Merewether High School Bulletin 10...protect adults and children over the age of six months from swine flu. The vaccine, called Pan-vax®, has been approved by Therapeutic Goods Administration

February

10

this issue P4 Music News P5 Competit ions Vaccinations P6 Support Unit P7 Vaccination Information P8 Language Dept P9 SRC News P10 Event Diary P11 P & C Letter P12 Uniform Shop P13 P&C Email P14 P&C Functions P15 Trivia Night coming events 19 February 201019 February 201019 February 201019 February 2010 Prefects ’ Investiture Prefects ’ Investiture Prefects ’ Investiture Prefects ’ Investiture 25 February 201025 February 201025 February 201025 February 2010 Athletics CarnivalAthletics CarnivalAthletics CarnivalAthletics Carnival 9 March 20109 March 20109 March 20109 March 2010 School PhotosSchool PhotosSchool PhotosSchool Photos .

Diary Dates 16 Feb Y8 PLG - LC - 9:00-10:30 23 Feb Y9 PLG LC—9:00-10:30

26 Feb Vaccinations 2 March Y10 PLG—9:00-10:30 9 March Y11 PLG– 9:00—10:30

See Event Diary P10 for all events

Merewether High School Bulletin

MHS Jazz Ensemble

Principal’s Message

Welcome to the new school year.

Firstly, I want to inform you all of our success at the conclusion of 2009 with our HSC results. Our results in 2008 were outstanding (25th in NSW) and were the best that MHS had achieved since the introduction of the new HSC in 2001. However, last year’s results were even stronger with the school ranking 23rd in the state as a result of our students’ HSC accomplish-ments. We had some exceptional results with a significant number of students receiving ATARs of over 99. Twenty students received a mark above 90 for 10 units of their courses. Nicola Ferry achieved first place in the state in Visual Arts, Renee Bryant came third in the state in 2 unit Studies of Religion and Adriana Lions came third in NSW in French Beginners. Lauren Heath achieved an ATAR of 99.95 – the highest ATAR possible (equivalent to 100 in the old UAI). Congratulations to Lauren and to the many students who produced outstanding results. Our 2009 HSC candidates proved that hard work and effective organisation reap re-wards. In 2010, once again, every student in the school has received a Merewether High School diary to assist with course work reminders and general organisation. Generous sponsorship from the MHS P&C Association and from the University of Newcastle has made this initiative possible. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to both parties for their support and assure them that the diaries will, without doubt, enhance educational outcomes for all students across the school. Whilst our Year 7 students are quickly adjusting to their new school life, our Year 12 students are busy with their second term of their HSC studies. We launched our HSC Support Program in Week 2 of this term, with several businesses across Newcastle providing donations of vari-ous items to support our Year 12 students in their final year. I wish to acknowledge Office-works and Coles store at Marketown, K Mart at Westfield Kotara, Go Lo at Charlestown, Re-bel at Charlestown, Teachers’ Health Society, Teachers’ Credit Union and Mary Mortimer’s Hair Design at Charlestown for their generous support of our HSC students. Our swimming carnival on the 3rd February was an excellent showcase of student commitment with even greater attendance and student participation than in previous years. Congratulations to all students who made the carnival such a success. It was great to see so many parents join-ing us on the day. I wish to introduce and welcome our new members of staff at Merewether High School for 2010. Mr Stephen Smith is our new Head Teacher Science, Mr David Carroll has joined our Maths Faculty, Mrs Narelle Sheahan has joined the TAS faculty and Miss Bonnie McKinnon and Mr Rob Berry are working with the Social Sciences staff. I have no doubt that all of our new staff will enjoy their time working with our students, staff and parents at MHS. I am confident that 2010 is going to be an excellent year for Merewether High. I wish to ex-press my appreciation to everyone who has contributed to the successful commencement of the school year. Yvonne Keevers

February 10


Important Information about Swine Flu Please read the following information that has been communicated to all schools from the Department of Education and Training. Swine flu activity has dropped significantly in NSW over recent months, but continues to have a heavy impact in many Northern Hemisphere countries. It remains to be seen what the impact in Australia will be as we move into next winter, although a resurgence of pandemic influenza activity is possible. With this in mind, it is timely to remind school communities that a vaccine is now available to protect adults and children over the age of six months from swine flu. The vaccine, called Pan-vax®, has been approved by Therapeutic Goods Administration. NSW Health is encouraging everyone to obtain a free vaccination against this potentially life threatening illness. The Panvax® vaccine is available free from most general practitioners and Aboriginal Medical Services. Some community health centres and council immunisation clin-ics are also offering the vaccine free of charge. Call ahead to confirm the health service is vac-cinating on the day you wish to visit. The NSW Department of Education and Training is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy working and learning environment for staff, students and visitors to schools. It is important that information about the availability of Panvax® continues to go out to your school and broader community. Immunising a high percentage of the school not only protects those indi-viduals who receive the vaccine, but also reduces the chance that any students or staff with a weakened immune system (for whom the vaccine may not work as effectively) will be ex-posed to the infection. Further information can be obtained through following the links. The fact sheets are available on the Department’s Occupational Health and Safety website at:

https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/adminandmanage/ohands/hsi/index.htm Pandemic influenza vaccination available for children aged ten years and over: https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/detoh_s/adminandmanage/ohands/hsi/vaccine.doc Pandemic influenza vaccination approved for children aged 6 months and over: https://

detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/detoh_s/adminandmanage/ohands/hsi/vaccinereminder.doc

NSW Health: information about the vaccine: http://www.emergency.health.nsw.gov.au/

swineflu/vaccination/index.asp Principals are requested to place information regarding the availability of Panvax® in all usual forms of communication to parents. By encouraging the uptake of these vaccinations during Term 1 we can continue to support our community in the lead up to flu season.

February 10 Merewether High School Bulletin

An Important Reminder about Student Safety

Our December 2009 Newsletter informed parents of the alarming reports we had received about students not conducting themselves with responsibility and caution whilst crossing the roads at the busy Nine Ways intersection. In 2010, we have had further members of the community contact the school, expressing their concern at the lack of care that some of our students demonstrate when crossing the roads. If your child walks towards one of the many bus stops or to the train station near the Nine Ways I urge you to remind him or her about the serious consequences of a lack of caution and safety on the roads. It has been reported that some of our students weave throughout traffic, walk against red lights and exercise no care whatsoever when crossing the busy road/s. Students have been reminded about this serious safety issue on school assemblies. If your child accesses the Nine Ways area of a morning or afternoon, please talk to him/her about this important matter.

School Uniform

Thank you to all parents who are supporting the school by ensuring that their child/children are in full school uniform each day. School shoes are an important part of our uniform as they must conform to the Occupational Health and Safety requirements determined by the Department of Education and Training. Parents are reminded that our students’ black school shoes must be enclosed and hard-covered (leather) and must not expose the foot in any way. On Wednesdays, students should wear enclosed and hard-covered white joggers. We thank parents for ensuring students are in the correct footwear each day so that they do not breach im-portant safety regulations.

Styles of Shoes that Comply with OH&S Regulations (White hard-covered joggers for Wednesdays only)

Styles that Do Not Comply with OH&S Regulations and are Not Acceptable at School

(Shoes made of canvas or material are not acceptable. Girls’ shoes that expose the top of the foot do not comply with OH&S.)

February 10


Music

In December last year, our Vocal Ensemble and Connect 4 were given the opportunity to join in the Christmas spirit at Charlestown Square. With some gorgeous harmonies and lively Christmas cheer, they performed Christmas Carols to an engaged audience (right next to Santa!). 2010 will again be a busy year for Vocal Ensemble with school performances, Muswellbrook Eisteddfod and out of school performances.

Connect 4 (Vocal Quartet) had an outstanding start to 2010. The Idea of North (world renowned and award winning acappella group), did a workshop/masterclass on Saturday 30 January with Connect 4. The Idea of North members Naomi and Sally were blown away by Connect 4’s vocal technique and cohesiveness. They were so impressed to work with such a musically sound en-semble. Both Naomi and Sally expressed that they had worked with lots of Uni groups, but these groups had nothing on Connect 4’s talent!

Dates to remember: Year 12 Music Night at Lizotte’s – Thursday 1 July 2010 POSH Concert at Newcastle Conservatorium – Thursday 26 August

February 10


Lions Youth of the Year

Entries are now open for the Lions Youth of the Year. Interested students need to submit their applications to Mrs Buxton before February 12. Entry forms and information about the judging process are available at www.lionsclubs.org.au/yoty. Marcia Buxton English Faculty

Parents of Year 10 students Brainstorm Productions will be presenting a performance of their show ‘Wired’ to all of Year 10 on Wednesday 17 at 1.50pm. This production is in conjunction with the Welfare program for Year 10. The show explores how and why stress occurs in young people and offers suggestions about how to deal with any anxiety that may arise. MHS has had the production many times in the past and students recommend it as an entertaining and in-formative means of looking at this serious topic. All of Brainstorm Productions’ shows have DET approval. Janet Gillam HT Welfare

Australian Mathematics Competition On Thursday, August 5, 2010 the Australian Mathematics Competition will be held once again in high schools all over Australia. The Mathematics Department encourages all students from years 7 to 10 to enter this competition. It provides practice in solving a variety of problems at different levels of diffi-culty. Entries must be collected by the end of first term. Students may pay the $5 entry fee to the cashier from Monday 8 February until Thursday 1 April. Any enquires can be directed to Mrs Mackenzie in the Mathematics Department. Sue Mackenzie Mathematics Faculty

Varicella (Chicken Pox) Vaccinations 2010 On Friday 26 February all Year 7 students will receive the Varicella (Chickenpox) vacci-nation. Year 7 female students will receive Dose 1 of HPV (Gardasil). Follow up vaccina-tions will occur on the 17 June and 11 October. All Year 10 students will receive a single dose of dTpa (Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis). All vaccinations will occur in the Learning Centre . Please return the completed consent forms to your roll call teacher by Thursday 25 February. All students will receive their documentation in the next week. Janet Gillam HT Welfare

February 10


Support Unit News - February 2010

During Term 4 2009 the students in the Support Unit participated in a gardening project which re-sulted in the beautification of the garden downstairs from the classroom. Lucy Player, an intern studying Special Education, organised the donation of pavers and gardening supplies from Bunnings Belmont. Under her direction each student decorated their paver with an Aboriginal inspired design. These pavers make a pathway through the garden. The area was planted with spots of colour. The students and staff of the support unit would like to thank Bunnings Belmont for their donations.

Denise Hughes Support Unit

February 10


Hunter New England Population Health

Dear Parents

Each year NSW Health offers the vaccines recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for adolescents as part of the school-based program. In 2010, the following vaccines will be offered to:

Hepatitis B and Varicella (chicken pox) vaccines will be offered in a catch-up program for all Year 7 students who may have not previously received 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine when they were a baby, or, had chickenpox disease.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine will be offered to Year 7 girls only as a 3 dose course over a 6 mth period.

Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (Whooping Cough) will be offered to all Year 7 AND Year 10 stu-dents.

Parent Information Kits will be sent home to parents/guardians. To consent to the vaccination of their child, parents/guardians are advised to read all the information provided, complete the consent form and return it to their child’s school. Parents/guardians who wish to withdraw their consent for any reason may do so by writing to the school Principal. The Procedure for Withdrawal of consent is available on the NSW Health Website at: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/PublicHealth/Immunisation/school_prog/withdraw_consent.asp

Please note that for HPV vaccine only, parents/guardians must record their Medicare Number (including all 10 digits) on the consent form, as this is required to record the student’s health information to the National HPV Vaccination Register and link to the National Cervical Screening Program.

RECORD OF VACCINATION – will be provided to each student vaccinated at the clinic. Parent/

guardians should ensure this record is kept for future reference and should not assume that their child has been vaccinated if they do not receive this record of vaccination. This may prevent the need for repeat vaccinations later in life. If copies of vaccination records are required a fee of $30 will be charged. (Request for Student Vaccination Record form available at: http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/hneph/immunisation)

BREAKFAST – please encourage students to have breakfast on the morning of their vaccinations.

CLOTHING – wear clothing loose enough so the upper arm can be fully exposed.

COMPLETING CONSENT FORMS – USE BLUE OR BLACK PEN ON LY – consent forms will only be accepted if they are an original form, photocopied and faxed consent forms will not be accepted.

Hunter New England Area Health Service

Hunter New England Population Health ABN 24 500 842 605

Locked Bag 10 Wallsend NSW 2287 Phone (02) 4924 6499 Fax (02) 4924 6490

Email PH [email protected] Www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

March

10 Merewether High School Bulletin

LANGUAGES

A Report from Germany – Ein Bericht aus Deutschland

Frau Raby visits the Berlin Wall in sub zero temper atures ! Towards the end of 2009 I became the proud recipient of an Endeavour Languages Teachers Fellowship. This award is funded by the Australian Federal Government and administered by the Asia Foundation at the University of Melbourne. What this meant was that I got to spend 3 weeks on a Study Tour in Germany with a group of 18 other German Teachers from all over Australia. I left Australia on 30th December and met up with the group I was to spend the next 3 weeks with in Singa-pore. We continued on to Germany and landed in Frankfurt on New Years Eve in sub-zero temperatures just in time to celebrate New Year in the snow ! Quite a shock to the system ! The weather conditions were quite extreme at times, and we often found ourselves plodding through snow and ice in temperatures ranging from minus 7 degrees to minus 2 degrees. However, it did not take too long to acclimatise, and providing I made sure to wear the standard 5 layers of clothing and 2 pairs of socks, snow boots, a hat, a hood, a scarf and gloves,I remained toasty warm ! The Study Tour itself was extremely rewarding. Intensive German Language Training at the Goethe Institute in Düsseldorf for 5 hours per day was followed by lunches of rich German Cuisine, Cultural Outings and Field trips. We visited a publishing house (Verlag), a German High School (Gymnasium), a police station (Polizeipräsidium) and we enjoyed the opera (Opern) and theatre trips (Theaterausflüge) and a marionette show (Marionettentheater). We visited Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Cologne, Aachen, Schwäbisch Hall, Düsseldorf and Berlin and everywhere we went we were made welcome. The Germans love the Aussies ! On our visit to Berlin we were even welcomed at the Australian Embassy ! During our visit to the Australian Embassy we talked at length with 2 Embassy delegates, and discussed with them globalisation and the implications for the economy and for competitiveness in the area of employment. With the move towards off-shore employment throughout the world, it is clear that our children will need to be ever more competitive in a global employment market. That means inevitably that in the future the ability to speak more than one language will matter ! I wish to publicly thank the Asia Foundation at the University of Melbourne for providing me with such an amazing opportunity. This unforgettable experience has enhanced my language skills and deepened my knowledge of German culture and history as well as reviving my awareness of current trends in today’s Ger-many. I look forward to sharing these experiences with my students, to passing on some of my newly ac-quired knowledge, and hopefully too to sharing my passion for language learning and experiencing another culture. Remember : trilingual is terrific, bilingual is beautiful, monolingual is curable !!

Frau Raby German Teacher

February 10


SRC NEWS FEBRUARY 2010 Welcome back to 2010. The SRC has several activities coming up for students to become involved in and enjoy. We also would like to welcome two new staff members to our SRC team, Miss Crawford from English and Ms Cardwell in Science. We are very grateful for their support and enthusiasm and look forward to working with them over the coming year. Congratulations to Reid Butler who has been elected to represent the region at the State SRC conference in February. It is quite an achievement to become the regional state repre-sentative and we know Reid will do an outstanding job in this role. For new families in the school the Student Representative Council is a student run body, under the SRC advisers’ guidance, that assists the school in any way it can, fundraising through school dances and fundraising events, charities, canteen service, student assis-tance scheme for students representing the school in events are just a few of the many things the SRC are involved in. There are 6 representatives from each year group; elections will take place at the end of term 2 for the entire school. This will also be the first opportu-nity for Year 7 to nominate and join the SRC team. Upcoming events for your calendars include: • Friday 12 February – Valentine’s Day roses delivery. Students can pre-order the roses from Monday 8 in KC2 and have them delivered to their special friends in the school on the day. Red roses will be available for $4 and heart shaped lollipops will also be available on the day for 50cents. • Tuesday 16 February – Blood Bank Donor Mobile. Thank you Mrs Hughes and Brennan Fell for organising the Blood Mobile to come to our school. We would like to encourage any-one over 16 to become a donor for this valuable service. The sign up sheets are on the board outside the language staff room, see Mrs Hughes for more details. Wednesday 17 February – School Dance. Our first dance of the year will follow the roman-tic theme of Valentine’s Day “Love Actually”. Tickets will go on sale in KC2 from Monday 15 February. No tickets will be sold at the door and no ticket will be sold without a permission note which will be distributed shortly. If you have any questions regarding the SRC and their activities please don’t hesitate to contact any of the SRC teachers or your SRC representatives. We look forward to seeing many of you supporting the events coming up to raise money for our school, but to also have a lot of fun with your fellow students. Coreena Allen SRC Adviser


Term 1 Tuesday 27 January –Thursday 1 April

February 2010

Tue 16/02 Duke of Ed—PSG meeting + navigation & map

HSSA Diving Trials

Blood Bank Donormobile on site

Y8 Parent Learning Group—9:00-10:30—LC

School Council meeting-library-6:00pm

P&C meeting—library—7:30pm

Duke of Ed (DEA) meeting 6:00pm

DEA members Participating students Participating students Interested parents Council members Interested parents DEA members

Wed 17/2 Y10 Welfare—Wired—1:50pm

City Zone Swim Carnival—Mayfield

Uni Links interviews

School Dance—6:30pm-10:00pm

Participating students Participating students Participating students

Thu 18/02 HSSA Boys Volleyball Trials Participating students

Fri 19/02 Prefects’ Investiture 11:00am Students & parents

Mon 22/02 Uni Links interviews Participating students

Tue 23/02 DEA Bronze navigation afternoon—post school

Y9 Parent Learning Group—9:00-10:30 –Learning Centre

Participating students Interested parents

Wed 24/02 Uni Links interviews Participating students

Thu 25/02 MHS Athletics Carnival—Glendale Participating students

Fri 26/02 Y10 Vaccinations—Varicella all Y7

Dose1 HPV Yr 7 females

Participating students

March 2010

Tue 02/03 DEA Bronze log book + 1st aid instruction –pm

HSSA Swim Carnival—Maitland

Y10 Parent Learning Group—9:00-10:30 – LC

Participating students Participating students

Thu 04/03 Y7 Welfare—Verbal Combat—1:50pm Participating students

Tue 09/03 School Photos

DEA Parent navigation night at Glenrock


Whole school Participating students Interested parents

Wed 10/03 City Zone RL Trials Participating students

Thu 11/03 HSSA Boys Basketball Trials Participating students

Fri 12/03 HSSA U/16 Boys/Girls Touch Trials

Sports Tour Trivia Night—MPC

Bulletin on website

Participating students Interested parents/friends

Sun 14/03 DEA Bronze candidates—Glenrock Participating students

Mon 15/03 HSSA Girls Basketball Trials Participating students

Tue 16/03 School Photos—catch up day

HSSA Boys Football Trials


DEA meeting 6:00pm

School Council meeting 6:00pm

P&C meeting—Library—7:30pm

Participating students Interested parents DEA members Council Member Interested parents

February 10 EVENT DIARY

Merewether High School Bulletin February 10

P & C Functions

We extend a warm welcome from Merewether High School P & C to all Year 7 to Year 12 students, parents and caregivers. Thank you to all the student and parent helpers who assisted us with the numerous function days in 2009. Also thank you for all the donations of cakes and slices. Without your won-derful help, MHS functions would not be a success. We would like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks to Mr Phillip Stair of “The Flower Palace” Hamilton. As a member of the local community Phillip has generously supported MHS with beautiful floral arrangements for numerous functions, especially for the stage in Bensley Hall. The MHS P&C cater for all student functions with morning tea and luncheons. We are al-ways very appreciative of volunteer parent helpers to prepare food platters and serve re-freshments and assist with clearing after the function. Our function calendar for 2010 is in this Bulletin for easy reference during the year. Your involvement in the program would be gratefully appreciated, our contact numbers are: Veronica Lingard: 49574452 Penny Finnegan : 49528138 Veronica Lingard P & C Representative

Uniform Shop Special Opening Hours

TERM 1 2010

CONTACT NAME: Janette 0413650634

“DAYLIGHT SPORTSWEAR PTY. LTD”

PLEASE MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TO:

“DAYLIGHT SPORTSWEAR PTY. LTD”

FEBRUARY

MONDAY 1st 12noon - 4:00pm

THURSDAY 4th 8:00am – 12noon

MONDAY 8th 12noon – 4:00pm




MONDAY 22nd 12noon – 4:00pm

THURSDAY 25th CLOSED

SATURDAY 27th 8:00am – 12noon

MARCH MONDAY 1st 12noon - 4:00pm

THURSDAY 4th CLOSED

SATURDAY 6th 8:00am - 12noon





MONDAY 22nd 12noon – 4:00pm



APRIL THURSDAY 1st 8:00am – 12noon

February 10


PARENT EMAIL CONTACT WITH THE SCHOOL AND P& C The school and the P&C are working closer together to more effectively communicate with parents. The P&C, as representatives of the parents, does not have a good communication system with the par-ents. The P&C intends to improve efforts to keep parents informed of P&C initiatives and decisions, all of which are aimed at benefiting your children). This information will be used for P&C communication pur-poses only . The process of establishing a P&C contact list will enable a more efficient and effective way of sharing with you updates of parental involvement at MHS. Privacy issues are paramount in this matter. The P&C is therefore proposing: 1. that MHS provide its records of your email details to the P&C – your permission is required. 2. that parents who haven’t supplied their email address to the school to do this as soon as possible. The necessary details to provide are:

- Parent full name - Student name/s - Student year/s - Email address - Advise of your agreement or disagreement as follows:

YES, I do AGREE that MHS pass my details (as above) to the P&C contact list, or NO, I do NOT AGREE that MHS pass my details (as abo ve) to the P&C contact list To enable this to happen would you please preferably, respond to [email protected]

P&C Association – Statement of Interest

Please fill in the slip below and return it to the school office

I, …………………………………………………….......................................................................................... (name) parent /guardian of …………………………………………………………………………………………(name child) am interested and would like to volunteer in (more than 1 box can be ticked): o Canteen activities o Families Matter activities o Tidy up the gardens project o Future activities Please contact me: o by phone on: ………………………………………………………………………………... , or o by email: ………………………………………………………………………………………(email address)

Merewether High School P&C Association need your help

Friday 19 February—Prefects’ Investiture Morning Tea Friday 24 September—Year 12 Formal Farewell Morning Tea

Wednesday 24 November—Cooking Day!

Cooks and Helpers needed in the MHS Kitchens

Tuesday 7 December—Year 7 Orientation for 2011

HELPERS NEEDED

Wednesday 8 December—Sports Presentation Day Luncheon

Wednesday 15 December—MHS Presentation Day Luncheon

These functions are for the benefit of all of our children, so if you can help in any way, please contact

Veronica Lingard on 49574452 or Penny Finnegan on 49528138 and

indicate where or how you can help.

In support of Merewether HS International Sports Tour 2010

The major fundraising event in support of the International Sports Tour to

Hong Kong, England, the United States and Canada.

When: Friday 12th March 2010 Where: Merewether High School – Bensley Hall

(entrance from Chatham Street)

Time: 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start) (finish by 10.30pm)

What: Trivia questions, auctions, games, quizzes, heaps of fun Cost: Tables of 8 - $12.50 per head for everyone Also: Canteen will be selling drinks, lollies etc BYO: Drinks, eats, biro/pencil Sorry: No Alcohol or smoking Prizes: Over 200 raffle prizes including gift vouchers, clothing, electrical

items, beauty products, wine and plenty of lucky door, games and auction prizes

Tickets:See Ms Brooks, numbers are limited so get organised NOW!!

Documents

Merewether High School Bulletin 10...protect adults and children over the age of six months from swine flu. The vaccine, called Pan-vax®, has been approved by Therapeutic Goods Administration