mac fields news€¦ · 2016/7 captains and prefects it is with great pleasure that i can announce...

Mac Fields News Macquarie Fields High School

April 2010

2 Harold Street, Macquarie Fields NSW 2564 Phone 9605 3111 Web page: www.mfhs.nsw.edu.au

Issue 5 – Term 3 September 2016

Calendar Events

Week 8

Monday September 5 - Yr 11 Yearly Exams Friday September 9 Wednesday September 7 - Snowy Mountains Friday September 9 Excursion

Week 9

Monday September 12 - Yr 11 Yearly Exams Friday September 16 Monday September 12 P & C Meeting – 7:30pm Thursday September 15 LEAPS

Week 10

Monday September 19 Yr 10 STW Focus Week Wednesday September 21 Yr 12 Formal Assembly-

period 4 Thursday September 22 Annual Celebration Day Friday September 23 Yr 12 Picnic LAST DAY OF TERM

PARENTS PLEASE NOTE

Students absent from school

Please note changes to School Attendance Policy. Where a student is absent from school, a note explaining the absence must be received by the school within 7 school days. Where a note is not received the absence will be recorded as unjustified. This cannot legally be changed should a note be received after 7 days. Absences both justified and unjustified are recorded on school reports.

Recipient’s of PBL Raffle Prize Draw

NAME Year Wk/Term PRIZE Aveesha Dondanwala

8 Wk 4/T3 $20 Macarthur Square gift card

Benny Zhang

11 Wk 5/T3 $15 Canteen voucher

My Le 11 Wk 7/T3 $20 Macarthur Square gift card

From the Principal

How quickly things change in the world of education. Mrs Dolstra, has not returned to our school as yet, so I remain as Relieving Principal until the end of Term 3. My farewell in the last newsletter was, therefore somewhat premature. I am assured that Mrs Dolstra will return to our school fulltime from the commencement of Term four. PDHPE CLASSROOM TEACHER POSITION I am extremely pleased to be able to announce the appointment of Mr Joshua Luc as a permanent member of staff following merit selection for this position. Joshua has been employed here as a casual teacher for the past three years. He is a exemplary and popular teacher and we are very happy to have secured his services on a permanent basis. We are currently convening a merit selection panel for the classroom teacher position in Science. I will report on the outcome of this panel in our next newsletter published at the end of this term. Year 7 2017: Hands On High School – Monday 22 August It’s hard to believe but it is time for our incoming Year 7 for 2017 and their parents to begin to

September 2016

Issue 5 - Term 3 October 2014

explore the new world of learning in high school. To support the transition from Year 6 to Year 7, we invited parents of our prospective students to our annual Hands On High School event a couple of weeks ago. Hands On HS is an information evening with a difference where parents can experience sample lessons, meet some of our teachers, including our Year 7 Advisors, Ms Fong and Ms Peruzzo, our current student leaders and explore some of our facilities. It was a wonderful opportunity to find out more about our school and familiarise themselves, as parents, with the demands and requirements of secondary school. This evening is for parents only, as we have a day time version for the students. I would like to thank the Year Advisors, and our Head Teacher Welfare, Mrs Judge for their organisation of the evening. I would also like to thank faculties and their teacher representatives who developed and executed a mini-lesson for parents on this night. 2016/7 Captains and Prefects It is with great pleasure that I can announce the Captains and Prefects for 2016/17! Congratulations to: Ashraf Olife and Melita Duong-Ma (Captains), Aidan McDonagh and Megha Sevekari (Vice Captains). These wonderful students take up their duties formally, in Term 4. Our prefects are yet to be appointed but there will be twelve prefects. The twelve prefects are appointed to their position by the senior executive after a brief interview. Appointments reflect the unique make-up of our school so six positions will be for male students and six for female students. Of the six male/female positions, three each will be filled by selective students and three each will be filled by comprehensive students. Student leadership at this level is a very prestigious position but, more importantly, it is one of responsibility, maturity and commitment. The expectations are high and all members of the Student Leadership Team are expected to abide by a charter which they will sign at a meeting to be held later this term and to which their parents will be invited. They will also be issued with a calendar of school and community

events which they will be expected to attend as an integral part of their roles. The process followed to select the team has been extremely rigorous and included an information meeting expression of interest, and a full application. Successful applicants who wished to be included in the ballot for Captain and Vice Captain then proceeded to election. The entire school community were provided with the opportunity to participate in the elections which were managed by Miss Shakespeare, the SRC Coordinator. I would like to thank Miss Shakespeare and her assistants, Miss Hannaford and Mrs Grech who undertook the counting of votes. Teachers’ votes have the same value as those of the students. The Student Leadership Team will be formally inducted into their roles at the Commencement Ceremony to be held on Monday 10 October and I look forward to working closely with them. This is the second time we have had a Prefect body at Macquarie Fields HS and the aim is to expand the leadership opportunities for our students and ensure equal representation. In this edition… We have a very full and interesting report from the History and Languages Faculty, as well as a report on the European Study Tour planned for next January. We have also included a student report on a puppetry excursion to the ABC studios which I am sure you will find interesting. I hope you take the time to read about all the wonderful opportunities available to our students at Macquarie Fields HS! Mr M. I. Tishler Relieving Principal

September 2016


History and Languages Faculty Report

Another busy year for the History and Languages

Faculty and as usual, a great deal to report.

ANZAC Day School Ceremony 2016

Ms Fong and her Year 9 History students led a

very sombre and dignified ANZAC ceremony for

Macquarie Fields High School. This year a focus

was placed on the 100th anniversary of the Battle

of the Somme. Mr Ray James President of

Ingleburn RSL Sub-Branch, gave the ANZAC

address and spoke to the assembly about the

real meaning of war and sacrifice, after which Mr

James laid a wreath in the school’s ANZAC

Garden. The school choir, band and string

ensemble, under the leadership of Ms Tran and

Mrs Davidson, sang traditional hymns and played

a selection of very touching music to accompany

the ANZAC Ceremony. Again I would like to

thank all those teachers who made this such a

moving ANZAC Ceremony.

Mr Ray James, Ingleburn RSL Sub-Branch President

and School Captains laying the wreath in the Anzac

Garden

Ingleburn RSL Sub-Branch President Mr Ray James

HSIE SNOWY CAMP

Ms Barnes and Ms Bell are busy finalising the

Year 10 HSIE Snowy Mountains camp. This is

a combined History and Geography camp which

will focus on key aspects of the Geography and

History syllabus. Students will explore the

Australian War Memorial, National Zoo and

Parliament House Canberra. From here they will

be heading to Jindabyne to their accommodation

at Vikars Ski lodge and then up to the snow fields

at Thredbo to undertake some Geographical field

work on the Australian Alpine region. On the

way home a stop into the Snowy Mountains

hydro-electrical plant and a guided tour of

Australia’s leading solar power station in Cooma

has been organised by Mr Hollis. This is a very

September 2016


exciting opportunity for year 10 students and I

wish to thank Ms Barnes for her outstanding

leadership and management of the Year 10

camp and Ms Bell for, as usual stepping up and

assisting in the coordination of what will be an

annual HSIE camp for Year 10 students at

MFHS.

Nan Tien Temple- Studies of Religion

Excursion

Our year 11 and 12 Studies of Religion students

were lucky enough to attend an excursion to the

Buddhist Nan Tien Temple in Kanahooka

Wollongong organised by Ms Fong. This was

perhaps the most peaceful excursion I have

attended. It included an in-depth lecture on

Buddhism and aspects of the HSC syllabus, by a

Buddhist Monk and some time for deep

meditation and a very healthy and traditional

lunch. Being able to ring the gratitude bell and

visit the meditation centre were key highlights of

the excursion. I would like to recognise the

outstanding organisation efforts of Ms Fong and

the wonderful behaviour of our students.

Nan Tien Temple - Wollongong

Our students and Buddha

Year 7 Year Advisor 2017- Ms Fong

We are lucky in History and Languages to have a

number of Year Advisors in our faculty and this

has been added to by Ms Fong becoming the

Year 7 Advisor for 2017. Ms Fong has a natural

talent for getting the best out of students and is

dedicated to supporting the welfare of all the

young people in our school. I would like to take

this opportunity to congratulate Ms Fong on her

appointment as Year Advisor. Hands on High

School was her first official duty and she

managed this with considerable aplomb.

Hands on High School

September 2016


Ms Fong with students

Ancient and Modern History-Europe Study Tour 2017

2015 European Study Tour Vatican City

2015 European Study Tour Pompeii

Back by popular demand is the European Study

Tour. We have 20 very excited students who are

looking forward to departing for a whirlwind

European Tour which will include Germany,

France and Italy. Students will visit places of

historical significance in Germany including

important sites of Nazi Germany. They will also

visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum in

France and study the WW1 battle fields. Again

this year the tour group will lay a wreath on

behalf of Ingleburn RSL. From there, off to the

world of ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum and a

special lecture by Dr Estelle Lazer on the

archaeology and preservation of Pompeii. Mr

Hollis, Mrs Vrountzos and Ms Barnes will be

leading the tour and again after frequent

requests from parents Mr Hollis will be creating a

MFHS History Tour Travel Blog for the school

community to follow and learn about the

adventures of our students.

I would like to take this opportunity to

acknowledge the outstanding work of Mr Hollis

in initiating and managing the vast and complex

volumes of official paper work which is required

to make this trip a reality. The final approval lies

with the School Education Director Mrs Maria

Serafim and we hope to soon be receiving official

approval to fly out on January 7th 2017.

Classroom Room Upgrade

The faculty has completed a refurbishment of

each classroom and modified the existing spaces

with the assistance of SEBEL at Minto. The

faculty classrooms are now designed to allow for

more movement and flexibility in student learning

and enhance teacher and student engagement.

This has been an ongoing project which was

involved all members of the History and

Languages Faculty who have consulted with

local industry, students and the DoE. In

particular, I would like to recognise the efforts of

Ms Collins who made a CLASSMOVIE for the

September 2016


DoE entitled ‘21 century Learning Space@

MFHS by Film pond.

Ms Collins DoE Class Movie

Classroom upgrade D4

University of Wollongong and DoE Spaces

Research Project

The work the faculty has undertaken in changing

the learning spaces has now led us to be

nominated by both the DoE and the University of

Wollongong to be part of a learning spaces

research project. Ms Fong and Ms Collins have

been working with researchers at the UOW who

have been looking at our refurbishments and

undertaking studies of students using the new

rooms. The findings of this research will be

informing the redevelopment of classroom across

NSW and I am proud of the work of the faculty in

leading the way in this area. Special thanks to

Ms Collins for making the class movie and Ms

Fong for undertaking the research with UOW

academics in her classroom.

UOW academic observing Year 8

OLS (Outdoor Learning Space)

Another significant project which will support the

transformed learning spaces is the OLS- Outdoor

Learning Space. Mr Tishler has provided

significant funding to convert the Staff Garden

into a multi-purpose outdoor learning space

which will be covered with a shade sail and made

available for classes across the school to learn

outside, including undertaking Scientific

experiments, visual arts drawing and quiet

reading. This project stems from the Staff

Garden which was a tribute to our late Deputy

Principal Mrs Evelyn Hazzard. Making this space

an Outdoor Learning Space was only possible

due the work of Mr Hollis and Mr Barnes who

created the garden in memory Mrs Hazzard. I

think there can be no more fitting tribute to Mrs

Hazzard than this space to be used for students

to enhance their wellbeing at school and enable

them explore outdoor learning.

September 2016


Formative Assessment Faculty Policy

Formative Assessment is one of the faculty’s key

strategic directions. Formative Assessment

means that teachers are regularly testing the

knowledge, skills and understanding of their

students in ongoing and interactive ways to

ensure learning is taking place. Formative

assessment is critical in ensuring students are

engaged and learning in the classroom. To this

end the History and Languages faculty is

formalising the delivery and recording of

formative assessment instruments and measures

across the faculty. This project has been led by

Ms Collins who is trained in Formative

Assessment and who has written a faculty policy

to support Formative Assessment. Ms Collins

has undertaken some great work in

professionally developing the staff in our faculty

and across the school on different strategies

such as Kahoot to embed formative assessment

and I want to thank her for her hard work in this

important area.

Formative Assessment whiteboards

Coral Balmoral-Vietnam War Anniversary – Ingleburn RSL Captains laying a wreath

Meeting State and Federal Parliamentarians

In Term 2 Mr Tishler accompanied our Captains

and Vice-Captains to Ingleburn RSL to honour

the Australian Servicemen and women who lost

their lives in the Vietnam War. The anniversary of

the Battles of Coral/Balmoral, which were

significant battles for Australian, New Zealand

and American troops during the conflict in

Vietnam. The consulates of the United States

and New Zealand sent representatives and our

students laid a wreath on behalf of the School

Community. Students also met with State and

Federal Members of Parliament. I wish to thank

our Captains and Vice Captains for representing

our school at this important memorial.

September 2016


Macquarie University Excursion

Mrs Gibbs has been busy with her Ancient

History students. An excursion was organised to

the Macquarie University Museum of Ancient

Cultures. The students had the opportunity to

listen to an introductory lecture on Pompeii and

enjoyed a “hands on” experience with some

artefacts of Roman archaeology. They also

examined papyrus scripts from ancient Egypt

and explored artefacts from the reign of

Amenhotep III and Tutankhamun’s mummified

remains. Students had an outstanding “hands

on history” experience and I wish to thank Mrs

Gibbs for her organisation of the experience for

our students.

Australian War Memorial Excursion

Year 9 students had the opportunity to explore

the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and

explore the exhibits. This excursion reinforces

the learning undertaken in the ‘Australians at

War’ section the History Curriculum for Stage 5.

Students also had the opportunity to have a

private wreath-laying ceremony conducted by the

curator of the Australian War Memorial. Our

students were very respectful and participated in

this ceremony with the dignity that befits a

student from Macquarie Fields High School. A

special thanks to Ms Fong and Ms Bell for the

organisation of this annual excursion to the

Australian War Memorial.

Year 9 students laying a wreath at the tomb of the

Unknown Solider in Canberra

September 2016


Samoa Excursion ‘Pacifica’

Our next exciting adventure will be a Cross-

Curricula study tour to Samoa in January

2017/18. This will be coordinated by Mr Neale

and Mr Celestino. The excursion will reinforce

concepts in the new NSW Geography Syllabus.

The Pacifica excursion will also support students

studying Society and Culture and reinforce

concepts which will be part of the soon to be

implemented Australian Curriculum for Modern

History- Pacific Expansion. This an exciting

opportunity for students. Look out for

expressions of interest next term.

Ms Kensett- HIVE and Mentoring

Ms Kensett is the second in charge of the faculty

and does an exceptional job of mentoring

teachers. Her natural talent for mentoring and

her highly tuned emotional intelligence have

seen herself and Ms Barnes provide all staff at

MFHS with a innovative mentoring opportunity

called the HIVE. This capacity-building

framework enables teachers to connect across

the school to seek support and engage in

collaboration and innovation. The success of this

program is seeing it expand and with support

from the Principal and the DOE will no doubt be

adopted by other schools across the state.

Ms Barnes and Ms Kensett

Picture provided by Education Director Maria Serafim

Mr T Neale

Head Teacher History/Languages

September 2016


Excursion to the ABC Studios By Selina Tong, Achintha Namaratne, and Rose Zhang, Year 8 Puppetry Class August 25th 2016

Today was the day. After several minutes of

waiting in the chilly weather, the train finally

arrived, and we boarded the train and sat

together. After a few stops, we gave our seats to

some standing adults. We got off at Central

Station and walked through a tunnel until we got

to the ABC building.

We arrived at the ABC Studios ahead of

schedule and our tour around the building didn’t

start until 9:50 am. We took a couple of photos in

front of the Dr Who Tardis before signing in with

reception..Then we were allowed to roam

around the ground floor. The thing that caught

my eye was a live television news program being

filmed by ABC News 24. Through a glass pane

we could see the news presenter read his lines

from a screen in the camera so, to the viewers at

home it looks like he memorized the lines and he

is always looking at you. Apart from him, no one

was in the room controlling the cameras. When it

was nearly time for our tour to start we met and

our volunteer tour guide Jacs came and greeted

us.

First we went to see the original puppets used for

the 1990’s ABC production of Blinky Bill. They

were smaller than I thought they would be

compared to the film. We talked about the type of

puppets used, the materials used to make them,

and how it was filmed. Next we moved to Studio

21. This was the most exciting part! When we

arrived on the set of Jimmy Giggle and Hoot,

they were in the middle of rehearsing a scene

and we were allowed to watch.

We saw that there were three cameras and they

kept on changing throughout the recording.

Jimmy Giggle had two television sized monitors

so he could view himself and make changes to

his acting or adjust his positioning. Nicholas, the

puppeteer of Hoot had three, small monitors

hidden from the camera’s view to oversee Hoots’

actions while he performed. The main camera

could zoom in and out and move around while

the two other cameras remained stationary.

There were many takes before they nailed it.

Everything matters, even a single step towards

the camera or a slight shift in positioning.

Jimmy Giggle was very funny. The puppeteer for

Hoot the Owl sat behind the couch while

performing. Hoot the Owl is a hand puppet and

inside him is a trigger that moves his mouth and

wings. Hoot the Owl also has other types of

wings that he can put on so he can grab things.

The background in the window was green but on

the TV screen it looked like the night sky. There

is a control room above the studio where the

director sits to monitor each scene. (Every studio

has a control room). One of the workers there

told me that the camera picks up the colour

green and they can make it look like whatever

they want and that the technique is called

“chromatography”. We were able to see how the

filming worked and how they practised and

rehearsed for a scene.

After that our tour guide brought us to a massive

room, Studio 22, where they normally hold the

live program for Q&A. The studio was empty and

we could see that there were lines on the side

that directed staff on the placement/positioning of

props. Our guide told us that there were 156 sets

of lights in the studio and one of them used

around 5000W so they need their own substation

to give them electricity. Since television shows

are also filmed here, the floor is continuously

polished to enable things to slide across them

smoothly such as cameras and chairs.

September 2016


We were then taken upstairs to the Newsroom.

This studio has 9 screens that together, show

one image which is used for the weather reports.

The room was filled with cameras different to the

ones used for filming Giggle and Hoot and were

controlled from a different room. After that we

went to the control room where the director and

other technicians were making the final

adjustments just before the midday news

broadcast. They were checking the camera

angles and testing if the equipment worked.

There were two clocks, one analogue and the

other digital. There were also several monitors

showing the studio, one gave a general overview

of the studio, another, a preview and another a

live view of the studio.

After this we moved on to the Local Radio studio,

the last place of the tour. Jacs talked about how

radio programs were made and the importance

of a sound proof room and how timing played a

crucial role. The room was soundproof, with

three thick glass panels and special soft walls

and ceiling to conceal sound and stop echoing.

Timing in radio is important because there is a

strict schedule which is why they also have

clocks. In radio there is no director but there is a

producer. In live radio, when the presenter asks

to take calls, the producer is usually the one that

takes the calls and sorts the content so it is

unbiased and even. There is a ten second delay

before the content airs which blocks offensive

content. This discussion concluded our tour and

we made our way down downstairs.

We collected our bags and thanked Jacs for this

amazing experience before heading down to

Darling Harbour where we had lunch in

Tumbalong Park. On the way back to the train

station we found a number of exercise bikes in

the park that charge your phone with the energy

you create by peddling. We had a lot of fun on

the excursion. It was very nice.

September 2016


mac fields news€¦ · 2016/7 captains and prefects it is with great pleasure that i can announce...

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