GRIFFITH SITE 88 Coolah Street, Griffith NSW 2680 PH 02 6969 9300 WADE SITE 1-39 Poole Street, Griffith NSW 2680 PH 02 6969 9300

E murrumbidgee-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au W https://murrumbidgee-h.schools.nsw.gov.au

TERM 2 – WEEK 6 – 2020Principal’s UpdateWHAT’S ON AT MRHS?

TERM 2 -

WEEK 7Monday 8 June*QUEENS BIRTHDAY - Public holidayWednesday 10 June*Cancelled - AFL Schools Grand Final Night - GriffithFriday 12 June*Cancelled - Riverina Cross Country

WEEK 8Monday 15 June - Sunday 21 June*Refugee WeekWednesday 17 June*Cancelled - South West Zone Athletics - Griffith

WEEK 9Monday 22 June - Friday 26 June*Cancelled - Work experience - Wade siteMonday 22 June*Tentative - Yr 12 PDHPE ACHPER En-richment Day - Online HSC preparation all Yr 12 PDHPE Students

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Building updateIt has been quite a while since I have updated you on the progress of the building works on both sites.

MRHS Griffith siteThe new administration building which faces Coolah St is nearing completion. All walls have been plastered, desks, benches and workspaces have been created. The sick bay, toilets, meeting rooms and showers are all finished. We await the final painting, carpeting and installation of technology in this block. We expect to be using this building before the end of this term.

The northern end of A block has had it roof replaced. The creation of the staff common rooms on the ground floor and senior class-rooms on the top floor is progress-ing steadily. We expect to be using this building by half way through Term 3.

The construction of the circulation hub which joins A north and A south has commenced. A new lift is going into this space.

Two additional lifts are being in-stalled over the next two months. The first lift allows disabled access to the Science labs and Library in B Block. The second lift allows disabled access to Industrial Arts,

Visual Arts and Music on the top floors of C Block.

The construction of a new air con-ditioning plant has commenced. This plant will provide refriger-ated, ducted, airconditioning to more than 20 classrooms and staffrooms in A Block.

MRHS Wade siteThe new Canteen is very close to completion. The coolroom, change rooms, managers office and stor-age rooms have all been com-pleted. The food preparation and serving spaces are nearly finished. The installation of new ovens and appliances will be the final details before completion. We expect the new Canteen will be in operation from the start of Term 3.

The quad has been improved by the installation of 6 new trees. Seating for students will soon be constructed under each of these trees.

The breezeway which connects the quad to the outside ovals is ready. The adjacent classroom on the ground floor needs painting, car-pets and the installation of tech-nology before it will be finished.

The Learning Resource Centre has had its timber roof demolished and completely replaced with steel beams. The roof of the old bas-ketball court has been reinforced with huge steel beams as well. We

have commenced construction of the 6m wide steps up to the senior study spaces. The downstairs Mak-er spaces have been created and the Library offices have been built.

We have confirmed the purchase of a 3.8 x 2.1m LED screen for the LRC directly opposite the bleacher seats. This LED screen is actually 16 individual television screens joined seamlessly together and costs more than $200K.

All the best

Mr Peter KingExecutive Principal

2

Introducing new staff .....

Name: Campbell BuchananWhere have you come from to be at MRHS? Geelong, Victoria.

What are some of your favourite hobbies? AFL - playing and watching, gardening.

What do you like about living in Griffith? Warm weather, good food.

What do you like about being at MRHS? Good culture with the students, really nice staff.

Name: Daniel McLean Where have you come from to be at MRHS? Shellharbour.

What are some of your favourite hobbies? Reading.

What do you like about living in Griffith? It’s quiet.

What do you like about being at MRHS? The supportive staff.

GRIFFITH / LEETON

FUNDRAISER

Fundraising at the moment is proving difficult....

so ..........RDA is conducting a WOOD RAFFLE

8 x 5 TRAILER of SPLIT WOOD Buy your tickets by placing money direct to our bank account,

then we shall allocate tickets.

Winner shall be notified and details placed on our facebook page.

TICKET $5 EACH or 5 FOR $20 TO PURCHASE TICKETS , DEPOSIT INTO RDA BANK ACCOUNT

BSB 325 185

ACCOUNT 01008987

REFERENCE (phone number)(name) $ ???

RAFFLE DRAWN 30 June Contacts Alison 0407 156 310 or Jacqui 0447 624 871

WOOD RAFFLE

NOTICE TO ALL VISITORS

Out of respect for students, staff and parents if you are experiencing cold or flu like symptoms,

for advice or information, please call the school on ph: 02 69699300

or email: murrumbidgee-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

We thank you for your co-operation and consideration during this difficult time.

3

LOTE Report - Wade site The last few weeks have involved lots of hard work, inspiration and teamwork in the LOTE Faculty across both Wade and Griffith sites. I would like to take this op-portunity to publicly thank Mrs. Natasha Hyder, Mrs. Rosanne Jones and Mrs. Wendy Brooker for their hard work in challenging and ever evolving circumstances. The staff were adaptable, updat-ing learning programs with often limited notice.

This adaptability has not been limited to the teaching staff. Many students have also demon-strated resilience and embraced their online learning. Let’s look at what each Year group has been up to!

Year 7 ItalianMany students adjusted well to online learning and have been looking at adjectives, family and animals. Online learning has remained quite structured as follows: Monday online Adobe/ Zoom lessons based in the take home booklet, Tuesday an online activity, Wednesday speaking activities.

Many students have also com-pleted a research activity of their choosing on anything related to Italy. With such a rich cultural history, there were plenty of op-tions, with students investigating topics such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Leaning Tower of Pisa, gelato, pasta etc.

Mrs Jones was excited to have les-sons return to normal and catch-ing up with all Yr 7 students.

Year 7 German Many Yr 7 students actively engaged in a range of online

buying tickets and using public transport. Moving forward, the students will now spend some time focusing on grammar.

Year 11 ItalianYr 11 have been focussing on describing people in their lives (family, friends etc) and prepar-ing for their Assessment Task.

While we have returned to the ‘new normal’ style of learning in full time school from Week 5, the LOTE Faculty will continue to develop new and engaging learning strategies which reflect and develop the skills needed for the future. Much of this will be technologically based, howev-er, languages are such rich and diverse subjects, incorporating reading, writing, listening and speaking, and as such, technology value adds to the work of our ex-perienced and capable language teachers.

Mrs Kara SergiHead Teacher LOTE

activities, many showing their competitive natures. These activities have included Kahoot quizzes in German about family members and how to say ‘my’ and a weekly birthday bingo. Students have also been writing about their siblings with some recording these and uploading to the Google Classroom. These recordings were wonderful and I encourage you to have your child demonstrate their german speak-ing skills. We have some talented language students emerging in Yr 7.

As we come back to face to face learning, Yr 7 German are focus-ing on pets, time, seasons and the weather.

Year 10 GermanYr 10 German have been looking at transportation in Germany, in particular train travel. They have researched train stations from all around the country with a focus on key vocabulary to help them get around. They have looked at vocabulary relating to timetables,

4

Technological and Applied Studies (Home Economics) and Creative Arts Report - Wade siteBeing a practical based subject, it has been a little tricky to continue with our regular teaching and learning pro-gram during the last few weeks. Most impressive is the fabulous online units of work that teachers in our faculty have created for students.

Yr 7 Art have been continuing with the work they start-ed during Term 1 on Pop Art. In particular, the work of Romero Britto where he combines elements of cubism, pop art and graffiti painting in his work, using vibrant colours and bold patterns as a visual expression of hope, dreams and happiness.

Yr 8 Art students have been having fun creating pieces using found objects. The challenge was for their work to come to a point. It is a nice surprise seeing the finished works when students submit them. It is a real element of surprise as teachers have not had the opportunity to view the work as it has been developed and created.

Yr 10 Food Technology have been working on creating a unique ice cream flavour as well as designing a package to go with their product. Yr 9 Food Technology have been working on a “Food in Australia” Task. It has been impressive to see pictures of practical food preparation activities that students have been doing at home. We hope that families have been enjoying this, especially the home made ANZAC biscuits.

Technology Mandatory students were challenged to upcycle and create a product using a recycled material. We have some very talented students who have been able to turn T-shirts into things such as cushions, head bands and bags. Such a great way to use resources and help our environment.

If parents have any questions or concerns about the work students have been completing lately, please do not hesitate to contact the classroom teacher.

We are looking forward to seeing all our students in the classroom again.

Mrs Kathy GeeHead Teacher TAS (Home Economics)/Creative Arts

5

HSIE Report Welcome to Term 2 and welcome back to school, be it online or at school. It has been great to see your faces and hear from you!

The HSIE faculities would like to firstly congratulate our students on the way they have coped with distance learn-ing, be it either online or in booklets. The quality of work and effort has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated by your teachers. Thank you to all the parents that have supported their children’s learning through this difficult time.

At the Wade site, while we have been learning by distance some of our students have really impressed us with their ability to create work with only written instructions or video calling by teachers. Below are some websites Yr 11 Ancient History created for their first assessment task on Ancient Egyptian burial customs.

Also, below are some Yr 10 Geography assessment tasks where students had to create a website, poster or info-graphic on their Human Wellbeing topic.

6

As a school we were unable to commemorate ANZAC Day in our regular format, however, Miss Hume and Miss Ingham came up with some great ideas to commemorate at home. We have heard of lots of students commem-orating with their families making ANZAC biscuits and conducting their own dawn services to pay respects to diggers and soldiers past and present.

Finally, as always, we want to let you know we are always here to assist with any questions or concerns you have with learning within the HSIE Faculty. Please do not hesitate to contact the Head Teachers or classroom teachers.

Ms Shana Johnson, Ms Nell Duly & Ms Jodie HumeHSIE Head Teachers

HSIE Report - continued ....

Year 11 Advisors Report - Griffith site Well! We are back into the swing of normal school with a bang. 95% of students are to be congratulat-ed on their efforts to attend school in the correct uniform and attend class as timetabled. All of these efforts are building trust with your dear year advi-sors – please continue! In the recent COVID 19 schooling phase we had a number of students join in both Google Classroom (Code: ibecgal) and Microsoft Team discus-sions just for Yr 11. Again, we thank the maturity our students displayed in this period as their questions assisted with reducing their anxiety in a rather unprecedented time. Both these platforms will con-tinue to be used to assist with relaying school infor-mation.

Assessment tasks have all been adjusted for many subjects and will recommence soon. Therefore, stu-dents need to be organised with their school work, employment and sporting commitments. Ms Ragu-

sa (Careers Advisor) has a lot of ideas and methods to assist with goal setting and organisation skills. She can be located in the library for all students to utilise.

All students are reminded about the schools Positive Behavior for Learning (PBL) ticket system – they re-ward students for working to their potential, attend-ing class and behaving in the correct manner. On the flip side, the school is working hard to improve our attendance rate, this includes attending Learn-ing Coach from 8.55am each morning. If students are late, they must sign in through the office.

We would like to thank Ms Nau Mahe (PICLO) and Mr Darren Roberts (TSO) for all of their help for our students in many aspects including the school’s clothing pool and technology matters.

If any student, parent/caregiver needs to contact us both, our details are as follows: 6969 9300 or joann.sanderson1@det.nsw.edu.au (Library) or carl.chirg-win1@det.nsw.edu.au (TAS Staffroom)

Yours Sincerely,

Ms Joann Sanderson & Mr Carl ChirgwinYear 11 Advisors

7

Creative Arts Performing Arts Report - Griffith siteI would like to introduce Mr. Cleary to the Cre-ative and Performing Arts (CAPA) faculty. Mr. Cleary is teaching Music at the Griffith site and has been steadily building positive relationships with his students, whilst improving their instrumental techniques. He has a wealth of performance and recording experience, and has produced several of his own albums.

Special mention goes to the CAPA students and staff who have worked in their HSC courses. These include the HSC Visual Art students with Mrs. Vidler, Ms. Gardener’s HSC Photography, Video and Digital Imaging students, the HSC Music class with Mr. Mahaffey and HSC Drama students, being taught by Mrs. Innes. All of the hard work in en-suring that students are informed with any updated advice and change to their respective subjects is really appreciated. I would also like to thank CAPA staff for organising the online work and packages for students.

Around The GroundsJunior Visual Arts have been studying the artist Banksy and have been learning about the topic Covid Today, Climate Tomorrow, Act Now.

Yr 11 Photography, Video and Digital Imaging stu-dents have been introduced to the realm of photog-raphy and learning how it started with animation.

Art Passion students have been learning about stop-motion animation and are creating a stop-mo-tion film.

Yr 9 Drama have been working on their acting skills and learning about the history of theatre.

Elements of production and directing has been the focus of Yr 11 Drama.

Yr 12 Drama students have been revising their plays and refining the Individual Projects.

Yr 12 DramaYr 12 Music

Yr 12 Visual Arts

Yr 8 Visual Arts

8

Students in the Drama Passion elective have been overcoming their shyness and are working on improving improvisational skills.

Students in Junior Music are learning to play the guitar and keyboard, and how to sing and sign (Auslan) the song “I am Australian”. They are also writing the lyrics to their own songs and are developing skills in the per-formance process, and how to work together as an ensemble.

Yrs 9 and 10 Music have worked well this semester on improving both performing and listening skills. They have completed various activities which include analysing and performing “Pachelbel’s Canon”, and their own repertoire.

Yr 11 Music have been continuing to improve their understanding of the concepts of music and have submitted the Viva Voce assessment task. They are now working on writing and performing songs for the Composition task.

The HSC Music class are continuing their internal assessments and are fine-tuning the elective choices for the HSC Practical Examination.

Mr Neil Mahaffey. Head Teacher Creative and Performing Arts

Creative Arts Performing Arts Report - Griffith site continued ....

CAPA Subject FeesSubject contribution/fees cover the cost of materi-als in practical subjects. To help offset the ever-in-creasing cost associated with delivering practical subjects, could you please arrange for your child to pay their fees.

Elective Fees:Year 9Music $30Visual Arts $40Year 10Music $40Visual Arts $40Year 11Music $50Photography, Video and Digital Imaging $80Visual Arts $70Visual Design $40Year 12Music $50Visual Arts $70Photography, Video and Digital Imaging $50Visual Design $40

Visual arts diaries can be purchased from the school. Exercise books, pens, pencils, rulers and erasers can be bought from the canteen.

Prompt payment of fees would be greatly appreci-ated. Payment may be made through our “Make a payment” tab on our website or at the office using EFTPOS, a cheque or cash.Arrangements can al-ways be made to pay contributions by instalments. Assistance is available through the Student Assis-tance Scheme for families facing financial difficul-ties.

Year 9 Music

9

Sport Report Unfortunately with the current COVID-19 pandemic much of our Representative Sport program has been severely disrupted. At this point, the NSWCHS Sport program has cancelled all events up to the conclusion of Term 2. We have not yet received any fur-ther information whether these events will be rescheduled into Term 3 and 4 – but rest assured we will be ready and rearing to go if we get given the go ahead!

We are eagerly awaiting the arriv-al of a new set of Rugby League Jerseys for our students to wear when things do get up and run-ning. Many students from both sites also ordered MRHS sports merchandise which was offered

up for students to buy. These should be arriving in the coming weeks. Another order will po-tentially occur during Term 3 for those students who would like to make purchases! Stay tuned!

Yr 9 and 10 Sport has resumed on Wednesday afternoons and due to the fact that many venues are currently still closed – Sport will occur mostly on each site with some groups attending local sporting grounds or using walking tracks during sport. A wonderful effort is being made to ensure the hygiene and contact is limited during sport with extra cleaning and adjustments being made during sport to ensure the student’s safety.

Whilst we are all missing school sport and the opportunities it provides our students – we hope that everyone is staying active and getting out regularly to exercise with their family and friends, keeping in mind social distancing of course! We hope to report back with some good news very soon regarding sport, but until then – please stay safe and healthy.

Let’s hope the Knights (Miss Bad-dock) and the Storm (Mr Ran-ney) continue to have many wins in the coming weeks!

Miss Eliza Baddock and Mr Sam Ranney Sports Coordinators

Year 11 Advisors Report - Wade site Yr 11 are currently in the process of undertaking voting for their Yr 12 Jerseys. A google form has been sent to all students to select the final design. Once selected – pricing, sizing and an ordering system will be developed and finalised for students from both sites.

Students have been participating in study in an on-line format for an extended period of time during COVID-19 lockdown. Most students have been able to stay up to date with their school work during this time and should be commended for the mature way they engaged in their studies during this time. There is a small number of students who have fallen behind and they are encouraged to communicate with their teachers or Year Advisor to organise themselves and catch up on any work that has been missed. Whilst N-Awards have not been given out during this time – it is important to note that this process will be reintro-duced for those students not completing work in class or submitting assignments.

Yr 11 students also received an updated Assessment Schedule which saw most subjects change the number of assessment items which students can receive during their preliminary studies from 3 to 2. Whilst this will provide relief to many students, it is important that students still remain up to date with study notes and sum-maries for their various subjects.

Miss Eliza BaddockYear 11 Advisor