Principals Report

Dates for Calendar

31 July to 4 August—

Education Week

Monday 7 August—

Shearing School

Tuesday 15 August—

P&C Meeting

Saturday 26 August—

Canberra Universities

Open Day

MURRUMBURRAH

HIGH SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL: JOHN

MCFADYEN

28 JULY 2017 Week 2—Term 3

Mercury

MHS School

Driver Training

Program

1 hour = 3 Log

book hours

Price = $10 per

1 hour lesson

Welcome Back Term 3 is upon us and we return to a ten

week term. For Year 12, this is their last

full term of secondary schooling. They will

certainly be kept very busy over the next

ten weeks.

Term 3 – the last for Year 12 This term is a critical time for our Year 12

students; they have just under ten weeks of

school left before they finish for their study

break before the HSC exams. During

Week 5 they have their Trial HSC and in

some subjects students have their major

works to complete before then. I encour-

age each and every student to work hard

to get the very best results.

Education Week Murrumburrah High School will showcase

the achievements of its students, teachers

and staff and celebrate public education

across NSW during Education Week to be

held during next week 31st July to 4th Au-

gust. This year’s Education Week theme, ‘I

Learn, We Learn’ reflects the department’s

commitment to ensuring its students are at

the heart of learning, so that individual po-

tential is identified, then developed in a

partnership of quality teaching, supportive

school environments and engaged parents

and carers.

Information Session It was good to see a large group of Year 8

and Year 10 students and parents at our

information session that was held last Mon-

day night. I hope that people gained some

information from them. Remember, if

you’re not sure, ask.

Year 6 students will have the opportunity

to spend two days experiencing secondary

school in Term 4. These days will allow

students to develop some familiarity with

the secondary school, its procedures and

the programs offered.

Subject Selections Students are selecting their subjects that

they will study next year. These decisions

are important ones to lay the foundation

for senior study and further education be-

yond. It is of the utmost importance that

students make informed and wise subject

selections – to select subjects that they will

enjoy, be engaged with, are matched to

their ability and interests, keep their op-

tions open for the future and are beneficial

to each student’s career path.

Students from Years 8 and 10 are reminded

that their subject selections forms are due

back to the Front Office by Friday 4th Au-

gust.

Early Entry – Schools Recommendation Scheme (SRS) UAC (Universities Admissions Centre) is

introducing a centralised Schools Recom-

mendation Scheme (SRS) for current Year

12 students who wish to enter universities.

This scheme will provide a simple, single

online application for students and schools.

Our Year 12 students have received some

information with regard to the SRS and can

expect to receive more over the next few

weeks.

P & C Meeting I would like to extend an invitation to all

parents and community members, to attend

Murrumburrah High School P & C meeting

which will be held in the staff common

room at the school on Tuesday, 15th Au-

gust, commencing at 6p.m. All members of

the school community are welcome and

certainly encouraged to attend.

Canberra Universities Open Day On Saturday 26th August, the tertiary insti-

tutes in Canberra will be holding their

Open Day. If you are thinking about univer-

sity study for yourself then Australian

Page 2 Mercury

Catholic University, Australian National University and the University of Canberra

then this open day is for you. If you are in Years 10, 11 or 12 and are interested in

attending, please give you name (by Monday 14th August) to the careers adviser, Bron-

wyn Ashton. The Harden District Education Foundation has generously sponsored a

bus to take students to Canberra on the day.

Enjoy.

John McFadyen

Principal’s Report Continued

On Monday, a program called Love Bites was presented

to Murrumburrah High School’s Year 10 students, by

the National Association for prevention of Child Abuse

and Neglect (NAPCAN).

NAPCAN has made quite a large contribution to the

safety and wellbeing of Australian children and young

people by raising awareness for child abuse and neglect,

as well as it’s impact, they have also developed and promoted effective strategies and

programs to solve these problems.

Love Bites is a Domestic Family Violence and Sexual Assault prevention program that

teaches the next generation about the issues that are present in the society, how to be

an active bystander, and that it is okay to seek help when you need to.

The Love Bites program consists of two workshops on Domestic and Family Violence

and Sexual Assault followed by creative workshops that consolidate the information

from the morning. Artwork and/or other campaigns to challenge violence against wom-

en and children in the local community.

“It was good, very informative and very touching’ One of the students who participated

in the program said. Overall it was a great program with plenty of interactive activities.

If you or someone you know is affected by Domestic Violence or Assault, please do

not hesitate to call 000 or 1800 RESPECT.

Emily Stanfield Year 10

Love Bites

Stage 4 Science

Students in Stage 4 Science are competing in an egg drop challenge.

They need to create a contraption that will protect an egg from a three

metre drop, using what they have learnt about safety devices (car

crumple zones, air bags, boxing gloves, etc.) and forces.

Bronwyn Ashton

Page 3 Mercury

Reminder:

Parents if you wish

for your child to

leave early from

school, please

telephone the

Office on 6386

2755. The office

does not accept

text message on a

student’s phone.

From the Labs

Well we’re now into Term 3, wow where has this year gone. Term 3 is a big gun on

the Science calendar with both Stage 4 and 5 classes undertaking their major research

project for the year, Science Week happens in week 5, VALID testing for Year 10’s in

week 7 and Year 12’s finishing 13 years of school study.

The research task undertaken in Stage 5 is compulsory and is done by every student in

Year 10 across the state. I always look at this task as something every student should

be able to excel at, as it should be focussed around THEIR area of interest. The project

must include research, experimentation and analysis of results, all great skills applicable

in both schooling and life in general. In the past I have seen students who may not be

the most academically minded produce excellent projects simply because of their in-

tense interest in the subject matter studied. This project is to be completed individually

and should be seen as challenging and designed to peek student interest in Science. Par-

ents feel free to help and encourage your child to do their best.

The Stage 4 students will also complete a series of mini research projects over the

course of the Term as a type of “tuna tempter’ for when they are expected to com-

plete theirs in years to come.

During Week 5 Science teachers and students will be fanning out to the 4 feeder pri-

mary schools in the district to conduct STEM experiments and demonstrations with the

aim of exciting kids about Science.

VALID testing is a national science test undertaken by all Year 10 students across Aus-

tralia in order to gauge a comparative level of understanding. Year 8 students are also

tested (in Term 4). These tests are now computer based and take approximately one

hour.

The Validation of Assessment for Learning and Individual Development (VALID) pro-

gram provides online end-of-stage assessments for the science key learning area. The

assessments assist schools to monitor student achievement and inform planning, pro-

gramming and assessment practice.

VALID replaces the Essential Secondary Science Assessment (ESSA). The structure and

delivery of the tests is similar to ESSAonline.

So what’s being studied in the classrooms – well, Stage 4 are looking at Mixtures and

how to separate them. This is a great ‘hands on’ unit of work where the students learn

about pure and impure substances and how to separate individual components using

various methods of separation including – centrifuging, filtering, crystallising, decanting

and others.

Stage 5 are undertaking their second unit of Chemistry for the year. The focus of this

unit being - different types of chemical reactions and how they are used to produce a

range of products, the rate at which reactions occur and the involvement of energy

transfers within the reactions. Yesterday’s practical involved conducting exo and endo-

thermic reactions - (how to make drinks really really cold, ice cream production and

heat pads for cold fingers and toesies).

A really cool opportunity came through this week for two Year 10 students and a

teacher to possibly gain a position at a Science camp (6-9 Nov) at ANSTO (the nuclear

reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney) to undertake STEM activities. All that is required is

Page 4 Mercury

From the Labs—Continued

video outlining “What question would you like to see scientists solve for the future of

our society?” Only 22 students from across the country will be invited.

Year 11 Senior Science are now studying Humans at Work a topic that looks at the

how the human body works and why it needs to be protected in the workplace from

associated hazards.

The Year 11 Chemistry students are working their way through Energy – a great topic

with excellent real world applications – exothermic and endothermic reactions, fer-

mentation and distillation, combustion of different hydrocarbon fuels, making and

breaking bonds, safety implications of volatile energies and the role of catalysts in chem-

ical reactions.

Wishing our Year 12 Science students all the best with their studies over the course of

this term as they work towards the completion of their high schooling – both sad and

exciting for them and the teachers who have supported them over the last 6 years.

So STAY TUNED this term for some great science stories from the labs – peace out.

Tim Priest

Small School Tournament at Boorowa

On Wednesday I took a group of 17 boys to a rugby league small schools tournament

at Boorowa Showground. Although we had only a small group, we were one of only

two teams to field a team in the under 16´s (13 a side) and opens (7 a side) division,

with some of the older boys in the 16s team stepping up and helping out the short sid-

ed opens side.

The day started off with the 16s fighting out a hard 16-16 against Bombala. The boys

fought back after conceding an early try to lead 16-10, but Bombala levelled the scores

with a few minutes to go. Next up was the opens, who went try for try with Boorowa,

and were only one try down until Boorowa scored on the siren to finish up winning 26-

16. Next up was a change of field and a change of fortune as the 16s went down 36-6

to 16s champions Sacred Heart Cootamundra and the opens went down 40-10 to

opens champions Junee High School. In the next game the 16s got the win they thor-

oughly deserved. After fighting back from a 10-6 half time defecit, Lachlan Hill scored

the Murrumburrah try of the day after kicking for Jakob Halls, who gathered the ball,

drew 3 and passed back to Lachlan. This put Murrumburrah in the lead and we eventu-

ally went on to win 24-16. In the last game the opens again fought hard and were com-

petitive against a giant Tumbarumba side, eventually going down 28-16.

Myself, Mr McFadyen and all the boys had a great day out at Boorowa. The Murrum-

burrah player of the tournament was Gus Shea, who filled in twice for the opens, play-

ing 5 full games out of 6, scoring 5 tries and gaining countless metres. Other standout

players were Jakob Halls; who also scored a few tries, Will Ryan; who scored the sealer

in the 24-16 win, Beau Abnett, who played well above his weight, Oscar Forsyth; who

ran hard all day and Coby Elliott; who made a couple of try saving tackles and an ankle

tap from fullback.

Jay Larder

Page 5 Mercury

MHS Farm News

The school farm has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new Bromar Feed bin

which arrived last week. This piece of machinery will enable feed mixes and grain to be

picked up and feed out without the bagging and lifting that we have had to do in the

past.

Wal Lovell spent time with the South West Tractors representative on operating the

Bromar and how to best look after the equipment.

The Spring show team is with the last 4 head of stock arriving from Thurloo Park

Square Meaters.

The students now have 10 steers and 2 stud heifers to prepare for the upcoming

shows. The steers begin their grain mix feed next week which will give them a 90 day

feed period before Albury Show in November.

The lambs are rapidly growing on Lucerne and oaten pasture in readiness for the Illabo

Show in October. Like many farmers in the district we are all anxiously awaiting for

rain.

The Farm Club were awarded a gold medal at the 2017 Sydney Royal Easter Show in

the purebred carcass competition for the Victor Chang Steer, receiving 92 points out

of a possible 100.

Jan Young

Science/Ag Department is needing any old plastic

plant pots for growing our seedlings and

experiments.

The Archiburrah

The stage 5 art students for this term have been embarking on learning everything they

can on portraiture and the figure in art.

The reason they are studying portraiture is due to the prestigious art prize- The Archi-

bald. Awarded annually, the $ 85,000 prize showcases portraiture in the genre of paint-

ing. The students have utilised a variety of media and have been encouraged to explore

what they can achieve.

The charcoal drawings you see on the left are examples of their continuous line draw-

ings. They are big, bold black lines drawn onto A1 size pieces of paper and the brief was

to make a continuous line without lifting the charcoal off the page. After demonstrating

this activity, these are the students’ products.

Charity Elford

James Daley

Madeline Hartwig

PO Box 131

HARDEN NSW 2587

Phone: 02 6386 2755

Fax: 02 6386 3048

E-mail: murrumburr-

h@det.nsw.edu.au

MURRUMBURRAH

HIGH SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL: JOHN

MCFADYEN

We’re on the web http://www.murrumburr-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/

Preparing our students for tomorrow’s challenges through learning

What’s Happening

Event Year/Classes Activity Date Money / Note Due

Rehearsals @ Young

Town Hall

Selected Students Friday 4 August 2017 Monday 31st July

7/8 All Schools touch

Football

Selected Students Friday 4 August 2017 Tuesday 1st August

Stage 5 Art Excursion

to Canberra

Selected Students Wednesday 20 Sep-

tember 2017

$50—1st Septem-

ber

Harden Rocks Markets

Saturday 29th July 2017 9am

Venue: Harden Rock Gym Studio

Stall with a variety of goods. Come and find a treasure

and support Zac’s Place

Any information please call Ros on 0406 379 561

Hilltops Talent Quest

Sunday 17th September 2017

Venue: Boorowa Ex-Service Club

If you require more information please contact Marilyn Miller on 63 85 3086 or Janet

on 6385 1942

The Hilltops Community

Hub is holding a Trivia

night

Date: 26th August 2017

Time: Doors Open at 7pm Tickets: $20 per person

Tables of 10

Venue: Young S&C Club Bookings essential: 6382

6328