Parent Newsletter Issue 32 website: www.menai-h.schools.nsw.edu.au email: [email protected] Published Weekly 27th October, 2014 Phone: Fax: 9543-7000 9543-5513 Week 4B Principal’s Message Deputy Principal’s Message While it was a real buzz sending last week’s newsletter from Japan it is an even bigger buzz to be back at school enjoying another great week in Menai. I know that Mr McCuaig, Mr Kelly and the families of Year 10 students Prudence Wilkins-Wheat, Aisha Aidara and Emily Lu were thrilled to be in the audience at DRAMA14—State Drama Festival where all three girls starred. This performance targets "the best of the best" from across the state’s candidates in Drama. We are all very proud of these students and their teacher and we are delighted in their success. This is my first report for Term 4 so I would like to welcome everyone to the new term. We have a number of new students and families who have joined us at Menai High this term. I would like to welcome you and know your time with us will be very rewarding both academically and socially. HSC exam supervisor Mrs Sneddon sought me out last week to acknowledge Year 12 students for their cooperation and constructive approach to their exams. She reports that they are simply wonderful young people doing wonderfully well in a very challenging circumstance. I am not surprised because that is exactly as we have found them to be over many years. Well done Year 12. Sarah Willetts has been chosen as a 2015 Youth Ambassador for World Vision. This is a great honour and opportunity for Sarah. She and her mentor teacher Ms Bessell have rallied amazing support for this great organisation over many years. Sarah aspires to become trained in the area of international aid work and I can't think of a better opportunity to develop her skills than through an opportunity like this. Congratulations Sarah. The ESL parent Cafe continues to thrive and has successfully applied for a community grant to continue the great work. We, in partnership with St Paul's Anglican's trained, volunteer ESL team have created a very positive learning opportunity for newly arrived parents. The target is to develop language skills and cultural awareness so that they can constructively support their children through school. It is an advantage for all students if home support is strong and all students in a class thrive and progress well. I am including a few photos to share the fantastic atmosphere and productivity that has been created via this new venture and partnership. Last week’s assembly celebrated the amazing successes of students from all years participating in the 2014 Maths competition. Zachary Curtis achieved a high distinction, Alexander MacRitchie, Luke Phillips (Distinction); Lachie Jones, Marek Akrman, Mitchell Brandt, Matthew Chandler, Tushan Chandra, Reece Dean, Olivia Hennessy, Zuriah Krautz, Thomas Liogas, Andrew Rourke, Maddison Stone, Victoria Wang, Max Sandilant, Gabi Grimson, Crystal Li, Oshwald Khoo, Imani Codmani, Rebecca Collins, Nicholas Eder, Cameron Gordon, Patrick Kotsaris, Natasha Lee, Shaun McManus, Daniel Miletich, Kaitlyn Seretis, Mitchell Shipp, Cody Gale, Wyatt Horbury, Kiki Li, James Walker, Hannah Banks, Maddison Boyling, Aidan Brown, Benjamin Jorgenson, Claudia Kabic, William Oberg, Neha Salah, Cameron Burgess, Matthew Cantor, Jake Lee, Caitlin Brown and Jacqueline Nguyen (Credit); and we congratulate everyone's achievements. Maths is seen as an enabling subject in that it is used to support learning across the curriculum. Success in Maths is a good predictor of potential in many other areas. The NSW government has sought our help to reach families with dependant children who are eligible for the 2014-15 Family Energy Rebate of up to $150. It takes just 2 minutes to complete the online application on any internet enabled device including your mobile phone. Just goggle "Family Energy" website or phone 137788 or email [email protected]. Our on-line news letter has an attachment. Feel free to donate the money to your school if it is not significant to you. E McNally The HSC is still continuing for Year 12. We have had wonderful reports about the students’ behaviour and maturity. Year 12 will be required to attend a clearance day on the 21st November. At this day students are required to complete any subject contribution and return any school equipment. The school is also looking for donations. These include DER laptops and school uniforms/school aprons. If any Year 12 students have DER laptops or school uniforms or aprons and wish to donate, please bring the items to clearance day. All donations will be very much appreciated. Year 11 have started their HSC courses this term. All students will be remaining on 12 units until the conclusion of term 4. Students will need to continue to participate in the learning of all their courses and complete all assessment tasks set for term 4. In Week 9 Term 4, Year 11 will be able to submit their application to drop a subject. Each student planning to drop a subject will be interviewed in Week 8 by myself and the careers adviser and will bring home an application to be signed by parents. Before the Week 9 meeting all Year 11 students need complete their subject contributions and have purchased their HSC textbooks before the application to drop a subject will be processed. NSW BOSTE Students Online http:/studentsonline.bos.nsw.edu.au/ I have written previously about this important service in past newsletters. Year 12, Year 11 and Year 10 need to be registered on the site. This is the site where students will assess their RoSA grades for both Year 11 and 10 and HSC results for Year 12. This site is the communication method the BOSTE now uses for students. Please ask your child if they have registered and if not, use the address above and follow the information below. Students Online is your source for information about your study from Year 10 to the HSC. To access your enrolment details, results and more, log in or activate your account now. Activating your Students Online account. Students Online features a private account area where you can view your personal details as held by the BOSTES. All NSW high school students in Years 10, 11 and 12 are eligible for an account.. To be emailed an account activation link, you will need to enter your:  given name(s)    family name school date of birth. The activation link will be sent to the email address your school has supplied to the BOSTES. You must enter your given names EXACTLY as you are formally known by your school and which they have provided to the BOSTES. For example, if your full name is 'Maxwell Anthony Smith', your school may have supplied your 'Given Name(s)' to the Board as 'Maxwell Anthony', 'Maxwell', or even, possibly, 'Max'. If you have issues activating your account, contact your school to check your email address has been provided, or how your details, particularly your given name and email address, are officially recorded. R Allen, Deputy Principal IMPORTANT DATES & COMING EVENTS Monday 27/10 HSC Exams continue until 5th November; Literacy & Numeracy Test Years 10,11,12 Tuesday 28/10 Literacy & Numeracy Test Years 10,11,12 Wednesday 29/10 Literacy & Numeracy Test Years 10,11,12 Tuesday 11/11 Remembrance Day Ceremony Page 2 Welfare News! A great week of student good news. Ms Wearring would like to acknowledge Maddison Boyling, Leyton Davies, Tayla Nisbett, Christina Tsafis, James Walker, Shannon Jenkin, Hannah Banks, Cayle Ford, Cody Gale, Eloise Phillips, Caitlin Sherwin, Isabella Miletich, Jonah Ngaronoa, Steven Papadakis, Olivia Cooper, Julian Jones and Brittany Southern from 9H1 and Ryan Gardiner, Kieran Armson-Graham, Jemma Harlow, Jake Coleman, Lauren Constantine and Michaela Fagnani in 9H4 for excellent WWI Recruitment Campaigns. She would also like to acknowledge Stephanie Hunt from 7S for her great Black Death Diary. Mrs Frages would like to commend Lucas Cottell, Ziah Pereira, Priyale Singh and Isabella Wells in Year 7 for very good work in Textiles Technology. Mrs Waugh would like to say well done her 9E2 class for excellent Romeo and Juliet essays and to her 7M class for excellent Mandragosa essays. Well done to 7A from Mrs Raptis for excellent letters for the novel study Camel Rider. Ms Mason would like to congratulate Madison Hammell, Isabella Wells, Jacob Byles, Taylani Ireland, Jared Sparke, Brandyn Lucock, Jemae Attieh Andary, Bethany Cover, Chloe Hicks and Daniel Towell for amazing fantasy portfolios. Mr Bean, Miss Loh and Ms Hanna would like to thank the following students for their contribution and help with the Robotics Fundraising cake stall at school. Each of these students were hardworking, helpful and a team player—Mitchell Irvine, Alexander MacRitchie, Bernadette Wong, Xavier Rolton, Christine Li, Tilley Riley, James Giffen, Rochelle Phan, Lachlan Fairall, Richard Li, Daniel Miletich and Luke Phillips. Mr Colella would like to congratulate the following students for claiming first prize in their group presentation “Cows Create Careers”, Hope Sestanovic, Marika Belsan, Amy Allsop-Guest, Genevieve Van Yzendoorn and Isabella Wells. Wellbeing and Wisdom Risk Taking Earlier in the term, Year 9 enjoyed a performance by Brainstorm Productions on Risk Taking. It is an age appropriate topic especially for teenage boys. During puberty, the brain chemical dopamine, which is responsible for motivation and pleasure, declines leaving boys feeling lethargic and grumpy. To get that lift in dopamine, they will often start taking more risks. Dangerous risk taking behaviours include binge drinking, drug taking and aggressive behaviour. The most vulnerable teenagers are those who also have ADHD, depression, anxiety or school related issues such as bullying or peer pressure. Parenting teenagers through this time is about finding a balance between creating firm boundaries in a supportive environment whilst also providing them with opportunities to broaden their life experiences and be safe risk takers. For more information http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/zh/wellbeing/behaviour/ managing-risk-taking-with-teen-boys L Ferraro and the Wellbeing Wisdom Team Drama Excursion On Wednesday 22nd October Miss Osborne and Mr McCuaig took 56 Year 8, 9 and 10 Drama students to see a production of the great Tennessee Williams play 'The Glass Menagerie' at the Belvoir Theatre. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the performance and found it to be an enriching educational experience. Visiting the theatre is an incredible opportunity for all students. We were very impressed with all of our students behaviour as they represented Menai High School. E Osborne Well done everyone. Year 11 Health Survey Menai High School has been selected by NSW Health to participate in their Health survey. The aim of the survey is to get a picture of behaviours in youth today dealing with things such as alcohol, drugs, lifestyle, sport and use the information to target programs to deal with areas of concern. The survey will take 60 minutes and is run by staff from NSW health with myself supervising. Year 11 is the year group NSW health is interested in and they have been given a permission note and information last Friday outlining the survey. Please fill in the permission note and have it returned to roll call by Thursday 30th October. If you have any questions please contact me. Ms Y Mazoudier, Head Teacher Welfare Enrich your home with a WEP exchange student arriving in January 2015! World Education Program (WEP) is looking for caring families who wish to experience another culture in their own home by becoming a volunteer host family. Browse through student profiles, and select a student who you think will fit best into your family and lifestyle! Who are the students? Read over their profiles below: Allessandro S (17) from Italy lives in a small town with only 11 students in his class. His favourite pastime is swimming and playing water polo. He also enjoys playing tennis and soccer and became referee two years ago. His hobbies include playing cards, going to the cinema and collecting things such as coins. He is looking forward to discovering a new country and making new friends in Australia. He can't wait to hear about his host family! Marika (17) from Italy enjoys dance, art, theatre and music. She tells us that her real passion is cooking and that she loves to prepare sweets, cakes and cookies & cream puffs! It is Marika's dream to come to Australia to live as a high school student, and she can't wait to meet her host family, who is making this dream possible. Giulio (17) from Italy loves music, he plays both the electric and acoustic guitar. He is extremely athletic and enjoys many sports and previously played basketball, soccer and volleyball. He currently enjoys going to the gym and also does acrobatic gymnastics. His parent say the he is a warm and caring boy who has a great sense of humour and loves to make people laugh. Giulio is very excited to meet his Aussie host family. For further information, please contact Sylvia Kelly (WEP Inbound Manager) on 1300 884 733, by email on [email protected] or by visiting our website www.wep.org.au. Senior Seminar Program Schedule— 30th October, 2014 Period 2 English (Advanced), ESL, Maths (Ext 1), Society & Culture Period 3 English (Standard), Maths (General), Physics, Society & Culture Period 4 Biology, Society & Culture Page 3