Term 1, Week 6

Highlights 08 March 2019

1

SYDNEY SECONDARY COLLEGE | LEICHHARDT CAMPUS P: 9560 2355 | F: 9550 9397 | E: LEICHHARDT-H.SCHOOL@DET.NSW.EDU.AU

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School 

Photos 

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Monday 

18 

March  

 

 

 

Principal’s Report 

I have really enjoyed returning to Leichhardt this

year. This week has been one of those week's

which reminds me how privileged I am to work

here. We had the P & C AGM on Monday night

where the 2019 office bearers were elected. It will

be wonderful to work with Jane Crawford again this

year in her role as P&C President. Our P&C is a

thoroughly commi ed, collabora ve and forward

thinking group of parents and carers.

On Wednesday a ernoon we held our 2019 Open

Night. With around 120 student helpers, all

teaching staff on deck and an enormous amount of

prepara on from our administra on staff and the

transi on team, it was truly a team Leichhardt

effort. It looked to me like we had around 1000

visitors in the hall for the formal presenta on at

the end of the evening. The sausage sizzle also ran

out as did the informa on bags so it may have been

the best a ended Open Night ever! In par cular, I

would like to thank Stephanie Bendeich who

organised her first Open Night and did a marvellous

job.

During this edi on of Highlights we have included

the newly released NSW Department of Educa on

School Community Charter. Much like our Posi ve

Behaviour for Learning program (The Leichhardt

Way) the charter sets out clear expecta ons for

respec ul communica on and rela onships

between all stakeholders. I encourage you all to

read through the new charter and contact me if

you would like to discuss anything further.

Today we are celebra ng Interna onal Women's Day at Leichhardt Campus with a range of events including a morning yoga session on McMaster Park, a recess staff v students netball game and then a bake sale and dancing at lunch me. Today's music on our bell system ‐ 'Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselvess'!

Melinda Bright

Pride Night 

Pride Night will be held on Thursday, 14 March

at the iCentre from 5.30 ‐7.30pm. There will be

a light meal and refreshments.

Parents, carers and family members are invited

to a end to meet their child’s mentors and

discuss student goals for 2019.

Personal Learning Plans have been set up for

every Aboriginal student. Students have met

with their mentors to discuss their learning

goals for the year.

Parents will have the opportunity to

collaborate with teachers on Pride Night, to set

goals for their children.

— Maria Kokkolis

Ngara Ngara runs every Thursday a er school from

3.15 to 4.15pm for students that require

assistance with homework.

Teachers from a variety of facul es are

available to assist from week to week.

Sydney Opera House First Na ons work 

experience program 

Gabriel Raad, Year 9, is spending Week 7 taking part in

the Sydney Opera House First Na ons work

experience program. Gabriel and seven other students

will spend the week discovering what it takes to keep

a busy 24/7 performing arts centre in opera on.

Par cipants in the program work across a range of

areas at the Opera House, such as visitor experiences,

food and beverage, stage produc on services, and

marke ng and design.

This week we have seen some very innova ve Year

7 students crea ng their own instruments from

shoebox harps, pipe flutes to some very elaborate

homemade drum kits! They have been using these

instruments to create their own composi ons in

groups, notate composi ons using graphic nota on

and performing them to their classmates. Next

week they will be star ng to learn rhythmic

nota on and how to play a basic rock beat on the

drums!

Year 8 have had a great start to the year learning

about music from different cultures around the

world! They have started learning about Spanish

flamenco how learnt to play “Paso Doble” and

“Spanish Tune” on both guitar and keyboard. Their

next assessment will involve analysing both a

tradi onal and contemporary piece of music from a

country of their choice in groups. They will present

their findings in a PowerPoint presenta on and

also perform one of the two pieces they have

chosen to analyse.

Year 9 are exploring their improvisa on skills on

the music of Africa with our new Djembe ensemble

pack. Students have had the opportunity to layer

tradi onal percussion, drums and pentatonic

percussion in large groups to enhance their tonal

understanding. Students should now be preparing

for their individual performance assessments next

week in class.

Year 10 have been studying music from Australia

and have all just completed their first assessment

task for this topic. Students have performed either

individually or in ensembles and we have seen

some great pieces performed from ACDC’s

“Thunderstruck” to “Shoo ng Star” by Bag Raiders.

They are also looking at Australian Art Music and

how modes and other musical techniques have

been used in pain ng musical pictures of our great

Australian landscapes.

Open night performance demonstra ons included

Rock bands and piano recitals in the Prac room,

Guitar demonstra ons with keyboard

accompaniment in the keyboard room and

Voiceworx serenading in the corridors.

MUSIC

School Tour Dates for Year 6 starting 2020

In 2018, a small group of year 7 teachers undertook

a student led conferencing trial with their students.

This year, that trial is going to be opened up to all

of stage 4. This means that all students who are in

year 7 and 8 will be moving from the tradi onal

format of parent teacher interviews (where the

parent talks to the teacher), to a new method of

student led conferencing (where the student take

the lead).

Student led conferencing is a process that shi s the

focus of the night from the parents and teachers,

and places the focus on student reflec on of their

progress. The model encourages students to be the

centre of the interview. Students set goals, collect

evidence of mee ng these learning goals and

reflect on what they did well, what they need to

improve on and how they will improve on this.

In order to prepare students for this shi , teachers

will be se ng class goals in all of their subjects.

These goals will be worked towards throughout the

semester, with student collec ng evidence of their

learning for their student por olio. This will then be

used to help guide their student led conferences

with their teachers during the term 2 student

progress nights.

Students will be supported in developing a script

prior to the interview that will help them reflect on

their goals. This process empowers students to take

ownership of their own learning, and is heavily

dependent on parents and teachers taking a step

back and allowing students to do the talking.

We appreciate your coopera on throughout the

process.

Student led conferencing team 

Student Led Conferencing Announcement