Mackellar Girls Campus Newsletter 28 JUNE 2019

Term 2, Week 9 Meeting the educational needs of girls

P&C Meeting Wednesday 4 SEPTEMBER 2019

Director General’s Award for Turning Potential into Performance Director General’s Award for Excellence in Girls Education

Director General’s Award for Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education Director General’s Award for Excellence in Aboriginal Programs

Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Pacific Islander Programs

RELIEVING PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE It is with great pleasure that I share with the whole Mackellar community the exciting news that the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council recently recognised Ms Del Gallo’s outstanding contribution to Public Education by awarding her the prestigious Bill Kennedy Medal. It is awarded to a NSW Secondary Principal who has over a sustained period of time given significant service of distinction and significant merit, in a manner that has invigorated and supported the principals of NSW government schools. Ms Del Gallo’s citation reads: The 2019 Bill Kennedy Medal is awarded to someone with an enduring commitment to Public Education, the NSW Secondary Principals Council and the development of quality leadership in secondary schools across NSW and a passion for supporting principals for the good of NSW Public Education. The recipient demonstrates dynamic, inspirational, creative and influential leadership. Her capacity to inspire others has been evidenced at school, community, regional, state and national levels, as well as in relation to a range of professional organisations. As a Deputy President of the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council and as a highly credentialed and credible Principal, she has been an outstanding advocate for public education, its students and teachers. She has been an outstanding school leader, working in a diverse range of educational settings, for many years. She has been a highly articulate and passionate advocate for the need to build a culture of high expectations and highly engaging pedagogy as the key to educational success. Beyond her normal role of school Principal, however, she has made major contributions to the professional learning of other school leaders by her work with a range of associations and projects including the NSW Board of Studies and now the NSW Educational Standards Authority and most significantly, colleagues in the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council. This person has superior skills as a school Principal, as a result of which she has transformed her school into a “school of choice” for both students and staff in that community, delivering outstanding academic and social outcomes. Through her professional achievements, she has undoubtedly lifted and promoted the standing of, not only education in the community, but also of the role of dedicated educators at every level. She has all the elements of vision, intellect, ability, motivation, passion and critical reflection to make a difference. In conclusion, she is an outstanding talent and an outstanding asset to education. She has demonstrated excellent leadership at a whole range of levels but especially as a leader of principals in the NSW Public Education System. She has great determination and tenacity to ensure that a job is done well. She is a great thinker and demonstrates creativity and a flair for innovation and cutting-edge initiatives. It is clear from the diversity of her contributions to supporting and leading so many colleagues that Christine Del Gallo is a worthy recipient of the Bill Kennedy Medal. School Student Leaders I wish to warmly congratulate our new student leaders for 2019-20: School Captains – Alexandra and Piper Vice Captains - Bianca and Sarah

EMAILING THE SCHOOL - Please use ONLY the nbscmgirls-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au email address for correspondence. DEDICATED SMS NUMBER—Please text 0427 459 133 before 9am to advise late or absent students

Freshwater Community Bank is the proud Community Sponsor

of Mackellar Girls Campus Manly Vale

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These four students will be excellent leaders and school representatives. I look forward to working closely with them for the betterment of the school. They will be supported by nine other prefects who are exemplars of the finest students at Mackellar: Isabella, Charlotte, Josephine, Lauren, Tara, Keely, Lillian, Madeleine, Saphron The Prefect Induction Ceremony will take place at 6.00 pm on Thursday 4 July 2019 in the Staff Common Room. All parents and families are warmly invited to join us. The Handover Ceremony from the current prefects to the new group will take place at the School Formal Assembly on Friday 5 July at 10.00 am. Families are also welcome. School Musical – Happily Never After What a wonderful performance of Happily Never After. There are further performances tonight (Friday) and Saturday night and a matinee on Saturday for you if you haven’t had the pleasure of attending yet. The enormous efforts of our staff, students and parents, and the fantastic experience for our students are certainly worthwhile. The matinee performance for our students and our gala evening performances have been equally enjoyed by the audiences. The set, gorgeous costumes, superb musicians, extraordinary back stage crew and the fabulous performers make this a success. Many thanks and admiration must go to our Ms Laura Hawes, Mr Simon Fisher and Ms Madi Moore and the team of staff who brought the musical to fruition. These whole school events showcase the close school community that we are, and the breadth of programs that are provided to enhance the education of your daughters. As one appreciative parent commented, the ability of Mackellar to harness and teach talent is something we must all celebrate. Subject Selections In the first weeks of next term, we will be in finalising Years 8 and 10 submitting their subject selections for study in 2020. We have provided Year 10 students with the necessary information to make informed decisions about the subjects that are available for them to study over the next two years, and Year 8 will receive the same. Parents need to be aware that subject choices after they are made cannot be changed for Year 9, and only in extenuating circumstances in the first several weeks in Year 11, so wise choices need to be made. Some elective subjects have compulsory fees to pay for the cost of the full range of materials required for the practical components of these subjects. These fees will need to be paid for your child to be issued with these materials. Year 8 students and their parents are invited to an Elective Subject Information Evening at 6.00 pm on Wednesday 24 July 2019 in the hall. Project Penguin 120 Year 10 Mackellar Girls with Beacon Hill, Manly Village, Manly West and North Curl Curl Public Schools, have been working with zoo staff and guest experts to raise community awareness about Manly’s threatened Little Penguin colony. Year 10 students acted as teachers and mentors supporting the learning of Years 4-6 students. The opportunity for authentic learning within the community and for students to genuinely make a difference and take action to address an issue that they are passionate about has been an exceptional example of good practice in teaching and learning. Students will showcase their community awareness campaigns to an audience at Taronga Zoo next week. Congratulations to everyone involved in the project. School Visitors – a Reminder. As a school we have a duty of care of our students. As such, all visitors to the school must firstly go the office, and if their visit is appropriate beyond the foyer area, sign in as a visitor and be given a visitor’s badge to wear for the duration of their stay in the school. This applies to parents who come to the school to see a teacher or student. It is not appropriate for parents to email any staff directly. Staff will not respond to any email they receive directly

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from a parent. Parents are welcome to either write a letter or send an email to the school email address, where it will then be forwarded to the teacher, Deputy Principal or Principal. Ill students When students become ill at school, they are required to report to the office and go to Sick Bay. If they need to go home, an office staff member will contact a parent to come to the school to collect them. Students are not to make their own arrangements and directly text, call or contact their parent to collect them from school. The school has a duty of care and must be informed of illness of any students and be part of the leaving school grounds process. Parent Road Safety There are some safety issues that have become concerning regarding dropping students off in the mornings or picking up in the afternoon in Campbell Pde. For the safety of all students, including your children, when dropping off your daughter, do not double park in Campbell Pde before (west of) the pedestrian crossing and do not do a U turn in front of the school. Use the turning circle at the end of the street to avoid accidents. If you stop in the bus stops or No Stopping areas to drop off your daughter, you are likely to be fined by the Council Ranger. End of term Term 2 has been an exceedingly busy time for teachers and we are looking forward to a well-earned break. I am extremely proud of the strength and passion of our teachers and support staff. I wish to thank the staff for the enormous energy and effort that they contribute every day to make your daughter’s education fulfilling and beneficial. The opportunities and co-curricula activities provided to the girls are enormous. This is a staff that goes the extra mile, and I’m sure you appreciate it as much as I do. I wish you all a safe and relaxing break. Students return for Term 3 on Tuesday 23 July 2019. On 22 July, School Development Day, the staff will be involved in professional learning, professional dialogue and teaching and learning planning and organisation focused on integrating effective technology in teaching and learning The five schools in the Northern Beaches Secondary College will be working together on this professional learning day. Congratulations for high achievement to: Year 9/10 Touch Football team who won the National School Cup held in Queensland. Kahli(Y10) for her selection in the CHS Football team The Vocal Ensemble and Combined Dance groups for their selection into the Schools Spectacular Choir;

Emily(Y11) and Gwendolyn (Yr 9) for their selection in the Core Choir Group Kristina (Y9) for her selection into the Regional Gymnastics team Regional Athletics competitors: Piper (Y11), Mali, Sophie, Tia(Y10), Hanneke (Y9), Emma (Y8), April,

Chloe, Jasmyn (Y7) Zone Athletics Age Champions – Madeleine, Olivia, Chloe, Laura and Mercy, Emma and Laura who

broke Zone records Stella (Y9) for her selection in the Sydney Hockey Team competing at State Championships The Concert Band who performed at the Northern Beaches Instrumental Music Festival.

Cassandra Morrison, Relieving Principal 

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W@M Report Year 7 Year 7 had a very busy Term 2. There have been many different events. We would like to encourage our students to be proactive in knowing what they have on and if they are ever unsure they can always ask a friend, a peer, a teacher or one of their Year Advisors. They have also had their DTPa vaccinations on Thursday 30 May. If any student was absent they can see Ms Lombardo in Welfare to discuss the makeup vaccinations later in the year. The girls have also participated in a session called High Resolves. This is an excellent program that helps students grow into world citizens by discussing issues surrounding equality and diversity. We hope the students enjoyed the session and learnt some valuable information. The Athletics Carnival was on 20 May. It was a picture perfect day and it was wonderful to see so many students get involved in both track and field events. Congratulations to our competitive athletes who worked so hard and also went on to participate in the Zone Carnival. Year 7 have completed their Yearly Examinations for History and Geography. If they have been doing History this semester, they will change to Geography in Term 3 and vice versa. They can also ask their History/Geography teachers for clarification. Year 7 will be receiving their Semester 1 report on the final day of term, this is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the work they have been doing this semester. We would also like to remind our students to ensure they are always doing their personal best inside and outside of the classroom and ensuring that they are showing our value for the term, ‘Compassion’. Help others out when you can, be actively kind to one another and encourage each other to always do our personal best. Ms Goykovic, Ms Maxwell & Ms Adams – Year 7 Advisors

Year 8 - Our recent trip to the ICC for Stand Tall has been the highlight of this term. The girls are to be commended on their exemplary behaviour at this event which was attended by over 5000 students from across Sydney. The day was not only inspiring and motivating but also entertaining with a performance by Timomatic that had our girls up and dancing. Some of our favourite messages from the day included: be thankful for what your body can do not what it looks like, don’t label yourself, some people would do anything to have your bad day, water your own garden and don’t look over your neighbours fence. In W@M we have been continuing to look at character strengths, growth mindset and the power of ‘yet’ (I can’t do this – YET!). The girls were asked to spend a couple of weeks learning something new to demonstrate their growth mindset, and we now have some jugglers in Year 8! The girls that completed this task also demonstrated the character strength of perseverance. Below is a link to an article on strength-based parenting which outlines ‘strength-spotting’ in children. You can start by simply noticing one strength in your daughter and commenting on it: “You used good judgement today when you decided to pack your school bag ahead of time,” or “Thanks for making me laugh—I really love how funny you are,” or “You showed a lot of self-control to finish homework on time rather than watch TV.” Repeat this strengths spotting as much as you can, as this will help your daughter internalise her strengths and develop her growth mindset. Rather than thinking “I’m stupid” or “I’ll never get this” in challenging situations, they might think, “I know I’m persistent and can stick to the task,” or “I’m curious and can learn new things.” This is also important as the girls will receive their Semester 1 report on the last day of term, which presents an opportunity for them to reflect on how they can use their character strengths to achieve the goals they set in their personal learning plans. You can have a look at the 24 character strengths in your daughter’s school diary on page 6 or at https://www.viacharacter.org/ How to be a Strength-Based Parent by Lea Waters: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_be_a_strength_based_parent Ms Karandonis, Mr Beeby & Ms Maconachie—Year 8 Advisors Year 9—In the second half of this term the Year 9 cohort have undertaken two important workshops which included KYDS, a mental health and wellness program and High Resolves.

KYDS offers early intervention workshops and information sessions that take a preventative approach to

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issues that overwhelm young people. The topics covered included: risky behavior - drugs and alcohol and emotional regulation- body image concerns and self-esteem. KYDS help young people understand, and manage, difficult issues in their lives.

Each consecutive year the girls undertake the High Resolves program which is designed to deliver a range of learning experiences that help them as young people to think critically, to build social cohesion and empathy in their communities. The platform for this year was an unusual one with an event proposed, a Global Warming Summit. The students were divided into teams to represent a country with their own agenda and stance. This scenario required the students to think critically, understand diversity, focus on collective identity, recognise their unconscious bias, simulate decision making in the real world and assess the outcomes of short-term versus longer-term, community-based action. The activity was well-received with the girls highly motivated, responding with confidence and insight. It was evident that the students developed skills in critical thinking about what they heard, read and experienced.

In W@M this term the focus has been on Visible Well Being, Emotional Hijacking and Thinking Traps and How our brains are wired. Class discussions centred around the students looking at issues, and how our thinking is influenced by two competing minds. Our conscious rational mind, which is our good decision making centre the prefrontal cortex, is in charge. This mind is responsible for executive heavy lifting thinking. The unconscious emotional mind however is our natural response centre- the amygdala. This mind is responsible for automatic thinking influenced by the emotions we are feeling at the time. When our emotional mind hijacks our rational mind and takes over the way we are thinking, there are traps our thought processes may fall into. For students, add turbulence of the adolescent brain and the incomplete hard wiring of their prefrontal cortex, the tendency to fall into these emotional traps increases significantly. To cultivate growth mindsets in students to recognise and overcome this, W@M teachers discussed and initiated dialogue about; positive, negative, mixed and hidden emotions and their intensity. This assisted the students to create their

own positive coping and self-calming strategies to reduce emotional intensity. common thinking traps to be mindful of and using assertive and positive self-talk to combat possible

hijacking. engaging in mindfulness activities to distract their amygdala to put their frontal cortex back in charge. Our thoughts create us. Do you think this is true? YouTube clip the students watched Emotions and the brain (2:02) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNY0AAUtH3g&list=PL53nCCeNj-RQDhbjE9LjvnFad-wdB5bw7&index=5 Your brain is wired in such a way that the way you feel is because of the way you think. Charity As part of our nominated charity for 2019 your daughter(s) will be asked to bring $5 each at our first year meeting in Term 3 July 26 to raise money for the following endangered species around the world:

Elephant, rhino, manatee, walrus and sea turtle. Ms Biswell & Ms Joldzic—Year 9 Advisors Year 10—First and foremost we’d like to congratulate our Charity Committee for their excellent organisation of the Bake Sale to support Youth off the Streets. The girls did a wonderful job preparing and selling some delicious baked goods, and raised an impressive amount of money that will make a big difference to young people dealing with homelessness in the state. In addition, many girls donated clothes to the clothes drive, and these were delivered to the Youth off the Streets Store in Cessnock. Congratulations for all of the hard work, girls! Year 10 students have been surveyed again for their subject choices in Year 11, and it’s been great to see the girls considering their senior years with maturity and consideration. The Taster Lessons that have been running have provided the girls an opportunity to see what Mackellar is like in the senior years – Years 11 and 12 are very different to the junior years, and we think the girls will have seen this in their Taster Lessons. Finally, we’d like to commend our students who have been participating in so many different activities around the school: Project Penguin, the School Musical and Zonta to name a few. It is wonderful to see their community spirit shining through. Ms Hawes & Ms Coles—Year 10 Advisors

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Year 11—Firstly, on behalf of the Year Advisers and the rest of the year 11 students I would like to offer a huge congratulations to our newly elected prefect body. All of the applicants worked incredibly hard on their CV, interview skills and public speaking. We were particularly impressed with how well all of the candidates spoke at Year Assembly about what the school and the opportunity has meant to them. Their passion and desire to help others really shone through. To those who missed out, your efforts have been recognised and we encourage you to embrace other opportunities to contribute to the school and wider community as they arise throughout the year. We look forward to seeing what the new team will bring to the role. After listening to them speak, we are confident they will flourish, embrace every opportunity with gusto and make our year group proud. Year 11 have been working hard this term and their teachers have been impressed with their focus and diligence in approaching their recent practice exams. The students should now ensure they deconstruct their teachers’ feedback and complete their learning reflections. They are required to set three personal learning goals and demonstrate how they intend to progress. Year 11’s participation in Athletics Carnival was outstanding with some fantastic results from our talented athletes. It is very pleasing to see how many girls got involved and earned house points. We had fabulous weather which ensured that a great day was had by all. In this term’s W@M session we watched a TEDx talk on goal setting. This was to encourage students to make small manageable changes to their life style and study habits that will enable them to achieve their long term personal and academic goals. Thank you to the wonderful jersey committee who worked cohesively to design the commemorative jersey for their year group. The order has now been submitted to the manufacturer to ensure delivery in term 4. Ms Peachy & Ms Reed - Year 11 Advisors

Year 12—Term 2 has been a busy term with a number of activities such as the girls’ final Athletics Carnival where the theme “Fluro and Fancy” was in full display, the fun and fabulous Year 12 Sleepover, the ICMS Tertiary Expo and numerous Enrichment Days from different subjects. The end of Term 2 also marks the end the of the Prefect body of 2018/2019. We thank the girls on their leadership and commitment over the past twelve months managing their studies whilst organising and facilitating numerous activities around the school and representing our school within the local community. Term 3 will be the last term for the girls and as a school community, we are here to support the girls with their HSC journey. The girls were issued with their Semester 1 Reports midway through the term and it is important for them to read through the comments provided by their teachers in order for them to achieve their best for the remainder of the semester. We encourage the girls to maintain motivation, seek advice from their teachers and teacher mentors and implement a regular and balanced study routine in preparation for their HSC Trial Examination (Weeks 3 & 4) as well as the completion and submission of HSC major projects for some of the subjects for external marking. The HSC Major Works Display Evening will be on Monday 29 July from 4.30-7pm (Week 2). You are invited to this wonderful evening and we are looking forward to seeing the works that the girls have been working on since the start of the HSC course. Please remind your daughter if they wish to receive a reference from the school at the end of their HSC, the forms are now due to their Year Advisers. In addition, payment for the Year 12 Formal is due by the end of the term. We wish the girls a restful and productive holidays. Ms Reeves & Ms Leung—Year 12 Advisors

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RECONCILIATION WEEK IN ENGLISH The 27 May marked the beginning of National Reconciliation Week. This is a very important event as it is an annu-al celebration of respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and other Austral-ians. It is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements. Students in English engaged with narratives for and about First Nations Peoples. Students were asked to volunteer to enter a competition where they used visual techniques to create a new jersey that celebrated an Indigenous story on one side and their own family story on the other side. NRL referees Gavin and Kasey Badger judged the competition and donated tickets for the winners to attend a Manly Sea Eagles game at Brookvale Oval. Congratulations to the winners: Chloe 8L (1st place), Hedda 8L (2nd place) and Martina 7H (3rd place). Congratulations also to everyone who entered, your engagement in Reconciliation Week is a reflection on how our community values respectful re-lationships and the importance of our Indigenous community. Ms.Campbell

Winning entry: Chloe Whitmore NRL referees Gavin and Kasey Badger

LIBRARY UPDATE -

Come rain, hail or shine, Mackellar’s Library is always open. The rain brings some positives to the Library as students come to warm up in the Fiction Room, bringing along a trusty novel to read. We have loved seeing the girls embrace the chance to further their reading, despite the inclement weather. Writing Competition: Mackellar Library is in touch with many of our local libraries as they offer a range of extra resources and activities catered towards students. This year, the Northern Beaches Library’s Young Writers’ competition is back! This competition is open to all students, up to and including Year 12. Winners from each category will be presented with an award in September. Most excitingly, winners will also have their stories published as an author in a Library eBook! We encourage all students interested in writing at Mackellar to have a go. Past Mackellar students have been winners of the competition, with Ally Simpson of Year 9 having her story published last year. Anti-Boredom Month: During this time of the year, as the term is coming to an end and two weeks of holidays quickly approaching, it is easy to become disengaged and we often find students saying they’re ‘bored.’ But, luckily, July is anti-boredom month! This is an excellent time to dive into all the different adventures offered by novels. Each book offers its own story to engage and enthral the reader; be it in Middle Earth from the Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, fighting Strigoi vampires in the Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, or sailing the seas in Sea Witch by Helen Hollick. Reading is an excellent way to escape the ordinary, fight off boredom and develop literacy skills in an engaging and meaningful manner.

Food for thought! As educators, and you yourselves as parents, we know the importance of reading to your children from a young age and fostering this love for books for well into adulthood. However, a new study has been published further highlighting the value of this practice. Ohio State University has called it the “million word gap” with children who have parents reading 5 books to them a day, have heard and can recognise 1.4 million more words than their counterparts who do not. This can have monumental benefits for the development of their literacy and reading skills. While students at Mackellar are far from this developmental age, it is an amazing find that can be passed on! More information can be found through the Ohio University website: https://news.osu.edu/a-million-word-gap-for-children-who-arent-read-to-at-home/

Ms Reed and Ms Langford

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PDHPE & SPORT ZONE ATHLETICS On Friday of Week 6, Mackellar took a team of over 70 girls to the North Shore Zone Athletics Carnival. We had some outstanding results and Mackellar was named as the School Champions. A special mention goes to Laura , Chloe, Olivia, Madeleine, who were crowned age champions. Laura, Emma and Mercy broke Zone records. Well done girls and good luck to everyone competing at the Regional Carnival next term. 9/10 NSW ALL SCHOOLS TOUCH FOOTBALL On Friday 14th June 38 teams from 16 Regional Qualifying Events ventured to The Kingsway Playing Fields to compete in the 2019 National School Series, Year 9/10 NSW State Final. After 4 pool matches, our Mackellar side was undefeated, sending us through to play in the finals. We defeated Holy Spirit College in the quarter-final and Narrabeen Sports High School in the semi-final, giving us a place in the grand final against Orange High School. The grand final match was fast-paced as both teams went try for try throughout. Despite playing in their seventh game of the day, there was nothing slowing the girls down. Orange High School coming up short in their fight for the title as Mackellar took out the championship 5-4. Kiiahla from Mackellar was awarded ‘Player of the Final’. The team consisted of: Kiiahla, Megan, Hannah, Edie, Olivia, Zara, Anaia, Daley, Charlee, Matilda, Jamie, Lucia and Mia. TALENTED ATHLETE PROGRAM-TERM 2 ENRICHMENT DAY On Monday 17 March and Tuesday 18 June, students in the Talented Athlete Program participated in the following enriching activities. Injury prevention and management seminar and research activity Rugby League skills and games with development officers Guest talk, conducted by Craig Wing, former NRL player Guest Talk- Nutrition seminar Nutrition task and Master Chef practical activity Guest Talk- Mental focus in sport Yoga session with an instructor The two days improved the students knowledge and skills in a range of different aspects related to individual sports. These newly acquired skills can be used now and in the future to enhance sporting outcomes. Nicole Robb TAP Coordinator PDHPE / SPORT

What’s been happening in the Z Club at Mackellar?

This has been a busy term for the Z Club. In April we made 100 breast cushions that were distributed to Northern Beaches Hospital and given to women who have undergone surgery due to breast cancer. Last week the SRC and Z Cub members organised a cake stall raising over $600 for the Local Women’s Refuge Centre at Manly. With this money much needed packs of toiletry items were able to be purchased for women and their children when faced with leaving their home under difficult circumstances. In May together with the Year 11 cohort 2000 Birthing Kits were assembled and sent to Uganda via medecins sans frontieres to prevent death for both mother and baby in child birth. The availability of this simple kit significantly saves the lives of both baby and mother during the delivery. Contents of the kit includes a small plastic sheet to lie on, a pair of plastic gloves, gauze, razor blade, soap and string. The contents of the kit are simple however the transport costs involved in sending 2000 Birthing Kits to these isolated areas is $6000. For details on BKFA see the webpage here. https://www.bkfa.org.au/. If you would like to donate to the Birthing Kit Foundation use the following link. All donations are tax deductible https://www.mycause.com.au/page/202625/zonta-northern-beaches-birthing-kit-packing Thank you for your support Emilia Biswell TAS Teacher & Z Club Coordinator

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WORLD VISION YOUTH CONFERENCE The World Vision Youth Conference on 30 May, was attended by ten Year 9 and 10 Mackellar students who are passionate about contributing to a fairer and more equitable world. The conference was held at the University of NSW where over 1,000 students across the State attended and were motivated, encouraged and empowered to make a positive change for global equality. During the conference students were inspired by guest speakers including Jimmy Kyle, lead singer of Melbourne band “Chasing Ghosts” who also mentors Indigenous communities across Australia and human rights activist, Khadija Gbla. Khadija is an Australian African woman and refugee survivor who offers vision and leadership to women, youth and minority groups. Khadija spoke about her experience as a refugee and the dire circumstances that lead people to become refugees. She also highlighted that currently there are 68 million people displaced around the globe due to war, climate change, natural disasters and persecution. Students were also made aware of structural injustices and systems that cause inequality and unjust outcomes for many people around the world. Interactive sessions were held that highlighted ways we can make a difference by adjusting our lifestyle. These included adjustments to our diet, the way we can make ethical decisions about the clothing we buy and by becoming an advocate for positive change using social media. The Conference concluded with a challenge to encourage and empower our school community to make positive change for others by participating in the World Vision Backpack challenge to be held on 6 to 8 September this year. As a group, we came away from the conference feeling excited, empowered and hopeful that we can be part of a better future for all of humanity around the globe.

MUSIC NEWS - Congratulations to the Big Band for their professional performance at the Principals Conference at the Manly Pacific Hotel. The feedback was extremely complementary and the girls enjoyed performing at a professional function. Congratulations to the Concert and Performance Bands for their excellent performances at the Northern Beaches Instrumental Festival. There were over 4800 students from public and private schools on the Northern Beaches who took part in this 2 week festival. The Mackellar Performance Band was invited to play in the GALA concert and performed to an exceptionally high standard. Band Rehearsal Day- Monday 22 July. Term 2 and 3 Pupil free days are always set aside as band rehearsal days. On Monday 22 July the Concert and Performance Band will perfect their pieces for the Australian Band Festival performance at the Conservatorium of Music the following weekend. Girls can wear suitable mufti and should bring food as the canteen will not be open. Gigs - Please mark Calendars –

Vanessa Patterson, Band Director

Sunday 30 June NBIF Stage Band Session, Harbord Primary School

Stage Band Arrive 5:15pm Session starts 5:40pm. Finished 7pm.

July 1.Week 10 Term 2

Senior State Music Camp The Arts Unit

Selected students – apply on line at the Arts Unit

Week-long event

Monday 22 July Week 1 Term 3

Rehearsal Day Per-formance Space

Concert and Performance Bands

10am -11:40am Concert Band; 12noon- 1:40pm Performance Band

Term 3 Week 1 Junior State Music Camp The Arts Unit

Selected students – apply on line at the Arts Unit

Week-long event

Sunday 28 July NSW Band Festival Conservatorium of Music

Performance and Concert Band

Concert Band Arrival 1:40pm. Performance Band Arrival 3:30pm.

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UNIFORM SHOP NEWS - Dear Volunteers, Please see below the days/times we require help in your school uniform shop: MONDAY 1 JULY 9.00-11.15 AM WEDNESDAY 24 JULY 12.00-2.00PM THE SIZE 10 LADIES TRACKPANTS ARE BACK IN STOCK. Please see school website for shop opening days & times as we have some Wednesday dates in July that the shop is closed. Please be reminded there are always ordering forms on the outside of uniform shop door so your daughter can bring form home, fill out and pop through shop letterbox. We will then pack order and have your daughter called at lunchtime to collect goods.:) JUST WANT TO SAY A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO MY VOLUNTEERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU THAT COME IN WEEKLY, YOU ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED & SHOP COULD NOT RUN SO SMOOTHLY WITHOUT YOU. ALL PROCEEDS RAISED IN OUR SCHOOL UNIFORM SHOP GO DIRECTLY BACK INTO YOUR DAUGHTERS EDUCATION. Thank you, Leigh McPherson — Uniform Shop Coordinator Email: uniformshop@mackellarpandc.com

P&C NEWS - Don’t forget Friday 2 August, is the Mackellar Comedy night. Details about the comedy line up will be revealed early next term. So get your needle and thread ready as it promises to be a night of side-splitting laughter! (Nb: we will not be held responsible for sides that actually do split on the evening from excessive laughter!) The try booking link to purchase tickets is: comedyforacause.net/MACKELLAR David Gillespie, author of “Teen Brain” will be presenting a talk for parents of The Northern Beaches Secondary College. Details are currently being finalised and will be confirmed soon. The date of the next P&C meeting is Wednesday 4 September. For all P&C enquiries, please contact Sally Gee pandcmackellar@yahoo.com.au Cristina Anderson, P&C Regional Representative

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