Respect ~ Perseverance ~ Growth

Principal Matters by Mark Watson

Welcome Back I would like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone back to the fourth term of 2020. I hope that everyone had an opportunity during the two-week break to enjoy time with friends and family. The fourth term is a busy time with the HSC, assessments for Years 7 to 11, the conclusion of the year’s educational programs and the celebration of student achievement at the end of the term. COVID-19 has had a big impact on us all this year and our normal term 4 routines have not been able to avoid these impacts. We are not running the camps we would normally hold at this time. At this stage, we are still planning to run work experience for Year 10 with some students expected to complete a virtual work experience this year. While we have a lot to do, the term is shortened as students only attend three days in the tenth and final week. I wish you all the best as we make our way into the term. New Student Leaders It is with great pleasure that I announce our new student leaders for 2020/2021. Our leaders underwent a challeng-ing selection process, having to submit a written application, deliver a recorded speech, be candidates in a voting process and be interviewed by a panel. Congratulations to Kathy Kim and Deshan Malalage, our new School Cap-tains, Kirsty Frykberg and Keeton Southwell our new Vice Captains and to Iris Lee, Moneli Lyari, Robbie Kangro and Aaryan Jerath, our new Senior SRC Representatives. This week Iris, Moneli, Robbie and Aaryan have been interviewing SRC applicants from the remaining year groups. We should be able to name all of our SRC represent-atives in a future newsletter. IEC (Intensive English Centre) Staff Move to SIHS This week the Northern Sydney IEC was established at our school. Staff from the Chatswood IEC were relocated during the school holidays. To minimise disruption to the current cohort of IEC students, it was decided that they should complete their program, which will finish at the end of the term, at Chatswood High School. A number of staff will be working across both campuses during this transition period. Unfortunately, due to international travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, numbers for Term 1 next year are very low. This is the case for all IECs across Sydney. As a result, we may not see the first cohort of students at our school until later in 2021. Staff from the IEC will provide additional support for students from the IEC as they move to their regular high schools during this period. On Friday this week, our LOTE, ESL and Hearing Support staff hosted a welcome morning tea for the Northern Sydney IEC staff.

Term 4 Week 1 16 October 2020

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COVID-19 Update While we have been fortunate in NSW and have not returned to online learning, the daily reporting of the number of cases in the state reminds us that we must remain vigilant during the pandemic. Schools continue to implement the following practices for the reopening of schools during term 4. These are;

Students must not come to school if they are unwell. Even with very mild symptoms.

Students who are unwell while at school will be sent to sick bay where they will be isolated and their parent or carer contacted to take the student home.

If a student has been absent due to flu-like illness or develops flu-like symptoms while at school, they are not to return to school until they have a negative COVID-19 test and are symptom-free. Flu-like symptoms in-clude fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of taste, and loss of smell. Find more information about COVID-19 symptoms on the NSW Health webpage: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/symptoms-and-testing

The negative COVID-19 test result must be sighted and received by the school before the student can return to school.

To minimise absence, students should be tested immediately for COVID-19 if identified as being unwell. This is so that they can return to school once they receive confirmation of a negative COVID-19 test result and their symptoms are resolved. Parents can provide the school with a screenshot of the text message confirm-ing the negative test.

If, after testing negative, a student has ongoing symptoms which persist beyond 10 days, they should ar-range to see their doctor. The medical assessment should consider whether the symptoms are typical for that person (for example seasonal, allergic rhinitis), and provide documentation for the school if this is the case. If there are new symptoms at any time, the student should be tested again.

Where a medical practitioner determines that a COVID-19 test is not required, a medical certificate must be provided to the school to confirm that the student does not have symptoms that warrant a COVID-19 test. The certificate must also indicate that the student is able to return to the school environment.

Where a COVID-19 test result is not provided, the student will be excluded from school for a 10 day period. Additionally, the student must be symptom-free for at least 3 days before returning to school.

In addition to these measures, parents and carers should only come onto the school grounds for essential matters. All visitors to the school must sign in at the office, and follow our hygiene and social distancing practices.

We will continue to follow advice from the Departments of Education and Health. When restrictions around certain activities are relaxed and can go ahead, we will reintroduce these with appropriate safety guidelines. HSC Information The HSC written examinations will get underway for Year 12 next week. English is their first exam on Tuesday next week. A separate email has been sent to Year 12 parents and students detailing the school’s arrangements for the examinations. This email included procedural information such as signing in for each exam, and a copy of the ex-am timetable that included the locations for the exams. This newsletter also includes advice for HSC candidates from the Department of Education about the examinations. The social distancing restrictions placed on the exami-nations by NESA have meant that we are not able to have as many students in the hall as we normally do. This is particularly a problem for the larger English exams on Tuesday and Wednesday next week and for Mathematics on Monday of week 3 this term. In order to accommodate these larger exams, we have taken over the top of D-Block on these days. The normal classes timetabled in these rooms (essentially Mathematics) will be relocated to de-mountable classrooms. Students in these classes will be notified of the room changes before the examinations and the changes will also be posted on the entry to D-Block.

While this has been a difficult year for all of us, it has been particularly difficult for Year 12 preparing for the HSC. My best wishes to all of our HSC candidates as they sit the examinations. Building Update While we were on school holidays, building works continued on both A-Block and the new Gym. On the current schedule we will be using both of these buildings this term. It is hoped that we will reoccupy A-Block during week 5 this term. The move back into A-Block is scheduled to take place on the weekend of the 7

th and 8

th of November.

With unpacking the following Monday, it is hoped classes will be held from the 10th of November. During this week,

week 5 of the term, the PE staff will be preparing for their move into the new Gym. This move will happen over the weekend of the 14

th and 15

th of November with the first classes in the building on Tuesday November 17. We are

really looking forward to the first half of November! White Card Training On Wednesday this week, a white card training session was held at school. The white card is a requirement for construction sites in NSW and must be held by students undertaking work placements and work experience in the construction industry. The course was conducted by an outside training organisation. Thanks go to Mr Holmes for coordinating this event. Welcome David Frew I would like to welcome Mr David Frew to our Science staff. Mr Frew took up his appointment at our school on Mon-day this week. He will be replacing Mrs Kaur, in the Science KLA and teaching junior science and Physics.

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Disturbing Social Media Content This week we received advice from the Department of Education about some disturbing content currently being shared on social media. The following information is from the Department’s advice.

To limit your child’s exposure to harmful content your actions might include;

Engage in your child’s online activity and discuss the types of apps, websites and games they are viewing to ensure content is age-appropriate

Make use of parental control on devices to help limit your child’s online exposure

Help your child report and block inappropriate content on social media or apps

Encourage your child to talk to you about anything upsetting they view online

Visit www.esafety.gov.au for further advice on apps, social media and online safety issues.

If your child is exposed to content they find disturbing, please contact the school. There are also a number of support services that can also be contacted, including;

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800. Phone support is there all day, every day. Online support is open from 8am-midnight every day (AEST) https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Suicide Call-back Service 1300 659 467. Phone support all day, every day, and follow-up calls https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/

eHeadspace 1800 650 890Open 9am-1am daily (AEST) https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/

Lifeline 13 11 14. Phone support all day, every day. Online support 7pm-4am daily (AEST) https://www.lifeline.org.au/

BeyondBlue 1300 22 4636. Phone support all day, every day. Online support 3pm-midnight every day. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

The key resources listed below provide additional support in relation to suicide prevention and mental health:

Life in Mind Supports messaging around suicide prevention https://lifeinmind.org.au/

Head to HealthProvides digital mental health resources and services https://headtohealth.gov.au/

If a life is in danger call Triple Zero (000) immediately My Leave I will be on leave for the remainder of this term. My Father’s health is declining and I am involved in a building project of my own. Mr Lawler and Mrs Bodley will share the Principal’s role while I am on leave. They know I am only a phone call away if needed. I will be following events at school and will remain in close contact with 2021 planning such as the timetable and budget. I will also attend necessary meetings about our building projects. Mr Lawler, Mrs Bodley and Mrs Cartwright have been overseeing work on our next three-year plan and I will continue to work with them on this as well. I am fortunate that Mrs Bodley, Mr Lawler and Mrs Cartwright are very experienced in their roles and I have every confidence in their ability to lead the school. I will still be around and hope to catch up with many of you before the end of the year. My best wishes for the remainder of the term and the summer break.

Congratulations This week congratulations go to students from the visual arts subject area. Congratulations to;

Rachel C and Esther W (Year 12). Both Rachel and Esther have had their HSC Visual Arts major works nomi-nated for Art Express.

Isla J (Year 11), Tamaryn C (Year 9) and Yo Yo X (Year 8). Isla, Tamaryn and Yo Yo have had their artwork selected for display at the Operation Art Exhibition held at the Armory Gallery at Newington. Both Tamaryn and Yo Yo’s works have now been selected as one of 50 touring awards. There works will be part of a travelling ex-hibition before being displayed at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Rachel C Esther W

Best wishes Mark Watson Principal

https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/https://www.lifeline.org.au/https://www.lifeline.org.au/https://www.beyondblue.org.au/https://www.beyondblue.org.au/https://lifeinmind.org.au/https://headtohealth.gov.au/

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7T/7X CELEBRATE THEIR RESEARCHED ARTIST'S UN-

BIRTHDAY Students in 7T and 7X completed an assessment task last term along with the rest of year 7. They had a choice of 4 artists to research: Ron Mueck, Christo, Anish Kapoor or Ricky Swal-low. As an extension activity, stu-dents had to bring 3 appropriate pre-sents and make a birthday card with a relevant message. They had one minute to explain their choice of gifts and read out their card. With balloons and party snacks it was an enjoyable learning experience. Patricia Gettens Head Teacher Creative Arts

HSC student advice We know our students and staff have worked hard for the HSC. The safety of our students and staff remains of utmost importance. This year extra arrangements are in place to ensure that any disrup-tion due to COVID-19 will have minimal impact on HSC exams.

Our school has put in place a number of contingencies to help ensure exams run as smoothly as possible.

The exams have been scheduled and our school has arrangements in place for exams to proceed as planned. It is important that students review their timetable and plan well so they turn up for their ex-ams on time, healthy and rested.

Any student with a pre-existing condition, that presents similarly to flu-like symptoms, should be plan-ning now and speak to their doctor/GP. The GP can provide a medical certificate ahead of the exams to ensure they are not sent home.

If on the day of the exam your child feels unwell with flu-like symptoms, they should stay home and get tested. HSC students are prioritised for COVID-19 test results. It’s important to note that all students will be asked if they are well before entering exam rooms.

We want all our students to sit their exams but sometimes things happen. If your child is unwell and

misses their exam, contact the school. Students who are unwell will be eligible for the illness and misadventure provision with NESA.

If there are any changes to exam arrangements we will communicate with HSC students through their school email. This will be the only source of communication for these types of notifications. If in doubt, please call the school.

We wish all our students well in the upcoming exams.

https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/covid-19/coronavirus-advice/hsc/covid-19-illness-and-misadventure#lfhcategoryhttps://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/covid-19/coronavirus-advice/hsc/covid-19-illness-and-misadventure#lfhcategory

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LOUD SHIRT DAY Loud Shirt Day will be Wednesday the 21

st of October. St Ives High School will get LOUD and PROUD to raise aware-

ness for hearing impairment. It is chance to wear your loudest colours. This annual event is brought to you by the Hearing Support Unit. Mufti gold coin donation, prizes for the loudest shirt will be given and an interactive sound simu-lation will be available to students. Some interesting facts, 1 in 6 Australians are effected by hearing loss. A cochlear implant is a device used to provide

the sensation of sound to the pro-foundly deaf. It includes an implantable receiver I stimulator module with an elec-trode array (placed either inside or outside the cochlea), a microphone and a speech processor. Auslan is the official sign language used in Australia. In 2019, Hearing Australia supported the hearing rehabilitation needs of 25,976 citi-zens and permanent residents under 26 years of age.

STUDY SKILLS WORKSHOP

During Weeks 1 and 2 of this term, students from Years 7-11 will be undergoing a range of study skills workshops de-livered by Elevate Education.

Elevate are also hosting a number of free, online parent workshops on the following dates.

Wednesday, 21st October – Effective Independent Learning

Wednesday, 4th November – Managing Stress & Wellbeing

Wednesday, 18th November – Exam Preparation

Wednesday, 2nd December – Responsible Technology Usage If you are interested in attending any of these, please sign up via https://get.elevatecoaching.info/au/register/

https://get.elevatecoaching.info/au/register/

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REMINDER YEAR 7 IMMUNISATIONS MONDAY 26 OCTOBER Year 7 will receive their last HPV and there will be catch up for year 8 along with the last Year 10 Meningococcal catch ups. Tania McGurgan Immunisations Coordinator

NSW School vaccination clinic for Year 7 students; Monday 26th October 2020

NSW Health is ensuring that students are safely vaccinated at school during COVID-19 NSW Health has been working with education authorities to implement additional measures to ensure that students in Year 7 and 10 can be safely vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite con-cerns around Covid-19 it is important that the school vaccination program continues, to provide timely protection against other diseases. NSW Health will be offering Human Papillomavirus (HPV) dose 2 vaccinations to all Year 7 students at your school clinic on Monday 26th October 2020. Also Meningococcal ACWY vaccine will be available for Year 10 students who haven’t yet been vac-cinated.

Additional measures NSW Health has implemented additional measures based on expert clinical advice to reduce the likeli-hood of COVID-19 transmission in school clinics, including: Health screening of nurses before clinics Pre-vaccination screening of students Physical distancing restrictions at the clinic entrance, in the clinic and in the observation area Ensuring the number of students & nurses at the clinic does not exceed the maximum allowed Enhanced hand hygiene by nurses Enhanced environmental cleaning of all surfaces

What parents should do Parents who have given consent for their child to receive vaccinations at school do not need to take any extra action. Parent

who have not provided consent should contact their school on how to consent for vaccination, or their local public health unit

on 1300 066055. Parents must ensure that their child is well and completely free of any acute respiratory illness before they

attend school.

More information Information about school vaccination is available; http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/schoolvaccination It is very helpful to adolescents to be informed about this process. The following short video for you and your child has useful information about the vaccines and how the school immunisation clinic will run. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/videos/getting-your-hpv-dtpa-vaccinations-at-school-what-to-expect A Record of Vaccination card will be provided to each student. Details about vaccinations given at school will also be uploaded to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/schoolvaccinationhttps://www.health.gov.au/resources/videos/getting-your-hpv-dtpa-vaccinations-at-school-what-to-expecthttps://www.health.gov.au/resources/videos/getting-your-hpv-dtpa-vaccinations-at-school-what-to-expect

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ART AT THE SHOPS

Hopefully many school families had a chance to view the artworks from years 7 to 11, that were exhibited at St Ives Village shops over the school holidays. Our talented students have been busy this year creating impressive artworks and we look forward to seeing even more wonderful creations in term 4. Patricia Gettens Head Teacher Creative Arts

REMINDER! REMINDER! REMINDER!

Please remember all Year 9, 10 and 11 TAS students to bring fully enclosed leather shoes for all practical classes.

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BARE CREEK TRAIL RUN

This year St Ives High won’t be compet-ing in the traditional Mob Match, howev-er, students can still participate as indi-viduals, while taking advantage of the discounted entry code that has been made available to our students. Race organisers have gone to great efforts to be COVID-19 compliant. To help them facilitate a smooth and safe event, par-ticipants are encouraged to enter by the 23rd of October using the code: BCTRSIHS20 Nicole Frykberg Mathematics Teacher