Principal’s Report

Blakehurst High School Newsletter

Term 4 Update— December 2016

270A Woniora Road BLAKEHURST NSW 2221

Ph: 9546 3281 Fax: 9547 1024

Email: blakehurst-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Website: blakehurst-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Highlights for 2016 We have finished the year celebrating our sensational 2016 HSC results. The 2016 cohort performed exceptionally well. Specific achievements include:-

Top ATAR:- 99.4 with a significant number of students achieving ATARs of 90 or above.

4 HSC Top Achievers:- 1st place in State – English Standard 3rd place in State – Modern Greek Continuers 4th place in State – Japanese Continuers 9th place in State- Construction Exam

71 Distinguished Achievers across 22 subjects, with 16 top Band 4 results in Extension Courses.

Congratulations to our students and teachers on these exceptional results!!!!

Our school was identified to be a part of the Secondary Schools Renewal Program to receive significant building works. The aim of the program is to improve the physical environment and aesthetics of the school. The work will include a new administration building at the front of the school, including landscaping and outdoor areas. The work should begin in the Easter holidays in 2017, with the demolition of the Cottage. This will make a significant difference to the look of our school with a refreshing new façade and well-designed spaces for us to utilise. I will keep you up to date with the progress as it develops.

Year 7 experienced a successful and enjoyable Camp to Tea Gardens Several students had a wonderful Languages based excursion and learning

opportunity travelling to Japan. We enjoyed great Athletics and Swimming Carnivals

Your Outstanding Local Comprehensive Secondary School

Our school has had continued success in the sporting arena, with our Girls crowned Champions of both Summer and Winter Grade Sport Competitions and our boys finishing runners up.

There was celebration of many external awards, with two highlights being:- Nicole Harrington in Year 10 being awarded the Local Aboriginal Student of the Year Award and Mrs Nozica, one of our English teachers, being awarded The Premiers Teacher Scholarship for her contribution to Quality teaching.

Our school further strengthened its relationship with local Primary Schools.

In terms of outreach and community service, considerable funds were raised by our students to support charities such as the 40 hour famine, Children’s cancer and The Sydney Children’s Hospital.

Our school was involved in the School Spectacular, with 14 students performing dance and 1 student selected to play in the orchestra…and spectacular it was, as all of our students were part of a Guinness World Record for the greatest amateur variety show.

Students and staff teamed up to launch an official Blakehurst HS Facebook page. Our new page will be used to celebrate student achievement and showcase many of the exciting things taking place.

These represent just some of the great efforts and wonderful achievements of Blakehurst HS in 2016. Many things happen on a daily basis at our school, too many to elaborate on here.

I would like to take this opportunity to express much gratitude and give thanks to:- Mr Brad Lester for doing such a wonderful job as

Principal for the last 6 years. Mr Lester was appointed as Principal in 2010 to Blakehurst HS and under his leadership many areas of school life have been enhanced and new initiatives formed, always for the benefit of the students. On behalf of the whole school community, I would like to thank him for his enormous commitment and hard work at Blakehurst HS and beyond that for his 39 years of service to the Department of Education.

Deputy Principals, Mrs Manos and Mr Yelavich. Their support and leadership have been paramount to the success of our school this year.

Head Teachers at Blakehurst HS who are a very professional, dedicated and cohesive group. Their skill and influence is integral to the accomplishments of our school.

The entire teaching staff at Blakehurst HS –they are a great team and always have the best interest of the students at heart. Many of the improvements we have had at our school in 2016 and in recent years, have come about as a result of this united effort by staff.

The Admin staff who work so hard and truly are the engine room of our school. They carry the high pressure times while trying to meet shifting deadlines; which assists the whole staff and student body on a

daily basis. the parents of BHS for working in partnership with

the Staff throughout 2016 and supporting our students. Particularly, The P&C, for their ongoing support, both financially as well as in representation on merit selection panels for staff and the Finance committee. The P&C, has committed over $18000 to school programs and projects this year, including for school awards; funding Science equipment; installation of a water fountain; refurbishment of the clothing pool; and continued support of the SMS absence notification system.

our students, who have worked hard to improve on their personal best and live out our school values of respect and responsibility.

Return Dates in 2017:- The return dates for school in 2017 are as follows:- Staff return on 27 January - Staff Development Day Years 7, 11 and 12 return on Monday 30 January

(9am Assembly) Years 8, 9 and 10 return on Tuesday 31 January (9am

Assembly; Years 11 and 12 have period 0 as per their timetables – 7.45am start)

I wish everybody in our school community a safe, relaxing and wonderful holiday.

Dan Ovens Principal (Relieving)

Letter to the Blakehurst School Community It is with mixed emotions that I wish to advise the Blakehurst High School Community that I have decided to retire from teaching in early 2017. Accordingly, I will relinquish my position as Principal from the beginning of the 2017 school year. The six years I have spent at Blakehurst High School have been the most rewarding and enjoyable of my thirty-nine year teaching career. This is mainly due to you, the Blakehurst High School Community. I have been constantly impressed with the professionalism of staff, the co-operation I have received from parents, and especially the enthusiasm of our wonderful students. Thank you all for your support over the past six years. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Senior Executive, Dan Ovens, Vicky Manos and Tony Yelavich for running the school so efficiently whilst I have been on long service leave this year. I will always have extremely fond memories of my time at Blakehurst High School.

Regards Brad Lester

Special Message

Each year we marvel at how fast the year flies by and 2016 is no exception. Once again, like in past years, we have moved forward with our Teaching and Learning and Welfare programs, met all our 2016 milestones, introduced new concepts and implemented procedures that will benefit BHS to ensure it is a exemplary environment where all the learning and wellbeing needs of students are addressed. I wish all our staff, students and families a safe and relaxing ho l i d a y b r eak and we l oo k f o rwa rd t o successfully accomplishing the educational and welfare plans we have scheduled for 2017. Ms V Manos Deputy Principal

Global Dignity Day We – Nicole Harrington and Ria Stephenson – were lucky enough to attend a Global Dignity

Day event held at NSW Parliament House, along with over 180 other Year 10 students from across Sydney. Global Dignity Day activities occur in schools in countries from all across the globe and aim to start conversations about dignity with young people, and how it effects people from different backgrounds, cultures, and identities.

The day began with an introduction by Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Soutphommasane, who spoke about multiculturalism and its significant presence in Australia, his personal thoughts on dignity, and his experiences growing up as an immigrant in Sydney.

Afterwards, we were split into smaller groups of about 15, and discussed how dignity impacted on our lives. Many students chose to tell stories relating to the issue, as well as how their school dealt with dignity and promoting multiculturalism. We were then brought back into the auditorium and heard from other students from other groups. Some spoke of their experiences as children living in war torn countries and how coming to Australia has changed their lives, others spoke about dealing with racism in their communities and what their culture means to them, and others told small anecdotes about conversations concerning their culture that they’ve had with less tolerable people. Overall, the day was fascinating, and we had a lot of fun! We learnt so much about how other people relate to the concept of dignity and how their culture impacts their lives.

.

..Nicole Harrington ..Ria Stephenson

Art Quilt Project From the beginning of Term 1, 26 Year 8 students have been working hard with Ms Hatjinikitas to create an Art Quilt, with the theme, ‘Walking Together.’ This has taken weeks and weeks of collaboration and many recess and lunch times s p e n t working to c o m p l e t e this beautiful piece. Thank you to the Y e a r 8 s t u d e n t s who proudly contributed.

This beautiful Art Quilt hangs proudly outside Textile Lab 2 and we can definitely say that it brightens the hall way. We hope it inspires students for years to come.

Year 12 Whitehouse School of Fashion and Design Excursion During Week 8, Year 12 Textiles and Design students visited the Whitehouse School of Fashion. It was the graduating students of 2016 exhibit. There were exhibits from Fashion Design students, Interior Design students, Events and Food Stylists and Photography. The exhibits, displays and fashion runway were mind blowing. The students left feeling motivated and inspired to commence their Major Textiles Project for their HSC!

Deputy Principal’s Report

TAS Home Economics Report

Where's Marcel? is the brain child of master roasters Phillip Di Bella and Joe Molinaro. After the success of Australia's first coffee company, “Crop To Cup” (now ICT “International Coffee Traders”), that sources speciality high grade coffee direct from the farm, the Where's Marcel? dream was born. Where’s Marcel? NSW is owned and operated by Anthony Preston and Mark Gentle and is based in Caringbah at the Roasting Warehouse. The Where’s Marcel? Roasting Warehouse is where Anthony Preston, head roaster for Where’s Marcel NSW, works day and night to ensure our coffee is consistent and delicious. The Where’s Marcel? Roasting Warehouse is also where we conduct espresso training and barista jams along with cupping sessions and master classes with our green bean specialist Moises Tawil. We believe that offering training for our customers is an integral part of our brand and continual improvement by way of training, both onsite and offsite, is extremely important. We are continually striving to produce the best quality coffee possible and also aim to inject our passion . 

Our Passion We pride ourselves on being an industry leader in sourcing 100% of our beans directly from the farmer. We are equally proud of the way our green bean buying programme supports farmers around the world in their endeavours to pursue ethically sustainable farming practices. We employ our very own bean specialist who is tasked with travelling the world’s coffee growing regions in search of the finest green beans. This relationship has resulted in long-term, reciprocal and supporting relationships with farmers around the world, allowing us constant access to the premium quality beans we need.

Year 9 Birthday Cake Practical Task During Weeks 5 and 6, Year 9 Food Technology students spent half a day designing and creating themed birthday cakes. This was their final practical assessment task for the year and here are some of the amazing creations:

Where’s Marcel? I’m sure most of the staff would have noticed that the coffee being made from the School Café tastes amazing. Of course our baristas are highly trained and professional, but we must also acknowledge our new supplier, “Where’s Marcel?’ based in Caringbah. They roast specialty coffee beans; deliver to many cafes locally and Australia wide.

‘Where’s Marcel?’ are very supportive of our students and our school. Aaron Callaghan from ‘Where’s Marcel?’ has been visiting our School Café, giving our baristas tips to making amazing great coffee and he personally delivers the best coffee beans at a great price. We can’t thank Aaron and ‘Where’s Marcel?’ enough.

We plan on taking our students to visit the coffee roasting warehouse in Caringbah early next year so they can see the process from delivery of the green bean through to the whole roasting and packing process.

Thank you again to Anthony Preston, Mark Gentile and Aaron Callaghan for this new partnership and for supporting our Hospitality students.

Information from “Where’s Marcel?” Our Business Our mission is to always provide you with the finest quality coffee bean, informative, prompt service and all at great value.

class is currently in the introductory stages of their Individual Projects and are working well towards solidifying their draft performance pieces, preliminary video concepts and design direction.

Our Year 11 Drama class, who have just completed their first term of Year 12, are well underway with the development of their HSC Individual Project. The majority of our students have decided to undertake a monologue performance, while a few have chosen to complete a Costume Design or Video Drama option. The students were also given the opportunity to watch a student-led production of The Laramie Project at Georges River College, Oatley. This terrific performance will certainly enhance the learning experience of this dramatic text, providing students with experiential e v i d e n c e f o r t h e i r e s s a y s . Our students will also be given the opportunity to attend the annual OnStage Showcase Day early in 2017. It should be an exciting year ahead full of amazing theatrical experiences for our senior class!

Schools’ Spectacular 2016 Ms Jacobsen, Mrs Shaw, Mrs Marcic and Mrs Bourtsouklis took a group of 66 students from Years 7 - 11 to watch this year’s Schools’ Spectacular at the Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney Olympic Park. We were thoroughly entertained and awestruck. We witnessed a Guiness World Record for the most people participating in an amateur variety show – 5, 300 students!! The performances were first class and the new performance venue was awesome!

BHS students were fantastic – it was a pleasure to take them out. They were well groomed and their behaviour was outstanding. This year was all the more special because for the first time in the history of BHS, we had students participating in the show – 14 dancers in the Bohemian Rhapsody number and our very talented cellist, Steven Han in the School Spectacular Orchestra. We are incredibly proud of our 15 performers in this year’s DREAM BIG Schools Spectacular. After a very demanding rehearsal schedule leading up to the performances, the four shows over two days were a huge success! Congratulations Blakehurst High School, what an amazing effort! You have made us very, very proud!!

On behalf of the CAPA team, I would like to wish everyone in the Blakehurst High School community the very best for the festive season and a safe and restful break. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!! Ms J Jacobsen and the CAPA Team

Year 12 Sydney Fish Market Excursion During Week 4, Year 12 Food Technology students visited

the Sydney Fish Markets and took part in a tour of the auction floor and warehouse.

They purchased fresh seafood and then cooked up a seafood platter storm back at school!

Ms N Dexter Head Teacher TAS Home Economics

Our final column for 2016 – and what a brilliant year it has been! A very big ‘Thank You’ to our CAPA team - Mrs Shaw, Ms Strudwick, Mrs Bourtsouklis, Mrs Codey, Ms Biehler and Mrs Bellato. A special thank you to Mr Watters who was always there to step in when we needed him, and for coming along and helping out with many of our performing students and with our school band.

The students at Blakehurst High are indeed very fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated team to foster their creativity and learning in the Creative and Performing Arts. We look forward to doing it all bigger and better again in 2017!

Drama On Wednesday 7 December 2016, Year 11 Drama travelled to Georges River College, Oatley Campus, for a student performance of The Laramie Project. It was a very enriching theatrical experience for our students who will be studying this thought-provoking text early next year. A challenging play by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Company, The Laramie Project is one of the key HSC Drama texts set for study under the topic, Significant Plays of the Twentieth Century. Our students conducted themselves in an exemplary manner, representing their school with pride. Early next year, Year 11 Drama students will again be making the annual pilgrimage to Onstage, a showcase of exceptional dramatic works from the 2016 HSC year. It will be a valuable experience for our students who will have the opportunity to watch several stellar performances and appreciate many of the outstanding costume design pieces on show. Furthermore, Year 11 Drama

CAPA Report

Writers Club We are excited to announce that as of 2017, we will be introducing a new group to the school. The group will be a club for writers (creative and technical) and illustrators alike. It will not be an exclusive group so anyone can join if they are interested.

The group will be a space where people with an interest or skill set in the areas of writing and illustration will be able to collaborate on ideas and projects, as well as enter various competitions found for you by the group members. This space will also allow for each individual to have a strong foundation for support and allow for insightful and constructive criticism. Within the group we are aiming to have term projects that will be both collaborative and individual. In the meetings, group members will discuss competitions, work on activities such as writing or art prompts and collaborate on partner or group projects.

On top of this we will develop a Google classroom so that students can work on exercises, pose questions, read each other’s work and chat about writing. The group is likely to be held every Friday lunch (to be confirmed early next year).

If you or someone you know has a passion for writing or would like to develop their skills, please see Bethany Lewin or any teacher in the English Faculty.

..Bethany Lewin ..8R3

Creative Writing Activity Once

Once, I believed that soul mates existed. I believed that two people were destined to meet each other, fall madly in love and live out their lives side by side. Yet now… Now I doubt that even love exists.

It didn’t start quickly, but it wasn’t quite slow either. We met at the birthday celebration of my best friend. It was wonderful, the party moved from house to park to beach and back to the house again. We moved around like nomads trying to find their promised land yet we felt the world was ours. Throughout the day I made jokes, she laughed, I told stories, she listened. We got along as if we had always been friends and this was not us meeting for the first time, but reuniting.

I started to see her more often after that day; we’d plan to revisit the places we went on the day we met. Except now it was only the two of us. Memories neither of us will forget were made, such fun and laughter, which bloomed into deeper emotions like a humble flower coming to blossom in the sweet spring air. We’d hold hands, hug and cuddle each other when afforded the privacy. Neither of us quite knew what we were, but deep down we both had those same feelings towards each other. The flower bloomed into it’s full colours after weeks of memorable euphoria. We sat together in a dark tunnel, our vision taken from us

but our other senses heightened to a ridiculous level. I could hear her breath, she could hear my heartbeat. There was a moment of pause, she was worried that where we were about to go would cause us to lose the golden friendship we had. I had the same fear in me, but I knew that it was nothing more than bad memories rising to the surface as if to personally warn me to not open myself up to hurt again. We made our decision, and the second we met each other’s lips, I knew that this girl could have been the one.

Hours, days, weeks and then months passed us by but we were too busy counting the ways that we loved each other. Other people looked at what we had and grew jealous. Even my best friend admitted his wish to know what our level of happiness felt like. I was convinced in my heart that I’d found the person I could spend the rest of my life with. We met in public, in private and everywhere in between. We’d lock in a hug at the break of dawn and ten minutes later look up and see the moon and stars. Time was too short but there was always more of it. Neither she nor I wanted to ever be apart.

Yet when fate happens upon something truly amazing it stops to look upon it and meddle. As if fate was once a person who lived grandly but had everything taken from them, and now lived solely to make other people feel its pain. It was a rainy day, and we were with my best friend under a park slide. The droplets were thudding against the plastic above our heads as if launching an assault to break through and drench us. I hadn’t talked to her privately in over a week, she was moving house and I began working at my first job, it seemed that our short time together was becoming shorter and shorter. But there she was, carrying on with my best friend as if I was merely an apparition, a spectre. Not actually visible but still there. I felt anger boil up in me; jealousy and selfishness take command of my nature. I sprung up abruptly, startling them both as if I was indeed a spectre that had jumped out at them. The rain became the second biggest storm as my pace thundered against the ground carrying me away from the encounter.

I was not followed; neither my best friend nor her came after me. It felt like betrayal, like their inaction was the equivalent of a malicious action. For what felt like millennia I walked to a bus stop and sat myself in its reluctant shelter. After the longest time I saw her walk up the street towards me. My heart thundered faster, but not in the same way it did when we fell for each other, this time it felt like caution or even panic commanding my heart to beat faster. For where her warm smile once was, there was a stone cold face of angered determination. I knew what was coming, and silently thanked God that my tears mixed with the rain as to hide my weakness.

I will never forget what she told me, and certainly not forget the resenting tone she said it in. “I’ve ruined so many of my friendships to spend more time with you” was the first crack of the whip against my heart. “The more time I let myself spend with you the harder it will be for me to make this decision” was her raising the lash once more. “As much as I

English Report

Classes for 2016 We were very impressed with the work ethic shown by the students as we approached the end of term. All students had end of year exams on common work to assist us in placing them in the correct class for 2017 (note that all their exams throughout the year were used as well). The new Year 12 also experienced their first HSC assessment task.

Many students will be in a different level of class to 2016. This decision was based on each student’s performance in class tests and the final exam, and observations from teachers. During the first semester we still may make some changes.

Again our classes will be arranged in pairs or triples and operate in parallel (i.e. a similar mix of ability) rather than a definite 1, 2, 3 etc. There will be no designated “top” or “bottom” class but rather groupings that reflect that level. Years 9 and 10 have always been in syllabus bands for stages 5.3, 5.2 and 5.1 (that’s from highest to lowest). They still will be. In Year 8 all students study the same stage 4 syllabus (but some are modified with regards the difficulty) and they will also be paired together where each pair could be in parallel. The names will simply reflect the level of Mathematics they are studying and the teacher. For example:

8MY Year 8 Maths, Mr Yan 10M3D Year 10 Maths, level 5.3, Mr Dahouk 12G1K Year 12 General Mathematics 1, Mrs Kandylas

Getting ready for 2017 We know the students are always very keen to buy their new stationary. For Maths they will need a:

Scientific calculator (we sell the Casio FX82AU-Plus II for $25, you may find it cheaper during sale time)

Several pens, sharp pencils, eraser

Ruler

Protractor, compass (used for some topics)

Grid book (any size, they can have many during the year). They can also choose to use an exercise book (any size) as well

Textbook cover (we sell these at school and they last for years)

All these items are essential. All students will have a maths class in their first week and we would like them all to be ready with their stationary. MANSW ‘Mathematics at Luna Park’ Year 8 Excursion Have you ever wondered how many different combinations of 5 ping pong balls can give the winning score of 26 when playing the “Laughing Clowns”? Or how fast you travel, in metres per second, when you’re on the “Hair Raiser” ride or why the support structure of the ‘Tumble Bug’ is in the shape

cared about you, I do not love you, and won’t carry on pretending like I do”, the second whip slashed deeper, at this point I was ready to fall to the ground and hope the rain water carried me away, but the killing blow came at “We’re through, I don’t want you around me anymore”. She turned her back and walked away, not even once faltering in her step, not once turning around to look at the broken form she had just created. Almost like it was rehearsed, and done many times before.

In the coming weeks the wounds on my heart became calloused, and I grew distant from the people who stood less than a metre away from me. The pain never faded though, as every time I saw the face of my best friend, or even by chance saw her down the street, the scars would beat with a hollow sensation that never faded.

Once, I believed that soul mates existed. I believed that two people were destined to meet each other, fall madly in love and live out their lives side by side. Yet now… Now I cannot even feel love.

..Michael Inwood Barba ..10EPL

Year 8 Advertising Activity Throughout the past few weeks, our year 8 English class 8EET have been participating in making advertisements for a particular item and type of person/people. We had a lot of fun first starting off with Mr Skamanis coming up with an idea for us to pick out two random papers from separate bags for us to have our item and the people we needed to convince. We all chose our own groups with friends and put our creative imagination together to make our product. Groups came up with products such as the power cup for athletes, Vuitton handbags for babies, chipsters for hipsters. The final result of each group’s product was outstanding. Each group presented an advertisement and created their product. In the end, we all had a laugh at the different products. I think I speak on behalf of the entire class when I say Mr Skamanis has made us all more confident in creating more advanced things and to be more comfortable in speaking in front of the class.

..Fatima T ..8R5

Ms A Heron Head Teacher English

Mathematics Report

Seeking help for oneself and others through greater awareness of Mental Health Issues and various forms of Abuse

Incorporating the positive use of power in relationships and strategies to minimise harm

Increasing a sense of connectedness with themselves, their family and within their community

Increasing their knowledge and confidence in physical activities through various contexts

Activities Week At the end of the year all students participate in activities week which are the final three days of school conducted on Wednesday 14th, Thursday 15th and Friday 16th December. These three days are compulsory and it was expected that all students attend their activities. Activities being held over these three days for their respective year groups were: Year 11 – Mandatory Cross Roads program

Year 10 – SLAM (Senior Learning and Management)

Year 9 – Peer Support Program

Year 8 – Various activities such as fishing, movies, school sport, table tennis, computer programming and ladette to lady.

Year 7 – Swim school All students received notes regarding their activities for the final three days of school; all worthwhile and valuable programs.

Pierre de Coubertin Award The Pierre de Coubertin Award is a most prestigious sporting award that recognises sporting achievements from one student in each high school. Recipients must not only be extremely talented and represent the school at the highest level, but more importantly they must demonstrate the ideologies of the Olympic movement. An individual must participate in an Olympic recognised sport and not only display great sportsmanship and dignity, but represent themselves and their school with distinction and promote their moral values in that winning is not everything, and that sometimes the greatest gift is just to participate and have fun.

This year I am extremely proud to announce the winner of the Pierre de Coubertin Award goes to Sheridan Smith of Year 12. Sheridan has been recognised for her primary sport of Swimming.

Since Year 7, Sheridan has represented the school proudly from Zone Carnivals all the way through to the National Championships where she has been a medallist on numerous occasions whilst representing NSW. Alongside her impressive sporting achievements, Sheridan has also been a Junior and Senior Prefect, House Captain and fantastic role model for junior students. Some of Sheridan’s swimming achievements are listed as follows:

of a 7-pointed star? On Friday 9th December, Year 8 travelled to Luna Park to investigate and enjoy the real life application of Mathematics. This event is organised by the Mathematics Association of NSW and related to the Stage 4 topics of Number, Algebra, Statistics and Probability.

Nearly 40 Lives Saved! In our recent donation drive, potentially 36 lives were improved or saved by the generous donation of blood by 12 Year 10 and 11 students. Thank you, and well done to all of you! The next donation drive will most likely be near the end of Term 2 next year, so if you are in Year 10 or Year 11 (and have not donated in the past 12 months), please consider whether you would donate some of your precious blood and help save lives.

To donate blood, you need to be 16 years old and meet the health requirements, and you can only donate once in a 12 month period if you are under 18 years old. Once you turn 18 you can donate up to 4 times a year. The Red Cross send a vehicle to transport you to the donor centre at Miranda and will bring you back to school afterwards. You can anticipate being away from school for up to 2 hours (although the donation itself takes around 10 minutes). Ms A Peachey Head Teacher Mathematics

The final newsletter is upon us and it has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience for all PDHPE teachers and students who have studied PDHPE this year. The students across all year groups have been empowered with knowledge and skills to enable them to make healthy decisions, both now and into the future that will help reduce common lifestyle diseases. These strategies include: Understanding the importance of health promotion

and how individuals, communities and governments work together to reduce ill health within our population

Recognising potentially dangerous situations and their consequences within Driver Education and Safe Partying

PDHPE Faculty Report

Note: all the results were achieved at the NSWCHS swimming championships and prior to these Sheridan also won age champion and broke numerous swimming records through the St George Zone and Sydney East Swimming Carnivals.

Congratulations Sheridan on your outstanding success in swimming and on behalf of Blakehurst High School and in particular the PDHPE/Sport unit, we wish the very best in your future endeavours.

On behalf of the PDHPE team, we wish all students and their families a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to seeing everyone return in 2017. Sheridan Smith receiving the Pierre de Coubertin Award.

With the completion of Summer Grade Sport, Blakehurst High was successful in winning 15 grade sport championships. Congratulations to the following teams and respective coaches for winning their competitions:

13B Boys Mini Soccer

14A Boys Mini Soccer

14B Boys Mini Soccer

16A Boys Mini Soccer

13A Girls OZTAG

13B Girls OZTAG

1st Grade Girls OZTAG

2nd Grade Boys Table Tennis

16B Boys Touch Football

14A Girls Mini Soccer

14B Girls Mini Soccer

14A Boys Basketball

Looking back at the year we had, Blakehurst High was the most highly represented school in the St George Zone Grade Sport competitions, entering 63 summer teams and 56 winter teams culminating in 13 winter and 15 summer premierships. A big thank you to all staff and students for assisting in the efficient running of grade sport on a weekly basis. Blakehurst High School was crowned Champion Girls School in the winter sports season in the St George Zone for the eighth consecutive year and also took out the Champion Girl’s School for summer sport. It is a wonderful achievement to win the winter and summer point score in the same season.

In recognition for their outstanding contribution to not only Blakehurst High School, the following student received a St George Blue Award for their continued success and representation of St George Zone at Sydney East Competitions and NSWCHS Carnivals throughout their time at Blakehurst High School.

Sheridan Smith - Athletics

It has been a successful year and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New year and look forward to seeing everyone return happy and healthy in 2017.

Sport web sites The following sport web sites are useful for school sport notices, zone sport information and Sydney East knock outs and representation. St George Zone Sport Information – http://www.stgeorgesssa.com.au/

Sydney East Sport Information - http://www.sports.det.nsw.edu.au/syd_east/welcome.htm

Mr B Kemp Sports Organiser

Year Achievements at NSWCHS Swimming

Further Representation

2016 1st – 400m Individual Medley 2nd – 200m Individual Medley 

NSW All Schools Team

2015 2nd – 200m Individual Medley 2nd – 100m Breaststroke 

NSW All Schools Team

2014 1st - 100m Breaststroke 2nd – 200m Individual Medley 3rd - 400m Individual Medley 3rd – 100m Backstroke 

NSW All Schools Team

2013 1st - 100m Breaststroke 1st – 100m Butterfly 1st - 200m Individual Medley 1st – 400m Individual Medley 2nd – 100m Backstroke 3rd – 50m Freestyle

NSW All Schools Team

Mr N Smith Head Teacher PDHPE (Relieving)

PDHPE Sports Report

Commerce Excursion to NSW PARLIAMENT HOUSE The Year 9 Commerce class visited Parliament House in Sydney for an enriching experience with the objective of enhancing our understanding of ‘political involvement’ in terms of how the NSW State government works.

Initially, we visited the State Library of New South Wales. The State Library was grandiose! The magnificent architecture of the 1910’s was evident on the library’s facade. The Mitchell Wing (Reading

Room) was amazing. Although we weren’t allowed to go up the stairs to take a look of the books displayed in the library, it was quite an experience. Alas, we had to go walk into a tunnel leading to the Macquarie Street Wing. This wing had a more modern touch to it than the previous wing we were in. In here, large photographs were displayed as part of the World Press Photo Competition. These photographs varied broadly from sports, nature, and people. The photographs depicted dramatic international moments.

We then moved on to NSW Parliament House. The architecture was a mix of modern and antique design, with multiple paintings (such as Aboriginal paintings). Our tour guide then showed us to the chamber the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The green colour scheme of the chamber is inspired by the House of Commons. In here, the tour guide explained to us how bills are proposed and how the government is always shadowed by an opposing party. The highlight of the tour was when we acted out a hypothetical scenario in the lower house. One student had to act as the clerk, while another one had to be the Premier, etc. The proposed bill was lowering the legal drinking age to 16 years old.

After our tour to the Legislative Assembly finished, we

then went to the Legislative Council, or the upper house. Here, the colour scheme is red, based on the House of Lords. The Legislative Council had many resemblances with the Assembly but it has less than half (42 members) of the members of the lower house. We continued our hypothetical scenario with students getting new roles. We learned that the Council had more power than the Assembly, for if a bill is passed in the Assembly, the Council has the power to revoke the bill.

After the tour, we enjoyed lunch in Pitt Street Mall before catching the train back to Hurstville Station. As a result of the excursion, we had a much better understanding of the operations of the state government.

..Edriane Tabor ..9R5

Commerce Food Challenge On Friday 2nd December the Year 9

Commerce class went to the Wesley Mission Head Quarters on Pitt Street. The Wesley Mission is an independent non-Government group who focus on helping the homeless population of Australia. Lucy provided shocking statistics about the homeless population of Australia. For example, there are 1.1 Million homeless people in Australia and 17% of them are children. We were then given the Wesley Mission Food Challenge which highlights the difficulties of buying adequate food on a tight budget. Students worked in pairs to buy food for specific scenarios.

My pair in specific had the scenario of a homeless person living under a bridge for three days so myself and my partner had to think very tactically to purchase food that would last for the given time period. Also the food couldn’t be cooked or refrigerated. The most difficult part of the Food Challenge was that we had a budget of only $10. This budget really pushed everyone’s strategic thinking as most of us

HSIE Report

never really look at price tags to really understand what it could mean to the less fortunate. As most of us successfully completed the Food challenge we felt very appreciative and humbled as we donated the purchased food for the Wesley Connect program. Lucy left us with the important message that “Homelessness can happen to ANYONE”.

..Nuhulan Ahmed ..9R2

 

Year 10 French Excursion to La Grillade To celebrate the end of Stage 5 French the talented Year 10 students accompanied myself and Ms Field our Intern in Term 4 to la Grillade at Crows Nest. As always the personnel there were very accommodating. The students feasted on traditional French Cuisine, including Escargots, Coq au Vin, Saumon, Crème Caramel and Chocolate Mousse. An incredible time was had by all.

Lunch at “The Little Snail Restaurant” in Darling Harbour On Monday the 21st of November 2016, French classes 7B and 7K went on an excursion to have lunch at “The Little Snail Restaurant’ in Darling Harbour. After boarding our bus with the classes and the teachers, we made our way to Darling Harbour. Everyone was excited about the day ahead, particularly about trying French food. When we arrived at Darling Harbour, we entered the restaurant and were seated upstairs. We were then served an entrée, followed by main course, and then dessert. For entrée, we had four options to choose from, which were, garlic snails, fried calamari, onion soup, and a French salad. For the majority of people, it was their first time trying snails, and was a new experience for most of us. We were then served a main course, which was either, chicken in red sauce, vegetable pasta, or grilled salmon. After enjoying our entrée and main course, we were then served dessert. The dessert choices were, chocolate mousse, crème caramel, and toffee ice cream. Everyone was enjoying their food, and experiencing the French culture. Once everyone had finished their delicious courses, we then headed back onto the bus to go back to school. Overall the day was fun and exciting, trying new food, and a new cuisine. We would like to thank the three teachers, Ms Evangelinos, Ms D’Arcangeli and Mr Dahouk for taking us to the restaurant and making it an unforgettable experience for all.

..Natalie Davino-Rodger ..7B

Mr P Slater Head Teacher HSIE

This has been a hectic term for the LOTE Staff. Each of our language classes were involved in either restaurant visits or food activities at school, as can be seen by the various articles written by the students. 2016 has also been a very sad year for the LOTE staff, losing our beloved Toula earlier in the year. We have dedicated Room 8 in her memory and are in the process of refurbishing it, with some of her students painting a mural on the wall. Her son Nicholas painted the room for us in August and we are very grateful for all the hard work he did. The LOTE staff have also established The Toula Loizos Memorial Award for Excellence in Modern Greek and Nicolas Loizos, Toula’s son presented the prize to the first recipients this year at Presentation Night.

It is also with sadness that we are farewelling Ms D’Arcangeli. This wonderful and gifted teacher has been offered a permanent position at St Augustines Brookvale, an opportunity she could not refuse. I am sure her students are sad to see her leave but permanent positions are very hard to come by. We also farewelled our Greek Assistant who will be returning home just before Christmas. We truly appreciated all the help that she gave our Greek students this year. As the term draws to an end, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my staff for all their hard work and support this year and also to wish each one of you: Joyeux Noël Buon Natale καλά Χριστούγεννα

メリークリスマス

圣诞节快乐

LOTE Report

        

 

An Excursion to La Tavermetta Psteroa Leichhardt On a very sunny and windy Thursday the 24th November both Year 9 and 10 Italian classes and our two Italian teachers Miss D’Arcangeli and Miss Evangelinos went on an excursion to La Tavernetta Osteria which is located in Leichhardt.

As we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by all the friendly and lovely staff. The Year 9 Italian class was escorted into the kitchen where we met the two humorous chefs. The chefs introduced us to the staff and kitchen. They were both lovely and were just as excited as we were. The Italian chefs gave us a brief overview on what was going to

happen during the day and about the Italian culture. We first assisted in making Napoletana sauce and also a vegetable stock. After this, they made their delicious Boscaiola sauce which we then got to taste. After the two groups switched, the Year 9 Italian class went to go and make the famous homemade potato gnocchi which we got

to take home. After this we were all very hungry and excited to try the Italian cuisine. Some show-stoppers from their lunch were their famous Gnocchi, Margherita Pizza and Penne Napoletana. We enjoyed the lovely lunch provided by the restaurant. Later on we had the choice to buy mouth-watering gelato. All the kids had a great time and enjoyed the excursion. Thank you to La Tavernetta Osteria for a great Italian cuisine experience.

..Jessica Kiproff ..Kristina Basetas,

..Year 9 Italian Class, 2016  

An Excursion to Russo’s Pizzeria! On Tuesday the 6th of December the two year 8 Italian classes were joined by the year 7 Italian class and went to the Italian restaurant called Russo’s. We left after period 2 and caught the bus to Peakhurst. When we got there the tables were set up for us with our drinks on the table and

everything was ready to go.

The feast began with salads and garlic pizza, and everyone was enjoying the Italian atmosphere. Our next meal was the four traditional Italian pastas; spaghetti

Bolognese, penne napoletana, fettuccini boscaiola, gnocchi romana, the pastas tasted amazing. By the time other pizzas came out everyone was full but managed to make room for the margarita, vegetarian, supreme and meat-lovers pizzas. Everyone was talking, laughing and enjoying themselves and

felt like an Italian family while eating lunch. Finally, we finished our feast with dessert. We had nutella pizza with strawberries and snickers ice cream. At the end of our dessert we all felt sooo full but some of us still managed to take home leftovers for the rest of our families to enjoy.

The owners and staff were super kind for letting us come to their restaurant for our excursion, they were really friendly while serving us, and everyone was saying how they’d definitely eat there again. As for the students, we were so thankful our teachers Miss D’Arcangeli and Miss Fotiadis took time out of their busy working days to organise this amazing excursion for us. We all had such a great time, with great friends and great food!

..Anastasija Acevski ..Mia Doncevski

8XIT   

Junior Manly Excursion As a reward for the hard work this group of young leaders did throughout the year Mr Aryana, Ms Fotiadis, and Mrs Mangraviti accompanied them to Manly. The Junior Prefects were involved in numerous fund raising activities including Easter Booth, Red Day, Halloween, Bandana Day, Tracky Dack Day and St Vinnies Christmas Appeal, raising funds for numerous charities. They were well organised under the leadership of their roll call teacher Ms Fotiadis.  

Greek Excursion On Friday December 2 the Year 7, 8 and 9 Greek classes went out for lunch at the Eat Greek Restaurant in Beverly Hills. It was probably one of the hottest days we had in December, but it was no deterrent for the keenly anticipated meal that the students were expectingThe entree was served quickly, with the students being served up a mixture of Greek mezedes like tzatziki, taramosalata, grilled loukanika and delectable grilled haloumi cheese all served with pita bread.The main course was a banquet of chicken souvlakia and lamb off the spit, served with Greek salad and the most scrumptious fries. Our students could have happily left with very full stomachs after the main course was served, but the dessert was the highlight of the meal. I know Mrs LOIZOS would still be talking about what seriously were the most delicious loukoumades we've ever tried. The afternoon was

capped off beautifully with some diners commented on how well-behaved our students were. Ms Fotiadis and I were very proud of all the students who attended. A truly memorable experience for everyone involved. Mrs Loizos would have been proud of all her students too.  

Senior Prefects On Thursday 10th November the Senior prefects were presented with their badges at their Induction Ceremony. Parents were invited to this formal assembly. The audience was entertained with a musical item Czardas performed by Evelyn Zhou, Kasey Zhou, Steven Han. After the formalities everyone assembled in the library for some light refreshments.

For the Senior Prefects, their first activity was Movember where they raised $450 for Men’s Health especially prostate cancer. Several staff members and students grew beards and then were shaved.

GRIP Leadership Conference Early this term, we the Executive Prefects attended a leadership conference hosted by GRIP Leadership. It was a

Student Leadership

fantastic experience, developing and broadening our understanding of leadership. The seminar was immensely captivating and enriching, allowing leaders from a variety of  schools to exchange ideas for and ways to be involved that showed good leadership.

The primary message of the conference was that leadership involves every student and staff member of the school. Inclusion and transparency was emphasised thoroughly and we will look to involve the school community more so in the future projects. We found the day rewarding and recommend future young leaders undertake this program. Alex, Sandy, Zalika and myself (Vlad) would like to thank to Ms Maricic for the transporting us all to and from Homebush for the day.

Captains and Vice Captains Movember Report In support of the battle against men’s prostate cancer, the Senior Prefects held a bake sale on the 30th of November and also shaved the moustaches (and in some cases even the beards!) of ten brave male teachers and students. Our courageous participants grew their moustaches for over a period of 30 days, then to be shaved by several members of the Senior Prefect body and not to mention - in front of all 1300 students of Blakehurst High School! The day turned out to be a great success! With generous donations from the school audience during the shave and all proceeds from the bake sale, the Senior Prefect body raised a total of over $400 for the Movember Foundation Australia. A special thanks to Ms Maricic, Ms Mangraviti and the Senior Prefect Body for organising, our MC - Mr Slater and of course, our fearless participants – Mr Bennett, Mr Yelavich, Mr Tsattalios, Mr Smith, Mr Hewetson, Mr Kemp, Mr Watters, Ali Youseff, Hesham Ghalaini and Hashir Faiz Warsi!

..Rachel Huang

..Year 11 Mrs A Mangraviti Head Teacher LOTE