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~~PRINCIPAL’S REPORT~~

~~PRINCIPAL’S REPORT~~

~~ ACTING PRINCIPAL’S REPORT~~

Welcome back to what promises to be a busy and productive Term 4. This newsletter is also the first that have only been made available to read in digital form. You may be reading this because you have clicked on our link from our Facebook Page, so rest assured that these links will be present for future publications. We thank Ms Deborah Warwick for coming and helping us out over the last two terms and wish her all the best for the future. Her drama classes have been absorbed by Mrs Anthony, Mrs Ormond and Ms Neal. We welcome back Mrs Kellie Goman for three days a week as she fills (with Mrs Lanham) the timetable void left by Mr Bush’s secondment to the role of Deputy Principal. Higher School Certificate Examinations have begun and we wish all of our students the best of luck. The foundations have been laid, so it is now simply time to walk into the exam room and get it done! I would find it difficult to believe that another cohort in the state has had to rise above adversity like our Class of 2015. They should be immensely proud of themselves of how they have found cohesion as a group and achieved great things personally and together. It was an immense pleasure to see Year 12 present representatives of Country Hope with a substantial cheque of over $4100 on their final school assembly. They have done their families, school and community proud and I am sure that rewarding futures beckon. On the subject of HSC Exams, if students are sick and miss an exam, they will require a medical certificate. Whilst everyone comprehends the gravity of the Higher School Certificate Examination, it seems that alarmingly less regard is heeded towards Assessment in lower years. At the risk of airing dirty laundry, far too many N-Letters are being printed and signed at Leeton High School. Students in Year 11 have been served with Principal’s Determination Forms, which state that the school intends to give students an N-Determination in their Preliminary Course. The ramifications of this are not good. Firstly, no student is eligible for the Higher School Certificate (in 2016) unless they have satisfactorily completed 12 Units of Preliminary Subjects. For most students, this means everything they have studied! On a similar note, I am hoping to send letters to parents of Year 10 students facing a similar fate in mid-November. If you receive one, because your child has not addressed the requirements of N-Letters that have been previously sent, then I urge you to discuss this matter with them most seriously with the view to completing these requirements in the immediate future. Again, grave outcomes present themselves to students who fail to do so with respect to future study options in Year 11 next year. Leeton High, however, acknowledges that we have to do more to lift the profile of Assessment within our learning community. We are currently aiming to develop Assessment Calendars, so that any parent or student can see exactly what upcoming assessment tasks have been planned for them. It is envisaged that these can be viewed and accessed from our school webpage. If we are to challenge students to perform better academically, then it is only fair that we provide more reliable and accessible information to help our learners to do so. To conclude, I would like to stress the importance of communication between home and school. If you have any questions on any issue, please do not hesitate to call us on 6953-2122 or email leeton-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au with your concerns.

Andrew Morschel, Acting Principal

“Educating young people for active and responsible citizenship”

P.O Box 843, LEETON 2705 Ph: 69532122 Fax: 69535085 leeton-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au ABN: 22 761 278 122

Acting Principal: Mr A Morschel Issue No: 16 Term: 4 Week 2 Tuesday 13 October, 2015

, 2013

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~~ACTING DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT~~

Term 4 has started and there seems to be the usual theme for the start of the term - uniform, attendance and Level 1. I will continue to work on these throughout the term and I ask for your support on these matters. Uniform: Leeton High School has a student uniform. If a student comes to school in anything other than the correct full school uniform, they are required to have a note from their parents. This note is taken to the front office before school and the student is given an ‘out of uniform pass’ for the day. If a student is out of uniform without a note from their parents they are removed from the playground during lunch 1 on that day. If a student forgets to attend the detention they are expected to complete it the next day or they will be ‘level dropped’. During the first week of this term there have been a large number of students out of uniform that have a uniform at home but choose not to wear it. Please make sure that your child is in the correct school uniform every day and if they are not, provide a note explaining why they are out of uniform. Attendance: Students may only leave the school grounds when they are picked up by their parents. Any notes explaining why your child is being picked up are to be taken to the front office before school. The student is given a pass that they can show their teacher in order to leave a class. Parents must come to the front office and sign their child out from school. There have been a number of students that have walked home during the day or have been picked up by their parents and the school has not been notified of this. If you are going to pick your child up during the school day please send a note with your child to school and come to the front office to pick up your child. Level 1: There are a number of students on Level 1 of the Leeton High School Welfare and Discipline System. When on this level there are some requirements that the student must fulfil throughout the 3 days they are on level 1. Students are required to pick up a “pink card” from the Deputy Principal in the morning before school, hand their card to their teacher at the beginning of every class, complete a level 1 detention lunch 1 (excluding students returning from suspension) and return their card to the Deputy Principal at the end of the day. Students that do not pick up their card, attend the level 1 detention or fail to return a completed card at the end of the day place themselves in danger of being suspended from school. If there are any issues with uniform, attendance or Level 1 that you wish to discuss please don’t hesitate to contact me. Damian Bush, Acting Deputy Principal

SCHOOL NEWS

ENGLISH and CAPA UPDATE The Year 12 Visual Arts projects will be marked later this month. Some of these were completed to a very high standard and we wish our students the very best of luck. Auditions for MADD were held last week and again this week and several of these acts will be selected to join LHS finest performers for the annual MADD night in early December. Unfortunately there is a limited number of spaces and many keen performers, but there will be lots of opportunities to perform in 2016 if you miss out this time.

SCHOOL AWARDS

Congratulations to the following students on achieving awards: EXECTUIVE AWARDS : Sheridan Scali (Year 7), Hannah Rhodes- Boulter, Maanu Alexander (Year 8), Chloe Richards, Thalia Taylor (Year 9), Jackson Preston, Molly Jackson (Year 10), Shaun Muller, Bryce Butler (Year 11) and Wyatt Morriss (Year 12).

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Our School Spectacular dancers and choir are already into their preparations for the big shows at the QANTAS Credit Union Arena in Sydney in late November. We have both featured artists and group performers and we wish them the very best in their preparation and performances. A massive thank you to Miss Hardie and Mr Smeal for their work so far. Welcome back to Mrs Goman who is also keen to help get the students up to their usual standard. The Performing Arts crew were at the Farmers Markets on the weekend selling seedlings and raised over $300 towards the School Spec trip.

Stall at the farmers market

…APPiness in the ENGLISH and CAPA classroom.. There are lots of really useful apps and websites available for students to access at home and at school. The www.literacyshed.com.au is a website dedicated to resources for writing. There are activities and ideas there for stories and developing writing. Although it is targeted towards primary aged children, there are many benefits evident for our junior students too. www.splash.abc.net.au is great for Shakespeare resources and many other texts. Both Year 8 and Year 10 students are studying the Bard this term and may find many useful ideas here. There is a section called “Shakespeare Unbound” which offers scenes set in the modern day and are aimed at the Junior secondary years, scene analysis and character development.

Pictello is an app on both iOS and Android which is useful for visual storytelling and has been used for students with Autism to great success.

Essay Writing Guide is also available and covers the elements of writing and covers content, style, organisation and mechanics.

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MET SCHOOL DONATION

Last term the students and staff at the MET School had a fundraiser and donated the proceeds to Leeton High School. They presented these funds to Mr Horton and our Captains, Lucas Meline and Jenna McCallum to put towards the memorial for Stephanie Scott. Leeton High School would like to thank all the students and staff of the MET School for this wonderful gesture.

SCHOOL SPORTS

CHS ATHLETICS Congratulations to the nine students who attended the CHS Athletics at Homebush last term. All students had excellent results. In particular, Madeline Warburton won gold in the 17 and over Javelin and Thomas DePaoli won a bronze medal in the 14 years high jump and finished fourth in the long jump.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Mon 12 Oct – HSC Commence Mon 2 Nov – Fri 13 Nov – Years 7-9 Exams Commence Mon 26 Oct – Year 10 Exams Commence Fri 6 Nov – Year 12 Grad Dinner Tue 27 Oct – P&C meeting – 7pm school library Wed 16 Dec – Students last day

Leeton Junior Cricket Association

Registration morning at Leeton High School Ovals Saturday 17 October – 9am-11am

Or register online now at PLAYCRICKET.com.au

Milo Cricket for 5 to 8yrs $90 per child Under 10’s T20 bash $99 per child

Under 12’s/14’s $90 per child

Follow us on Facebook @Leeton Junior Cricket Association