âI just feel like it's really daunting if you finish a section ... with like-minded girls. ... Tim Muldoon, Principal Shane Kelly, and Agriculture teacher Nicole Dwyer.
L O O H C S H G HI H A D E N N U G
R E T T E L S W NE
Term
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UPCOMING EVENTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 GHS Community Fair TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7 HSC Exams conclude THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16 Year 12 Farewell
Year 12 students have officially started their Higher School Certificate (HSC). The Namoi Valley Independent had a chat with our Captains Kustiani Tuckerman and Jaxon Holbrook. Kustiani and Jaxon said the atmosphere in the first two-hour English exam wasn’t as tense as they had expected. “It was better than I thought,” Kustiani said. “Everyone was smiling when they finished.” Jaxon said the exam was on par with the HSC trials. “I’m good because I feel chilled,” he said. “I really thought it would be harder being our final exam. “It’s good that it wasn’t difficult for what we’ve been experiencing for our whole education.” Kustiani said their teacher, Belinda Foran, had been a huge help in being exam-ready. “I think what we’ve been doing in class has prepared us,” she said.
“Hats off to Mrs Foran.” Jaxon has a unique way of tackling his exam papers – he completes the questions at random, starting an essay then moving on to another question before going back to the essay. “I find it hard to do one thing at a time,” Jaxon said. “I just feel like it’s really daunting if you finish a section and have to start all over again in another section.” Kustiani said she found it difficult to balance study time for each subject, but recently had some news that made her feel less stressed about her results. “I feel less pressure coming into it because I got early entry into Wollongong for environmental engineering,” she said. HSC exams conclude on Tuesday, November 7 and Year 12 students will be farewelled on Thursday, November 16 with a formal dinner.
RESPECT • RESPONSIBILITY • SUCCESS
METALWORK SKILLS
HSC KICKS OFF
MENTAL HEALTH MONTH
Lachlan Batinic, Brianna Hagan, Kustiani Tuckerman, Jaxon Holbrook and Kyra Carlyon pictured before their first English exam.
NSW FAREWELL GOVERNOR ASSEMBLY VISIT
FAREWELL ASSEMBLY
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
YEAR 12 FAREWELL ASSEMBLY 2017
At the end of Term 3 we farewelled our Year 12 students with a special assembly. The assembly was filled with emotional speeches, an amusing slideshow, musical performances, the final roll call and balloons released by Year 12 students. Year 12 also conceded defeat in the Ring of Honour battle against staff. Thank you to all of the family, friends and community members who were able to attend.
YEAR 12 DAY OF FUN
RING OF HONOUR
A tug-o-war held during the last week of Term 3 was the final physical battle between Year 12 students and staff fighting to take out the Ring of Honour Champions title. The staff took an early lead in the best of three contest. Unfortunately, the rope gave way and there were spectacular crashes in the second and third attempts.
FIRST ROUND WIN FOR CRICKETERS On Thursday, October 19, the Girls' Open Cricket team played a match against Narrabri High School. We lost the toss and were sent in to bat. Year 7 student Claire McGuirk opened the batting and had an outstanding innings scoring 90 runs. Claire McGuirk and Zoe Fleming put on an impressive partnership
of 194 runs. Zoe top scored with 107 runs before she unselfishly retired. After 40 overs we were 2/249. Claire, Chennelle and Piper all took a wicket with Paige and Nautica taking two wickets each. At the end of their 40 overs Narrabri were 7/174. This meant we defeated them and we will be playing
the winner of Duval and Guyra in the next round. Congratulations to the whole team and a special mention to Claire for scoring her highest score of 90 and also to Zoe for scoring her first century. Well played girls! – Miss B. Small
GOVENOR OF NSW VISITS OUR SCHOOL His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d), Governor of NSW, walked the school’s corridors, meeting students and learning about their various learning programs. The governor took particular interest in the Girls Academy initiative, which was launched at the school in March. Governor Hurley met with students from the academy and academy facilitators, Kylie Milsom and Blanche Biles. Also present was the governor’s wife, Linda, and Public Schools NSW director (Wollemi network), Mark Young. The governor said Girls Academy founder, Ricky Grace, had visited him at Parliament House to speak about the program, and encouraged him to see it at work.
“I said, when we go to the country, if we can fit it in, we will,” Governor Hurley said. “It’s good to see it’s working in the school itself and it’s also a networking thing as well.
“I think it’s good for building support networks for young girls in their maturing years; to have a space where they can have a quiet time or a listening ear and help in talking about
issues. Also spending time with like-minded girls. “I think all of those things help. Teen years are turbulent for all of us.” Mark Young praised the work of the academy’s facilitators. “When they’ve got good staff that can mentor and help them, if they've got mature staff they can talk to, it can help point them in the right direction and help them make the decisions that are best for them,” he said. Program manager Blanche Biles said she felt very positive about the governor’s visit. “It was a wonderful experience to have them come and we really appreciate that they took the time out of their day and spoke to the girls,” she said. “The girls really enjoyed it.” Ms Biles said Governor Hurley surprised an academy student with a gift all the way from Sydney. “The governor presented Bella with a jar of his own honey from the Government House,” she said. Ms Biles said every time the governor meets a student named Bella or Isobella, he gives them honey because the honeybee were brought over to Australia in the 1820s on a ship named Isobella. SOURCE: WWW.NVI.COM.AU
BIG BOOST FOR AGRICULTURAL STUDIES Gunnedah High School has been presented with a unique opportunity. Whitehaven Coal has offered the school some land on Torrens Road so it can expand its agricultural education. The 11 acres will be an addition to the existing 2.5 acres agricultural plot on the school grounds. GHS agricultural teacher, Nicole Dwyer said Whitehaven’s Darryl Campbell pitched the idea to her in March. “He was really excited,” she said. “He said, ‘We’ve got this land. We’re not doing anything with it. Would you be interested?’ ” Mrs Dwyer said a number of meetings followed and together, the school and Whitehaven figured out which parcels of land would suit. “It’s a huge opportunity for us and them for community collaboration and the potential for student outcomes is enormous,” she said. “What we’re hoping is to set-up a sheep operation where we might start with lambs to begin with and hopefully move into a sheep stud. “We could do some cropping out there for livestock fodder and maybe put some
bees out there; just diversify what we’re doing at school and do it on a larger scale.” The teacher said agriculture was a “hugely popular subject” at the school and the Year 11 Primary Industries class was completely full, with a second agriculture teacher to be employed to keep up with demand.
“I think we’ll go from strength to strength and we can offer what other schools can’t.” “We’re actually turning students away at the moment,” she said. “We’ve got a huge interest for Year 9 and 10 students coming in. Agriculture is really strong here. “With the mandatory technical requirements, we’ll have more students coming through, so we’ll end up with nearly twothirds of the school doing ag, which is really exciting.”
Mrs Dwyer said the new plot would enable students to pursue agriculture in their studies and would be an incentive for Year 9 and 10 students to pick the subject. “There needs to be a focus on agriculture because it’s such an important part of Australian society to know where our food and fibre comes from,” she said. “Because we’re in the heart of the Liverpool, it’s really nice to see so much support from the students and the particular in ag. “I think we’ll go from strength to strength and we can offer what other schools can’t.” The ag teacher said she was hoping the new plot could be utilised in the new year but “it’s in the hands of the Department of Education at the moment”. Principal Shane Kelly said after a 12-month trial, Whitehaven may release as much as 100 acres to the school. “With the land that we get out there, with the potential of getting more in time, we’ll probably start breeding our own cattle as well,” Mrs Dwyer said. SOURCE: WWW.NVI.COM.AU
NSW Governor David Hurley and his wife Linda (centre) view Gunnedah High School's new agricultural site on their regional tour. They are pictured with Science head teacher, Karen Kruse, Whitehaven's Tim Muldoon, Principal Shane Kelly, and Agriculture teacher Nicole Dwyer.
YEAR 10 GEOGRAPHY STUDENTS STUDY CUSHAN'S RESERVE Year 10 students had a successful fieldwork excursion and enjoyed the beautiful weather out at Cushan's Reserve during the last week of Term 3. This excursion was part of their mandatory fieldwork and was used to refine the students geographical skills in developing a Research Action Plan. Activities on the day included testing basic water quality, soil testing across a transect and observing land and water management issues in the environment. The main objective was to study Cushan's Reserve as a community based regeneration site and its development over time.
Our Aboriginal Educational Officer Sommar Conlan, joined us to talk about the traditional use of the area by Aboriginal people. She also assisted some of the students to construct a model of a traditional fish trap. Many thanks to Gunnedah Urban Landcare Group members Owen Hasler, Pat Mayoh and Rod Browne, who gave 7their time, expertise and materials to help our Year 10 students plant some trees as part of the plan to regenerate the site. These plantings are a part of developing the civics and citizenship of our students and pride in their contribution to our community environment.
CAREERS NEWS
SKILLSROAD SHOW STOPS IN Year 10 are now transitioning to Senior Study and preparing to take on leadership roles within the school. To help them focus on their goals the School hosted the “Skillsroad Show” on Wednesday week Two. Year 10 students listened to a presentation and participated in a workshop to introduce them to this important new resource. “Skillsroad” is an initiative of NSW Business Chamber and is backed nationally by the Australian Chamber movement, which represents over 300, 000 businesses and therefore has a vested interest in helping school leavers to transition to the labour market. “Skillsroad” is a one-stop-shop for Australian youth, their parents and teachers to navigate the increasingly complex career planning process. This excellent online resource was introduced face to face by young people who are in the transition process themselves, so students can relate directly to the presenter’s experi-
ence. This leading online tool supports the school’s career advice program in encouraging senior students to engage with Career Planning for their future.
Our thoughts are with the Year 12 students as they prepare for and meet their final High School challenge - the HSC! We wish them every success in their exams and with their future plans.
2018 NIAS PROGRAM APPLICATIONS CLOSING SOON The Northern Inland Academy of Sport (NIAS) is calling for applications for their 2018 sporting programs. Some sport applications will close shortly. See below or check out your sport on the NIAS website www.nias.org.au NIAS is seeking athletes throughout the North West and New England regions who are passionate about developing their potential both on and off the field and looking for opportunities on the pre-elite sporting pathway. Sports for 2018 include (age of applicants turning in 2018): • AFL (boys and girls) - 13 to 17 years CLOSE 27/10 • Athletics (boys and girls) - 13 to 17 years • Basketball (boys and girls) - 14 &15 years
• Football (boys and girls) - 16 years • Golf (boys and girls) - 12 to 18 years CLOSE 31/10 • Hockey (boys and girls) - 16 to 18 years CLOSE 20/10 • Lonestar (Individual sports) - 14 to 18 years - CLOSE 31/10 • Mountain Biking (boys and girls) – 12 to 15 years • Netball - 14 to 16 years - CLOSE 20/10 • Rugby League - 15 years • Rugby 7’s (boys and girls) 15 & 17 years CLOSE 3/11 • Tennis (boys and girls) – 13 to 16 years Sporting programs will consist of skill development sessions and camps, which will be held within the region from Novem-
ber 2017, with most programs running approximately six months depending on the individual sport. The skills program follows a structured approach concentrating on a range of individual skills and development. Fitness sessions focusing on the importance of building core strength to improve balance and technique, tailored specifically for each sport. Guest coaches ensure that the program remains fresh and motivating where athletes are presented with new ideas and different perspectives to encourage their development. For more information on NIAS 2018 sporting programs, please visit www.nias. org.au or phone 6766 2526.
DEVELOPING TRADE SKILLS Throughout the year our on-site Namoi Valley Trade Training Centre has been extensively used by Gunnedah High School students. The centre is utilised to deliver VET Metals & Engineering, Industrial Technology Metals and Technology Mandatory classes. Students have had the opportunity to use a range of metalworking equipment and many students have gained employment through the completion of the metal qualifications offered at Gunnedah High School. Students see real value in using equipment similar to industry and immerse themselves in an authentic learning environment. Both our current Metalwork teachers, Mr Vaughan and Mr Fletcher, have trade backgrounds in this field and have found the facilities beneficial to the skills required for industry.
YEAR 9 BOYS PROGRAM UP AND RUNNING
The newly formed boys program looks to encourage self determination and management in students. It has a set of expectations that if not met, results in students missing out on a
development activity for one week only, allowing students to self correct in the future. The program was designed to establish positive interactions between students, teachers and learning.
Josh from Crossfit Gunnedah has contributed his experience in coaching and training without charge as he thinks the program is excellent and should be encouraged.
Josh has also started an out of school CrossFit teens and children's training program and anyone interested should look at www.crossfitgunnedah.com/crossfit-kidsteens
donations NEEDED The P&C is currently seeking donations for their annual
Christmas Raffle Non-perishable items, Christmas decorations, lollies, toys... any items would be appreciated Items can be left at the Front Office or in the Canteen with Gai. The raffle will be drawn during the last week of school.
CONGRATULATIONS ZOE! Congratulations to Zoe Fleming on winning an awesome drone that was offered as a prize by Australian Mobile Dental Care (AMDC). AMDC’s mobile dental program offers a state-of-the-art, on-site oral health care services, including check-ups and basic dental care. The van is at Gunnedah High during Week 3. Zoe is pictured with AMDC's Sanya Markovic.
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS VITALLY IMPORTANT Gunnedah High School promoted the awareness of mental health with a visit from public speaker Matt Purcell. Mr Purcell said the message of mental health was vitally important to young people. “It’s important to get the message of self image and self-responsibility across,” he said. “The number one concern for teenagers in Australia is anxiety and it requires everyone in the community to get together and break down assumptions and stigmas. “The biggest needs for Australians right now is not traditional needs, it’s emotional needs and Gunnedah is quite lucky to have so many resources to help with emotional needs.” Mr Purcell said he had enjoyed his time in Gunnedah. “Gunnedah is awesome,” he said.
Dan Hunt, former NRL Dragons player, dropped into Gunnedah High during Mental Health Month to share his story. Dan runs his own company Mental Health Movement which is dedicated to educating and developing a more resilient individual through the power of story and life experience that strives to be the best version of themselves.
FAREWELL MR TWINING Gunnedah High School said farewell to our Physics teacher Mr Pat Twining at the end of Term 3. Mr Twining has accepted a position at Oak Flats High School in Wollongong. He started teaching at our school in 2012. Staff dressed up in honour of Mr Twining's love of Hawaiian shirts and prizes
ORDER UNIFORMS FOR YEAR 7 2018 NOW If your child is starting Year 7 at Gunnedah High School next year please order their uniform requirements by Thursday, November 30 so that the Uniform Shop can have orders prepared and ready before the start of Term 1, 2018.
were awarded for the best (or is that the worst?) outfits 😁 We are also saying goodbye to Pat's wife, Lyndsay, who was appointed in 2014 after completing her prac at GHS during 2013. She is currently on maternity leave. Gunnedah High School wishes their family the very best.
Wedding bells in the holidays
Most schools have had try-on days so the students at these schools (Gunnedah South Public, Boggabri Public, Carroll Public) have had their sizes noted by our staff (students should have sizes too). Contact the Uniform Shop on 6742 6939 so they can check sizes and start your order process. Parents are also encouraged to book an appointment for a fitting if needed. Lay-by and credit card are available. Opening hours: Tuesday 8.30am - 10.30am Thursday 1pm - 3pm
Gunnedah High's Science Head Teacher, Mrs Karen Cull, married Mr Lars Kruse on Friday, October 6 in Wangi Wangi on Lake Macquarie. They will be honeymooning next year in Vietnam. Pictured with the happy couple are GHS Science staff, past and present. Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Kruse!
UPCOMING EVENTS TERM 4
M O N DAY 23/10
3
T U E S DAY 24/10
D E N TA L VA N (ALL WEEK)
30/10
W E D N E S DAY 25/10
26/10
1/11
RIDING FOR THE DISABLED
2/11
3/11
4
GUNNEDAH HIGH SCHOOL
Community Fair 2017 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 6/11
7/11
8/11
9/11
10/11
5pm-9.30pm, ‘Harry Ward Oval’ at Gunnedah High TWILIGHT MOVIE SCREENING ‘ THE BOSS BABY’
5 6
FOOD STALLS NOVELTY EVENTS DUNKING MACHINE R I D I N G F JUMPING O R TCASTLE HE D I S A BFACE L EPAINTING D WHITE ELEPHANT STALL JUST DANCE COMPETITION DANCE, MUSIC + DRAMA PERFORMANCES THANKS TO
HSC EXAMS CONCLUDE
YEAR 8/10 EXAM WEEK
13/11
14/11
15/11
16/11
17/11
ALL WELCOME
YEAR 12 FAREWELL DINNER
YEAR 7/9 EXAM WEEK
20/11
21/11
22/11
23/11
24/11
7
RIDING FOR THE DISABLED
27/11
28/11
8
29/11
30/11
1/12
6/12
7/12
8/12
P&C MEETING
4/12
9
5/12 YEAR 6 O R I E N TAT I O N D AY
11/12
10
F R I DAY 17/2 27/10
YEAR 7 HSIE EXCURSION
P&C MEETING
31/10
T H U R S DAY
12/12
YEAR 8 EXCURSION
13/12
YEAR 8 EXCURSION
14/12
YEAR 8 EXCURSION
15/12 L A S T D AY OF TERM 4
GUNNEDAH HIGH SCHOOL
Community Fair 2017 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 5pm-9.30pm, ‘Harry Ward Oval’ at Gunnedah High TWILIGHT MOVIE SCREENING ‘ THE BOSS BABY’
THANKS TO
FOOD STALLS NOVELTY EVENTS DUNKING MACHINE JUMPING CASTLE FACE PAINTING WHITE ELEPHANT STALL JUST DANCE COMPETITION DANCE, MUSIC + DRAMA PERFORMANCES
ALL WELCOME
