Page 1 A welcoming and friendly school working with and for our local community

PARK PRESS

Our School Values are – RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY & COMMITMENT’

Find us at: 120 Church Street Albion Park 2527 Email: Albionpk-h@det.nsw.edu.au Tel No: 4257 1744

Term 1, Week 7 12 March, 2018

Coming events Week 7

Monday 12 March Selected

Yr 10

Open Rugby League Tag Gala Day

Talks with Police Liaison

Tuesday 13 March Selected Regional Swimming Carnival

Wednesday 14 March

Thursday 15 March

Friday16 March

Support Work Experience Program

Week 8

Monday 19 March Yr 8 Police Talks - Offensive Behaviour

Tuesday 20 March

Wednesday 21 March

Thursday 22 March

Friday 23 March Support Work Experience Program

P & C MEETING Monday 26 March, 2018 at 6pm

PBL

The PBL Student/s of the Fortnight are: Olivia

Power, Jacob Van Den Berg and Cheyanne Te

Ahuru-Itama. These three Year 7 students have

all received twenty seven positive entries in

Sentral since the start of the year

PBL Focus: is around COMMITMENT and

BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE, AT THE RIGHT

TIME. We want students responding quickly to

the warning bells after lunch and recess and

moving straight to class. We also want students

to get to the correct sport on time and being

committed to the choices they have made for

sport.

Students of the Fortnight

Zane Kember of Year 11 for his random act

of kindness to one of our new Year 7 students,

Seth Hayward. Zane and his friends often chat

to Seth during lunch times and offer him some

kind words and deeds.

Liam Miles is a brave young man who

addressed all of our Year 11 students and spoke

to them about what it is like living with Autism

Spectrum Disorder. We are very proud of the

courage Liam displayed and are honored to

have such a young man as a member of our

school community.

Principal’s Message

What a fantastic EXPO we had at Albion Park

High last Wednesday afternoon. Thank you to

Mrs Renay Grant who led the organisation this

year and to the myriad of young students who

proudly helped showcase their school to the

public. It is with enormous pride that I watched,

chatted and engaged with young people from

every area of the school as they demonstrated

the types of learning that they participate in.

Well done to you all!

8 December, 2014

Term 1, Week 7 12 March, 2018

Page 2 A welcoming and friendly school working with and for our local community

At the beginning of Term 2 on 4 May, we will

be holding an official launch of the Skills21

permaculture site, called ‘The Living Classroom’.

We are very excited about the success of the

program and how it has grown and morphed

into a living project with so many possibilities.

On the Expo afternoon Mr Farrugia had two

fabulous helpers with him to explain to parents

and visitors what the project based learning was

all about, despite being very nervous they were

outstanding, in their explanations and manner.

I would like to thank them for their efforts.

Learning Habits

We want students who are constantly prepared

for a lifetime of learning. We need students to

know what to do when they don’t know what to

do. To facilitate this in our students we are

developing a repertoire of effective learning

habits that they can call upon at any time in

their life when learning something new or when

things become challenging. Our Year 10

students, and soon our Year 9 and 8 cohorts,

have identified areas of personal strength and

weakness in terms of learning habits (see

attachment). Class teachers have this

information and explicitly teach the identified

learning habits to give students regular

opportunities to practice them.

Each fortnight in this newsletter we will publish

a little information about one of the twenty

learning habits to help parents understand and

give them the opportunity to help their son or

daughter develop these explicit skills also. If

you would like further information about any of

these learning habits please contact the school

and ask to speak with one of our HOW2Learn

members of staff.

This week we look at managing

distractions. This was one of the highest

ranking habits identified by Year 10 students

that they wanted help with. There are two

infographics provided – “8 hacks to improve

your focus” and “12 ways to manage your

phone” (identified as a major distractor). As an

attachment there is an outline of what it looks

like when a student is managing their

distractions.

Suzi Clapham Principal

Former Student Commonwealth Success

Brenton White a former student of Albion Park

High School recently attended the

Commonwealth Youth Parliament in Jersey.

Each member of Parliament was asked to make

a nomination, and Brenton was nominated as

the representative for the Member for Kiama.

Because of his tireless work on youth issues and

law reform, Brenton was successful in gaining

the position to represent Australia at the

Commonwealth Youth Parliament.

The week long Commonwealth Youth

Parliament provides a key development

opportunity for young people from the

Commonwealth with ambitions of public office

and is designed to demonstrate to potential

future young Parliamentarians the fundamentals

behind the processes of Parliament. The

Commonwealth Youth Parliament gives

participants a Pan-Commonwealth experience

and a hugely valuable networking opportunity

with other participants from across the

Commonwealth as well as with current

Members of Parliament from different

jurisdictions who act as mentors throughout the

week. The Commonwealth Youth Parliament

offers participants an opportunity to experience

one of the key institutions which underpin

democracy and good governance.

Brenton describes the experience as:

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Term 1, Week 7 12 March, 2018

Page 3 A welcoming and friendly school working with and for our local community

“An amazing experience at the 9th

Commonwealth Youth Parliament in

Jersey this past week. 7 days, 70hrs+

at the airport or in transit, 4

countries and a group of new friends.

I met some incredible people and

learnt a lot about Parliamentary

processes, the world and myself.

Topped off an amazing week as the

Shadow Health Minister by getting

an accessible health reform proposal

through the parliament.

Thanks to Kelly Poole for nominating

me and Gareth Ward for taking me

under his wing since and helping me

utilise my passions to their full

potential. I owe you both big time!

Massive thanks to CPA and everyone I

met along the way. Fond memories

I'll cherish forever.”

Albion Park High School are proud of what

Brenton has accomplished with his work so far,

and wish him the best as he continues to pursue

action and law reform for young people.

Greetings from the incredible CAPA faculty

This year has started with a BANG seeing loads

of new and enthusiastic new faces in our Year 7

classes. First term sees Year 7 participating in a

STOMP inspired unit which sees them creating

compositions using everyday household items

as instruments. As you can see from the photos

of Miss Mac’s 70 class they are having a great

time.

The Vocal Company has started rehearsing up a

storm this year. The group has been excited to

have four Year 7 students join already, which

has been very exciting. On the agenda for the

first part of the year is our annual performance

at the Shellharbour Relay for Life event which is

a tradition for the Vocal Company and near and

dear to their hearts.

The students are also

auditioning for the Schools

Spectacular, if they are

successful in this audition,

students will have the

opportunity to perform as

part of a 3,000 strong choir

at the Qudos Bank

Arena. School choirs are selected from across

the state and we wish the students the best of

luck this year.

We are also very excited to announce that one

of our Vocal Company members, Latai Kinikini

of Year 10, is currently representing Albion Park

High School at a state wide Vocal Camp run by

the Arts Unit in Sydney. This is a very

prestigious event and the standard of

performers very high. We are very proud of

Latai’s selection for this camp and are sure she

will leave a lasting impression.

The Vocal Company is always looking for new,

enthusiastic members. If you love to sing we

would love to have you. The group rehearses

on a Wednesday afternoon from 2:35pm until

3:35pm.

2018 has also seen the creation of Club Rock-in’

which is an after-school group for Year 9

musicians. It runs on a Tuesday afternoon from

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2:35pm till 3:35pm and allows the students to

work on their instrumental skills as well as their

performance skills. The students are currently

working on a Film Music piece and we cannot

wait to hear the finished product at the end of

the term. Club Rock-In’ is always looking for

new members so if you think this might be for

you see Mrs Keen for more information.

As if there weren’t enough amazing

opportunities for our creative students here at

Albion Park High School we also have the CAPA

Committee. This is a group of students who are

involved in the Creative Arts through either Art,

Dance, Drama and or Music. The students get

together once a week to discuss CAPA

opportunities and look at ways to support the

arts and student involvement in the arts across

our school.

In previous years this group has done significant

fundraising which has provided financial

assistance for some of our students attending

various CAPA opportunities as well as some

community causes. It’s not all work and no play

though, the CAPA students have an annual

Halloween event which really allows the

students to shine in the most ghoulish of ways.

Last year saw our first “Amazing Race” around

the school which had great student

involvement. The students have even bigger

plans for Halloween this year. The CAPA

Committee is always looking for new members,

if you think this group might be for you please

see Mrs Keen for more information.

The CAPA faculty just love working with the

students here at Albion Park High School and

we love sharing with the community all of the

wonderful things they do. If you would like to

come on the creative journey with us then

please check out either our CAPA instagram or

Facebook pages. We would love you to see all

of the wonderful things we get up to each week.

https://www.instagram.com/aphscapa/

https://www.facebook.com/APHSCAPA/

Music Faculty

International Women’s Day

Piper Lucas, Madison Coric, Shataya Parsons and

Isabella Di Noro attended the International

Women’s Day Function at the Illawarra Women’s

Health Centre.

All the women who attended the celebration

were treated to a sensational high tea

experience. This was a fabulous opportunity to

chat over a cuppa to the many women there

and hear their story. A couple of the ladies were

in their nineties and chatted about their families

and past memories. The guest speaker Maliha

Reece was born in Hollywood to a black mother

and white father. She shares her powerful story

through comedy and song.

Isabella and Piper said her most positive

message was, ‘Love who you are today, never

wish ahead, be confident with your own body as

it is now.’ Shataya thought that she conveyed

the positive message to always, ‘Feel proud of

who you are and not be concerned about what

other people think of you.’

Madison commented that not many people

would have known that over 135 Syrian

Refugees have moved into the Illawarra Region

recently and need to be supported and

encouraged to feel part of our community. The

Syrian ladies showcased their belly dancing

techniques.

The many and diverse areas of the Illawarra

Women’s Health Centre were explained along

with introductions to all staff who facilitate the

services.

8 December, 2014

Term 1, Week 7 12 March, 2018

Page 5 A welcoming and friendly school working with and for our local community

Sydney’s 40th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

Eleven Year 12 Community and Family Studies

(CAFS) students and three PDHPE teachers

joined in the 40-year Sydney Gay and Lesbian

Mardi Gras celebrations on Saturday 3 March,

2018.

With more than 200 floats this year and an

estimated 300,000 revellers, the night was a

bevy of glitter, song, colour and flesh, with our

students having an absolutely fabulous time,

despite standing in one spot for over six hours!

This years’ event was always going to be special

with gay marriage legislation passing through

parliament late last year and there was certainly

a high degree of enthusiasm and euphoria

amongst the crowd. None more-so than the

folk from The Park with the noise and energy

created by our mob attracting many a kiss and

hug from those in the parade, including quite a

few smacks on the lips! Gotta share that love!

I’m not quite sure whether it’s our overall

attractiveness or just that we are a large and

very vocal young group of supporters, but yet

again this year, we seemed to attract a lot of

attention from the media and even some

celebrities. SBS asked to film us (we happily

obliged) and not long after, the Netflix float

paused right in front of us. From her float,

“Orange is the New Black” star Lea DeLaria

waved at us and then jumped off her float,

walked over to us, and then got one of her

buddies to take a photo of herself with us with

her own phone. This picture appeared on The

Project on Sunday night when Lea was a guest

on the panel .

National possibly even global, attention is

something we will just have to get used to.

Congratulations to those CAFS students who

took the opportunity to join in on this annual

celebration of diversity and inclusion as it is

such a special night for so many people. You did

your school proud and now have a very special

memory.

Michael Todd

PD H PE

Important Notice

There has been a case of

Foot and Mouth Disease

reported to the school and it is

advised to read the attached article

from the NSW Government Health

Department as this is classed as an

infectious disease.

Spend and Collect

Every $10 spent at Coles* during the program, will earn a Coles Sports for Schools voucher. The more vouchers your school collects, the more gear you could receive. Please place your vouchers in the collection box in the school office

8 December, 2014

Term 1, Week 7 12 March, 2018

Page 6 A welcoming and friendly school working with and for our local community