From The Principal A SENSATIONAL CELEBRATION 2011 CONCERT LAST FRIDAY Last Friday evening 25th November we had our annual Celebration 2011 Concert at the Darwin Entertainment Centre. What a sensational night of performances it was from our amazingly talented students! Singing, dancing, music – and from all year levels – showed us the incredible talent that our students have. Every year they just continue to push the limits and surprise us. Again Dance, a relatively new area of the Arts at Essington (and nurtured so professionally by Lisa Svara, Dance teacher), amazed us. Our Dancers are really honing their skills. The involvement of our Senior College students was a welcome addition this year and, as with our other student performances, they were outstanding. We completely filled the Darwin Entertainment Centre this year, a fact that was commented on by the DEC staff who had not had such a full house at other similar events. Thanks for evenings like this need to go to a wide range of people. Firstly, we must thank

our parents who give us their 100% support and drive students to and from rehearsals, and assist with our many requests. Without their support none of this would be possible. Our teachers do such an outstanding job at bringing the best out of our students and taking them to new heights. They too are such a talented group. Thank you to all our support staff in the office and around the school who support the teachers and students, especially on the night. Thanks to our ‗friends of Essington‘ like Sue Little, and the Nightcliff Lions Club, who are such an important part of our success. Final thanks are due to Jill Kuhn, who again did an A+ job at planning and coordinating the night, a huge job accomplished at such a high well. A special thanks is owed to our amazing students who continue to entertain and surprise us with how good they are.

Upcoming Events

Monday 5th December to Friday 9th December Year 10 Work Experience

Wednesday 7th December Essington’s Got Talent—Dance Recital and Art Exhibition, 5.30pm—7.00pm in the Auditorium

Friday 9th December to Friday 16th December Sydney Learn to Surf Trip

Monday 12th December to Friday 16th December Middle School Activities Week

Friday 16th December End of Term 4

Wednesday 21st December Essington Office Closes

Thursday 5th January, 2012 Essington Office Opens

Tuesday 31st January, 2012 Students Resume

Chapman Road, Nightcliff (PO Box 42321, Casuarina NT 0811) Tel: 08 8985 0100 Fax: 08 8948 1910

Email: administration@essington.nt.edu.au

1 s t D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 1

I S S U E

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T H O U G H T F O R T H E W E E K

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

- Abraham Lincoln

A Member of the Council of

International

Schools

ESSINGTON’S GOT TALENT Dance Recital and Art Exhibition

Wednesday 7th December 5.30pm—7.00pm in the Auditorium

Free performance for family and friends.

School Board members Peter Rogers and Mandy Boots (also Peter Gordon) present certificates at Year 7 Graduation

TWO GREAT YEAR 7 GRADUATIONS Graduations are an important milestone for our students and mark their journey over their formal years of education. This week we celebrated the milestone of our Year 7s completing Stage 1 (Years 6 & 7) of our Middle School – and the end of the old primary stage of schooling. Because of numbers in Year 7 we had to split our Year 7 Graduation over two evenings at the Holiday Inn on the Esplanade in their Ballroom. Our students presented so well, impressed us with their behaviour and dancing, and thoroughly enjoyed their evening of celebration. Their dancing, taught to them by Margaret Black, entertained us and provided lots of fun and enjoyment. Thank you to our Middle School leadership team, our Year 7 Homeroom teachers (and Middle School teachers) and the special efforts of people like Mandy Boots and Allison Harvey who made the nights such special nights. YEAR 9 - SENIOR COLLEGE INFORMATION EVENING We recently held an information evening for Year 9 parents regarding transitioning to the Senior College and Year 10/11 next year. We have also had two opportunities for parents and students to visit the Senior College in the last two weeks. Due to parent interest we will hold another Parent Information Evening for Year 9 parents on Thursday 8th to explain our unique and excellent Senior College program. ENROLMENTS 2012 We continue to experience a high demand for enrolment places at the school. We will have limited places for new enrolments in 2012 so early applications are important. Some levels will continue to have long waiting lists. Please encourage any friends who are planning to enroll to enroll early. David Cannon Principal/CEO

From the Assistant Principals EARLY LEARNING Celebration Concert 2011 What a wonderful evening this was! Congratulations to all our staff,

students, teachers, administration staff and parents who have worked tirelessly to ensure that this was an enjoyable and successful event. Holiday Care Program Lauren Prosser, Holiday Care Program Coordinator and an enthusiastic team of Holiday Care assistants have planned a great six week holiday care program with many exciting activities. There are limited places available and it is essential you make bookings as soon as possible. Brochures and forms will be available from the Front Office in Week 9. SunSmart School Our school is a member of The Cancer Council of Northern Territory SunSmart Schools Program. The aim is to improve the health of our school community by reducing the risk of skin and eye damage and skin cancer. Skin cancer rates are higher in Australia than anywhere else in the world, with skin cancers accounting for around 80% of all new cancers diagnosed each year. The major cause of skin cancer is exposure to the ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the sun over many years. Maximum damage occurs during childhood and adolescence. It is never too late to start protecting your skin. The Cancer Council of NT promotes Be SunSmart – SLIP on a shirt, SLOP on some sunscreen, SLAP on a hat, SEEK shade and SLIDE on sun glasses. For more information visit www.cancercouncilnt.com.au. Jaya Srinivas Assistant Principal Early Childhood Programs YEARS 1–12 ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT Celebration 2011 Concert What a wonderful evening of song, dance and music from our talented students last Friday night at the Darwin Entertainment Centre. Even bigger and better than last year, Jill Kuhn was exemplary in her role as MC and organiser extraordinaire with the assistance of the Music team: Peter Moore (Music Coordinator), Kirsty McCallum, Caroline Anderson, Susie

Bertei, Josh Newton-Webb, Luke Walker, Danni Mears and Sue Little. A big thank you to all the students, teachers, office staff and parents who worked tirelessly to put this event together and make it such a grand success. A special thanks to Lisa Svara (Dance teacher) for choreographing such wonderful dance segments with the Middle School and Senior College students. All of the musical and dance performances were amazing and made a very special evening. Year 7 Graduations Congratulations to the all of the Year 7 students who enjoyed their Graduation Ceremony at the Holiday Inn on Tuesday (Years 7A, 7D and 7F) and also on Wednesday (Years 7B, 7C and 7E). The students looked fantastic in their formal finery, and impressed everyone with their smooth ballroom dancing moves. Many thanks to Margaret Black, Dance Instructor (formerly of Furlanos Dance Studio) for teaching the students over the last few weeks. Thank you to Allison Harvey (Middle School Student Wellbeing Coordinator) and our Year 7 teachers for coordinating, organising and assisting with the preparations leading up to the Graduation and on the night. Year 1 Orientation for Transition students On Friday 9th December (Week 9), Transition students will be visiting each of the Year 1 classrooms in preparation for their transition into Year 1 in 2012. This year, the Transition students will be visiting all three Year 1 classes rather than being placed in just one class. This will enable the students to familiarise themselves with the physical location of each classroom and get to know the various Year 1 teachers. The Year 1 students have brainstormed some ideas they believe are important to share with the Transition students as they enter Year 1. Year 1 students will also be sharing some of the exciting activities and tasks the Transition students can expect to learn when they are in Year 1. Each Year 1 class will present a different aspect of Year 1 so that each Transition class receives different information from each class they visit.

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Early Learning Notices Year 5 Orientation into the Middle School On Wednesday 7

th December (Week

9), the Year 5 students will visit Year 6 Connor in the Middle School in preparation for their move to the Middle School in 2012. Students will be briefed on the expectations of Year 6 and the Middle School in general by some Year 6 students and Edmund Connor (Year 6 teacher) and Helen Dunchue (Head of Middle School). Areas such as Middle School structure, uniform, Homework, assignments, timetables, use of diaries, etc., will be covered to ease the transition into Year 6 for our current Year 5 students.

Headstart Program for our Current Students on the Individual Development Program (IDP) Once again, in the last week of the holidays in January 2012, we will be running another Headstart program for a small group of students. This was first held at the beginning of this year and was facilitated by Jo Masters (Middle School Teacher) for two hours per day. The aim of the Headstart Program is to provide a ‗refresher‘ program for a small group of students who may need to revisit basic skills in Literacy and Numeracy in preparation for the new school year. Due to its popularity at the beginning of this year we have decided to run the program again. Numbers are limited so please contact Natalie Hyde on 8985 0102 for more information and to reserve a place.

Farewell to Our families. Over the next couple of weeks some of our families will be leaving to move interstate. On behalf of staff and students we would like to thank you for your contribution to the Essington community and wish you all the very best with your move. Natalie Hyde

Assistant Principal Years 1-12

Early Learning Notices Preschool Christmas is definitely in the air... Both classes have put their Christmas trees up in the classroom, Christmas activities are underway and even Christmas gifts are beginning to be

made. We love Christmas time at Preschool! Thank you to our Mystery Readers this week: Leslee, Sam's Mum from Preschool 2 and Ruth; Kara's Mum from Preschool 3. Thank you to our classroom helpers: Anne, Hallie's Mum; Paul, Tessa's Dad from Preschool 2; and Gavin, DeLaRey's Dad and Carolina, Stella's Mum from Preschool 4. A special thank you to Kirsten, Joshua's Mum from Preschool 3 for baking Christmas Puddings for Cooking and Jo, Thomas' Mum from Preschool 1 for making chocolate balls for Cooking. Miss Rhiannon and Miss Christine

Transition T3 Thomson It is hard to believe that Week 9 is nearly upon us and that we have only ten school days left of this year. And what a year it has been! This week we have continued to work with ‗groups of‘, half and subtraction. We have also worked hard on our story writing. I would also like to congratulate the whole class for putting in such a wonderful effort to learn their M100 words and big congratulations to those who have been able to read all 100 words in the last few weeks and there have been a lot of you. Tanya Thomson

Transition T4 Lenzo The end of term is fast approaching!!! We have been spending the past few weeks practicing and revising blends, rhyming words, clock times and additions. Today we buttered a slice of bread to cut in two. Then we put sprinkles on only one side to demonstrate halves. That was a very yummy Maths session! This week we have been visiting Japan where we made some very cute Kimono dolls with our buddies. We will have a little Christmas party in the last week of school. I will provide you with more details next week.

Thanks again for all the efforts you have put in to make this year a very enjoyable one. Louise Lenzo

Transition T5 Blokland Week 8 is almost finished and the term is certainly flying by. Transition is still enjoying learning about Celebrations around the World. This week we visited Mexico where we learnt about the poinsettia flower which is a popular Christmas flower in Mexico. We made poinsettia‘s and listened to the story of how this particular flower became the Christmas flower of Mexico. Next week we will visit our final country, Indonesia, before Christmas fever hits T5 in Week 10. This week in Maths we are continuing to practice our subtraction skills and we are also completing some data and graphing activities. We have learnt how to use tally marks to record the data collected and how to graph this data using picture graphs and bar graphs. In English this week we learnt about a new word family which is the ‗ug‘ word family. Our art and craft project for the ‗ug‘ word family is to weave a bright coloured rug! Please remember to return your two notes to do with the class Christmas Party. Ristan Blokland

Junior School Notices Year 1A Pendergast, Year 1B Van Bodegraven and Year 1C Chiera Wow, only two weeks of school left. How time flies! This week we have visited Indonesia and learnt about the many spiritual festivals and beliefs of this beautiful country. We have continued to learn about influencing people through our words in persuasive writing and there is some really good convincing happening. These next two weeks Year 1 will be revising topics covered during the year and starting to look towards next year. From next week Maths Mentals will be the only homework sent home as spelling revision will be covered in class. Please endeavour to find any

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Early Learning Notices

Early Learning Notices lost readers and library books as we need these returned ASAP. For students in the Songsters choir, they are performing during school time next Wednesday 7th December at the Mitchell Centre. The bus leaves school at 11.45 am and returns at 2.00 pm. Blue PE shorts and a white t-shirt need to be sent to school. If your child has a private music lesson during this time, please contact the tutor to reschedule. As it is heating up, please remember to send a hat and water bottle to school each day. Kristen Pendergast, Heidi Van Bodegraven and Cristina Chiera Year 2A Decurtins Ho, ho, ho, only two weeks to go! This week the children have been busily writing narratives and using these to create short puppet shows. The class are working in small groups and there has been some great collaboration and cooperation happening. On Wednesday morning we visited Colemans Printing. We had a fantastic

time looking at the printing presses, learning ‗printing language‘ and mixing colours. We were even privileged enough to see the first edition of the ‗NT News‘ which was printed almost 60 years ago! We would like to say a huge thank you to the Coleman family for the wonderful tour, cute teddies and the delicious morning tea. Next week we will begin our Christmas craft and activities which we are all really looking forward to. It will be a time of glitter, sparkles and fun! We will have a class party on Wednesday 14

th December (Week 10).

Girls are asked to bring a plate of savoury food to share and boys something sweet. Leonie Decurtins Year 3B O’Connor This week we have begun the study of Celebrations Around the World. To do this we are sharing myths and legends, beliefs and the way different people celebrate. We have begun by sharing the belief of Diwali (an Indian celebration) and colouring beautiful

Rangoli patterns. Children are invited to share their own knowledge and beliefs with the class. On Friday, this week and next week, Year 3 will have an incursion about recycling. This supports last term‘s studies about materials, and should help the class understand what should or should not be recycled. Selena O’Connor Year 3C Stewart It is hard to believe we are nearly at the end of term. Everyone is working really hard, even though we are all starting to feel a little tired! This week for our homework task, we are studying how different countries around the world celebrate Christmas. The children have each chosen a country of their choice to study. Some students have chosen Greenland, Denmark, India and China. Thank you to Veronique Winter for bringing in her beautiful wooden clog from Holland. We learnt that in the Netherlands they place hay and carrots in the clogs, and in the morning there are lollies and

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Junior School Notices

For the 2011 Christmas Season the Staff and Students of The Essington School Darwin would like to invite you to experience the gift of giving.

The Essington Wishing Tree is our gift to the wider community. Under it we will be collecting gifts from Essington staff and families to distribute to children and families that are less fortunate than our own. We will collect the gifts up to and including the final day of Term 4. Once collected, all gifts will be delivered to Somerville Community Services for distribution.

The Essington Wishing Tree is the centerpiece of our library and is beautifully decorated with blue gift tags. Each of the gift tags has a place

to write in the gender and age of a child for whom your gift could make all the difference this Christmas.

Please support this appeal by giving generously.

Warm Regards, Staff of The Essington School Darwin

The Essington Christmas Wishing Tree

Early Learning Notices presents for the children. We cannot wait to hear each other‘s stories. Keep up the great work everyone! Renee Stewart Year 4A Noonan It is hard to believe it is already Week 8. The term has gone so fast. We are busy finishing up all our work on our Fables and Myths unit. The students all enjoyed presenting their individual and group creative Fable projects. We had lots of very artistic and unique ideas. We are now starting our Celebrating Christmas activities. Please ensure all books and art work is collected from the Classroom before you head off on your trips. I hope all our students who are travelling have a wonderful time in America, Germany and Japan. The children all had a fabulous time at the Hip Hop workshop on Tuesday. There were great moves going on. Next week will be our last Buddy Class for the term and we will celebrate with

some Christmas activities. Everyone has really enjoyed getting to know their little buddies. Marie Noonan Year 5B Ness Dear Parents, It is hard to believe that we are already into Week 8 of Term 4! We have been very busy completing all text book activities so that we can concentrate on some Christmas activities in Weeks 9 and 10. All our playscripts are finally coming together. Most of us have finished making our puppet theatres and puppets, and have practised performing our scripts. We are looking forward to hosting Miss Louise and her Transition class next Tuesday afternoon to perform our final plays. A few letters have gone home recently so please check with your child that any permission notes have been returned. We have a visit from CSIRO next Wednesday, 7th December, when we will be participating in a Chemistry workshop. Also the students are keen

to have a Secret Santa present sharing on the last day of school. Please let me know if your child is participating. We will be drawing names next week. Debbie Ness

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Junior School Notices

1st Prize Pest Control Treatment and Inspection Valued at $495 kindly donated by Top End Pest Control

2nd prize Jumbuck 4 burner BBQ with Cabinet Valued at $400 kindly donated by Zoe Thompsons’s Family

3rd Prize Two nights’ accommodation at Crowne Plaza Alice Springs including breakfast Valued at $240 kindly donated by the Reynolds Family

4th Prize $100 gift card from Super Toy World

The Essington School Darwin

Christmas Raffle 2011

Drawn Friday 9th December Tickets $5.00 each

Tickets available

from the Front Office

HOLIDAY TENNIS CLINICS Tennis is a fun game to play with friends. Joining a Holiday Tennis Clinic is a great way to get you

started.

DTC Sports Bagot Road is offering four day holiday clinics:

Monday 19th December to Thursday 23rd December

Monday 9th January to Thursday 12th January

Monday 16th January to Thursday 19th January

Monday 23rd January to Thursday 26th January

Sessions times each day: 8.30am to 11am

Ideal for: 7 to 14 year olds Cost: $90 or $30 per day

Bookings: Phone Ryan or Chris on 8985 2844.

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Middle School Notices Middle School Notices

Year 6B Dearden Hello everyone in 6B! This week we have started small reading groups. We look at certain parts of a narrative, like the setting or mood and discuss them. This is helping us as we continue to look into what makes a more exciting story. In Math, we are studying mean, median, mode and chance. We have a test on it this week and we are very excited as it is our last one for the year! We are also learning about Africa and Antarctica this week for SOSE. For Science, we are finishing our posters about the parts of the human body. Remember that an extra PE lesson will happen next week (Week 9) so your swimming gear is needed on Wednesday (7th December) and gym gear is needed on Thursday (8th December). The big focus this week is our upcoming Christmas celebrations! Check out our windows! Activity week timetables are now out so please check over them and make sure you have an allocated activity for Monday till Wednesday. Secret Santa names have also been handed out – so start thinking about your big gift and little clues that you might like to give out! Finally, Kirra and Tom are finishing their last rounds with the Paws and Claws lolly jar, so please give while you can! Jazz, Tom and Mrs Dearden Year 6C Dumesny Oh my goodness, how time flies! Only one week until Activities Week. This week in Maths we have been charging through our Targeting Maths book, creating our dream homes and playing our letters and numbers game. Only a couple pages left! In English, we have been writing and discussing how to do procedures, we have even started some of our own. Samantha Chin and Ciara Marah both did procedures on how to draw cool things. We are now up to Chapter 10 in Castaway. In Science we have learnt so much about our bodies. Did you know that one out of nine English people get diagnosed with eczema? We have sent out notes about our class party and Kris Kringle. Everybody is eager to find out who got them. Our Talent Quest is coming up and everyone is trying to PRACTICE so they can WIN!!! The Talent Quest is on Friday of Week 10! Parents are very welcome to join us for our end of year celebrations! Ishaq Ali, Annie Robbins and Ciara Marah Year 6D Morvant There is much bustling excitement in the camp this week, as the Activities Week lists have been posted and students discover where they will be going on their last week of term. It is great to see the enthusiasm from the Year 6

pupils, it is sure to be a fun week. If there are any questions or enquiries, students are asked to let Mr. Connor know as soon as possible. The diorama projects have been completed and oral presentations given. Well done to all students for displaying good knowledge about their chosen Endangered Animal. It was impressive to see how well each group cleaned up after their construction and the respect shown to our classroom. Please remember to bring a hat and a water bottle to school every day. Some of the days lately have been very hot. Donna Morvant

Middle School Report Year 7 Graduation Ceremonies: Congratulations to our Year 7 Class of 2011 and Welcome to our New Year 8 Class of 2012! Over the past two nights the Year 7 Graduation Dinner and Presentations were held for our Year 7 classes. This event needed to be held over two night as our Year 7 cohort has grown to such a large number of students. The Year 7 cohort has really come together to become a very cohesive group and this was very evident during the inclusive celebrations of the past two evenings. Over both nights, the well organised, professional event ran like clockwork and the students really enjoyed themselves. Welcome speeches, outlining the growth of the School to this point, were delivered by the Board Chair, Mr Peter Rogers, and Principal/CEO, David Cannon. Our Year 7 SRC members for each group of classes delivered a very accomplished speech outlining student‘s recollections from the 2011 School Year. There were many comments about the accomplished and confident public speaking skills of our SRC students. Mrs Allison Harvey, MS Student Well Being Officer, collected memories from Year 7 teachers and presented these in an unforgettable way. This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation ‗A Year to Remember‘ which showcased the Year‘s activities, the students and the Year 7 teachers. The PowerPoint was a treat and the laugh at the first photo of each student was quickly followed by the awwwww after the baby picture! Students were individually presented with their Year 7 Certificate, medallion and a pen by School Board Members. Mrs Dunchue then formally welcomed the Year 7 cohort to Year 8! To finalise celebrations, the students took to the Dance floor to show us their well-rehearsed Dance Routines. Dance Instructor and Friend of Essington, Mrs Margaret Black, has trained our students in Ballroom Dancing over the past month or so. That tricky ―curly‖ move that they were all so worried about was certainly perfected by many! Thanks to Margaret, parents were also given the opportunity to dance with their children and learn one of the Dance Routines. The parent press gallery had to be seen to be believed during the impromptu dancing sessions. In addition to the formal Family photos at the start of the evening there will be many a snap that will make it onto Facebook or into the family photo collection.

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Middle School Achievement and Involvement

Congratulations to all who assisted to make the evening a memorable and enjoyable occasion for all who attended.

Youth Leading the World Congress Three of our students have been selected to attend the Youth Leading the World Congress for three days this week at Charles Darwin University. The Workshop discussions will generate ideas for community change and these will be presented to Community Leaders on the last day at the Museum and Art Gallery of NT. Congratulations to Kiara Musco, Lara Whitehouse and Harry Carr. Along with hundreds of young people around the world, these three students will work on personal and community change to create new ways of doing things that realize a fairer future for all. We hope the workshops are rewarding for our students and we look forward to hearing about their personal learning and the workshop outcomes when they return. Leadership and SRC Activities Our Student Leadership and Student Representative Council has gone from strength to strength this semester. Mr Daniel Hogg has involved our Student Representative Council Leaders in presenting at Assemblies and our students are also involved in setting up and monitoring the sound system at Assemblies. At each Assembly, there are several draws for rewards and our students manage this as well as involving in the Sunsmart and Uniform competitions during the term. Our Dance Group has a group of Dance Leaders who assist each week during the Wednesday Dance sessions. Our Student Representative Council Teacher Coordinators, Mrs Allison Harvey and Mr Edmund Connor have used Focus Groups to allow students to follow special areas of interest. The current Fundraising project to collect Pet food and accessories has gained recognition and thanks from the RSPCA and an article is being printed in their Newsletter. The Toy Appeal has been slower to get off the mark but there is still quite a stack in Mrs Harvey‘s Office ready for donation. Our Student Representative Council‘s philanthropic work is most commendable! Congratulations and well done to our Student Leadership and Student Representative Council groups!

Inaugural Art Exhibition and Dance Recital: Wednesday 7 December 2011 Our student Dance Leaders and Visual Arts Student Leaders will take a leading role in our first ever combined Art Exhibition and Dance Recital next Wednesday evening. This commences at 5:30pm and promises to be a very entertaining evening. It is an example of our developing and expanding Dance and Visual Art programs and another example of our Student Leadership program. Helen Dunchue Head of Middle School

Middle School Achievement and Involvement Year 7 Graduations Two amazing nights of graduation ceremonies have marked the progression of our Year 7s into Year 8 this week. The formalities were held at the Holiday Inn Esplanade and our students certainly did us proud! After welcoming speeches from Peter Rogers, Chair of the Essington School Board, and David Cannon, Principal, we enjoyed dinner. Our Student Representative Council members shared students recollections of the year. Tom Johnston, Kristin Smith, Declan Curran, Demi Tcha and Chris Milikins spoke at the 7A, 7D and 7F Graduation, and Jennifer Huang, Millie Hunt, Jax Ward, Maddy McDonald and Olivia Fleming spoke at the 7B, 7C and 7E Graduation on Wednesday night. Parents and School Board members were filled with glowing reports of how impressive the Student Representative Council speeches and students public speaking skills were! Following the Student Representative Council members speech was a tough task. The teacher‘s response was presented by Mrs Harvey, before we all viewed the ―A Year to Remember‖ slideshow presentation. After this, students demonstrated their dance moves on the dance floor under the proud eye of Dance Instructor, Margret Black. Every one of the students looked amazing. I was very proud to be there with them and a part of the celebrations.

Youth Leading the World Congress This week we had three of our Year 9 students, (Kiara Musco, Lara Whitehouse and Harry Carr) represent Essington at the Youth Leading the World Congress. The first two days are held at Charles Darwin University. The last day is the Community Forum where students present their findings to community leaders at the NT Museum in Fannie Bay. On these three days there are hundreds of young people around the world working on personal and community change to create new ways of doing things that realize a fairer future for all. I look forward to hearing further details of the challenges, learning and experiences had by these three students!

Year 7 students enjoy their dance skills at the Year 7 Graduation

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Activities Week Phew! After a huge effort from all Middle School teachers and many office staff the activities allocations are finally up! If there is a problem with your timetable, please write your problem down and hand it into the Middle School Office along with your timetable (which you should have filled in). Payments are due by this Friday. As the lists were late being posted, payments will still be accepted on Monday. RSPCA Paws and Claws Student Representative Council students have done a stellar job raising donations of pet food and cash to donate to the RSPCA Paws and Claws fundraiser, this term. So far we have about two hundred cans of pet food, which equals well over 100kg. Add to this 50kg of dry pet food, dog bowls, toys, collars, treats, brushes and cash. We also have another $100 worth of supplies arriving tomorrow, kindly donated by the Jeff Watson Bendigo Bank Nightcliff Branch. And, add to that, another $400 worth of cash donations which have been made! A huge thanks to the following families for their generous donations: The Ellen-Barwell, Tcha, Watanabe, Glynatsis, Clark, Brown, Floek, Rowberry, McWilliam, Morgan and Atkinson Families. Several staff have also made generous donations. The Student Representative Council and RSPCA extends their thanks. Donations were to close on the 2nd December. We will have Janine Fidock from the RSPCA as our special guest at the Middle School Assembly on the 9th December at 9.20am so we will extend donations until the morning of the 9th. Janine will be bringing along one of the shelter dogs. Janine will be accepting the goods on behalf of the RSPCA. They are most grateful for any assistance as Christmas is their busiest time of the year with many animals being abandoned with owners leaving Darwin or going on holidays and surrendering their animals. X-Mas Toy drive Middle School SRC students are still seeking donations of good condition, second-hand or new toys which you are not using anymore to donate to charity for Christmas this year. I have a huge stack of toys of all shapes and sizes in my office and am looking to add more. Donations will be passed onto the Smith Family for redistribution over the Christmas periods. Allison Harvey Student Wellbeing Coordinator

Senior College Report Award Winning Senior College Students Congratulations to the following Senior College students who have recently won awards:

AICM – Australian International Conservatorium of Music Award 2011: Henry Beale

Dr Martin Jarvis OAM Award: Achievement and Commitment to Music: Matthew McAuliffe

Long Tan Leadership & Teamwork Award – Year 11: Rachelle Tinning

Long Tan Leadership & Teamwork Award – Year 10: Joel Kay

Bill McLaren Community Service Award – Senior College: Georgina Nefiodovas

Darwin North Rotary Award – Community Service Award – Senior College: Monique Smith

Australia Day Student Citizen Award for outstanding contribution to school and community—Senior College: Lucy Campbell

Outstanding VETIS Business Student: Rachelle Tinning Important Upcoming Senior College Dates

Monday 5th to Friday 9th December: Year 10 Work Experience

Friday 9th to Friday 16th December: Duke‘s Sydney Surf Trip

Tuesday 31st January, 2012: Students Resume VETIS Hospitality As part of the VETIS Hospitality course students are required to complete 12 practical restaurant experiences. Students have been training at the Palmerston Campus of Charles Darwin University. Subject Choices for 2012 All current students in Year 10 have begun to look at

subject choices for 2012 in their Personal Learning Plan

(PLP) classes. All students have been given a copy of the latest SATAC Tertiary Entrance Booklet to assist with

subject choices that align to the Charles Darwin University

Senior College Report JPR Survival Camp On the 10

th of October 2011 I went on a camp that

changed my perception of the territory bush. We were blind folded and dropped in an unknown location in the middle of the territory bush with a small medical pack and a water container full of hot water. We were left there for 4 days and 3 nights of hell. We did get small food rations on the second day. When we got back we got to eat food! We ate so much we were sick. Overall the camp was absolutely amazing I learnt loads of new skills and bonded more with my friends. Tim Osborne 8D

Middle School SRC students from right to left: Demi Tcha, David Bitzer, Sarah McRae, Tom White and SRC assistant Andrew Simpson with some of the food which has been donated for the RSPCA this term.

The Essington School Darwin 9

Senior College Report and Universities in South Australia. If you would like to

discuss your child‘s choices for next year please, contact the Senior College office on Phone: 8946 6821 to make an

appointment to see Mr Moore.

All current students in Year 11 have begun researching career choices and looking at possible University courses.

All students have been issued with SATAC (South

Australian Tertiary Admission Centre) university guide and

SATAC booklet for students in Years 10, 11 and 12. All students are currently considering which Stage 2 TAS

(Tertiary Admission Subjects) they require for their

university courses. If you would like to discuss your child‘s

choices for next year please, contact the Senior College office on Phone: 8946 6821 to make an appointment to see

Mr Moore.

Year 10 Work Experience Year 10 students by now should have their second Work

Experience 5th – 9th December organised. Planning for

their work experience has occurred in their Personal

Learning Program (PLP) classes. As part of the process we have asked students to organise their own work place as

this provides them with experience in sourcing and

organising jobs. All of the relevant forms need to be

handed back to Ms Tamara Murphy at the Senior College Office by the end of the week.

Peter Moore

Acting Senior College Coordinator

VETIS Hospitality Course Students complete their practical restaurant experiences.

The Essington School Darwin 10

General Notices Music News Celebration Concert Yes indeed, it was a night to remember. There were literally hundreds of students backstage lining up to perform. The excitement was palpable. Teachers and parents found it challenging to contain the energy of the variety of groups lining up to do their stuff. The Orchestra, Senior Strings, Songsters, Junior School Choir, Middle School Choir, Premier Choir, Year 3 Strings, Wind Ensemble and 8,9,10,11 Dance Groups certainly rose to the occasion with their performances last Friday night at the Darwin Entertainment Centre. The ‘finale’ featured all the choirs, dancers, wind ensemble and solo vocalist Henry Beale in a rousing rendition of ‗Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ complete with suitably revised lyrics and spectacular glow stick waving by the choirs. The pre-concert entertainment with the Junior String Ensemble and the Rock Groups in the foyer all proved to be a hit with the audience before the show. All in all, everybody had a great time, finishing off another eventful year with a memorable concert on a very high note. Many grateful thanks to all the staff, parents and friends who helped on the night and to all teachers in the Music Department. Also many thanks to Ms Lisa Svara, Dance Teacher, for such dedicated work throughout the year and to Ms Jill Kuhn, compere and concert organizer.

Australian Music Examination Board Theory Results When ready, students in the Advanced Year 8/9 Music Elective and after school Musicianship Class are encouraged to sit for their Grade Theory examinations. The classes follow a comprehensive course for students which is planned so that the students may begin with the very first principles of music theory and work gradually upwards through the grades. The course is designed to be useful equally to examination students (AMEB) and to those who wish to become better musicians as they learn more about how music is organized

and written. The course also helps the busy teacher who realizes the importance of theory for students but finds the practical lesson all too short to include time for theory instruction. The following results have been achieved in the recent AMEB examinations:

Grade 1 Theory: Connor Randazzo—High Distinction Liezl Brand—High Distinction Shevonne Pennefather—High Distinction Ishak Ali—High Distinction Ari McInery—Honours Nicholas Spaulding—Credit Ben Finocchiaro—Credit

Grade 2 Theory: Breanna Dyer—High Distinction Kieran Caraher—Honours Matthew McAuliffe—Honours

Grade 3 Theory: Eric Beale—High Distinction Kiara Musco—High Distinction If you would like any more information on the Musicianship /Theory classes please do not hesitate to contact me at the Music Centre. Happy music making, Kirsty McCallum Music Department

Dance Notices Wow - our year in dance is going out with a BANG! The students amazing performance at the Celebrations Concert will be a wonderful memory to treasure. The Year 8s are developing such mature performance style, and earn bonus points for their organisation and professionalism in rehearsals and backstage. The Year 9 dancers continue to amaze and astound with their ability to perform complex choreography with great musicality and discipline. Finally the Year 10 'newbies' should be incredibly proud of their first big stage performance. They performed like seasoned professionals. It was such a buzz to share the stage with you all. Your passion and excitement is inspiring! The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and full of praise and wonderment. Well done to you all. My sincere thanks to Elise

Melas, Jill Dowd and Kirsty Wedmore who very generously assisted with hair and make up backstage. Thank you! We have two more big dance events remaining for the year:

Dance Extension Program auditions

Senior and Middle School students will have participated in the audition process for the Dance Extension program by the time this newsletter is printed. Our Dance Extension program aims to accommodate dance students who display outstanding talent, improvement and commitment to dance. The Program recognizes the importance of fostering talent early by offering opportunities to further enrich students‘ potential and prepare them for future learning and potential careers in the performing arts industry. Due to the growth in our Dance Program over the past four years, the Dance Extension Program will have two divisions in 2012 to accommodate both Middle and Senior School levels. The Senior College Dance Extension Program will incorporate an interstate trip whilst the Middle School Dance Extension Program will provide local workshop opportunities with invited dance artists. The objectives of these extension activities is to provide students with the opportunity to extend and challenge their technical abilities, whilst being exposed to new and wider dance experiences. Successful applicants will be announced at Essington's Got Talent night - Wednesday 7th December.

Essington's Got Talent - Dance Night and Art Exhibition: Wednesday 7th December

This will be a night to celebrate and showcase all that has been achieved in dance this semester. There will be performances by the Dance Fitness junior students, the afterschool Hip Hop crew, and elective students' composition and performance pieces. We will also share some of what we do in our weekly Dance classes. Family and friends are welcome to this free performance in the school auditorium. Art work will be open for viewing from 5.30pm on Wednesday 7th December with entertainment

The Essington School Darwin 11

General Notices starting at 6pm and concluding by 7pm. Please note rehearsals for this performance will continue for all Senior and Middle School dance students on Wednesdays 3.00—5.00pm. Afterschool Extracurricular Dance Classes Continue Final Week: Hip Hop for Middle School Students - Monday 3.30-4.30pm Dance Fitness for Junior School students - Wednesday 3.00-4.00pm Ballet with Jill - Tuesday 3.00-3.45pm Junior students; 4.00-5.00pm Middle and Senior students No classes in week 10. Australian's Got Talent - Darwin Auditions Saturday 3rd December, 9.00am—4.00pm at the Ambassador Room, Crowne Plaza Darwin. Australia's Got Talent heard about all our music and dance talent at Essington and have invited students to audition. Just the experience of auditioning is worth while - go for it! Upcoming Performances: Your Story, Your magic… Rix Kix Arts 4th December at 7.00pm ESCAPADE: Darwin Performance Academy - Saturday 10th December 2pm and Sunday 11th December at 6.30pm Bookings via DEC on Phone: 8980 3333. Hip Hop Workshop for Junior School We were lucky to have an indigenous hip hop dance crew from AFL-NT and Beyondblue come and run some very energetic and fun hip hop classes with Year 1 to 5. There was lots of puffing, yelling, screaming and smiling faces to mention some very hip dance moves. Lisa Svara Dance Teacher

Library Notices This week at Assembly we will be announcing the winner of our ―Name Our Dragon‖ competition. Students have thought of some very creative names for our beautiful dragon cushion and the winner will receive a $20 gift voucher from Dymocks at Casuarina.

As always, this is a very busy time of year with lots of items being returned to the library. To assist the children in locating their overdue books, we have been giving overdue lists to each class which comes into the library. If everyone can have a good look at home for books and get them back into the library next week (Week 9) that would be great. The first two classes to return all their books will get to come to a special party in the Library on Tuesday 13th December. Miss Kathy and Miss Angela

After School Care Notices A BIG thank you to Peter Marsh (Ryan and Scott Marsh's Dad) for donating several boxes of cordial to the After School Care Program. We truly appreciate your generosity. Kindest of Regards, Lauren Prosser and the After School Care Team

Sports Notices Want to earn some extra pocket money doing what you love? The Australian Sports Commission‘s Active After-School Program is designed to increase fitness levels across Australia. Community Sports Coaches are employed to run activities for Primary aged students. This program is run and funded by the Australian Sports Commission. Students, teachers and parents can become involved. How do I become involved? Step 1—Contact your local AASC regional coordinator using the link provided. AASC website (ausport.gov.au/aasc) or call 89423681. Step 2—Your AASC regional coordinator will invite you to their next Community Coach Training Program session and assist you with completing your registration. Step 3—Attend and complete the Community Coach Training Program course. Step 4—Your AASC regional coordinator will find you a school or out of school hours care service to deliver up to seven weeks of activity programs

within a school term (based on program availability). Step 5—Get kids active and have fun!

Essington Representative Teams Build Up Netball The season has nearly finished and all of our teams have shown fantastic improvement throughout the term. Our Year 7 students had their Graduation last night and hence we were missing a few umpires and two of our coaches. They were missed by their players. Good luck for the final games.

Community Sports Notices Notice Board In the Auditorium we have a Notice Board for all sports notices and community events. If you have any notices you would like attached to this board please drop them off at the Sports Office. Christmas Holiday Hockey Camp Current players, beginners or anyone looking for fun! December 19th, 20th and 21st. AGE: 6 – 13 YEARS. TIME: 8am - 12.30pm. COST: $110. For more information please contact NTHA office on 89450302 or email developmentofficer@nthockey.asn.au. Forms can be downloaded from the NT Hockey website www.nthockey.asn.au Come and Have a go at Indoor Hockey Hockey is a great team sport with lots of opportunities for skill development. It can lead to having a core of friends with a healthy active interest and, for the more serious players, there are plenty of opportunities for competition and state representation. Commerce (The Redbacks) are looking to recruit junior players - Under 8s, Under 10s, Under 13s and Under 16s. Field hockey commences in April 2012. In the meantime come and have a go at Indoor Hockey. Where: The air-conditioned Marrara Stadium. When: Saturday mornings from 21st January to 31st April (10 weeks). More information: Contact Robyn Northcote on 8927 6621 or krnorthcote@aapt.net.au.

General Notices

The Essington School Darwin 12

Australia’s Got Talent Australia's Got Talent is coming back

to Darwin on December 3rd to find performers for the next season of the show. 2011 was a huge success and we can't wait to share more talent with the country! When: Saturday 3rd December 2011. Where: Ambassador Room, Crowne Plaza Darwin. 32 Mitchell Street. Registration: 9.00am – 4.00pm. We are looking for anything and everything...solo acts, group performances, opera, athletes, singers, dancers, magicians, circus and stunt acts, instrumentalists, comedians, novelty acts, animal acts, child performers, seniors and whether amateur or professional, our doors are open to everyone of any age! Contact Vanessa on Phone : 0416 118 517 or vanessaoxlad@yahoo.com.

School Holiday Netball Clinics

5—7 Year olds: NetSetGo! Tuesday 24th January, 9am – 4pm. $60 without pack, $80 with participation pack.

8—10 Year olds: NetSetGo! Tuesday 24th January, 9am – 4pm. $60 without pack, $80 with participation pack.

11—12 Year olds: Thursday 26th January, 9am – 4pm. $60

13—14 Year olds: Friday 27th January, 9am – 4pm. $60

Numbers are limited, to secure your place please contact Anne Knight, Development and Participation Coordinator, on 89452399 or email development@netballnt.org.au.

Top End Orienteers - Wet Season Orienteering Top End Orienteers are holding a short series of events on Thursday evenings in the next few weeks. Several courses are available, suitable for beginners to experts, starting between 5.30pm - 6.15pm. Prizes for series place getters. Your first event is free, then $5 per entry. All welcome.

Thursday 1st December – Holzerland Park, Malak

Thursday 8th December – Water Gardens, Jingili

For enquiries and more details phone Susi Bertei on 8981 5841, visit www.topend.nt.orienteering.asn.au or contact Lachlan on 0432 906 335 or lachlan001@hotmail.com.

Student Achievements in Sport Every week we endeavour to include as many of our student‘s achievements that we hear or read about. If your child is excluded from events where many of our students are involved in please email me and I will include their results the following week. Two of our students recently competed in the PCYC Invitational Gymnastics Competition. Caitlin OShea, Level 1 Prep came 3

rd overall. She was 3

rd on

beam, 1st on bars and 3

rd on vault.

Annie Holland was 4th on floor, 4

th on

vault and 5th on beam. Her Level 3

NDP results were 1st overall and 1

st for

beam, vault, bars and floor. If your child has any great sporting achievements throughout the year please email karly.denmead@essington.nt.edu.au and this will be acknowledged in the Bulletin and on occasions at Assembly. You can contact the Sports Office on Phone: 8985 0109 to discuss any up and coming events with either myself, Spencer Harvey, Melanie Voakes, Adam Gulla and Shaun Theiber who can be contacted at the Senior College campus. Karly Denmead Assistant Principal Sports Coordinator

ROYAL LIFE SAVING AUSTRALIA VACATION LIFESAVING

PROGRAM The NT Branch of Royal Lifesaving

Australia is holding a Lifesaving Program for ages 5 years and up.

This is a program full of fun, fitness and lifesaving skills. The program will

run for 8 days from Monday 16th January to Friday 20th January, and Monday 23rd January to Wednesday

25th January.

For bookings or further information please contact RLSSA—NT on

89815036 or email: sportnt@rlssa.org.au

CARTOON CAMPS Cartoon Camps will be held in Darwin between Monday 23rd

January and Friday 27th January at the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT Theatrette, Conacher Street,

Fannie Bay.

Short day (9.30am—3.30pm): $35.00 per child, per day

Long day (7.30am—6.00pm or part thereof): $40.00 per child, per day Night Camps (6.00pm—9.00pm):

$20.00 per night

Bookings can be made online via the website:

www.illustrating-man.com.au

DOMINOS PIZZA NIGHTCLIFF: INSTORES WANTED

We‘re looking for enthusiastic juniors (under 16 years) to join our team.

If you can work after school and weekends, drop into one of our

stores, or go online to apply today. www.dominosjobs.com.au