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Week 10, Term 4, 2019

NEWSLETTERGUNNEDAH HIGH SCHOOL

R E S P E C T • R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y • D O I N G Y O U R B E S T

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18 Last day of schoolTUESDAY, JANUARY 28 Staff Development DayWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29 Years 7, 11 and 12 startTHURSDAY, JANUARY 30 Years 8, 9 and 10 start

UPCOMING EVENTS

INSIDE THIS EDITION

PRESENTATION NIGHT

YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE

GHS students and staff joined together to help #Bust-TheDust.

The event was created by students at St John's Parish School Trangie as they felt country kids were struggling

to find the perfect way to help out in the drought.

They invited all schools to stop and dance at 1pm on Friday, December 13.

What better way is there to lift up the spirits of people

in need while this drought heads into the festive season than with a dance to cheer up everyone doing it tough.

Visit the GHS Facebook page to see our school bust a move.

Rain dance to #BustTheDust

WATCH VIDEO ON

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

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2018 newslettersPRINCIPAL’S REPORT

PRESENTATION NIGHTOn Thursday, December 12 we were able

to celebrate the achievements of many

of our fine students that attend our great

school in academic, sporting or cultural

endeavours, and even though everyone

there may not have received a prize, I

do want to acknowledge what a great

collection of students we do have here at

Gunnedah High. I’d like to acknowledge

the fantastic support we have from the

overwhelming majority of parents and

carers and would especially like to thank

our P&C parents for their support this

year.

WHOLE SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTSNow for some of the whole school

achievements for the year…

• GHS doubled the average percentage

of students in the top two bands in

NAPLAN to 8.17% in 2019. This result is

the highest cohort growth Gunnedah

High has displayed in the last 5 years

• 82% of year 9 students displayed pos-

itive growth in reading as measured

in 2019 Year 9 NAPLAN which was 5%

higher than the previous two years and

a reduction of 6% of students displaying

negative growth from 2018 – 2019

• A reduction of negative growth of 8% in

reading when comparing 2019 with 2017

and an average of 10% increase in spell-

ing compared to 2017 and 2018 data.

• Additionally, Band growth in Yr 9 writing

has increased by 44% when compared

to 2017 and 65.6% when compared to

2018.

• At a time where Numeracy results were

decreasing in real terms across state

data and similar schools, our numeracy

results were positive by just over 2%

• Evidence of closing the gap between

Aboriginal student reading data and

mainstream reading data difference

of 62 mark average in 2017, 41 mark

average difference in 2018, and 22 mark

average difference in 2019.

Principal Mr White presenting School Captains Josh Egan and Tneesha Milne with their badges.

GHS STAFFI’d like to recognise the hard work of

our staff at the school, be it teaching,

non-teaching, Office staff or support staff

as in General Assistant, and our unsung

heroes on the cleaning staff! I would par-

ticularly like to acknowledge Gai in the

Canteen who works tirelessly to provide

nutritious meals at extremely competitive

prices.

VISUAL ARTSPart of the success of last night was also

the artworks that we had on display. We

were unable to run our usual “artsCA-

PAdes” evening this year, but also wanted

to still showcase these great works.

Thank you Mrs Hill and Mrs Bester for

their efforts in supporting our students

with this.

MUSICThis year we have relaunched our school

bands under the tutelage of Mr Herrera

and our school choir has benefitted from

Mr Jamie Brown’s influence. We hope

the bands and our choir will continue to

increase their profile within the school.

AGRICULTUREOur Agriculture program has had a

successful year representing us at the

Gunnedah Show, Dubbo school wether

challenge and the Northern Schools

steer comp.

RADIO Our weekly school radio broadcasts have

been a highlight within the community,

and I am often stopped in the street with

people commenting on Mr Mooney’s

school segment.

SCHOOL LEADERSOur school leaders and SRC have been

involved in many community events

and as a school we have gained positive

feedback on our increased positive pro-

file within Gunnedah Shire.

SCHOOL PROGRAMSWe will be continuing with our Girls

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Academy program next year, as well as

our Boys program. We had an excellent

interaction with our local community via

the Youth Frontiers projects with many

local community agencies and I hope

that program may continue in some form

or another in the future.

CORE VALUESWe have three core values “Respect,

Responsibility, Do your best” and next

year we will exploring what these mean

to us as a school. Next year will also see

our Core values awards and associated

Rewards days/ Principal Lunches and

prizes continue…I’m told I have to start

budgeting for another Knights game

rewards trip!!!!

MOBILE PHONESMany of you are aware of the issue of

mobile phones in schools is something

of great concern. I’d just like to remind

all that next year will see mobile phones

totally prohibited in years 7 & 8. Mobile

phones are prohibited in classrooms for

Years 9-12 next year.

STAFF MOVEMENTS• Mr Gough, Baulkham Hills High

• Mrs Thompson, Great Lakes College –

Forster

• Mrs Rose, Goondiwindi Anglican School

• Mrs Harris, 12 months leave

• Ms Constable, 12 months maternity

leave

• Ms Grace Proudfoot, to private industry

• Mr Barry Wilson, retirement (again)

• I am also pleased to announce that Mr

Metcalfe has been successful in gain-

ing a Deputy Position at Barham High

school for 2020

I wish all these staff members well in

their future careers.

UNIFORM SHOP HOURSOur Uniform Shop will be opening on:

Thursday, January 23 – 9am–12pm

Mr Ken White Relieving Principal

Friday, January 24 – 9am–12pm

Tuesday, January 28 – 9am-1pm

Wednesday, Janaury 29 – 9am–1pm

After these dates, the uniform shop will

be open Tuesday mornings 8.30am –

10.30am and Thursday afternoons 1pm

– 3pm.

RETURN TO SCHOOL DATESTuesday, January 28Staff Development Day – staff only

Wednesday, January 29Years 7, 11 and 12

Thursday, January 30All students

The annual GHS Presentation Evening was a celebration of students' acheivements.

PRESENTATION NIGHT – MAJOR AWARD WINNERS

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Benjamin Cropper – McArthur Legal Services Pty Ltd Award

Dakota Milne – Gunnedah High School P & C Association Award

Nicolas Vinarta – Boggabri Coal Operations Pty Ltd Award – Award for Highest Attendance Year 7

John Villegas – Boggabri Coal Operations Pty Ltd Award – Award for Highest Attendance Year 8

Chance Moore-Duff – Boggabri Coal Operations Pty Ltd Award – Award for Highest Attendance Year 9

Airene Villamin – Boggabri Coal Operations Pty Ltd Award – Award for Highest Attendance Year 10

Joshua Green – Boggabri Coal Operations Pty Ltd Award – Award for Highest Attendance Year 11

Jack Trappel – CWA Lea Edwards Junior Music Award

Aidan R De Luzuriaga – Gunnedah Auto Pro Award – For Consistency and Commitment in all areas For Years 9/10

Aidan R De Luzuriaga – Australian Defence Force 2019 – LONG TAN Youth Leadership and Teamwork Award

Savannah Genge – Gunnedah Leather Processors Pty Ltd Award – Award for Positive Behaviour Year 7

Benjamin Heywood – Gunnedah Leather

Processors Pty Ltd Award – Award for Positive Behaviour Year 8

Chloe Newman Gunnedah Leather Processors Pty Ltd Award –Award for Positive Behaviour Year 9

Emily Garner – Gunnedah Leather Processors Pty Ltd Award – Award for Positive Behaviour Year 10

Marissa Hobden – Gunnedah Leather Processors Pty Ltd Award – Award for Positive Behaviour Year 11

Isabelle Moore – Gunnedah Services & Bowling Club Award for Sports Person of the Year

Joshua Langdon – Premiers Sporting Challenge

Charlotte Eather – Gunnedah Golf Club Award for Junior Sports Person of the Year

Abigail Dwyer – Gunnedah Shire Council Award For Consistency and Commitment in all areas – Years 7/8

Tessa Carling – Lorraine Boyce Solicitors Award for Achievement in Legal Studies

Kaitlyn MacAulay – Haire's Bus Service Award for Excellence in the field of Creative and Performing Arts

Layla Withers – Forsyths Business Services Pty Ltd Award For Consistency and Commitment in all areas – Year 11

Aidan Wise – Rotary Club of Gunnedah

Award for SEMPER OPTIME AWARD – Year 7

Abigail Dwyer – Rotary Club of Gunnedah Award for SEMPER OPTIME AWARD – Year 8

Dakota Milne – Rotary Club of Gunnedah Award for SEMPER OPTIME AWARD – Year 9

Lachlan Moore – Rotary Club of Gunnedah Award for SEMPER OPTIME AWARD – Year 10

Layla Withers – Rotary Club of Gunnedah Award for SEMPER OPTIME AWARD – Year 11

Sophie Mackay – Whitehaven Coal Ltd Award for Citizenship - Senior

Jack Trappel – Whitehaven Coal Ltd Award for Service to School & Community

Thomas Lyne – Whitehaven Coal Ltd Award for Excellence in VET

Chloe Newman – Gunnedah Evening View Club Award for Conscientious Effort

Joshua Egan – Forsyths Business Services Pty Ltd Award for Contribution to Community

Harry Woodhead – Gunnedah Christian Book Centre Award for modelling Christian Leadership and Integrity throughout their school career and supporting others

PRESENTATION NIGHT 2019

MAJOR AWARD WINNERSCaptains and Senior Council members received their badges.

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MORE PHOTOS ON

PRESENTATION EVENING 2019

MORE PHOTOS ON

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MINI artsCAPAdeSome of the art on display at the annual presentation evening

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Kindness has gone a long way at the Gunnedah High School.

About 50 staff have been carrying out "random acts of kindness" for each other this term to boost morale - but they don't know who is gifting who.

The secret gift-givers will be revealed at a staff morning tea next Wednesday and relieving deputy principal Karen Kruse, who was behind the idea, is among those who are keen to find out who has been brightening their days.

Mrs Kruse said she started thinking about the concept in early October because there were well-being initiatives in place for students, but not staff.

She said the drought had impacted the school and people were a bit down and "morale is really important" so she took her idea to the principal Ken White who gave it his blessing.

Mrs Kruse came up with a question-naire to help people with gift ideas and the completed questionnaires were handed out so each staff member could "look after" a colleague.

"There was a 100 per cent buy-in from staff," she said.

Questions included favourite foods, a person they admire, something they like about themselves and something they dislike.

Mrs Kruse said she was surprised by how many staff didn't write what they liked about themselves but had no trou-ble writing what they didn't like.

"That was a real eye-opener for me and I saw the need [for this idea]," she said.

Mrs Kruse said staff embraced the idea and a great deal of thought went into gifts, which included handmade place-mats, flowers, food platters and trinkets.

Recipients were quick to express their gratitude for the secret gifts on the staff messaging board.

"People wrote things like, 'You made my day' .... [and] a lot of people said, 'You gave me that present when I needed it', so I think people were watching," Ms Kruse said.

"I was like, 'Wow, it's working'."Staff member Jo Ralston said it had

been "exciting" to receive unexpected gifts - "I didn't realise I meant that much to someone."

Teacher Ashleigh Hobart said: "I have been so spoiled this term. My person has made me smile from ear-to-ear every week."

Mrs Kruse is hopeful that the air of encouragement will linger at the school next year.

"Now that everyone has seen how much happiness it has brought, hope-fully people will look after each other a bit more," she said.

"Random acts of kindness" concept takes off

Deputy Principal Mrs Kruse initiated the Random Acts of Kindness concept.

Namaste, thank you to my random act of kindess person – Mrs Wheeler.

Mrs Ralston loved receiving her unexpected gifts.

Mrs Kylie Howard received handmade placemats and a table runner.

Mrs Hobart said her person made me smile from ear to ear every week

Mrs Maas-Williams appreciated the quotes given to her.

YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE

Emily Bell and Emily Garner both completed their work ex-perience at the Gunnedah Pre-School.

Matilda Harford completed her work experience at N&K Hair by Kristina.Ethan Newcombe completed his work experience at The Civic.

Kiah-Jean Squires complet-ed her work experience at Elkie & Co Hair Salon.

Aidan R De Luzuriaga travelled to Sydney to undertake his work experience with Zone 34 Sports Physiotherapist, Lew-isham. Aidan was very fortunate to work alongside a phys-iotherapist who works with the Sydney Kings Basketball Team who are part of the NBL. Aidan is pictured with Jor-dan Hunter who plays centre position for the Sydney Kings.

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Stephanie Macarthur completed her work experience at Etcetera Skin Therapy & Beauty.

This group of students completed their work experience at Gunnedah South Public School.

Kursty Silver undertook her work experience with Whitehaven. She is pictured here with Ian Taylor, General Manager CHPP, Sarah Cook, Krystle Van Rooyan, Philly Mapperson and Paul Flynn CEO.

Jack Trappel Jasmyn Hoppe. Lachlan Moore Airene Villanem Lowanna Davison

YEAR 10 GOLD COAST EXCURSION

Spending FIVE days at the Gold Coast was an experience of a lifetime!

DAY 1All students arrived bright and early, and we left five minutes ahead of our sched-uled departure at 3.55am. We stopped at Armidale and Warwick. At Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary we saw the bird show and explored the many wildlife enclosures and cruised on the miniature Currumbin train. Not only was this place huge with so many animals to see, it was a great spot to stretch our legs and get close to our Australian wildlife. We arrived at the BLK Performance Super Sports Centre, settled into our rooms, played some beach volleyball, basketball and participated in a fun and highly comple-tive trivia night.

DAY 2We were extremely excited to spend the day at Dreamworld and White Water World. The first ride we all headed to was of course “The Claw” to see Mr Heath in his prime position. Mr Heath has been waiting for this moment for many years and he was a strong driving force to motivate students to attend this excursion so that they too could experience the amazing “The Claw” ride. Many students tried to keep up with Mr Heath, however, no-one could match his “stomach of steel” as he managed to go on the Claw ride approximately 26 times throughout the day. The rides and slides at Dream-world and White Water World was a thrilling and a fantastic experience. The Tiger show was also an enjoyable and memorable. This day was completed by relaxing at the accommodation lodge and watching a movie together.

DAY 3Was an extremely windy day. We started the day with an Amazing Race group challenge and we also tested students Archery skills. After lunch we headed to the m ain beach to have a swim as it was really hot and could not wait to get amongst the surf and the sand. After our swim we went for a walk along the “The Spit” a beach walkway where we could see the amazing sites of the Gold Coast. We later headed back to the Super Sports Centre and went for a swim in the pool and got ready for our evening activity

of Laser Tag in the dark. For this activity we divided into two fearless teams “The Mighty NSW Team” verses the “Oh Dear Queenslanders Team”. Wearing army war paint on our faces and preparing team tactics, running around the campus area hiding behind bushes, buildings to shoot the opposition was one of the most memorable moments of this excursion. Students teamed up, strategized and worked together to eliminate the oppo-sition. Well done the Mighty NSW team who took the win.

DAY 4Shopping at Harbour Town, eating fresh seafood and then heading near Brisbane to play Skirmish Paintball. This day was relaxing with some retail therapy and then manic with the chaos of dodging paintballs. Some students, including

myself have never done paintball before and it was such an amazing experience working together as a team. All of the bruises at the end of this activity were worth it, there were so many hilarious moments seeing students run, jump, dodge and dive to hide behind trees and barricades. Well done Year 10!

DAY 5We were travelling back home. We were lucky to meet up with an ex-Year 10 student Lucy Jackson at Warwick. Lucy came on the Year 8 Coffs Harbour excur-sion and it was amazing catching up with her as she has missed her GHS friends dearly. As we were almost at Gunnedah we had our traditional pay-out awards presented to students for their efforts on this excursion.

This was hands down the best excur-

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sion this cohort has ever been on. It was amazing due to the location, the intense and diverse activities as well as the mature behaviour of all students. We wished we could have spent more time at the Gold Coast, however, we certainly gave every effort to enjoy and participate in all activities to the fullest. A huge thank you Year 10 for all of the laughs, there definitely were no dull moments and I am sure that we will all treasure the amazing memories and hilarious moments forever.

Congratulations to my awesome year group for completing their Year 10 studies. I am super excited to see what is in store for you in 2020, you guys just keep getting better every year! Enjoy the school holidays!

Warm Regards, Your Year Advisor, Miss Small.

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Thumbs up to Senior Council mem-bers who are selling raffle tickets to raise money to buy school equip-ment for the students of Wytaliba Public School. The school was damaged in a deadly fire in Novem-ber. It is currently closed and its 15 students are attending other nearby schools until it can be re-opened. The school was one of about 60 properties wrecked or badly dam-aged by the ferocious Kangawalla fire, which killed two residents of the small community and injured more. Tickets are available for $1 each or three for $2.

In 2020 Stage 4 students (Years 7 and 8) will not be permitted to

bring phones to school

Year 7 and 8 students found with a phone will

have it confiscated and it will need to be collected

from the school by a parent or guardian.

RAISING MONEY FOR STUDENTS IN NEED

GHS students Lachlan Moore, Jack Trappel and Mace Eveleigh-McMullen recently participated in the Ro-tary Public Speaking Compeition. Lachlan and Jack went through to the zone level and represented the school proudly. Their presentations were excellent.

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Some students from the IM class entered artworks in Challenge Community Services Under the Sea art competition recently.

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In 2020 Gunnedah High School will be very fortunate in having the services of the Ochre Opportunity Hub - Tamworth.

Brad Flanders came to our school for a 'meet and greet' with students on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 and the male students were involved with a vari-ety of activities.

Brad who will be accompanied by Samantha Duncan who are both employed by Ochre as Futures Mentors will be regular faces at Gunnedah High School.

A few activities they will be involved in are:

Career Action Plans Personal Learning PlansMentoringCultural Activities

OCHRE PARTNERSHIP IN 2020

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One of the Youth Frontiers groups have made 25 care packages for Tamworth Oncology unit for patients. They contain, a face washer, loofah, activity book, pen, paw paw cream, hand sanitiser, sorbelene cream, chocolates and tissues.

Another group have created care packages for our local firies, police and paramedics as a way of saying thank you.

Youth Frontiers' students donate care packages

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GHS students who assisted with Riding for the Disabled every fornight were acknowledged recently. They are Maddi Norman, Jorja Kemp, Lei-sel Torrens, Natalie Sevil and Phoebe Bridge (not pictured). Jack Power rides in the carriage and is learning to drive it.

RDA PRESENTATION

Holidays are here -and so is the opportunity to get into some action at camp!

Through the 'Kids to Camp' initiative full-funding is available for drought-affected families at SUcamps. There are two local SUcamps in our region: Outback Adventure Camp and Chaffey Water Sports Camp. Bus trips can be arranged if needed.

Subsidies are available for low income families - Contact Gunnedah High Chaplain on 0423 118 270 for more details.

REGISTER @ http://sunsw.org.au NOW!

FUNDING FOR CAMP AVAILABLE

Larna Saddler singing the Acknowledgment accompanied by Jack Trappel at the GS Kidd Presentation Ceremony on Friday Morning.

OUTBACK

ADVENTURE

REGISTERNOW !

sunsw.org.au/outback-adventure-camp

Apply for full-funding via the registration form above!

CAMP!13-17 JAN 2020Pindari Adventures, Ashford NSW

FREE CAMP IN OUR REGION!

Thanks to the generosity of our Kids to Camp campaign with Hope 103.2. Register now!

19 students went to Gunida Gunyah to take part in a CPR awareness train-ing hosted by Royal Lifesaving Australia. All students passed the course and received a certificate of competency.

ESSENTIAL CPR TRAINING

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On December, Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5, nine participants completed their RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) and RCG (Responsible Conduct of Gambling). Congratulations to all participants for successfully completing your courses. The training was delivered by ATAC - Coates Hospitality Services Pty Ltd.

YOUTH FRONTIERS FINAL VISIT TO ALKIRA

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YEAR 6 ORIENTATION DAY

Current Year 6 students had their final taste of high school before starting next year.

The GHS Orientation Day was held on Tuesday, December 3 and a wealth of information was provided to students and their parents/carers about starting Year 7.

Students also helped created a hand-print banner, played games and had a question and answer session.

All Year 7 students will start on Wednesday, January 29, 2020.

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NOVEL REPRESENTATIONSMrs Schubert's

Year 11/12 stu-dents studying English Standard have created representations of their prescribed text, Rainbow's End by Jane Harrison, as well as an addi-tional text of their choosing for an assessment task.

The assess-ment is part of the mandatory text and human experi-ences module.

PDHPE teachers Mr Adam Mooney and Mr Oscar Hunt joined the Movember move-ment and raised funds and awareness during November for all the dads, brothers, sons and mates in their lives.

Adam and Oscar pledged to let students shave their hair if $1000 in donations was raised.

As an added incentive, former teacher Mr Proudfoot said he would shave his long-time mo' if the target was reached.

With more than $1100 raised the trio were set to lose some locks.

Mr Proudfoot said he was happy to part ways with his facial hair for "such a worthy cause".

MOVEMBER FUNDS SEE LOCKS DROP