6th February, 2015

Phone: 02 67461177 Fax: 02 67462648

Email: quirindi-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

February 2015 – Issue 1

Message from the Deputy Principal

Welcome to all the students and their families for 2015, those who have returned and those who are new to our school. It has been wonderful to begin the year in a settled and focussed way with the vast majority of students presenting with a positive and work orientated attitude over the past two weeks. Students are encouraged to keep up the good work which has been reflected in the high standard of uniform and cooperative behaviour thus far. This week all students were provided with information sheets and permission notes to attend a free dental clinic that is coming to the school in Week 8 of this term. You can see more information about this clinic inside the newsletter. If the note did not make it home, there are spare copies at the front office should you wish to have your son or daughter attend the clinic. The 2015 Swimming Carnival will be held at Quirindi Swimming Pool on Wednesday 11th February, weather permitting. This is a school day and all students are required to attend. Students are to go straight to the pool in the morning and school buses will be dropping students off and collecting students from the pool on that day. Permission to leave the swimming carnival will only be given to students who produce notes requesting leave at the beginning of roll call on the day, just as they would on a normal school day. Parents, relatives and friends are invited to come to the carnival to support our students on the day. A general reminder to parents that students are not allowed access to mobile phones during the school day. Should there be a reason that you need to contact your son or daughter during the day please phone our front office and a message will be delivered to your child via a staff member. This will minimise disruptions to the learning of others in classes and also provide support for your child should it be required. This year we ask that students do not bring peanut products to school in their lunches and snacks. In line with Department of Education and Communities guidelines for managing anaphylactic reactions we are eliminating, as best as possible, contact with allergens for students within our school. The school canteen menu is currently under review and will be reflective of our aim at reducing risk within the school setting. We appreciate your cooperation with this whole school focus. Don’t forget we have a clothing pool at school with uniforms available for both junior and senior students. If you are having trouble obtaining the correct uniform please contact the school and we will help to solve the issue for you. As always should you have any queries or concerns regarding your son or daughters educational experience at Quirindi High School, please make an appointment time to come and see us. Sally Chad Deputy Principal

2

New Faces at Quirindi High School

Back L-R – Miss Lauren Hunt (Science) and Mrs Rebecca Tarrant (Maths) Front L-R – Miss Laura Warden (Special Ed/PDHPE), Miss Emma Gillies (Special Ed), Miss Lee Wall (English)

Welcome to our new staff members at Quirindi High School.

3

2015 SWIMMING CARNIVAL Wednesday 11th FEBRUARY

8.55am start

Serious/Fun Events Weird and Wackiest House Dresser Belly Flop Competition Teacher vs. Student relays House Relays 2015 House Champion

(Who will it be?)

Parents and caregivers welcome DON’T MISS IT!!!

Quirindi CWA Scholarships Congratulations to the following students on their successful applications for the Quirindi CWA scholarships; Jayden Barr, Maxwell Flett, Jake Cropper, Dylon Fuz, Declan Fuz and Kajsa Tretheway.

We would like to thank Quirindi CWA for their support!

4

HSC Maths LECTURES FOR

YEAR 12 STUDENTS University of Sydney

Bosch Building 1A, Western Avenue

The Mathematical Association of NSW (MANSW) is the professional body for mathematics educators. It is a not-for-profit organisation that has provided HSC lectures for students for many years. Each year MANSW organise Year 12 revision lectures. In 2015 these lectures will occur during the June/July school holidays. These lectures are intended for students as revision and preparation for the HSC Examinations.

The lectures are excellent value for a full day of revision: $103 (including GST) per day per student. The organisers tell me that the lectures book out very early and that students need to consider their attendance sooner rather than later. QHS students who wish to take advantage of this revision opportunity would need to do so under their parent’s supervision. Please see your Maths teacher if you want more information, including registration information.

Exemptions from School Previously if a family had approval for an exemption for a holiday this was not counted in their total absences. From the beginning of 2015 the Department of Education has advised that families are to apply for leave for holidays and they will be counted in the total absences for the student. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school.

Monday 29th June 2015 Tuesday 30th June 2015 Wednesday 1st July 2015 No Maths General today Maths General Basics

9:30am to 3:30pm Maths General Beyond Basics 9:30am to 3:30pm

Maths 2 Unit Basics 9:30am to 3:30pm

Maths 2 Unit Beyond Basics 9:30am to 3:30pm

No Maths (2 Unit) today

Maths Extension 1 Basics 9:30am to 3:30pm

No Extension 1 today Maths Extension 1 Beyond Basics 9:30am to 3:30pm

Maths Extension 2 - Day 1 9:30am to 3:30pm

Maths Extension 2 - Day 2 9:30am to 3:30pm

No Extension 2 today

5

Welcome to our 2015 Year 7 Students Here are some of our Year 7s working with their Year 11 Buddies. Their buddies help them to settle in to life as a high school student.

Tessie-Jane Walters & Fayth Etherington with Sara Patton

Isabelle West & Phoebe Roberts Jasmin DeRooy with Jenaya Riley Ashleigh Hession with

Brittany Miles

Amber Perrett, Holly Austin & Felicity Campbell with Hayley Power

Georgia Auld, Taylah Douglas & Zara McCarthy with Jessie Elford Harmony McKay, Montanna Bright, Mia Constable & Tyra Nean with Brittany Beveridge

Dominic Patterson, Thomas Bizant & Matilda Eade with Kayla Patterson

Lauren Hitchen, Kelsey Hawkins & Chloe Symington with Michaela Kenniff

Emily Cronin, Emily Bramley & Eliza Furner with Rhiannon George

Caine Conte, Jayden Barr & Brennan Nean with Tanika Darcy

6

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2014 Open to all students in Years 7-9.

Want to challenge yourself to read 25 books or more this year? Then this is the challenge for you.

See Mrs Owen, in the Library, for more information.

Library Happenings!

Reading Challenge Have you challenged yourself to read a

book each month yet?

Pick up a book and you just might

“ Discover or rediscover the joy of reading” !

Need a Book to Read?

Come and browse the shelves for a book and try out our Reading Chair!

Thank you Quirindi High School P&C

Welcome to Term 1 New Games in the Library

The Quirindi High School P&C has kindly donated some new games for students to

enjoy in the Library. These will be well used during lunch times in the Library.

7

Online Study Skills Handbook

Great news! Our school has subscribed to the ELES Online Study Skills Handbook.

• The ELES Online Study Skills Handbook provides a comprehensive and interactive online guide for the school community (students, parents and teachers) as to the study skills needed for success in high school studies.

• This approach taps into students’ affinity with technology to create a new and effective way to improve students’ study skills.

• This is a great online resource for parents and students to address all their study skills issues and concerns and enable students to learn new ways to improve their results at school. The handbook has a huge amount of information for both students and parents as well as a large number of interactive activities.

Login to Quirindi High School Moodle - students should find a link on their student portal homepage or go to http://web1.quirindi-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/moodle/ to get to QHS Moodle. Students use their DET internet username and password to login to QHS Moodle.

Click this Log in and it will take you straight to the Study Skills Handbook Homepage below

8

List of units: In addition to the huge amount of content, the systematic program for students to work through includes: online quizzes, summary sheets, worksheets, lots of FAQs answered, articles and links, online polls, facility to submit questions, helpful grids and planners, jokes and quotes, student thoughts, images and photos, students can submit ideas to win, competitions, audio and video files, streaming audio (to allow students the option to read or listen to the content)

• New content added regularly, new units added each year, new features added regularly. • There is also a tracking system where students save the results of their end of unit quizzes

and modules over the years.

We encourage all parents and students to take advantage of this opportunity to further develop their students’

study skills abilities through this online resource.

at home 1. Home Study Environment 2. Organisation and Filing 3. Time Management Skills 4. Managing Workload 5. Dealing with Distractions 6. Overcoming Procrastination 7. Developing Motivation 8. Goal Setting 9. Lifestyle and Balance 10. Managing Stress at school 1. Will we ever use this? 2. Using Classtime 3. Asking for Help 4. Dealing with Conflict 5. Groupwork Skills

specific skills 1. Reading Skills 2. Writing Skills 3. Mathematical Skills 4. Language Skills 5. Research Skills 6. Presentation Skills 7. Science Skills 8. Assignment Skills tests and exams 1. Summarising 2. Active Studying 3. Preparing for Exam Blocks 4. Test-Taking Techniques 5. After Tests & Exams

extra ‘general’ mini-units 1. Starting Secondary School 2. Becoming a Senior Student 3. Bullying: Issues and Strategies 4. Managing Part-Time Jobs 5. Your Brain and Memory 6. Live Your Best Life + Educational Kinesiology + Living Across 2 Houses + Travel: A Motivator to Learn + Uni: Lecture Note-Making extra ‘technology’ mini-units 1. Technology Tools 2. Basic Computer Skills 3. Be CyberSmart + Useful Apps for iPads + Microsoft OneNote

Need help with a Research

Assignment? Make sure you bring your assignment to the Library

and we can help you locate the best information to get

your assignment done.

Love Books? Want to add to your collection at home?

Check out the Scholastic Book Club Brochures we have available in the Library for all students.

Challenge Yourself This Year!

Enter some Competitions Keep your eyes and ears open for

Spelling Competition (Year 7 only) Writing Competition English Competition

See Mrs Owen in the Library for more details.

9

ASCA – TRY SOMETHING NEW THIS YEAR! Are you interested in developing your communication skills? Give ASCA a try this year! Australian Speech Communication Association ASCA promotes competence, rewards effort and encourages excellence. ASCA PROMOTES COMPETENCE, REWARDS EFFORT AND ENCOURAGES EXCELLENCE Participating in ASCA is a great way to promote your communication skills and a great certificate to include in your resume. ASAC Examinations will be taking place later in the year, so keep your eyes and ears open for more information or SEE Mr Owen in HSIE staffroom Or Mrs Owen in the Library for more information.

Get involved – it is well worth the effort!

Need Help? Make sure you ask us for help. Happy Reading and Studying!

Mrs Owen – Teacher Librarian Mrs Sweep – SAS Library

10

Uniform pool

The school has a uniform pool that is available for all families to use. However, it is currently running low on school skirts. If you have any uniforms that no longer fit your child, it would be appreciated if you could please bring them into the school to add to our uniform pool. If you need help in obtaining a uniform, come to the front office and you can access the uniform pool.

Messages/Books/Money Left at Office for Students

At school we have a Year 8 runner available periods 1 and 4 to assist office staff with the running of messages and delivering of absentee notices etc. Outside this time frame, we cannot guarantee that messages/books etc will be delivered to students as staff may not always be available to leave the office. Obviously this does not apply to emergency situations. Please be aware that on Thursday afternoon, students are at sport and this involves many different locations, both inside and outside the school grounds. If you know that you will be collecting students for appointments etc, please ensure that you send a note to school requesting a leave pass (through the normal channels as outlined in the school handbook) or if you are unsure of the time, please ask students to check for messages at the front office at each break. Likewise, if you are leaving books, clothes, money at the office, please ensure that students are aware that you will be dropping items and ask them to keep checking during breaks to see if items have been left. Your help with this would be greatly appreciated.

11

Quirindi High School Summer Canteen Menu 2015

Sandwiches Rolls Wrap Salad (no meat) 3.00 3.50 3.60

Devon and Salad 3.20 3.80 4.00 Ham and Salad 3.80 4.30 4.50 Roast Chicken and Salad 4.80 5.30 5.50 Mayonnaise .40 Ham and Pickles 2.30 2.80 Ham and Tomato 2.10 2.60 Ham, Cheese and Tomato 2.40 2.90 Ham and Cheese 2.30 2.80 Devon and Pickles 2.00 2.50 Devon and Tomato Sauce 2.00 2.50 Devon and Tomato 2.00 2.50 Devon 1.70 2.20 Devon & Cheese 2.00 2.50 Ham 2.00 2.50 Roast Chicken, Lettuce and Mayo 3.60 4.10 4.30 Roast Chicken Cheese and Tomato 3.70 4.20 4.40 Roast Chicken and Mayo 3.50 4.00 4.20 Roast Chicken and Lettuce 3.30 3.80 4.00 Roast Chicken and Cheese 3.50 4.00 4.20 Roast Chicken and Tomato 3.30 4.10 4.10 Roast Chicken 3.20 3.90 3.90 Chicken, Cheese, lettuce & Mayo 3.90 4.50 4.70

Chicken, Cheese & Mayo 3.80 4.30 4.60 Chicken, Cheese Tomato Lettuce Mayo 4.00 4.50 4.80 Chicken, Lettuce & Tomato 3.40 3.90 4.20 Cheese and Tomato 2.00 2.50 Cheese 2.00 2.50 Tomato 1.70 2.20 Vegemite 1.80 2.30 Peanut Butter 1.80 2.30 Buttered Bun --- 1.40 Toasted - extra .30 All above must be ordered at 15 min or 20 min break Powerade 4.00 Hot Dog Plain 2.40 Dare 4.00 Hot Dog & Sauce 2.60 Bottled Water 2.00 Hot Dog, Sauce & Cheese 3.00 Large Juice 3.00 Hot Dog & Works 3.20 Small Milk 3.00 Crisps 2.00 Large Milk 4.00 Tub Fruit Salad with a spoon or fork 4.00 Deep Spring Cans 3.00 Tubs of Pasta salad with spoon or fork 4.00 Slushies 2.00 Yoghurt 2.00 Small Sausage Rolls .80 - ONLY AVAILABLE AT 15 MIN BREAK Tomato Sauce .30

Uniform Prices - available at Canteen Sports T-Shirts $22.00 Summer Skirt 8 - 22 $32.00 24 $36.00

Calculators $25.00 Winter Skirt 8 - 18 $45.00 20-22 $48.00 School Jackets $78.00 XXL $81 Book Packs $50.00

12

PASS TO LEAVE THE SCHOOL GROUNDS

It is appreciated that, from time to time, parents may require their child to leave the school grounds for a variety of reasons. It is important that missing lesson times is avoided. For this reason, it is expected that appointments will be arranged during the lunchbreak or after school wherever possible.

The following sample note is a guide to the details needed for a leave pass to be issued.

Sample Note “Your Address”

1. John Doe Roll 32 Year 9 2. 30/7/01

Dear Sir, 3. Please give my son, John, permission to leave school at 1.30pm. He has to 4. see the doctor and will not be returning to school. 5. Thanking you, 6. Irene Doe Irene Doe.

1. Name printed on top of note with roll number and year. 2. Date. 3. Time to leave. 4. Reason (A reason must be given) Nature of appointment should be stated. 5. Returning or not returning. This must be clearly stated. 6. Parent/Guardian name and signature

This note should be placed in the bowl on table outside the Deputy’s office before 8.55 am in the morning and the leave pass request sheet filled in with details.

The leave pass can be collected at break times from board outside Mrs Sampson’s office. The student must take this slip with them.

The time of expected return should be placed in the right hand column. The word "NOT" printed here means that you will not be returning. If your time of return is different from that stated, or if you need a late note, report to the Deputy Principal on your return.

13

Hunter New England Population Health Direct Contact Details Phone: (02) 49246477

NSW SCHOOL VACCINATION PROGRAM Each year NSW Health works in partnership with schools to offer the vaccines recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for adolescents as part of the school vaccination program. In 2015 the following vaccines will be offered: Year 7 students* • dTpa vaccine (Diphtheria, Tetanus & Pertussis (whooping cough)) as a single dose • varicella vaccine (chickenpox) as a single dose; and • human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in a 3-dose schedule at 0, 2 and 6 months (students who commence

HPV vaccination in Year 7 but do not complete the course may be offered catch-up doses at school in Year 8)

Year 11-12 students* • measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine as a single dose as part of a catch-up vaccination program for

students who are not fully protected. PLEASE CHECK HOW MANY DOSES OF MMR VACCINE YOUR CHILD HAS RECEIVED BY CHECKING THEIR BABY VACCINATION BOOK (BLUE BOOK) OR CONTACTING MEDICARE ON 1800 653 809. IF THEY HAVE EVIDENCE OF TWO PREVIOUS DOSES – DO NOT COMPLETE THE CONSENT FORM. * The Parent Information Kits contain a consent form, information sheet and privacy statement that details

how personal information will be collected, stored and utilised. Consent form kits will be sent home to parents/guardians. To consent to the vaccination of their child, parents/guardians are advised to: • read all the information provided • complete the consent form, including signing their name next to the vaccine/s they would like their child

to receive • return the completed consent form to their child’s school • ensure that their child eats breakfast on the day of the school vaccination clinic. Parents/guardians who wish to withdraw their consent for any reason may do so by writing to the school Principal or phoning the school. The Procedure for Withdrawal of Consent is available on the NSW Health website at www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation To improve vaccination completion, students will be opportunistically offered any missed doses throughout the year where possible. Please note that for HPV vaccine only, parents/guardians must record their Medicare Number (all 10 digits and the 11th number beside the child’s name) on the consent form, as this is required to record the student’s information on the National HPV Vaccination Register and (for female students only) link to the National or State Cervical Screening Program. A Record of Vaccination will be provided to each student vaccinated at each clinic. Parents/guardians should ensure that this record is kept for future reference and should not assume that their child has been vaccinated if they do not receive this Record of Vaccination.

14

Australian Mobile Dental Care clinic

This year Quirindi High School has obtained the services of the Australian Mobile Dental Care clinic. This is a mobile clinic that visits schools throughout Australia offering bulk billed dental assessments and essential dentistry services including; check-ups, cleaning, fluoride treatments, sealants, X-rays and fillings. On Tuesday all students were given a dental consent form to take home to parents and guardians providing information about the Dental clinic. These forms are to be returned to the school’s front office by Monday 16th February. Students will receive a visit from the team on Tuesday 17th February where they will attend presentations on the importance of good dental health. The Mobile Dental Clinic will be at Quirindi High School during the week of the 16th March. We encourage you to have your son/daughter attend this free clinic in a move towards promoting preventative health strategies and physical wellbeing. Please be aware that attendance to the clinic is a personal choice and not a mandatory activity for all students at the school. Should you have any questions regarding the clinic please contact Sally Chad or collect a consent form from the front office if you have not already received one.

15

16

Dates to put on your Calendar

WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER PRODUCTIVE YEAR.

Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sat/Sun

3

A

9th Feb 10th Feb

Year 11

Parent /Teacher

Board of Studies

Night

commencing at

6pm in the

Library

11th Feb

Swimming

Carnival at

Quirindi Pool

12th Feb

13th Feb

Student ID

Photos

14/15

4

B

16th Feb

17th Feb

18th Feb 19th Feb 20th Feb

Formal

Assembly

21/22

5

A

23rd Feb

24th Feb

P&C meeting,

Quirindi Bowling

Club

6.30pm

25th Feb

26th Feb

Year 12

English Adv

to Sydney

27th Feb

Year 12

English Adv

to Sydney

Formal

Assembly

28/1

17

QUIRINDI & DISTRICT SOCCER ASSOCIATION INC (Quirindi Junior Soccer 0-18yrs) Annual General Meeting 7.00pm Thursday 15 February 2015 Tony Caine Function Room, Quirindi RSL Club All interested helpers are invited to attend. For further information contact: Michelle Gallagher (Secretary) - 67463505