Issue 7 | Term 3 | 2014 – Meet your our Teachers, Mr Cole

– Handwriting: what does it tell us?

– How to Ace the Assessment Period

– Stars in the Making

NEWSTOWN

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 1

SRC UPDATES Can Drive

This term the SRC ran the annual can drive for the second year in a row. All donations of tinned food were much appreciated. We asked for the tins to have an image of their contents and a lid that doesn’t need a can opener to open. These tins will be distributed, via the Exodus Foundation to disadvantaged children, adults and families.

Jeans for Genes day On the 1st of August, Jeans for Genes day, SRC representatives collected money from NHSPA students and the wider Newtown community to raise funds for research into genetic disorders. The day was successful and over $300 was raised.

New Recruits SRC has welcomed five new Year 7 recruits to serve a two year term. The SRC is also preparing to hold elections for Year 9 and Year 11 SRC representatives. If you are interested in applying see Mr. Shipp in the HSIE staffroom.

SRC Suggestion Box The SRC always welcomes new ideas. If you have something you want improved, or changed or just have a good idea simply write a message on a piece of paper and place it into the suggestion box in the front office.

SRC Facebook Page If you haven't already, go and like the SRC Facebook page. The page allows you to be up to date with school news and announcements. don't miss out! Look up NHSPA SRC on Facebook to like.

EXODUS CAN DRIVE By Georgia Brigg, Year 10

The average Australian wastes 200kg of food a year… but last year over two million Australian ran out of food and were unable to afford to buy more. What can you do to help? The Exodus foundation along with school community’s in Australia, including Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, have come up with an answer – donating cans.

That is why this year, for the second year in a row, Newtown is running a can drive. NHSPA is asking for donations of cans of food such as, soup, kidney beans and tuna. Rhian Mordaunt, Year 10 coordinator of this years can drive asked for the “cans to have flip back tops, because many people don’t have access to can openers and to have a picture of the contents as many of the people who receive the cans are illiterate”. So far over 60 cans have been collected. Last years 140 cans were collected. Help top last years record by donating a food can. All donations can be handed into your SRC members. One can can provide a meal for one person and every donation makes a difference.

Head to: http://www.exodusfoundation.org.au/donate/candrive, for more information.

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 2

ONE ARM, ONE LEG, ONE SMILE

By Bethan Dwyer and Nicola Huber-Smith, Year 9 On Thursday, the seventh of August, Year 9 of NHSPA were an audience for guest speaker Jonathan Beninca, who talked to us about the consequences of risk taking, and his own related experiences. He discussed how the bad choices he made as a teenager greatly affected his entire life and the lives of those around him. As a foolish, drunk teenager, Jonathan decided to take a short cut across the train tracks. Standing on the tracks, he stopped to throw rocks at an old train, and when one rebounded and hit him on the head, he was knocked unconscious. When he woke up in hospital, he was told that he had been hit by a train, and was extremely lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, the experience cost him an arm and a leg as well as a number of fingers on his left arm.

Jonathan showed us how risks we take have massive impacts on our own lives and on the lives of others. His talk demonstrated that things we may think of as cool and fun as teenagers have consequences that aren't so appealing. His presentation had a positive impact on the year, and relayed a grim topic sensibly, through the use of conversational language and ironic humor. His visit has left a lasting impression on the whole of year nine.

News-in-the-town

RYDA Day for Year 10 On Thursday the 28th of August Year 10 attended the Road Safety Education day at Olympic Park in Homebush. The 6 sessions focused on driving impairments, managing risks, crash survivors and stories and firsthand experience on cars braking. This comes at the time where many Year 10 students are eligible for L and going for P plates and also at the highest risk in road accidents.

Year 10 Debating

The Year 10 debating team was narrowly defeated by Sydney Boys High School in the State Semi-Finals of the Premier’s Debating Challenge. The schools debated the topic ‘That we should ban hunting in national parks.’ Newtown took the affirmative side and it was affirmative that the team put in lots of effort on the 1st of September.

Environmental Committee

After Mr Lazendic’s promotion to another school, Miss Hindmarsh is now heads the environmental committee. They “can’t wait to kick off next term with our awesome annual World Earth Festival, and start off 2015 with new projects to help make our school and our community more environmentally friendly.” Their current focus is on making our school more sustainable, with our electricity and water use. Anyone can join the committee, and bring forward great ideas to help clean up our school and our environment.

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 3

MEET YOUR TEACHERS In this section we interview those who mark your work,plan your classes and put up withyour talking – your teachers. This issue we interviewed Mr Cole, in HSIE.

Why did you become a teacher?Teaching was a second option to support my hip hop musical career. I rap and my voice is my instrument. I took teaching because of its flexibility in work and travel. I enjoyed it and now I take it full time.

What do you enjoy about teaching HSIE? I’ve always enjoyed David Attenborough documentaries and HSIE is very contemporary and relevant, especially geography. It encompasses humans and environment, all very topical. As they say, ‘knowledge is power’ and I want to teach consciousness to the world!

What tips do you have for students studying HSIE?Read widely and have an open mind. Also question the world around you. I have three words, which I like to use: conscience, conscious and common sense.

What do you enjoy most about teaching Newtown students? You never know what to expect. Those who don’t do so well in the classroom are brilliant on stage. I also find that Newtown students are more worldly with more maturity. It is easy to walk out with a smile on your face after teaching at Newtown.

What do you think makes a good student?Taking an interest, respecting your class, subject and teacher and questioning. Being involved in a range of activities is also very important.

What tips do you have for students doing assignments and tests? Know your syllabus, follow directive terms, incorporate case studies and information and most importantly, ask your teacher if you are unsure.

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 4

BOOK REVIEW The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness

Review by Stephanie Oppen-Riley, Year 10

‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ is a young adult novel by Patrick Ness and book one in the Chaos Walking series.

The trilogy is set in the far future, when humanity has left a dying earth and traveled to a new one called ‘New World’. The novel follows Todd Hewitt, the last boy in the town of Prentisstown, a small settlement on ‘New World’. Todd explains to us that all the women and some men in the settlement were killed by a ‘germ’ released by the native population of the world, called the Spackle. The remaining men now constantly emit their thoughts, which is called the Noise.

At the beginning of the novel, Todd discovers a gap in the Noise, which has always been ever present. He tells his adopted parents, Ben and Cillian, who then instantly tell him to flee. Confused but obedient, Todd flees into the swamp with his dog, Manchee, and comes face to face with the gap in the Noise. It’s a girl, who’s name is Viola. Viola crash landed on ‘New World’ with her parents, who died in the crash. Together, Todd and Viola run from the settlement. They soon learn that Prentisstown has a dark history and that many things Todd knew were lies.

The novel is well written and deserving of the awards it won. The way the novel is written and the use of little literary techniques, such as the constant misspellings of the word creature, makes it feel as if the book is truly from the perspective of Todd.

The novel can be rather dark and bleak in areas, and has some mature content. As such, it may not be suitable for younger readers.

Over here at Newstown we were thinking “Who is going to be our star of the week?” and after weeks and weeks of

Literacy Section

FILM REVIEW

The Guardians of the Galaxy

Review by Oskar Backent, Year 10 Coming from a background of low budget films, director James Gunn takes his love for sci-fi to a whole new level. This Marvel movie, based around a group of criminals fighting deadly forces, puts its huge budget to good use. With memorable characters and catchy 80s soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy is definetly worth a watch.

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 5

SKI TRIP REPORT

By Nina Bayndrian, Year 9 BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. You open your eyes just a little, the room is dark and all you can hear is the annoying beeping sound coming from the other side of the room. You close your eyes again hoping someone else will get up and turn it off but they don’t. The person on the bunk across from you groans and turns over pulling their pillow over their head. You kick the blankets off and practically fall out of your bunk. When you press the button to turn the alarm off, the screen of the phone lights up, 5:45. It’s the third day of the trip and you think the same thought you did the previous 2 mornings “Which genius decided it was a good idea to get up at this ungodly hour.” Now that the room is quiet again without the sound of the alarm your body screams for you to go back to bed, every ache from every fall that you took the previous day vies for your attention. Now you know that the right thing to do is wake up your still sleeping roommates, turn the light on and start getting dressed for the day but 5 minutes cant hurt! You climb back up to your bunk and slump back into the pillows to lie for another 5 blissful minutes of warmth and then you hear it. Every morning a teacher comes around to check that everybody is out of bed and getting ready and they’re already knocking on the cabin next door, you scramble from the bed and flick the light switch on, the light is blinding “teacher, get up, get up teacher coming!” Suddenly everyone in the room is up scrambling for the nearest item that will make them look as if they are already getting ready. You hear a knock at the door and the teacher peers in “everybody up?” You look back into the room one of the girls is on the bed pretending to be pulling her ski pants on, another is holding a hairbrush as if in mid brush and the third puts her ski pass in her bag and zips it up as if she’s all packed up and ready for the day. You turn back to the teacher and give a grunt that is all your sleep-deprived brain can come up with as affirmation, but they seem to understand. When the door closes, as they walk away, everyone in the room slumps against the nearest surface and groans and we look as far from ready as we could possibly be. Half an hour later you’re dressed. Some of the exhaustion is starting to wear off and you are awake… sort of. By this time the allure of food is far overpowering the want to go back to bed. When you get to the dining room the hot food isn’t being served yet and so you grab a bowl of cereal. As you’re eating, you look around the room. While some are practically falling asleep in their nutri grain others (although you can’t understand how) are wide-awake and lively telling animated stories of their treacherous journey down the dreaded high noon. The bus trip is relatively uneventful. The sunscreen is passed down the rows and people apply it plentifully, after all, few people can rock the goggle tan line. When you arrive at Thredbo before you get of the bus, you keep your head down and out of sight; you silently hope not to be picked to unload the gear from the bus. Once all the gear is unloaded you get off, find your boots and pull them on; your fingers are already freezing. Once you’ve finished getting them on, there are some things I warn you never to do while at the snow: NEVER smell your boots (and try to avoid trees, that’s always helpful.) Everybody lugs their gear up to the slope, you click your helmet on and strap yourself into your skis or your board and you catch your first chairlift of the day. Whether it be Friday flat or Super trail, when you look down at the fresh morning snow (even if it is helped along a little by the snow machines), that has barely been disturbed by anyone, suddenly the early wake up, the injuries, the goggle tans and the smelly boots just all seem worth it.

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 6

How to ace the assessment period! Disappointed with your last report? Want to show off to your friends? Made a bet with your parents? I am going to teach you how to get straight A’s this semester! Step 1: Get rid of all distractions That’s right. I know it may be hard, but for the week you should commit to finishing those assessments. Say goodbye to selfies, your Xbox and flappy bird! It’s time to study! Step 2: Make sure you have all of your notes Make sure you have all of the information you need. That is what the internet was made for! Make sure you have a clear understanding of the topic. If you don’t have notes on a specific topic talk to your teacher and discuss the notes with them. Step 3: Start your assessment Now it is time to start. You have all of your notes and clear understanding of the topic. Set yourself goals for example say if I finish half of the assessment I can have a break. Or if I study for an hour I can have a cookie. Don’t become one of those massive procrastinators! Get it done early so you have time to reflect about your work. Step 4: Take a break If you don’t take breaks then you will get stressed out. Every hour or so take a moment to reflect about your assessment task and what you need to get done so that when you get back to work you will have clear mind about what you are doing next. Step 5: Look over your work You are almost done! Now it is time to look over your work. Make sure everything is placed in the right spot and that you have completed all the criteria. Show your parents, friends and your teachers and ask them for their honest opinion! Step 6: Feeling confident Feel confident with the word that you have handed in. Don’t listen to your peers when they discuss answers or marks because then it will just give you unneeded stress. Feel happy that you have handed in your best possible work and learn from your mistakes! So there we have it, six ways for you to ace your assessment tasks! I wish you the best of luck with all of your work! By Rhian Mordaunt on behalf of Mia Black, Year 8

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 7

Handwriting: what can it tell us?  Handwriting something can tell us much more than of its content. Historians can understand a person’s personality just by analysing their handwriting. This is called graphology. Graphologist Kathi McKnight analyses a person’s handwriting by asking them to write ‘She sells seashells by the seashore’ in running writing.                      

If your writing slants… To the right, you are open and social. To the left, you like to work alone and behind the scenes. You may even be expressing rebellion. Not at all, you are logical, practical and emotionally guarded.    

Now  write  ‘sells’:          

If your writing is… Large, you are outgoing and like the limelight. Small, you are shy and focused. Average, you are well-adjusted and adaptable.    

Now  write  ‘seashells’:          

If your loops are… Closed for ‘l’, you may be restricting yourself in some way. Full for ‘l’, you are spontaneous and relaxed. Closed for ‘e’, you may be sceptical and hard to be swayed. Full for ‘e’, you are open minded.    

Start by writing ‘She’

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 8

Joke Doctors “Laughter is the best medicine” By Xander Berridge, Year 10 & Oliver Lee, Year 7 What is the most popular book among cats? To kill a mockingbird What award did the inventor of the door knocker receive? The No-Bell prize Did you hear about the crime that happened in the parking lot? It was wrong on so many levels Why did the banker quit his job? He lost interest Why can’t a bicycle stand on its own? It’s two tire-d Where do math’s teachers go on vacation? To Times Square What do you call a number that can’t sit still? A romin’ numeral

Aunty Newtown Send your questions in at newstownnhspa@gmail.com

I’m in Year 9 and all my friends seem to know what they are going to be when they grow up. When will I know? What your want to do now probably won't be what they want to do 10 years from now. Not knowing what you want to do is good. You've left your options open. You could do anything; a CEO, a musician or a medication guinea pig. The point is that not knowing what you want do when you grow up is as natural as the lump on your on your shoulder. Actually, you may want to see a doctor.

STARS IN THE MAKING

Over here at Newstown we were thinking “Who is going to be our star of the week?” and after weeks and weeks of deciding we realised there wasn’t just one star…….there was a whole year group of stars! Year 12 has been an amazing year group and have inspired future year groups through their confidence, intelligence and their ability to light up a room (and a school)! We already are seeing their great achievements with the HSC through numerous drama students being nominated for “onstage”. We know that will hear about their amazing accomplishments with the HSC in later months. I know that with their determination and courage they will be able to succeed in the future in whatever path they choose to follow. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined”- Henry David Thoreau.

Issue 7 - Term 3 - 2014

NHSPA SRC 9

Editors: Georgia Brigg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stan Cheung ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rhian Mordaunt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veronica Von Arnim -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Departments: Editing – Javiera Scarratt Design – Stephanie Oppen-Reily Photography – George Greenhill Jokes – Oliver Lee -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Thanks To: Bethan Dwyer, Nicola Huber-Smith, Tennessee Baz-Jeffrey, Xander Berridge, Emma Case and Kieran Camejo.

Meetings:

Thursday Lunch

F5