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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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