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Cranebrook High School

Providing a quality education in a caring learning environment.

Hosking Street, Cranebrook, NSW 2749 Ph: (02) 4729 0777 http://www.cranebrook-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/

Principal’s Message

I would like to thank our students, staff and the wider school community for such a great first half of the year. There have been a number of wonderful programs and events where our students have represented the school in a very positive manner and it’s great to see our students take advantage of the opportunities provided for them at our school. Our students perform wonderfully well in all cultural, academic and sporting events where they represent our school. On every occasion, we are informed about and thanked for our students’ outstanding participation and conduct.

School uniform is an important aspect of our school. Having students dressed appropriately each day helps to maintain and build a culture of high expectations for our children and young people. Our school uniform looks great and we regularly receive positive comments from community members about our students in school uniform.

I ask that you ensure students have correct and appropriate school uniform clothing to wear each day at school. Our uniform shop is open on Tuesday afternoons from 12pm to 3:50pm and on Friday mornings from 8am to 11:50am during the school term. If your child, for some reason cannot wear school uniform on a particular day, please provide them with a signed note outlining this. Students should then have this note signed by their Deputy Principal upon arrival at school. If you are experiencing financial difficulty around the purchase of school uniform for your child, please contact me or the relevant Deputy Principal to discuss the matter confidentially.

The school staff car park has become extremely busy each morning and afternoon. The car park is for staff parking, official Assisted School Travel Vehicles and visitors requiring disability parking. I ask that parents and carers do not enter the staff car park to drop off before school or collect students each afternoon. This can be done on Hosking St before or after the Bus Zone at the front of the school.

Mr C. Dunne, Principal

Principal’s Message

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Year 9

In Term 2, students in Year 9 sat their NAPLAN examinations. This Australia wide examination focuses on student literacy and numeracy skills and is utilised by schools to analyse areas of strength, growth and future focus priorities. There has been extensive media around NAPLAN testing being the first opportunity for our students to demonstrate the new national standards for literacy and numeracy. One important point to focus on is that students failing to meet this standard will have many opportunities over their subsequent time at school to be able to successfully meet these standards should they fail to in 2017. Year 9 students received their Half Yearly academic reports in the last week of Term 2. Students are encouraged to reflect on their achievement to date as well as teacher comments and work to build on strengths as well as improve on areas they have identified as requiring improvement. With winter in full swing, Year 9 are reminded to wear the correct uniform and in particular, navy blue school jackets and track pants. The uniform shop is open Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings. Students who forget uniform for the day are able to approach me to borrow a jacket for the day. Year 12 It has been pleasing to see so many of our Year 12 students involved in a range of fundraising activities this term. Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, a Sausage Sizzle and Hot Dog day were all highly successful events, with funds raised going to a number of good causes. Year 12 students continue to build towards their Higher School Certificate. In weeks 4 & 5 of Term 3, Year 12 students will undertake their Trial HSC Exams at school which are the final set of examinations before the Higher School Certificate itself. Students are reminded to be at school well before the start time of their scheduled exams and ensure they have all required equipment packed in their bags. On the rare occasion that a student is unwell on the day of an examination, a Doctor’s Certificate must be supplied to the school explaining the absence. Mr. S. Uitterlinden Deputy Principal Years 9 and 12

Deputy Principal’s Report (Year 9 & Year 12)

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Years 8 and 11 have adjusted well to the challenges of Semester One in a new year. No longer the “smallest fish in the big pond”, Year 8 students have impressed me with their willingness to support and encourage Year 7 as they transition from primary school to high school. The quality of Year 8 class and assignment work was on display for all to see when their HSIE models and TAS design projects took centre stage at the “Year 6 into 7” Transition evening in Term 1. As Senior Students, Year 11 now “swipe on” at school each day, rather than attending Roll Call. Year 11 students also make use of our “Flexible Day” passes which allow them to arrive when their classes begin, leave when they have no more classes that day, and attend Vocational Education courses at other sites. I have been impressed by the maturity and responsibility with which Year 11 have adapted to and utilised these attendance systems, which allow them to continue their study at home or in our school’s Senior Study Spaces when they do not have scheduled classes. It was with great pleasure that I attended the 2017 Nanga Mai Awards in March, which recognised Aboriginal Excellence in NSW Public Schools. At this year’s award ceremony, Cranebrook High School Year 11 student, Coen Everard Towers-Carter, received the Nanga Mai Encouragement Award for his commitment to transforming his academic results, attitude and attendance in order to maximise his learning outcomes. Coen was one of just 25 students and staff across the state to receive a Nanga Mai Award in 2017 and we are all immensely proud of his achievement. Coen’s daily commitment to lifelong learning makes him a role model for all members of our school community. It was also exciting to see another member of the Cranebrook Learning Community, Ethan Towns, from Year 3 at Cambridge Gardens Public School, receiving a Nanga Mai Award for Public Speaking. Congratulations to you both for showing the rest of NSW that ATSI students from the Cranebrook Learning Community are demonstrating the talents and commitment that will make them outstanding citizens and leaders in the future. Following on from these great achievements by ATSI students, we celebrated NAIDOC with our first ever “Sea of Hands “ in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. Every student and staff member, plus community representatives, planted a flag and reflected on what NAIDOC means to them. Floodlit for our annual NAIDOC dinner, the Sea of Hands was a strong symbol of our community’s pride in our ATSI students and their cultures. As we begin Semester Two, Year 8 are preparing to choose electives for Years 9 and 10 and Year 11 are getting ready to begin their final year of school. Lots of challenges, choices and learning lie ahead! Ms. J. Kempthorne Deputy Principal Years 8 and 11 [Rel.]

Deputy Principal’s Report (Year 8 & Year 11)

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Boccia Regional Knockout: Paralympic Sport Boccia is a Paralympic sport designed for people with disabilities, played both at recreational as well as competitive levels. It is very similar to Bocce or lawn bowls but played indoors with softer balls on a hard surface. It is a game of skill and accuracy which provides opportunities to develop social networks and self esteem amongst people with disabilities of all ages. The Cranebrook High School Boccia Team from the Support Faculty consisting of team members, Ashley Clancy, Alex Johnson, Jesse Nam and Dakota Adams led by Captain Vanessa Smith participated in the Boccia Regional Knockout competition held at Quakers Hill High School on Wednesday, the 7th of June. The players had great fun and engaged all their skills learnt at training to be victorious on the day. The team is looking forward to competing at the finals with other regional teams at Homebush in August. A training regime will be followed to prepare for the upcoming event in August. All members are very excited. Mrs Ram

Cranebrook students compete!

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T.A.S. – Year 9 Elective This year the TAS faculty have introduced a new Year 9 elective course - 3D Designing and Printing. Students have learnt to utilise 3D modelling software by following online tutorials and experimenting with the features embedded in the software. As Term Two is progressed, students undertook specific design tasks which demonstrate both their creativity and proficiency in utilising the software.

Faculty News

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T.A.S. – Food Technology This term Year 10 Food Technology have been busy producing a new Tim Tam flavour as part of their Food Product Development topic. Mrs Cutajar's class competed against Ms Maynard's class to determine which class had produced the best new flavour in a class Showdown. Food technology students produced over 200 Tim Tams and offered samples of these to students and teachers. Taste testers voted on their favourite flavour. Mrs Cutajar's class won the showdown with a delectable 'Caramel Deluxe' Tim Tam! The runner up was a delicious “Strawberries and Cream” Tim Tam, created by Ms Maynard’s class.

Faculty News

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In the first half of this year, HSIE has been very busy with their senior students! Year 11 Ancient History students attended an excursion to the Powerhouse Museum to the exhibition “Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives”. This display included rare and exquisite artefacts from ancient Egypt, and six unique mummies and their 3D CT scan results that unveiled hidden secrets! They also visited Susannah Place Museum and investigated an archaeological dig of colonial houses at The Rocks. The Year 12 Geography students completed their fieldwork excursion at Penrith Lakes. They were able to conduct water testing by measuring turbidity, oxygen levels, water temperature, pH levels and phosphate. Students also collected samples of fish and organisms to determine introduced species and their effect on this habitat. All students and teachers who attended these excursions had a great time!

Excursions

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T.A.S. – Agriculture The Cranebrook Agriculture classes have got off to a very busy start in 2017. Our Year 9 and Year 12 Agriculture students have raised broiler hens for the RAS Easter Show Student Competition and the Show Team has competed in the Royal Agriculture Society School Alpaca Handling Competition gaining a fourth place. In Week 9 of Term Two, Cranebrook students spent a day travelling to Shields Orchard at Bilpin and the Western Sydney University farm to learn about how farms are managed and experience some of the day to day routines of working in Agriculture. Students had the opportunity to try their hand at moving cattle in yards, look through a shearing shed, see a high tech GPS tractor and learn about the development and marketing of new fruit varieties.

Faculty News

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Quicksmart

Congratulations to all the students who are working so well in Quicksmart. We have assessed all our students and we are seeing wonderful growth in literacy. If you are keen to follow on with reading support at home, here are some strategies you can use with your child (10min)

• Choose a book that is slightly challenging • Write down some of the challenging word on a piece of paper • Discuss these words, their meaning and try to put them in sentences • Using a timer on a phone, time how many words can be read out in a minute from your

challenging word list. (You can either put these words on flash cards or just read from the paper you have written them on)

• Write down how many words you can read out in a minute, on the back of the paper. • Read the book for one minute. • Make a note of where you get up to in the book each day. • Each day, you will see that:

o Your challenging word list is easier o You are saying more words in a minute o You are reading to a further point in the text each day o Your reading is more fluent (expressive, smooth and at a great pace)

Year 11 Disability Provisions: If your child is sitting HSC exams next year, and has a disability, please call Learning Assistance as we may be able to arrange disability provisions through NESA for the 2018 HSC exams. These applications need to be finalised by Term 1, 2018.

Faculty News

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iScience Competition University of Sydney 16 students from 8M attended Sydney University during May and June to compete in the I- Science competition. Students had to plan a scientific investigation, carry out the investigation, prepare a poster and orally present to their peers, an academic and a scientist. One of our teams was awarded equal first and another team achieved highly commended. A total of 220 students from 15 schools competed so we are extremely proud of our students’ achievements. The winning team was Jacqueline Reed, Billie Kucyznski, Emilee Neale and Jesse Maples. Well done to all!

Cranebrook students compete!

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The Cranebrook High School Merit Scheme aims to acknowledge the academic achievements of our students. As we move into the second half of the year, there will be a major emphasis on handing out merit awards and this is a great time to remind our students and school community of the scheme. Below is a simplified version of the Merit flowchart. CRANEBROOK MEDALLION PRINCIPAL’S AWARD plus THREE community/academic activities DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S AWARD x2 YEAR ADVISOR’S AWARD x3 MERIT AWARD x5 As students collect the correct amount of merits at each level, students are reminded to hand the awards to their year advisor or the Merits Coordinator (Mr Hie) in Maths. Congratulations to the following students for achieving the following awards so far, this year: Year Advisor’s Award Angel Cassell (Year 7), Damon Cavanagh (Year 7), Tara Couzins (Year 7), Mary-Jane Deacon (Year 7), Marco Henic (Year 7), Gavin Howarth (Year 7), Lara Knox (Year 7), Olivia Lennon (Year 7), Teaghan Pearce (Year 7), Adau Anhiany (Year 8), Nikita Connell (Year 8), Blair Couzins (Year 8), Faith Fauoo Lemuelu (Year 8), Max Foster (Year 8), Rebekah Garlick (Year 8), Melanie Hensley (Year 8), Olivia Hext (Year 8), Emily Taliana (Year 8), Baydon Deahm (Year 9), Caitlyn Gollner (Year 9), Deputy Principal’s Award Luke Micallef (Year 8) Principal’s Award Emily Taliana (Year 8) Well done! Mr Hie

Cranebrook High School Merit Scheme

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TERM THREE - 2017

July Thurs 27th – Fri 28th

Year 8 Camp

Regional Athletics

August

Tues 1st Year 8 Subject Selection Information Night

Mon 7th Year 12 Trial HSC Exams begin Mon 21st Children’s Book Council “Book Week”

begins Wed 23rd Year 10 Camp

Cranebrook Calendar