the fortnightly newsletter of castle hill high school ...€¦ · the fortnightly newsletter of...

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EXCELLENCE INNOVATION SUCCESS School Telephone: 9634 4199 School Facsimile: 9899 6527 Website: http://www.castlehill-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

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The fortnightly newsletter of Castle Hill High School

EXCELLENCE INNOVATION SUCCESS

Volume 16 25 October 2013

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Newly inducted student leaders I am pleased to announce the 2014 captains, vice captains, sports captains and SRC presidents following an induction ceremony held last Friday October 18 in front of proud parents, staff and the school. Congratulations to the following students:

Captains: Madelaine Caldwell and James O’Brien

Vice Captains: Andrea Sigmann and

Dev Bhakri

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Newly appointed Head Teacher Secondary Studies

I am delighted to announce that Mr John Wright has been appointed to the position of Head Teacher Secondary Studies at Castle Hill High School. John is an outstanding educator with an enormous capacity. He will be looking after new teachers in their first five years of teaching as well as leading curriculum projects across the school. This is a well deserved result, one that will see benefits for teachers and students now and in the years to come.

Telstra

The Telstra issue continues to haunt us. On Monday October 21 I hosted a meeting with Telstra officials, parents and community representatives, the principals of Glenhaven PS, Mrs Kerry Maxwell and Castle Hill PS , Mr Steve Connelly, two local state MPs, Dominic Perrotet and David Elliott and the Castle Hill RSL CEO David O’Neill to determine if it was possible for Telstra to relocate its mast in another location, away from the danger zone of young and 200m from this school’s fence. We knew that towers had been relocated in other areas with sensitive locations near schools – Double Bay PS for example – and we knew that the Department of Education and Communities has a policy with a preference of 500 metres from the boundary fence, so we were feeling as if justice could and should be done.

Telstra were emphatic in rejecting our views and were determined in their voice about locating the tower on top of Castle Hill RSL.

Sports Captains: Ellen Cornwall, Kimia Sharifi Nasab and Jack Arthur

SRC Presidents: Kingsley Xi

and

Courtney Shaw

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There was feisty and robust exchange, in particular from our local MPs who supported the community positions with conviction. They are taking things further by accessing the Federal Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbill, and the State Minister for Education , Adrian Piccoli who will consider making it law (as opposed to a “preference”) that telecoms not invade the 500 m space between a school’s boundary fence and a telecommunications tower.

We are heartened by the support of these local politicians and thank them for their efforts. If you and your family, or even your wider circle, have not yet done so, could you go to NOTOWER.com.au and give consideration to registering your protest on line. It takes twenty seconds.

LMBR – Learning Management Business Reform

The biggest reform in education is about to hit us on November 18. Known as LMBR, it will have no impact on student learning or teacher capacity but, theoretically, will sharpen and enhance all of our systems whether they be finances, school reports, enrolments, attendance, timetabling, parent information – in fact, everything that we do administratively.

This is an enormous challenge for us and all 229 schools in the state that change over to the new system ahead of a state-wide rollout this time next year.

There will be new processes for payments which we will inform you about in good time and in fact many issues which we will flag with you. When we know, we’ll let you know!

Thank you in advance for your understanding if you see any of us looking a little harried and busier than usual.

At the same time, 229 schools are being funded quite differently. Known as the RAM (Resource Allocation Model) schools will be funded based on the individual need of each student as determined by a Family Occupation and Educational Index (FOEI). A high FOEI means a school has greater needs, a low FOEI, as in our case, indicates less need. We don’t expect of course, to be allocated less money than we have previously.

I’ll give a fuller briefing on this in later issues of Drawbridge.

Vicki Brewer

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SPORTS COUNCIL SPORTS SPOTLIGHT

Joel Randall

Bicycle Motocross (BMX)

What does the sport of BMX involve?

To race BMX – firstly you need a bike and protective gear – full face helmet, gloves, long sleeve jersey, long Moto – x style pants and enclosed shoes. The riders race around a circuit of berms and jumps – with the track being about 400 metres long. The idea is to do one lap only, as fast as you can to the finish line. At the start hill – which is generally 8 metres – there are 8 gates, so that when I race I only have 7 other riders on the gate with me. In my age group there are usually around 60 competitors, so there are quarter finals and semi-finals to determine which 8 riders will compete in the final. BMX is also 50% mental and 50% physical.

What level of representation have you achieved in BMX?

I am sponsored by Blackman’s Bicycles. I am a member of the Castle Hill BMX club. I race at our club meetings, we also travel to open meetings, where there can be over 400 riders competing. We have State titles every October and out of 52 riders I came 3rd in the State. I have raced at the Australian titles and came 9th. I have qualified to race again at the 2014 Australian titles in Shepparton Victoria next April.

What training do you do for BMX?

I train a couple of times a week as well as racing on the weekends. Occasionally I do some training with 2 professionals – Alex Cameron and Olympian Luke Madill.

What do you enjoy about BMX?

I set goals for myself to achieve, and now that BMX is an Olympic sport, I can qualify for that after the age of sixteen. It is good fun and is a technical sport.

Thanks for the interview

Sports Council

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ATTENTION PARENTS/CAREGIVERS OF YEAR 7 AND 9 STUDENTS

Year 7 and 9 Vaccinations – Friday 1 November

Year 7 - HPV dose 3

- Hep B dose 2

Year 9 Boys - HPV dose 3 Sharon Shaw

Year 7 Advisor

THANKS Thanks to Ming Xue father of Andy Xue in Year 11 Industrial Technology Metal, for his company’s kind donation of a significant quantity of toughened and hardened glass for our students to use with their Industrial Technology Metal and Wood preliminary HSC Hall Tables. Such generosity is greatly appreciated and reminds us that our School in an intrinsic part of the local community, forging business links to ensure the possibility of future investments and job opportunities. If anybody is interested in glass Ming Xue’s business is TCT GLASS in Seven Hills.

Mr David Hovelmann Head Teacher TAS

FUNDRAISER – SALVATION ARMY BUSHFIRE APPEAL “When Nature is at its worst, Australians tend to be at their best” Prime Minister Tony Abbott The fires have decimated so many lives, all of whom need our assistance.

Just left Biviano’s Restaurant where the owner, Raj Kumar, has agreed to run a special Fundraising evening on Monday November 11 at 7pm. This is also Remembrance Day – how appropriate.

We have invited, and she has accepted, Roza Sage the member for the Blue Mountains to come along and

with her fire-fighters to share some of the stories of heartbreak across the fire ravaged areas. Hopefully she will be accompanied by RFS Blue Mountains district manager David Jones.

Money raised on the night will go to the Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal – with a representative in attendance!!

The night will cost $90.00 per head with a special auction as well. There will be entertainment and an exceptional menu from this fine dining restaurant:-

Gnocchi with mushrooms and truffle oil

Pork belly with apple puree and celeriac salad

Barramundi with tamarind vegetables and garlic mash

BBQ Spitchcock with olive mash carrot and jus

Vanilla bean pannacotta with pineapple jam

Homemade Chocolate mousse

Special vegetarian requirements also met.

We hope to tap into some of the generosity of the Hills business community to acquire sponsorship and auction items. At this stage to book you need to phone the restaurant at 628 Old Northern Rd, Dural or phone 9651 2022. We shall have a website set up to make on line booking very soon. Kindest regards Gareth McCray

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MITCHELL YOUTH LEADERSHIP CAMP

On Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 October 2013, twenty of the school’s Year 11 Prefects attended the Mitchell Youth Leadership Forum with around 130 other students. The forum is a two and half day program, for those schools in the Mitchell Electorate, where students gain leadership skills and knowledge that they take back to their school and use in their own leadership endeavours. We were split up into groups with students from other schools providing us with a very different environment where we had to make new friends, learn from people we didn’t know and appreciate unfamiliar points of view. Throughout the forum, we listened to many speakers such as Brett Murray and Bec Heinrich who provided different advice, information and inspiration that was extremely helpful and motivating. There were many ideas that were constantly expressed to us throughout our time there. We were encouraged to take opportunities, to persevere, to prepare to fail and to use those failures to better supportive people and having passion for what we do. We participated in fun team building activities such as Communication Building Blocks, wacky Olympics, Commando and the Mitchell Challenge that required skill, communication and teamwork. On the last day of the camp, we were reunited with the other Castle Hill High students and met up with Mrs Brewer to bring forward ideas that we wanted to implement in the school and discuss how we would do so. This session mainly involved the discussion of junior mentoring and the further promotion and recognition of extracurricular activities to improve student involvement. We were also fortunate enough to volunteer at the Anglican retirement Village in Castle Hill. Each of the 150 students who went to the forum was able to assist the residents in many ways, such as washing cars, painting, gardening and social activities. This was a very rewarding experience for all involved. All the prefects would like to thank the School, in particular Mrs Boss and The P&C for providing us with the opportunity to make ourselves better leaders and better people, which in turn will better the school. We all grew and learnt a tremendous amount which will help us in our future endeavours. Lara Johnstone Adam Gatt

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FORTNIGHTLY NEWSLETTER

Published and distributed by email to parents each Friday fortnight during school term

CALENDAR 2013 - TERM 4

DATE CALENDAR EVENT TERM 4 WEEK 4A

DATE CALENDAR EVENT TERM 4 WEEK 5B

Monday 28 October

2013

Year 9 Yearly Examinations

Year 7 2014 Orientation Interview Week

Year 12 2014 VET Hospitality Work Placement Week

Careers Excursion to Microsoft - 8.30am

Monday 4 November

2013



Year 12 2014 VET Construction Work Place

School Spectacular Dance – 7am

Tuesday 29 October

2013



HSC Twilight Tutoring Year 12 2014 VET Hospitality Work Placement Week

Tuesday 5 November

2013




Wednesday 30 October

2013



Assembly Years 7-11

Year 12 Clearance Day 9 -11am Year 12 2014 VET Hospitality Work Placement Week

Wednesday 6 November

2013



Year 12 2014 VET Construction Work Place Assembly Years 7, 8 & 10 – Sess 2 Gym

Year 9 Year Meeting – Sess 2 Library

Thursday 31 October

2013


Year 7 2014 Orientation Interview Week Year 12 2014 VET Hospitality Work Placement Week

Thursday 7 November

2013




Friday 1 November

2013


Year 7 2014 Orientation Interview Week Year 12 2014 VET Hospitality Work Placement Week

Year 7 Vaccinations

Year 9 Boys Vaccinations

Friday 8 November

2013




Year 12 Clearance Day 9-11am

Next P & C Meeting

20 November – 7.30pm Common Room

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS Now available

Girls Senior Skirts Sizes 4-24 $65.00 Available beginning of November

Girls Senior Skirts Sizes 2 $65.00

Girls Blouses Sizes 6G -14G 6-24 $40.00

Girls Summer Dresses All Sizes $65.00

Boys Long Blue Trousers Sizes 76 – 102 $50.00 Boys Blue Shorts Sizes 76 – 102 $40.00

Boys Shirts Sizes 32 – 48 $40.00

OPENING HOURS FOR TERM 4 2013

Weeks 2 -11 Monday and Friday 8.15am – 11.30am

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CASTLE HILL COMMUNITY NEWS and ADVERTISING

Disclaimer: Advertisements placed in the school's Fortnightly Newsletter do not reflect an endorsement or otherwise by Castle Hill High School of that product or service

Mention Castle Hill High School and for each referral, $2.00 will be given to the School from Taylored Physiotheray

A Pink Day Out

Sunday 3rd November, 2013

10am to 2pm

Cheltenham Recreation Club

60 – 74 The Crescent

Cheltenham NSW 2119

Proudly supporting the National Breast Cancer

Foundation

A Pink Day Out is an awesome day with a variety

of activities for all. There will be tennis, croquet,

barefoot bowls, mechanical bull, laser tag, jumping

castle, cake stall, coffee, BBQ, raffle, silent auction,

live auction and much more!!!

Tickets are available NOW

$5 child/pensioner

$10 Adult

$30 Family

We look forward to seeing you on the day, so come

down in pink attire, and enjoy

A Pink Day Out!

Visit our website www.pinkdayout.com.au

17 Mulheron Ave Baulkham Hills 2153 For discount prices see

www.brennandrivingschool.net.au

http://www.brennandrivingschool.net.au/

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St Matthew’s Uniting

Church BAULKHAM

HILLS

Netball Club

The perfect competition for people wanting a fun, friendly game of netball. Games are played at Gooden Reserve, Baulkham Hills. The 2014 season will begin on Saturday, 5th April with game times starting from 12:30pm. Registration for the 2014 season will take place on Saturday, 2nd November 2013, at Winston Hills Mall (near the Food Court) from 10am-2pm. FunNet (ages 5-7 years): $50 Women’s Competition: 8-16 years $80, 16 and over $90 Mixed Competition (ages 16 and over): $90 (or $140 for both the Women’s and Mixed competition) For any further enquiries, please email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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WESLEY PRESCHOOL CASTLE HILL IS CELEBRATING 40 YEARS! All past pupils, teachers and parents of the Wesley Preschool are warmly invited to join us in marking 40 years of educating children in The Hills. Come and relive those magic years on Sunday, October 27th 2013. Celebrations begin with a 9.30am church service and continue throughout the day. Also join us on Facebook: Wesley Preschool Castle Hill 40 Years We are eager to hear from anyone who has photos or memorabilia from their time at the preschool.

Please email Jane Harvey at [email protected] or send photos into the preschool to be scanned and returned to you. For further information phone the preschool on (02) 9634 5282 We look forward to seeing lots of old friends again.

mailto:[email protected]

the fortnightly newsletter of castle hill high school ...€¦ · the fortnightly newsletter of...

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