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House Captains 2015

Feb 13 2015

Jan / Feb 2014

YASS HIGH SCHOOL W e v a l u e r e s p e c t , r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , s a f e t y a n d l e a r n i n g .

Principal: Sandra Hiscock Deputy Principal: Louise Pinson

Yass High School Korean Exchange Program comes to an end. Our Korean homestay exchange will end this week with a farewell BBQ put on by the Student Representative Council. During the last ten days students have enjoyed a wonderful range of outings that have included a day to the coast, Burrinjuck Dam, Canberra attractions and monuments and other local sites around Yass. They have also spent time experiencing lessons in the wide range of courses that Yass High School has to offer. The first outing was to Riverside Park where Aboriginal support worker, Mr Ron Simpson, introduced them to Aboriginal culture and heritage. The group was then treated to a barbecue, which included Kangaroo followed by a formal welcome from Mayor Rowena Abby at the Yass Council Chambers. Three Korean teachers and an interpreter have accompanied the students and attended classes with their Australian colleagues. A return visit by Yass High School students and staff to a Korean senior school is being organised for the September school holidays. A sister school exchange program will then become an annual feature. A very big thank you goes to our students and their families who hosted the 18 middle school students and to Mr Barrett and all the staff and students of Yass High school who made this a wonderful learning experience. This has been a memorable opportunity for all and a great start to the year.

Farewell 작별작별

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Farewell 작별작별

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Welcome to Ms Amy Halliday, Head

Teacher Special Education

Ms Halliday has moved from Condobolin to be our new Head Teacher Special Education. Hailey Lennon, Naomi Kelly and Megan Polsen from Year 8 interviewed Ms Halliday, and this is what they discovered: Ms Halliday became a teacher because she loves working with children and young adults and believes that quality education is the best way to live a happy and fulfilled life. Her favourite subject at school was English because she excelled at it. Ms Halliday doesn’t follow sports, but her top 3 bands are Boy and Bear, The Lumineers and Hozier. If she won one million dollars, Ms Halliday would pay off her mortgage and donate the rest to the school she is working at. Her favourite season is Winter because of the fashions, the soup and because she loves to ski. She also loves running and going to the gym. Her favourite thing about Yass High is that everyone is friendly and supportive and it is in such a beautiful environment. Her dream is to be genuinely happy, to feel content and make others feel good. Welcome to Yass High, Ms Halliday.

YASS HIGH SCHOOL -YEAR 8 SCIENCE SUCCESS

Results recently received for the 2014 Essential Secondary Science Assessment (ESSA) reveal that last year’s Yass High Year 8 has bettered the state average and excelled in the Working and Communicating Scientifically category of the assessment. Our students were average or better in all 53 of the test sub-categories and did best in identifying the purpose of a diagram, a conical flask and elements in a compound, selecting equipment to measure volume, applying ideas from complex texts and linking science knowledge to careers. Congratulations to the budding scientists and their teachers who supported them. ESSA is a statewide Science assessment program based on the NSW Science Years 7-10 Syllabus, which mandates the teaching of science in contexts that assist students to see the relevance of science and to make meaning of scientific knowledge, understanding, skills, values and attitudes.

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Down on the Farm – Back to school Edition

There has not been a summer quite like the last one and returning to school this year has been a green experience. All our paddocks have fresh feed growth and this has helped a great deal with the weaning and preparation of the sheep for mating when we artificially inseminate on the 1st of April. First term is always busy with the Autumn show season already underway, with the team going to Crookwell for three days to show our steer and heifer as well as Mr McDonald’s Stud cattle. It was a good hit-out for the team in their new blue shirts and all members had ample time in the show ring in their parade classes as well as showing the animals in their classes.

Paris, Claire, Rebekah and Emily “Tango” and “Bandit” at Crookwell Show

Emily Polsen and Jennifer Bumbar both made the finals of the Junior Judging and both spoke well. Emily could easily have made the State Finals at Sydney in Easter but for the fact she had already competed in a qualification final at Cootamundra last year and was not eligible to progress from these finals. Back at school the show team is about to head off to Canberra for the Royal Show and a team of three steers plus the McDonald cattle and a number of other studs including the “Honeypot Miniature Galloways”, Gareth Ellam’s Galloways and the William’s ‘Newton-Wood” Limousins will be shown by our students.

The show team being coached by Mr McDonald in junior cattle judging on regular Wednesday afternoon

sessions.

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This year we are going to buy back one of our animals as a carcass which will be cut up and packed by ex-student Darryl Weeks in one of his ACT butcheries and we will be selling meat packs to staff and interested community members. Contact the school for details if you are interested, quantities are limited. Year 7/8 Agriculture has already established their garden plots and are now getting into their chicken projects with the newly arrived day-old chickens and already we are seeing rapid weight gains. All the students are enjoying the experience of looking after the chickens and learning valuable information as they go.

Alarna planting seedlings Potatoes growing near the new garden beds

We also have a dozen meat-bird chickens that are being prepared for the Royal Easter Show where they will be in competition with schools throughout the state. These chickens are specifically bred for rapid growth and although only a few weeks old, already weigh nearly 500 grams! A similarly aged layer bird would weigh 90-100 grams at this stage.

Jordan with his chicken being weighed

The Year 9 and 10 classes have been busy getting ready for the mating of our ewe flock and will soon be synchronising their reproductive cycles so that they will be mated artificially on 1st April.

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From the Deputy

Students have been looking great in their white T shirts this year. I’ve had some very positive feedback from our local community. A reminder that shorts, skirts and trousers should be navy. Now is the time to check that you have a navy jumper too. Hoodies are available from the school. Remember to be wearing a hat when using the oval or park at lunch time. Be sun safe as sun damage continues long after you are back in class.

SRC

The SRC’s first event of the year was a success! O-day allowed the quad to be filled with 15 clubs/groups, talking to and signing up, new members. All students and staff enjoyed the event and were able to immerse themselves in the diverse range of experiences available at Yass High School. The next event that will be held by the SRC is Anti-Bullying Day. As part of this day, which will be held on Friday the 20th of March, students and staff will be able to dress in Red or Orange to help raise money for the school to purchase anti-bullying resources.

Red and Orange are the colours associated with the Anti-Bullying campaign “BULLYING. NO WAY!”. There will also be a BBQ lunch on the day which will also help to raise money for the school to take action against bullying. In addition to this each student will receive a wrist band to help show their support for the campaign.

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Captains’ Corner

The ‘Teacher Of The Week’ Is…

Mr Barrett!!! The Bazzinator! Mr Barrett has been working hard to make our new exchange students and teachers from Korea feel most welcome at Yass High School. He’s been working behind the scenes for months to make everything run smoothly and ensure that everyone is happy. Also, Mr Barrett has the job of looking after us Year 12’s as our Year Advisor. We think after all these years of keeping us in line and keeping us fit with lots of push ups, he deserves a thank you in return. Thank you Mr Barrett!!!

And finally… the JOKE OF THE WEEK

I told my friend that she drew her eyebrows on too high.

She looked surprised.

Netball at Yass High School

Netball at Yass High School is very competitive and last year we had record numbers trying out for the open girls side. This year to allow some of the junior students a chance to play school netball a Girls Yr 7-8 team will be competing at Goulburn in the NSW State Cup in April. Winners of this competition will advance to the next round in Queanbeyan. The girls open team will travel to Bowral again for the Zone competition in Term Two. Try outs for the 7-8 team will have commenced at time of printing and the Under 15 and Open girls trials will commence early in Term Two. Any interested girls can speak to Ms Corkhill or Ms Baines.

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Communicating With Families

Many parents and carers have indicated that they would like to receive communication from the school via email. Yass High School would like to enhance electronic communication with families over the coming year. Send an email to yass-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au with your details or cut out and return the slip below. Please include the following details in your email: Student Name: _________________________________________ Year: _______________ Student Name: _________________________________________ Year: _______________ Student Name: _________________________________________ Year: _______________ Parent/carer Name: _________________________________________________________ Parent/carer email address: ___________________________________________________

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Tech Talk

The success of the technology industry has led to a wave of enrolments into computer based subjects at Yass High. Four classes in years 11 and 12, and three more in the junior years means students are investigating a variety of technology tools preparing them for the future. The Software design classes are currently focused on a range of coding projects with year twelve studying Visual Basic.Net and year eleven exploring the Python programming language. For the juniors, years nine and ten are currently probing the potentials of multimedia and the power of authoring programs like Adobe Captivate, while also looking at designing and building their own websites. Keep an eye out in the next issue for links to students’ websites!

Sample project completed by Year 12 students using Visual

Basic.Net

After spending most of primary schooling refining skills in applications like Microsoft Word and Excel, year seven students have begun 2015 at Yass High with an introductory course to computer coding. Throughout the Digital technology

course, students will learn to create and edit their own video game characters, followed by scripting and coding each character in an effort to design and build their own video game. The code and game is built using the free MIT developed application Scratch.

Year 7 students designing characters in Scratch, before coding the instructions to interact with them.

Tasks and scopes for all computing subjects taught at Yass High are available from the faculty website http://purplezeus.com

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South Coast Dance Festival

The 2015 Illawarra and South East Region Public Schools Dance Festival nominations are NOW open. Follow the link below to apply:

https://southcoastdancefestival.wordpress.com

The Festival aims to showcase dance items from our Illawarra and South East Region schools along with schools from other interested regional schools.

It encourages and supports the development of dance programs at a school level by providing an opportunity to work towards a quality performance in a professional venue. It is an original, entertaining and professional event, which provides a positive and memorable experience for both teachers and students.

Performances are held at the IMB Theatre of the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (IPAC), Burelli St, Wollongong from Tuesday 9th June and concludes on Saturday 13th June 2015.

The Polite and Courteous Meeting P&C President’s Message

The Yass High School P&C (Polite and Courteous) are holding their AGM ( A Great Meeting) next Monday March the 2nd at 7.30pm in the Staff Common Room.

Even if you are not polite and courteous, you are encouraged to attend this great meeting.

In all seriousness, the P&C does need to have some other parents getting involved. With a number of parents moving on as their children have completed school, and others needing to step down after filling their position for 3 years, now is the time to step up.

An active P&C = a strong school = achieving students. Come and be a part of the answer to the equation.

On the school website is some information about the different roles on the P&C. But feel free to contact me, Andrew Southwell (current P&C President) on 62272260 or 0428272262 if you would like to discuss things more.

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Swimming Carnival 2015

The Yass High School swimming carnival was a fantastic day, with both staff and students enjoying being at the pool for the day. On Friday 20th February, selected students travelled to Queanbeyan Pool to contest the zone swimming championships. Official results from this carnival are not yet available. Thanks to the organising teachers for two great days. House points total 1st - Oxley: 1541 2nd - Hovell: 1486 3rd - Hume: 1333 4th - Sturt: 1067 Year Champion Boy Runner-up boy Champion Girl Runner-up Girl

12 Jack Hierzer Aiden Nasralla Zoe Hudson Nikki Wilke

13 Thomas Girdler

Kai Douven Alarna Pack-McLucas

Isabelle Beaudet-Gaul

14 Jordan Hudson

Richard Maher

Jasmine Davis Shayla Anderson

15 Ryan Vaughn Angus Wells Maddy Mercieca Sammie Tritschler

16 Daniel Kemp Dylan Percival Breanna Lennon Charissa Creswell

17+ Kris Hansson Brody Anderson-Smart

Caitlyn Douven Brooke Garland

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Integrated Learning at Yass High

Designed to provide a rich learning experience for year nine by combining the theory and content taught in all other subjects – English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Creative Arts and Technology – the integrated learning subject has already been making some big strides. Students have been studying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures theme throughout all classes. Miss McQueen has been heavily promoting the historical and social welfare points; Ms Shannon has discussed the Ngunnawal language, while Ms Wykes has been teaching some Aboriginal artwork concepts and techniques. An agriculture and scientific focus was done in Mr O’Reilly’s classes, and with the help of Aboriginal elder Eric Bell, Mr Biddle took all the classes on a river walk around Yass Valley. Eric Bell speaking with a Yr 9 integrated classes about the tribal history of the land in Yass Valley.

Experiencing and learning outside the classroom As part of the integrated experience, year nine was taken to the National Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Australia to see the Aboriginal exhibits, artworks and artefacts. The museum was a hit as students got to see and touch real artefacts as well as use iPads to explore and annotate their findings throughout the tour.

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Students experiencing the exhibits and artworks at the National Gallery of Australia and the National

museum of Australia

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Auditions for the Southern Stars Performing Company are now open

Southern Stars is similar to Schools Spectacular in that any student from a NSW public school is eligible to audition and perform. Southern Stars is presented in Woollongong, and rehearsals are also held there. Last year, Veanka Howard (now yr 11) performed as part of the Vocal Company, and found it to be a rewarding experience where she developed her skills in ensemble performance. Any students from year 2 to year 12 are eligible to audition for a place in the Southern Stars Performing Company. The company consists of a Dance Company, Drama Company, Vocal Company and Orchestra. The successful students become featured artists in Southern Stars 2015 as well as performing in South Coast Dance Festival, South Coast Drama Festival, Schools Spectacular and other community events throughout the year. The majority of rehearsals are held in the July school holidays, though some school is missed through rehearsal and in the performance week. See Mrs Riach for information on how to apply.

Schools Spectacular

Applications are now open for the 2015 Schools Spectacular.

Applications are on-line and most of the categories close on Thursday

19 March.

Opportunities are available for singers and dancers, both solo and

ensembles.

For more information, or to apply, see Mrs Riach for the application process.

Schools Spectacular 2015 will be held on 27 and 28 November at the Qantas Credit Union Arena.

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Postcards from you

Has a staff member at YHS made a difference for you this week? If so, you can drop off this postcard to the front office, or email the school to let them know.

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Coming Events

Date Event

Fri 27 Feb Year 7, 11 and 12 Vaccinations

Mon 2 Mar P & C AGM 7.30pm

Tue 3 Mar Senior Cricket

Thu 5 Mar Area swimming Carnival - Dapto

Thu 5 Mar Junior Cricket

Fri 6 Mar Zone Golf Yass

Tue 10 Mar Boys and girls Regional Soccer

Wed 11 Mar Zone Rugby League 15s and Open

Fri 13 Mar Goulburn Rugby 7’s

Mon 16 Mar Zone Touch

17-19 Mar Year 11 Geography to Snowy Mountains

Thu 19 Mar Welcome to Parents 5 – 7pm School Hall

Click on the school website for the online calendar

Remember Assessment tasks dates due are available on school website assessment

calendars