Newsletter E: [email protected] P: 6336 1606 ...€¦ · successful sport program in...

I would like to make a special mention of our 2015 school captains who were the MC’s for the evening. Shannon Foley, Josh Harvey, Keely Armstrong, Adrian Perry, Merania Stanley and Jaidyn Levanic were outstanding in their organisation and smooth running of the night and they are to be congratulated.

From the Principal’s Desk night. There were some outstanding performances on the night! The Oberon High School Dance team, musicians and singers produced some outstanding and very high quality performances. This is a credit to our students and their hard work this year. Well done to all! We should all be very proud of their efforts and performances on the night.

Principal: Ken Barwick Deputy Principal: Craig Luccarda

Newsletter Oberon High School Educating the whole person for the whole of life

Student Focus

Year 8 student Caidan Bourne says the best thing about Oberon High School is the people, particularly the friends who make him laugh.

This year Caidan studied the mandatory subjects for Year 8 and next year he has chosen Visual Arts, Industrial Technology Timber and PASS as his electives. His favourite subjects are Visual Arts (particularly drawing and painting), Geography, History and English. This year he received awards in Maths, English and Visual Arts. His favourite teacher is Ms McCauley.

At this stage, when Ciadan completes secondary school he would like to be involved in law enforcement. He’s interested in espionage (but can’t say too much about that—it’s secret). He enjoys living part way up Oberon Mount, where he has a magnificent view and an even better view when he walks up the mount behind the house. Ultimately he hopes to continue living in the country.

Caidan would love to have a go at archery, and perhaps pistol shooting, both activities requiring concentration and focus.

Caidan’s sister, Scarlett also goes to Oberon High. They have a Tibetan spaniel called Tibby, who is cute and spoilt and looks like this …..

…. no wonder he’s spoilt!

P: 6336 1606 F: 6336 2164

E: [email protected] www.oberon-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 4 Week 10 12.12 2014

This will be the last newsletter for 2014 and the year is coming to an end quickly. I would like to thank everyone who attended our Presentation Night on Tuesday 9th December 2014 to celebrate our student’s achievements throughout 2014.

It was extremely pleasing to see the community and parent support on the

What’s in this issue?

Principal’s report 1-7

Caidan Bourne 1

Shearing School 6

Year 10 on Milson Island 7

Suitcase 8

Jamberoo action 9

Announcements 10

Above: Anticipation as the audience gathers for Presentation Night Below: the Annual Visual Arts Display

(Principal’s report continued on page 2)

Educating the whole person for the whole of life


In 2014, all our Year 12 students will receive a HSC, 90% of the students who applied for university entry have been successful already, through early entry schemes. Many students have been successful in gaining early entry to two or more universities which is testament to their commitment and the support provided by our careers advisor, Mrs Cheryl Fitzpatrick. In 2014 we have continued to share and promote all that is great about Oberon High School through newsletters, school app & website, weekly newspaper articles and radio talk back each Thursday The support from our local press and radio is very much appreciated.

In February some new faces arrived at Oberon High School in both teaching and support staff. We welcomed Mrs Grace, teacher librarian, Mrs Crouch, performing arts teacher, Miss Marshall and Mr Nyambane, mathematics teachers, Miss Windsor, learning support teacher and Mrs Stevens school learning support officer joining the staff. Miss McAllister has also supported our school in English throughout the year

The swimming carnival was again a closely contested event with student numbers continuing to improve. The 2014 Swimming Carnival was again taken out by Tuglow, with Abercrombie and Werong getting closer each year. Many swimming records toppled at the swimming carnival which meant Oberon High School would send a large team to trial for the Western Region CHS Swimming Team. Our students always seem to push themselves as the swimmers compete for age champion medals

The Year 7 Camp in February proved to be very eventful. After a day full of activities, and in the middle of the night, the heavens opened up. The brave campers had to cope with torrential rain - some of their tents were washed away and others just collapsed. After the rain stopped, students enjoyed canoeing, swimming, bushwalking, possum spotting, a local history tour, including stories of infamous bushrangers. The Orienteering Challenge, including building a raft to cross the swamp was the highlight. Many students thought we should leave Mr Boyd locked up in Sofala

In conjunction with Clean up Australia Day, our school students participated in Schools Clean-Up Day. Fifteen community-minded Year 7 students volunteered to tidy the school playground.

Performing arts at Oberon High School received a huge boost in March when the Kowmung Music Festival and Mitchell Conservatorium combined to donate around $10,000 to the school’s music program. This injection of funds, talent and expertise proved beneficial throughout the year with many school based workshops in classical music. The students at our school are very grateful for this support. Student numbers in performing arts continue to grow, along with an exponential increase in students learning the guitar at school. Thanks must go to Mrs Crouch, Miss McTrustry and local singer/songwriter Mickey Pye, who continue to provide strong motivation for students to explore their musical and theatrical talents Late in March our school captain Adrian Williams was elected Oberon Youth Mayor which added to his already impressive leadership qualities. The Oberon Youth Council grew in strength throughout 2014 and has now set an impressive agenda of community youth events throughout 2015. I would like to thank the Oberon council for supporting such a great youth leadership initiative

The inaugural 20/20 cricket match between Oberon High and St Joseph’s was contested and after a shaky start, Oberon High ended up winning with only three balls to spare. The combined Oberon High and Oberon Public School Equestrian Team also enjoyed success when they competed at the Evans Crown Horse Sports Day out classing more than 35 schools from across NSW to be awarded the ‘Best Presented School trophy’ at the Grand Parade. Thank you Mrs Hotham! April saw the unveiling of local talent at the Oberon Youth Council Talent Show and Disco at the Oberon RSL. Congratulations must go to the trio of Madison Pincott, Lucy Voerman and Shannon Foley who placed 1st, soloist Jessi Parkin, 2nd and sister duo Keely and Bailey A r m s t r o n g p l a c e d 3 r d . Congratulations. In early April, students from our Stage 5 and 6 Industrial Technology Timber classes along with teachers visited the Borg Panels to see first-hand the manufacturing process. Students learnt about the process from fibre production, through board pressing, cutting, quality control, paper veneer laminations, through to storage and distribution. I would like to acknowledge the support and contribution from BORG Panels during 2014, and thank Mr Greg Muir (Production Manager) and Mr John Borg (Owner) .


Overall Year 9 School Growth for Numeracy is 9.8 greater than state average. Trend Data indicates the school performance is at the highest point in five years.

Although ANZAC Day fell during the school holidays, a number of Oberon High School students, staff and parents participated in the Oberon community’s 2014 ANZAC Day celebrations. I would like to commend our school leadership team for their community commitment. In May Year 12 students returned from a ten day visit to Cambodia accompanied by Mrs Mackay-Galea and Miss McTrustry. This exciting adventure supported and expanded their studies in the subject ‘Society and Culture’. During the trip they visited a school and donated educational supplies to children. In the capital of the Kingdom of Cambodia, they visited the King’s Palace, built in 1866 and official residence of the royal family. They also visited the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum, a memorial for men, women and children held in inhumane conditions. This was a confronting experience for the Year 12 students and their teachers.

In early May our Year 7 and 9 students sat the annual NAPLAN tests to determine their growth in Literacy and Numeracy. Our school aims to increase the number of students in the top two bands by 10%, in all aspects of Year 9 Naplan, with a corresponding decrease in the lowest two bands. In 2014 we excelled with a massive decrease of 19.8% in lower two bands, and also an increase of 10.5% in top two bands! Well done to all students and staff!

Inclement weather forced the postponement of some of the events in Oberon High’s athletics carnival earlier this year, so it was held over two days. The overall Junior Champions were Bronte Leihn (girls) and Mickey Muratovic (boys). The overall Senior Champions were Lourie Bailey (girls) and Tim Thomas (boys). Abercrombie House won the day. In June our Deputy Principal, Mr Luccarda along with HSC Physics students, Alex Pointon, Adrian Williams and Jesse Curnuck, visited the Mt Piper power station near Portland. This excursion supplemented their studies in the Motors and Generators topic in the NSW Physics syllabus. Oberon High students travelled to Canowindra to compete against Canowindra High in Round One of the Rural Cup. Oberon students had some great contests throughout the day with Oberon winning by five points – the closest possible margin.



After that extremely close win over Canowindra 289 to 284 points, we regrouped to defeat Molong Central by a massive score of 354 points to 219 points. Winning Rural Cup in 2014! We will attempt to go back to back for the first time in 2015. The Rural Fire Service Cadet Program again proved to be a very successful sport program in 2014, and our school has again signed up for this wonderful community program in 2015.

Our combined small schools rugby league team, comprising 8 boys from Oberon High School and 8 boys from St Joseph’s made it all the way to the small schools state final in Dubbo to fall just short, losing the final in sudden death extra time a 22 all draw at full time. Congratulations to the boys from both schools.

In July Oberon High School held a special assembly to celebrate 60 Years of Education Week. Special guests at the assembly were Deputy Mayor, Mr Kerry Gibbons and Mr Aaron Evans (Dux 1995). Mr Evans addressed the assembly, speaking about the importance of lifelong learning, impressing on the students that their education will not stop once they leave school but will continue throughout their lifetime

The Stage 4 boys’ netball team competed in Bathurst and then in Orange where they had a convincing 12 to 5 win in the final against Kelso High. They headed off to Sydney to compete in the State Titles of the All Schools Netball Cup and finished 4th in the state. Congratulations!

In August Oberon High students were busy rehearsing for a dramatic performance of five short skits and monologues, under the guidance of Mr Tim O’Rourke and Mrs Amber Crouch. The show “Out of the Dark” proved highly successful with more than 100 visitors attending and cramming the school theatre. These talented students performed again at our ‘Suitcase’ performance on Thursday 11th December 2014.

The after-school Homework Centre again provided further support for our students in 2014. Teachers from all faculties volunteered to assist students and provide support with assignments, assessment tasks, preparation for examinations and homework. Thanks must go to Mawhood’s Supa IGA for their support in providing funding through the community chest. Minister for Local Government Paul Toole was on hand in August to promote Local Government Week where our students all enjoyed touring local council facilities and they listened to talks from staff about procedures in council facilities.

In September many were excited about recent improvements made to our school grounds and buildings. Parents identified the need for extra security for the bike shed and Clift Engineering were contracted to supply and fit lockable gates to improve security of bikes, scooters and skateboards throughout the day. All corridors now display lockable noticeboards to allow staff to place information in convenient places for students to access.

Term 3 finished with a flurry of school events, none more exciting and entertaining than our Indigenous Culture Day which had all students enjoying cultural activities, painting and Indigenous sports. Big thanks are owed to Miss Rebecca Corby for her outstanding work with our Indigenous students in 2014.

Year 9 Food Technology students at Oberon High again displayed their creative expertise decorating cakes. This is listed as one of the highlights for students studying Food Technology. Well done to all the students on their creations



We farewelled Year 12 in yet another emotional assembly as representatives from each year spoke on behalf of their respective classes to wish the Year 12 students all the best. Mrs Pringle needed to give her speech via video to contain her emotions. I would like to thank Year 12 for their school leadership this year.

In October we had our Year 11 students participating in a study skills day which was presented by a range of teachers aiming to provide support, outlining opportunities and the skills needed to achieve a great HSC result and success in life after school. Four talented Year 9 Food Technology students, supported by teachers Mrs Hotham and Mrs Young, competed in the Western Region Culinary Challenge at BMEC in Bathurst. In a very high pressure cook-off situation the students had one hour to produce a dish which was then judged in a similar fashion to the popular TV series—Master Chef. The Oberon High team were awarded with second place, just behind St Stanislaus College from Bathurst and ahead of the much fancied Kinross College from Orange. This outstanding achievement made for a very proud moment for the students, their teachers and parents

November 2014 – started with the HSC, two staff members celebrated 20 years of service and the Oberon High School P&C support the school by backing the start of our school locker program.

Oberon High School held a special Remembrance Day ceremony to mark the 96th anniversary of the official ceasefire in World War I. Mr Bill Wilcox from the Oberon RSL Sub-branch and Mrs Sue Wilcox were the official guests at the school ceremony and Mr Wilcox delivered the ode. Moving speeches were made by Josh Harvey and Shannon Foley, 2015 School Captains.

Oberon High School offers an extensive Year 6 into 7 transition program for students from the feeder schools of Oberon Public, O’Connell, Black Springs and Hampton. The program is facilitated by Miss Holly McTrustry, who will be the Year 7 Advisor in 2015.

December 2014 - As photos surfaced, it was glitz, glamour and happy celebrations when the Year 12 class of 2014 held their Graduation Ball. Friends and family, along with past and present teachers, attended the gala evening to wish the graduating students all best for their future.

A further visit for students to BORG Panels, hosted by Mr Muir outlined the future employment opportunities available in production. I would like to again thank BORG Panels who donated a new front for our school stage

Massive thanks again to Mickey Pye for all his extra effort supporting both students and staff at Oberon High School. An amazing individual who give far more than he ever gets in return! I say thanks from our entire school community.

The retirement of Mrs Purcell has provided a great opportunity for Miss Marshall who was excited to take on Year 8 as they move into Stage 5 next year. Thank you Mrs Purcell from all staff and students for your exceptional commitment to education over the years! We said goodbye, to Mr Scott Harvey, Mr Ken Aveling-Rowe and Mrs Gillian Purcell in 2014 as they move on in their careers. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of our presentation night organisers for 2014, Mrs Mackay-Galea, Miss Windsor and Mrs Morrison. Thanks for an incredible effort.



Ken Barwick, Principal 0418 629 198

In conclusion, Thanks to the teaching staff who

have worked so hard with s t u d e n t s a n d t o t h e administrative and support staff for their work.

Thanks to local businesses for donating prizes, sponsorship of the school magazine and scholarship program.

Thanks to those many businesses and organisations that take our work experience and work placement students.

Thanks to the P & C for their support and encouragement, and thanks to all those parents who have assisted.

Thanks to Veronica Kelly and the canteen helpers whose work in the canteen is much appreciated.

Massive thanks to my very hard working Deputy Principal, Mr Craig Luccarda.

Thanks to the parents for choosing Oberon High School – We have a great school and one we can all be proud of.

Congratulations to all winners of awards at our annual presentation night. Finally, may I wish you all the best for the Christmas season and I look forward to working with you again in 2015.

Year 9 students Tom Whalan, Tom Behan and Billy Bailey recently returned from a two week introduction to Wool Handling and Shearing TAFE course in Dubbo. The students found information about the course at a Jobs Expo and asked Mrs Fitzpatrick, the Careers Advisor, to help organise for them to attend.

During the two week course they learnt how to throw and skirt fleeces, cap off wool bales, maintain shearing equipment and different terminology in the wool industry. They also spent many hours actually shearing. Their days at the course started at 7:30am (which meant a 5:30am wake-up) and didn’t finish until 5:30pm.

The three students were the youngest in the course and, understandably, after the first week they all had sore

backs from consistently using different muscles. However, they all agreed that in the second week they were “getting the hang of it”. The “test” at the end of the two weeks was to shear 3 sheep in ½ an hour, equivalent to 48 in a day, and they all achieved this standard.

The students were impressed with the high quality of the instructors, including Wayne Hose, who is the 6th fastest shearer in Australia. During the course they also met ‘Rocky’, one of the fastest shearers in the world, who came to speak with the students for one day.

Billy encourages others to do the course, as it’s a great opportunity to learn and gain a good grounding and skill set in the wool and shearing industry. However

Tom and Tom warn that it’s hard work and you need to be committed and fit to complete the two weeks. All three students would like to follow up and use what they have learned in real shearing sheds.

Congratulations to Tom, Tom and Billy on their initiative in finding the course and following up, and for their application to the task during the two weeks.

Shearing School—”heaps good course”

Pictured clockwise from top right: Billy Bailey, Tom Behan and Tom Whalan


On the 24th to the 26th of November, 2014, 27 students and 3 staff from Oberon High School went to Milson Island Sport and Recreation camp, on the Hawkesbury River.

An early departure from school, a feed at McDonalds, and we crossed the Hawkesbury River by ferry to Milson Island. Bull sharks are among the marine life that lives in these waters, which had some of the students a bit worried. Once at camp, we met our instructors for the 3 days and settled into our accommodations. One instructor, James, took the whole group for a walk around the Island and talked about the history of the Island including its use as a mental institution and a gaol. First activity on Day 1 was archery. It was very pleasing to see how the students took to the archery range and enjoyed the different games that were played using a bow and arrow. Some of the students showed exemplary skill due to previous experience and were quick to give a few pointers to their peers. The second activity was fencing (with swords, not posts). Again, not many students had any experience but were eager to learn and participate.

During the evening on the first night all of the teachers and

students were involved in a trivia night. It was teachers verse students and ultimately the teachers won.

On the morning of our second day we went to a private beach where we had to build a fire and cook damper. After many unsuccessful attempts we finally managed to keep the fire going long enough to cook the damper. After this activity, students and teachers either went fishing or went for a swim. Only one fish was caught but all students enjoyed the peaceful environment and magnificent views that were on offer. After lunch, students and staff were tested even further when they had to kayak across the Hawkesbury River to a shipwreck of HMAS Parramatta. The water was very rough due to the tide changing and the wind was very strong. All of the students however, rose to the challenge and completed the activity giving them a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

During the evening, students played different games which were enjoyed by all who participated. This was made even better by having chocolate milk and cookies for supper.

On our final morning, we faced the most daunting challenge yet, the high ropes course. Some students and even one of the teachers, were very worried about completing this activity. The ropes course was broken up into two, one being about 3.5- 4 metres up and the other being 8 metres up. For some of the students it was highly enjoyable with many students opting to go a second or third time and displaying some of their athletic abilities.

The camp offered students the

opportunity to push their own l imits, strengthen already established friendships, form new friendships and most importantly, it was a good time shared by all.

To all of the students who participated, Mrs Nicole Francis and Mrs Tara Morrison, thank you for contributions that made the camp a fun and worthwhile adventure with many wonderful memories created.

From all of the Year 10 students and staff, a big thank you to Mrs Sandra Mackey-Galea who had organised the whole excursion and we all wish you could have been there with us all.

Look out Milson Island! Here comes Year 10!

“ ...the most daunting challenge … the high

ropes course”

“… a good time shared by all.”


After months of planning, and rehearsals, Thursday 11 December a full house saw ‘Suitcase … Oberon High School Unpacking the Year” hit the stage for one night only. In an amazing display of talent, students and staff impressed the appreciative audience with singing, dancing, acting and playing music. Here are a few photos from the preparation and on the night, as well as comments from the audience, the performers and the backstage crew.

Emptying the Suitcase!

“A great production displaying hidden talents of students and staff”

“Absolutely outstanding stage management and props. The

organisation was very professional.”

… AND NOW IT’S EMPTY.

“Real confidence booster—the kids didn’t believe they could do it—and then they saw that they could.”

“Really good”

“Made you see kids and staff in a different way”

“Who knew ‘Boydy’ could dance?”

“I don’t really like that

sort of thing, but I

really enjoyed it.”

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“So good. Brilliant”

“Great—especially Mr Boyd in Dancing with the Stars”

“So much talent”

“I want to do it all over again”


Jamberoo Action

On the 4th December, students from years 7,8,9,10 and 11 visited the Jamberoo Action Park on the south coast near Kiama on the south coast of NSW.

We departed Oberon High school at 5 o'clock sharp in the morning. First stop, Blaxland - “Macca’s” for a well earned breakfast. We eventually arrived at Jamberoo at around 10 am to begin our fun and adventure. The rides consisted of The Funnel Web, The Taipan, The Splash Out, The Wave Pool, The Slide Hill, The Rock, The Rapid Pool and more. By far, the most popular of all rides was The Funnel Web but took ages to start due to the long, long queues. All students had a wonderful time and totally enjoyed themselves throughout the day. Many, many thanks to the Teachers, Mr Grantham, Mr Lyle, Mr Watkins and Mrs Marshall and a special thanks to Mrs Pringle and Mrs Morrison for organising the event.

Written by Shayla Oliver and Teagan Hogan.

“...a wonderful time and totally enjoyed themselves …”


Boys and body image:

AUDIO: Rachel Friend talks with paediatrician Associate Professor Michael Kohn about the issue of body image and how it impacts on young men in particular.

http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/wellbeing/health/boys-and-body-image

Girls and body image:

AUDIO: Rachel Friend talks with the Butterfly Foundations Education Manager, Danni Rowlands about body image issues affecting young girls. Research shows young people feel under more pressure than ever to look a certain way.

http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/wellbeing/health/boys-and-body-image/body-image-and-girls

Ready for high school:

Can you recall what you were most apprehensive about when you started high school? This video of Year 7 students explain why teens shouldn’t be worried about starting high school, and how they can get off to a great start in the first few days.

Watch the videos: http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/wellbeing/development/what-happens-in-year-7

Transformation Hatha Yoga

Oberon Classes

Tuesdays 9:45am to 11:15am

Evening classes starting Tuesday 28 January 2015 from 5:30pm to 7pm at the Oberon

Wellness Centre

Transformation Hatha Yoga is a true holistic Yoga, harmonising and balancing the whole being—

body, mind and spirit.

Improve posture, flexibility, tone and fitness. Manage and relieve stress and tension. Create more peace and wellbeing in your life. Connect with your inner Self and your body’s needs. A

gentle and healing form of exercise for a healthy body and peaceful mind.

No experience necessary. If you would like to try a class, please contact Janice or Ricananda and we

can arrange a time for you to attend.

Places are limited, please call in advance to book your place.

SELF REALIZATION MEDITATION HEALING CENTRE

6 Cartwright St., Rydal, NSW 2790 PH/Fax: 6355 6368 M: 0415 543 473

E: [email protected] W: www.selfrealizationcenres.org.au

Wishing you peace and joy at Christmas and all the best for 2015.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

What’s On? Tuesday, 16 December—Pool Day Wednesday, 17 December—students’ last day of school Thursday, 25 December—Santa visits Tuesday, 27 January 2015—staff return for first day of Term 1 Wednesday, 28 January—Year 7—10 students return for first day of Term 1 Thursday, 29 January—all students at school

P&C Raffle Winners—Congratulations 1st prize: One nights accommodation in Sydney donated by 2BS and B-Rock FM—Dee Campbell

2nd prize: Dressed lamb donated by Mark Ryan—James Duggan

3rd prize: $100 gift voucher donated by Mawhoods Mitre 10 Oberon—C Bright

4th prize: $100 gift voucher donated by Foodworks Oberon—Max Sward

5th prize: $100 gift voucher donated by Mawhood Bros Supa IGA Oberon—Leanne Dwyer

Term 1 Staff - Tuesday 27th January 2015

7-10 students - Wednesday 28th January 2015

All students - Thursday 29th January 2015

Last day – Thursday 2nd April 2015

Term 2 Staff - Monday 20th April 2015

All Students - Tuesday 21st April 2015

Last day - Friday 26th June 2015

Term 3 Staff - Monday 13th July 2015

All Students - Tuesday 14th July 2015

Last day - Friday 18th September 2015

Term 4 Staff and Students - Tuesday 6th October 2015

Last day - Wednesday 16th December 2015

Term Dates for 2015

Newsletter E: [email protected] P: 6336 1606 ...€¦ · successful sport program in...

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