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Mac Fields News Macquarie Fields High School

April 2010

2 Harold Street, Macquarie Fields NSW 2564 Phone 9605 3111 Web page: www.mfhs.nsw.edu.au

Issue 7– Term 4 November 2016

Calendar Events

Week 6

Monday November 14 - Year Meetings Week Friday November18 Thursday November 17 Yr 12 sign out 10am – 2:30pm

Week 7

Monday November 21 P & C Meeting – 7:30pm Friday November 25 Yr 12 Formal

Week 8

Monday November 28 - Yr 10 Work Experience Week Friday December 2 Monday November 28 Yr 11(12) Clearance Tuesday November 29 Art Exhibition Thursday December 1 Semester Awards – period 2-3

Week 9

Monday December 5 Yr 10 STW Focus Week and All My Own Work P & C Christmas Party Tuesday December 6 Orientation Day – Yr 7 2017 Wednesday December 7 Fast Forward Friday December 9 Yr 7 – Clearance-p2 Yr 8 – Clearance-p3 Yr 9 – Clearance-p4 Yr 10 – Clearance-p5

Week 9

Monday December 12 Presentation Day – 11am Friday December 16 LAST DAY OF TERM Students and Staff

PARENTS PLEASE NOTE

Students absent from school

Please note changes to School Attendance Policy. Where a student is absent from school, a note explaining the absence must be received by the school within 7 school days. Where a note is not received the absence will be recorded as unjustified. This cannot legally be changed should a note be received after 7 days. Absences both justified and unjustified are recorded on school reports.

Recipient’s of PBL Raffle Prize Draw

NAME Year Wk/Term PRIZE Jason Tran 10 Wk 3/T4 $20 Macarthur

Square gift card

Pratha Nagpal 10 Wk 4/T4 $15 Canteen voucher

Alfred Luu 10 Wk 5/T4 $20 Macarthur Square gift card

From the Relieving Principal

Mrs Dolstra is currently on Long Service Leave

and returns to us next week.

I am pleased that Year 12 has finished their

Higher School Certificate examinations now and

that these examinations were conducted without

incident. Year 12 appear to have acquitted

themselves well during the course of the

examinations and now all that remains is for

them to sign out from school (two dates only 10-

11-16 and 17-11-16 between 10:00am and

2:30pm). Students should ensure that they have

handed back all textbooks issued on loan and

that they have paid any outstanding school fees.

Where financial issues are of concern for a

family, please contact me to make appropriate

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arrangements. Students will be issued with their

school reference and their formal ticket upon

signing out of school.

I look forward to meeting again with Year 12 at

their formal to be held in Wollongong on Friday,

November 25th.

OUTDOOR LEARNING SPACE

I am pleased to announce the completion of the

outdoor learning space (Phase I) which runs

parallel to the bottom of D block. This initiative

was part of the Wellbeing Strategic Plan for

2016. As you can see from the photographs

below, it is a pleasant and different environment

in which to carry out planned activities. Phase II

involves more outdoor furniture, whiteboards,

protected from the elements and an Aboriginal

Learning Circle. This should be completed early

in 2017.

We have almost completed the rainforest project

as well, giving us another viable learning space

for our students to enjoy

MOOT SUCCESS

Congratulations to Melissa Collins and the Year

11 members of the “Mooting Competition” who

made the finals of the Kirby Cup. Sadly the team

were narrowly beaten by Hornsby Girls High

School (one point in it!). Nevertheless, a fabulous

effort by all involved. The students involved were:

Syeda Fayaz; Sumala Tabassum; Ashraf Olife

and Radith Khan and have received conditional

offers to study Law at Western Sydney

University.

LEAPS

On Wednesday evening, November 9th, we

celebrated the graduation of Year 9 LEAPS

(Lawyers Encouraging and Assisting Promising

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Students) students who have worked closely with

their mentors from Herbert Smith - Freehills to

set goals for themselves and recognise and

define the special talents each student brings to

their academic studies. I would like to

acknowledge the hard work of Mr Ke-hong Tang

and Mr Siddiq Buckley who have co-ordinated

this program alongside of staff from Herbert

Smith – Freehills. Thanks also to staff who

attended the graduation: Mr Ke-hong Tang; Mr

Siddiq Buckley; Ms Melissa Collins (who takes

over as one of the LEAPS Co-ordinators from Mr

Tang in 2017); Ms Marinda Barnes; Mrs Vicki

Shipley; Mrs Costa and Mr Perrett. I would also

like to thank and acknowledge the many, many

lawyers and staff from Herbert Smith – Freehills

and the parents of our graduating students who

have supported the program and their child

throughout the course of the year.

FAREWELL (FOR THE TIME-BEING)

Our wonderful Head Teacher Welfare, Mrs Judge

has been seconded to the Futures Unit within the

Department of Education and will be working in

Bridge Street at Head Office for the remainder of

the year. For the remainder of this year, Mr

Michael Moller will relieve as our Head Teacher

Welfare. Mr Moller brings a wealth of experience

to this role.

REMEMBRANCE DAY

The whole school observed one minute of

silence on Friday, November 11th, at 11:00am to

acknowledge the sacrifice of all soldiers in war. It

is an important part of our heritage and all

generations must honour such sacrifice and

acknowledge such in order, hopefully, that wars

may never need to be fought again.

PARENT TEACHER NIGHTS IN 2017

Just a bit of forward planning and notification to

all parents here! We have shifted the way that we

run our parent/teacher nights. Next year Parent

Teacher Night will be for Years 10-12 on

Tuesday, June 20th.

Parent Teacher Night for Years 7-9 will be in

Term 3 on Tuesday, July 25th, 2017.

We are hoping that this gives parents more time

to see the teacher(s) of their choice at these

important evenings. Reports for all students are

posted home to parents prior these evenings.

Bookings with staff need to be made online and

notification will be sent to parents advising when

such bookings open. Put the dates for parent

teacher night in your next year’s calendar now!

UNITED NATIONS VOICE - STATE PUBLIC

SPEAKING COMPETITION – SYDNEY

UNIVERSITY

Full marks to our student representative in this

competition, Farid Faruk. Faruk placed in the top

ten in this competition. While Faruk didn’t make

it to Nationals, he (accompanied and supported

by our School Captain, Ashraf Olife), won on

dignity, composure and respect showing an adult

maturity beyond their years. I am so very proud

of these students. I would like to thank Ms Jill

Peruzzo for accompanying and supporting these

students, and Farid in particular during this

competition.

ORIENTATION DAY – YEAR 7 2017

Our Orientation Day for year 7, 2017 will be held

from 10:00am on Tuesday, December 6th and

invitations have been sent to those students who

are anticipated as enrolments for next year. Mrs

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Dolstra, Mr Perrett and I look forward to meeting

our new students and their parents on this day.

Our Year Advisors, Ms. Carol Fong and Ms Jill

Peruzzo have worked hard to organise this event

alongside Mr Moller our Relieving Head Teacher

Welfare.

ANNUAL PRESENTATION DAY – AWARD

CEREMONY

Academic Awards for Years 7-11 (12) will be

held during the day on Monday, December 12th,

2016. This ceremony which recognises student

achievement throughout the year, will commence

at 11am. Parents of Award winners will be

notified shortly and receive an invitation to this

event. The Social Science Faculty is organising

this year’s ceremony and I would like to thank

this faculty for their efforts in co-ordinating this

important calendar event.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL – TERM 4 2016

The last day of the school year for Years 7-10

and Year 12 (2017) is Friday, December 16th.

This is also the last day of school for staff who

have accumulated 12 hours of professional

learning throughout the year, after school in

order to have Monday and Tuesday, December

19th and 20th, as time in lieu.

Parents should note that it is an expectation that

all students attend up to and including the last

day of term. Please note that Year 7-10 reports

will be issued on Thursday, December 15th,

2016. Year 11 reports will be issued on Friday,

November 11th.

On the last day of term, that is Friday,

December 16th, the canteen will be closed.

Students are advised therefore, to bring food

and drink from home. Modified programs of

learning will occur from 12noon onwards as the

school begins organising shutdown for the five

week annual school vacation.

STAFFING – 2017

Dr. Matthew Bugeja has been appointed on merit

to the position of classroom teacher Science at

Macquarie Fields High School, commencing in

Term 1 of 2017. Dr Bugeja has met with the

Science Faculty and is excited about starting

here next year. I would like to congratulate him

on his appointment. Dr Bugeja replaces Mr

Stephen Fletcher.

It was with some sadness that we farewelled

Sherree McDonough from the office at the end of

Term 3. Sherree received a transfer to Sarah

Redfern Primary School. Her skills and friendly

manner will be sorely missed.

Our featured faculty this newsletter is the

Creative and Performing Arts faculty and as you

can see from their report, many wonderful and

exciting things have been happening and some

stunning individual student achievements have

been highlighted.

Happy reading.

Mr M. I. Tishler

Relieving Principal

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CAPA NEWSLETTER 2016

During 2016 the Creative and Performing Arts

Faculty has been a hive of activity. Our students

have successfully been involved in many

different learning opportunities both in and out of

the classroom and within the wider community.

As a faculty we love to challenge our students

and provide them with as many performing and

curriculum based opportunities as we can. All

staff in the Creative and Performing Arts Faculty,

are positive and passionate about ‘The Arts’ and

about learning. We take pride in our role as

teachers here at Macquarie Fields High School

and we understand the importance of the role we

play in the development of young people.

Research has shown, students involved in the

arts can impact broader academic and personal

wellbeing outcomes. Our faculty promotes ‘The

Arts’ to the best of our ability and we strive to

provide engaging, challenging and interesting

lessons in Music, Visual Arts, Photographic and

Digital Media, Visual Design and Drama on a

daily basis.

In 2016 The Creative and Performing Arts

Faculty consists of Mrs Heather Costa (Relieving

Deputy and Music), Mrs Karen Metcalfe

(Relieving Head Teacher and Visual Arts) Miss

Minh Thi Tran (Relieving HT Tuesday Music and

Year 8 Assistant Advisor), Mrs Heather Davidson

(Visual Arts), Ms Amanda Langley (Visual Arts),

Mrs Penny Matchett (Visual Arts), Mr Luke

Bozzetto (Music) and Mr Matthew Lee (Music).

Each of these dedicated teachers have their own

experience, mastery skills and individual talents,

they like to share with the students here at

Macquarie Fields in unique ways.

During this successful year, the students have

experienced and participated in the following-

Music

Wonderful performance opportunities for

members of our School Band and String

Ensemble groups where students performed at

the Bankstown Sports club for the Cross Network

performances. This initiative was successfully led

by Mrs Davidson who was the conductor of the

Cross Network Band.

The Band and String Ensemble also performed

and participated in the ‘Proms’ concert held in

September. This is a great workshop for our

neighbouring primary School students and our

own students, where they join together in music

workshops and learn about our music programs.

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Students from our Vocal Ensemble also

represented our school, when they performed at

the prestigious ‘In Concert’ event held at Sydney

Town Hall.

Various Music Excursions-

Year 10 Music Excursion Aim (Australian

Institute of Music) - Australian Navy Jazz band

Year 11 and 12 Music Excursion – ‘Soul Review’

at Aim (Australian Institute of Music)

Year 9 Elective Students Excursion to see ‘Into

the woods’ – Musical Theatre

Stage 5 Visual Design

Students in year 8 Visual Design were involved

in an exciting opportunity to collaborate with

Campbelltown City Council and design new

signage for Simmo’s Beach reserve. This project

was co-ordinated by Ms Langley. Students are

currently working through this process with the

council.

Various Visual Arts Excursions

Year 10, 11 and 12 Visual Arts students visited

the Armoury to view Art Express and to view the

exciting range of HSC works.

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Year 12 Visual Arts and Mrs Metcalfe also visited

the Art Gallery of NSW and Museum of

Contemporary Art where they viewed in the flesh

the amazing Frida Kahlo exhibition and other

artworks by contemporary artists such as Patricia

Piccinini. This was an awesome experience for

our year 12 students in preparation for their

Higher School Certificate.

World’s Biggest Classroom

This amazing exhibition displays the artworks of

Primary and High school students across NSW.

It is only open to public school students and

works are displayed in high traffic, public places

such as Westfields shopping centres, Sydney

train stations and in the foyer of the School

Spectacular show. The artworks are also

featured on social media websites such as

Facebook and Twitter. This year we had the

works of year 9 Photography and Digital media

student, Hollie Bachen, featured on social media

and on display on a Sydney train platform.

Congratulations Hollie!

Stage 6 Visual Design

Year 11 Visual Design Students and Ms Langley

were successful in their application for the

Bunnings Sculpture Award. These students were

challenged and created a sculpture from the

recycled items Bunnings had collected and

donated to local schools. Year 11 students won

this award and as a result, the garden outside of

the CAPA block will receive a major makeover in

2017.

Sculpture by the Sea Excursion

Year 10 students from our Photography and

Digital media class had the opportunity to visit

the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.

Students were asked to document both the

existing sculptures that were featured in the

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exhibition along with documenting their own

sculptures in the natural environment.

Dance Ensemble

Fire in the Fields

In August students performed at the Fire in the

Fields Concert held at James Meehan High

School. The Macquarie Fields High School

Dance ensemble had been rehearsing on Friday

mornings before school and during lunch times

under the guidance of Miss Shakespeare and

Mrs Metcalfe. Students performed two dance

items a Lyrical contemporary piece to Adele’s

Hello and a Tap piece to Timmy Trumpets

Freaks.

Variety Night 2016

Our annual Variety night was held back in term

two. This evening provides all students the

opportunity to get involved in the arts. It was a

wonderful night with many students from years 7-

12 participating and performing. We had a wide

range of singers and musicians perform. This

event is a tradition in our school and the CAPA

faculty take pride in providing this performance

platform for our students.

Our Student Achievements

Sony World Photography Competition Raaid

Uddin from our Year 12 Visual Arts class made it

onto the short list for the top 2000 photographs.

There were 164,000 entries received in the 18

years and under category. He received a

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commendation for his entry of his photograph

below. This is an awesome achievement. Well

Done Raaid!

Sebastian Kelly-Toiava was successful in

gaining a place in the School Spectacular as a

solo vocalist. Sebastian is an exceptionally

talented vocalist and we wish him well for his up

and coming performances in the 2016 School

Spectacular. This will be a fabulous experience

for him. What a wonderful experience it will be to

perform on stage in front of a large audience and

gain all those professional tips and hints to help

him improve along the way. Fantastic

achievement!

Fishers Ghost Art Exhibition 2016

Olive Maisa Year 7 won a Secondary student

award at the Fishers Ghost Art exhibition. There

are only four of these awarded to students

across our region. Olive produced an outstanding

Self Portrait Lino print in his class with Mrs

Langley. Olive received his award from

Campbelltown Mayor Cr George Brticevic who is

also a previous Macquarie Fields High School

student. Olive now has vouchers to attend future

Visual Arts workshops at the Campbelltown

Gallery. Congratulations Olive.

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Operation Art

Operation Art- 4 student entries (Year 9 & Year

10), 2 chosen for in the top 50 of 850 entries to

tour NSW regional hospitals and then go on

permanent display at Westmead Hospital. One

work was chosen as a 'paw pick' to be a teaching

resource. Our award winning students were

Katelyn O’Reilly Year 10 Visual Arts and Holly

Bachen year 9.

Macarthur Chronicle Fishers Ghost Design

Award

Just recently we have had two of our students

receive awards after our Visual Arts Teachers

entered their art works in the Macarthur

Chronicle Design an Ad Award.

This successful competition is held each year

and aims to bring together primary school, high

school and local business. The Advertiser helps

to promote local business by getting students to

engage with their local community. Artworks are

hand drawn and local business owners then

select the most fitting designs. Year 8 students

Keziah Ambatt and Rose Zhang in our Stage 5

Visual Design classes were selected. Keziah was

awarded 2nd place and Rose 3rd place.

Congratulations girls!

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It has been a very busy but rewarding year in the

Creative and Performing Arts Faculty. We are

extremely proud of all our students and their

achievements this year. We have two more

annual events still to come before the year ends.

In week 6 we have our annual ensembles

evening held here at school and in week 8 we

have our annual art exhibition in the hall. Both of

these events are exciting for staff and students

and we hope to see many parents and students

at these events.

The Creative and Performing Arts Faculty are all

looking forward to next year and you can be

certain the faculty have already been making

plans for another exciting and engaging time

within our subject areas.

Thank you,

Mrs Karen Metcalfe

Relieving Head Teacher CAPA

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