February 2014 Issue 1 www.nhspa.nsw.edu.au

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PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Welcome back to all of our returning families for 2014, and a big welcome to new families who have joined the School community this year. The beginning of a new school year is always filled with anticipation and excitement and I know that this particularly applies to students experiencing the transition to high school and those joining a new school. This year we welcome approximately 170 new Year 7 students, over 40 new Year 11 students and a small number starting in each of the other years. We look forward to working with them and you, their parents over the coming months and years. 2013 Higher School Certificate Results Our HSC class of 2013 has once again continued the outstanding improvement in HSC results seen at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts over recent years. Congratulations to the students, teachers and families whose achievements include: Students of Ancient History achieved an average of 81.6%, 9.6 marks greater than the

state mean with 23% of students receiving band 6 (over 90 marks) which is almost 3 times the state rate, and 78% receiving 80 or more compared to 45% in 2012 and 34% state-wide

38% of students in Biology achieved 80 or more, compared to 32% in 2012 and 33% state-wide.

In Dance, our students achieved results 9.1 marks above state average, 30% received 90 plus (up from 20% in 2012) and 75% in the top 2 bands compared to 38% state-wide

with an average score of 83.8 (6 over the NSW mean), 26% of Drama students achieved marks over 90 (compared to 14% state-wide) and 72% gained marks in the top 2 bands (43% state-wide).

2013 saw our best ever results in English Standard with a first in the state, 4% in band 6 (compared to 0.4% state-wide) and 18% in the top 2 bands (compared to 7% state-wide and up from 7% last year)

English Advanced results saw an average of 81 with 64% of students receiving marks over 80 compared to 53% state-wide

With an average mark of 42/50 our Extension 1 English results saw 94% of students in the top 2 bands compared to 88% state-wide

33% of Extension 2 English students received marks in the top band compared to 23% state-wide.

Our Food Technology results were very impressive, 7 marks above the state mean, 24% in band 6 and 47% of students gained marks of 80 or more compared to 38% in 2012 and 28% of the state.

with an average mark 5 above the state, 50% of Legal Studies students achieved 80+ marks compared to 43% of the state

with an average 5.4 above the state, General Maths continued the great improvement of recent years with this year 32% achieving 80+ compared to 21% of the state and 28% in 2012.

our Extension 1 Maths results, with a mean of 79, were up 7 marks on 2012 with 85% of students achieving marks in the top 2 bands, up from 60% in 2012.

Extension 2 Maths results were equally strong with 75% in the top 2 bands which also translates to 89% of students receiving a notional band 5 or 6

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17% of our Modern History students received 90+ compared to 11% state-wide. Music 1 results were excellent this year with an average of 86, 33% in band 6 (over double

the state rate), and 94% in the top 2 bands (compared to 49% of the state and 65% in 2012) our Music 2 results were equally impressive with a 4th in the State, an average of 88, and

95% of students gaining marks of 80 or more, compared to 85% state-wide Music Extension results were again outstanding with a 1st in the State, an average of

47.5/50 and 92% in the top band compared to 70% of the state Our PDHPE results, 3.7 above state average, were the best in many years with 42% in the

top 2 bands compared to 28% of the state and also 28% in 2012 Our Physics results showed pleasing improvement with a mean of 75 (up 6 marks from the

previous year), and 42% of students scoring 80+, compared to 31% state-wide and up from 24% in 2012

with an average mark of 78 (4 above state average), our Textiles and Design students achieved great success with 47% receiving marks of 80+, compared to 35% state-wide

with an average of 84 (4.5 above the state), 79% of our Visual Arts students gained marks in the top 2 bands compared to 51% state-wide and 67% in 2012.

French Beginners students achieved very pleasing results with an average of 79, 23% of students achieved a top band and 54% scored 80+ compared to 47% state-wide

and finally, our Italian Beginners students achieved excellent results again this year. With a mean of 80 (8.2 above state average) and 46% in the top 2 bands compared to 30% state-wide

So, once again our students have achieved results with which we can feel very proud. This is fur-ther evidenced by the following successes: Jaimee Hassos was awarded 1st in the State in English Standard Oliver Shermacher placed 1st in the state in Music Extension and 4th in Music 2 3 students will receive a Premier's Award for gaining marks of 90+ in over 10 units. These

outstanding students are Jennifer Balcomb, Georgia Melville and Indiana Tappin 71 students were placed on the NSW Distinguished Achievers list for receiving 90+ in at

least one course. an incredible 47 students achieved marks of 80 or more in 10 or more units. This represents

28% of the cohort, equal to 2012 and 2011, up from 18% in 2010 and has grown by over 3 times since 2007

Student Achievements Throughout the year I would again like to use this newsletter to celebrate student successes. Please let me know of any outstanding achievements, both inside and outside school, so that your child can be acknowledged in future newsletters. Swimming Carnival This week we are holding our annual school swimming carnival at Drummoyne pool. We are hop-ing for fine weather and I’m sure we will once again see many outstanding performances as well as a lot of fun for all involved. Please assist us by making sure your child has returned their per-mission notes.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT continued….

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PRINCIPAL’S REPORT continued….

Staff changes This year a number of new staff members have joined the school community. We welcome Wayne Crich and Alain Lavrut in English; Mark Manoukian in Maths; Danielle Galea in LOTE; Liam Birchall and Rossana Ciano in Science, Sarah Banks and Kiralee Mulley in Dance and Pe-ter Mountford in Drama. We also welcome back Deputy Principal Betty Romeo. We also congratulate Tom Tomesek who officially takes up the role of Head Teacher Science. Finally, as part of our involvement in a National Partnerships Empowering Local Schools pro-gram, we have been able to continue to fund additional executive positions in 2014. Branimir Lazendic continues as Head Teacher PDHPE and Nilaufer Rajwar takes on the role of our 3rd Deputy Principal. Finally, I look forward to another great year where we continue to work together in achieving out-standing outcomes for our students.

Stephen Gray Principal

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DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT PETER SHIELDS

Welcome back to the 2014 school year and a very special welcome to all new members of our school community this year. I hope our school will offer your child a rewarding and enjoyable educational experience. The year has started very smoothly at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. The students began their first day in form meetings where timetables, diaries assessment booklets and calendars and administrative forms were issued. The assessment documents define the expectations of the various courses undertaken by our students. Students must read this information carefully and prepare effectively for the tasks specified to ensure they are completed to their best by the due date. The acknowledgement form stipulating that the assessment booklets and calendars have been received by the student should be signed by student and parent and returned to their Year Advisers. The Student Year Advisers for 2014 are: Year 7 Mr Brenton Fletcher and Ms Elyse Reynolds Year 8 Ms Cathy Spirovska and Mr Sam Byrne Year 9 Mr Victor Woolley and Ms Diane Aynsley Year 10 Mr Adrian Shipp and Mr Zeljko Janusic Year 11 Mr Jeremey Atkinson and Mr Chris Miller Year 12 Ms Nahida Choucair and Mr Hans Mayerhofer Many thanks go to these teachers for the tremendous work they do with our students in this most rewarding, yet demanding of jobs. I would again like to extend a special welcome to our Year 7 students and their parents/carers. I hope the transition to high school has been exciting and enjoyable for them. If, however there are issues your child has raised with you, there are many people in the school to contact if you require advice or support. Do not hesitate to talk with the teachers, the Year 7 Advisers, Counsellor Anne-Mari England and Deputy Principals responsible for Year 7, Betty Romeo and Leisa Munns. There will be an opportunity to meet with staff at the welcome BBQ for new parents. Year 7 students will bring home this week consent forms for vaccinations for Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis and HPV. Year 9 boys will bring home consent forms for HPV. Should you wish your child to receive the vaccinations administered by the nurses from NSW Health on 21st February, the signed consent forms must be returned by vaccination day to the Year Advisers or the nurses. The Peer Support program begins this month. Year 7 will be introduced to their Year 10 Peer Support Leaders who will assist them with the transition. They will all attend the Peer Support Camp at Vision Valley from 3rd to 5th March with supervision by members of the Welfare team including executive. I would like to extend another special welcome to our new Year 11 students and their parents/carers. Year 11 have settled well and are already two weeks into their Preliminary courses. This month, Year 11 will complete the mandatory Crossroads program on 20th and 21st February at a camp at Stanwell Tops Conference Centre. The program has been designed to include a range of activities, including workshops, guest speakers, group activities and traditional outdoor camp activities. Crossroads is coordinated by Year Advisers, Jeremey Atkinson and Chris Miller. These are the people to contact if you require advice or support for your child. Supervision of this event will be by members of staff including executive.

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There have been some students requesting changes to their course pattern of study for 2014. Any requests for changes to courses or electives studied by Years 8, 9, 10 for 2014 should be made in writing by February 21st and for Year 11 by 28th. There will be no further changes after these dates unless circumstances are deemed exceptional. This will ensure students have plenty of class time to meet outcomes and perform to their potential. As you are aware we are a uniform school. All students must be wearing our school uniform which can be purchased from the Uniform Shop in F-block on Thursdays from 8.30am. I look for-ward to your support to ensure students arrive at school in uniform with the appropriate footwear; black enclosed leather shoes. If there is an occasion when your child is out of uniform, please provide a note explaining the circumstance and they will be granted a uniform pass without breach. If a student does not have an explanatory note, they must obtain a uniform pass from the office. Should there be several uniform breaches without an explanation, a letter will be sent home to clarify the circumstances. The school has a uniform pool and is able to assist with provid-ing items of uniform. If your child is late to school, a note explaining the lateness is advisable. Our school is using a system for processing latecomers to assist with a speedy entry into class. Students may use the slower method of swipe cards to enter class, or in addition to the swipe card, parents/carers will be offered the option for their child to use biometric technology. This in-volves twelve point measurements taken of a digit from either hand. Entry into class will involve using these biometric measurements from the digit in order to recognise the student. Parents who may conscientiously object to this technology may choose to have their child continue to use the swipe card only. Finally, if you have any concerns about your child’s welfare, particularly for Years 9 and 12 please do not hesitate to call.

Peter Shields Deputy Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT PETER SHIELDS

continued….

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DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT BETTY ROMEO

Welcome to the 2014 school year. I hope you all had a relaxing break and are looking forward to another busy and exiting year at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. I would like to offer a very warm welcome to our new parents and students who have joined the Newtown community for the first time in 2014, in particular our Year 7 and 11 students. I am very excited to be returning back this year following my maternity leave; I must say I missed the school and the wonderful energy it permeates each day. I will be working part-time this year and will be in on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week. I welcome Leisa Munns into the role of Relieving Deputy Principal on Wednesday and Friday, we are both very much looking forward to working together in this arrangement over the year. All students were issued with the Assessment Booklets and Assessment Calendars on their first day back at school. These documents outline the nature of all assessment tasks scheduled over the year, along with the dates when each task will be held. Students were also issued with their 2014 school diary. Can I encourage all students and parents to familiarise themselves with these documents and start entering important dates into their student diaries. It is important to start the new academic year organised and prepared and it is hoped that these documents will assist students plan for key assessment tasks. These documents will also be uploaded on the school’s website to ensure that all members of our community can access these important documents and dates. The Senior Assessment Policy and Procedures for Illness/Misadventure are outlined in the Year 11 and 12 booklets. The school has a very clear policy in relation to assessment and feedback and it is important that all senior students and their parents familiarise themselves with the procedures in place. All students in the senior school have been informed about these procedures during their first Year meetings, however if there are any further questions regarding the policy I would encourage students and parents to contact the school for further clarification. We also a consistent assessment policy for Years 7-9 and Year 10 have important procedures also outlined in their assessment booklets. The performing arts calendar has commenced with the semester one co-curricula company and ensemble auditions. The audition dates and times have been communicated to the students. I would like to encourage all our students to embrace the opportunities that are available as part of our co-curricula program and participate. For Years 7 and 11 auditioned students starting this year, I would particularly like to encourage you to audition and participate in all aspects of school life. My only advice at this stage is to engage with this vibrant performing and academic community. Do not allow the next few years pass by without taking advantage of what opportunities this unique school provides. The Swimming Carnival was held on Friday 7th February at Drummoyne Swimming Centre. We had a successful and enjoyable day, again we had record numbers of students in attendance and the level of participation in all races was fantastic. I would like to thank our PD/H/PE staff and Mr Lazendic who were responsible for making all the necessary arrangements to ensure that our carnival was another successful whole school event. The past few weeks have been particularly busy for our Year 7 students as they transition into their new High School routine. To facilitate and cement this transition in Week 6 the Year 7 Peer Support Camp will be held. This camp will run over three days from Monday 3rd March to Wednesday 5th March. Each year this is a highly successful camp which meets all of its intended outcomes and the students always thoroughly enjoy their experience. Thank you the Year 7 Year Advisors Mr Fletcher and Ms Reynolds for all their work to date in supporting the students with their transition into high school and to Mr Atkinson and Ms Rajwar for organising the camp. I am looking forward to another successful peer support camp and I thank all the teachers who have again volunteered to attend the camp over the three days.

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The school runs three Parent Teacher Evenings in the first half of the year. I will be sending more detailed correspondence and booking instructions closer to the dates for each year group, however I appreciate how busy family diaries become and wanted to confirm the dates for 2014.

I will be the Deputy in charge of Years 7 and 10 this year and will be working closely with the Year Advisors and Assistant Year Advisors for each of these cohorts. If there are any queries or welfare concerns relating to these Year groups please do not hesitate to contact me at school. Again, I welcome you all back to the 2014 school year and am looking forward to working with the school community to ensure that this year at Newtown High School of the performing Arts is again, a highly creative and academic one.

Betty Romeo Deputy Principal

Years 9 and 12 Monday 17th March 4-7pm (Term 1 Week 8)

Years 8 and 11 Wednesday 2nd April 4-7pm (Term 1 Week 10)

Years 7 and 10 Tuesday 6th May 4-7pm (Term 2 Week 2)

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT BETTY ROMEO

continued….

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DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT NILAUFER RAJWAR

Welcome to all our students and families to the 2014 school year. A special welcome to the students and their families who are starting at NHSPA this year. Each year brings us exciting possibilities and opportunities and we look forward to another great year. It is my pleasure to continue in the role of Deputy Principal. For this year I have the care of Years 8 and 11. I will also be Deputy Principal in-charge of welfare and shall be responsible for whole school student welfare needs. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions or concerns. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome back Betty Romeo, who was on maternity leave in 2013. It is great to have Betty back on the team. The school year has started well and students are well settled in their new classes. All students were issued the Assessment Booklets and assessment calendars at their first year meeting. These documents provide concise information on assessment tasks to be done throughout the year. Students and parents are encouraged to use these documents to know of and be prepared for all assessment tasks and any important dates. These documents can also be found on the school’s website to allow all members of our community can access these important documents and dates. The Senior Assessment Policy and Procedures for Illness/Misadventure are outlined in the Year 11 and 12 booklets. It is important that students and parents are familiar with the school’s assessment policy and procedures. If due to an illness or misadventure, a student is unable to attend an assessment task they must report to the Deputy immediately upon their arrival to school. Auditions for the co-curricula company and ensemble for Semester one have commenced this week.. Students have been advised of dates and times of the auditions. All students are encouraged to take this opportunity to be part our co-curricula program and participate The Swimming Carnival is to be held on Friday, 7th February at the Drummoyne Swimming centre. We look forward to a successful and enjoyable day, with good attendance and a high level of participation from our students. Thank you to Mr Lazendic for the organisation of this event. In week 4 of this term, Year 11 students will be required to attend the Year 11 Crossroads camp which is to be held on at “The Tops Conference Centre”, Stanwell Tops. The Crossroads program is a mandatory component of the Stage 6 syllabus. Besides meeting the requirements of the program, the camp assists with the transition of our new Year 11 students. It provides an opportunity for students to get to know each other and for new friendships to be formed. Thank you to Mr. Atkinson and Mr Miller, the Year 11 Advisors, for their hard work in organising what is sure to be a successful camp. I would also like to thank all staff members who have volunteered their time, without which we would be unable to have the Year 11 camp. Also as part of the Crossroads course , Paul Dillon, a noted drug and alcohol guest speaker will address the students on 14th February at school. Soon after the Crossroads camp, in Week 6, will be the Year 7 Peer Support Camp at Vision Valley, Arcadia. Year 7 students and their Year 10 Peer Support leaders will attend this three-day camp. It is another important initiative that assists the Year 7 students transition into high school. Thank you to our Year 7 advisors, Mr Fletcher and Ms. Reynolds for the organisation of the camp. The Peer Support camp notes were handed to the students at their first year meeting. Payment for the camp and completed forms are required to be returned to Mr. Fletcher at the earliest. Once again I would like to thank in advance all staff members that will be attending the camp. Information regarding the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was sent home to Year 9 students at the end of last year. Students are required to bring in the signed and completed BYOD Policy Acceptance that sets out the responsibilities and expectations for the use of the personal device at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. Student devices will be registered with the school from Week 4. All personal devices are required to be registered prior to their use at school. Please feel free to contact me if you have any queries or concerns in regards to the schooling of your child or BYOD. I look forward to an exciting 2014 and the opportunity to work and learn alongside our students and their families.

Nilaufer Rajwar Deputy Principal

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P&C NEWS

The first P&C Meeting for 2014 will be held next Tuesday, 11 February, at 6pm in the school common room. The P & C meets on the second Tuesday of every month. Everyone is invited to come along, particularly those new to the school this year, meet other parents and play an active role in the school community.

WELCOME BARBECUE

The annual welcome barbecue for new students, parents and carers will be held on 11 March from 5pm. This is a great way to meet other families new to a school that draws its students from across Sydney and to meet the principal, Stephen Gray. The P&C AGM will follow. Make a night of it.

P&C AGM

The P&C AGM will be held on 11 March at 6pm in the school library. The time has come to replenish the ranks and the role of president plus a number of positions on the P&C executive will be falling vacant. Serving on the executive is an effective way of having your say on how P&C funds should be spent to best serve the school’s goals of academic achievement and excellence in the performing and visual arts.

WORLD EARTH FESTIVAL (WEF)

This annual event initiated by the P&C has been an enormous success in recent years and is scheduled to take place on Friday, 28 March, in 2014. Dennis Dumlao and parents of last year’s Year 7 cohort have formed an organising committee but many hands are needed on the day to sell tickets and staff the barbecue and juice stalls. To offer assistance, contact Dennis on 0404 336 647 or email at ddumlao@bigpond.net.au

P&C on the NHSPA WEBSITE Follow the link below: http://web1.newtown-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/ The school website has a calendar and links for the P&C, contacts, minutes etc.

PARENT EMAIL NETWORK (GOOGLE GROUPS)

We encourage all parents to subscribe to our parent email network. This is a great way to receive information from the P&C and stay in touch with other parents (including getting questions answered and sharing information). To subscribe send a blank email to:

nhspa+subscribe@googlegroups.com

There is a googlegroups fact sheet on the P&C page of the school website.

NHSPA PARENTS CONTACT MESSAGE BOARD

Follow this link for posting requests and ads for second hand uniform, instruments and equipment etc. http://nhspasecondhand.proboards.com/index.cgi?

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Welcome to all students and their parents/guardians, particularly our new students in Years 7 and 11. We look forward to a year full of exciting musical challenges. INSTRUMENTAL/VOCAL TUITION PROGRAM If any student is interested in vocal/instrumental individual lesson tuition within the school day with our designated tutors, please pick up the information brochure from outside the music staffroom. Please see the attached brochure. MUSIC ENSEMBLE AUDITIONS Auditions began on Wednesday 5th February. All students currently in ensembles are also required to audition. Please check the times for the different auditions. If any clashes arise please negotiate with a music teacher. The large ensembles include the following listed groups. All music students should be involved in a large ensemble. Small ensembles are extensions of the large ensembles and will be formed later in the term. Orchestra Symphonic Wind Ensemble Concert Band Green Choir Red Choir Junior Choir Percussion Ensemble The Talent Development Project is a DET endorsed program. Students wishing to apply for this program will find relevant information online. Nominations close 21st March. Please get in touch with the music staff if you have queries about any of the programs.

Gemma Thomas Head Teacher Music

MUSIC DEPARTMENT

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ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

A big welcome back to staff, students and parents for what is sure to be another exceptional year in English at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts! I will begin by making mention of our outstanding HSC results of 2013. 13 Band 6s were awarded to our Advanced English cohort, and 2 Band 6s were awarded to our Standard English candidates. This in itself was excellent, and staff and students should be very proud of this strong academic result. The crowning achievement of these results, however, was the award of First in the State in Standard English to a student at NHSPA. In a candidature of over 30000 students, Jamie Hassos of Year 12 2013 received the outstanding rank of First Place in NSW in the Standard English course. This is a direct reflection of Jamie’s tireless efforts and preparation for assessment tasks throughout the year, and HSC Examinations in Term 4. I must also make mention of Mr Vic Woolley and his commitment to English Teaching. There is no greater accolade for excellence in Teaching and Learning than a student from your class being awarded the honour of first place in the State. Mr Woolley’s ongoing mentoring and first class teaching played an important role in Jamie’s HSC examination success. The bar has been set high, but staff and students meet the challenge of maintaining and improving our excellent results in 2014 and beyond. In staffing news, over the Christmas break, we farewelled a long-serving and valued member of the English Faculty at Newtown High. After 12 years of service to the school, Mr Chris Taylor received a much deserved promotion to the position of SE02 with the High Performance Unit of Department of Education and Communities in the city. I wish to acknowledge Mr Taylor’s outstanding contribution to English over his 12 years at the school, and his commitment to quality teaching and learning. We wish him well in his new role and thank him for his hard work and dedication. I take this opportunity to welcome two new members of staff to the English Faculty at Newtown this year. Mr Wayne Crich joins us from Gymea Technology High School, and Mr Alain Lavrut joins us in his first temporary role since graduation from University. Both of these staff members have made a seamless transition into the faculty and we look forward to their contribution to English Teaching and Learning at the school in 2014 and beyond. As we prepare for the 2014 year, we are in the process of registering teams for the NSW Public Schools Debating Competitions across Years 7-12. Registration forms are on the noticeboards in C Block, and daily notices have been advertised in roll-call since the start of the term. Any interested students need to register as soon as possible, as registrations will close by the end of Week 3. All students in Years 7-12 English classes were issued with their first assessment task notification in their first lesson back this year. This is to be an English Faculty policy, so that with the commencement of every Teaching and Learning Unit, students will have their task notification from Day 1, ensuring that Teaching and Learning is directly linked to assessment. This reflects the quality teaching philosophy of Teaching for assessment, as opposed to teaching to assessment.

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PD/H/PE

SPORT NEWS We had a successful start to the 2014 sport program last Tuesday with most students ready to go with their correct sport uniform. All students are expected to bring their PE/Sport uniform to all sport classes and students out of uniform (without a valid reason/parent note) on three occasions in any one term, will be placed on a classroom contract by their sport teacher. Any valuables should be placed into a valuables plas-tic box that the sport teachers will offer to students each sport lesson which is then stored in the PE staffroom for safekeeping. At other venues, students bags will be placed within the teachers view/line of sight to reduce the risk of theft. We look forward to a great year of sport.

Bran Lazendic

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT continued….

On an exciting note, Years 7 and 9 classes are currently studying the first of the new Australian Curriculum Units, complete with the new mandated cross-curricular priority areas that are sure to be engaging, relevant and rigorous for all students. Explicit teaching of grammar and spelling is also to be an important feature of the new Australian English Curriculum. After careful planning at the end of 2013 we are set to facilitate continued quality teaching and learning in English class-rooms at NHSPA. This term the English Faculty will be piloting the ALARM Program (A Learning and Responding Matrix) which is designed to improve teaching and learning and the student’s ability to engage deeply with content for assessment task completion. Year 10 will be using an ALARM Matrix in their first unit this year to prepare for their Shakespeare Assessment Task. After completion of the task, English staff will be evaluating how successful the ALARM Program was in this unit and looking at ways to integrate ALARM in other years and units of work. Watch this space for more information on ALARM. A reminder that NAPLAN will take place early in Term 2 this year. In preparation, all students in Years 7 and 9 will be undertaking a program of revision and study for these national tests. An im-portant change for 2014 is that the Writing Paper will require students to write either a Narrative or a Persuasive Text. The text form will not be specified, but will take the form of one of these two text types. In short, students are required to prepare for both of these text forms for this Literacy Paper. We look forward to your ongoing support for, and commitment to English at Newtown. 2014 is sure to be another outstanding year for all stakeholders in the English KLA.

Kirk Thomas Head Teacher English

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MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT

A WARM WELCOME TO ALL OUR STUDENTS

TEXTBOOKS As you are aware, textbooks are a vital tool in all mathematics classes and quite an expensive school resource. I would like to thank all the students and parents who have returned their 2013 textbooks and encourage the return of the few remaining books. Each student is in the process of being issued with a textbook. Most of our current books also come with CD containing an elec-tronic version of the book as well as some additional resources. These are available for the stu-dents to borrow. If you are interested in using these resources please a permission note is availa-ble from the Mathematics Staffroom. MATHS SUPPORT WORKSHOPS are still being held in 2014, every Monday morning from 7.45 am and Monday afternoons for any student having difficulties with completing homework and who would like some help catching up with work. Help, with any Maths difficulties, is also available from 7.45am every morning or if you need some quiet space to complete your Maths work. We look forward to seeing you there. Please see the Maths staff for further information. MATHLETICS Mathletics is an online mathematics learning resource, which provides students with tutorials, practice questions, quizzes and other resources. The content covered in Mathletics includes the entire NSW Mathematics Syllabus up to and including the HSC Mathematics Advanced course. The license purchased allows access for all students both at school and at home. Mathletics passwords will be issued throughout this week to every student of Mathematics. SCIENTIFIC CALCULATORS It is compulsory for every student, studying mathematics at Newtown High School of the Perform-ing Arts, to have his or her own scientific calculator IN EVERY Maths lesson. Scientific calculators are a necessary tool in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Casio fx-82AU calculators may be purchased through the school’s uniform shop which is open every Thursday from 8.30am to 2pm. HOMEWORK POLICY A reminder that our junior students are expected to complete a minimum of two hours a week, of regular Mathematics homework. This should include the completion of classroom activities, regu-lar revision activities and study.

Joelle Pearn Head Teacher Mathematics

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SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

As the new head teacher of Science and LOTE I would like to say how excited and honoured I am to be in this role. In the few years I have been at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts I have grown to love the school and the community around it. I look forward to leading a vibrant faculty and continuing to embrace school culture. I would also like to welcome Rosanna Ciano (science), Liam Birchall (science) and Danielle Galea (languages) to our faculty. We wish them all the best! 2013 was a busy year for us all and had many successes, which included some strong HSC results. A big thank you goes out to the former head teacher Brett Stone for leading our faculty for the past few years. As a result of Brett’s leadership and foresight we are ready to teach the new NSW syllabus for the Australian curriculum for years 7 and 9. 2014 will be an exciting and busy year for us all, especially with the implementation, planning and programming of the new syllabus. This happens every few years and gives our faculty the opportunity to re-evaluate our programs and make them more contextual and relevant for a student of the 21st century. A summary of the topics and events for term 1 Year 7 will start the Introduction to Science and Water topic. This will be assessed by a practical task, which will look at their skills, which will assist them throughout High School Science. Year 8 will learn about Chemical Reactions. Their assessment task will be an open-ended investigation, which will assess a student’s ability to test and report on a hypothesis. Some of the high quality investigations will later be entered into ‘Young Scientist’ competition. Year 9 will look at Energy, Electricity and the Environment. Students will learn about the impact humans have on the environment through our use of energy and the possible strategies to conserve valuable resources and the environment. Year 10 will look at the science and evidence behind evolution and genetics. They will perform a presentation on a chosen Biotechnology and evaluate its impact on society. Year 11 Biology will be going on a field trip to study a local ecosystem. This year they will be going to Centennial Park to gather and report on data collected from that field trip. One of our teachers, Hannah Hindmarsh, is also involved in the upcoming sustainability excursion. This gives our faculty the opportunity to be involved in a whole school event. This excursion addresses the global issue of the environment. We are excited to have a member of the science faculty involved. Furthermore, having students return to class with many stories and ideas to share. There will no doubt be many more events that will occur during term 1 and throughout 2014. We are all looking forward to the challenging and rewarding year ahead.

Tomas Tomesek Head Teacher Science.