Open High School 78 Avoca Street, Randwick NSW 2031 http://www.theopenhs-d.schools.nsw.edu.au (02)9381-4800 (02)9381-4950

Principal’s Message

I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the Christmas break after a long and interesting year. Open High School students and staff have achieved a great deal in 2015 and it’s a good time to reflect on our achievements. Not only have our students worked and studied hard throughout the year, but our staff has coped with a lot of change this year: a new Principal (!), news of our move, new software and databases to master and Department of Education reforms that have required greater levels of commitment and professional learning. I’m proud that Open High School teachers and administrative staff have weathered the buffeting and confirmed their professionalism. There has been a determination to do everything possible to improve the learning outcomes of our students and streamline systems within the school. I am in awe of the dedication of our teachers and the personal attention they give to their students. We have received some generous and positive feedback from students and parents, some of which I am sharing in this newsletter. Our students continue to excel and as you’ll read, have been busy winning more awards and accolades. About our move: The tender for finding us a new school space has only just closed and we are waiting to hear if Government Properties has compiled a shortlist for us to consider. I think it is unlikely that we will have a clear decision before the end of the year, but of

course I will let you know as soon as anything is confirmed. Over 20 of our staff attended training in the exciting Inkerz software. We are hoping to have teachers and students using the software in 2016.

Hilary Hughes with Inkerz representatives

Several of our staff also attended a workshop on film-making with cinematographer Tim Nathan. Next year we hope to have even more successful entries in the Linguafest competition.

Film-making workshop

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year and I look forward to being in touch with many of you next year. Kind regards Hilary Hughes Principal

2015 Term 4 Number 2

For enrolment information at Open High School, please go to www.theopenhs-d.schools.nsw.edu.au

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Awards – French On the 13th October, "The Deadly Kids Doing Well" awards ceremony took place at the Great Hall Building at the University of Technology Sydney. The ceremony was attended by the Minister for Education, Hon Adrian Piccoli MP, Aunty Fay Carroll, Murat Dizdar, Executive Director Public Schools. The Keynote speaker was Michael O'Loughlin, former AFL footballer for the Sydney Swans and Board member of the GO Foundation. Mrs Gilchrist, Open High School French teacher, attended this ceremony on behalf of Max Gilbert, our school’s winner. Max was unable to attend the ceremony to receive his certificate and book prize. He was presented with them by Mrs Gilchrist during an awards ceremony at his own school, St Francis Xavier College in Hamilton. Linguafest Competition – Russian Russian Stage 5 – Highly Commended in the Modern Language Teachers Association (MLTA) of NSW 2015 Linguafest competition Every year Languages students in Years 5 to 10 are invited to participate in the Linguafest, a short film competition organised by the MLTA of NSW. This year students needed to create a 2 minute film using the target language that they are studying. The film had to be based on the theme “An excuse” and include a signature item – an ice cream. This year the films of twenty finalists were screened at the Dendy Cinema on 20 November 2015. Among them was out film ‘Fight Fire with Fire’, produced by our Stage 5 Russian students during the Lesson Day in Term 3.

Once again our students have demonstrated their talents, initiative and language capability as their film was recognised by the MLTA judges’ panel and won the “Highly Commended” award. Well done! Так держать!

Screen shots of ‘Fight Fire with Fire’

Indonesian Teachers Workshop Open High School organised another workshop for NSW Indonesian teachers this year, funded by the Department of Education and supported by KJRI (Indonesian Consulate of Republic Indonesia), the Modern Language Teachers Association of NSW and the QualityTeaching Council. 24 Indonesian teachers came from all over New South Wales, including Mullumbimby, Coonabarabran, Coffs Harbour, Camden Haven, Manilla, Merewether, Grafton, Casino, Wollongong, Maitland and Wagga Wagga. The workshop was formally opened by the Consul-General, Dr Yayan G Mulyana, with a welcome dinner on Thursday, 19 November 2015 at the Consul-General’s residence in Rose Bay. As reflected in the theme of this year’s workshop, ‘Resource Sharing’, teachers had opportunities to learn and showcase new materials and resources as well as sharing the wonderful teaching methodology to engage their students. Among them were Basa-Basi, the Language Learning Space which provides an online live tutoring feature with Indonesian tutors in Bali, Mantap! (a new 100-hour course for Stage 4), Flipped Classrooms, Creating Games in PowerPoint and many more. Higher Order Thinking assessment was also presented to equip

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teachers with tools to write assessments that can cater for students with different levels of abilities The workshop was well received by all participants.

Welcome dinner at the Consul-General’s

residence at Rose Bay Spanish Language Teachers’ Conference On 23 October 2015, Open High School Spanish teachers attended the tenth annual Spanish Language Teachers’ Conference. There were presenters from Canberra, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand. The Director of the Cervantes Institute opened the event by welcoming all participants. The first presentation was delivered by Dr. José Gómez Asencio, from the Department of Spanish at the University of Salamanca, who presented the theories of language teaching from 1492 to the present (via Skype). Experts presented papers on different aspects of pedagogy and the didactics of teaching Spanish language. There was also discussion and analysis of the opportunities and challenges that teachers of a second language face in Australia. It was a very special day because it was attended by consuls of several Spanish-speaking countries and media representatives. The meeting promoted and provided the means for cultural and professional exchange amongst teachers, who had the invaluable opportunity to socialise, exchange ideas and share resources and expertise with colleagues from all over Australia.

At the end of the conference, the three students who came first in the state in the 3 2014 HSC Spanish courses were congratulated and presented with certificates by the Spanish Teacher’s Association of NSW. Those students were Simone Luca - Beginners from Hornsby Girls’ High School, Bronte Fauchon - Continuers from Open High School and Stephany Rojas Raldes - Extension from the Saturday School of Community Languages.

Simone Luca, Bronte Fauchon and Stephany Rojas

Raldes

German Stop Press

German Year 9 and 10: All newly enrolled 2016 students (German Years 9 and 10) are invited to a German Orientation afternoon on Friday 11 December, 3 - 4 pm at Open High School. New students and parents will be contacted by email once they are enrolled. And more exciting news for all students of German: Planning is under way for an immersion camp next year!

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Modern Greek News Open High School welcomes community engagement and Father Apostolos from the Greek Orthodox Church All Saints, kindly came to offer his dulcet tones in the recording studio. His voice will be heard on the many listening activities used by our students of Modern Greek.

Father Apostolos with our Modern Greek teachers Korean Immersion Day A Korean Immersion Day at the University of NSW was held as part of language and cultural experience. Junior students from Open High School participated in this event. The day was full of fun and exciting activities. Students were happy to explore Korea through K-pop dance, making giant Gimbab (Korean seaweed rice roll) and decorating T-shirts with beautiful Korean Hangeul.

Ashley Bako (3rd from left) making the giant Gimbab

Japanese excursion to the Nihongo Tanken Centre Reports from two Year 10 Japanese students: Kevin: On 4 November 2015, the Year 9 and Year 10 Japanese classes went on an excursion to the Japanese Nihongo Tanken Centre in Kirrawee High School. The students travelled long distances just to arrive at Sydney's Central station. We continued our travels, meeting our teacher on the Illawarra train line to Kirrawee station.

Here we met another group of students coming up to Sydney from the southern areas. Some students had to get up at 4am to come on this excursion. It was a 10 minute walk to Kirrawee High School from the station. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side. The majority of students thankfully managed to stay dry, but a few were caught out in the downpour.

Samantha: Entering the Nihongo Tanken Centre after experiencing a downpour of heavy rain was a warm and welcoming feeling. We were totally immersed in the Japanese language and culture for the next few hours. No English! One of my favourite activities was the quiz. Out of the four groups that we’d split into, one person from each stood at the front of the room with a buzzer. The two hosts would give us questions, ask us how to pronounce different kanji and katakana, and ask us what certain things meant. We had to press the buzzer as quickly as possible and answer to get points, just like on a game show! Another fun activity we did was playing Pictionary with katakana words. Although it

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was sometimes hard to draw (especially drawing the characters from memory, like Hello Kitty), it was really entertaining and exciting. We learned about Japanese foods, and as groups we raced to see who was quickest to spell out the food and match it with its picture. We then split into pairs and did a role-play restaurant scene. We followed a script in Japanese and ordered the food we wanted – nice and easy. One of the hosts dressed up in different costumes and played different characters for each pair who performed their scene, it was hilarious! It was really interesting going around the Japanese house and being told what everything was, and how you were meant to do certain things. We were shown how to take our shoes off and put on house slippers before placing our shoes neatly in the genkan (entrance hall), and we learnt about Japanese house etiquette. We were also taught the names of certain rooms and house objects, which they repeated throughout the day to help us remember. This was all in Japanese.

The hardest thing we did was playing Kendama, which is a game where the goal is to catch a ball (which is attached by string) in a cup on the end of a hammer. It was really funny watching people desperately struggling to do it, although some people were really good at it straight away. Overall, I would definitely recommend going to the Nihongo Tanken Centre. The hosts were lovely, and really entertaining to watch and listen to, and it was really rewarding to be immersed in the Japanese language the whole day. It’s a very educational experience, especially if you are planning on doing a student exchange to Japan, or going on holiday there at some point in the future.

English as a Second Language English as a Second Language (ESL) will be in its fifth year at Open High School in 2016. There are 16 students enrolled in the 2016 HSC course, with similar numbers expected for the Preliminary course. Stage 6 ESL is an ATAR course, a subject used to gain entry into university. In order to be eligible to enrol in the Open High School Preliminary course, students must have been in Australia for less than 5 years, or had interrupted study in their own country, and live in regional NSW. Our 3 ESL teachers teach students from countries such as India, Nepal, China, The Congo and Russia.

Students have their ESL lesson via video conference

Lessons are delivered mainly via video conference, but also with the support of Google Docs and telephone lessons. Our purpose-written Stage 6 ESL course is delivered online, with students submitting weekly work online and teachers marking and returning work to students online. Modules of work include exercises and essays on film study, poetry and novel study, as well as a listening module, where students listen to long interviews and answer questions about listening techniques such as tone, mood change of voice and language register. Italian Excursion The Year 9 and 10 Italian students attended a special school screening of “Italo” at the Palace Theatre in Newtown on 16 October as part of the Italian film festival. Afterwards the students enjoyed lunch at an Italian restaurant followed by a tour of Newtown and Leichhardt streets. The students studied the the theme of Italian immigration in Australia and what it meant for the the Italian community. They walked through the Piazza and Italian Forums.

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Language Perfect at Open High School Language Perfect is an online resource that assists the learning of vocabulary, grammar and script covering 3 skills – listening, reading and writing. This year 144 Open High School students subscribed to Language Perfect. Our senior Beginners and Continuers students make up the majority of the Language Perfect subscribers. 44 % students received a mark above 90 and a further 23% received a mark above 80. The majority of students were very satisfied with the online program and recommended it to their fellow students. All content has been customised to match Open High School’s curriculum. By using Language Perfect, students are able to revise the vocabulary they are learning and also earn points to compete against classmates, other schools and individuals around the world. For ease of use, Language Perfect can be accessed on any computer with internet access and is also available on mobile devices. The 2016 subscription cost is $30.00. Please note that membership of Language Perfect is not a mandatory requirement of any course at Open High School. For those parents and students who would like to take up this additional program, we ask that you complete your payment by 31 March 2016 using Paypal or Credit Card by clicking on this link: https://start.languageperfect.com/payment-open-high.html

Language Perfect team in Dunedin New Zealand

Open High School teacher Mrs McLean

Year 10 Long Tan Award recipient

Charlotte Scharrmacher receiving her award at Rose Bay Secondary College from her supervisor.

Start saving for our next trip to Italy in September 2016!

Italian Study Tour

The study tour to Italy was, for me, an unforgettable experience. The other students and I were able to immerse ourselves in the Italian culture; language, food, customs and traditions. We visited numerous historical sites and monuments, as well as little cafes and shops. The most rewarding aspect was when we lived with an Italian family. We had the ability to experience their daily lives within a fairly short period of time. The school was a big contrast to my school on the Central Coast, but it was fascinating to witness how Italian teenagers socialise and learn. The daily Italian classes that we attended enabled my Italian to develop and grow. The most challenging aspect, for me, was making friends with both the students on the trip and the Italians. But, it was fairly easy after the initial introductions because everyone was extremely lovely. I would definitely recommend other Italian students to go on this trip. It may be nerve-racking at first, but once you're there you will realise what a wonderful opportunity it is to travel, experience new cultures, develop lasting friendships, and learn. Klarissa Diggelman (Year 11)

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Letters from our school community A Supervisor’s praise When my student returned to her Home school last Wednesday morning she was glowing with happiness. My student had thoroughly enjoyed her face-to-face day with you and the three other students. Then this happiness was further enhanced when I gave my student her 2 certificates, 1st in course and Academic Achievement. It is so great to see my student enjoying her Modern Greek so completely. A supervisor in Gosford This year one of our students was a student studying the Russian Continuers Course through the Open High School. I would like to comment on my student’s experience with this course. Throughout this course her Russian teacher went to many lengths to ensure my student was able to achieve her best learning outcomes. My student does not have a wide family support network and I believe her rapport with her teacher directly affected her day to day ability to progress through the course. Her Open High School teacher was also instrumental in seeking provisions for her during her tasks and exams. The face-to-face lessons provided wonderful opportunities for my student to mix with other students who share her love for the Russian language. I would highly recommend the Russian Continuers Course at Open High School for being so positive and supportive. A student My name is Betina, and I studied Portuguese Continuers at Open High School in the years of 2014 and 2015. My experience studying at Open High School has greatly benefited me, not only academically but also outside of school. Having moved to Australia from Brazil in 2010, my family were concerned that I would forget how to write in, or even speak, my native language. However Open High School has allowed me to continue studying Portuguese in Australia and also choose it as a subject for my Higher School Certificate. I believe the study of languages is very fulfilling and beneficial to all – from those whose parents speak a different language to those who hope to take a gap year and travel the world, learning a new language is an extremely rewarding experience.

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Careers News Meet our ex-student – Olivia Bouchier Olivia Bouchier completed the French Beginners Course at Open High School in 2013. She earned a mark of 98 for the course. Like others featured in our newsletters, Olivia also has an exciting language learning journey. I studied French Beginners at Open High in year 11 and 12 (2012-2013) with the wonderful Madame Goodwin! I also studied German Continuers and Extension. So 5 units of language kept me on my toes, but also made the HSC much more enjoyable than it could have otherwise been, I think! I especially enjoyed the speaking exam - it was very relaxed and the examiner was incredibly encouraging. Come to think of it, I also found all the written parts very satisfying and doable too. As long as you've prepared and practised enough it's designed for you to succeed! After school I spent the good part of a year in Europe, of which a few months were spent in France. I spent time in Paris and near Caen and then cycled through Normandy and up the North coast of France, through Belgium and followed the Rhein River down through Germany camping along the way and soaking up the beautiful landscapes, towns and unexpected adventures off the main tourist drag. Being able to communicate in French and German made all the difference and probably saved my life at least twice! I also found that not as many people as you'd expect in the French countryside speak English and communicating with people in their own language, in their own country makes for an altogether better experience! I also spent a lot of time in Ireland and England and wished I'd put aside more time for Italy. People are always warmer and more hospitable if you can even attempt to speak their language. Also, getting used to when (on earth!?) small rural French shops are open is essential if you're going to head out of the big smoke. The Open High School program supplemented language learning with interesting cultural information which simply visiting the country doesn't always provide you with and is very helpful to know about in advance. I also loved the feeling of being very in control of my learning which made me take on the language more, I think, than if I had attended classes at school. I feel my French really stuck with me because of that. I have played around with various Arts subjects this year at university, including Chinese Mandarin, which I think was made much more straight forward by having done French: I think after learning one language, you know how to go about learning another one, even if they aren't even remotely similar. I am enrolled to study Architecture next year, and am hoping I will be able to study French alongside it. I have maintained my French this year, recreationally, watching French films and dipping into Madame Bovary (in French). I'm hoping to travel with my Architecture degree, among other things. I'll always keep my French (and German) and any other languages I learn, and hope to continually improve them!

Olivia camped out at the historic town of Montreuil-sur-mer in France

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Au Pair in America: Online Information Session Monday 7 December, 8.00pm – 9.00pm http://www.aifs.com.au/aupair-america/events/free-online-information-session-may-1/ La Trobe University: Albury-Wodonga Advisory Week Monday 14 December – Monday 21 December, Future Students Centre, Albury-Wodonga Campus Staff and students will be available to answer questions. Contact: 1300 135 045 http://www.latrobe.edu.au/events/all/change-of-preference UTS Insearch: Information Sessions Thursday 28 January, Thursday 11 February, Thursday 25 February, Thursday 10 March 5.00pm – 7.00pm, 187 Thomas Street, Ultimo Learn about UTS Insearch and its unique pathway to university. http://www.insearch.edu.au/Campaigns/imnotanumber ANU: School Enrichment Program ANU’s School Enrichment Program allows students in Years 7 – 11 to experience the university by participating in workshops across the university’s academic colleges. Schools may book a workshop for their students by contacting student recruitment. Contact: student.recruitment@anu.edu.au http://www.anu.edu.au/files/resource/SRA15568%20Schools%20Enrichment%20v5_FA.pdf Make Your Mark: The Virtual Classroom The Virtual Classroom series takes students and their teachers on virtual visits to university campuses and puts them in touch with university researchers, academics and industry professionals. These videos increase students’ awareness, confidence and motivation towards higher education, with numerous sessions to support the curriculum and raise capacity through teacher professional learning. http://www.makeyourmark.edu.au/parents-schools/resources/resources-teachers-bridges-connect/

Olivia Bouchier Did your Open High School study have any impact on your decision? Learning French at Open HS really showed me how achievable and straight forward mastering a language can be, (an experience which was dissimilar to other language classes I've experienced!) and so I feel that the language learning tools I picked up will be of great use to me whether I decide to formally continue with my French, work on it in my spare time or pick up a new language further down the track. Languages are very powerful, not only in communication but also in opening up all sorts of exciting opportunities! Do you have any study tips to share with our students? Really try to enjoy it! It's a well-designed course and if you keep on top of it there's loads of space to watch French films, read articles and expand your vocabulary easily. Speaking makes everything stick. So try and nail the accent and rhythm of it all. If you can find someone to practise speaking with it's really worth it too, and helps words and phrases to come naturally.

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UNSW: Scholarships While applications for the majority of school leaver scholarships closed on 30 September, applications are still open for the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program and UNSW’s Equity Scholarships. https://scholarships.online.unsw.edu.au/scholarship/sc_al_search.search?p_session=&p_srch_type=internal&p_ky=&p_cd=&p_cs=&p_st=&p_fac=&p_sab=&p_oc=UAC_OR_EAS&p_ocx=N&p_status=all#srch_rslt Good Universities Guide Graduate outcomes – is going to uni worth it? http://www.gooduniversitiesguide.com.au/Latest-news/Getting-into-university/Is-uni-worth-it#.VkqliXYrKUk New Resources for People Considering University as a Pathway What’s Uni Like An online course helping people answer the following questions: is university for me? What should I expect at university? What academic skills will I need? http://www.whats-uni-like.edu.au/ Campus Quest A game designed to help people understand and prepare for life at uni. https://campusquest.com.au/ William Angliss Institute: New Courses Bachelor of Resort and Hotel Management The new course is designed to equip graduates with the ability to lead and manage business operations and find innovative solutions to complex issues in the dynamic hotel and resort industries. http://www.angliss.edu.au/news Disclaimer The content of this newsletter is provided for information purposes only. Users should check the accuracy and reliability of the information and assess the suitability of the information for their own circumstances. Open High School does not recommend or endorse any products, courses, services or tertiary providers.

Open High School is offering the Korean Beginners course for students who will be in Year 11 in 2016. It is intended for students with little or no prior knowledge of the Korean language. Korean is Australia’s 4th largest trading partner! Korean + You = a future in trade, commerce, tourism, education, international relations, technology. For more information, visit our website

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