T: (08) 8987 0844 E: [email protected]PO Box 1096 W: http://web.ntschools.net/w/nhs/Pages/Home.aspx Nhulunbuy NT 0881 Newsletter 15 May 2014 Issue 15 FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK We had a very success- ful parent teacher even- ing last week at the school. Thanks so much to all parents who made time to meet teachers to discuss their child’s pro- gress. For those of you who weren’t able to come on the night please feel free to contact us at any time to set up a meeting with teachers. Parents of students in Year 12 also met with myself and teachers in the Senior Years team recently, to talk about some of the challenges the students are facing as they move through their final year of study and to share ideas about how to- gether we can best support our students. Feedback from parents indicates that they valued such an op- portunity, so we will hold a similar get together again in Term 3. On Friday evening 9 May, a group of Year 7 boys and male staff members enjoyed a get together at school with a BBQ and a range of indoor and out- door activities. The main aim of the Boys’ Night In was to provide opportunities for boys to interact with strong male role models and show them there are ways to engage with the wider community without resorting to risky or destructive behaviours. A high- light of the night was the game of Tron (night glow) Soccer. A big thanks to our teachers Jason Dyson, Chris Middleton, Kyle Middleton, Lawrence Walker, Damian Alahakoon, Bob Chapman and Year 10 stu- dents Bryan Body, Joshua Bond and Caleb Epiha. It is the girls’ turn with a sleep over being held in the gym on Friday, 13 June. With the number of families leaving town, we have some vacancies on our school council for parent representatives. While we are facing uncertainty, it really helps to pull together to ensure the school is supporting our students as much as possible. I know how much I rely on the advice, feedback and support of parents. Tracy Graham, the Chairperson of the School Council joins me in encouraging parents to consider joining us. All students in Year 7 and 9 have participated in NAPLAN testing this week. NAPLAN is not a pass or fail test – it looks at what level students are achieving in literacy and numeracy against the na- tional standards and compared with their peers throughout Australia. NAPLAN assesses skills that students are already learning through the school curriculum. It is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so. All tests have now been completed and the general consensus among the students has been very positive. Results from the tests will be available at the end of Term 3 and the data can be used as one tool to see areas of strength and deficit for future teaching and learning. Sabina Smith
W: http://web.ntschools.net/w/nhs/Pages/Home.aspx Nhulunbuy NT 0881
Newsletter 15 May 2014 Issue 15
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S
DESK
We had a very success-ful parent teacher even-ing last week at the school. Thanks so much to all parents who made time to meet teachers to discuss their child’s pro-gress. For those of you
who weren’t able to come on the night please feel free to contact us at any time to set up a meeting with teachers. Parents of students in Year 12 also met with myself and teachers in the Senior Years team recently, to talk about some of the challenges the students are facing as they move through their final year of study and to share ideas about how to-gether we can best support our students. Feedback from parents indicates that they valued such an op-portunity, so we will hold a similar get together again in Term 3. On Friday evening 9 May, a group of Year 7 boys and male staff members enjoyed a get together at school with a BBQ and a range of indoor and out-door activities. The main aim of the Boys’ Night In was to provide opportunities for boys to interact with strong male role models and show them there are ways to engage with the wider community without resorting to risky or destructive behaviours. A high-light of the night was the game of Tron (night glow) Soccer. A big thanks to our teachers Jason Dyson, Chris Middleton, Kyle Middleton, Lawrence Walker, Damian Alahakoon, Bob Chapman and Year 10 stu-dents Bryan Body, Joshua Bond and Caleb Epiha. It is the girls’ turn with a sleep over being held in the gym on Friday, 13 June. With the number of families leaving town, we have some vacancies on our school council for parent representatives. While we are facing uncertainty, it really helps to pull together to ensure the school is supporting our students as much as possible. I know how much I rely on the advice, feedback and support of parents. Tracy Graham, the Chairperson
of the School Council joins me in encouraging parents to consider joining us. All students in Year 7 and 9 have participated in NAPLAN testing this week. NAPLAN is not a pass or fail test – it looks at what level students are achieving in literacy and numeracy against the na-tional standards and compared with their peers throughout Australia. NAPLAN assesses skills that students are already learning through the school curriculum. It is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so. All tests have now been completed and the general consensus among the students has been very positive. Results from the tests will be available at the end of Term 3 and the data can be used as one tool to see areas of strength and deficit for future teaching and learning.
Sabina Smith
Battle of The Bands
Battle of the School Bands?? Good Question!
Nhulunbuy High School’s Good Question won a place at the Northern Territory finals of The Battle of the School Bands, and represented the school well, in Darwin on 11 April. Performing at Brown’s Mart Theatre as part of
National Youth Week, Harry Walker (Bass/Vocals), Alex Parfitt (Lead), Tayla Edwards (Acoustic/Vocals) and Ned Odell (Drums) joined eight other bands and three soloists in front of a daunting panel of judges and a lively audi-
ence at a “sold out” event.
Over 20 Nhulunbuy and ex-Nhulunbuy supporters travelled to Darwin for the event, and left the packed house in no doubt that Good Question was a firm favourite.
Playing two original pieces – “James the Monkey’ and “Lousy Day”, the fresh pop rock vibe and up-beat
performance was a hit! “James the Monkey” earned the band the “Best Original Song” gong.
Men at Work The students in the Nhulunbuy High School Annex are engaged in a program to learn more about the "world of work" through the Men at Work program. The students are investigating many local employment and work opportu-nities which has included site visits to the Yirrkala Horticultural Nursery, Yirrkala Arts Centre, Yirrkala Bana-na Plantation, Nhulunbuy Industrial Park and Toll Transport. The Men at Work program is an initi-ative within the Nhulunbuy High School Annex to expose the stu-dents to different employment and volunteer opportunities within the region to allow students to make an informed decision on their future employment prospects. We are al-ways looking for new sites to visit, so if you would like to assist please call the school. The students have also been asked to assist other students at the school with the establishment of a vegetable garden including hydroponic gardening. We are looking forward to assisting with this initiative. Bob Chapman School to Work Mentor
MindMatters
Parents who would like their children to receive religious instruction for first Holy Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation are asked to enroll now.
Bishop Eugene Hurly will confer the sacraments on the 16 November 2014.
Enrolment Forms are on the table at the back of the Catholic Church. Please place the completed form in the box provided at the Church.
Nhulunbuy High School has
adopted the MindMatters
whole school approach to
mental health and wellbeing.
As part of this program, all
Year 7 students participate
in the Wellbeing elective for
a term. The focus of one
session is to examine the
role that protective thoughts
can have in building resili-
ence during difficult times.
This is done by creating gar-
ments which are used as a
metaphor for protective lay-
ers. This fabulous group of
students embraced this ac-
tivity with vigour to fashion
these wonderful garments
that protect their goals,
thoughts and put-downs.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Please be reminded that high energy/caffeine drinks are NOT allowed in Northern Territory schools.
These are classified as RED as per the school policy. They contain excess energy (kilojoules) and / or saturated fat and / or salt and / or sugar and are low in nutritional value. Examples are soft drinks, confectionery and any fruit juice item less than 99% juice. And RED BULL, V, Monster & Mother.
Under 13 Female Champion- Tayla Dowzard Runner Up- Bodhi Caldwell Male Champion- Mitchell Wise Runner Up- Harry Pitkin Under 14 Female Champion- Jordin Ritchie-Clark Runner Up- Tiana Beauchamp Male Champion- Macallaster Barnett Runner Up- Harrison Parfitt Under 15 Female Champion- Cassie Body Runner Up- Gabrielle Davidov Male Champion- Jack Pitkin Runner Up - Cameron Stiff Under 16 Female Champion- Jade Kelly Runner Up- Ashley Verrall Male Champion- Bryan Body Runner Up- Dakota Priestley OPEN Female Champion- Pia Lynch Runner Up- Abbey-Rose Vaggs Male Champion—Alex Parfitt Runner Up- Harry Walker
$3000 donation to the Nhulunbuy High School Annex—proceeds from Toy Run presented on behalf of the East
Arnhem Blues Society.
Variety—Scholarship Program
Variety Northern Territory is very excited to announce the launch of the inaugural Variety NT Scholarship Program aimed at encouraging special needs, sick and disadvantaged children from all over the NT to discover their full poten-tial and aim for the stars. Applications are invited in the key areas of The Arts, Sport and Education. Funding will cover the cost of equipment (eg: art supplies, sporting equipment, sports wheelchairs), tuition, competition fees and other related costs. Children may be nominated for a Scholarship by their parent/carer, teacher/education assistant, coach, tutor, social worker or other who realise the need for this child to receive funding to support their progression in their chosen inter-est. Applications are open for the month of May and forms will be available on our website www.varietynt.org.au/NT/How-we-help/Scholarships from Thursday 1 May until close on Saturday 31 May. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call me on 08 8981 2544.
