Shanley Porto is Dux for 2015

Port Macquarie Campus of Hastings Secondary College congratulated Shanley Porto at a full school assembly on being the student who scored the highest university admission score (ATAR) in the 2015 Higher School Certificate (HSC). Shanley will take her place among the school’s most distinguished students on the Dux honour board, which records each Dux since 1963. “Shanley was the quintessential school student,” her Year Adviser, Mrs Sharon Combey said. “She is an inspiring young lady who is held in the highest esteem by her teachers and peers. Since year 7 she was driven, focused and determined. She set herself goals and then went about achieving them. Shanley got quality competition from her peers. As a group of friends they inspired each other. There was a culture of commitment to study among them. Her friend Erin Moss scored an ATAR only a small margin behind. While very talented especially in Biology, Physics and Chemistry, Shanley also helped and inspired others. She had to work harder in Advanced English but kept persisting. She took part in every event possible from student representative council fund raising causes to participating in academic competitions. Her approach to everything was fun-filled and her compassion was well noted,” Mrs Combey said.

Friday 12th February, 2016.

School Website: www.hastingssecondarycollege.nsw.edu.au

School Email Address: hsc-portmac-school@det.nsw.edu.au

Phone: 65831844 Fax: 65841632

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Shanley plans to take a gap year before studying Forensics in Biomedical Science at the University of Technology in Sydney (UTS) in 2017. Her immediate plans are to do some touring around Queensland. In reply to the many sincere comments, not only from Mrs Combey but from the Principal Ms Haddon and co-year adviser Mr Harrison, Shanley admitted she had to overcome challenges and obstacles. She advised the students present to make study a priority but to set aside some personal time as well. “Year 12 is the best time of your life,” Shanley told the senior students. “Never again will you get to see your friends on a daily basis and have life so easy. Remember that your teachers are here to help and are more than willing to be available. It also shows them you are keen to learn. Always surround yourself with positive people. Together you will widen each other’s perspectives and allow your views on the world to grow.” Shanley went on thank her teachers and family for their constant motivation and help. She said she loved the early start of 8.15 am to the school day. She acknowledged her friends for their encouragement and for allowing each other to grow and be their best. “If you believe in yourself and try hard enough then anything is possible,” she told her audience. Everyone at Hastings Secondary College wishes Shanley Porto success, fulfilment and continued happiness in future years.

HOUSE POINTS WINNERS

‘Towns’ was the house points winner at the swimming carnival. A proud Ms Davis and her excited and loyal house captains were presented with the trophy at the Tuesday morning assembly.

Ashlyn Dures, Tayla Davenport, Ms Davis, Ethan Dennis

Swimming Carnival Report

Beautiful Port Macquarie weather greeted students for our swimming carnival last Wednesday. The level of enthusiasm and participation was fantastic throughout the day, which is a credit to the House Patrons and Captains. Wonderful individual performances were displayed by a number of athletes, especially the Age Champions.. Special mention to Sam Harris who accumulated the highest individual point score total and broke the 50m Freestyle record with a time of 25.15. and Meg Race with her heart-warming efforts in all her races. The belly flop contest proved to be a crowd favourite with some outstanding displays of skill and artistry The champion house was Town Beach, superbly led by Mrs Davis who whipped her team into frenzy and had by far the greatest amount of participation of any house, which in the end proved to be biggest contributor to the win. Flynn’s scored the most points in the events, but could not match the determination of the Town Beach machine in terms of competitors swimming for their house Well done to all participants who came along and had a great day. The Zone Carnival will be held at Kempsey on March 29, followed by the Regional event on March 8. The Age Champions were Jade Vaughan, Isaac Long, Imogen Brunner , Timothy Kobelke, Ella Barnett, Nick Welch, Tahli Enfield, Lewis Kranitis, Jamie Henry, Sam Smith, Ash Dures, Sam Harris

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What’s happening in Week Four

Tuesday: P& C meeting Friday: Zone Touch Trials

Science Port Macquarie campus students will be given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the wonder and awe of Science. We emphasise that Science is a creative and collaborative human endeavour that helps students make sense of their world. Having an understanding of Science assists students to be effective and successful members of society, especially in this rapidly changing technological world. Students gain practical and critical thinking skills using improved data logging equipment used in conjunction with our school ipads to ensure students are engaged in scientific method, data collection and data analysis. We adopt a differentiated practical approach to the learning of Science, providing many opportunities for hands on and minds on activities. Many of these activities challenge students and assist them in organising their thoughts while others require students to unpack information and ideas, repackage or manipulate them to show understanding. Each student will be provided many and diverse opportunities to excel. The Science program combines higher order thinking tools and ICT to promote innovative and creative problem solving and approaches to learning science. It builds on the collaborative nature of learning by enabling students to learn with and from one another by sharing their work, ideas and thoughts through the vast capabilities of technology. Student continue to take part in ”Into Science” an online interactive delivered by the same company as Mathletics , this online journey through a virtual scientific world provides students with instant feedback on their knowledge and understanding. The topics studied this term are: Year 7: Introduction to Science, Mixtures Year 8 : Ecology, Elements and compounds Year 9: Coordination and disease and plate tectonics, Year 10: Scientific investigations and skills. Students in all junior years will complete an assignment this term, complete a minimum of one homework activity from their homework booklets per week. If you have any concerns related to your child’s progress in Science please contact me. Thanks Jo Bourke

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From the Principal

We have had another busy week but with the focus more on the school than on the college. The swimming carnival continued on Friday with the long distance races. Students were at the pool by 7am. The Year 11 Orientation was held this week. This is an important occasion for students entering the new world of senior study. The school is now allowed to talk about being chosen to be one of the state’s STEM Action Schools. This is a major achievement for the Science Faculty.

College News The college principals meet every week. At the moment we are focusing on the organisation of Year 12 as this is our first year with them, the year not the students. They started last year in Year 11. Our other major focus is the organisation of the upcoming Year 5 and 6 Roadshows. We have all our new alternate learning models to speak about. We will be visiting all our partner primary schools over a two week period. The new college principal has been announced, Willem Holvast who is presently principal at Chatham High. We hope he will start this term.

STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) action school Last year we were told that our application to become a STEM action school was successful. We were not given permission to make this public until this week. We have some STEM projects in the school at the moment, particularly the new academies in Year 7 and 8. We will be given a grant to do a project and have access to conferences for professional learning. The first conference is in Sydney on March 17th and 18th. Full details about what it means to be a STEM action school will be given at the conference. This is a wonderful opportunity for our school.

Dux Assembly The Dux assembly was an outstanding success. Shanley Porto was our Dux and Friday was a great opportunity to celebrate with her family and friends. I spoke about celebration, motivation and achievement. Shanley’s Year Advisers Mrs Combey and Mr Harrison spoke about Shanley’s work ethic, how she had to work hard and how she had a well-rounded school life. She was always someone to lend a hand when it was needed. Shanley gave advice to all the students about how to succeed and what they should be concentrating on each year. The assembly was entertained by a musical item by Lachlan Fardy from last year’s Year 12. Shanley and her friends and family helped her to celebrate with a morning tea after the assembly. The rest of the school had a presentation on PBL given by students from each year.

Bravissimo This concert is one of my highlights of the year. It was at the Glasshouse on Wednesday. The students who performed were from last year’s Year 12. The performers came from as far away as Armidale, Wingham and Coffs Harbour. Our campus was represented by Lachlan Fardy who sang and played the piano. His song was, “Be Careful” by Peter Cincotti. He was accompanied by Stewart Heddles on bass and Simone Berry on drums. Lachlan’s performance was excellent getting a very enthusiastic response from the audience. All the performances were of a very high standard. The concert was a wonderful opportunity for students to see what excellence in music looks like. The range of items was amazing from voice to tuba and recorder. The music ranged from classical to rock, jazz and contemporary. Congratulations Lachlan on an amazing performance. We have another interesting week but quieter week coming up with more zone trials taking place. Mrs Owen will be writing our next few newsletters as I will be away on long service leave organised before I became ill. My last day is this Friday and I will return to the school on March 15th. I would like to thank Mrs Owen for all her work when in the relieving principal’s position. Lorraine Haddon Principal

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Attendance Matters

School is a Priority Did you know that having ONE day off a week adds up to missing nearly a term for the school year? It is important that students attend school every day as one missed can NEVER be replaced. Don’t allow your child days off for birthdays, to look after younger children, to go shopping or because of Xbox-related tiredness. Children who are used to having days off school for these kinds of reasons may develop an attitude that school attendance is not very important to you, the parent. Non-attendance and lateness to school can develop into a habit, and habits are hard to break. The 2016 school year at Port Campus starts with a concerted focus on attendance and, in line with this, the Home School Liaison and Aboriginal Student Liaison Officers will interview identified students from Years 7, 8 and 9 with attendance concerns in the near future. We ask that parents and carers inform school staff if you do not wish your child to be interviewed. All parents/carers of identified students will be notified in writing after the interviews have been conducted. We thank you for your cooperation in advance. It is important to convey to your child the positive and supportive attitude that you have towards their school, their teachers and the importance that you place on their education. We can only be successful if we work together towards that common goal. If you have any concerns regarding attendance you can contact the Year Advisor, the Principal, Lorraine Haddon, or the Home School Liaison Officer.

Take care,

Annie Stanford Home School Liaison Officer

Rachel Alger National Computer Science School In January 2015, I was selected to attend the National Computer Science School (NCSS), and this year, I was one of 21 students invited to return. NCSS is an intensive ten day course of programming and web development, held in early January at the University of Sydney. NCSS runs like university, and we learn about studying computer science through a series of lectures and labs. Each activity develops your skills in problem solving, teamwork, and logic, as well as improving technical skills. There are also a wide variety of social activities, including trivia night and the cryptography competition. At NCSS, we’re introduced to the IT industry though site visits and industry mentors, allowing us to forge invaluable connections with companies such as Atlassian, Google, and WiseTech. This year, as part of the embedded systems stream, I got to play with robotics and build a game powered by balancing. NCSS for me was a life changing experience. It opened my eyes to a real-life industry (which I barely knew existed), gave me direction with my future plans, and provided me with a skill set that is vital to the modern world. There was a huge diversity of students from around Australia, all with different talents and interests, who I learnt as much from as from the course. The best part about NCSS for me was that everyone was so keen to share their knowledge, and you could walk up to literally anyone, start a conversation, and walk away having learnt something new. I came home from NCSS with over 150 new best friends and mentors. Then I got to come back a second time with 150 more. NCSS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I am so fortunate to have experienced twice.

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National Youth Science Camp In late January, we and 196 other students attended the National Youth Science Forum held at the Australian National University in Canberra. The NYSF is a 12 day program aimed at students entering Year 12 who are considering a career in science and engineering. After an application process involving multiple interviews, we were selected for the program and sponsored by the Rotary Club of Port Macquarie to attend. NYSF wasn’t just a science camp. There were many site visits and social events where we worked on personal development and connected with members of the industry to learn about possible career paths, receive university advice, hear tips for Year 12, and work on achieving our aspirations. By staying in an on-campus residence, we also experienced university life. The biggest benefit of attending NYSF is the relationships you form with likeminded students, allowing you to leave with some of the closest friends you will ever have. The diversity of the students was a big advantage, as we could all learn from each other’s vastly different experiences. On our session, we were not only joined by students from around Australia, but also from New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Fiji. We will be speaking to Year 11 students about the NYSF and how to apply, but if you’re interested now, you can go to nysf.edu.au to learn about the program. By Rhys Marquez and Rachel Alger

🌽🌽

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• Featuring Goat Races

• Entertainment for the kids o Amusement rides o Wearable balloons (free) o Animal nursery (free) o Food and Coffee, Markets, Craft Demonstrations (free), Woodworking, Spinning

o Bonsai, Clydesdale Horses, Dog Championships, Exhibitions, Poultry, Produce and Flowers, Baking and Preserves, Art, Craft and Photography

$5 per adult – 16 and under free, Free Parking. www.comboyneshow.com for details

Port Macquarie Surfboard Riders Club Sign Up for the 2016 season

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