Post on 25-Apr-2020
Care | Opportunity | Success
S O U T H S Y D N E Y
Principal’s Report
HIGH SCHOOL
Newsletter | Term 3 Week 8| 8 September 2017
Congratulations to:
Tayler Lyons in Year 11 who received the Deadly Kids Doing Well Award for her positive commitment to all
aspects of school life.
Malikye Kessie from Year 7 who won his U13’s Long jump at School State
Athletics Carnival. He came 1st winning GOLD with a very good jump of 5.66
M. A fantastic effort.
Ruby Dummett who was awarded the Ultimo Region’s VET Excellence Award in
Business Services.
James Grimshaw for his excellent Solar Schools project in Elective Geography.
Year 9 Commerce for their outstanding conduct on their excursion to the ASX
and Investec.
All students who applied for a Student Leadership position.
Students who participated in the Business Partnership Committee meeting held last week.
Student Leaders and House Captains 2017/8
Year 10 and Year 11 students have participated in workshops focusing on interview skills, resume writing and
public speaking to assist with the selection process. Many thanks to Mr Benischke, Mr Flewellen and Ms
Maynard for conducting workshops which builds the capacity of our future school leaders.
Congratulations to the following students who have been elected to the following positions:
Year 12 2018
School Captains
Miya Thornton
Leo Charnas
School Vice Captains
Ketti Ketmontri
Michael Mellick
School Prefects
Sera Accetta
Dabin Haam
Year 11 2018
Amy –Lee Targett
James Grimshaw
Christian Clemenz (International)
SASS Recognition Week
We were very pleased to acknowledge the great work carried out by the School and Administrative Support Staff
(SASS) as part of SASS Recognition Week. These key members of staff carry out a range of tasks which are the
foundation of keeping a great school like South Sydney High School running so smoothly. From managing the
school finances, answering phones, assisting with broken limbs, mowing the grass, fixing broken windows, typing
certificates, managing the front desk, handling new enrolments, calling ambulances, photocopying exams,
purchasing ingredients, measuring out chemicals, assisting students with payments – the list goes on! Thank you
- your efforts are very much appreciated.
Ellenie Boyadgis Carolyn Brander
Christine Browne Rebecca Deeks
Sue Donohue Rick French
Vicki Pontifix Debbie Schilling
Leonie Stevens Kathleen Bujeia
Rhonda Turner
Community Feedback
It is always lovely to receive positive feedback about our students and this student is certainly a wonderful
example:
“I'm not certain this is the correct portal through which to compliment your school.
However, I am a bus driver and on Friday last week (18/8/17) one of your students, a young lad, asked me to
wait at the Kingsford stop so he could help an elderly man, who had difficulty walking, board the bus.
I was very impressed by his caring and empathic attitude towards the gentleman, a regular on our service.
I would like to congratulate the student and your school for promoting the importance of community and those
who struggle with everyday tasks.”
Student numbers
If you know anyone else that is wishing to apply to come to South Sydney High School, please contact the school
as soon as possible as we are currently working on the number of classes and the timetable. Also, if you are
moving please let us know as soon as possible so can accurately forecast our student numbers for 2018.
P&C Meeting
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 12th September at 7.30 pm in the Teachers Common Room, entry
via the side gate.
Kind Regards
Robyn Matthews
Solar my School
Sustainable Ritz
As part of the Year 10 Geography Elective Research
Action Plan, James Grimshaw welcomed Waverley
council to SSHS for a feasibility study into the potential
use of solar energy at SSHS. Our appreciation is
extended to Ms Alison Maynard and Mr Rick French for
their highly valued assistance.
Ms Rocio Lopez
As part of our Sustainability topic within Year 10
Geography Elective, a small group of students found a
deeper understanding of climate change and inspirational
viewing of An Inconvenient Sequel at the Ritzy Cinema in
Randwick.
Ms Rocio Lopez
What’s happening in Year 9 Child Studies?
We have been studying the “Caring for the Newborn” unit as part of the Child Studies syllabus. As part of the
course we spent some time learning how to bath and clothe a new born baby. The students had to record the
process and send it to the teacher as part of their assessment. As you can see the students got very involved in
the whole process.
NAPLAN Online
This term from 14th August to 22nd September schools across NSW will be participating in the NAPLAN Online
school readiness test. The school readiness test is a ‘practice run’ designed to help schools assess their technical
and administrative readiness for the transition to NAPLAN Online.
South Sydney High School students in Years 7 and 9 will be participating in the readiness test between Tuesday
11th September and Friday 15 September 2017.
The readiness test will involve students in Years 7 and 9 sitting two, 40-minute assessments, a writing test and a
combined numeracy/literacy test.
Student participation in the readiness test is an opportunity for them to become familiar with the NAPLAN
Online test format. It is not an assessment of student ability and there will be no reporting of student results.
It is important to note that participation in the school readiness test has no effect on students’ NAPLAN results
from the paper-based tests students sat in May.
There’s a lot more information on the department’s NAPLAN Online website: https://education.nsw.gov.au/
teaching-and-learning/student-assessment/naplan-online
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about NAPLAN Online and the NSW school readiness test:
Visit the DoE Website
https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/student-assessment/naplan-online
Contact the NAPLAN Online transition team
NAPLANonline@det.nsw.edu.au
1300 790 844
Crack the Code—Technology Mandatory
George Vitsaktsis in Year 11 has had a fabulous week
working as a Plumber. George completed his OH&S White
Card training which allowed him the opportunity to work in
the Building & Construction industry. He visited a number
of work sites around Sydney during the busy week and was
able to observe and experience lots of different on the job
plumbing problems. Thank you to Mr Dimaris and all the
staff at Sollina Plumbing who gave George this wonderful
opportunity.
Work Experience—George Vitsaktsis
In class during Term 2 and part of Term 3, we have been learning how to code and about the importance of
coding. We used an Arduino board and had an electronic portfolio to fill out and guide us through what to do.
Throughout this unit, we have been able to successfully code our own programs for the Arduino board.
We have created scripts (codes) to make LED’s flash, buzzers sound and play songs with the buzzer. We each
designed a program to safeguard something of our own choice that was important to us. We ended up creating a
system that alerts you when someone opens your valuables. This was able to happen as we have included an LDR
(light dependant resistor), 8 wires, a breadboard, LED, buzzers and a MAAS Thinkershield. We then successfully
programmed the alarm system to alert us if light was applied to the LDR. It was all an amazing experience and we
thank the tech teachers, Ms Kelso and Ms Lawrence for giving us the opportunity to trial this unit of work.
By Dayna Scheihing and Hayden Ingle.
Work Experience—Jarrod Turner Jarrod Turner had a terrific week of Work Experience as a plumber’s
assistant. He travelled to many different work sites, one of which was
Randwick Public School. Learning on the job meant having to solve various
plumbing problems and work out solutions at each site. Many thanks to
Mark at M&M Fisher Plumbing Services for giving Jarrod this wonderful
opportunity.
Mrs Brookes
Careers Adviser
Showcase @ Juniors and Daceyville Big Band Bash Showcase @ Souths Juniors is an annual event where local primary and secondary schools showcase their
talents. This year, South Sydney High was represented by a group of students from the year 11 music class. The
group opened the 2nd concert with their performance of Faith by Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande. The song
was featured in the animated movie Sing. The year 11 band included Serafina Accetta, Ketti Ketmontri, Omeed
Ayub and Riley Bregonis on vocals, with Aden Hennings on lead guitar, and Jaeyong Sim on bass guitar. Two Year
9 students also performed on the night, Brendan Wardrop helped out on Tenor Saxophone and Emmanuel
Raimundo added his funky beats on the drums. The performance was a great success; the students showed
great teamwork, professionalism and truly looked like they were enjoying themselves on stage.
On the 24th of August, South Sydney High School Band participated in the Daceyville Big Band Bash. It’s a great
day where local schools perform a 15 minute program, in an atmosphere that feels more like a fair than a day of
back to back band performances. Students watch other schools perform between buying waffles and hot dogs,
but the highlight every year is watching the Navy Stage Band perform. They always impress and have the
students mesmerised. I am extremely proud of the students’ conduct and performance on the day. It is
experiences like these that bring us closer as an ensemble. I would also like to thank the parents who helped out
on the day; they made the day run a lot smoother. Thank you to Graham (Hope Winter’s Grandfather), Melissa
(Jessica Haussman’s mother), Amy-Lee Targett’s mother, Brendan Wardrop’s mother and the fabulous Pam
Bregonis.
We are hosting an information session in week 1 of next term Tuesday 10th October at 7pm in the Staff Common
Room.
Mr Askounis (HT Mathematics) and Mr Flewellen (HT English) will present information about our NAPLAN results
2017. Ms Walton will also explain the steps the school will be taking to support our students who have yet to
reach the minimum standards in Literacy and Numeracy required for the HSC.
All are welcome.
NAPLAN results explained
A Welcome mystery visitor at SSCIM Club
An announcement was made on Monday morning 28th August, that a mystery visitor might be making an
appearance at SSCIM Club. The curiosity of those who usually gather in the Drama room on a Monday at
lunch-time was definitely aroused. Mr Wagg our wonderful SSCIM mentor and enthusiast appeared to thank us
all for the package he’d received with messages, chocolates and a USB of supportive messages. It really reminded
us that within our school community SSCIM is a pretty caring little family and we hope that Mr Wagg might be
strong enough to join the rest of us on the annual Junior SSCIM Camp that will take place in early November.
Stage 4 Enrichment Project Presentations
Year 7 and 8 students in our enrichment classes are busily finalising their collaborative project based learning
journeys in preparation for presenting these projects to our school community. Enrichment project
presentations will take place on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 September from 4.30 – 5.30pm in our staff
common room. Come along to discover how education is offered in other countries, why video games may offer
opportunities to engage young learners or how we in our school might improve our engagement with the
environment.
Enrichment Project Presentations
Enrichment Projects to be presented by year 7, Wednesday 14 Sep, 4.30 – 5.30pm
Here’s a taster of what you can expect to learn about if you come along to the ‘Show & Tell’ of our Year 7
Enrichment Projects on Thursday 14 September in the school Common Room.
What makes a villain?
How can we stop teens taking drugs?
How does plastic in the ocean affect us?
How dangerous are BMX bikes, scooters and Sk8 boards?
Do things happen for a reason? Is Karma a real concept?
Why has rubbish become such an important issue?
How do civilisations of the past affect our world today?
How can we raise awareness of littering habits at school & in the
community?
Why do people bully others?
How can soccer become more popular at SSHS?
Enrichment Projects to be presented by year 8, Thursday 14 Sep, 4.30 – 5.30pm
Here’s a taster of what you can expect to learn about if you come along to the ‘Show & Tell’ of our Year 8
Enrichment Projects on Thursday 14 September in the school Common Room.
1. What might the benefits and the potentially harmful effects of video games be for teenagers? How might we
use video games (at home, school, leisure) more productively to improve their image in our school
community?
2. Is there enough evidence to support the use of music as an aid to study in the classroom? How might the use
of music as an aid to concentration be more widely and efficiently utilised at our school?
3. How can we protect our environment and slow down pollution? How can we improve what we are currently
doing in our school to protect the environment?
4. How have humans evolved to this point in time and how might they continue to evolve into the future? How
much do students in our year group know about or are interested in evolution and how can we interest them
more in this topic?
5. Do schooling systems in other countries show us alternative ways to better organise our school day, school
buildings, how we group students and how we study? Are there aspects of educational delivery in other
countries that we could apply to South Sydney to improve student learning
Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge
All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 Yellow Mathematics classes, Year 9 and 10
Information and Software Technology and Year 11 Information Processes
and Technology classes participated in the Bebras Computational Thinking
Challenge this week during their normal classes. Two additional students
who are not in these classes also chose to participate. Stages 4, 5 and 6 sat
a different challenge with 45 minutes allocated to complete the challenge.
Bebras is aligned with and supports the Australian Curriculum: Digital
Technologies. The challenge introduces many of the learning areas in the
new digital technologies curriculum with a particular focus on
computational thinking.
We look forward to the results which will be available next week. We aim to participate in this Challenge twice a
year to measure student growth in this area.
Some feedback from the participants…
“It was really good because it challenged your brain.”
“It was an enlightening experience. I will definitely do it again next year.”
“Some questions were difficult but it was good to be challenged.”
“There were a lot of sequence based questions which is useful for coding.”
Congratulations to all participants!