Brunel Drive Modbury Heights South Australia, 5092 Ph: (08) 8263 6244 Fax: (08) 8263 6072 Email: contact@theheights.sa.edu.au WWW: http://www.theheights.sa.edu.au
OUR SCHOOL VALUES We work hard to learn We respect ourselves and each other We value acts of generosity
IN THIS ISSUE Reconciliation Week Debating Team Arts News Grounds Committee Cyber Safety Summit 2011
DIARY DATES 13/6 Yr 11/12 Exam Wk 15/6 Volunteers Morning Tea 15/6 MS SRC Camp Wellington 20/6 Semester 2 begins 21/6 Governing Council 7:00pm 24/6 Ignite Testing 29/6 Fundraising Comm 3:30pm
FOR THE INFORMATION OF PARENTS/CAREGIVERS Anyone wishing to use a credit card for payment, must now include the CVV Number (the three numbers on the back of your card), or the transaction will not process. Thank you. Sonja Hahn, Finance Office
Semester 1 courses end next week with many Year 11 and 12 students completing the assessment period with exams. We expect that all students R-12 will receive reports at the end of the term that indicate they have been successful learners and that their report achievement grades reflect this. 9090 Teachers have used a number of opportunities to communicate with parents about how their child has been managing their learning; especially if there have been any concerns. Parent/student/teacher interviews and term 1 reports are formal school reporting practices that enabled conversations between home and school to track and support learning. Many teachers have also phoned home, written diary notes, organised extra meetings and sent home detailed individual letters to let parents know how their child is progressing. As a result of these efforts we expect that the end of term report is a summary of results that you have anticipated. In addition to these communications we are sending home letters to parents of those students in year 6-12 who are still at risk of not achieving. The letters will indicate concerns about factors that influence level of achievement – attendance, work completion and unsatisfactory grades for assessment tasks completed. While we expect that students will increasingly have the skills to take responsibility for their own learning and achievement we also want to provide information to parents about how they are managing this responsibility. Semester 2 will be the next opportunity for students to excel in their learning and we anticipate that we will have lots of achievement awards to present to students as a result of a successful semester 1. Helen Calvert Principal
NEWSLETTER No. 6 9 June 2011
VOLUNTEER TRAINING
Responding to Abuse & Neglect Education & Care Training Session Everyone wishing to work or volunteer with children and young people must first undertake training in their child protection responsibilities. We have a responsibility to support and protect volunteers and at the same time a very important duty of care to students. Our next training and induction for Volunteers will be: Tuesday June 28th 6:00 – 7:30pm In the Multimedia Room of the Tech Building. Please RSVP to Lyn Albury Lyn.albury@theheights.sa.edu.au so I can inform you if there are any changes and it also enables me to send you any necessary paperwork before the session Teacher Professional Learning Program Monday 2:45 – 3:30pm Week 5: Australian Curriculum – all teachers looked at the website and navigated the various sections of the Australian Curriculum. Maths and Science are required to become familiar with the curriculum in 2011 and are required to report achievement standards in 2012. Visit www.australiancurriculum.edu.au Week 6: Junior School – Smart Board Training Middle and Senior School – Intervention for students at risk of not succeeding, including the introduction of Early Warning letters to parents.
RECONCILIATION WEEK The theme for this year’s Reconciliation Week was ‘Let’s talk recognition’. Every year National Reconciliation Week (and our Middle School assembly) celebrates the rich culture and history of the First Australians who are the Aboriginal people. This assembly is one way our school gives information to students about Reconciliation so that we can all think about how we can help turn around the disadvantage experienced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Recognition comes in all sorts of ways and means different things to different people but everyone likes it when they get it. Our assembly program included information about why starting assemblies for example, with a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country, is a form of recognition for Aboriginal people. The year 6/7 Festival Choir performed an indigenous song and Leonne Hewson our Aboriginal Community Education Officer, talked about the significance of some of the ‘Totems’ that are represented on the mural in the Junior School and what they mean. The following is the speech given by one of our Year 8 Aboriginal students, Rebekah Garrigan. Her speech was about why reconciliation is important to her. ‘Reconciliation week is about bringing indigenous and non indigenous people together. Reconciliation is important both inside and out of school, it is about not making comments that you may not find offensive but is to others. Such as when you do Aboriginal Studies at school and someone says they hate aboriginals because they’re different, as in our colour or the way we live. When I hear people say things that are offensive to indigenous people, it makes me feel annoyed and angry inside that someone would even think of something like that. People usually think of Aborigines as feral, even in the dictionary. People think we steal and have no manners. The truth is you can find in every race that there are people that steal and are not well mannered.
Rebekah Garrigan Achieving Reconciliation involves raising awareness and knowledge of indigenous history and culture, changing attitudes that are often based on myths and misunderstandings, and encouraging action where everyone plays their part in building a better relationship between us as fellow Australians. I am just like everyone else and I’m an Aboriginal person, I’m learning the same like everyone else at this school, there is no difference between you and me except our cultural background. That’s why Reconciliation is important to me for everyone to get along and be able to live together and there are no offensive comments or gestures.’ Rebekah’s speech was well received by her peers and she was loudly applauded. She is to be congratulated for having the courage to stand up and make her feelings public. Sheralyn Oakey, Middle School Senior Leader
RECONCILIATION WEEK ACTIVITIES AT PRE-SCHOOL What fun!....Look who came to play the Didgeridoo! Thank you Mr Geoff Hill, Matthew’s ‘papa’, for all the fun activities you shared with us. We really enjoyed learning about the time you worked with Aboriginal people, looking at the message sticks, hunting tools and listening to you play the Didgeridoo. We had great fun joining in music activities and listening to the ‘wise words’ of your ventriloquist puppet, Bozo, who told us how to be friendly with everyone. Bozo was funny and he could talk! He sleeps in a special box and came out to visit us and tell us how to be friends.
It was fun playing the tap sticks with the music and the funny didgeridoo sounds.
I liked holding the boomerangs and hunting sticks….they were big and made of wood. The Didgeridoo is made from a long branch. Ants have eaten the hole inside and when you blow inside, it makes all sorts of sounds….even kookaburra sounds, hopping kangaroos and donkey noises.
Mr Geoff Hill
The Heights School 2011 Debating Team Back row: L to R: Emily Westmoreland, Eriq Van Der Veer, Taylor Wilson, Kaitlin Withers Sitting: L to R: Uyen Nguyen, Buvanesh Ravichandran, Smriti Singh Absent: Nikil Ravichandran
I have been very lucky to have been involved in debating this year, as debating has been a rewarding experience for all involved. In debating we have been ‘brain storming’ ideas, developing new skills and working cohesively as a team. We lost our first debate against Christian Brothers College, by a very narrow margin, debating the topic “Schools should have an SRC.” We won our second debate against Prince Alfred College with the topic “Violent video games should be banned.” Our next match will be against Glenunga International High School, and we will debate “Public funds should not be used to build professional sport stadiums.” A special thanks to Mrs. Cichinski, who generously uses her free lessons to help us prepare for each debate. Debating is a very worthwhile activity and I hope that it can be enjoyed by future generations at this school. Kaitlin Withers
KITCHEN GARDEN NEWS….. Thank Thank you to everyone who purchased hot cross buns and lamingtons last term. We hope you enjoyed them. This fundraiser raised $400 which will go towards new wheelbarrows for the garden and organic soil. A big thank you to Karen and Warren Duthy, Tabitha Bentley, Alex Damianakis, Gaylene Peters, Warren Earle, Toni Fellows, Maria Parry, Sarah Ellis, Bec Mayne, Debra Watson, Jacqui Grivell, Vanessa Boyce, Justin Brisco, Karen Draiska and the Collins family from Forrest Range for their generous donations of goods and time. The students are thriving in these classes and without your help it would not be so. Kylie May (Kitchen Specialist)
PARENTS AND FRIENDS NEWS This term has been a busy one as we have had the Mother's Day stall and hosted ‘The Biggest Morning Tea’. Thank you to all the mums who helped put together and run these events. It takes a lot of time and effort to make these events happen. Students had a great time shopping for their Mothers at the stall. There was a brilliant array of gifts to choose from. Thank you to those who donated goods! Approximately $250.00 was made which will go towards the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden and Middle School furniture. ‘The Biggest Morning Tea’ was also a great success. Parents, Teachers and the playgroup raised just under $400 which will all go the Cancer Council for research. A big thank you to all of the people who cooked for this event, including the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden students who prepared five dishes to donate to the morning tea. A special thank you to our student musicians, Christine Liu, Coby Hefford and Adam Vause who gave wonderfully entertaining performances on the piano. Kylie May, Kitchen Specialist
ARTS NEWS The Arts Department have been very busy since the start of this year with exhibitions, concerts, productions and film work. The world of creative arts learning is well and truly alive at The Heights.
MUSIC What an exciting past few weeks it has been for the year 6/7 Festival Choir. All their hard work in rehearsal has paid off. The students have excelled well beyond expectation. On the Thursday of week one they were faced with their first real test where they were assessed against set criteria, all the primary schools festival choirs across the State go through the same process. Not only did our choir sing well, they came out with an outstanding achievement grading. What does this mean? They were great!
In week 2 the choir was invited to perform for the middle school celebration assembly. They acquitted themselves exceptionally in both performance and presentation. Now as seasoned performers they again produced the goods last week at the Reconciliation assembly where they sang an aboriginal song called “Gundulla”. Two of our students have been selected to play in the primary Erin (year 7 Flautist) and Scott (year 5 schools Festival Orchestra: the brother and sister team of ‘Cellist) Carnie-Bronca and Mr Laurinaitis Erin (year 7 Flautist) and Scott (year 5 Cellist) Carnie-Bronca. (Conductor Central Festival Orchestra) Both will be playing in the Northern Orchestra which will be accompanying the choirs in 4 concerts at the Festival Theatre. A number of our students will be auditioning for supporting artists’ spots in the Festival. Other exciting music news revolves around The Prime Minister’s Community Cabinet. Five of our students were asked to perform for the event. Stefan Hauk (Year 11 blues guitarist and singer) , Trevor Morgan, Jamie Slatter, and Chris Neich ( Year 12 classical guitar trio) performed for the Rotunda Reception, Olivia Brownsey (year 11 singer) sang the National Anthem for the official function. There were around 350 attendees at the function.
Yr 12 Guitar Trio
Olivia Brownsey
Stefan Hauk Yr 11
ART At the end of last term the teachers from the Art department put on an outstanding and well received art exhibition for the staff featuring works by the teachers themselves. The staff band provided background music. The event was a real collegiate, community affair.
On Thursday the 5th of May, both year ten Art classes went to the Adelaide Art Gallery to observe and gain ideas from Ms Patricia Piccinini, a world renowned sculptor. This particular excursion is linked to our topic for the term, to create a hybrid creature to somehow help the earth’s environmental disasters. Ms Piccinini has created a series of creatures that help our planet in one form or another, from the massive ‘Big Mother’ to the diminutive ‘Surrogate’. Her work is almost lifelike, being created out of silicon, leather, plywood, human and animal hair, and other such items. Our time was well spent in the art gallery, we looked around her models, we took notes to brainstorm our own creations, and we went to the museum to gain more ideas. It was a great experience. (Erin Klarich Year 10)
DRAMA It has now become a tradition that at the end of each term the year 8, 9 and 10 drama classes prepare productions to present to our junior school. The reaction and laughter that filters out of the Performing Arts Space is a true indication of the appreciation that our young audience has for the performances. Recently the year 10 drama class presented “Alice in Wonderland”, abridged by members of the class. The response was so overwhelming that the group continued with a number of skits as encores. This term the year 10 drama class are producing a ‘more serious’ play with their own adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The year 8’s and 9’s are working on ‘spooky comedies’ to present to the juniors.
MULTIMEDIA Multimedia, a.k.a the Creative Arts, is thriving in the school. For the first time, we have a Creative Arts (multimedia) class in Stage 2. The influx of new teaching talent has brought a lot of new ideas and outcomes. The Multimedia room is full of new designs for web pages, and the Intranet has been overflowing with new films. The Middle school classes are bursting with enthusiasm and technological savvy. The new ‘green screen’ studio is well underway, thanks to the Technology faculty, and promises to bring to fruition a broader range of video ideas. Meanwhile, the senior students are practising their skills in scriptwriting, special effects, compositing, animation, directing, editing and cinematography.
JUNIOR SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS As is usual for the Junior School Performing Arts, Wakakkiri is what they are all excited about. The key signature this year is bug. After a lot of discussion, the group set their item in a 1960’s inspired insect society, where a lonely moth seeks friendship and acceptance. A butterfly befriends him only to find that she is shunned by her peers and needs to make a difficult choice. Mrs Phillips and her team of parent helpers are getting props, costumes and music together for this high profile event. The cast of 64 are rehearsing frantically and are really enjoying moving to the music of the Beatles. “Don’t Judge a Moth by His Colour” will be performed at The Adelaide Entertainment Centre on August 24th. Tickets at $36 each can be ordered from the Finance Office.
If you are around the Junior School on a Tuesday afternoon you will hear the wonderful sounds of recorders filtering through the building. We are fortunate to have the services of Lynton Rivers, Primary Schools Recorder Advisor who is working with Year 5 and Year 2/3 in supporting the teachers with their Algis Laurinaitis & The Arts Faculty recorder program. PARENTS/CAREGIVERS OF STUDENTS ATTENDING THE MODBURY SCHOOL DENTAL CLINIC The State Government is in the process of upgrading and consolidating South Australia’s public dental infrastructure to ensure that it meets contemporary models of care, relevant standards and provides a suitable environment for clients and staff. The process of upgrading and consolidating these services includes the closure of a small number of clinics that are currently used on a limited basis. The School Dental Service clinic at the Modbury Primary School will be closed and amalgamated into the new clinic currently being built at Modbury as part of the GP Plus Super Clinic Modbury. The GP Plus Super Clinic Modbury is being built in stages with Stage 1 already open and providing GP and other allied health services. The dental clinic is in stage 2 and we anticipate the opening date to be February 2012. More information and updates will be provided when available. It is expected that this relocation will result in minimal disruption to our services as patient records will be transferred to the new clinic at the time of the closure. For children who currently travel to the Modbury Dental Clinic it will simply be a matter of travelling to an alternate clinic close by. Details of GP Plus Super Clinic are: Days open: Monday – Friday
Address: Clinic Phone:
77 Smart Road, Modbury 5092 Not yet determined.
BLUE LIGHT DISCO th Friday 17 June 2011 Golden Grove Arts Recreation Centre, The Golden Way, Golden Grove Time: Lock-in event from 7pm until 10pm Tickets for the disco can be purchased at Westfield Tea Tree Plaza at the bottom of the travelator near Coles (Kmart end of TTP) on: st Thursday 31 March between 9:30am and 8:30pm Cost $5 The disco is supervised by Police Officers and is held for young people aged between 12 and 17 years
Stage 2 RESEARCH PROJECT – QUIZ NIGHT On the 27th of May 2011 Stephanie Attenborough held a school quiz night for her year 12 research project in order to gain experience within her chosen future career of event management. With 7 tables of 5-12 people and fantastic prizes donated from the South Australian Cricket Association, Adelaide Football Club, Port Adelaide Football Club, Internode, The Tribe, Clipsal and local businesses, the Tea Tree Gully Toy Library, Bunning's Warehouse Modbury, the Golden Grove Tavern, the Modbury Plaza Hotel, Hunting Hair and the Blue Gums Hotel, it was a great success. The majority of the $755.65 raised on the night will be given to the Smith Family in order to help children in Australia and a small donation will be given to the school. Thank you to everyone who attended the event and helped with its preparation. Stephanie Attenborough
Jump Rope will be held on Wednesday 29th June (week 9).
On this day, students will participate in a range of physical activities, including a Jump-Off at the end of the day. Parents will be welcome to come along.
More information will be sent home over the upcoming weeks. Sponsorship forms will also be sent home as the school will be raising money for the Heart Foundation. Mrs Rothery
AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS RESULTS - Basketball Under 14s – Heights Magic were defeated by St Davids’ Cobras (29) on 2nd June Under 12s – Heights Fireballs defeated SFX Coments 13/10. A great show of team effort and commitment, well done to the boys. SAPSASA State Football Carnival 2011 – Salisbury East win first ever State Championship Well done to all five boys from The Heights who were selected in the Salisbury East District Football team in 2011 – Tyrell Sinclair, Brady Farr, Lachlan Haronen, Daniel Kaipara and Luke Maur. For the first time in history, Salisbury East went through the carnival undefeated (9 wins, 0 losses) to win their first ever State Championship in Division 4. Heights parent, Badyn Sinclair, coached the team for the second year running (finished rd equal 3 in 2010) and the team will now be promoted to Division 3 for the 2012 State Football Carnival. All the boys from The Heights played extremely well and contributed greatly to the success of the team – they should also be commended on the great sportsmanship they displayed throughout all 9 games.
AN ARTICLE FROM THE CONVENOR OF THE GROUNDS COMMITTEE 2011…..(Renee Love) Hi my name is Renee Love, since enrolling my children in the Pre School I have been a volunteer. Volunteering does not have to be a huge time commitment it can be as simple as offering to wash art smocks or spending time in the classroom reading, you only do what you can, when you can. Previously I was the co-ordinator of the playgroup now I am a member of the Governing Council and I convene the Grounds Committee. My reasons for moving into Grounds and Governing Council was I felt I wanted to be a part of the overall running of the school, after all I will be spending the best part of the next 12 years here. For the school grounds to be better we need your help. If you have an Earth Moving Company and are looking for something to claim on your tax why not donate your time and skills to demolish and remove the Junior School play equipment. We need to remove all the treated pine fort/decking and make this area level and safe until we can afford to bring in fresh loam and re vegetate. The big plan for this space is an outdoor education area for Reception to Year 3. If you are unable to help with this project you can still help make this school appealing to the eye. If you see a piece of rubbish in the grounds pick it up and put it in the bin or don’t allow your children to bring chewing gum, if they don’t have it at school
they can’t spit it out on the ground for everyone else to tread on. Small things make a big difference, take the challenge it won’t take long to become a habit. n my opinion we have the most caring, approachable and passionate teachers around. If you have a spare minute ask your school “Can I do anything to help or is there anything you need?” Lets make a difference together and boost school pride.
Cyber Safety Summit 2011. Nikita Mickan, Mr Perkins, Kaitlin Withers On Monday 30th May, Mr. Perkins, Kaitlin Withers and Nikita Mickan attended a Cyber Safety Summit in Canberra. Shelley Mickan and Roxanne Withers (Nikita’s and Kaitlin's mothers) also attended. Fifteen students from The Heights have been contributing their experiences and opinions on cyber safety during term one and we were lucky to be chosen to represent The Heights at the summit. Attendance, including airfares and accommodation for the group, was funded by the Federal Government of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. We flew out of Adelaide on Sunday and stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The summit was held at the Convention Centre. Some of the topics discussed at the summit were the new and improved cyber safety website, the new help button and the Buddie Program which is an informative and fun site that teaches students about being cyber safe. We attended a Q&A Forum with Ms. Sonya Ryan (founder of the Carly Ryan Foundation), Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan (Australian Federal Police), Ms. Samantha Yorke (Yahoo7! Australia), Ms. Giovanna Ianacelli (Teachers and Parents Advisory Group), Ms. Ishtar Vii (Google Australia and New Zealand) and Rauri and Darmesh (Youth Advisory Group) as the panel. Robyn Moore was the forum chair and motivational speaker. Yes, that’s right we met Blinky Bill (well, his voice any way)! We heard his famous catchphrase "You are extraordinary!" One of the really funny parts was when Robyn broke out into the Ajax Spray and Wipe song! She is also the voice for that song! The summit was also the launch of National Cyber Security Awareness Week for 2011. It was such an honour to be able to attend such an important event and it has influenced us to be safer online. Nikita Mickan, 906 and Kaitlin Withers, 807.
A Special Opportunity to Host a Japanese Student from the Tsunami Effected Region of Japan In August The Heights will host a 14-16 year old Japanese student for 4 weeks for a Relief Homestay. A charity group has raised money to cover airfares and our local church groups through our Christian Pastoral Support Workers will engage local church communities to provide some clothing, living expences and some support for a host family. A total of 20 students will come to South Australia and 100 to Australia overall. All students are currently living in shelters and many have lost family members. The aim is to offer them respite, some Australian hospitality and a taste of life in an Australian school with a lot of positive memories to attach to the experience. Are you interested in being the host family for such a student? If so, please ring Brian Harris at the school number 8263 6244, or leave a message for him at the Front Office. Brian Harris, Manager International Programs
ROUND 1 OF THE AUSTRALIAN HPV SUPER SERIES, (PEDAL PRIX) SUNDAY, MAY 29TH
Our 4 vehicles, “Phoenix”, Quasar”, Odyssey and “Harsky and Sutch” with their teams.
Almost 60 students and their families attended this event including old scholars, with a large number of new families involved for the first time, especially in the primary category vehicle, "Phoenix". Great weather and reliable vehicles resulted in a fun day for all involved. Of course, events like this are only made possible by great team work, not only from the students, but also from the parent support crew. The vehicles proved to be very reliable despite a couple of rollovers, testament to excellent design & technology skills from the school workshops. The results are now available on a link from the pedal prix website. www.pedalprix.com.au Thank you to the pit crew and parents who took responsibility for a wide range of jobs on the day to help make the day a success. A special thank you to catering guru Jim Wallace and his team, Dee, Skye and Shannon who worked tirelessly to provide a fantastic array of food for over 120 people throughout the day. Thanks also to the ongoing support from parents, Robyn Davis, Paul Gunner, Steve Bannister, Troy Nykiel, Robin and Liz Dowding, Katie and Craig Blyth, Andrew Geytenbeek and his team of track marshalls (Sean, Mark and Kelvin) and time and support from Steve Parry, David Bond and Kelvin Barraclough on scrutineering day. Of course without the weekly work from team fitness coaches Cherie Rothery and Adrienne Niven in planning and running training sessions, the teams would not happen. Our gratitude to them cannot be over-stated. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the fantastic work of Taylor Nykiel in working on all 4 vehicles over the first semester and also congratulate the senior students, Ben Geytenbeek, Taylor Nykiel, Sean Davis and Daniel Weninger in managing and leading their separate teams at the event and at school meetings. We also thank year 7 student Stephen Dowding who has developed an outstanding lap counting system. Both the hardware and software looks brilliant and is an important part of the Pedal Prix Program as it allows riders to know their lap data and enables then to strive for improvement.
Comments from students involved in round #1:
"It was an awesome race, everybody had a good time and everyone worked well together. It was amazing to ride the last lap of the race. I am really looking forward to the next race." - Paul Blyth "I thought it was a bit scary but at the same time it was fun. Probably one of the most “funnest” things I have ever done" - Natalie McKellar “I thought it was the most fun thing I have ever had at school. And it was really cool to ride the bike for school.” Tristan Ewart “The 6 hour event was really good it was lots of fun to go out in the cars, I was quite nervous at first as the other cars were going really fast. I thought the water bottles were really cool as well ! - Lachlan Loaker-Robbins “I was nominated to start the race in Phoenix for round 1 on the 29th of May. We started 134th on the grid out of around 146 bikes. It was my first time starting the race, it was quite fun but I was a bit nervous. This is my second year in the Heights Pedal Prix team.” - Ben Parry Next Event is on July 31st, Victoria Park Teams are still training with Cherie Rothery and Adrienne Niven each week. The round 2 teams will be announced soon. Roger Button Pedal Prix Coordinator