid Nitrogen Show (with "Cool" demonstrations and the SOUND of SCIENCE where students got to hear screaming rods, visualise sound waves, investigate a Theremin, observe tubes singing to heat, hear a sonic boom and more! Day two was spent at the Powerhouse Museum, attending three sessions, firstly Game Based Learning. In this virtual reality (VR) experience, learners worked collaboratively in small groups under time pressure to solve a series of puzzles in a virtual world. Then they went to the Design Lab where students designed and transformed their logo into a vinyl sticker using a cutter printer and lastly the Ecologic exhibition which explores sustainability and climate change. After a discussion, students experienced physical computing relating to sustainability by constructing a simple moisture sensor using Arduino and Thinkershield micro-controllers. An exhausting, informative and enjoyable two days! Patricia Gettens Head Teacher Creative Arts Gats Coordinator Visual Arts Teacher

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On Friday 15

November, the SIHS Hearing Support Unit held a special mufti day to raise

money for disability charities including The Shepherd Centre and Sailors with Disabilities. Students and staff had to wear their brightest shirts and a special prize was given to students in each year with the ‘loudest’ shirts. In Period 1, Year 7 students were invited to see Sam Martin, our guest speaker, share his experience with hearing loss and teach them some Auslan (Australian Sign Language). In Period 2, SIHS Hearing Support Students did a wonderful job teaching Auslan fingerspelling to Year 8 students. At Morning Tea, the Hearing Support Students held a yummy cake stall, while delicious sausage sandwiches and drinks were on offer at lunch. Thank you to all SIHS students and staff for your support in helping raise awareness of hearing loss. It was a fantastic day! SIHS Hearing Support Unit

CAREERS UPDATES TAFE TASTER COURSES 2020 FOR YEAR 9 AND 10 STUDENTS TAFE Taster Program is back for Term 1, 2020. Courses will commence the week beginning Monday 21 February and will finish the week beginning Monday 30 March. Delivery is one day per week for 7 weeks. Students must be 15 when the course starts. A list of courses and an application form has been emailed to students. Courses available are: café skills, plumbing, childhood education, gaming & animation, film & tv, nursing, floristry, beauty, carpentry, automotive and health & fitness. APPRENTICESHIPS, TRAINEESHIPS Traineeships are Fee-Free in NSW From 1 January 2020 Under NSW Smart and Skilled, traineeships join apprentice-ships in being fee-free from 1 January 2020. With over 390 traineeship courses available in a wide range of industries, now is a great time for students to get themselves ready for a new year’s traineeship. Learn more about traineeships and the fee-free traineeship initiative at www.vet.nsw.gov.au. The top traineeships are: early childhood education, warehousing operations, retail, business administration, hospitality, customer engagement, meat processing, travel, community pharmacy and financial services. YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE 2019 Thank you to those who returned their completed work experience forms on time. If you are still to return forms please do so as soon as possible. I have emailed to students ‘The Workplace Learning Guide for Parents and Carers’ which needs to be read before work experience. YEAR 9 – 2020 YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE FROM 30 NOVEMBER TO 4 DECEMBER 2020 I have emailed to Year 9 students the work experience forms for 2020. This is because some employers require 1 year notice such as high demand workplaces such as TV & radio stations, government departments, publishing houses and zoos. This form needs to be completed by the employer, student, parent and the school for final approval. For now just contact the employer to see if there are vacancies for these dates.

For more information on any of these or other careers matters visit the Careers Adviser or email Mr Holmes at neil.holmes@det.nsw.edu.au or call the school on 9144 1689 ext 116.

Visit my free careers website at http://www.careeradvicensw.com to view career videos, take career tests,

view subject selection resources, links to all universities on bonus points, scholarships, elite athletes schemes, alternate entry to university, the job market, SRS and more.

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This year we are collecting non perishable food items for Fusion Sydney North

Fusion Sydney North provide a number of programs designed to bring people together and fight the isolation in our community. They are

particularly passionate about caring for our neighbours who are homeless or are experiencing financial hardship. Each week Fusion Sydney North,

with teams of volunteers, provide meals and a safe place at the Fusion Community Centre in Jersey Street Hornsby

on Mondays and Thursdays.

Your donations will help to either continue providing meals to those in need or to provide them with a useful gift hamper at Christmas time.

Christmas hamper food suggestions

Tinned items— fruit, vegetables, ham, tuna, salmon. Desserts —jelly, custard, puddings. Snacks— chips, pretzels, biscuits, crackers, lollies. Other — Christmas cake, long life milk, cordial, tea bags, coffee, cereal, soup pouches, bon bons.

Please place your donations under the Christmas tree in the school office by Friday, 13 December 2019.

Daniel from Fusion Hornsby is a Student Wellbeing Support Worker at school. He has been organising our Friday Brekkie Club for nine years serving pancakes, toast, cereal and juice each week.

For more information about Fusion, contact the Hornsby office on 9477 1110 or find them on the web or social media -

http://sydneynorth.fusion.org.au,

http://facebook.com/FusionSydneyNorth