newsletter

Diary Dates

SPACE WEEK22 July - 26 July

2019

Uniform ShopThursday 8.30 - 10.00 amFor further assistance pleasecontact the Front Office on 8275 8300.

JUNE19 Governing Council21 End Semester 1

JULY3 NAIDOC Week5 End Term 2 2:15pm dismissal22 Space Week24 Yr 12 Parent/Teacher Interviews25 Yr 10 & 11 Vaccinations

815 Marion RoadMitchell Park SA 5043T: 8275 8300E: admin@hamcoll.sa.edu.auW: www.hamcoll.sa.edu.au

Newsletter No. 4 Term 2 - June 2019

From the Principal, Peta KourbelisSemester Two Semester two will commence on Monday 24th June 2019. This will mean some changes in Middle School elective subjects. All reports will be issued at the end of the term and I encourage parents to contact staff should you need to further discuss your child’s progress.Parent-teacher interviews for Year 12 students and their parents will be conducted on Wednesday 24 July 2019. We are committed to supporting every Year 12 to successfully complete their SACE and achieve their personal best. This round of interviews will enable staff, students and parents to discuss additional interventional strategies that will assist students to successfully complete their year.Staff Professional Learning DayThe staff professional learning day was held on Friday 7 June 2019. Teachers spent the morning engaged in quality learning which focused on sound pedagogical practice. Each teacher had the opportunity to participate in workshops facilitated by colleagues, sharing strategies and resources that they can use back in their own classrooms. In the afternoon, teachers worked in teams interpreting a range of data including NAPLAN and academic results with the purpose of developing a whole school approach to supporting students in their writing. Our Student Support Staff also undertook in professional learning. The focus of their day was on building resilience in the workplace as well as reviewing and documenting HR leave processes and procedures. I would like to thank our families and Governing Council for their continued support of staff professional learning days. UniformAs winter is still with us, I ask families to work with us on the matter of school uniform. Whilst the majority of students are dressed appropriately, some students continue to wear non-uniform items of clothing. It is important that students wear the Hamilton uniform. We continue to work hard with approved suppliers to ensure that our items of the uniform are warm and comfortable for students. Staffing MattersI would like to warmly welcome Ms Kate McElligott and Ms Sarah Livingstone, who have both started with us mid-Term 2. Kate has joined our Home Economics faculty and Sarah has joined the English faculty. Mr Malcolm Lobban will be on Long Service Leave for Term 3 and will return in Term 4.Ms Tamara Seaman will be on maternity leave from the beginning of Term 3 and will return next year at the beginning of Term 2. We wish Tamara all the best and look forward to seeing her and her new baby in 2020.I also congratulate and farewell Ms Kristy Power, who has won a leadership position at Golden Grove High School. She will start her new role at the beginning of Term 3 as the Staff and Student Wellbeing Senior Leader. We thank Kristy for her fantastic work here at Hamilton as Senior Leader - Middle School and Student Services. We wish her all the best.

Peta KourbelisPrincipal

Aboriginal Education/ Middle SchoolYoung Aboriginal STEM Thinkers of SA 3rd Annual STEM Aboriginal Student Congress 2019 – “Living Two Worlds”

Two HSC students applied and were fortunate enough to attend the Congress at Adelaide Convention Centre with 500 other students and 300 teachers from 140 schools from across the State. They watched a number of dances telling their stories and heard an excellent, powerful and motivational speech by an Aboriginal student about his journey to be currently studying Engineering at Adelaide University. Important Elders were introduced and spoke to students. It was a hands-on 2 days with our students hearing about how STEM skills are used to inform the preservation and conservation of endangered plant species, walking through the Adelaide Botanical Gardens, and learning about Maths in Music and the connection between music and STEM. On day two of the congress, the first workshop was centred on “light”. We discovered different ways that we could bend light and what happens when we do. A second workshop that we participated in was on making an “app”. The students all learned the process from beginning to end on how to make a fun and engaging app on an I-Pad. At the end of each day there was reflection and speeches by students about their experiences of the day. Our students gained a valuable insight into the importance of acquiring STEM skills for the fastest growing industry and how these will help them gain employment in the future.The congress was a powerful example of Aboriginal students demonstrating their abilities to be STEM learners and lead thinkers.

Brad Cummins & Belinda HawkerTeachers

Middle School

We have been very busy in the Middle School and students have been involved in the wide variety of activities and programs available across the school. As part of Reconciliation Week celebrations, we took a mixed group of Year 8 and 9 students to Responding to Racism, an interactive theatre performance developed to identify, respond to, and prevent racism. Teachers were so impressed by the willingness of our students to get up and perform. Students were so open in sharing their stories and very confident in getting up and performing with the professional actors. We were so proud of them!The Year 9s participated in the annual NAPLAN test over four days completing all tests online and staff commented on how well they did. It was very pleasing to see them putting their best effort into each component. A special thanks to all the staff who supervised the test and to Tammy Rosling, in particular, who led the organisation of each test day. During Pathways, the Year 10s are now learning about their SACE (South Australian Certificate of Education) and some of the compulsory requirements in order to be successful. In Semester 2, they will start their first SACE subject with the PLP (Personal Learning Plan) which is designed to help them plan their future pathway.

Kristy PowerAssistant Principal

Reconciliation Week/ International/ ArtsReconciliation Week

In Week 5 this Term, Hamilton recognised Reconciliation Week (27th May – 2nd June). Reconciliation means building relationships, respect and trust between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.The week was acknowledged through various Reconciliation based activities in and outside of class time. These activities included a celebratory barbeque where students from Forbes Primary School, Ascot Park Primary School and Clovelly Park Primary School joined our College in trying kangaroo and crocodile sausages with bush sauce, damper and Quandong (native peach) tea. This event culminated in a very thought provoking and engaging assembly presentation from Hadyn Bromley from Bookabee Tours who spoke about Reconciliation and shared with us some of the truths we need to understand. Each day in Pathways, students engaged with a part of the Reconciliation theme by watching a South Australian made animation of a Dreamtime story, listening to Indigenous music with a message and discussing what Reconciliation means to them and what actions they can take to improve Reconciliation in our country. Other events included art classes with our amazing Bill McSwain, a basketball game in the gym at lunchtime that was incredibly fast paced and came right down to the buzzer, and an excursion to Black Screen Film that was a celebration of Indigenous film and culture. The Year 10 Home Economics students, as part of their study of Australian food, baked delicious lemon myrtle biscuits for all the staff to enjoy over a cuppa at recess. Finally, our generous staff and students throughout Weeks 4, 5 and 6 collected stationery for a wonderful program called ‘Get Set Go’ that supports Aboriginal children with a backpack filled with the practical items and resources with which they might need to start their journey into pre-school or primary school (4-6 year olds).

Kristy PowerAssistant Principal

SACE Vietnam In Hanoi Visit

On Tuesday 11th June, a group of 18 Vietnamese Year 10 students from the SACE Vietnam in Hanoi visited Hamilton Secondary College. The students were given a school briefing by Principal, Mrs Peta Kourbelis, a tour of the Space School and STEM Innovation Centre and were also matched with Hamilton Secondary College international students from Vietnam for lunch in the International Student Lounge. The visiting students were able to chat over lunch with our international students and discuss life as a student at an Australian school. After the visit, SACE Hanoi teacher, Ms Hhung stated “I would like to say thank you to you and your team for your kind help. Our students are interested in your school, especially some students who are good at science. This is a good opportunity to inform our parents and students about your school.” The Vietnamese visitors were visiting various sites in SA during their week in Adelaide, however, Hamilton was the only school being visited given our reputation for STEM and Space Science.

Malcolm LobbanAssistant Principal

Theatre Bug

On Friday the 24th of May, the Year 8 Drama class travelled into the City to see one of our very own Year 11 students, Lizza Delaney- Carter perform in True North Youth Theatre Ensemble’s production of Dropout. The play highlighted the reasons why young people drop-out of school or truant. Throughout the performance the actors shared some very realistic stories and also asked the audience of students what they thought. Lizza was fantastic in her role and performed her story with absolute conviction. We were so proud and excited to see her on stage and we’re looking forward to seeing her name up in lights someday. If any students aged 13-17 would like to join the Marion ensemble of True North, they can go online at http://truenorthyouththeatreensemble.com.au/ and apply. The group meets Wednesdays 6pm - 8pm at the Marion Cultural Center.

Kristy Power Drama Teacher

SportsHamilton Secondary Interschool Basketball Championship

Hamilton students have always been strongly competitive in Zone Sport Interschool Basketball competitions. When the call went out earlier in the Term for Zone Sport team nominations for Open Boys Basketball and Year 8-9 Boys basketball, we were able to put forward solid teams in both categories. Our own basketball competition distributed team nomination sheets and 6 teams were formulated. The teams are all comprised of a mix of students from across Year levels 8-12, with younger players competing side-by-side with our more experienced Year 12s. This informal mentoring of the junior players is a great opportunity for the younger ones to learn advanced skills and strategies. With six teams playing an internal competition, we have been able to provide opportunities for many of our students to be involved. It is fantastic to see the increase in female students participating in mixed team sports.Games are played after school every Thursday afternoon, running from about 3:30 until 5 pm. This timeslot means there is no loss of lesson time for those involved. This competition has started strongly, with fast-paced games and enormous enthusiasm on the part of the players.

Ice Factor training session with the National Hockey League of North America (NHL)

In Week 9 of this Term, the Hamilton Secondary College Ice-Hockey Team were invited to an extra-ordinary training session at the Ice Arena in Thebarton. Hamilton College has been running an ice-hockey team for a number of years, sponsored by the Ice Factor Project. Ice Factor is a community outreach programme designed to give a select group of students the chance to participate in the unique sport of ice hockey. Each Monday, we travel by College bus to the Ice Arena, where we are put through our paces by some extraordinarily talented players from the most advanced ice-hockey teams in the State. This week, the expertise of our regular instructors was further enhanced by input from some of the best ice-hockey players on the planet. Along with teams from other participating schools, our students were put through a number of skill-enhancing drills by members of the national teams from the United States and Canada, along with the indigenous Kaurna Boomerangs team, freshly returned from the Arafura Games recently held in Darwin.The nature of the game encourages players to take possession of the puck, and then evade all other players as they manoeuvre their way at high speed across the rink towards the home goal. Slaloming across the ice while desperately trying to keep control of the puck, ducking and weaving avoid oncoming players, all while balanced on thin blades of steel. The highlight of our NHL training session this week was a game staged by our NHL mentors. It involved 60 students from the combined school teams, against 8 of the best ice-hockey players in the world. To add to the madness, we were playing with 3 pucks on a single rink. As one pack pursued a particular puck, they would inevitably cross the path of a second or third scrum of players pursuing their own puck.

Mike EglintonTeacher

Girls AFL AcademyAussie Rules Girls Academy

The AFL Girls Academy has been successfully running throughout this Semester, with an increased number of female students from Years 8 to 11 participating in the Academy. The Academy has had a jam-packed program, including theory and practical components as well as excursions and competitions. Throughout this Term, the Girls Academy participated in a special 6-week Crows Legends Program, which was run by professional athletes from the Women’s Crows Team (WAFL) and other Crow’s staff. The program involved a variety of health components, including nutrition and wellbeing as well as practical components. As part of this program, our College was chosen out of a number of schools to participate in the AFL Optus Curtain Raiser Competition. On Thursday 13th June, our Girls AFL team played under the lights of Adelaide Oval as the curtain raiser to the Adelaide Crows and Richmond game. A huge congratulations to all the girls for participating in such a special event. This was their first game and we played against experienced teams from Brighton Secondary College and Wirreanda High School and all girls performed well. Our students and their parents were offered free tickets to the Adelaide Crows and Richmond game that followed and it was great to see so many parents come along and watch their child play before the AFL game. The girls learnt so much from this experience at Adelaide Oval. The Academy has 2 sessions left of the AFL Crows Legends Program before the end of Semester. The Crows Legends Program staff and the WAFL Crow’s Players have given great feedback regarding our girls dedication, participation and positive attitude towards the program. Congratulations Aussie Rules Girls Academy. Tash BamfordAussie Rules Girls Academy Teacher

Tash BamfordTeacher

Year 12/ Year 11/ VETYear 12

Term 2 Reflection Term 2 has been a very busy and important term for our Year 12s. Congratulations to the Year 12s for completing their Research Project, which is a compulsory requirement of SACE. This is a great achievement as students have reached a major milestone on the Year 12 academic calendar. Also, congratulations to all Stage 2 Physical Education students, as they successfully completed their 3 day practical kayaking assessment at Port Noarlunga and received great feedback from their kayaking instructors.

Pathways During Pathways this Term, students successfully participated in presentations about career pathways and a range of workshops about skills to success from a variety of organisations, including Elevate, Sekseed and the South Australian Defence Force. Based on feedback from our Year 12s this Terms, Pathways was valuable to their academic success, as it gave students the skills and tools to cope with the high demands of Year 12, such as time management, organisation, state of mind and study to increase their academic achievement.

Student Support and Progress Once again, the College is offering our Year 12 students Holiday Workshops at the end of the Semester. All Year 12s are encouraged to attend the Workshops for support and to maximise their success. A timetable will be posted home and be available on Daymap next week. The Senior Centre will be open for independent study every Monday – Friday, and subject teachers will be running workshops throughout the 2 week period. We also encourage Year 12s to take advantage of our Homework Club, which runs every week (Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30 – 4:30pm) during each Term. Furthermore, you are welcome to contact your child’s subject teachers at any time to discuss their progress. You can also monitor work submission and grades achieved for tasks using Daymap.

Tash BamfordYear 12 Manager

Vocational Education and Training (VET)

Most VET courses include a compulsory Workplace, Health and Safety unit of competency. Successful completion of the theory component of this unit is required, along with other WHS training, prior to any students undertaking a work placement in their particular industry.The following courses that will be undertaking work placement in Term 2 and/or 3 are Certificate II in Kitchen Operations, Certificate II in Food Processing (Tailored as an introduction to Café and Barista), Certificate III in Individual Support and Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care. Parents/Caregivers will be receiving a guide to workplace learning, informing them of the requirements and their child’s rights and responsibilities.

Inner Southern Curriculum AllianceOn Friday 2nd August, the Year 10 cohort will take part in the Inner Southern Curriculum Alliance Expo, which will be held at Tonsley TAFE. The aim of the Expo is for the students to talk to exhibitors in different fields that they are interested in and to also become aware of others that they may not have considered.

Ms Desanka ArezinaVET Coordinator

Year 11 Pathway

The program for Pathways for the Year 11s in Term 2 has been centred on helping them finish the Term on a strong note, preparing them for Year 12 and looking at opportunities that will be available to them when they leave Hamilton. Firstly, we have had several Pathways sessions dedicated towards helping the students complete those major assignments that they might need more individualised help with. Secondly, we had the privilege of having the "Elevate" program come in and share to the Year 11s about study skills and how to maximise their study to get their best possible results. We also had our SACE coordinator Mr. Fisher come in and shared about the necessary requirements concerning their school credits so that the students know and understand what they need in order to graduate with their SACE certificate. Thirdly, we had the Defence Forces come in and share about some special opportunities that exist for all students who chose to enlist in the full time active Army or the part time Army Reserves. The Term will wind up with a fun group activity and a reflection on what students have gained through their participation in Pathways this Term along with their thoughts and ideas on what they can do to make it even more beneficial.

Brad Cummins Teacher

Disability Unit

Spending time in the fresh air

Climbing frame

Basketball courts

The swings

Making models of “my happy place”

Jordy likes going on the bus to go to different places

Hamilton Unit

On the 26th May, students, families and staff of the Hamilton Unit ran a BBQ at the Edwardstown Bunnings. The day was a huge success with all of the monies raised going towards equipment for the students to use in break times. Each class was asked to select a representative to help make the decision of what they felt they needed. A big thank you to Lyndal, who was the driving force behind the day. I would also like to thank all of the students, families and staff who helped out leading up to and on the day.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)All schools are required to collect information about the numbers of students that they provide adjustments to under the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) and Disability Standards of Education (2005). This data will be used as the basis for national funding.The NCCD involves the collection of;• the number of students receiving adjustments to enable them to participate in education on the same basis as other students• the level of adjustment provided to students • student’s type of disability if knownUnder the model, the definition of disability is broad and includes learning difficulties, health and mental health conditions.If your child is identified for inclusion in the data collection, the required information will be included in this year’s data collection.If you have any questions about the data collection, please contact Tammy Rosling on 8275 8344. Further information can be found at: http://www.education.gov.au/nationally-consistent-collection-data-school-students-disability.

S5 ClassEvery fortnight in S5 we explore local sensory gardens and playgrounds as part of our STEM curriculum. We are looking at what makes a “happy place”. We have been using different equipment and finding what we like to use and have in our space! This includes cool swings, colourful artwork, water play and basketball courts.

Tammy RoslingAssistant Principal

MAPS

It’s full steam ahead in the MAPS building right now, two weeks prior our Advanced Diploma students mastered their documentary short films. Mastering a film to an Advanced Diploma level is a complex process that encompasses several stages. Cuts of documentaries are watched many times by staff and students. When its agreed that the editor has achieved the best cut possible the film is picture locked. The audio track is then exported to the audio suite where dialogue is cleaned and music and sound effects are added. While this process is happening the vison files are colour graded and titles and VFX are finalised. The audio is then mixed and exported and re-striped onto the graded film. As you can imagine, working with technology transferring large files opens you up to the potential for technical issues to arise. Troubleshooting these issues is an everyday job for post-production practitioners so we embrace these problems as it trains our filmmakers to be job ready and able to deal with the reality of life in the industry. Once all problems are ironed out, the film is mastered to our drive. The mastered film is watched again, this time on a large screen with external speakers to make sure it will hold up to being screened at the Mercury cinema at the end of the year.

Our Advanced students have then leapt straight on into pre-production for their drama films. Last week they shot their Live Action Storyboards (LAS). LAS are a step beyond traditional illustrated storyboard that we are teaching at Diploma level. The LAS process involves doing a rough shoot of the script where the students can test out lighting plans, camera angles and complex camera movements. They then edit together the LAS and screen it to staff for feedback. It’s an immensely beneficial process as not only can the camera lecturer offer expert advice to help them achieve their desired vision, the process often highlights minor story issues with the script and gives them the chance to resolve them. This week the Advanced Diploma students are auditioning actors for their drama films that will be shoot at the beginning of Term 3.

Ashleigh PageMAPS Coordinator