WHAT’S COMING UP?

DECEMBER

6 Merit Assembly – 11.30 a.m. Multi-Purpose Centre

11 Presentation Day Assembly – 11.30 a.m. Multi-Purpose Centre

12 – 15 Yr 7 Great Aussie Bush Camp Excursion 15 Last day of term

2018 DATES Monday 29 January Staff Development Day Tuesday 30 January Years 7 and 12 return Wednesday 31 January All students return

P&C MEETING TUESDAY

5 DECEMBER AT 6.30 PM

ENQUIRIES – PHIL SIMMONS

6889 8393

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT The end of the year is coming fast and this is the final newsletter for 2017. I am very proud of the success and achievements from staff and students during the year. Reflecting on the last twelve months, the student voice and student achievements have been showcased time after time. There have been many highlights but one that comes to

Narromine High School Newsletter Phone - 6889 1499

Email - narromine-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Webpage - www.narromine-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 4 Week 8 Issue 8 Wednesday 29 November 2017

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US

AT OUR

ANNUAL PRESENTATION DAY

ON MONDAY 11 DECEMBER

AT 11.30 A.M.

IN THE MULTI-PURPOSE CENTRE

Phil Rufus and Mark Coleman at the Victor Chang Awards in Dubbo

mind is the Aboriginal Dance Group being accepted into the School Spectacular and performing in Sydney. This would not have happened without support from Mr Chris Schubert and Mrs Crystal Donnelly. Another fantastic project implemented this year was the girls’ GLOWS group, which developed their leadership and social skills to reflect the qualities that encompass strong independent young women. This group was supported by Miss Trudy Althofer, Miss Erin Payne and Miss Jade West. These girls will continue to grow and lead other young girls well into the future. There have been a number of students from Year 12 who have already had success post school and have been accepted into university and the workforce and we wish them all the best for their future endeavours. After the formal and reflecting on their journey at Narromine High I am extremely proud of what they have achieved and who they have become. It would be a privilege if you stayed in contact with our school so we can see you succeed and grow. Congratulations to our 2017 School Captain Abbey Geyer, on winning a $10,000 grant to study at the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School studying Bachelor of Business -International Hotel and Resorts Management. Our Year 11 Leaders are taking on their role with confidence and pride. They are all doing a fantastic job and I look forward to what 2018 brings. I would like to acknowledge Mark Coleman for the Victor Chang award, which he received in Week 7. Mark was very deserving of the award and represented Narromine High with pride. At Narromine High School, our students can achieve anything they set their mind to and the opportunities presented to our students are endless. If you are willing to listen and participate, the opportunities are there and you can overcome any obstacle and succeed. Students and staff finish on Friday 15 December. Although formal exams are over, there is still a lot of important work to complete. I would remind everyone that regular attendance and consistent work is required over the remaining two weeks. As a staff, we are a team, which is in partnership with our parents, students and community. For our team to be successful there needs to be constant communication with all parties to guide our partnership and we are only as strong as our weakest link. Working independently from each other impacts on the partnership and affects school and student success. If there are concerns you feel will impact on our school’s success and students’ achievements please do not hesitate to contact me. Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. Have a wonderful Christmas and safe travels over the holidays and we will see you in 2018. Phil Rufus Principal UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES VISIT TO NARROMINE HIGH Recently we had experts come from UNSW to deliver activities on Stage 4 Science. Planetarium: A virtual tour of the Universe. This activity takes us deep into the universe where we can visit different planets very closely. We had a detailed look at ‘The Sun’ and its features and found out that the core temperature of this star which nourishes the life on earth is millions of degrees whereas the surface temperature is 5000 o C. It was an immersive and interactive experience which utilized a full-dome virtual sky projection in which time, space, and location are manipulated in order to understand the universe we live in. Students really enjoyed the activity. Science Practicals: Students learned about acids, bases and their different properties. They also learned about the role of an indicator to determine the nature of a solution. The nature of a scientist was also discussed where he engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge that describes and predicts the natural world. In a more restricted sense,

a scientist may refer to an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. Overall it was a fun activity and students had an amazing experience!! Mr Thakur Head Teacher Science THE NEW HSC MINIMUM STANDARD There has been a lot of confusion about the new NESA minimum standard and YES it is confusing. NESA has been busy clarifying what this means. Below is a summary of this information. For further explanation go to http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/about/initiatives/stronger-hsc-standards/minimum-hsc-standard THE BASIC POINTS

Students in NSW will need a minimum standard of literacy and numeracy to receive the HSC from 2020.

This change will not affect students sitting for the 2017, 2018 or 2019 HSC.

Students with an intellectual disability undertaking Life Skills English or Life Skills Mathematics in Years 10, 11 and/or 12 will be exempt from the HSC minimum standard requirement.

Some Year 9 students already have the skills required and will meet the minimum standard early by getting Band 8 or better in the NAPLAN reading, writing and numeracy tests. This DOES NOT mean that Band 8 is the minimum standard.

Students will need to meet the minimum standard in three areas - reading, writing and numeracy - to receive their HSC in Year 12

Currently, students can progress through to Year 12 and obtain an ATAR and apply to go to University WITHOUT meeting these standards.

The standard is set at a basic level of reading, writing and math skills needed for future learning and to complete everyday tasks like:

Find the time and date of a music concert on an online ticket website. Calculate the quantity of paint needed to paint a room. Estimate distance, travel time and costs for a transport route. Take notes from a lecture or training session. Create a personal weekly budget in a spreadsheet. Measure quantities to follow a recipe. Follow safety instructions in an equipment manual. Enter data in a computer based management system. RYPEN CAMP 2017 November 3 - 5, the Rotary District 9607 held a youth camp for full time students aged 14 - 17 for the opportunity to develop life skills. RYPEN stands for Rotary Youth Program for Enrichment and the camp has been running for the past 27 years. Tiarna Graham and I travelled on a bus to Myuna Bay on the Central Coast with seven other high school students from the Western region. There were approximately 30 students attending the camp. When all of the students arrived we were given our rooms and folders which included information on the weekend activities and key terms we learn throughout the weekend. To separate the students, we were put into coloured groups and we were given a bandanna to wear all weekend. Key terms included: Values, Meeting People, Teams, Self-Awareness, Friendship, Fear & Trust, Self Talk, Communication, Persistence, Giving & Kindness, Public Speaking/Presenting and Goal Setting.

Despite the wet weather, we still managed to complete the activities and learned a lot about team work, leadership and resilience. We also made a few new friends along the way. We would like to thank the Narromine Rotary Club for their support in sponsoring us on this wonderful program and encourage you to consider taking part next year. Chantelle Walsh – Year 10 COONABARABRAN HORSE SPORTS Recently we represented Narromine High in the school horse sports at Coonabarabran. Day one began with jumping with a power and speed round and top score where Georgia scored her two first ribbons with her horse “Jo”carrying her through. Unfortunately Emma had a stack at the top score when her horse “Tully” decided he didn’t want to go. If there was an award for the age group with the most falls, we would have won it!

Next up was the dressage. We were the only three to do the stockmen’s dressage and we all did very well, though Tayah forgot to go through the gate. The ring event followed and we all managed to score ribbons. We then went onto the barrels where everyone had a great run and Georgia decided to turn before her barrel but she still managed to get a third and Tayah was successful with second. The dress up parade was full of great costumes. We dressed up as cowboys and indians and came in the top ten. The second day of the event had an early start to get ready for cross country. Tayah went in first followed by

Georgia and Emma. Fortunately there were no accidents and Georgia and Emma both came third. We then had the stockman’s challenge which went well for everyone. Sporting was next and Tayah’s speedy horse was raking in firsts with Emma getting seconds and Georgia in the middle. At the presentation Emma received champion, Georgia reserve champion and Tayah lots of firsts. Tayah and Emma Turnbull and Georgia McGuire WHERE ARE THEY NOW? SOPHIE WALKER When did you graduate from NHS? I graduated from Narromine High in 2016. What was your favourite part of schooling at NHS? Any fond memories to share? Being able to see my best friend daily and learning and growing with fellow class members for thirteen or more years was my best experience. You quickly get to know who the class clowns, sport stars, socialites, brainiacs and tech savvy people are. These people mould you into the person you are at school. I’m also a huge nerd when it comes to learning. I LOVE expanding my knowledge! Just going to class and learning something new every day was awesome. I loved many experiences including: performing with the school band, being a part of the school

show team, bonds made with teachers, cross-roads and Mr T’s birdie story! Turning eighteen on the Hospitality excursion the day we travelled home from Sydney and being given a cupcake and persimmon (my favourite fruit) as a present. Not a fond memory, but our whole year has a permanently scarred memory of Prenno terrifying our year when he wore only Tony Abbott budgie smugglers to a beach and didn’t warn us. The Year 12 study conversations, muck-up week, the Year 8 excursion – all the disasters and laughs! Miss A as a turtle; once was enough to be a nickname. There are heaps of memories over the years! What are you currently doing? I have just finished my first year of Nursing at UNE. I live on campus at Wright College where I’ve made heaps of mates and met loads of different people. I’ve had clinical placements at Walgett and Gilgandra Hospital for my course, both were exciting, inspiring and head turning experiences for a first year nursing student. Where do you hope to be in 10 years? In the next ten years, I hope to have completed my Bachelor of Nursing course and Midwifery course at UNE. I also hope to be working full-time as a Registered Nurse and Midwife in a rural / remote community in NSW. Get married and have kids. Who was your favourite teacher at NHS? My absolute favourite teacher at NHS is Miss Goodhand, but it’s hard to have a favourite teacher as most of my teachers saw me grow from Year 7. My favourite teachers were also Miss A, Miss Battishall, Miss Googe, Mr T, Mr Prentice, Mr Turnbull, Mr Walker and Mr Garner. HI FROM USA

October has been an exciting month with tennis finishing up, homecoming and of course Halloween. Tennis was fantastic and I’m sad that it’s finished. We ended up coming second in our section. I’m so happy I got to play with such an amazing group of girls with two awesome coaches. My host family took me on a little trip for Columbus Day weekend. We went all the way to Vermont to visit family and to see the country side. I had a great time and their little cousins were so

cute. Unfortunately, it was raining the whole time, so didn’t get to see much of the country side. The leaves are so beautiful this time of year. Homecoming week was so much fun with each day being a day to dress up. We had a Twin day, Wacky Wednesday, Tie Die day and Cougar Pride day (our school mascot). Cougar pride day

was full of fun activities throughout the day. Later the same day we had a pep rally, which was again amazing. They call down all the sporting teams from the fall sports and play a song for each team, they also recognised the seniors. That night was homecoming game. We don’t have football so they played soccer instead. Our boys team won but unfortunately our girls team lost. Afterwards there was a bonfire. The next night was homecoming dance and I invited one of my exchange student friends to come with me. We got some amazing pictures of the two of us and my host sister. Lately there have been a lot of tests and quizzes in school as it’s getting to the ten-week mark. It is so tiring and stressful having to study, but my grades are looking amazing which

makes up for all of that. I’ve been to two Halloween parties, both were with other exchange students. It’s so fun to dress up and act like a little kid again. My host sister and I went as Ghost Busters. Our costumes were fantastic! Frances Sinclair