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Parent Newsletter
Issue 36
website: www.menai-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
email:
[email protected]
Published Weekly
Principal’s Message
Last week was another wonderful week dominated by a successful
audit report. The audit covered finance, WHS and anaphylaxis
requirements. Many may wonder why such an administrative detail is
elevated in status to this extent but it truly warrants recognition as an
enormous and ongoing challenge juggled by a dedicated team led by
our SAM Judi Partridge and including noble warriors like Kylie Beck,
Steve Wakely, Lesley Harrison, Raelene Allen, Luke Meagher and
every other teacher and SAO touched by the complexities of LMBR and
EBS4. The team really are our heroes and survived all manner of
difficulties which made the positive audit very sweet.
Liam Cooper’s chess board, Thomas
Dingley’s car and Jessica McDonald’s
dressing table have all been selected as
Industrial Technology major works nominated
for InTech 2015.
Their works may be
exhibited at Homebush Showground next
year.
Monique Sutevski’s dress was
nominated in Design & Technology which has
a chance of being displayed at the Powerhouse in 2015. I am delighted
for the students, their families and their teachers Mr Oste, Mr
Fortunato and Mr Emerson.
Mr Kelly reports that wonderful things have been happening in the
CAPA area as well. He notes—”Term 4 has been very exciting for the
Creative and Performing Arts team. Most recently Emily Lu, Prudence
Wilkins-Wheat and Aisha Aidara performed at the Seymour Centre as
part of the NSW State Drama Ensemble. It was a privilege to watch
these talented performers and I wish them well in their auditioning for
the 2015 State Drama Ensemble. I was delighted to hear that the
number of students auditioning for this prestigious opportunity has
tripled. It is a testament to the brilliant teaching and learning
opportunities offered to students at Menai High School.
Menai High School have been busily taking part in
the 2014 School Spectacular and I would like to
congratulate Mrs Millington and Miss Osborne
for their commitment to developing student
technical proficiency in Dance by providing the
opportunity to take part in the 2014 School
Spectacular. During the past few weeks, Mrs
Millington and Miss Osborne have been taking students to rehearsals at
Sutherland Basketball Stadium, Qantas Credit Union Arena and
Wollongong Indoor Sports Centre. Lauren Constantine, Georgia
Luckman, Tanya Ojala, Katie Papadakis, Rachelle Cain, Caitlin
Williams, Taylani Ireland, Annelise Faust, Kristina Grzetic, Pernilla
Watson and Kaela Shepherd will take part in three more rehearsals
prior to the School Spectacular Performance on the 28th November.
Please read future newsletters for details regarding ticket purchases.
Miss Almond has led the 2014 Year 12 Visual Arts
class to an amazing outcome with two students,
Alyssa Clark and Jake Taylor, selected to exhibit
their HSC Body of Work at the Hazelhurst Art Gallery
for the annual Art Rules exhibition. This exhibition
showcases the outstanding talent of HSC Visual Arts
students within the Sutherland Shire and will be held
from Saturday 13 December-Sunday 18 January. The inclusion of
these two works in the exhibition is the result of consistent effort and
commitment by both students and their teacher.
In addition, Kayla Berry successfully gained early entry into The
Academy of Interactive Entertainment to complete an Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media/3D Animation and VFX for Film. Kayla’s
exquisite HSC Body of Work proved to be an outstanding talking point
at interview. Her sculptural work captivated the audience at the recent
Menai High School Visual Arts Exhibition.
The CAPA End of Year Showcase is on December 4 and I encourage
everyone to attend as this will be an excellent opportunity to watch
student excellence in Dance and Music.”
24th November, 2014
Phone:
Fax:
9543-7000
9543-5513
Week 8B
The Year 12 Formal was brilliant as always. The organization and
venue were superb and our graduates looked fantastic. I just love the
way our students always seem very happy to share their joy, fun and
special events with a huge staff team that all paid to celebrate their
formal with them. We sang, danced and enjoyed great food. It was a
perfect platform to mark the transition of our relationship to that of
friends caring about each other and connected for life. I will let a few
photos tell more of the story.
E McNally
Deputy Principal’s Message
I would like to start my report with a thank you to teachers in the
Project Based Learning team. Mr Robinson, Mrs Sayed–Rich,
Ms De Mello, Ms Loh, Mr Kelly, Mr Bean, Mr Wakely, Ms
Almond, Ms Bourke and Mr Giannoulis. This team has been
writing the project assignments that all junior students at Menai
will be participating in next year. The current Year 9 project
based learning of ‘A Call to Action’ has been a very exciting and a
successful learning experience at Menai High that the school has
targeted as project based learning in the school plan for 2015.
Plans have also started for two ‘Showcase’ nights here at Menai
High in 2015. These nights will provide parents the opportunity to
see the wonderful team projects and share in the celebration of
learning that occurs daily at Menai High School.
Examinations and assessments are still continuing this week. It
is very pleasing to see the maturity and commitment to achieving
their best shown by students during this examination period. I
know a number of students have mentioned in their Personalised
Learning Plans that they are aiming to strengthen their
performance in exams and assessment and I am hoping that this
will occur.
Work Experience for Year 10 is next week and well done to all the
students who are prepared and ready for this important aspect of
the curriculum. There still are a very small number of students
who have not returned work experience forms and are reminded
to return the forms to school asap. If no work experience places
have been arranged the student is to be at school each day.
Year 11 will be involved in Pattern of Study interviews on
Wednesday 26th November. The students will need to bring a
copy of the final preliminary report on the day and will also be
provided with paper for the process. The following Thursday
afternoon will be used for the administration of the process where
Year 11 will attend a meeting from 12.30pm in the library and will
talk with the Head teacher of the subject. To be able to
complete this process the students need to be signed off by their
teachers concerning having text books and subject contributions.
R Allen
IMPORTANT DATES & COMING EVENTS
Thursday 27/11
Friday 28/11
Monday 1/12
Tuesday 2/12
Wednesday 3/12
Thursday 4/12
Tuesday 16/12
Year 10 Exams conclude; Year 10 Formal
Year 10 Exams—catch up day
Year 10 Work Experience—2 weeks; Year 9
Camp (3 days)
Year 7 to Jamberoo
Orientation Day for Year 7 2015 students
CAPA Showcase-7pm
Presentation Night-7.30pm
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Welfare News!
Mrs Monir would like to congratulate all of 8E on their
fantastic results in their Geography skills test.
Mrs Summerfield would like to acknowledge Tina
Tsianakas, Jerry Vu and Danielle Godden from 9G7,
Alessandra Camporeale, Reilly Lynch and Louise Wise
from 9G5 for excellent results in the Geography yearly
examination. She would also like to commend Jessica
Wilcox from 9G7 for an outstanding Unique Australia
Essay.
Well done from Miss Randle to McKenzie Chegwidden
from 7M for outstanding work and to Hope Sestanovic from
7A for wonderful dedication to her work.
NSW Health Survey Year 11
I am still looking for students to volunteer to complete the
NSW health survey. Students in year 11 have been given
permission notes but only a few have returned them. The
survey will only take 1 hour and the information is used to
determine health services and priority areas for NSW health.
Please encourage your child to hand in their notes and
participate in the survey. Notes can be given to their roll call
teachers.
Final Round of Vaccinations
Round of vaccination for Year 7 students and year 9 boys
will be held on Monday 8th December. On that day students
will receive catch up vaccinations for Year 7, and year 9
boys will receive their last dose of the HPV vaccinations.
For year 9 boys, this is the last opportunity to have the HPV
vaccination. Any missed doses will need to be followed up
through their GP.
For Year 7 students, catch up’s will be made in 2015.
More information will follow closer to the date.
Ms Y Mazoudier, Head Teacher Welfare
Menai High School
Performing
Arts Night
Again, to celebrate Performing Arts at MHS for
2014 we are having our End of Year Dance/
Music Showcase, displaying the many talents
of our students.
Date: Thursday 4th December
Time: 7pm
Venue: School Hall
Ticket Prices: Adult - $10, Child/Pensioner $5 and Family of four - $25
Note: Tickets can be purchased at the front
office and will also be sold at the door from 6pm
on the night of the performance.
Wellbeing and Wisdom
White Ribbon Day
This week our school will focus on
White Ribbon Day which is held nationally on the
25th November. White Ribbon Day is unique in
that is Australia’s only national, male led
campaign to end men’s violence against women.
The aim of the program is to free women from all
forms of male violence by making women’s safety
a man’s issue too. The campaign works through
primary prevention initiatives involving awareness
raising and education, and programs with youth,
schools, work places and across the broader
community. Please ask your children about what
they have learnt and observed about this
initiative. By initiating dialogue, you are raising
awareness.
L Ferraro and the
Wellbeing Wisdom Team
WEP Student Exchange – A Once-In-Lifetime
Opportunity!
Ever wondered what it would be like to live in another country and to
swap your vegemite sandwich for a pop tart or croissant? Applications
for WEP Student Exchange Programs to over 25 countries around the
world are now open for programs starting from July 2015 onwards.
Choose from more than 100 short and long-term programs, designed
to fit into your Australian schooling. Find out more today!
From Emily in France:
France has been amazing so far! I love everything and even though
there is still a huge language barrier I've slowly started to understand
more and more. The Paris Orientation was beautiful and I was so
shocked that we actually managed to cover a lot of places in such a
short amount of time.
The Australian and French schooling systems are definitely different
from each other. All of my teachers are incredibly nice and
understanding. I think in my first week I had a mini freak out because I
couldn't understand one word but being able to easily participate in
Math, English and Gym has definitely helped and reassured me. I've
even done a few tests for different subjects and actually managed to
answer parts of it.
I've made quite a few friends, friends of my host sister and friends of
my own. They've all been incredibly nice and try to speak English as
well as French to me. Although I can't understand what they say half
of the time it's still nice to hear them talk.
I absolutely love my host family; they are nothing short of perfect! My
host sisters are absolutely hilarious and my host parents are always
trying to help me. The family has been very welcoming and they are
trying to help me out all the time but they've also integrated me into
their lives. We all went to Dijon last Saturday actually.
Request Program Information Now
Whether you wish to go overseas or host an exchange student in your
home, request an information pack today to find out more about
WEP’s not-for-profit student exchange programs.
Visit: www.wep.org.au
Phone: 03 9598 4733 / 1300 884 733
(cost of a local call)
Email [email protected]
Senior Seminar Program Schedule— 27th November, 2014
Period 2
Business Studies (Mandatory), English
(Advanced), ESL, Maths (Ext 1),
Period 3
Business Studies (Mandatory), English
(Standard), Maths General, Physics
(Mandatory)
Period 4
Business Studies, Physics (Mandatory)
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