Court Street GILGANDRA NSW 2827 Phone: 6847 2276 Fax: 6847 1288

PRINCIPAL Mr Neal Reed DEPUTY Mr Joshua Webb HEAD TEACHERS English/HSIE Mrs Fiona Lambell Mathematics Mr Steven Schier Science Miss Sheryn West (rlg) TAS Mr Russell Woollams SUPPORT Mrs Di Irvin YEAR ADVISORS Year 7 Mr Andrew McCutcheon Year 8 Mrs Laura Jordan Year 9 Miss Kristy Smith Year 10 Mrs Jessica Reed Year 11 Mrs Stacey O’Neill Year 12 Ms Kristen Skewes P&C President Mr Paul Alchin AECG President Deidrie Naden ARCO Mrs Meredith Schier

Newsletter 12 August 2019 Term 3 Week 4

EMAIL: gilgandra-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au www.gilgandra-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Quote of the week

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best

of everything they make the most of everything.

Principal’s report...

Winners are grinners! 2019 has been a year of fantastic student and staff achievements at Gilgandra High School, and we can celebrate again with the Single Cup returning to our mantle. The respect our students showed to each other, the competition, and to our competitors Coonamble and Coonabarabran High Schools, is an outstanding reflection on the character of our students and the community they belong to. A sincere thank you to the coaches of the teams who each helped to nurture our students to achieve their personal best. Well done one and all. Commencing Week 5, Year 12 students face a different test – their Trial HSC exams commence. This is an important time for Year 12, and it is important that the support they receive is shared between school and home. A regular routine of study is important, so too is exercise and sleep. We all wish Year 12 well, as they work hard to achieve the foothold to launch their dreams. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the efforts our students have made with their recent fundraising activities. As young people growing up, prepared and ready for the world tomorrow, fundraising provides many significant benefits – it provides

an opportunity for students to explore their creative side, it helps to instil the importance of sharing, it helps students understand the essence of teamwork and working towards a goal, and for parents it provides a wonderful avenue to play an

active role in the lives of your children. From the Jeans for Genes Day to the Year 12 fundraising, our students continue to impress upon me their genuine engagement with each other and our community.

Neal Reed

Principal

School Captains Ruby Schembri and Henry Johnson with the Single Cup.

Vietnam Veterans Visit Year 10 History

On Tuesday 6 August, Vin and Nancy Cosgrove from the Vietnam Veterans Education unit, visited Gilgandra High to speak to Year 10 History students about their personal stories and experiences, both on the battlefield and the home front, during the Vietnam War era. It is the 14th time they have so generously come to Gilgandra and it is a wonderful experience for all who got to see it. Through an engaging presentation, the use of songs, photos and films from the Vietnam War, and with compelling and moving personal stories, Vin and Nancy gave us a first-hand understanding of what it meant to be involved in the Vietnam War. As Vin declared, “I am a primary source!” Students

undertook an activity based on the birthday lottery used to call up Australian soldiers and a few lucky students were able to dress up as various members of an Australian army unit! Perhaps the most emotional part of the presentation came when Vin and Nancy discussed the impact of the war on veterans and their families, which many students found eye-opening as they discovered the consequences of the conflict that are still affecting many veterans today.

Lachlan Fairey, Nash Marchant, Ashaya Anderson and Jack Briggs

Mathematics Faculty With Year 12 students busily preparing for the Trial HSC exams it is timely to remind students and parents about learning mathematics. The first thing is, it is not a spectator sport. This means you must be involved to learn. Each mathematics lesson will have a similar structure; a warmup activity, checking issues with homework or recent work, introducing new concepts using the “I do, we do then you do” approach before working individually on the activity. Warmups usually consists of 10 questions which will be revision of past concepts or a more focused study of specific skills. 8M2 are currently consolidating equations. Most classes have regular homework which may see students have questions they need help with; this is addressed by the teachers at this point. The new concept is introduced, linking it to it’s use in the real world and what types of careers would utilise the skill before the teacher explains and demonstrates how to perform the new skill. Students will be invited to work with the teacher on example questions with the entire class following and asking clarification questions before focusing individually on the new concept. This may leave homework for students to complete. Students will also have a variety of assessments, such as in class common tasks with problems, to investigation assignments, often using technology, requiring work at school and home, to major tests and exams. Most students enjoy success in the first two types of assessment but many find tests and exams a struggle. The key to success in tests/exams is preparation. A solid preparation begins with completing all class work, reading over work and completing revision questions regularly. Each class has access to a textbook with an electronic version accessible online. At the end of each topic there is a diagnostic test and revision assignments, these a valuable resources for the skills a student is required to master and questions asked of them. Completing all the classwork is vital but the key to mastering mathematics is regular use of the skills. As they say; if you don’t use it, you lose it!

Nash Marchant

The SRC held a successful cake stall, where they raised $392.00 for the Jeans for Genes Day.

Jeans For Genes

Anna Schier, Chelsea Broom, Tyler Edwards, Georgia Horan

Raymond Milson has spent time learning about Aboriginal culture and has designed the art work for this didgeridoo which has been wood burnt.

Mr Schier interviewed our Italian exchange student Alice Ghiaroni with questions from the students of Gilgandra High School.

Formal Assembly

Last week Gilgandra High School held an entertaining formal assembly for Education Week which included a fashion show, musical performance, reports, awards and an interview with our Italian exchange student. Coen Naden conducted the Welcome to Country in both Wiradjuri and English before Mr Reed addressed the school on the Education Week theme; “Every student, every voice” focusing on students making the most of their opportunities. Sarah Schier, Ashleigh Carlow, Amelia Murray and Tamara Harland from the Textiles class, took to the catwalk showing off the pants they had made this year with Aliza Purvis giving a detailed description of each student’s work. John Bunter, Jack Briggs, Rebecca Gaff and Zoe Welsh reported on their visit to Sydney, made possible by UNSW’s Aspire program. This visit allowed the students access to law firms, medical facilities and a tour of the new Bank West Stadium at Parramatta, before a football game. The PowerPoint presentation showed them having a terrific time in Sydney. Rebecca Gaff performed “River Flows in You” on the piano, her beautiful and relaxing music was appreciated by all. Lucy Davis and Korrani Reid spoke about the Year 10 excursion to Sydney in the last week of Term 2. Parramatta High again raised a large amount of money, well over $2500 to help pay the accommodation for the students, their Opal cards for transport around the city and to feed the group while they were there. The students participated in a scavenger hunt across Sydney, working with Parramatta students to take photos of different locations given with cryptic clues. This was followed by a large group of students receiving Principal Awards for completing outstanding work throughout the year. The final item was an interview with Alice Ghiaroni, who is in Gilgandra for the remainder of the year. The students had been asked to submit questions to ask Alice. Alice comes from Sorbara (pop’n 3500), located near Modena, where she attends a technological high school studying predominately science and mathematics. Ten years learning English allows Alice to communicate easily with her understanding Mr Schier’s poor jokes and having a few of her own. She is currently writing a list of what not to put on pizza! During the interview the school discovered several

differences but many similarities, with Alice pointing out how lucky she is to be in Gilgandra with the wide open plains, terrific vistas, amazing opportunities the students have and the enthusiastic teachers. We welcome Alice to Gilgandra and look forward to having our lives enriched whilst enhancing hers.

Principal Awards John Bunter , Ashleigh Car low (3), Lucy Davis, Thomas Eason, Lachlan Fairy, Molly Fairey, Tarah Foran, Rebecca

Gaff, Kate Gilmour, Layney Godber, Isaac Grimshaw, Tamara Harland, Lauren Henry, Madison Hourigan, Henry Johnson, Corey Kaltenbacher,

Nash Marchant, Ella McAnally-Elwin, Amelia Murray, Coen Naden, Kirralah Pracy, Korrani Reid, Lachlan riley, Anna Schier, Sarah Schier(2), Olivia Schier, Abby Tate, Sarah Temple, Jessie Walsh, Zoe Welsh,

Emma Westwood, Kate Woollams

Term 3 Dates for Diary

Tuesday 20th August Ag-Quip Gunnedah

Wednesday 21st August Ron Gibbs –Bourke

Thursday 22nd August Year 12 Trials Start

Monday 26th August Science and Engineering Challenge

Tuesday 27th August Science and Engineering Challenge

Friday 30th August Year 12 Trials Finish

Rani Diggs and Molly Wilson

Sporting News

Congratulations to Lachlan Riley and Blair Keogh who have qualified to represent Western Region at the State Athletics Championships in Sydney later this term. Blair excelled in each of his events at Barden Park in Dubbo, qualifying in the 14 years Long Jump and 15 years Triple Jump (as a 14 year old), which is a great achievement.

Lachlan has qualified by blitzing the field in the 100m sprint and 15 years long jump.

We wish both boys the best of luck at the state event in September

Lachlan Riley and Blair Keogh

The Ken Single Cup

On Tuesday 13th August a 48 year history was continued when Gilgandra High School hosted Coonabarabran High School and Coonamble High School for the coveted Single Cup. We had a number of students competing in all areas of sport . Gilgandra were victorious winning the Girls 15s Netball, Open Netball, Tennis, Basketball, both 14s Rugby League games and had a draw in the Open Football with Coonabarabran High School . Gilgandra went down in the girls and boys Soccer and the Golf. We were second in the Bowls. A massive congratulations and well deserved thanks to all the teams and their coaches who contributed to the victory.

Students celebrating the Single Cup Victory Rani Diggs, Sarah Schier, Anna Schier, Ruby Schembri,

Kyle Welsh, Marshall Ryan, Henry Johnson , Ty Sutherland-Tink, Ian Louie-Wood, Rebecca Gaff

Tyler Edwards and Zoe Welsh

Congratulations to Rani Diggs and Molly Wilson who Competed strongly in their respective levels at the CHS Gymnastics on the 6th and 7th August , at Hunter Sports Centre in Newcastle . Molly’s level 3 team gained third position overall whilst Rani achieved a great result on the vault in her level 4 team. Great job girls, we hope you’ve gained valuable experience and had a great time.