Alstonville High School Newsletter › content › dam › doe › ...2018/05/07 · Alstonville...

Alstonville High School Newsletter

Developing future citizens and leaders of the community – life long learning!

Cawley Close Alstonville Phone: (02) 6628 5222 Web: www.alstonvill-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Fax: (02) 6628 1223 Email: [email protected]

Issue 1 07 February 2018

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2018. I hope everyone had an enjoyable festive season and that the students all had a great

break.

Teaching Staff I would like to welcome the following teachers to our school for the start of the year:

Allison Larrescy (PDHPE) and Andrew Grant-Frost (HSIE) are joining us in permanent positions and the following teachers in casual positions:

Nadine Ebb (Visual Arts)

Jane Hewetson (Visual Arts)

Denise Kerr (Science)

Tracie Lee ( Library – Friday)

Catherine Smith (Learning Support)

Olivia Thompson (HSIE)

Carlo Ugolini (HSIE)

During the term we will be advertising three permanent teaching positions in Maths/Science, Human Society and

Environment/Language and Creative and Performing Arts. Hopefully these new teachers will start from the beginning of Term 2.

Values

We value and support:

A positive, healthy and safe

learning environment

Respectful attitudes and

actions

Diversity

Pursuit of personal excellence

Service to community

Team work

Quality learning and teaching

Initiative, leadership and self-

discipline

Learning

We aspire to be:

Life-long learners

Creative and critical thinkers

Effective communicators

Skilled in literacy and numeracy

Independent and organised

Competent and innovative with

technology

Environmentally, socially and

culturally informed

Caring and compassionate

Alstonville High School

Our community values integrity

in all aspects of life

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

09 Feb Fri School Photos catch up day

20 Feb Tues Year 7 Welcome BBQ

5:30pm to 7pm

21 Feb Wed Alstonville High School Swimming

Carnival – Alstonville Aquatic

Centre (To be advised)

26 Feb Mon Northern Rivers Zone Swimming

Carnival – Lismore

28 Feb Wed P&C Meeting – 7pm

– Common Room

5 Mar Mon Vaccinations – Year 7 and catch up

Year 8 Gardasil (HPV)

6 Mar Tues North Coast Swimming Carnival

Information Evening – Yr 5/6

5:30pm – 7:00pm

29 Mar Thurs AHS – Cross Country

http://www.alstonvill-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/

Alstonville High School Newsletter: Issue 1, 7 February 2018

School Projects The start to this school year has been remarkably smooth. We still have some work continuing at the front of the school but this

is moving quite quickly towards completion and already I have been hearing some very positive comments from students and

parents. Over the holidays we had a new roof installed over the art rooms and this has been tested by the recent rains and our

previous problems appear to have been resolved.

Next on the list of works capital improvements is some refurbishment of one of our science labs, the chemical storage and

equipment storage for science and the installation of a new darkroom. Towards the end of term we should have new roof installed

over the home science and music rooms.

Year 12 2017 Our Year 12 students from 2017 have every reason to be very proud of their achievements. Not only did they complete six years

of secondary education but they also achieved results to be very proud of. Alstonville High School was the 3rd ranked High School

on the North Coast with over 30 Band 6 results. This was not reported in the Northern Star at the end of the year because they

were provided with some incorrect data. We improved our HSC ranking by over 150 places. Another significant achievement was

that Josh Pagotto received an ATAR of 99.55 which we believe was the highest ATAR on the North Coast. Josh achieved Band 6

results for 8 subjects, a remarkable achievement made possible due to his participation in the High Performance project (plus a

lot of hard work). Importantly we have also been informed that most of our students achieved results that allowed them to

transition into a desired pathway after school. We were very proud of the fact that the number of students achieving lower bands

decreased considerably and the numbers of students who achieved solid Band 4 and 5 results continued to increase.

We are analysing the data from the 2017 HSC and comparing it to existing NAPLAN and school assessment data so that we can

continue to strive to improve student results.

Steps to Success Program This week we are starting the Steps to Success program. Every child has been placed a learning hub (based on year groups) and

will meet on a fortnightly basis with a teacher who will work as a learning coach. These meetings will link into fortnightly year

group meetings. The teachers will meet fortnightly in year group teams to discuss the progress of students and to devise activities

to develop student self-assessment skills and mindsets. We are also implementing the ACE project where twice a term teachers

will report on student progress against a term point scaffold describing essential criteria for learning success. The information

gathered from this reporting process will be included in school reports and link to a revised school merit system that will recognise

student application and improvement.

As well as introducing these two important initiatives we are continuing to concentrate on improving student literacy and

numeracy. We will continue to focus on student extended writing and PEEL. We have developed extensive text type resources

and will be highlighting important literacy and numeracy strategies each week. We will also be rolling out a school wide numeracy

strategy to remind students that numeracy knowledge and skills can be applied in every subject area. In particular, we want to

draw special attention to mental arithmetic.

Sport Changes Sport has also had a revamp and has a year group focus for 2018. Whilst I acknowledge that some students may be nervous about

this change we believe that we can build stronger teams of teachers around the new model and ramp up the quality and

consistency of delivery. We also hope to link sport more explicitly to the House Cup.

These are just a few of the initiatives we are introducing in 2018. We are determined to work on being an even more student

centred school. We believe we have done some good work in 2017 and we want to do even better in 2018. We want to be able

to answer tour guiding question; how do we know our students are achieving at least one year’s worth of growth from one year’s

worth of teaching?

Student Achievements Over the weekend I was informed that Erica Kelly (Year 12) was the runner up in the North Coast Group of Show Societies Zone

Finals. The zone included Mullumbimby, Maclean, Kyogle, Casino, Lismore, Woodenbong and Alstonville.

While her success is something to be proud of by itself, Erica’s motivation for entering the competition also drew praise. Erica

indicated that she wanted to show that you could achieve and make a difference without having to worry about contesting some


sort of popularity contest. Erica has demonstrated that quiet achievers can make a positive impact and achieve recognition.

Congratulations Erica!

Please volunteer for our school canteen. We need you – our students need your support!

David Silcock

Principal

Alstonville High School Sport in 2018 We are very excited about the new format sport will follow at Alstonville High School this year.

Sport is offered in year groups and should ensure greater participation amongst peer groups.

Sport will be held during Periods 3 and 4 (11:40am -1:40pm).

Year 7 is held on Thursdays

Year 8 on Fridays

Year 10 on Mondays

Year 9 on Tuesdays

School sports uniform can be worn all day on these days

As per department guidelines, all students in Years 7 to 10 are required to participate in 2 hours of structured physical activity.

We look forward to an engaging and enjoyable year of sport.

Doug North (Head Teacher PDHPE)

Lisa Morrow (Sport Organiser)

Science All homework tasks for the Semester 1 have been issued to students. This year we will be looking to focus students on being more

aware of their progress in science. To help with this the faculty is pretesting students on spelling and knowledge. The spelling tests

were done last week and students should have their results. We are asking that between now and Week 9 when they will be

retested that they work on improving their results rather than seeing a mark as a pass or fail. Copies of the spelling words and

their definitions have been emailed to all Year 8 to10 parents with Year 7 parents to be emailed next week. I encourage parents

to help students learn the key terms definitions and the spelling. Copies of the homework have also been sent out attached to the

email.

Year 8 and 10 Major Assignments for the Term will be issued next week and copies of the task will also be emailed to parents.

Thanks for your help in encouraging students to complete these tasks, the enthusiasm shown by students (some of which have

already handed in the first task) is outstanding.

Allan Pelley / Head Teacher Science

Northern Rivers Zone Swimming Carnival

The Northern Rivers Zone Swimming Carnival will be held at Lismore Memorial Pool on Monday 26 February (Week 5, Term

1)

Due to the Alstonville Aquatic Centre's redevelopment, our swimming carnival will be held after this date.


Students who would like to compete at the Zone Swimming Carnival must nominate at the tables outside the PDHPE

Staffroom.

The fastest two competitors in each event and the fastest four competitors in the 50m freestyle will qualify for the 50m

Freestyle and the 4x50m age relay team for the Zone carnival.

If you don't nominate you will not be considered.

If you nominate and are selected, you are expected to attend and compete in this event at the Zone carnival.

Sports Houses Students are encouraged to wear the following house colours to all their sports carnivals:

House and Colour

Years 7, 8 and 9

(Surname starting with letters)

Year 10, 11 and 12

(2015 Roll call group)

Crawford / Red A to D Rolls 1 to 8

Lumley / Green E to J Rolls 11-18

Maguire / Yellow K to R Rolls 21-28

Marshall / Blue S to Z Rolls 31-38

Paul Francis / Sports Organiser

Careers News

Calendar of Events

1 March Thursday Year 12 University/TAFE Roadshow at Alstonville High School Hall Period 5.

“Careers Communication Corner”

1. Welcome to 2018, especially new families. Contact details for Careers Information are [email protected] or

66285222. We have a Careers website that is free to access www.alstonvillehighcareers.com. This has a variety of useful

information headings and drop down menus.

2. TAFE/TVET 2018 - Due to changes to offers, late applications/withdrawals and funding for TAFE 2018, the orientation and first

day of lessons will be on Wednesday 14 February. Information on Campus meeting locations and times to start/finish were handed

to students in the TLS Meeting with Sharon Brasher TVET/Schools Liaison Officer on Tuesday 6 February. Information on bus times

was supplied to myself and will be issued to students over the next couple of days.

3. General Information

Year 12 - UMAT entry to some Medicine/Health courses registrations has opened.

School Recommendation/Early Entry/Scholarships varies from place to place. Students need to check individual universities and

their application details and any extra eligibility requirements. Some information will arrive late Term 2 or early Term 3 to school.

SAVE THE DATE - University and TAFE visit to Alstonville High School will be in the school hall on Thursday 1 March during Period

5 : 2:20pm – 3:20pm. It is expected classes will be cancelled and ALL Year 12 will attend for awareness raising. Parents are also

welcome to come along and gather information. Notes with more details to be distributed to Year 12 in the next week.

4. School Leaver Vacancies - Immediate start:

There are two local employers looking to hire an apprentice. One is in the field of refrigeration and air conditioner mechanic and

the other is in cabinet making vacancy. Must be reliable, keen and have a good work ethic as minimum criteria.

- Refrigeration/air conditioning apprentice. Hot roof work, various locations - Cabinet making apprentice. Both in shop and on site work.


This can be a Year 11 or 12 or a recent school leaver in Year 12 2017. Please see Mr Groves / Head Teacher in Industrial Arts for

further information.

Karen Horne / Careers Adviser

NSW SCHOOL

VACCINATION PROGRAM 2018

Each year NSW Health works in partnership with schools to offer the vaccines recommended by the National Health and Medical

Research Council (NHMRC) for adolescents as part of the school vaccination program.

In 2018 the following vaccines will be offered to:

All year 7 students -

- dTpa vaccine (Diphtheria, Tetanus & Pertussis (whooping cough) as a single dose - human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in a 2-dose schedule at 0 and 6 months All year 10 and 11 students – - Meningococcal ACWY vaccine as a single dose

Parent Information Kits that include an Information sheet, consent form and privacy statement will be sent home to parents /

guardians. To consent to the vaccination of their child, parents / guardians are advised to:

read all the information provided

complete the consent form, including signing their name next to the vaccine/s they would like their child to receive

return the completed consent form to their child’s school

ensure that their child eats breakfast on the day of the school vaccination clinic.

Please note that students who commence HPV vaccination in school clinics in Year 7 but do not complete the course during the

school year may be offered catch-up doses at school in Year 8. Parents will be notified by letter/ or text from The Public Health

Unit if this applies to their child.

Students who have any HPV doses at their GP will be advised to complete the course with their GP.

Parents/guardians who wish to withdraw their consent for any reason may do so by writing to the school Principal or phoning the

school. The Procedure for Withdrawal of Consent is available on the NSW Health website at:

www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation

To improve vaccination completion, students will be opportunistically offered any missed doses throughout the year where

possible.

A Record of Vaccination will be provided to each student vaccinated at each clinic. Parents/guardians should ensure that this record is kept for future reference and should not assume that their child has been vaccinated if they do not receive this Record of Vaccination.

Current Northern NSW Vacancies- HVTC Vacancies page APPRENTICESHIPS • Cert III Light Vehicle Automotive. Job ref # SD000092 Location: Ballina TRAINEESHIPS • Cert III Customer Engagement. Job ref # SD000110 Location: Lismore

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation

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WHOLESALE NURSERY

POSITIONS VACANT

We have a position available in our wholesale

nursery. We will be offering a traineeship to

the suitable applicant.

We require our employees to be able work

with a fast pace team. No experience required,

just need to be cheerful and willing to learn.

Enquiries please phone: 6628 0777

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