SEFTON NEWS

Term 4 2018

Sincerity Scholarship Service

Welcome to the final edition of the Sefton News for 2018.

By Humayra Autoshi Year 10

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE It is hard to believe but the end of the 2018 school year is rapidly

approaching. Perhaps it is the incredible busyness and energy that

pervades Sefton High School or me getting older or a combination of

both but the time has flown by.

This term has seen a collective effort to ensure the HSC examinations

went off without a hitch. The Year 12 sign out process and the formal

have taken place, examinations for Years 7-11 have occurred, marking is

nearly completed and end of year reports are about to be written.

In addition, Mr Dimopoulos, Ms Dike and the faculty Head Teachers are

busy arranging the school’s curriculum and timetable for next year, Mr

O’Riordan and Mr Beggs have put together a splendid Sport Assembly

and we have recognised our elite athletes at the Bankstown Zone Sports

Assembly.

Contents Principal’s Message ............. 1

Principals Network Awards . 4

Naplan 2018 Analysis .......... 5

New Head Teacher

Mathematics ....................... 6

Junior Legacy Public

Speaking .............................. 7

National Success Junior

Legacy Public Speaking ........ 8

Australian Geography

Competition ......................... 8

Visual Arts News .................. 9

Year 10 Commerce CSI ......11

Year 10 Science Excursions –

UTS & ANSTO .....................12

Year 7 Jeans For Genes

Day .....................................14

Fundraising For Breast

Cancer ................................14

Careers Advisory Service and

Website .............................15

A Bit of Magic at Premiers

Reading Challenge .............16

Bankstown Zone Sport Award

Recipients ………………………. 17

Pretty in Pink Fundraising…18

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Year 10 have undertaken Peer Support Training ably led by Ms Auzins. In addition, Ms Stone and

Mrs Sciberras in the front office are busily ensuring that our 2019 Year 7 cohort are enrolled and

ready to launch themselves into Sefton HS on Orientation Day, which fast approaches. If that is not

enough I know that arrangements are also well under way for what is one of the big events on the

school calendar – Presentation Day. This list is certainly not exhaustive but you get a sense of some

of the many exciting activities that are occurring at this time of year.

Speaking of exciting I do have some further good news to share.

First and foremost a big blue welcome to Sefton High School to Ms Najem our new Head Teacher

of Mathematics. We are delighted to have Ms Najem with us, having commenced in Week 3 of this

term replacing the fabulous Ms Murray. I know our School Captains, Chris and Joy, went and

introduced themselves to Ms Najem and interviewed her so I trust you will enjoy reading their

report.

Secondly we have decided to adopt a new school website platform. There are a number of reasons

for this but mainly we wanted a website that would allow for greater use of images and to have

language translation facilities for families. Our new website is part of the Department of

Education’s website service, this means that both Departmental as well as Sefton HS content can be

simultaneously incorporated. My thanks to two of our talented office staff Mrs Hope and Mrs

Sciberras, who are the drivers of this project and the support of Mr Blaker and Mr Dimopoulos, to

have us ready to “go live”.

Thirdly a big congratulations to Mrs Coombes and Mr Dimopoulos who were recently

acknowledged at a splendid awards ceremony for their respective contributions to the educational

leadership of Sefton High School. Eighty schools across four networks took part in this event which

acknowledged outstanding contribution and service. It was a delight to have Executive Director for

Metropolitan South Sylvia Corish and Chullora Network Director Educational Leadership Andrew

Fielding on hand to congratulate and recognise both Mrs Coombes and Mr Dimopoulos. Both Mrs

Coombes and Mr Dimopoulos are very worthy recipients and leaders to whom staff, students,

parents and I, in particular, owe a debt of thanks. Their vision and leadership has placed our

dynamic school as a leader of quality education and a school of first choice.

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Lastly and most importantly, huge congratulations to Janet Diba of Year 9 who represented NSW to

finish second nationally in public speaking. Janet spoke passionately about the issue of

homelessness and went beyond identifying statistics and causes to boldly suggest solutions. I

understand that it was a very close decision between Janet and the winner. Congratulations goes

also to a very excited Ms Tran who mentored Janet and attended to the logistics of the various

rounds of this competition.

I would also like to extend my congratulations to our new School Captains and Prefect body for

2018-2019. These students were selected after a very exhaustive process. Testimony to the quality

of the elected leadership group is the number of high quality students who missed out on selection.

The new student leaders are

Captains Joy HANNA Christopher PREDIC

Vice Captain Kylie DANG Brian ANG

Senior Prefect Jessie TA

Prefects Mai-Linh DAO Thomas LAM

Daena Alessandra DE LUNA James MAI

Victor Minh Hieu HUYNH Catherine PHUNG

Sharmay HUSSEIN Zinmar SWE

Divyasha KUMAR Justin TEK

I have prepared a 2018 NAPLAN analysis for parents which is included in this edition of Sefton

News. This year, NAPLAN reports to schools and parents were delayed as authorities sorted out

issues that impacted on this year’s NAPLAN, due to having two systems running side by side.

Some schools trialled a new adaptive online testing system whilst other schools (Sefton HS

included) remained with the traditional pen and paper test.

As with any new trial there were problems and this year the big problem with the online testing is

with school comparisons. Nonetheless I have analysed the critical information for you that relates to

Sefton HS and let me tell you once again our results are outstanding. That said, we are never

satisfied and will continue to look to find ways to continuously improve the literacy and numeracy

capabilities of every student so that they are best placed to move into an ever changing world where

one of the few constants is the essential need for high levels of literacy and numeracy.

There are a number of upcoming dates for our school community to be mindful of. These are

4 December Year 6 into 7 Orientation Day

10 December - 21 December Semester Two Reports for Years 7-10 Distributed

13 December HSC Results released to students and schools

14 December Presentation Day

14 December ATAR Results distributed to students only. Please note schools do

not get notified of ATAR results and as such we really would love

Year 12 to ring or email these scores through to us.

19 December Last day of school for 2018 for students.

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30 January 2019 First day for 2019 for Years 7, 11 and 12.

31 January 2019 First Day for 2019 for Years 8, 9 and 10.

Finally as we transition to greater electronic communication can I ask that all parents ensure that

you give our office staff a current email address and ensure that you ‘like’ Sefton HS on Facebook.

Mr K Humphreys

PRINCIPALS NETWORK AWARDS Mrs Coombes and Mr Dimopoulos have been awarded through the Principal Network for

outstanding service to Sefton High School

Sandra Coombes

Chullora Network

Sandra’s career is one that has pursued confidence, brilliance and

inspiration. Beginning her career in 1969 as a teacher of English and

History, Sandra’s passion and devotion to education has had no

bounds. Expanding her knowledge and experience into various facets

of the education industry, Sandra consolidated a strong aptitude for

leadership.

It has been recognised that she has instilled a durable legacy in her

eighteen year principalship at Sefton High School, one that focused

faithfully on promoting high standards of literacy and numeracy.

Sandra has strived to “create a culture of high expectation” for her students and ultimately to

admirably blur the line between selective and community based students.

Through her firm discipline and avid leadership, Sandra has evoked a school atmosphere that

endeavours to reach high, and sustain a devoted community of learners.

Her outstanding career is one that will be valued and remembered by not only her school

community, but her colleagues around the network as well.

Bill Dimopoulos

Teacher in an Executive Role

Bill has demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, particularly in

whole school organisations and systems.

He has been instrumental in establishing and maintaining exemplary

and comprehensive whole school policy frameworks and procedures

which guide staff in their daily operations.

He has almost singularly developed and maintained the schools

information database that supports wellbeing and student

administration.

Bill's support to transition the new Principal and ensure the smooth

running of the school in this period was superb and testimony to his

passion for Sefton HS.

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NAPLAN 2018 ANALYSIS In 2018, the NAPLAN testing regime has come under fierce criticism from many sources. Sadly for

many groups, NAPLAN testing and preparation has become an industry rather than its original

intended purpose – a diagnostic assessment of students capabilities at one point in time.

NAPLAN is simply one measure of one students literacy and numeracy capabilities based on one

day’s testing. In 2018 the waters of NAPLAN have been muddied with some schools continuing

with pen and paper testing whilst others have trialled adaptive on line testing. These two testing

regimes are very different and as such comparisons between schools must be treated with extreme

caution.

Sefton High School will regard NAPLAN for what it is able to tell us and for what it was originally

intended. The key areas, we will focus on are

What do NAPLAN results for individual students reveal in terms of areas for ongoing

development?

What do NAPLAN results for Year groups reveal to us in terms of broad item analysis e.g.

in writing, in grammar and punctuation, in aspects of numeracy?

Do our broader NAPLAN results support our strategic directions or indicate areas for

greater concentration?

NAPLAN 2018 – A SNAPSHOT OF OUR RESULTS

Year 7

73.6% of students scored in Bands 7, 8, 9 and 10 for Reading (State average is 51.0%).

61.6% of students scored in Bands 7, 8, 9 and 10 for Writing (State average is 23.9%).

80.8% of students scored in Bands 7, 8, 9 and 10 for Numeracy (State average is 53.4%).

Year 9

79.3% of students scored in Bands 8, 9 and 10 for Reading (State average is 47.5%).

64.9% of students scored in Bands 8, 9 and 10 for Writing (State average is 33.4%).

84.4% of students scored in Bands 8, 9 and 10 for Numeracy (State average is 49.0%).

Comment

You will see from these statistics that students’ writing is, and continues to be, an issue state wide.

This is why Sefton High School continues to place great emphasis on the implicit teaching of

writing and of traditional methods of pedagogy.

Value Added Value added data displays information about learning growth of students in schools and is

considered a fair, reliable and accurate indication of school effectiveness. It is a measurement tool

that is highly regarded by schools and the system.

Both 2017 and 2018 NAPLAN data shows that the value added of Sefton High School students

from Years 7-9 is at the very top end of scores state wide, with our result being amongst the highest

in the state two years running.

We are delighted with this measure as it is one of the key indicators of the success of our school

plan and focus upon the explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy in junior years. There is a very

high expectation placed upon our teachers and students in Years 7-10 that their focus will be upon

core foundational skills, in reading, persuasive and narrative writing, guided scaffolds to support

student writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and detailed feedback by staff to students.

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Our numeracy focus is all about explicit teaching through Mathematics but also that each key

learning area is embedding explicit numeracy strategies within their programming.

Conclusion

As with each year, staff will spend considerable time in reflective practice and formative

assessment in the end of year staff development days undertaking individual and class based

NAPLAN analysis to inform their 2019 teaching.

We will continue to strive to raise the standards of students who identify as needing additional

support as well as using the data to find areas where we can continue to improve the teaching and

learning processes to obtain ongoing enhancement of students capacity.

NEW HEAD TEACHER MATHEMATICS Transcript of Ms Najem Interview

Q: What is your goal for Sefton?

A: I hope to achieve the best results and outcomes for students. I

intend to work together with my staff to propel students to the best

of their ability to achieve optimal results.

Q: Why join the community of Sefton?

A: I have read many great things about Sefton and the high

expectations it sets for its students and staff. There is a strong

academic presence here with a nurturing environment for success

providing the best opportunities for students. My values aligned

with that of Sefton and I was eager to be a part of the community.

Q: If you weren’t a Math teacher, what would you be?

A: Previously, I enjoyed working in the Financial Industry which

was very fast paced and competitive. I guess, combining my love for maths, data and statistics leads

me to say a Data Analyst.

Q: What were you doing before Sefton?

A: I worked at Moorefield Girls High School as the Gifted and Talented coordinator and Mathematics

teacher. I have worked as a Curriculum writer for state office, developing diagnostic tasks for stage

4 and 5, as well as editing Numeracy resources. Earlier in my career, I was the recipient of the Sydney

Director Award for an inspiring beginning teacher.

Q: Tell us about yourself.

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A: I have a passion for Mathematics and about providing the best opportunities for students to be

successful. I believe in maintaining respectful relationships amongst staff, parents and students to

achieve the best results. My hobbies include fishing, travelling, reading and the NRL (Bulldogs fan).

Q: What about your personal life?

A: Besides my life of teaching, I enjoy my family time and spending time with my kids including

taking long drives together to the Gold Coast and Thredbo.

Q: What is your education?

A: I attended UTS and UNSW. I studied a Mathematics/Statistics degree and then applied for a

Bachelor of Education before completing my Masters in Education.

CONCLUSION: Ms Najem is a very humble individual who was reluctant to discuss her many

achievements. Sefton is fortunate to have her join our community and this is best demonstrated in a

quote from Mrs Najem herself; “It’s not about where you come from or the University you attended.

It is about your integrity, your ability to communicate respectfully, sense of humour and humility

which helps you stand out.”

By School Captains Christopher Predic and Joy Hanna

JUNIOR LEGACY PUBLIC SPEAKING

1st PLACE in STATE FINALS JANET DIBA

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NATIONAL SUCCESS JUNIOR LEGACY PUBLIC

SPEAKING

2nd PLACE in NATIONAL FINALS

JANET DIBA

A cohort of public speakers and debaters recently attended

the State Library of NSW to support Janet Diba in her efforts

at the National Finals of the Legacy Public Speaking

Competition. This is the largest junior public speaking

competition in Australia, and certainly one of the most

competitive in the world.

Competitors from states across Australia assembled to present

amazing prepared speeches about a variety of topics they

were impassioned about, including slave labour, the

importance of protecting our environment, and the necessity

of respecting the ANZAC legend. On this day, Sefton High

School’s Janet Diba spoke with clarity and flair about

Australian homelessness.

The prepared speech section was followed by the impromptu

speech, for which the topic was: What’s old has become new

again. Speaking about our warped and ever-changing relationship with privacy, and its role in an

increasingly interconnected world, Janet laid out an argument about how we should be approaching

privacy law and regulation – how we, as consumers and citizens, have a responsibility to do more

than passively allow privacy to become a thing of the past.

A valiant and impressive effort in both sections of this competition earned Janet the position of

National Runner Up for the Legacy Public Speaking Competition.

Well done and congratulations Janet!

AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHY COMPETITION In Term 2 this year 101 students from Years 7 to 12 participated in the 24th annual Australian

Geography Competition. Over 70 000 students from around Australia entered the competition

which was a joint initiative of the Australian Geography Teachers’ Association and the Royal

Geographical Society of Queensland

With current international affairs, Geography is a vital subject that all young people should consider

pursuing as part of their academic growth. Understanding place and people, and the socio-economic

interactions at local, regional and international scales is important to the economic future of

Australia.

This year the competition focused on interconnections. Interconnection emphasises that phenomena

in Geography are linked together, rather than existing in isolation. For example, the effects of

climate on vegetation and urban expansion on biodiversity.

Students’ understanding was tested in a series of challenging multiple-choice questions. Our

school’s results were most pleasing with 24 credits, 18 distinctions and 5 high distinctions.

A special congratulation goes to Isha Baldeo in Year 10 who scored in the top 1% in Australia.

Sefton High School students will be invited to participate in the 2019 competition early Term 1.

Ms Manno

Social Sciences

Ms Tran and Janet Diba

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VISUAL ARTS NEWS On Wednesday 21st November, HSC Visual Arts students

attended the Art Gallery of NSW to view Masters of Modern

Art from the Hermitage.

Our day began with an introductory lecture about Modern Art,

which outlined the evolution of art and the different ways

artists express their ideas.

The lecture focused on the artists that we would soon see in

the exhibition, covering the movements from Impressionism;

with artists like Claude Monet, to Cubism; with Pablo Picasso

and Abstraction with Kandinsky and Malevich.

After the lecture and before we viewed

the Masters of Modern Art exhibition,

we viewed the gallery’s 17th and 18th

century collection of works which

contained highly realistic paintings and

sculptures including Édouard epic

Detaille’s Vive L'Empereur. This

experience gave us a good understanding

of how much art had evolved when we

eventually entered the Masters of

Modern Art exhibition.

Here we saw all the ground breaking

artworks discussed in the lecture such as

Monet’s Poppyfield and Wassily

Kandinsky’s Landscape: Dünaberg near Murnau. There were many impressive artworks to view

and there was also a room displaying French artworks about dance and song.

Overall, our visit to The Art Gallery of NSW was not only enjoyable but it also provided an

important learning experience giving us a deep insight into the evolution of art.

Masters of Modern Art from the Hermitage will be on show at the Art Gallery of NSW from 13

October 2018 – 3 March 2019.

Ashley Sisavanh, Nicole Su, Gordon Wang Year 11

It has been very pleasing to see great work and effort from our Stage 4 Visual Arts students this

semester.Year 7 Visual Arts students have been working on a unit of work stimulated by their

study of selfportraiture in Visual Arts and their study of the art practice of Chuck Close. The

students were asked to create a series of self portraits in response to this theme.

Students began with a series of lessons progressing from learning about grid drawing techniques to

experimentations with the use of colour in acrylic painting. The final result was a series of

successful drawings and paintings which demonstrated their development of skills in 2 dimensional

media.

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Year 7 Artworks by Nicky Au, Natalie Lam, Michelle Lai, Kylie Nguyen, Tranchau Nguyen, Nicholas Thach, Ethan Tran

Some of our Year 8 Visual Arts students created surreal digital artworks using photoshop. Their

artmaking was informed by their study of Rene Margritte, a Surrealist artist whose work featured

the element of surprise and unexpected juxtapositions. Students used their imaginations and critical

thinking skills to create surrealist rooms exploring the idea of reality versus fantasy and illusion!

Ms Simic - Visual Arts Teacher

Kylie Huynh Year 8 William Phan Year 8

Ethan Duong Year 8 Julia Pham Year 8

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YEAR 10 COMMERCE CSI

On Friday 14 September, 10 Commerce walked into their F11 classroom on what was meant to be

another normal Commerce lesson, only to fine the ‘bodies’ of three of their classmates. They were

tasked to find the ‘killers’ and bring justice for their fallen peers.

These interactive hypotheticals were set up by Miss Chon to help develop our understanding of

criminal law and how it operates in real life.

Our skills in problem solving and teamwork were developed as we tried to track down the ‘killers’.

After thorough examination of the evidence, it was apparent that the ‘murderers’ were among us!

The class then collectively decided on a verdict of the ‘killers’.

This gave us a glimpse into how the criminal system operates. This helped us to apply the

knowledge and skills we learnt in previous lessons and we’d like to give a big thanks to Miss Chon!

Humayra Autoshi, Daphne Ly, Julie To,

Tiffany Mai, Christina To.

Jacob Ghamrawi

Stephanie Duong, Catherine Vu, Sarah Quach,

Natasha Tea

Written by Humayra Autoshi and Daphne Ly

PAGE 12

10 Commerce Cn

YEAR 10 SCIENCE EXCURSIONS – UTS AND ANSTO Reports by students

On the 25th and 26th October, the Science Faculty organised an excursion for the Year 10 Cohort to

visit the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) campus and the Australia's Nuclear Science and

Technology Organisation (ANSTO) research facility over two days.

Our trip to UTS gave us the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities and learn more about

science courses available at UTS. Upon arriving, we were ushered away in our respective classes

and went to engage in one of the three interactive experiments. The forensics lab allowed us to use

our skills of deduction in areas of a crime scene. We were able to observe how a forensic scientist

would properly inspect a body and handle the evidence for further investigation. We then tried our

hands at being our own budding forensic scientists by doing activities like looking at blood

splatters, which included determining the cause of certain blood splatter patterns, and

fingerprinting, in which we were able to collect and keep our own fingerprints.

We then had a fascinating presentation with one of the PhD students of UTS, Alission Ricafrente.

Alisson gave us a presentation of her work on parasites, microbes and host immunity and her

findings. She hopes to develop a way to deliver the correct genes into host cells to treat autoimmune

disease. The other two workshops involved experiments in the field of microbiology and physics.

The microbiology workshop had students analysing urine samples for infection and chicken

samples for salmonella bacteria under a microscope.

In the physics workshop, we learnt about sources of electricity and the sustainability of these

methods, including Peltier tiles where you use the differences in temperature to generate a current.

The students had an opportunity to flex their creative problem-solving skills by finding ways to

PAGE 13

maximise the output of the Peltier tiles using only the equipment available to them. The competition

amongst ourselves was electrifying!

The day rounded off with Alission informing us about the various courses offered at UTS that

definitely peaked some students’ interest. Overall, the day was incredibly rewarding with engaging

workshops that improved our scientific knowledge and skills in different fields, with presentations

on what is studied and investigated at UTS! Finally, we’d like to thank the Science Teachers,

especially Ms Rampal, for organising these excursions!

- Daphne Ly

When my teacher told me that Year 10 was going to see a nuclear reactor, I was exhilarated. I

thought we were going to see something like the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a volatile mess

run by a world class idiot like Homer Simpson. But on my tour, I saw that ANSTO was an

immaculate facility run by an army of talented scientists who made sure that the power plant was in

perfect condition at all times. The tour guide saw my dismay at this and decided to take me to the

waste-management area, yet again my spirits were raised. I expected to see tonnes of radioactive

waste being dumped into a river like Mr. Burns did. Yet again, I was wrong. 92% of the waste

ANSTO produced was cloth, gloves, plastics, filters and paper which could be discarded as normal

rubbish after temporary storage. The other 8% of radioactive waste was covered with radiation-

proof rock and stored away. At that point, I realised ANSTO wasn’t for me and sat away from my

class sulking in a corner. Seeing me the tour guide said, “Want to know what we actually make

here?” He gave a little smile and rubbed his hand together.

“Just show me the nuclear warhead already,” I said.

The man looked at me funny and said “ANSTO uses infrastructure,

capabilities and expertise to build knowledge and optimise the

beneficial impacts of nuclear science on human health, produce

current and future nuclear medicine, and enable research in

prevention and improved detection, diagnosis and treatment of

diseases.”

“Do you at least make nuclear crystals like in The Simpsons”, I asked.

Again, he looked at me funny and said, “ANSTO is the home of Australia's nuclear expertise. As the

operator of Australia's only nuclear reactor, we address key scientific questions in the nuclear fuel

cycle for both the current generation of nuclear reactors and future systems. The nuclear fuel cycle

begins with the mining of uranium and ends with the disposal of nuclear waste.”

Comprehensively, what this excursion taught me was that you shouldn't visit ANSTO if you are

looking to see the Springfield Nuclear Reactor but you should visit it if you are looking to expand

your knowledge of nuclear reactors and the multitude of purposes that they serve.

In all seriousness, we were enlightened with real-world examples of nuclear technology. ANSTO

produces all of the radioactive material necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer at

hospitals. In the discovery centre, we engaged in a workshop rotating between many activities

about radioactivity that left us ‘radiating’ with knowledge, not like the green aura in The Simpsons.

- Prasanna Rajouria

PAGE 14

YEAR 7 JEANS FOR GENES DAY

The Year 7 Leadership Team is a diverse group of

students who care about raising awareness for important

issues in society today. This group graciously

volunteered their own time and energy to run Jeans for

Genes day at Sefton High School in order to raise

money for our chosen charity, the Children’s Medical

Research Institute (CMRI). The CMRI works hard to

find the causes and new treatments for childhood genetic

diseases, which affect 1 in 20 Aussie kids.

Our Leadership Team spoke

with students from the other

grades about CMRI’s important work, created beautiful posters, sold

merchandise, and ran a highly successful Krispy Kreme doughnut stall.

Through these activities, students in the Leadership Team developed

valuable leadership, organisational, creative and critical thinking

skills… and they raised $1320 for CMRI!

Thank you to everyone at Sefton High School who supported Jeans for

Genes Day by wearing jeans, purchasing merchandise and eating

delicious Krispy Kremes. I would also like to give a special thank you

to the following students who ran Jeans for Genes Day: Noelle Bahwach,

Stephenie Beales, Alexandra Dinh, Cindy Do, Zahra Hatif, Sheree Huynh,

Salma Mardawie, Vivian Nguy, William Russell, Katelyn Siu, Esra Taiba,

Sreypich Wang and Vicki Vu. Here is an excerpt from the personalised

thank you letter that was sent to our school.

Dear Year 7 Leadership Team,

I want to personally thank you all for your support and wonderful

contribution of $1320 – that’s amazing! On behalf of all of us at the

Children’s Medical Research Institute, thank you so very much.

Regards

Kylie

In 2019, we hope more people join our Leadership Team in order to make our charity events even

bigger and better. To our 2019 Year 8 cohort, please consider joining the Leadership Team so that

you truly support the ethos of our school: sincerity and service.

Ms Castino

FUNDRAISING FOR BREAST

CANCER Congratulations to Year 10 and all students and staff

for your extraordinary effort in fundraising for the

National Breast Cancer Foundation. You have raised

$2542.25. Well done!

PAGE 15

CAREERS ADVISORY SERVICE AND WEBSITE The NSW Department of Education has career information to help students, parents and carers to

explore post schools options. It will run on Friday 14 December, Monday 17 and Tuesday 18

December 2018 from 9am to 5pm.

The Careers Advisory Service is a professional, friendly and impartial telephone, email and chat

service with experienced NSW public school career advisers. The service meets the educational and

career counselling needs of school leavers across NSW, following the release of the HSC results

and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). It provides high quality, expert, up to date and

impartial career information including relevant study options.

The service complements the range of career support provided by schools during the year and so is

not meant to be a holistic career information or career planning service. The Australian

Government’s www.myfuture.edu.au is a quality, current and unbiased career information and

exploration service to support these broader aspects

The Careers Advisory Service is supported by information and resources on the website

www.careersadvisoryservice.com

Tax File Numbers A tax file number (TFN) is a unique nine-digit number. It

identifies each taxpayer and one issued, it’s yours for life so

you need to keep it in a safe place.

When you start a job, your employer will ask you to

complete a form called a tax file number declaration. This

provides them with your TFN and other information so they

can calculate the correct amount of tax to withhold from

your pay.

Everyone needs a TFN to:

Apply for a job

Open a bank account

Access Centrelink allowances

Lodge a tax return

Defer your higher education fees

Set money aside for superannuation

The easiest way to get a TFN is to apply online then drop in

to an Australia Post office to prove your identity.

www.ato.gov.au/gettfn

PAGE 16

A BIT OF MAGIC AT PREMIERS READING CHALLENGE Sefton High School Students are keen readers as sown by the library borrowing statistics below

Loan Statistics by Year (30 Jan 2018 – 23 Nov 2018)

Year No of Loans No of Renewals Total

7 2979 81 3060

8 1415 19 1434

9 1490 27 1517

10 1217 35 1252

11 890 53 943

12 294 10 304

Total 8285 225 8510

This also shows that the culture of reading supported by all teachers in all faculties and the various

programmes such as Premiers reading Challenge, guest authors and visits to places such as the

Children’s Book Shop and State Library maintain the effects of valuing reading beyond the Year 7-

9 programmes.

The 345 students’ completed the Premiers Reading Challenge in Years 7-9 this year. The students

read 20 books each, in order to receive a certificate from the Premier of NSW commending their

achievements.

The Year 9 well above average NAPLAN results also reflected the students’ passion to reading and

the effectiveness of programs in the school supporting reading.

Ms Repin and Mr Boyko

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BANKSTOWN ZONE SPORT AWARD RECIPIENTS On Friday 30 November, the following students were recognised for their sporting prowess at the

Bankstown Zone Sports Awards.

Abdulrahman Aljabery - Athletics Age Champion 17 yrs

Xavier Hun Rosendale – Swimming Age Champion 12 yrs

Jaffar Kabaili – Athletics Age Champion 14 yrs

Navid Alizada – Cross Country Age Champion 12 yrs

Julianne Cinco – Athletics Age Champion 13 yrs

Students not present on the day were

Justin Lang Swimming Age Champion 17 yr

Chloe Marie Tang Cross Country Age Champion 17 yr

Jennifer Vi Mati Athletics Age Champions 15 yr

PAGE 18

YEAR 10 FUNDRAISING EVENT – PRETTY IN PINK

Throughout the year, 90 Year 10 students got together with Mr. Lu to prepare for a remarkable

event on Friday 24 August 2018. Fundraising for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the Year

10 grade came together to prepare a grand event named “Pretty in Pink”. This “Pretty in Pink”

Fundraiser featured pink socks, pink bows and pink everything as students and teachers dressed in

pink to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

It was a challenging day. The grey sheets in the sky

decided to huddle together to create sprinkles of rain,

and with quick challenges of plan, the recess event

occurred in the hall. By lunch however, the bright sun

took over the grey sheets in the sky, and all events

happened, as usual, in the Quadrangle. Needless to say,

the event was a great success with a variety of stalls

selling baked goods, sausage sizzle, ramen, hot and cold

drinks, popcorn, pizza and a Photo Booth was also set.

There was music pumped into the playground to keep the

atmosphere upbeat! With the generous donations from

students and teachers and dedication by everyone

involved, the fundraising event was very successful

raising a grand total of $2542.25, going towards the

National Breast Cancer Foundation’s research and will contribute to achieving the organisation’s

aspirational goal of zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030.

Fundraising for this event was a great delight to the Year 10 Fundraising Committee, who have not

only had fun and built friendships through this, but also supported an illness that is acquired or

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indirectly affected by a lot of the population. Yet the students have been restless, working day and

night to make this event possible, and we are delighted to raise over $2000 with the support of

everyone at Sefton High School! This amount surpasses our grade’s previous record by more than

double the amount!

This was a fantastic opportunity for students to gain experience and learn various skills of team work,

organisation and leadership. For that, the Fundraising Committee would like to give a special thanks

to Mr. Lu for the dedication and guidance given, and to the teachers who assisted in making the day

possible. A big round of applause and thank you also goes to everyone who supported the fundraiser

through donating, promoting and supporting our fundraiser! For now, we would like to invite you all

to wait in anticipation for our next major event!

- Vanessa Yip and Sheela Bhattarai (Year 10 Fundraising Committee Executive Members)