WOONONA high school€¦ · WOONONA high school PH: 4284 1513 [email protected] Newsletter Issue No. 3 13 March 2017 EX ELLEN E INNOVATION SU ESS

WOONONA high school

PH: 4284 1513 [email protected]

Newsletter Issue No. 3

13 March 2017

EXCELLENCE INNOVATION SUCCESS

Excellence Innovation Success

9

In this issue:

Page 4 Open Night 2017

Page 5 SRC Induction Assembly

Page 6 2016 HSC High Achievers

Page 7 & 8 Year 8 Camp Report

Page 9 Think Tank, Futsal, Polo

Page 10 Zone and Regional Swimming

Page 11 Lions Club Youth of the Year

Page 12 Careers News

Page 13 Lunch Time Soccer

Page 14 At Assembly this Week

Page 15 Clean Up Australia Day

Page 15 Year 7 Art

Page 16 Problem Based Learning

Page 16 WHS Volunteering

Page 17 Accelerated Reader

8

Renovations

Minnamurra

5

6

Calendar

March 13 Hassett Cup

March 15 Year 11 Work Studies ‘Men’s Shed’ Visit

March 17 World’s Greatest Shave

March 17 Year 7 Peer Support

March 20 HSC Encore Sydney

March 21 P&C Meeting

March 22 School Cross Country

March 22 Year 7 2018 Enrichment Class Test

March 24 Year 8 Life guards Talk

March 24 South Coast Open Boys Basket Ball

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7

13 11

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Dep

uty

Prin

cipa

l’s Rep

ort The latest issue of the Woonona High School Newsletter is once again full of exciting activities and events from recent weeks.

High on the list was the wonderful assembly that recognised the achievements of our top students in the Higher School Certificate for 2016 combined with the Induction Ceremony for the Students’ Representative Council with the presentation of their badges. Quite a few new members have joined with many existing SRC members to create a dynamic representative group. We look forward to the Year 7 SRC being selected in the coming weeks.

Another huge event was the Open Night for 2017 which attracted a large group of prospective students and their parents. Staff all around the school prepared brilliant exhibits and displays with many proud and engaging students leading tours and participating in sample lessons and assisting with hands-on support for the Year 6 students.

Year 8 students and staff participated in the Great Aussie Bush Camp which allowed them to experience a range of activities that were thrilling and challenging. Teamwork was tested and mud was flying. A great time was had by all with staff reporting a solid sleep on Friday night when they returned.

Woonona High School was buzzing when over 40 high school and primary school principals descended upon the school hall for a “Think Tank”. Ms. Debbie Lowe, the Director of the Wollongong North Network was also in attendance on this productive day.

There were lots of sporting events as usual including Futsal and Waterpolo, but

special mention must be made of the All Age Girls relay team that broke a long

standing record by 4 seconds at the Regional Swimming Carnival.

Open Night 2017 On Monday 6 March Woonona High school held its’ annual

Open Night. It was a chance to show off and that we did. Open

Night 2017 was a resounding success with more than expected

parents and prospective students visiting our school.

Our visitors were amazed, impressed, complimentary and

excited about our school and the prospect of attending WHS in

2018.

The school grounds looked fabulous and every classroom and event space looked colourful and engaging. Student helpers were fantastic and you could see that they, and our amazing staff, were so very proud to show off our amazing school.


Thank you Mr Brophy for all the great photos of the night.

Page 4


HSC Achievers and SRC Induction Assembly WHS annual HSC Achievement and SRC Induction Assembly was held on Wednesday 8 March. The whole school as well as

invited high achieving 2016 HSC students and their families gathered to celebrate their achievements and induct our new

elected SRCA members for 2017. Congratulations to the following students:

Senior Representatives: (Our senior executive were inducted at

Presentation Evening 2016)

Captain: Jay Archer

Captain: Bronte Petrolo

Vice Captains: Rachel Pollock

Vice Captain: Conor Johnson

Year 11 Representatives:

Charlie-Pearl Cram

Keegan Loxton

Jade O’Brien

Jack-Henry Taylor


Phoebe Austin

Fletcher Bowler

Lalita Protsenko

Angus Smart


Harrison Dabin

Arun Wanstall

Isacc Warburton

Brooklyn Younger


Kaia Brienen

Flynn Connelly

Molly Dallacosta

Tess Walsh


Year 7 representatives will be elected at the end of Term 1

Congratulations to our SRC Representatives for 2017and best wishes for a

successful and productive year as representatives of our student body.

A big thank you to Ms Bramely for these fantastic photos of our special

assembly.

Page 5

Recognition of Student Achievement 2016

At the assembly on Wednesday 8, 2016 HSC student achievement was recognised:

Dux of Year 12: Jaime Carter. Jaime will study a double degree of Bachelor of Arts and Law at UOW.

Outstanding Achievement: Chloe Jackson. Chloe will study a double degree of Bachelor of Arts and Law at UOW.

Excellent Achievement: Joshua Bate. Joshua will study Contemporary Music Performance at JMC Sydney.

He has deferred his Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry “Dean’s Scholar” at UOW.

Sonia Hilliard. Sonia will study a Bachelor of Medical Biotechnology (honours) at UOW.

High Achievement: Amelia McPherson. Amelia has deferred the study of a Bachelor of Business at Southern Cross

University.

Makayla Moore. Makayla will study a Bachelor of Primary Education at UOW.

Corey Schwarze. Corey will complete a Contemporary Music Performance course at JMC Sydney.

Congratulations to all these students, we wish you the best with your future studies and endeavours.


Updating Details A reminder to parents / carers; if there has been a change of address or contact details it is essential that

the school be notified. It is important that we have the correct contact information in case of emergency

and if teachers can contact you for any reason.

If you need to update details you can call the school office, send an email or send in a note with your

student.

Mr Rayner (Head Teacher Welfare / Deputy Principal)

Page 6

Year 8 Camp Leading up to our departure, there was nerves and lots

of anticipation (from the students and the teachers). Having

attended the Great Aussie Bush Camp for the past 2 years, I

knew what to expect, but the students (and accompanying

teachers) were in for a treat! At 6:30am, the students met

myself, Mrs Burns, Mrs Mellor and Mr Dudman in the Hall. Mr

Rayner came down in his pyjama's to send off the troops into

battle. With a few words of wisdom, we packed up the bus, got

comfortable and we were away! The bus trip meandered

through out towards western Sydney through LOTS of rain. I

was getting nervous of the prospect of 3 days getting soaked

during activities. Would the weather gods hold up for us???

On arrival, the students were ushered into their rooms and

introduced to their instructors: Sarah (1), Sarah (2), Josh and T-

Rex! Lunch was served and the skies were clear - blue sky with

some low cloud... things were looking up! After lunch it was

straight into the first activities: LOST ISLAND; TRESS CLIMB;

RAFT BUILDING and ANTI-BULLYING. All off to a great start, but

the mozi's were out to attack (you can't win them all!). Armed

with repellent and karate-chopping hands, the students

maintained focus and attempted the activities with excessive

amounts of team work, encouragement and excitement! What

a vibe!!!

After a refresh of snowcones and fruit, it was onto session 2

before shower hour, dinner, a games night and supper! The

rain held off until 10:15pm and then bucketed down! We

couldn't have asked for a better day! A few knock-and-run

attempts were squashed and the rain lulled the students to

sleep (or blocked out any noise they were making)!

A few bleary eyes submerged at 6:30am for Day 2: a full day

packed with 4 x 2 hour rotations through the activities.

Comparing how many mozi bites they had was the top priority

before breakfast and starting the day. Each time we returned

to out site, the students were excitedly talking about the

GIANT SWING; LEAP OF FAITH and ABSAILING. All of which

were pushing students out of their comfort zones. The

instructors were awesome and encouraged ALL students to at

least, climb to the top and "check out the view" (in a harness)

and if they wanted they could head back down the stairs. I was

super impressed by Samantha Richardson, Bailey Walker and Mitchell Jane, all of whom choose to absail down the wall after a

bit of encouragement! Day 2 finished with a 'camp fire scary story' (the quietest moment all camp, all students listening

intently to find the story was fake) a game of COMMANDO - a spot-light/ capture the flag style game; in the bush in the dark...

Teachers vs. Students. With some close calls of some of our 'hostages' being captured, the teachers came out the winners,

once again! Better luck next time kids! And still.... NO RAIN! Too good to be true!


Page 7


Day 3 saw the groups complete their final 2 activity sessions.

The students (and teachers) were feeling pretty tired by now

and powered through to the finish line. It was quiet a surreal

moment as I was fastened to the GIANT SWING, sandwiched

between Lea Harrower and Emily Steele (our final activity be-

fore the bus arrived) and as the group lifted us into the air, the

rain started to come down. Up and up we went, but this time

not to the top (17m above ground), Emily quickly pulled the

release cable and we were free falling, screaming and swinging

through the rain! What a moment! The buses were right on

time and we packed up, waved goodbye to our amazing in-

structors and started our journey back home. Once settled, the

bus went pretty quiet and lots of sleepy heads had fallen. What

an adventure they had endured! Our estimated time of arrival

was 4:00pm.... we made it back at 4:03pm! With parents

waiting for the next downpour, students scurried and vanished

within minutes of returning home.

One of the biggest joys of camp is witnessing the students en-

couraging each other through difficult moments, pushing their

boundaries and experiencing feelings of achievement. Not only

are they working with peers who they may not usually interact

with at school on a daily basis, it provides a supportive environ-

ment in which to experience success. Although our troop

suffered a few injuries and sicknesses, we were SO impressed

by the way in which they conducted themselves on camp. Not

only did the instructors speak highly of the engagement and

cooperation over the days; they visibly had lots of fun yelling

their group chants and having dance battles together! We were

so fortunate with the weather, even with predicted storms

looming every day!

A HUGE thank you to the accompanying teachers, teachers

back at school, parent support and lastly students for achieving

such a wonderful camp! A year or organisation in the making...

and over within a few days. We hope everyone enjoyed their

time and we look forward to next years' adventures!

Mrs Steele - Year 8 adviser

Page 8

South Coast Futsal Tournament

On Wednesday 1 March seven Year 7 girls took part in the 14

Years Girls South Coast Futsal tournament held at Illawarra

Sport Stadium, Berkely .

The girls were successful and will now compete in the State

Championships later in the year! Well done girls!

Miss Walker English Faculty

Water Polo Last Friday our girls Water Polo team participated in the Open Girls Water Polo Knockout at Berkeley Pool. The weather was

looking decidedly poor but the rain actually held off for most of the day until towards the end when there was a bit of a down-

pour. The girls didn't win unfortunately, but were played really well. A special mention must be made of Lori Burzacott who

was a star goal keeper on the day.

Principals” “Think Tank” On Tuesday 7 March, WHS played host to 40 local Principals

who came to our school for their first ever "Think Tank". Year

11 and 12 students catered for the meeting under the expert

guidance of Mr De Main and Mrs Mete. Ms Wall said a huge

thank you and Ms Debbie Lowe, (Director, Public Schools NSW,

Wollongong North Network) who was present, emailed the

school saying "A wonderful day. Thank you to Woonona HS for

all that went into making our first Think Tank something very

special”.


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Page 10

Zone Swimming Carnival Last Thursday a very talented contingent of swimmers from

WHS took part in the Illawarra Zone Swimming carnival at

Corrimal pool. There were some fantastic performances.

The Woonona Girls 6 x 50 All Age Relay team broke a long

standing record set in 1988 by Keira High School. The record

was broken by a full 6 seconds. The team was Chelsea Jones,

Jade Van Duin, Jade Timbrell, Zara Sharman, Bronte Sweeny

and Jessica Ayrton. Well done girls!

Zara Sharman also put in an excellent performance and broke

two 15 year girls records that were set in 2013. Zara set new

records in the 100m Freestyle and the 200m Individual

Medley. Great work Zara!

Regional Swimming

Carnival At the Regional Swimming Carnival held on March 7

at Dapto Pool, our All Age Girls relay team broke the

standing record by an amazing 4 seconds.

This was an amazing effort and Ms Sim (Sports

Organiser) said that this swim time would have been

good enough for the girls to have taken out the

State Championships last year.

The girls now progress to the State Carnival and we

will be very eager to watch them perform. Go girls!

There were other fantastic results with our Open

Girls Medley Relay team (Bronte Sweeny, Jade Van Duin, Zara Sharman, Jade Timbrell) and the 13 Years Girls team (Jade Van

Duin, Kiri Crittenden, Isabelle Laming and Chelsea Jones) all progressing to the State Carnival.

There were many individual successes as well were students will be competing at State. These will be published when

confirmation is received. Congratulations to all.


Page 11

Lions Club Youth of the Year

Congratulations to Bronte Petrolo was successful in achieving

the 'Public Speaking' award for the Lions Club Youth of the

Year quest, 2017.

The competition between the two students from Bulli High

School, student from Holy Spirit and our Bronte was fierce

but friendly. All the students had to submit a detailed resume

and attend an interview on a Saturday afternoon with two

members of the Lions Club and a community member

representing the NAB, where they were quizzed on general

knowledge of politics and other issues.

On the evening of 27 February the students had to present

two impromptu speeches, of two minutes each, without any

preparation time before they started speaking. They then had

to present a five minute prepared speech on a topic of their

choice. Bronte spoke very passionately about the importance

of education, and she really represented our school with

style!

We would like to thank the Woonona Lions Club for offering

our students this excellent opportunity, and for their ongoing

support of our school.

Ms Clare Matthews

Head Teacher English

Worlds Greatest Shave

As March 17th approaches, more and more students from

Woonona High School are braving up to shave their heads for

the World’s Greatest Shave event. So far there is a total of six

people shaving their heads including Mr Brophy, Mr Rayner

and Conor Johnson.

Now you may be wondering, “I keep hearing all about this

event called ‘The World’s Greatest Shave’ but I don’t even

know what it’s all about”. Well, allow me to explain to you

exactly what the World’s Greatest Shave is all about. The

World’s Greatest Shave is one of Australia’s biggest fundraisers

and gains quite a lot of media attention each and every year.

The aim of this event is to allow people to sponsor or donate to

those who are either shaving, waxing or colouring the hair on their heads, chest or face.

Those who decide to take part may have a personal connection to blood cancer (the type of cancer that the World’s Greatest

Shave raises funds for), or they may just do it for the fun of it. The funds raised by the event, go towards helping families facing

blood cancer to receive treatment and support, as well as aiding vital research that will hopefully help more people to survive

blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma, all the while improving their quality of life.

Phoebe Austin.

Careers News Illawarra Schools Careers Expo

All Year 10 and 12 students will attend an excursion the Illawarra Schools Careers Expo in Term 2 on Tuesday 9 May. This is the

largest Careers event in the Illawarra. All students must pay their Career’s fees; $10 for Year 10, $5 for Year 12, in order to

attend.

UOW Students Visit Woonona High School

Gabi and Ash (pictured) visited with Year 12 on Friday morning to give them a primer regarding the University Admissions

Centre (UAC), the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) ‘Early Admission’ program, scholarships at UOW as well as some general

insights into uni life both academic and social.

Reminder; All students considering UOW should register as ‘Future Students’ on the UOW website to ensure that they receive

updates via email regarding early admission and upcoming events they may be interested in.

Year 12

I am currently undertaking interviews with all Year 12 students that have requested a ‘Careers’ meeting to discuss options for

next year to help them set out on their preferred pathway post HSC. Interestingly; eleven students have indicated a preference

for Australian Defence Force Careers.

Year 10

I will be doing Career Interest Inventories (personality tests) with all Year 10 students in the final three weeks of this term. The

results of these are always interesting and useful for me in our ongoing dialogue throughout students’ senior years. All

students will be given a booklet explaining the methodology behind the tests that they should share with their parents along

with results. The results are not always crystal clear and do not always inform a student of their perfect pathway but they are

very informative. Any parents that wish to discuss them with me are invited to contact me through the school or at the

parent /teacher evening in Term 2.

Mr Chamberlain (Careers Adviser)


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Lunch Time Soccer

As part of a new VET course being delivered at Woonona High School, Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways,

Year 11 and 12 students will be running a weekly Year 7 lunchtime soccer event. The games will be run for part of lunch each

Thursday for Year 7 until the end of term 1 and will encourage the development of new friendships. Throughout the duration

of the project the class will develop work-related skills including project planning, organisation, administration processes and

teamwork. There was a lot of interest in the lunch time soccer matches with four teams taking to the fields on the first day.

Midwife Visit

Last week Miss Bramely’s Year 9 / 10 Early Childhood Studies

class and the Year 11 Community and Family Studies class

enjoyed a visit from Deb Young who is a midwife at

Wollongong Hospital.

Deb spoke about her emotional and touching experiences in

the birthing section of the hospital. The students were

captivated by her stories.

This Week at Assembly

At assembly this week our zone swimming team were

presented with their medals, the Surf Education class was

presented with certificates for completion of level 5 of the

program; students who completed their bronze medallion last

year also received certificates. Cody Sweeny was presented

with the World Changer Award for Volunteering, Jarryd

Arnold was congratulated for his participation at the Disabled

Surfers Day last year and Year 12 student Bronte Petrolo was

congratulated for her success at the Youth of the Year

Competition and for winning the public speaking award (see

page 11 of this issue. Well done to all students!


Page 14

Clean Up Australia Day On Tuesday 7 March, Year 8 English classes did their bit for

the community by taking part in the “Clean Up Australia”

campaign.

The students, equipped with gloves and rubbish bags, made

sure that every inch of our school grounds and the

surrounding areas were pristine. Well done students!


Year 7 Visual Art

Ms Knell’s Year 7 Visual Art class have been looking at the

works of artist Brett Whitely in class and have been busy work-

ing on their Art project which at present are black line / ocean

drawings .

The results are looking fantastic and we look forward to seeing

the finished products of this work.

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Woonona High School Volunteering Program

Woonona High will again be running the Department of Education Student

Volunteering program this year. Special certificates will be given to those

students who have completed 20 hours or more of volunteering within the

school or outside in the local community. To help students achieve their 20

hours we are offering a number of programs.

Russell Vale Primary Infants Reading program – Every Tuesday, Periods 1 & 2, students will assist teachers at Russell Vale Primary listen to and help infant’s read.

Illawarra Retirement Trust (IRT) Aged Care Games and Craft program - During Wednesday afternoon’s students will joining the elderly in an afternoon of fun and games

Russell Vale Sports Coaching program. – Every Friday, Periods 1 & 2, students will assist teachers at Russell Vale Primary School coaching students in various sporting activities.

If your child is interested in any of these activities please ask them to see Mrs Roddis in the library.

Mrs Roddis (Volunteer Co-ordinator).

Problem Based Learning Year 9 classes have been taking part in a range of problem

based learning activities where students are given a

question and they then come up with their own solutions.

Students have been very engaged with this learning

strategy.


Page 17

Worlds Greatest Shave On Friday March 17th the SRC will be organising an exciting and entertaining event that happens each and every year. Can

you guess what it is? That’s right, it’s the World’s Greatest Shave! The World’s Greatest Shave is an exceptional charity that

helps Aussie families battle leukaemia by donating much needed funds and support for those in need. Woonona High School

is hosting an event at which numerous staff and students will bravely shave off all their hair, so come along down to the

canteen during break and support your fellow students in their brave act. It’s not too late to sign up now if you want to shave

your head but if you don’t really feel like shaving your hair off yet still want to be involved, a hair spraying station will be set

up so you can get in on the action but still keep all your hair on your head.

As a side note, on Tuesday 21st March, just days after the World’s Greatest Shave fundraiser, the SRC will be holding a picnic

lunch on the hill next to the senior quad to celebrate Harmony Day. All students are invited to bring their lunch and join in.

Wear orange accessories to show your support. Donations of non-perishable food will be collected at the lunch to go to local

groups helping people in need.

Phoebe Austin SRC

Year 7 has settled in well into the Accelerated Reader program. They have all been given a points target to reach by the end of

term.

A student’s target is based on their individual book level and the amount of words in their chosen book. Points are earned

once they finish a book and complete an Accelerated Reader quiz. Results are monitored regularly and those achieving their

targets will be rewarded by a certificate from the Principal and a canteen voucher.

Congratulations to the following students who have recently achieved their points target:

Grace Eady, Jet Tane, Keeley Nethercott, Max Lynch and Emily Campbell

Mrs Roddis

Teacher Librarian


Page18

ACLW's 2017 International Women's Day

Event in the Illawarra NSW on Sunday, 01 January 2017. Posted in Empowerment, Transform, Topical Issues

To celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) 2017 in the Illawarra, the Australian Centre for Leadership for Women (ACLW)

invites you to celebrate this day with Illawarra women leaders participating in a program of reflective and explorative

conversations and presentations from Illawarra High School Students on the theme, Gaining the Unexpected.

Highlights of this Program include a Panel of Illawarra women leaders of ages ranging from 16 to 80 with diverse achievements

and life experiences that have shaped their capacity for leadership.

Best High School Student Authors selected in the Senior and Junior ACLW Illawarra IWD Essay Writing Competition will present

their essays on this theme. The Program will be interspersed with Illawarra’s talented singers and drummers.

http://www.leadershipforwomen.com.au/empowerment

http://www.leadershipforwomen.com.au/transform

http://www.leadershipforwomen.com.au/transform/aclw-articles-published

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Monday 13th March Gabi James

Tuesday 14th March Carolyn McQuiggan

Wednesday 15th March Jo Meirs

Thursday 16th March Susie Eager

Friday 17th March Jess Tinelt

Monday 20th March HELP NEEDED

Tuesday 21st March Kerrie Austin

Wednesday 22nd March HELP NEEDED

Thursday 23rd March Donna Thompson

Friday 24th March HELP NEEDED

Monday 27th March HELP NEEDED

Tuesday 28th March Janece Pender

Tuesday 4th April Alisha Lloyd

Friday 7th April Angela Madden

Mar 17 Year 7 Peer Support

Mar 20 HSC Encore

Mar 21 P&C Meeting

Mar 24 Year 7 Peer Support

Mar 27—28 Year 9 Hike

Mar 28 Big Day in UTS Technology

Mar 28 Year 11 Geography Excursion

Mar 29 Big Day in UTS Technology

Mar 30 2018 CAPA / Enrichment Class Auditions

Mar 31 CAPA Tour of CoS Schools

Apr 3—4 CHS Swimming

Apr 3 WHS CoS Transition Expo 3:30—5:30pm

Apr 3—4 Year 9 Hike

Apr 5 Selfie Project Year 8 Girls

Canteen Roster Term 1 Calendar

Uniform Shop

A reminder to parents that our

uniform shop is open Thursday

mornings at 8am.

If parents are unable to come at

this time orders and payments

may be made online. Uniforms

will then be delivered to your

child on the following Thursday.


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Documents

WOONONA high school€¦ · WOONONA high school PH: 4284 1513 [email protected] Newsletter Issue No. 3 13 March 2017 EX ELLEN E INNOVATION SU ESS