Hilltop News DIMBOOLA MEMORIAL SECONDARY COLLEGE

“DEEDS NOT WORDS”

Phone: 53891460 www.dmsc.vic.edu.au dimboola.memorial.sc@edumail.vic.gov.au Fax: 53891981

Anne Gawith – Principal

President – Lisa Polycarpou, Vice President – Lynley Robinson

Treasurer - Sally Klinge (DET), Parent Reps – Teresa Smith, Neil Zippel, Kellie Laverty, Kylie Barry

Community Rep - Tony Schneider, Charles Rees (RSL)

DET Rep – Charlotte Pyers, Student Rep – Amy Zippel

February 7th 2019

“DMSC is a Child Safe school”

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Respect Honesty Excellence Care Freedom

IMPORTANT DATES Mar 13-15 Year 7 Camp

Feb 11 DMSC School Photos 8.30am Mar 13-15 Year 8 Camp

Feb 12 VCE/VCAL Information Night 6pm – 7.30pm Apr 2 DMSC Athletic Sports

Feb 19 DMSC Swimming Sports Apr 3 Parent Teacher Interviews 3.30pm – 6.00pm

Feb 22 Year 12 VCE English Study Day Apr 4 Last Day for students

Mar 4 Little Desert Swimming - Dimboola Apr 5 Curriculum Day – (pupil free)

Mar 11 Labour Day Holiday – No School Apr 5 Last Day of Term 1

A message from our Principal…

A Great Start! Our students have settled in well, with most getting into the routine of school very quickly. Many staff have commented on how well our new Year 7s are doing, adjusting immediately to their new school environment. Can I please ask all parents and carers to continue to support their children by encouraging them to establish good study habits at home. It is vital to embed good work practices from Year Seven, as this places them in good stead for the remainder of their time at school. A reminder that our SMART Sessions have commenced – every Monday and Wednesday in the library. This free homework/catch-up club is open to all students and provides another opportunity for your child to access assistance from their teachers and to use the resources available here at school. The sessions run for an hour and the students are provided with a snack! If you have any questions about the SMART Sessions, please contact our Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Mrs Charlotte Pyers. Year Seven BBQ On Monday evening, the school hosted a BBQ for our Year Seven families. We were delighted to welcome some new faces to DMSC and it was a great opportunity for our parents to meet and greet many of the school staff. Thank you to Holly Ruwoldt, our Year Seven Coordinator, who organised the event, and thank you also to Helen Polack for the wonderful catering. House Captains Our first whole school sports day will be the swimming carnival on Tuesday, February 19. In readiness for this event, the students have elected their House Captains. Congratulations to the following students who will lead their respective houses in several events throughout the year.

Wimmera House Captains: Will Griffiths Joanne Wolthuis Vice-Captains: Brad Walker Jorja Byrne Hindmarsh House Captains: Daniel Polack Sophie Warner Vice-Captains: Jack King Tess Robinson All students are expected to attend the swimming sports, even if they are not competing. They can cheer on their peers or assist with some organisational tasks. Parents and families are most welcome to come and spectate on the day. School Council Elections – Information for Parents School council elections will commence next week and nomination forms are available in today’s newsletter. All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally constituted bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within state-wide guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students. For most school councils, there are four possible categories of membership:

A mandated elected Parent category – more than one-third of the total members must be from this category.

A mandated elected DET employee category – members of this category may make up no more than one-third of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

A mandated student category where two student representatives are elected.

An optional Community member category – members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences.

Please consider applying for school council and helping to shape our school. Anne Gawith Principal ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

DMSC School Photos

Monday 11th February

Please be at school in the correct school uniform.

Canteen News!

The canteen is looking for volunteers for Fridays only. If you are available for this day of the week and you have a current Working With Children’s Check, can you please contact Helen Polack on 0407894257. Canteen duty is not difficult at all, as it involves helping Helen prepare lunch orders and serving the children at recess and lunch time. Canteen duty is generally from 11.00am – 1.30pm. All volunteers will need to have a current Working With Children’s check which can be organised at the Post Office or online. The 2019 canteen menu price list is attached to this newsletter. Helen Polack Canteen Manager ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Music News

Music lessons will be available for semester 1. If you are interested can you please sign up in the staff room (just inside the door on the table)

before the 13th of February. Limited places are available so get in first.

Music lessons will be held on Thursday and Friday and will start on the 21st February. Kirra Lawson

Three Reads for Thursday!

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The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble Full of adventure and excitement, you will love the characters, particularly the feisty and determined Ella.

No Saints in Kansas by Amy Brashear In 1959, the town is shattered by the quadruple murder of the Clutter family. If you like a thriller, then read this one!

29 Dates by Melissa De La Cruz Jisu’s passion is for photography and lights her on fire, does she even want to find The One? And what if her One isn’t parent and matchmaker approved? Borrow this and find out!

Please ring Bruce or Matt, if your child is

interested in joining the Junior Footy Academy.

DEB BALL NEWS Just a reminder that training starts tomorrow night (Friday 8 February) immediately after school. A quick snack will be provided. Please remember to bring your shoes. A parent meeting will start at 4:30pm in the HEX (classroom adjoining the hall) See you all there – Gaynor

Michael Carr-Gregg: managing student wellbeing and cybersafety

10 Aug, 2018 Written by Jacaranda Teachers across Australia face a wide range of challenges every day, and many of these challenges occur outside the four walls of a classroom. These types of challenges tend to mirror those that their students are living, and can include supporting student wellbeing and helping them participate responsibly online. Teachers are out there helping students through these issues – but these, more often than not, fall outside their area of expertise. In an effort to help teachers overcome the challenges both inside and outside the classroom, recently we hosted a series of Jacaranda Learning Expo events across Australia. At these events, we demonstrated how Jacaranda’s range of 7-10 teaching and learning resources can help teachers engage students, achieve differentiation, and manage the range of abilities within their classes. We also broached the common issue that many Australian schools face: educating students on their use of the internet. To help us do this, we invited Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg, one of Australia’s leading child and adolescent psychologists, to speak on managing student wellbeing and cybersafety in the classroom and beyond. After the events we had a chance to speak to many teachers and were delighted to hear they found Michael’s presentation engaging, relevant and practical. That’s why we’ve decided to share some of his key tips with you.

Michael’s 3 key takeaways for teachers

1. Create a culture of kindness

2. Zero-tolerance policy of bullying – online and offline

3. Developing some form of cybersafety education in schools

The Australian eSafety Commissioner’s 3 core principles

The Australian eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, outlines 3 core principles that responsible digital citizens

should practise:

1. Engage positively

2. Know your online world

3. Choose consciously

Below we have outlined how Michael suggests students can implement these principles to become responsible

digital citizens.

1. Engage positively

When you engage positively, you are exercising your rights and responsibilities as a digital citizen, while respecting the rights of others. When students are online they can engage positively by: Respecting the rights of others to participate and have an opinion. Asking before tagging other people or posting photos. Reporting offensive or illegal content. Standing up and speaking out about cyberbullying — protect your friends.

Don’t respond to hurtful or nasty comments — block and report. Speaking to their parents or a trusted adult about upsetting online experiences. Reporting threats of violence to the police (collect the evidence to show them).

2. Know your online world

Students have the skills and knowledge to participate in the online world with confidence, although this confidence doesn’t necessarily mean they really know the risks of the online world. Students can better understand the online world by: Learning new skills will help explore the online world. Recognising online risks and how to manage them. Looking out for suspicious emails and scams. Using secure websites for financial and retail services. Keeping passwords secret, strong, and unique. Knowing how to report bullying behaviour on social media sites. 3. Choose consciously

Students should be aware that they are in control of the decisions they make online. They can choose consciously by: Thinking before sharing personal information and understanding the choices you make impulsively can last forever on the internet. Choosing privacy and security settings carefully and reviewing them regularly. Choosing friends wisely online — not everybody online is who they claim to be. Regularly review your connections and remove people. If you have made a mistake, apologise and take down offensive material as soon as possible. Asking for permission before uploading pictures of your friends. The big issues Michael has identified 8 key issues that teenagers face when participating online. Teachers and their parents should also be aware and understand these online threats. These issues include: 1. Cyber abuse Is when online communication is seriously threatening, intimidating, harassing, or has a humiliating effect on a person. 2. Cyberbullying Using technology to bully a person or group with the intent to hurt them socially, psychologically, or even physically. 3. Image-based abuse Occurs when intimate, nude or sexual images are distributed without the consent of those pictured. 4. Offensive or illegal content Content may be considered ‘prohibited’ ie: violent, explicit or criminal. 5. Sexting Sending of provocative or sexual photos, messages or videos. 6. Social engineering Using social pressure, deception or threats to influence a person into doing something against their interests. 7. Social networking There are risks in meeting people online—especially if you don’t know them in real life. 8. Unwanted contact Any type of online communication that you find unpleasant or confronting. Michael’s favourite wellbeing apps Michael believes that mobile phones can be friends, not foes, when used in the right way. As a psychologist and researcher, he speaks with students every day who are seeking help for their wellbeing; and for these young people he likes to utilise the power of mobile phone apps. During the presentation at the Jacaranda Learning Expo event, Michael shared his favourite apps that he recommends to his own clients. Some of these apps are: ReachOut WorryTime

Designed to allow users to control everyday stress and anxiety by acting as a ‘physical’ place to store daily worries. It

acts as a daily reminder to think about and process what has been stressing you out.

ReachOut Breathe

Where the above app helps a user mentally process their worries, ReachOut Breathe helps users deal with the

physical symptoms of stress and anxiety. Users are coached on how to slow down their breathing and heart rate to

help them feel more relaxed.

Smiling Mind

This is a meditation app aimed especially for young people. Smiling Mind is designed to coach users on how to

achieve calmness, contentment and clarity to help manage their symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and

improve health and wellbeing.

Couch-to-5k

Exercise is proven to promote wellbeing, and this app is designed to help users go from the couch to running 5km or

30mins straight within 9 weeks.

Breakup Shakeup

Provides ideas for fun and easy things young people can do to cope with a breakup. The app is particularly good at

suggesting ways to deal with negative thoughts and increase their social support through outings and activities.

Pillboxie

A digital reminder for what medication users need to take and when.

50 million users in how long?

Michael showed our audience an infographic that summarises the time it took for products to reach 50 million users.

This infographic provides a powerful visual insight into how products and online apps in the 21st century can

skyrocket into popularity quicker and easier than those before it.

The overarching message during this presentation was that although Michael is a true believer in the power of the internet and how it can help promote wellbeing and provide amazing learning opportunities, when children and teenagers use the internet, they face unique risks that need to be understood and managed. The responsibility of managing these threats lies with, not only the young people themselves, but also with their teachers and parents. To manage them, we need to educate young people and ourselves on how to be responsible digital citizens. If you would like to view Michael Carr-Gregg’s presentation slides in full, click here. The good news is if your school needs help with digital citizenship education – Jacaranda can help. We have two digital citizenship courses: one for students, Jacaranda Digital Citizenship powered by Cyberpass, and one for teachers and parents, Jacaranda Digital Citizenship Professional Development for teachers. Both courses are tailored to meet the unique knowledge and skill requirements of teachers and students, educating them on what it means and takes to be responsible and safe online. If you’d like to know more about either of these courses please contact your local Jacaranda Sales Consultant.

DIMBOOLA MEMORIAL SECONDARY COLLEGE HOMEWORK SHEET

Year Subject Homework Due Date

7 English Maths

Science

Humanities

German Greetings Vocab 12th Feb

Woodwork

PE

Technology

IT Decoding sheet 13th Feb

Food 8 D & M English Spelling words, Reading Challenge

Maths 8D: Weekly Squizya (MathsMate) 8M:

Science

Humanities 8D: Front cover 8M:Front cover and complete timeline

11th Feb 8th Feb

D & M Heath/PE

German Past tense vocab 12th Feb

Art

Food

VCD

Woodwork

Technology

STEM Bridge poster Assessment 20th Feb

9 English Creative Writing Piece 1 8th Feb

Maths

Science

HPE

German Extreme sport vocab 12th Feb Humanities

Year 9/10 Electives

Media Photo Study

Outdoor Ed

Product Design and Technology

Food Studies

VCD

Psychology

DIMBOOLA MEMORIAL SECONDARY COLLEGE HOMEWORK SHEET

Year Subject Homework Due Date 10 English Deadly Unna? WBQ2 15

th February

Maths Update Rules Book, complete unfinished sheets from class Science Humanities Pathways

Health /PE 11D English

Math Methods

Maths General

Biology

History

Health & Human Development

Psychology Read pp. 113-121 of class text (pre-reading) and complete Las 3.9 and 3.10 Q6

Product Design

PE Homework sheet Week 2, Prac Reflection

Media Reviews 11th Feb

Computer Studies

Chapter 4 – Test your knowledge 11th Feb

Vis Com

Physics Watch Edrolo videos, Complete Chapter Summary, Weekly Exam Questions

11 VCAL WRS

NUM Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication/Division Booklets 8th Feb LIT Must complete all individual WRS tasks before starting placement.

Nukkin Ya Chapter sentences

PDS

12 English Rear window workbook Questions 2 15th Feb Maths

Psychology

Health & Human Development

Vis Com

Product Design

PE

History

Biology

Physics Watch Edrolo videos, Complete Chapter Summary, Weekly Exam Questions

12 VCAL WRS

NUM

LIT Weekly Homework sheet

PDS

Media

SMART SESSIONS Supportive Motivational After school Run by Teachers

Meet in the Library at 3.30pm – 4.30pm Monday and Wednesday

School Council - Elections for 2019

School council membership and elections will be held during February and March. Nomination forms are attached to this week’s newsletter.

Background School councils comprise parents, the principal, staff and often community members. School council elections are held in February or March each year. All parents or guardians of students enrolled at the school are eligible to vote for parent members, and staff vote for staff members. Community members are co-opted by the school council.

School council membership

A school council's constituting Order specifies the total size of the council and the number of members in each category. Most members of a school council stand for election at the school where they are parents or Department of Education and Training (DET) employee members. Other members can be co-opted by the council within the limits of the constituting Order. A school council must be between 6 and 15 members in total size and can have up to three categories of membership.

Membership categories

1. A mandated elected parent category – Because parents have such an important part to play in schools, there is an elected parent member category. Parent members must comprise more than one-third of council's total membership. DET employees are eligible to be parent members at their child's school, as long as they do not work at the particular school.

2. A mandated elected DET employee category – Members of this category may make up no more than one third of the total membership of school council. As the Executive Officer, the principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

3. An optional community member category – Its members are co-opted by the decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experience, for example parent club representative, student representatives, an accountant. DET employees are not eligible to be community members.

FAQ

1. Do I need special experience to be on school council?

No! What you need is an interest in the school and the ability to work cooperatively with others to help shape its

future.

2. Why is parent membership so important?

Parents on councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the

school. Parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find

that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

3. How can I become involved?

The most obvious way to become involved is to vote in the elections that are held in February or March each year.

Since ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant, you might

seriously consider standing for election as a member of the school council, or suggesting to another person that

they stand for election.

If you have any questions regarding School Council – please speak with any one of our current councillors (their

names are on the top of this newsletter,) or contact me here at school.