GUNNEDAH HIGH SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

Find us at:Marquis Street, Gunnedah NSW, 2380Phone 02 6742 0155 Fax 02 6742 4429Website: www.gunnedah-h.schools.nsw.edu.auEmail: gunnedah-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Date: Issue No: Date: 11.04.2016 Issue No 4

HARMONY DAY

Harmony Day CelebrationGunnedah High School held a special assembly with guest speakers Atililla Ligman and Simone Brady and special guests Owen Hasler & Mark Young in attendance. Special Awards were presented at the ceremony to recipients Sue Ortiger, Linda Newell, Trevor Roberts and Rachael Baukley for their con-tribution to Gunnedah High School. Special thanks to Lincoln, from Stewart Surveyors for donating his time and expertise to take the aerial photograph.Students were in bright clothing and some dressed to represent a culture of their choice.

The central message for Harmony Day is that ‘everyone belongs’, reinforcing the importance of inclusiveness to all Australians

Whole school aerial photograph of special guests, staff & students on the oval

‘Our div

ersity

is our

strengt

h’GHS

2016 GOOD START AWARDS

YEAR 7Alyssa Batinic, Tarren Beasley, Matilda Betts, Hanna Bowkett, Tamika Burns, Jalique Cooper,

Lowanna Davison, Hayden Endicott, Lilliarna Ferguson, Macy Friend, Emily Garner, Brady Herbert, Lucy Jackson, Jake Jamieson, Keynan Jeffrey, Annalise Johnson-Williams, Madison Kerr, Brianna Kerr, Sophie Mackay, Stephanie McArthur, Steph Mitchell-Roberts, Tayla Moore, Lachlan Moore, Moira Morgan, Cruze Morley, Ethan Newcombe, Tanish Perrett, Lillian Purvis, Aidan R De Luzuriaga, Leath Readett, Brodie Riley, Takita Shoobert, Kursty Silver, Kiah Squires, Bailee Thomas, Jack Trappel, Madisen Wheeler & Braithen Winsor

YEAR 8Emily Adams, Tennaria Ball, Emily Bell, Jaden Bilsborough, Ryan Bird, Tyson Bower, Nathan

Bush, Maddison Coombs, Steven Craig, Hudson Dries, Breanna Dunstan, Joshua Green, Julia Guest, Emma Hamilton, Bailie Haynes, Mariss Hobden, Jordan Hollis, Emily Jaeger, Bridie Kemp, Thomas Lyne, Kaitlyn MacAulay, Bailey Mackay, Kalila Megson, Lucy Merlehan, Madi Milgate, Tneesha Milne, Julian Morgan, Kaytlyn Murrell, Raylee Ocenor, Ashlea Radburn Webber, Kurt Rennick, Madisyn Rumbel, Trinity Shipman, Debbie Stead, Jarrett Talbott, Keesha Thompson, Kobe Varcoe, Tom Wilson, Jordan Winsor & Layla Withers

YEAR 9Cody Abrahams, Tiffany Alderson, Brianna Anderson, Jessie Betts, Lillie Bird, Justin Borg-

er, Jayden Bradbery, Jacob Byrne, Chloe Cooper, Laura Ewington, Zoe Fleming, Connor Fordham, Dawson Fordham, Clarissa Gallardo, Aysiah Garrett, Rita Gillard, Alana Guest, Ebony Hamilton, Emalie Kingdom, Matthew Mackay, Ashleigh Mills, Lucy Moore, David Murray, Bryce Neader, Jai Orszanski, Helena Pease, Piper Rankmore, Nicholas Robinson-White, Deacon Sankey, Kaitlin Smith, Benjamin Stahl, YasminWebster & Angelica White

YEAR 10Chloe Baker, Brittany Barber, Wayne Bassett, Daniel Bower, Aaron Brown, Jacob Bush, Felicity

Byrne, Izabela Chelaru, Kyra Chick, Rory Dein, William Devine, Amber-Lee Donnelly, Ashlee Green, Courtney Grosser, Jason Harrison, Jeremy Hattam, Jared Heinrich, Keyarni Higgins, James Hogbin, Adeana Jeffrey, Emma Jones, Eden Kleinschafer, Perin Louis-Smith, George Lyne, Denita Megson, Jessica Moore, Haylee Murrell, Breanna Newcombe, Luke Silver, Ethan Walther, Brandon West, Bryce Weston, Jemma Wilkinson Ryan & Dustie Woods

Year 11Maddison Barwick, Lachlan Batinic, Damian Boag, Emily Brown, Cameron Bruce, Kyra Carlyon,

Shaun Clark, Lindsay Dillon, Aaron Doris, Casey Egan, Brianna Hagan, Jaxon Holbrook, Trent Lumby, John McLeod, Jacob McRae, Merishka Meintjes, Rose Mudaliar, Tyler Nagle, Dominic Orszanski, Ivan Smith, Leeanne Stead, Kustiani Tuckerman, Chloe Wheeler & Libby Wicks

YEAR 12Lachlan Boyd, Ciara Eveleigh, Kelly Ewington, Joey Golsby, Chris Gort, Tarryn Heinrich, Jye

Hicks, Kellie-Anne Ireland, Bianca Jackson, Kasper Jaeger, Amber Jordan, Michaela Langdon, Sammi Jo McKinnon, Amy Moore, Candice Mudaliar, Jacob Newcombe, Gabrielle O’Gorman, Greta Rimoldi, Amelia Small, Jasmin Tailby, Mauhgan Wellham & Luke Whitehurst

Open NSW Chess League Competition

Congratulations are extended to the Gunnnedah High School Chess Team, who were victorious over St Mary’s College in round one of the NSW Chess League Competition. For the first time ever, Gunnedah High School were triumphant in the local derby match and will advance to the second round which will be played early Term Two.

Round one was played at St Mary’s College. We predicted that it would be a challenging match, as we had gone down 3 – 1 last year. All four matches were extremely close, however, Desmond Tuckerman, Cameron Gale and Luke Silver all slowly gained the upper hand throughout their games and, after 30 minutes, closed the match with a 3 -1 victory.

Special mention to the team which consisted of Desmond Tuckerman, Cameron Gale, Luke Silver, Luke Ellis, Jake Byrne and Chris Gort. It was one of the strongest teams Gunnedah has ever put to-gether and they made the school extremely proud.

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers,

Term 1 is almost at an end. Year 12 have completed their half yearly exams and staff are completing Year 12 reports which will be sent home at the end of the term. My message to Year 12 is that you now have six months left in your high school career. Make achieving your personal best in the HSC your top priority in that time and work with staff to get the most you can out of your high school education.

On that note can I thank Allyson Watson for all the work she has done in establishing the Senior Study Pro-gram in the Careers Room working in collaboration with our new Careers Advisor, Narelle Clarke. Feedback from students is that they greatly value the structure the senior study centre is offering in helping them be better organised in getting work completed, assessment tasks in on time and preparing for major assessment periods such as the half yearly exams. There has been much comment from students about the expertise Allyson Watson brings as an experienced Head Teacher English and English HSC marker.

Careers Advisor, Narelle Clarke, will be providing Year 10 students and families with information about the new structure for the organisation of work placement this year. If all Year 10 goes out on workplacement in the same week it is difficult to find enough employers to take all students. So we have changed the format so that students can go out when it best suits them in the courses and pattern of study they are undertaking. Students will have to see Mrs Clarke before they go out on work placement to discuss with her what they are doing and there is mandatory Department of Education paperwork that covers the school, family and employer that all must sign off on before work placement can go ahead.

All schools in the state are in the second year of the new school planning process that started in 2015. These plans run on a three year rotation so we are nearly half way through the current plan. As a school community the high school is working very closely with our partner primary schools and GS Kidd to develop strategies and work collectively towards a continuum of learning from K-12. Some of the big ticket items we are imple-menting across all schools include Positive Behaviour For learning, a well-being structure that has a common language and belief system and Assessment for Learning, a teaching and learning structure that sets clear guidelines to students on how lessons are presented and how students can get the most from their education. It is an exciting time to be an educational leader in the Gunnedah community, to be working so closely with the other schools and for the Principal to be working together and in step with each other to build a better future for the community of Gunnedah.

As a community of schools we are all about working with community to develop effective partnerships especially with our two peak community bodies, the P&C and AECG, to develop the best schools and programs we can to cater for the learning needs of students in the Gunnedah community.

Shane Kelly

Principal

Medical Conditions and Health DetailsDuring Semester 1, students will be handed Health Care Forms to be completed and returned to Mrs McInerney in Welfare:

• Student Medical Conditions and Health Details• Action Plan for Anaphylaxis• Action Plan for Allergic Reactions • Asthma Action Plan

These forms help us to collect your child’s important medical information. This will mean that we’ll be able to better manage the daily and emergency health needs of your child.Your child’s condition may have changed since you last advised the school. If you need more forms please approach the school office. If your student requires school staff to administer medication at school please collect a form from the front office.

The Senior Council held a car wash as part of their fundrais-

ing activities for Beyond Blue, the community charity that they have adopted as their major charity for fundraising. At the end of last year, the Senior Council ran a cake stall as the first of their activities. Their aim is to raise $1000. They also plan to do some awareness raising at the school.

Stella Lamb telling

Dreamtime Stories

in Year 7 English classes

CAREERS NEWS

Year 10 Work ExperienceThis year Gunnedah High School is introducing changes to the work experience program that are intend-

ed to increase opportunities for our students to have valuable workplace experiences while providing greater flexibility to the local businesses and organisations that have generously supported this program in previous years.

Until this year all Year 10 students participated in work experience during a designated one- week block during Term 2. As a result demand often exceeded supply as the timing did not always give consideration to time constraints of the employers. This year students can negotiate to spend a week in a work place of their choice during any week in Term 2 or Term 3 excluding major assessment periods.

As the Careers Adviser, I will contact local businesses and government organisations to inform them of these changes and seek their support for the program. During Careers lessons Year 10 students will be given infor-mation regarding the processes and procedures for participation. This will include contact details of relevant people within participating organisations.

Students will be responsible for making contact with employers regarding their request for placement and for negotiating a date that is suitable to both parties. Students in Year 10 are in the process of preparing a resume to support this process. The School is hopeful that these changes will be beneficial to everyone involved and that the past strong support the business community has shown our students will continue.

Years 11 & 12Terms 2 and 3 will be very demanding for Year 12 students as they prepare for the HSC and consider

their post school options. Knowing when important events are happening is useful for both students and their parents. The University Road Show Timeline has been included in this Newsletter to give parents access to a convenient summary of important events over the next two terms. The University Admissions Centre (UAC) processes all university applications in NSW at one online site. Year 12 students will receive a PIN number to access the site. Applications to UAC will be processed after September 30th. There are a great many options and career pathways available to students and they need to utilise their time and available resources to ensure that they find the best possible post school option for them personally

University open days are great sources of information and inspiration. The first one that Year 11 & 12 students will have the opportunity to attend this year is the University of New England Open Day on May 6. Students will receive information and a permission letter this week. Reminders and update of events will be included in future newsletters and any inquiries can also be directed to the Careers Adviser – Narelle Clarke

LIVERPOOL ZONE AND NORTH WEST WINTER TRIALSOn the 16th March Gunnedah High hosted the Liverpool Zone Winter trials in Rugby League and Netball. Several students from GHS dominated at the trials and were rewarded with selection into the zone squads. James Hogbin, Trent Winsor, Lachlan Fleming, Tony Griffiths, Bailey Lennox, Luke Whitehurst and Jono Crowe all earned selection into the Open’s Rugby League side. Liam Herbert, Deacon Sankey, Liam Ireland, Cody Abrahams, Jake Byrne and Tom Randall also impressed and gained selection for the Under 15’s. In Netball, Amy Small, Courtney Grosser and Tara Wilkinson-Ryan were selected.

These students were then eligible to trial at the North West selections in Coonabarabran on the 30th March. A full bus departed GHS with students testing their skills for selection in Rugby League, Netball and Soccer. Oliver Thomas and Bailey and Rowan Keeler threw up their hands for selection into the Open Boys soccer and Piper Rankmore and Robyn Draper contested the Open’s girls. Congratulations to Piper, who has been selected in the Open’s squad to travel to the State Championships. Congratulations also go to Robyn, who was selected as a shadow reserve.

Amelia Small played extremely well in the Netball, progressing to the Possibles V Probables, unfortunately narrowly missing out on selection into the North West squad.

In the Open’s Rugby League, Bailey Lennox, Tony Griffiths and Lachlan Fleming were the leading players of the Liverpool zone side, which earned them a spot in the Possibles V Probables match. Congratulations to Lachlan Fleming who was selected in the North West team to play Western Division in May. It is a remarkable achievement to be selected into a final 15 out of over 85 of the best footballers in all of North West NSW.

Gunnedah High School wishes

Piper and Lachlan the best of luck

in their upcoming fixtures.

CODE OF CONDUCT WHILST TRAVELLING ON SCHOOL BUSES

It is every student’s responsibility to behave in a manner that ensures the safety and comfort of all passengers and the driver. This includes behaving appropriately, respecting property and holding passes.

UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR such as using offensive or racist language, disobeying reasonable directions from the driver, smoking, spitting, damaging property, eating on the bus, distracting the driver with per-sistent noise and failing to show the travel pass. MAY LEAD TO the loss of subsidised school travel privileg-es for up to two school weeks for a second offence, and up to ten school weeks for subsequent offences. Permanent suspension of school travel privileges or banning from travelling on buses may apply for repeated offences.

DANGEROUS BEHAVIOUR such as seriously bullying or harassing other passengers, fighting, letting any part of your body protrude from the bus, throwing objects inside or outside the bus, using matches and lighters, carrying dangerous items and group misbehaviour. MAY LEAD TO the loss of subsidised school travel privi-leges for up to four school weeks for a first offence and up to ten school weeks for subsequent offences—or if group misbehaviour is involved, permanent loss of school travel privileges. Permanent suspension of school travel privileges or banning from travelling on buses may apply for repeated offences.

HIGHLY DANGEROUS BEHAVIOUR such as interfering with safety equipment, pushing students out of the doors or windows, assaulting the driver or other passengers and destruction of bus property. MAY LEAD TO the permanent loss of subsidised school travel privileges, and possible court action or police prosecution. Students may be banned from travelling on buses.

The police will be called to deal with highly dangerous behaviour.

Bell Shakespeare’s performance of Romeo and Juliet - “Such Sweet Sorrow”

Love, hate, revenge, joy, brawls, weddings, life and death – it’s fair to say that Romeo And Juliet has it all. Join us as we follow these rebellious teens from youthful innocence to tragic conclusion in an interactive experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat, from first sight to final breath.

Students from Gunnedah High School had the privilege of seeing Shakespeare performed live when Bell Shakespeare’s education troupe visited the school this term. The dynamic performance from four talented actors captivated the audience in the gymnasium, and was followed by a rare chance to ask questions of the actors and take some photos. This experience was funded by the English and Drama faculty, and subsidised by Bell’s “Sharing Shakespeare” program which aims to help students in rural and remote areas access live performances.

Student Representative Council 2016

Year 7 - Emily Garner, Lucy Jackson, Keynan Jeffrey, Jade StarkYear 8 - Josh Egan, Zane Hicks, Adam McGuirk, Lucy Merlehan, Debbie Stead, Ashlea WebberYear 9 - Jessie Betts, Riley Bunce, Zoe Fleming, Coby Higgins, Ashleigh Mills Year 10 - Amber Donnelly, Courtney Grosser, James Hogbin, Rowan Keeler, Denita MegsonYear 11 - Emily Brown, Lindsay Dillon, Aaron Doris, Rose Mudaliar, Tyler Nagle, Leeanne Stead