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Creating opportunities,

achieving success

N E W S L E T T E R

Warrawong High School

April 2012

New Upgraded Library The new refurbished library is finished.

We now have a 21st century facility which

represents a massive improvement for student

information access. This will enable students to

work in a more open plan environment where

interaction with technology and the sharing of ideas

is a core part of the curriculum. The facility has

been completely rebuilt to include a new

technology room, senior study and small group

study rooms. The library now has significant

upgraded technology including 20 computers and

two electronic whiteboards (to be installed).

School Development Day to Start Term 2 Term 2 will start for students on Tuesday April 24th.

Teachers will start the day before with a School

Development Day on April 23rd. Staff use these

days to develop teaching skills and work on new

programs. School development days are pupil free

and parents are asked to make alternative

arrangements for the supervision of their son/

daughter. Parent support in this matter is greatly

appreciated.

From the Principal With Term One all but over it is pleasing to report

that the vast majority of students are focused and

trying their best. A big factor is that, we are

expecting more of students with regard to

attendance, punctuality, uniform, playground

behaviour and students speaking appropriately.

Together these steps are having a very positive

impact on school tone, student attitudes and

student performance at school. Thank you to all

parents for your support when we have contacted

you. Teamwork between parents and the school is

essential if students are to get the most out of

school and perform to their potential.

Over the course of this term there have been many,

many opportunities for our students to shine.

Congratulations to the many students who have

received positive comments from teachers and the

community - you continue to bring credit to

yourselves and the school. I would like to also

acknowledge the massive efforts of so many staff

who have put in the extra effort so these activities

run smoothly and are great for our students.

Mr S Goodley

Principal

Rewarding Excellence excursion

On Friday 23rd March students from Year 7 were

selected to go to Shellharbour Bowls for a session

of tenpin bowling and a pizza lunch on return to the

school.

Students, who had the opportunity to attend this

excursion, were selected in recognition of their

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diligence at school. There were lots of laughs had

by all; Alice Jackson managed the top score of the

day. I am looking forward to the next event, and

relish the opportunity to take more students next

time.

Anna Kinnear

Year 7 Advisor

Having fun in Mathematics Year 7 have been busy building robots and

designing comical characters using many different

shapes. As part of the integration program from

year 6 to year 7, the students have been learning

about geometrical shapes. After studying the topic

for 3 weeks, students revised the basic shapes and

extended their knowledge of quadrilaterals,

polygons and 3D shapes. Students learnt about

nets of solids and how 2D shapes were used to

create the nets for the 3D shapes. As an

application of geometry, the students were asked to

prepare a project to portray their knowledge. They

were able to create posters and Robots to

demonstrate their awareness of shapes around us.

Chris, Georgia and Roukaya of 7.2 Math Proudly displaying their

Robot’s “Short Curcuit”, “Romeo Roboto” and “Mathematica”

8S History Bilal Mosque Excursion On Monday 19th of March, year 8S class went to

the Bilal Mosque in Cringila, because we are

studying about Islam for History. It was a 20

minute walk and when we arrived we were greeted

outside by the Imam and his translator. We had to

take our shoes off before we went in because it is a

sign of respect. As we went in we gasped at the

beauty of the Mosque. The Imam explained that

the Mosque is kept simple so that people could

focus on prayer. He also explained to us basic

information about the Islamic religion. After this we

watched the midday prayers, it took about 20

minutes and was interesting to watch. At the end

we were given a drink and cake for free and we

went home. We had fun! By Cameron Shimwell

and Zac Bardevski

Walking down to the Mosque

Inside the Mosque

Year 11 Report As term 1 comes to a close, Year 11 are really

starting to kick into gear. There have been a

number of student invited to the Incentive

excursion, which has been great to see. A small

group has started work on the design of the Year

12 jacket, and hope to do some fundraising so as

to bring the final soat down. The designs at the

moment look pretty exciting so start saving. A

sample will be displayed in the office sometime

next term.

We have also started preparation for a TAFE camp

starting on the 30th of May. Eighteen intrepid

adventurers will be out camping for 10 days,

gaining a partial completion of the Outdoor Rec

course through TAFE.

In Term 2, Miss Sterjovska will be taking over as

Year Patron, as I am leaving to take up a position

at Lake Illawarra High School. Working with all of

Year 11 over the last four years has been very

rewarding, provided some highs and lows, joys and

triumphs and I wish all Year 11 all the very best as

they are embarking on the final chapter of their

school life.

Mr Moore

Year 11 Advisor

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IEC News We have been very lucky to have Paul Brockley

from Cricket NSW working with the IEC over the

past month introducing cricket skills. Many of the

IEC students had never heard of cricket let alone

played a game of cricket. Paul Brockley has used

many interesting games to make learning cricket a

fun experience. The students are really enjoying

learning the cricket skills and are now using the

skills learnt to play regular games of cricket at

school. The Cricket NSW program is an important

part of teaching the students about Australian

culture and sport.

“We play every Monday Period 6. I am learning how

to bowl properly which is very different from normal

throwing. I have also learnt how to hit the ball to get

a six. I am really liking cricket. I watch it on TV

sometimes” Mustafa IEC.

Maintaining High Expectations School tone is extremely important - here are a few

of the messages we constantly give students where

we seek parental support:

1. We are a uniform school - full uniform including

appropriate shoes must be worn every day.

2. Attendance is compulsory and all students must

attend every day; missed school days means gaps

in a student’s learning and a much lower chance of

academic success.

3. School starts at 8.30am sharp and punctuality is

essential; detentions are given for those students

who arrive late.

4. Students should not bring a mobile phone to

school (though they are not banned); if a mobile

phone causes a disruption it can be confiscated

until the issue is resolved in consultation with

parents.

HSC Tutoring Staff offer free after school tutoring for our Yr12

students. All Yr12 are strongly encouraged to take

up this opportunity. Consistently, those students

who access this program do the best in the HSC.

Handy Hints to Start the Day Are your mornings hectic and chaotic? Some hints

that parents have found useful are:

Make lunches the night before and store in

fridge for the morning rush hour.

Have a set time for homework in the afternoon

or night so that the : “I haven’t done my

homework” excuse cannot be used in the

morning.

Check the night before on things needed for

school tomorrow and organise these. For

example, money for lunch; special clothing

(sport uniform, painting shirt); library bag; notes

to explain absence from school, excursion

permission slips, etc.

Have school uniform ready for your child to put

on in the morning.

Also our Home School Liaison Officer is available

to assist with school attendance problems. Contact

the school for support. Do not let your child

develop a pattern of non-attendance as this will

become more difficult to break the longer it

continues.

Looking Our Best It has been excellent to see the vast majority of

students in full school uniform throughout summer.

As winter is approaching, it is timely to remind all

parents to check winter uniform. In particular, we

need all students to have warm, school coloured

tops. These must be worn as the outer layer of

uniform. Also, Lowes now have our new school

jacket in stock. Could all parent consider

purchasing one as part of the winter uniform. Any

parent who has concerns or questions about the

winter uniform should contact Ms Ramsay at

school.

PAGE 4

Organising Your Work Students are given homework and assignments in

every subject and to do well at school, they must

complete all of this work and also make time to

study for tests. To succeed, students must be

organised and this means using a homework diary.

Parents should ensure that their son/daughter uses

a homework diary to record all schoolwork. Further,

by checking the diary regularly, parents can see

whether their son/daughter is doing everything

possible to be successful at school.

Access to Computers at School One of the ways we support students is with regard

to computer access. We have excellent computer

resources across the school and students get many

opportunities to use these in class. Students can

access a computer in the school library which is

open across both class breaks during the day.

Also have you checked out our school website -

google Warrawong High School and have a look.

Harmony Day Harmony Day was celebrated in Warrawong High

School and IEC on Tuesday 21st March. Many

students and staff wore orange and looked

stunning. The day started with a cricket day

organised by Mr Davis and SRC and high school

students. It was lots of fun to learn and practice our

cricket skills in the COLA. Then we played a cricket

match with four wickets- very interesting and fun.

The cricket match was followed by a BBQ and a

competition for best dressed students. After lunch

students expressed their ideas about Harmony Day

in art work. The art work will be entered in a state

wide competition. Hopefully we will have a few

winners like we did last year. Thank you everyone

for making Harmony Day 2012 a fabulous day.

Sporting Excellence On Wednesday the 21st March the annual

Warrawong High School Cross country carnival

took place in and around the school grounds. It was

a fantastic day with great weather and a pleasing

number of students competing and enjoying

themselves. The 2.5 Kilometre course proved no

match for the following students who came first

place in their respective age groups:

GIRLS

12 yrs - Kiara Jorge

13 yrs - Samirar Hadyay

14 yrs - Chloe Loseby

15 yrs - Sharon Opo

16 yrs - Yimu Vakaura

17 yrs - Belinda Toloeski

18 yrs - Saaya Mitani

BOYS

12 yrs - Tyrease Von Stoll

13 yrs - Ezekia Nitanga

14 yrs - Mustafa Al-Temeemi

15 yrs - Bainous Dumbuya

16 yrs - Abraham Terefe

17 yrs - Jordan Hurst

18 yrs - Blake McAuley

In other sport news Warrawong High entered an

under 15's and opens side into the Country Cup

recently with both sides performing well on the day

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and proving quite competitive.

A big congratulations to Tyrease Von Stoll of year 7

who represented Warrawong High School at the

Regional Swimming Championships recently.

Yours in Sport J McCarthy

Sports Organiser

Footy Wins on the Day Match Reports – Shaun Timmons Shield

Game 1 – 15s Boys vs Warilla High

After a nervous & ill-disciplined start, conceding

penalty upon penalty, we found ourselves down 16-

0 going in to half time. Some stern words & steely

resolve meant we came out firing in the second

half! Ibrahim Dib led the way with some strong

charges & after some inspired runs Jake DeJesus

chipped a pin point kick to the corner for Awada

Bilal to mark the ball as he flew through the air to

touch down & score the try just inside the dead ball

line. With improved discipline we started to roll over

the Warilla defenders & with a great kick chase

from Bevan Robson, he pressured the winger &

fullback into error, pouncing on the loose ball to

score our second try! Sadly, time eventually took its

toll & we went down 16-10.

Man of the Match - Mohammed Qasim

Game 2 – 15s Boys vs Dapto High

Despite only playing with 13 players (no reserves)

our boys really made amends in this match.

Mohammed Qasim inspired our forward pack with

some bone crunching tackles to set the tone early &

let Dapto know they had a game on their hands.

Semisi Palavi was equally feared as he began

connecting with hit after hit as he battered the

Dapto ball runners to the turf. After mounting

pressure Jake DeJesus showed & goed his with

through to get us on the board. Josh DeJesus was

particularly strong at fullback, earning a call up to

the South Coast School Boys Squad, & led us well

from the back. Despite conceding a converted try

our boys bounced back after some inspired ball

playing from Kane Daley & Bevan Robson who

engaged the markers & got us going forward with

every hit up. It wasn’t long before Adem Ryan

scored a huge try (after battling injury to stay on the

field only moments earlier) to put us back in front.

From there we controlled the game & wrapped

things up with some nice hands on the edge of the

ruck to put Michael Gator over to clinch the game

14-6.

Man of the Match – Adem Ryan

Game 1 – Open Boys vs Oak Flats

What a great start we made to this game!

Mohomed Matar played with the passion of Paul

Gallen as he led the team round the middle of the

ruck with inspired defence, rampaging runs, and

even a line break! Barry Smith was strong on the

edges of the ruck, while Chris Ravarua got

through a mountain of defence throughout the

match. With Rhys Thompson steering the ship

from dummy half it was only fitting that he would

score a double and finish with man of the match

honours for the game. Robbie Niven was another

strong performer as was Julian Payne, who

swarded numerous attacking raids with his hard

hitting tackles. Unfortunately, fatigue and lack of

focus caught up with us and despite storming to an

early 8-0 lead, Oak Flats capitalised on our lapses

in discipline to draw level at 8 all by full time.

Man of the Match – Rhys Thompson

Game 2 – Open Boys vs Corpus Christi

After a pre-game rev up the boys really came out

firing! Our defence was first class, as Barry Smith

had another tradesman-like performance as he

racked up the tackles and continually tested the

defensive line. John Nau was a standout in spurts

as he cut a few players in half with his tremendous

tackling technique, and was rewarded for his

efforts with our first try. After mounting sustained

pressure, thanks to Corey Richardson (who led

the way with a 10/10 performance at half back) we

were over again when Barry Smith crashed over

out wide. Stanley Palavi came alive in this game

as he used his shoulders to great effect as he

planted player after player on their backs when

they dared hit the ball up. Fittingly, Stanley scored

our third try to wrap up the game 16-4.

Man of the Match – Corey Richardson

School Operating Hours School operates between 8.30am and 2.55pm and

students should not arrive too early each day as

there is no active staff supervision outside these

hours. Parents remain legally responsible for their

child prior to 8.30am when supervision begins. If

an emergency arises outside regular school hours,

students should come to the front office for

assistance.

School Zones Warning Wollongong City Council Ranger Services have

PAGE 6

asked us to remind parents about driver behaviour

and parking when picking up and setting down

children in school zones. Drivers are reminded that

specific road rules apply around schools. Council

will be patrolling all local schools and will be

situated very obviously to photograph offending

vehicles and post out fines rather than confront

drivers at the time in front of their children.

Students Being Driven to School To avoid dangerous traffic congestion at the start of

the day we request that students not be driven

down the school driveway. Further to reduce

congestion at our main Cowper St. entrance,

drivers should drop students off at the northern

Flagstaff Rd. entrance. Students are reminded to

use the footpath rather than the driveway as they

enter the school off Cowper St.

Contact Numbers and Student

Information Please telephone the school immediately if there is

a change in emergency contact numbers, address,

medical status or other family circumstances. This

information is essential so the school can deal most

effectively with any emergency or other problem

that may arise.

Primary School Grounds Parents are reminded that high school students

must stay off primary school grounds. Students

who are picking up younger brothers and sisters

must wait at the school gates. This is particularly

the case on Tuesday and Thursday when our

school finishes early.

School Fees We are currently processing invoices for school

fees and these will be sent to all families soon. We

ask that parents organise prompt payment or

contact the school to make alternative

arrangements. Our school is not rich and every

extra dollar helps us to make the school a better

place for all of our students.

WHS does not receive or accept any paid advertising for Community

Notices. Also, we have no way of checking the bona fides of any

information received. We encourage parents/caregivers to make all

necessary checks prior to involving their children in activities listed.

Community Notices

PAGE 7

April School Holidays

What’s on these April School Holidays?

A Day at the Circus: A fun day filled with circus

shenanigans of all sorts – aerials, tumbling,

juggling, clowning – it’s all happening at the

circus! This program is always a huge hit; make

sure you book in early!

DATE: Easter Monday, 9 April 10am – 3pm.

COST: $70

AGES: 5-12yrs

Teenagers Circus Week: A week of intensive

training for our circus teens, with a focus on fitness

(oh how hardcore you will be by the end of this

week!!!!), aerials, tumbling, and any other fun circus

stuff that people request.

DATES: Monday 16 April – Friday 20 April, 12:30 –

2:30 each day

COST: $120

AGES: 13yrs+

To Book In: Email- info@circusmonoxide.com.au or

ring 4285 0066. Also please visit our website:

www.circusmonoxide.com.au for any further

inquiries.

LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF !

As Marcel Proust, a late 19th century novelist,

wrote: “the real voyage of discovery consists not in

seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes”.

Host an international high school student in July

2012 through Southern Cross Cultural Exchange

and prepare to be amazed at the way this unique

opportunity helps your family to become closer, to

understand themselves better and to see the world

in a new light.

Carefully selected students will arrive in July for one

or two semesters from France, Italy, Germany,

Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. They will

attend a local secondary school, are fully insured

and have their own spending money.

Call S.C.C.E now on 1800 500 501, email

scceaust@scce.com.au or visit our website

(www.scce.com.au) to be part of this rewarding

experience.

W H S : C o w p e r S t r e e t , W a r r a w o n g . P O B o x 1 0 5 W a r r a w o n g N S W 2 5 0 2

Our Supporters:

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PORT KEMBLA YOUTH PROJECT SWIM PRGRAM:

Water Confidence, Learn to Swim, Stroke Correction

and Squad Classes for children, in Term 2 2012. All

instructors are AustSwim qualified; lessons held in

indoor heated pool. Cost is $8 per lesson per child.

Registration is Monday 23rd

April & Thursday 26th

April from 9:00am-4:00pm at the Port Kembla Youth

Project Office located Cnr Kembla & Allan St, Port

Kembla.

Ph. 42 76 1229 on Monday’s or Thursday’s 11:00am-

4:00pm for more information

Day date month Event

Thursday 5th April 2012 Last day of Term 1

Friday 6th April 2012 Good Friday

Monday 23rd April 2012 School development day Term 2

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Term 2 starts

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Anzac Day Public Holiday

Upcoming Events