Principal: Jane Ferris Website: www.pittwater-h.schools.nsw.edu Deputy Principals: Rachel Fleming, Sharon Behringer , Martin Hardy (rel) Email: Pittwater-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

PITTWATER PRESS BE RESPECTFUL ASPIRE BE RESPONSIBLE

Jane Ferris: Principal’s Report. 4 June 2019

Big Band Blast Congratulations to our Stage Band students who participated in the Big Band Blast at Port Macquarie on the weekend. As always the band’s performance was fantastic and highly entertaining, leading to great accolades from the audience. Students also participated in workshops, attended an evening jazz concert and joined the Sunday street parade. A huge thank you to Dr Hardy for organising and conducting the band as well as Ms Hayes for driving the minibus and assisting with supervision. The students were courteous and well behaved, bringing credit to our school.

NAPLAN ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority) is responsible for the implementation of NAPLAN. The difficulties our school and most schools experienced with NAPLAN online, is not the fault of the Department of Education or schools, but an ACARA issue. Two weeks after the event, ACARA has not found or resolved the problem that caused the interruption to the testing of thousands of students. There has been an enormous human cost to this debacle with un-necessary stress and lost teaching and learning time for our students, teachers and families. Currently the Secondary Principals Council are lobbying that any comparative data does not appear on the MySchool website. Students are thanked for their patience and efforts in these unsatisfactory test conditions. If results are not what you would have hoped for, then that is okay. Just always do the best you can and take on board feedback from your teachers.

A huge thank you to Mr Patrick Cigana and his huge team of helpers for the hours and hours of tireless work in trying to manage such a difficult situation. Smile: You’re on Candid Camera! The school is now safer than ever having had three security cameras installed. The cameras may be able to pick up illegal activities on the school grounds which will inevitably save the school money. Based on the suggestion of the P and C an additional camera is being installed overlooking the bike racks.

Year 11 Year 11 Reports are now available on the Student/Parent Portal. Please discuss your child’s progress with them. We are impressed with Year 11’s progress and are looking forward to the camp later in the term. Congratulations to the Big Band who attended the Big Band Blast on the week-end in Port Macquarie. The band played extremely well with numerous people commenting on the high standard. The students were extremely well behaved and participated in many educational work-shops and concerts. Educational plans are about to be sent out to Years 7 and 8. These plans are to be filled out by students on line via google forms. The educational plans are designed to gain information from students so that teachers can work with the students to enhance their learning. Students should discuss their answers with parents and should be aware that their plans will be accessed by teaching staff. Based on the Year 9 Educational Plans, there will soon be small group interviews to discuss areas of concern or items that could be improved so that individual learning is enhanced and improved. Students will be given a timetable of interviews in the near future. Keep it Clean is an important message for the school, which has more than one meaning. We are all fortunate to have such a wonderful physical environment to enjoy with extensive green areas to enjoy. Last weekend we had fourteen cleaners come in and work in the school to improve standards throughout the buildings and grounds. Students need to use the bins that are provided and be prepared to pick up for others. We are still concerned that a small group of students are vandalising toilets and tables with graffiti.

Graffiti removal is expensive and distressing to the school community.

A reminder that marker pens, including Sharpies are banned at school and that such markers will be confiscated with associated disciplinary action. Keep it Clean also applies to language used in the playground, in the classroom and to staff members. We encourage students to think of the “grandmother test”; would you want your grandmother to hear you using those words? Inappropriate language used to a teacher is aggressive behaviour and can be grounds for a level or a suspension. Last week Ms Bates organised for a company called MyGateway NSW to attend a seminar in the library for Year 10 students interested in looking at work in an apprenticeship or traineeship. The gentle-man said that the boys were the most engaged and responsive he has had at his presentation. They asked questions plus listened intently to his hour long presentation. He also said that over the past six months he has visited 50 schools state-wide and at our school the students were so respectful, the gardens were well maintained and he was very impressed at just how clean the school was. He said it was a credit to our team here at Pittwater High School.

Gearing Up for the Senior School A reminder for Year 10 parents and students that Gearing up for the Senior School, subject selection evening is on Tuesday 4 June at 6pm. Students will receive their subject selection booklet and be able to talk to staff and student faculty representa-tives about subject content and require-ments. The informal and personal discussions will be followed by a formal presentation to all Year 10 students and parents.

When parents call the school with concerns or seeking support, could they please contact the Head Teacher if the matter is program specific and the Year Advisor if the matter relates to welfare issues. Head Teachers and Year Advisors may pass issues on further if they need to.

Rachel Fleming, Sharon Behringer, Martin Hardy and Carol Roulston

It is with pride we reflect back on the 2019 Asia Pacific Sprint Cup that took place 10-12 May on Lake Karapiro, Cambridge in picturesque New Zealand. Five Countries competed for the cup; Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and The Cook Islands. The competition was strong and all the athletes gave outstanding performances. Australia defended the cup with 34 athletes in u16, u18 & u23. Tinus Koekemoer and Alisa van der Kwartel both competed for the u18 team. Tinus brought home 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal and Alisa 1 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. The first day started off as perfect conditions for sprint kayaking, clear sky and wind-still on the water. It was on the second day we started seeing less ideal conditions with

heavy fog on the lake which allowed no more than 150 meters visibility - very challeng-ing for the 1000 meter races. The third day brought building rainclouds, but luckily it gave us a chance to end a very successful championship with New Zealand being the perfect host. At the closing ceremony every athlete was gifted a beautiful Maui shell necklace. Australia won the cup for the second year in a row after our team also won the inaugural event in Adelaide last year. New Zealand took second place with Japan in third. We are determined to defend the cup again next year when it will be hosted by Japan.

On May 17, all of Year 10 went to Luna Park. This excursion was an enrichment activity for the Science unit “Motion” which the students were studying. It involved the study of motion of the rides at Luna Park. All the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and so did the teachers! We are so proud of our students as they were so well behaved. We even had a member of the public call our school to congratulate us on such a well presented year group, who left no rubbish behind and who were so well mannered to others. Thank you all for such a successful day. It was well deserved by all. Mrs Juric

Kai Van Kool, Year 12, and Lexi Harrison, Year 11, recently competed at the NSW ALL Schools swimming championship and both performed very well.

Kai placed 1st in the 50m backstroke with a personal best, 2nd in the 100m backstroke and 2nd in the 200m backstroke.

Lexi placed 2nd in the 200m freestyle, 3rd in the 200 IM, 3rd in the 400m IM and 5th in the 100m butterfly.

Both students have been chosen to represent NSW and PHS at the Australian School Championships held in Melbourne in July.

On Thursday 30 May, Jessica Deathridge and myself, school captains for 2019, where invited to join the Minister for education, The Honorable Rob Stokes for an afternoon tea. We were also privileged enough to experience first hand how a full house assembly of ministers and officials handled political affairs. Both respectable parties had a chance to question each other, ensuring that the states affairs are kept running at immaculate conditions. Truly a day worth remembering. We would just once more like to extend our gratitude for the schools and the Minister for education for making this day possible. Joachim Koekemoer

KENKEN Have you tried to complete a KENKEN puzzle yet? KENKEN is a grid-based numerical puzzle that uses the basic mathematics operations addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—while also challenging your logic and problem-solving skills. By altering the size of a KENKEN grid, from 3 x 3 up to 9 x 9, five different difficulty levels can be generated, and a seemingly endless number of puzzles. Invented by the Japanese mathematics instructor Tetsuya Miyamoto, his goal was to improve his students’ maths and logic skills, so he developed a puzzle that would be understandable, fun, and challenging for any level of student. Most importantly, he wanted the puzzle to encourage independent thinking, emphasizing trial and error. For games and instructions on how to play visit https://www.kenkenpuzzle.com/

Ms Yeoh, Ms Locket, Ms Anderson and Mr Lepedjian smiling after completing the “Extra Challenging” KENKEN puzzle.

SOLVING CRIME WITH MATHETMATICS Maybe you are familiar with the US TV show "Numbers" in which one of the lead actors is a college mathematics professor and prodigy who helps his brother, an FBI agent, to solve crimes. The following article from a recent SMH news-paper tells the REAL LIFE story of an Australian mathematics professor whose expert knowledge of probability and mathematical modelling enabled a judge to convict a perpetrator of two murders dating back more than thirty years ! Yet another maths based career opportunity to add to the list ... CRIME FIGHTER !!!

Article from The Sydney Morning Herald 28/5/19

MATHS FUN Q: What do you call friends who love maths? A: algebros Q: How many times can you subtract 7 from 83, and what is left after-wards? A: I can subtract it as many times as I want and it leaves 76 every time. Surgeon: Nurse! I have so many patients! Who do I work on first? Nurse: Simple. Use the order of operations. Bob the sheepdog was getting the sheep in for Farmer Fred. He completed his task and went bounding over to the Farmer shouting “Farmer Fred, Farmer Fred…. I chased 40 sheep in to the yard for you”. “40 sheep?” queries Farmer Fred. “I’ve only got 37” “I know” says Bob. “I rounded them up” A: "What is the integral of 1/cabin?" B: "log cabin." A: "Nope, houseboat--you forgot the C." Q: Why don't you do arithmetic in the jungle? A: Because if you add 4+4 you get ate! Can you find at least three solutions to this one?

At Pittwater High School, we know our students and we always have their needs in mind. As teachers, we understand that it is not 'one size fits all' and students are at various levels of under-standing a concept when it comes to Mathematics. To meet our students’ needs, we offer the MathsOnline program to junior students from Year 7 to Year 10 with the best opportunity to grow and perform to their potential throughout the year. In the Mathematics Faculty, we embrace MathsOnline as an online resource to complement and reinforce our teaching of our

students in the classroom and to provide access to a virtual maths tutor day or night to support our students during their vital years. MathsOnline is ideal for students who are struggling, who want to get ahead as well as those students who have missed some work. It is suitable for pre-class work, post-class consolidation, assessment preparation, exam revision or even holiday homework. With MathsOnline, students are in control and may access: Clear and concise video-audio tutorials covering an abundance of concepts, supported by worked examples and interactive quizzes. A bank of questions accompanies each lesson for students to practise their newly learned skill. Students submit their answers online, work is immediately marked and their results recorded. Worked solutions are provided with every worksheet. Results are recorded for students including detailed reports showing grades for every lesson and summary reports showing student progress by topic. The program helps guide students lesson by lesson, allowing them to pause, rewind and repeat all or part of any lesson as many times as they like until it is mastered. Maths concepts build upon each other, therefore sometimes it's necessary to revisit previous concepts before moving on to a new topic. Students can choose to go back or even look ahead as there is unlimited access to the Australian Curriculum. Students can study in their own time anywhere and at their own pace. They can preview lessons at home before school or catch up on lessons missed or concepts they don't fully understand. Best of all, parents can also be involved every step of the way.

For more information, go to https://www.mathsonline.com.au/

Last Sunday, our junior volleyball team participated in a school’s cup tournament. The team played in the under 16’s 1st divi-sion and came out with great results. The team: Grace Power, Sasha Stanning, Anna Le Blang, Hayley Moore, Millie Atkinson, Poppy Guy and first-time player Skye Waterhouse played their very best and gave every point their all. Overall, they played around 6 games and came out undefeated, winning gold. The girls were all extremely happy with the results and so was coach, Ms. Hamilton who was always positive and helpful throughout the day. The day was filled with challenges and ups and downs but in the end, they were very successful and had a great time while they were at it. If you are interested in joining the squad, our trainings are: Mondays 3:30PM – 5:45 PM Wednesdays 7:00AM – 8:30AM You are also welcome to watch a training or two before coming to try. Our student coaches will cater to your ability and you’ll meet some pretty cool people. We hope to see you there!

At the start of the year, some of the school’s students from the Year 10 PASS classes and the volleyball squad, attended and volunteered at VolleyFest. VolleyFest 2019 marked the 5th time the event has been hosted on Manly Beach. Our students were officiating at this international beach event, a highly sought after opportunity. VolleyFest is becoming the premier event on the Australian Beach Volleyball Calendar and has supported the athlete pathway for Australian and International athletes to events all over the world including the Tokyo Olympic Games. This excursion was a complete success with all the students helping out and volunteer-ing, as ball collectors and sand rakers. The organisers were thrilled with the volunteers from our school and students tended the show court for the day.

Article by Grace Power

Last Wednesday 29 June, students of Year 12 Society and Culture, joined by Mr Horrell and I, attended the HSC Society and Culture Study Day at the Wesley Conference Centre in the CBD. Organised by the Society and Culture Teachers’ Association NSW (SCANSW), this excursion gave students the opportunity to join with fellow Society and Culture students from around NSW. Students listened to leading teachers in the subject and gained fantastic advice about study-ing for their upcoming Trial and final HSC examinations. Students were also issued with resource booklets containing excellent notes, scaffolds and response-analysis tasks that will be invaluable for those wanting to study for their exams as comprehensively as possible. Charli Wiles, who last year achieved a Band 6 in accelerated HSC Aboriginal Studies, was invited by the SCANSW to deliver the Acknowledgement of Country in front of the 200-plus students and teachers in attendance. Charli spoke brilliantly, recognising the continuing cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship to land, waters and community of Aboriginal peoples past and present.

Speaking during Reconciliation Week, Charli also addressed the importance of all Australians contributing to achieving national reconciliation in order to take “a crucial step toward a unified future in which we work to deepen our knowledge, overcome avoidance, confront ignorance and take proactive steps toward genuine understanding and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”. Thank you to the students and Mr Horrell for making the day a huge success! Stephen Kovacs Year 12 Society and Culture Coordinator

On the first weekend of June, Pittwater High School Big Band travelled five hours to Port Macquarie for the 7th Annual Big Band Blast Festival. This was a great opportunity for the whole band to learn from professional musicians, as well as everyone else at the festival. The Friday night concert set the atmosphere for the whole event, with great performances from Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connections, the AIM SYO and all the conductors and directors who got together to create a teachers band, including the magnif-icent Dr Martin Hardy. It was great to see our bandleaders in action! After this, they started the Jam session, where over 100 students from around Australia all joined together to play music from one of Australia’s most well known jazz composers and arrangers Ed Wilson. This was a great experience for everyone, especially Jeremy Salah who ripped into an improvised solo which sounded fantastic! After the conclusion of the jam, we all went back to our accommoda-tion for a well needed rest. Saturday was the first full day of the festival, where all the bands from across Australia performed in one of four stages around the venue. It was great to hear how other bands of our age sounded. We played at 11am on the main stage in front of a large audience and gave it our all to make sure we played the best we could. It was great experience performing the music which we had worked so hard on every Friday morning before school. There were also workshops throughout the day where we could go to learn more about our instruments and the jazz language.

For example the improvisation workshops which were very helpful for our development of solos. We also helped Dr Martin Hardy with his work-shop on his book ‘Teaching Music From the Podium’. After a long day we went back to the cabins to get ready for the big Saturday night jump, jive and wail concert where we heard Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connection and special guests including, John Hoffman, Dan Barnett, Denis Diblasio, Ed Wilson, Flora Carbo and Jackie Cooper. It was a fantastic night with great and memorable music especially when Dan Barnett played the shell! On Sunday we started the day off with the parade led by John Morrison where everyone from the festival, young and old, brought their instruments and silly hats to have a good time and play some music around the park. We then went back to the venue to watch more performances and do more workshops before heading off at 2:30 back home for a big sleep. Sharon Nobs and Patrick Atkinson

Collect the Earn and Learn stickers from 1 May when you shop at Woolworths to help our school earn new equipment for our classrooms. Please drop any stickers into the office or give them to your child

to deliver. Alternatively, drop them in the Pittwater High School box which will

be positioned outside the registers. Thank you.

ROSTER Monday 3 June Kate Macgregor, Hannah Tuesday 4 June Georgia Bramham, Richard Touw, John Dillings Wednesday 5 June Suzanne Humphreys, Sarah Jones Thursday 6 June Peter & Margaret Woods Friday 7 June Sandra Avedissian, Corrina Bouman, Monday 10 June Public Holiday Tuesday 11 June Sandy Cozens, need volunteers Wednesday 12 June Irina & Bindi Thursday 13 June Suzanne Humphreys Friday 14 June Sharon Grainger, Sarah Attfield, Louise England Monday 17 June Hannah Gruber, need volunteers Tuesday 18 June Alison Brown, Wednesday 19 June Leah Bartlett, Richard Touw Thursday 20 June Sabrina Gereaux, need volunteers Friday 21 June Jen Masters (AM), Caroline Thomas Volunteers - Please contact the canteen on 9979 6968 or email phscanteen@gmail.com if you are unable to make it. There are days when we need the help. Can you spare a morning to assist with the prep??? As the weather is cooling out comes the soups. We have the soups as a daily special. Most days the soup will be different, all served with garlic bread and only $5. The salads and wraps are very popular so we do recommend ordering them so you are not missing out. They are amazing. On the winter menu we have Indian Korma salads, Budda Bali with NO peanut satay sauce, Pulled Pork & Coleslaw, Hokkien Noodle salad, Roast Vege Salad, Bacon Frittatas We now are serving croissants, quesadillas & Bacon & eggs on Turkish bread along with the PHS special Eggs in Bed for breakfast. Check the specials to see whats on!!! NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH Did you know: The pasta sauce is made on site, along with the nachos & bolognese meat. The pizzas are made on Monday, Thursday & Friday, ready for Lunch 2. We make

our own dough. The Butter chicken is gluten free. If there are dietary concerns, please visit the canteen before school and we will do

our best. Example is no cheese on the pasta if you are dairy intolerant.