Court Street GILGANDRA NSW 2827

Phone: 6847 2276 Fax: 6847 1288

Principal Mrs Erica Burge (RLG)

Deputy

Ms Sheryn West (RLG)

Head Teachers:

English/HSIE Mrs Fiona Lambell Mathematics Mrs Michelle Keogh (RLG) Science Ms Ilana Austen (RLG) TAS Mr Russell Woollams Support Mrs Di Irvin

Year Advisors: Year 7 Miss Nicola Murphy Year 8 Mr Andrew McCutcheon Year 9 Mrs Laura Jordan and Mrs Di Irvin Year 10 Miss Kristy Smith Year 11 Mrs Jessica Reed Year 12 Mrs Stacey O’Neill

P & C President Mr Chris Riley AECG President Ms Deidrie Naden ARCO Mrs Meredith Schier

Principals Report

This week I am sharing with you the NSW Department of Education’s ‘Behaviour code for students NSW public schools’ document in this week's newsletter. This document demonstrates the commitment that all NSW public schools have to providing safe, supportive and responsive learning environments for everyone. It outlines the expectations of students enrolled in all NSW public schools, but in particular for our purpose at Gilgandra High School, to instil high standards in relation to Respect, Safety and Engagement. I encourage you to read over the attached Behaviour Code to understand more about the expectations we have of our students and embrace the positive nature of the expectations. It is important to note that the Department of Education also has, like many employers, a Code of Conduct for staff. Behaviour code for students

On August 28th, students were invited to wear a ‘splash of purple’ or a ‘bright colour’, to raise awareness and show support for all students, staff and family members who identify as LGBTQ&I in our learning community. ‘Wear it Purple Day’ is now in its 10th year and is supported in schools

by the NSW Department of Education. Thank you to the students and staff at Gilgandra High School who showed their support on the day. WEAR IT PURPLE This week is Child Protection Week, the theme for 2020 is ‘Putting Children First’. 30 years since its instigation, ‘Australians are invited to look at how they can prioritise children in their lives and communities. Putting children first means prioritising the safety and wellbeing of children. To grow up well, children need to feel safe and loved, have a chance to play and explore, have a say in decisions that affect them, and access to essential things like food, shelter and healthcare.’ At Gilgandra High School we focus on knowing, valuing and caring for every child. 2020 Theme On September 10th, I encourage you to take care of each other and ask your family, colleagues and peers, RUOK? The Gilgandra SRC will promote ‘looking out for oneself and looking out for others. Join with us in checking in and supporting each other in the challenging year that 2020 has been. A conversation could change a life | RU OK? 2021 School Captain Speeches were held last Friday. Thank you to the students who nominated and spoke so passionately about their leadership qualities and hope for Gilgandra High School.

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

NEWSLETTER 7TH SEPTEMBER 2020

GILGANDRA HIGH SCHOOL

2021 School Captains and Vice Captains

Coen Naden (VC) John Bunter (C) Rebecca Gaff (C) Zoe Welsh (VC)

Upcoming Events:

September 10th 2020

Year 11 Exams will be held in Week 9 from 14/9/20-18/9/20. Year 11 students should be consolidating their years’ work at this point in time and working closely with their teachers to maximise their results. All outstanding assessment tasks and classwork should be finalised by the end of this term. Erica Burge

Principal (RLG) Deputy Principals Report

I am very excited to be appointed to the role of reliving Deputy Principal at this fine school. My main focal points include building relationships, ensuring students are at Gilgandra High School to learn and that the students are gaining the most out of the opportunities provided.

Over the next few weeks I will be focussing on:

Encouraging students to keep their year area clean

Developing students’ sense of belonging through wearing school uniform

Improving students learning experiences through regular attendance

It is also an important time for Year 11 as their yearly exams commence in Week 9. All students are encouraged to seek assistance from their teachers to best prepare themselves.

If there is an issue you would like to discuss regarding your student, please contact the school.

Sheryn West Deputy Principal (RLG) Sheryn West Deputy Principal (RLG)

From the Mathematics Faculty In the mathematics classroom Year 7 students have been busy working on area and volume concepts. Year 9 have been looking at coordinate geometry, graphing lines and calculating gradients and Year 10 have just started trigonometry. Year 8 have had the most fun though looking at ratios. They did an activity with packets of skittles where they compared the numbers of colours in the packet in ratio terms. They were then able to eat the skittles when they were finished and that was the best part. Year 7 and 9 students currently have an assignment which is due in Week 8. The Year 7 assignment involves interesting mathematics facts about the human body, while Year 9M3 are rolling dice, demonstrating their skills in probability and Year 9M2 are doing financial mathematics, calculating the cost of participating in adventure activities. Michelle Keogh Head Teacher Mathematics (RLG)

From the Music Room This term, the Music department has demonstrated fantastic resilience in complying with the new Covid-19 regulations. Year 7 and 8 have been developing their skills on the ukulele, alongside their unit of work Australian Music. Year 7 are about to hand in their "Make Your Own Instrument" assignment, and I am very excited to see what this task brings. Year 9 and 10 have been working tirelessly toward a performance task, developing their ability on a chosen instrument to perform for the class. I am very proud of each student across the board for Music, they have all shown fantastic progress, and an ability to adapt in a changing environment. I wish the Year 11 students luck as they are about to undertake their yearly examinations. For Year 11, they will undertake an aural listening task, as well as performing two pieces of music on their chosen instrument. Good luck to you all! The Music department is such a positive environment, where creativity is fostered. I want to thank all of the beautiful students who make each day spectacular! Nicola Murphy Music Teacher

Year 12 Formal Attendance - The importance of arriving on time

Arriving at school and class on time:

Ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day

Helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine

Gives students time to greet their friends before class

Reduces classroom disruption

Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents.

You are reminded that absences invariably affect a student's performance at school. The Education Reform Act (1990) clearly states that students of compulsory school age must attend school each day the school is open for instruction. An explanation for any absence, including late arrival is required by law and must be received by the school within seven days of the absence.

If you receive an SMS message from GHS regarding absence, late arrival or truancy of your child you are able to reply to the message at no cost to yourself.

This service is very reliable and a prompt response from parents/carers provides GHS with the confirmation required to justify the absence of your child and adjust our records accordingly.

Important Information

COVID-19 Testing If your child has been tested for Covid-19 please advise the school so we can document the students who have been tested. Once you have received the results, please email these to gilgandra-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au as confirmation that the result is negative.

New advice re the opportunity to have a formal was communicated+ this week from the Department of Education. Discussion will take place with Year 12 and information will be communicated to parents in the form of a letter in the coming days. See advice below:

Key changes / announcements · Year 12 students across NSW will be able to celebrate the completion of school with

COVID-19 safe graduation ceremonies and formals being allowed to take place during

Term 4 from 12 November, after the final HSC exam. Schools across NSW will receive

COVID-19 safety plan guidance for Year 12 graduations and school formals on Friday

the 11 September.

Naidoc Week Last week we celebrated NAIDOC week. The week began with a flag raising ceremony where we also heard from many of our Junior AECG students, who proudly spoke about their interpretation of the 2020 theme, ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’. Although we have not been able to invite families and carers onsite to share in our celebrations, students have been encouraged to think about the successes and the struggles of Indigenous people to create opportunities for young people to achieve their goals. Thank you to our school captains Cassie and Kyle for leading the ceremony. The week also saw the awarding of awards for attendance and academic achievement. There were many deserving students who proudly collected their certificates. 2020 theme