MHS Newsletter Term 2 2014

Term 2 - November 2014 1

`

`

MERRYLANDS HIGH SCHOOL

Bristol Street Merrylands 2160 Phone: 9632 9401 Fax: 9892 2704 www.merryland-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Issue 2 Term 2

Safe Respectful Learners

June 2014

Prestigious Scholarships for some of Merrylands High School’s finest Scholars

At a gala event hosted by the Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore and

attended by Education Minister Adrian Piccoli, Merrylands High School

students, both past and present, were honoured with a range of scholarships

from the Public Education Foundation.

Read the full article and see photos of all the winners on page 2

www.facebook.com/merrylandshigh www.twitter.com/merrylandshs


Merrylands High School Scholars

By Saagar Goundar and Danny Di Quattro

On the 20th of May 2014, seven outstanding students from Merrylands High School were awarded

scholarships at the illustrious Public Education Foundation Awards Night at the Sydney Town Hall.

Scholarships were awarded to Angela Omari, Ilyas Omari, Sahr Conteh, Patricia Grech, Fahima Ali and

also ex students Samira Hussaini and Asra Safar. These scholarships assist these talented, hard

working students to continue with their studies. Award recipients were also given the opportunity to

meet the Hon Michael Kirby and State Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli MP. ‘This has enhanced

my learning immensely. I will be able to use the scholarship money to buy many important resources

such as text books”, said Angela.


By Danny Di Quattro

On Monday 7th April, the Make Your Mark website was launched at Merrylands High School by the

Minister for Hunam Services, Senator Marise Payne. This new government website puts valuable

information about courses and careers at the fingertips of students. At the launch, students met

representatives from many universities and had the opportunity to chat with them. ‘There are plenty of

opportunities after school, and the website helps you discover what’s out there” said Angela from Year

12. The launch was wonderfully successful and all those involved trust the website will be a valuable

resource to students, teachers and parents.

Browse Your Future Career

Clockwise from above: Minister For Human Services, Senator Marise Paine, Ms Mularczyk, School Captain Heba Niem and “Bridges to Higher Education Coordinator Annette Cairndorf help launch the “Mark your Mark” Website.

Below: Yr 12 students who helped launch and road test the websie


By Danny Di Quattro

In early term 2, Merrylands High commemorated Anzac day with their annual school ceremony.

Our students were again reminded that Anzac day is an opportunity for Australians, New

Zealanders and Turkish people to remember the sacrifices of those who fought at Gallipoli.

Merrylands High was again very fortunate to have three defence force cadets, from amongst

our student population, play a significant role in the commemoration. These students are

Veronica Nicolich and Felwah Alhajri who are both Airforce cadets and Mikaela Borg a member

of the Army cadet corp.

The many traditional elements of the ceremony, including the playing of The Last Post and

Reveille, the lowering of the flag to half mast, the recitation of the oath and the laying of a

wreath helped make the ceremony moving and relevant to the students.

Lest We Forget

Merrylands High School Students and Defence Force Cadets Veronica Nicolich, Felwah Alhajri and Mikaela Borg participating in the MHS ANZAC ceremony.


Merrylands Students with Julie Owens MP Uncle Stephen welcomes Merrylands students onto Darug Land

By Liam Murphy On the 2nd of May, Merrylands students travelled to Prospect Hill to mark the First Act of

Reconciliation. Reconciliation Day is about improving the relationship between Aboriginal

Australians and the broader community. VIP’s included Uncle Steven Williams, Uncle Richard,

Aunty Carroll, Julie Owens MP, and a representative from Holroyd council. There were speeches,

cultural dances, including one by a local member of the Darug tribe, and a special smoking

ceremony to welcome all the guests to Prospect Hill. The First Act of Reconciliation marks a small

step in facing our nation’s past and moving forward in a positive direction.

First Act of Reconciliation

By Samantha Barnes After many weeks of endless rehearsals, it was

fabulous to be given the opportunity to perform

at the prestigious Sydney West Dance Festival.

Our group performed a comical routine based

upon world renown comic Charlie Chaplain and

named ourselves ‘The Chaplains’. It was an

amazing experience as we got to share this

performance with a number of other primary and

high schools on a professional stage. It was

enormous fun working with students from all

year groups, and I would gladly take part in this

amazing experience again. All of this could not

have happened if not for the hard work and

dedication of Ms Gentilli, and I’d like to thank her

on behalf of all the girls who took part.

Taking Our Best to the Sydney West Dance Festival


Students Give Back in a Big Way By Amore Ghamraoui & Alexzandria Frangie

‘Champions of the West’ is an initiative where

individuals and groups compete for twelve grants,

each worth $10,000, to invest in projects which

benefit the community. Grants are awarded based

on the ingenuity of the project and support

received from the public. Looking to give back to

their school, ex students Anthony Hanna, James

Hanna and Alisa Roberts applied for grants on

behalf of MHS. We’d like to thank Anthony, James

and Alisa for their commitment and willingness to

contribute to our School, and we wish them the

best of luck.

Article from the ‘Parramatta Advertiser’

Past students Anthony and James Hanna

STOP PRESS – MERRYLANDS HIGH SCHOOL WINS $10,000 GRANT

We are pleased to inform our readers that just prior to printing Anthony, James and Alisa’s

submission for the $10,000 grant to implement a sustainable health and fitness program at

Merrylands High School had been announced as the successful proposal. Congratulations!


SRC Camp 2014

By Danny Di Quattro

At the start of Term 2, the SRC went camping at Morrisset. After working hard representing the school,

this was a great chance to take time out to strengthen their team. The SRC enjoyed activities such as

Mud world, the Leap of faith and the giant swing. The SRC breezed through these activities by working

collaboratively and conquering their fears. Students particularly enjoyed the messiness of Mud World.

Particular thanks must go to Mr. MacRae, Miss Di Gesu and Mr. Pa for assisting and accompanying the

SRC on the camp. The entire SRC look forward to being able to use the skills and teamwork developed

on the camp to deliver continued service to Merrylands High Students.

Students Chase Gold at the Merrylands Athletics Carnival

By Amore Ghamraoui, Faith Aljaberi & Rhakeecha Taratola Earlier this term, Merrylands High School hosted their annual athletics carnival. Students had the

opportunity to take part in a variety of sporting events and competitions. An exhausted Jason El-

Samad from Yr 8, who raced in the 100m, 200m, 800m while also tackling some field events,

commented on how much he enjoyed the competition and the wonderful atmosphere ‘The events

were challenging and exiting”, he said. Students proudly wore their house colours and cheered for

their classmates. Overall, the house of Bradman won the honour as Champion House. While all the

staff members and students who participated in this great day deserve praise, it is particularly

important to again acknowledge the invaluable contribution of Mr Clarke.


Our Students Have Questions for Premier Mike Baird

By Amore Ghamraoui & Alexzandria Frangie

A few weeks ago, a group of our students from the student leadership team attended a special

community forum with Premier Mike Baird. Merrylands High School was the only local school invited

to participate in the event. Our students had the opportunity to ask the premier questions about how

political decisions would affect them. The issues raised ranged from feeling safe in the community to

changes to the GST and how that would impact low income families. These students did a great job at

representing Merrylands High school and demonstrated that our youth have the ability to think

through and respond to complex issues that affect them, their peers and their community.

Getting Involved in Democracy

By Yagmur Tekin, Gohkan Tezgor & Su Koyunlar

MHS student leaders, Angela Omari and Heba Niem

were recently given the opportunity to meet with

the federal Member of Parliament representing

Parramatta, the Honourable Julie Owens MP. Angela

and Heba met with the MP in her office to discuss

how recent political decisions would affect them and

their community. Funding for public schools,

university fees and support for low income families

were big issues on the table. ‘It was a really

interesting day, and I agree with a lot of what she

had to say,’ said Heba. ‘There are some things which

You can watch the full Q&A session on Channel 7 by following the links below:

http://tinyurl.com/k8svor8 & http://tinyurl.com/kxy5vh8

are going to negatively impact us, so it’s important that we were able to talk about what we can do in

response to these changes.’ Democracy is more than just about voting, and it’s great to see our

students taking the initiative to speak up on issues that matter to them.

Yr 11 student Vignesha Livingstone was one of a number of MHS students who posed thoughtful questions to Premier Baird at the “Fair Go For The West” Forum

http://tinyurl.com/k8svor8

http://tinyurl.com/kxy5vh8


Staff and Students Shine at Education Conference

By Zoe Fletcher and Jessica Vidler

On the 4th of June, high school Principals and

Deputies from all over the state attended a

professional development conference at the

Liverpool Catholic Club. The event saw

Merrylands’s Deputies Ms Giudice and Mr Prasad

introduce an online resource that they had

developed over many months of extremely hard

work. This resource will become a valuable

support for Deputy Principals across the state, in

both High Schools and Primary Schools. As part

of the event, two dance groups from Merrylands

High, Ms Gentili’s dance ensemble and the

Aboriginal dance group, performed for the

Mr Prasad (Left)and Ms Guidice (Right) with project consultant and close friend of MHS Lindy Taylor (Centre)

as they introduced a new online resource for schools across the state

Looking Forward to the Future

By Su Koyunlar & Lamis Saleh

2014 again sees students from

Merrylands High school participating in

the exciting initiative supported by the

University of Western Sydney called

‘Fast Forward’. The program sees

students from all over the state meet at

UWS to learn leadership skills, discover

what university is like, and to be given

career guidance from university

students and lecturers. The Fast

Forward program helps students

prepare for the future. Importantly, it

attendees. ‘I personally thought it was great experience performing for all these people who dedicate

their time to work so hard in our schools’, said Zoe from the Aboriginal dance group. The event was a

huge success, and we commend our talented staff and students.

The Yr 10 Fast Forward Group for 2014

shows them the options available. As the program organisers said ‘your ATAR is not the end of the world’.

This is a great initiative that Merrylands students have been participating in over a number of years, and

students continue to find it an extremely beneficial program.


Mock Trial Team on the Case Again!

In our first year in the competition and after

only one practice round Merrylands High

School recently won the first round of the

“Mock Trial” competition against Blacktown

Girls High School by 11 points (177 to 166).

This saw us ranked 40th out of 154 schools

competing in NSW. The team did well to win

the first scoring round and we learned a lot

from competing in both the first rounds.

The second round against Penrith High School

was again a close scoring game that saw us

narrowly missing out by 5 points (221 to 216).

The magistrate was highly impressed with the

spirited debate that our team brought to the

Clockwise from top left: Moustafa Berjaoui, Hovsep Amirzaian, Grace Harley, magistrate, Gamze Firlayis, Luke Cicciarello, Ms Hrncic, Ebru Dik, Rachael Morrissey, Shazia Nadan, Ms Krunic.

competition and gave us plenty of constructive feedback for our next round in Week 8 of the term.

A special mention to Taga Paa who obtained a coach for us, Mr Dilan Mahendra, a practising barrister,

whose guidance and support was invaluable to the team in preparing for a difficult round against a

formidable opponent.

Students get ‘hands on’ with Geography

By Zoe Fletcher

Recently, a group of Year 11 Geography

students accompanied by Mr Wark, Ms Hrncic

and Mr Viuya went on a Fieldtrip to Wamberal

beach and Terrigal to study coastal landforms.

Students took part in many hands on activities,

collecting sand samples, observing plants and

dunes and examining rocks and cliff formations.

Through their findings, students learnt about

how the coastal environment is shaped by

natural forces as well as by humans. Overall, the

students had a great experience and learnt a lot

about how the actions of humans can impact on

the environment. Racheal Morrissey, Bradley Hogan and Ryan Govender investigating the sand dune vegetation at Wamberal


Merrylands in the Media

The ‘Parramatta Sun’ shines the spotlight on Merrylands students enrolled in university summer school courses

Our brilliant students and their insightful questions to Premier Mike Bard caught the attention of the

‘Parramatta Sun’

Yr 12 student Cindy Balaz featured in the ‘Parramatta Sun’


Student Health Information We welcome information from parents about your child's health, even if you are not requesting specific

support from our school. Schools asks for medical information when you enrol your child. It’s also

important that you let us know if your child’s health care needs change or if a new health condition

develops.

Information about allergies, medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes and other health care related

issues (including prior conditions such as medical procedures in the last 12 months) should be provided

to the school by parents. Please provide this information in writing to the principal. This will greatly assist

our school in planning to support your child’s health and wellbeing.

Please also remember to notify staff in the school office of any changes to your contact details or to the

contact details of other people nominated as emergency contacts.

We appreciate your assistance in this regard and assure you that any information you provide the school

will be stored securely and will only be used or disclosed in order to support your son or daughter’s

health needs or as otherwise required by law.

Traffic Safety

Merrylands High School, our parents, the community, Holroyd Council and the Police work together on

road and traffic isues to ensure our local roads and school environment is as safe as possible for our

students. The information in the table below is provided by the Police to illustrate the traffic issues of

most concern around NSW schools.

Offence Minimum Fine Minimum loss of Demerit Points

If you stop or park on or near:

A Pedestrian Crossing

A Children’s Crossing

Any marked Foot Crossing

$405

2

If you double park

$304

2

If you park illegally in a:

NO STOPPING zone (School)

NO PARKING zone (School)

BUS ZONE (School)

$304 $169 $304

2 2 2

If you make an illegal U turn

$304

2

If you exceed 40km/h in a school zone

$177

3

If you exceed 40km/h when passing a school bus with flashing “wig wag” lights

$106

1


P.C. Financial Services “Servicing Our Client’s Needs “

ABN 76 533 736 690 CRN 399964

Head Office: 366 Chapel Road Bankstown NSW 2200 Mail PO Box 51 Guildford NSW 2161

Tel 02 9709 2399 Fax 02 9796 4620 Mob 0419411513

Email: [email protected]

Are you looking to buy instead of renting?

Have you got the best home loan at present?

We locate the Best Loan suitable for your requirements

* Home Loan Rates under 5%

Our services are Free to our clients

PLEASE CALL PETER

9709 2399 or 0419 411 513 * Conditions may apply.

Join the P.C. Financial Services Customer Referral

Program and we will donate $400 to Merrylands High School for every referred loan that settles.

P.C. Financial Services Proudly Suporting MERRYLANDS HIGH SCHOOL

Peter Pisani – Finance Broker Mobile - 0419 411 513 Telephone – 02 9709 2399 Email – [email protected] www.pcfinancialservices.org

Diploma of Financial Services - FNS50504Finance/Mortgage Broking Management

MHS Newsletter Term 2 2014

Documents

Transcript of MHS Newsletter Term 2 2014