WIXLIB

Northlakes High School Newsletter“Opportunities for future success”Find us at: Brava Avenue, SAN REMO NSW 2262 T (02) 4390 0555Email northlake-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au www.northlake-h.schools.nsw.edu.auSecurity No: 1300 880 021 Facebook: Northlakes High SchoolIssue. 15October 2017PRINCIPAL’S REPORTdecision to ensure learning in not interruptedfor unnecessary reasons.Over the first three weeks of this term, on eachoccasion I have had the opportunity to speak tostudents on assembly I have reminded themabout the importance of achieving their‘personal best.’ The next few weeks of learningare critically important to shaping students’ endof year results which are reflected in theiryearly reports and impact on their classplacement for 2018. Students should beactively engaged in classroom activities and becompleting homework/assessment tasks thathave been set. In many subjects end of yearexaminations will occur in a few weeks and it isimportant that students are actively reviewingand reflecting on their previous classwork toprepare for these examinations at home on aregular basis. Ideally students should beactively engaged in home based learningactivities for approximately 2-3 hours per weekto ensure they are achieving their ‘personalbest’.The use of OPAL cards on school buses bystudents is very important. OPAL card use datais gathered by tapping on and off to determinedemand for bus services. If students don’t tapon and off, then services to and from the schoolmay be cancelled due to the lack of recordedpatronage. Please ensure that your child hasan OPAL card and carries it with them at alltimes when travelling to and from school. If youneed to apply for an OPAL card or replace alost card please access http://www.opal.com.auto apply online.Teachers have identified recently an increasingconcern with students using mobile phoneswhilst accessing toilet breaks from class. Itappears many students are requesting to go tothe toilet during class time purely to accesstheir phones and check messages and socialmedia updates. Some students are alsoorganising to meet each other in the toiletsusing their phones to message each other toget out of class at the same time. Given theseincreasing issues, we have decided toimplement a new policy that students will notbe allowed to take their mobile phones withthem when requesting to access the toiletsduring class time. Students will be asked toleave their phones in their school bags or in thecare of the classroom teacher until they returnto class. We ask parents to support us in thisFinally I would like to recognise Mr GavinWestwood who finished at the school at theend of last week. Mr Westwood was a valuedmember of our TAS faculty and had supportedmany students in their studies in Industrial Arts,especially with Timber projects. Mr Westwoodhas taken up a position at Berkeley ValeCampus of Tuggerah Lakes Secondary Collegeand I wish him well and thank him for his effortswhilst part of the Northlakes High School staff.Yours in Education,Mr Warren WelhamRelieving PrincipalSchool Finance NewsNorthlakes High School has recently movedacross to a new finance system. This will meanyour school statements will look a little differentthan in previous years and one of the manyuseful features of this new system is that wecan now place credits on your account to useat a later time.Statements were mailed out this term and youmay notice an amount at the bottom called“Unallocated Credit”. This is most likely to be

payments that have been made for subjectsrunning in 2018 that required a deposit.Year 7We are on our way to successfully completingour first year of High School!The focus for Year 7 in Term 4 is LearningLogs. Students are practising how to effectivelyreflect on a lesson and strategies to askquestions to their teachers, which build on theirlearning. I am encouraging students to haveconfidence to ask questions in class, knowingthat others will have the same or similarquestions.Diaries are another focus and they build on theLearning Logs we are using in our Welfarelessons.Students are expected to bring their diary everyday and complete a lesson reflection as well ashomework.By showing your teachers you are focussedand on task and bringing your equipment, Ihope we are receiving Gotcha’s, Postcard andClassroom Commendations. Remember 5classroom commendations come to me for aYear Advisor award. 5 Year Advisor awardsand we qualify for a Principal’s Award.Keep working hard and completing homeworkas we come up to our end of year Exams andAssessments and a positive result in ourSemester 2 Reports.Any questions or queries please do not hesitateto contact me on 4390 0555 or emailjames.mackinnon@det.nsw.edu.au.I would like to take this opportunity tocongratulate Grace Fittler who participated inthe Futsal Nationals during the Septemberholidays. The Futsal tournament was held inOxley, Queensland and went for four days.Grace was in the U14s Girls Central CoastNSW team. The team went through thecompetition undefeated, winning the grand finalafter competing against teams from acrossNew South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania andSouth Australia. A huge congratulations toGrace for this outstanding achievement.A reminder to students that they are expectedto come prepared to learn in every lessonwhich means bringing all the necessaryequipment for their lessons, including pens,one book per subject and their Term 4 StudentDiaries. Diaries were issued to all students inWeek 1, if your child has not received a diarythey can get one from me in the Teaching andLearning Faculty. The diary is a valuableresource for students to record homework,assessment tasks, lesson reflections andschool events.Lastly, I would like to see Term 4 be verypositive for Year 8 students, earning eceived5ClassroomCommendations they can bring them to me toreceive a Year Advisor Award. During Term 3 Iwas very pleased to be able to present YearAdvisor awards to Gorgie Tarleton, IsabellePage, Millie Talbot, Tiahla Simpson and JacobBanks. Congratulations to those students. Ilook forward to being able to present moreawards this term.Mr James MacKinnonYear 7 AdvisorIf you require any additional information, orhave any concerns about your child please donot hesitate to contact me on 4390 0555.Year 8Mrs Genevieve HenryYear 8 AdvisorWelcome back to Term 4. We are three weeksin to the final term of Year 8 and like everyterm, Term 4 will be very busy for Year 8students.The Stage 4 spelling program is continuing thisterm. Pre-testing of the week’s list continues totake place on Monday when students will alsoreceive the weekly spelling homework sheet.Post-testing takes place on Friday which iswhen students are expected to hand theirhomework sheet in.Year 9Welcome back to a very busy end of term! I amdelighted to be looking after Year 9 as theRelieving Year Advisor while Ms Davis is takingon the role of Head Teacher Welfare. I am verykeen to work closely with all Year 9 studentsand I will endeavour to provide as muchsupport as possible as we finish a very busyyear.

Firstly, I would like to remind all students toensure that they are bringing all equipment toschool each day to be prepared and activelearners. They must have a book for eachclass, a pen and other equipment (maybe evena ruler for Cornell Notes!) in order to be able toeffectively participate in the learning activities inthe classroom. I also remind all students tobring their diaries each day and to fill them outat the conclusion of each lesson. The diariesare a useful tool to strengthen studentsorganisational and study skills. Teachers will bechecking so make sure that you bring themeach day!Mr Jarad FreebodyYear 9 Advisor (Relieving)Secondly, I would like to remind Year 9students of the core PBL values of respect,responsibility and personal best. We mustmake sure that we are treating our peers,teachers and members of the community withrespect at all times. It is very important that wetreat others the way that we would like to betreated, as well as respecting the opinions andactions of the people that we interact with on adaily basis. As students continue through thisterm, I remind them to work to their personalbest as they complete end of yearassessments and exams. Work hard and youwill be rewarded with glowing results that youshould be happy with.Although we are reaching the end of the yearstudents are still expected to come preparedfor every lesson with a pen, book for eachsubject and their Term 4 Student Diary. Diarieswere issued to all students in Week 1 and theyare a great way for our Year 10 students topractice their organisational skill beforeentering the senior school. If any student didnot receive a diary they can see me in theScience staffroom.Our trip to Dubbo Zoo and Jenolan Caves isfast approaching. There are still a fewoutstanding payments to be made for studentsbefore they can attend. We cannot allowstudents to attend if they have not fully paid forcamp. The school has made final payments toall of the providers (zoo/caves/bus/scenicworld) and we will not receive any refunds forstudents who do not attend. Please let us knowif you need extra time to pay and we canorganise a payment plan. Mrs Davis is workingon an itinerary which will be given to studentsin the next week so everyone will have a clearidea of where we are going and what we aredoing for the three days away from school.As stated previously, I will be looking after Year9 Year Advisor duties until the end of the year,so if you have any questions please feel free tocontact me on 43900555. Alternatively, you du.au. I welcomeany feedback regarding your child.Year 10Welcome back to Term 4. I hope everyone hada safe and restful break. This term is going tobe another busy one with all subjects finalisingassessmentmarksandconductingexaminations in the first half of this term inpreparation for writing Yearly Reports. Areminder to our students to start organisingtime to revise, complete tasks and resolve anyoutstanding N-Awards.In preparation for Year 11 Mr Fleming isfinalising the subject selections. If you have anyqueries regarding your child’s choices pleasecontact Mr Fleming or myself. In addition tothis, if your child is not planning to return to theschool next year please contact Ms Hewitt todiscuss possible career, apprenticeship andTAFE options.If you have any questions, please feel free tocontact me on 43900555. Also, if your child isinvolved in any competitions or sporting teamsoutside school we would love to hear about it.You might like to send me an email atkate.pidgeon@det.nsw.edu.au.Ms Kate PidgeonYear 10 AdvisorYear 11/12Well congratulations to all our Year 12 students– you made it. It is going to be a very excitingyear, especially if we all work together. Iencourage all students to connect with theirmentors and don’t hang onto to anything thatmay be bothering you. We can only help you ifwe know you are having problems.Year 12 look fantastic in their uniforms and thisis important as it sets the scene for the junior