2-40 Chickiba Drive,

East Ballina NSW 2478

T 02 6681 0300 F 02 6681 0499

E southerncrossschoolofdistance education@det.nsw.edu.au

W sthcrossc-d.schools.nsw.gov.au

Opportunity * Wellbeing * Engagement Our school stands proudly on Bundjalung land

Issue 6

15 May 2019

Student Newsletter

In this issue—

Principal’s message Primary news Secondary news School/community events 2019 calendar

From the Principal’s Desk

Hello all,

It has been a very busy start to the term. Myself and one of the Deputies are now located in the new front office of the school, with the second DP’s office set up for when the rest of the staff join us from Ballina Campus.

We have had the enrolment and wellbeing team move over to East Ballina and are located directly above my new office. The Aboriginal and Alternate learning team have also moved across into their new rooms at East Ballina as has the Primary team from Casino, meaning that a majority of the staff are now located at East Ballina. Everyone seems to have settled in well and is actively working toward providing the best opportunities for our students that we can.

The remainder of the staff to move into the Administration block should be able to do so in week 4 or 5 of this term. That includes the lovely staff in the front office, HT single subject, curriculum and administration downstairs, and in the upstairs section – HSIE, Mathematics and Technology. We look forward to everyone being on a single campus and in their new spaces.

I would like to thank the Rural and Distance Education team from Bathurst, led by Mike Tom, who have managed to find some funds to assist us in the setup of our new environment.

It is with sadness that I inform you that our much loved General Assistant from the Casino Campus, Mr Harold Close, better known to us all as Harry, passed away last weekend. We will all miss him very much and pass our sympathies onto the family and community. Harry was a long term permanent employee at Casino and his enthusiasm, humour and presence will be sorely missed.

Yours in Education,

Danny Henman

SCSODE News—New offices

From Left - anti—clockwise:

Principal and Deputy principal

Enrolment and wellbeing team

The Aboriginal and Alternate learning team

Primary team

Primary News

This term, primary

students are studying the

Physical World (Science),

integrating learning in

English, personal

development and music.

Early Stage 1 students are using their senses to explore rocking and rolling to answer the question: How did Humpty Dumpty really fall?

Stage 1 students are learning about

pushing and pulling forces to design

a boat to take Woody safely back to

his friends.

Stage 2 are conducting experiments using forces and friction to

explain how forces are evident in a chosen game or sport.

Here Oliver pushes the peddles to ride his bike.

Stage 3 are designing a product that transforms

electrical energy and solves a personal need, such

as a product to stop a little brother reading a

personal diary…

We have also recently acquired sets of microbits and Lego Mindstorm and can’t wait to integrate them into future learning sequences and at mini-school!

Primary News

Secondary News—Science faculty update

The Science faculty would like to offer a warm welcome back to all students for Term 2. We are still located at our Ballina Campus in Central Ballina and are looking forward very much to moving back to the East Ballina site once renovations have been completed where we will have direct access to science laboratories.

We have been very busy producing courses for the new syllabuses for Year 12 and the students have been performing very well. To supplement our courses in Years 11 and 12 we have we have subscribed to Edrolo that offers excellent video lessons, checkpoints and practice exam questions all based on the new syllabuses that the students have found very helpful.

Our online learning community continues to grow with Year 9 and 10 students learning very effectively in out Canvas courses receiving feedback much more quickly than students that are utilising the paper (snail mail) courses. We are also very excited about a trial for Year 7 and 8 students using the professional online platform of STILE.

STILE

Stile was started by our Chief Scientist Alan Finkel with the intention of improving scientific literacy in students across Australia. Below is an extract from STILE

“Hi,

We are the team behind Stile.

We’re a bunch of passionate teachers, scientists and engineers rallied around a single goal: to make science interesting, accessible and challenging for every student. And giving students a world class science education couldn’t be more important in today’s world.

Let’s consider the world to which our students will graduate:

A world of "fake news" and "alternative facts".

A world where automation is rapidly and radically reshaping the workforce.

A world where science and technology is increasingly pervasive in our lives.

We’re here to play our part to ensure those students leave school confident to tackle tomorrow ’s problems. Confident to participate in public discourse around the ethics of scientific issues such as artificial intelligence, vaccination or genetically modified food. Confident in their ability to continually learn and adapt through a multitude of careers.

We’re rethinking science, and more broadly, STEM education. We’re here, to join forces with you, to combine our powers and help ensure your students graduate with the brightest possible future.

We look forward to working with you,

The Stile Team”

If you would like to learn more please visit https://stileeducation.com/. If you are in Years 7 or 8 and can learn online it is highly recommended that you speak to your teacher to get your account set up and join the students that are enjoying their learning through this high quality platform.

Matt Cartwright, Head Teacher Science

Secondary News

Science Mini Schools-

Look out for the next Science Mini-

School near you!

Late last term Science students at

both the Pottsville and Lismore Hubs

donned some lab coats and safety

glasses to take a closer look at the

process of diffusion. Students learnt

about the incredibly complex cell

membrane that surrounds the 37

trillion plus cells that makes up a

human body and how the cell

membrane is in charge of controlling

what goes into and comes out of our

cells. Students found out about the

main factors driving diffusion and

using that knowledge came up with a

hypothesis based on the size of

molecules involved and the

concentration gradients. Students

made a model cell using dialysis

tubing to mimic the cell membrane.

They then added a solution of glucose

and starch to the model cell and

placed it into a beaker with water and

iodine. Iodine can be used as an

indicator for starch. Iodine is orange

when in water but goes a dark purple

blue colour when starch is present.

Year 12 Chemistry

Last term year 12 Chemistry students were very busy learning about

acid/base reactions. Students at Cape Byron Steiner School enjoyed the

opportunity to conduct some volumetric analysis. They used solid oxalic

acid to make standard solutions which was then titrated against an

unknown sodium hydroxide solution. Titrations are a form of volumetric

analysis where an indicator is used to show the ‘endpoint’, the point

where the acid has completely neutralised the base. The volume solution

with known concentration is then used to calculate the concentration of

the unknown solution. In this case phenolphthalein was utilised as it was

a strong base/weak acid titration, phenolphthalein changes from clear to

a bright pink at pH of 8.2.

Volumetric analysis requires keen concentration and a careful and

steady hand. The image shows Kalani Knight hard at work.

Secondary News

Year 11 Investigating Science

Practical Session in Toormina

On the 28 of March, Investigating

Science teacher Jay-sen Phang,

travelled down to Toormina to

meet with his Year 11 student

Aleigha-Jane (A-J) Bentley. It was

their first time meeting face to face

although both of them had spoken

on the phone and exchanged

emails as part of the Year 11

Investigating Science course. The

purpose of the visit was to work

together to conduct important

water quality tests as part of A-J’s

Depth Study and assessment

task. By all accounts the

Investigating Science duo

performed all the necessary tests

perfectly and collected some

amazing results. A-J then worked

independently to produce an

outstanding report that

summarised their findings which

were reported back to the land-

owner from which the samples

were taken.

Secondary News

STEM WorkShop- Bio-Mimicry

Wednesday the 10th of April saw the opening of the amazing

STEMLAB5 at the East Ballina Campus. Led by Sam Nelson with

help from Science, TAS, Maths and PDHPE, 7 eager students took

part in the inaugural STEM workshop that focused on Biomimicry

and Soft Robotics Research and Development. Biomimicry is the

imitation of elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex

human problems. In this case students were designing a replica for

the human bicep muscle using pneumatics, rather than hydraulics,

which most lifting apparatus currently use. This design has real

world functionality for people in the community with loss of limb

function, allowing them to complete daily tasks unaided and gain

independence. Each student made a prototype out of inexpensive

easy to find materials such as rubber bands and zip ties. Recycled

materials made up the rest of the muscle including old inner tubes

donated by local bike shops and denim from an old pair of jeans.

After some trial and error, and a few burst inner tubes, the student

engineers went on to collect valuable data to gauge exactly how

much weight these muscles could lift and how quick the response

time would be. The day was a huge success with students barely

pausing for lunch as they were so focused on this ground breaking

research and development and perfecting their prototypes. The day

finished off with a discussion of possible improvements and

predictions so that at the next workshop, which will be held mid-term

2, the student engineers can take these biomimicry biceps from

prototypes to product, with the addition of coding and Micro:bits.

Keep an eye out in further student newsletters if you want to take

part in the next workshop. STEMLAB5 is a fantastic resource for all

students and contains various robotic and electronic kits available

for loan.

Call Sam Nelson on 66810414 to ask what is available.

School/Community News

STAR Early Offer Program

Southern Cross University

Applications open on 1 May and close on 13 September.

STAR Early Offer program at Southern Cross University allows students to receive an offer into any undergraduate degree on the

basis of current grades and Principal’s recommendation.

Study at one of our three campuses or online. Offers are released after HSC exams but prior to HSC results.

For more information visit:

https://www.scu.edu.au/star-early-offer/

or contact your Senior Year Adviser

STEM Update

CONGRATULATIONS

Jamie Palmer, one of Sam Nelson’s

LST students has just taken out first

place in the beginners strand of a

national web authoring competition.

School/Community News

School Transport

The School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) provides eligible school students with free or

subsidised travel from home to school.

Please use the web address below to take you to

the NSW Government Transport webpage.

https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/#/

On this website you can apply for:

Free School Travel Pass To and from home to school on approved bus

services during school term.

School Drive Subsidy

To and from school in private vehicles in areas where there is no public transport available.

(this replaces the Private Vehicle Conveyance)

Travel Concession Card

For free travel on NSW TrainLink Regional services.

Please contact the school for concession cards.

For additional information please contact our

school office on 6681 0300.

The information is also available on our school webpage under the

full time tab.

Are you interested in making a

contribution to your school?

Do you want to learn valuable

leadership skills?

Do you want to meet other students?

Do you want to help others and

make change?

If you answered yes to any of these

questions, you should join the Student

Leadership Team.

Simply send an email to

Judith.ford7@det.nsw.edu.au and we will

send you an invite to our canvas page.

National Assessment Program –

Literacy and Numeracy

(NAPLAN) 2019

A letter was sent out recently regarding NAPLAN for Yr3, 5, 7 & 9 students. We are encouraging as many students as possible to come into their local learning hub to complete the assessments. We are setting up a space only for distance education students at our East Ballina site and would like any students who can make it to Ballina to attempt NAPLAN at this venue. This will be on Tuesday and Thursday next week (week 4). For students going into their local hub the papers will be sent straight there. For students doing NAPLAN at home the papers will be sent home this week so you can attempt them next week. If you have not been contacted about where you are sitting the test or have any questions please contact our Deputy Principal, David Thick, on 66810300

School/Community News

Student Calendar 2019

TERM 2 MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

April/May 29 30 1 2 3

Week 3 NAPLAN NAPLAN NAPLAN

May 20 21 22 23 24

Week 4 Pottsville PDHPE

May 27 28 29 30 31

Week 5

June 3 4 5 6 7

Week 6 Glen Innes PDHPE Inverell PDHPE Tenterfield - PDHPE

GRAFTON Visual ART

GRAFTON Visual ART

June 10 11 12 13 14

Week 7 Queen’s Birthday

June 17 18 19 20 21

Week 8

June 24 25 26 27 28

Week 9 Casino PDHPE

July 1 2 3 4 5

Week 10 Lismore PDHPE

Mini Schools: Are for full time student and in blue text