Smith's Hill High School Smith's Hill High School

Smith’s HighSchool School Smith’s Hill High PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION PROMOTING

Newsletter 14

2013 Minister’s Award for Excellence in Student Achievement

Coming events Week 10

September 16, 2013

Beginning Monday 16 September Japan Study Tour leaves Year 11 Work Experience Week

Andrea Fernando is to be congratulated for receiving this award.

Year 10 Science Exams Periods 3&4 MPU Thursday 19/9

P&C Meeting 7.30pm Year 12 Graduation Wollongong University

Friday 20/9 Week 1 Term 4

Year 12 Formal - The Lagoon Last day Term 3 Beginning Monday 7 October

Tuesday 8/10

Public Holiday Students and Staff return for Terrm 4

Principals Message This is our last newsletter of Term 3. I wish you all a safe and enjoyable holiday and look forward to seeing our students returned refreshed for Term 4.

Andrea is an exceptional student performing at or near the top of all courses since Year 7, including the four in which she accelerated in 2012. Andrea has represented the school in sport and performing arts; organised whole school events and fund raising activities; and volunteered in a range of school and community activities. Andrea is a collaborative and respected school leader of great integrity.

Southern Stars 2013 “Extra Extra Extra”

I would like to thank all students involved in the school dance group and the number of talented students in the other specialised fields that were involved in this year Southern Stars show. It was a pleasure to supervise this group of students and be able to provide them with a wonderful experience that this type of show provides. The dance group had professional group photos taken on Saturday and as soon as I receive information on how to access and order the photos I will pass this information onto the students.

PO Box 110 Keiraville - Wollongong NSW 2500- Ph 4229 4266 - Fax 4226 5104 www.smithshill-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION SRC SOCCER DAY 2013 Smith’s Hill prides itself on an unfaltering pursuit of academic glory. On the 26th of August, however, this once steadfast pursuit was forgotten. For one majestic day, textbooks were closed, and Powerades were opened. Conventional sounds of academia and learning were utterly silenced. Instead, cheering crowds, sweaty grunts, and the violent wheezes of people ill-adapted to physical exertion reverberated through the school, and likely, the suburb of Wollongong. Any confusion about this extraordinary activity could have been remedied by the knowledge of two words. On the 26th of August, these two words were whispered, yelled, chanted and scrawled lovingly upon banners. Soccer Day. It is rumoured that our ancestors of old initiated this day, using archaic technologies to plot out fields and construct team sheets. Today, these inscriptions still form the day’s fundamental framework. Nonetheless, as Bob Dylan once said, “The times they are a-changing” – and changes there were for Soccer Day 2013. The addition of live beats from Smith’s Hill’s musically gifted provided the annual event with evident modernity. The display of aesthetic athleticism was similarly unprecedented. There were some authentic mullets, some Yugioh masters, boy-dressed-girls and numerous leopard print loincloths. Soccer Day veterans also noted the smell of ferocious sporting ambition, an odour, they said, that had undoubtedly grown in potency. As always, these festivities could not have happened without the help of our teachers. Their role as referees, and occasional position of ‘team advisors’ never fails to give Soccer Day an element of pure professionalism. This year, we showed our gratitude by allowing them a draw in the teacher-student game. And now, to re-open the textbooks and wash away the sweat. To don our uniforms, and somehow adapt mullets into socially acceptable hairstyles. For now we must wait, shin-padded friends. Until next year – until the fabled Day of Soccer shall again be upon us.

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION Tournament of Minds – State Champions Congratulations to both our ToM teams who achieve amazing results at the State Final. Social Science received Honours in their category and Language Literature placed first in the state. The Language Literature team will now compete at the Australasian Final in Canberra October 17-20. Well done guys! Social Science Team: Eric Smith, Harry Sanzone, Jordan Clough, Rachel McCumstie, Henry Ongerth, Danika Adamski, Emma Charles Language Literature: Layla Sparenburg, Lily McMahon, Helena Barone-Peters, Jin Braicovic, Corey Gibson, Jacob Herbert, Hannah Schmitzek, Report on the day by Hannah Schymitzek After registration we were immediately launched into our 3 hour challenge. The problem - "Something has gone terribly wrong. Show what has happened and use eight onomatopoeic words in your presentation." Our solution was that Onomatopia was a planet with no atmosphere, so a machine called the Onomator 5000 was built to create air for the new citizens of the planet. The machine is powered by Onomatopoeic words. The air that the Onomator 5000 produces is filled with happiness and it makes the citizens blissful and ignorant of all the wrong in the world. The two antagonists get annoyed that they aren't getting a reaction from doing things like robbing banks, so they go to the Onomator and fill it with Onomatopoeic words that would make the machine produce bad air. Then society is shown reacting to this bad air and the mayor of the town rings the bell to alert the citizens that something has gone terribly wrong. The antagonists now realise that everything in Onomatopia has gone wrong, when they only wanted the good people to realise the bad things, so they feed onomatopoeic words into the machine to make it operate normally but in a way that will make it produce neutral air. Onomatopia is saved! We used Creative Movement and Soundscape as our performance techniques (surprise, surprise), but in the judges' comments at the end of our performance, they told us that soundscape was a bad decision because the challenge required soundscape anyway. The audience was laughing for practically our whole performance, and the judges said we should have used comedy instead. We thought we had lost it at that point- we didn't think comedy was a very good technique to use because it was hard to judge how funny our own performance was. We were sure it wasn't that funny! The spontaneous for the day was called "eat your words". We had to list three words that would be good to eat, so we chose revenge (apparently a common choice), ignorance and rose. We linked them by sayings that they have attached to them, ie, "revenge is a dish best served cold," "ignorance is bliss," and "a rose by any other name would be just as sweet". We also made a three course meal out of them, making ignorance the entree as it is a light thing, exhibited by people who have very little worries, revenge the main meal as it is a heavy subject that has been the powering force behind a lot of bad things, and rose as the dessert as it is seen as something sweet and lovely. The time for presentation came, and we were nervous. Jacob and I knew that this was our last shot and we felt that we had made a tremendous effort that day to maximise our chances of success. They started by announcing Applied Tech, then Maths Engineering, and then Language Literature... we held our breaths as we had at regionals as they announced the two honours teams. We were surprised when Our Lady of Mercy was given the first honours; we were sure that they had beaten us and were fully expecting the second honours would go to us and first place would go to St. John's. The second honours was announced and it was given to St. John's- we were excited, maybe we had won it! I knew better than anyone else, though, the feeling of thinking you'll at least place and then not placing at all. I was literally watching the lady's face as she was about to announce the winners, wanting to see her start to say the 'S' sound that would surely indicate a win for Smith's Hill.

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION AND IT HAPPENED! Our whole team and our Year 11s, and our teachers and our parents cheered for us, and as we ran down to the stage I burst into tears because I couldn't believe that at my last chance we had actually done it. And that's how we ended up with a big trophy to get Smith's Hill engraved on it for what looks like the second time and gold winners' medals around our necks. We had to hold our breaths once again, though, when Social Sciences was called. We cheered really loudly when they were announced as honours! We couldn't believe how lucky Smith's Hill had been that day and we were so proud of them. We’re just too happy and were so glad that all of our teachers, families, Mrs Mitchell, and the Year 11s were there to share it with us. We’re so glad that we can keep going with this, and I’m sure that all of us can say that Thea and Dimi have been a massive help to get us this far and we couldn’t have done it without them and we hope they follow us as support crew to Nationals.

AUSTRALIA APEX TENNAGE FASHION AWARDS - NSW STATE FINALS Mikaela Di Leva - Winner of the “Society and the Environment” category as well as overall designer of the year. She will now compete in Melbourne in the National Finals.

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION CHS State Finals The 14yr girls 4 x 100m relay team made the CHS State finals last Friday! The team was Emma and Jessie Babic, Julia Devitt and Hailey van Vreumingen congratulations!! INDUSTRIAL ARTS Congratulations to industrial arts students working in metal this term. They have produced some exemplary works as seen in the pictures below.

When: Tuesday 17th September Where: Garden Court - 463 Crown St , Wollongong Time: 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Free activity for young people 12-24yr olds Enjoy pizza and drinks for dinner Play games / Make friends Transport provided Please phone CHAIN on 42 265816 to

ADHD Workshop SPEAKER: Catherine Dickinson From Bright Beginnings WHEN: 16th October TIME: 7:00pm-9:00pm WHERE: Citylife Church 2/129 Jardine St (west end) Fairy Meadow 2519 Information: 0242844414 Office 0413048453 Jill/0401246765 Joanne

book a place

POSITIONS VACANT Eagle Boys Corrimal are looking for more staff for the following jobs, · Junior in store staff (14 to 16 year olds) · Delivery drivers You must be very well presented and have excellent communication skills. There is no experience necessary as Eagle Boys provides comprehensive ongoing training. Download and complete the application form from http://www.eagleboys.com.au/Artefacts/Content/Documents/Application-Form and bring in to the Corrimal store.

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION STUDY SKILLS TIP FOR SEPTEMBER – Starting to Write an Assignment - In our last tip we looked at doing effective research for your assignments. This tip will focus on getting started with the writing.

CHECK REQUIREMENTS So you have done all of your research, collected the information you will need and are ready to start writing your assignment. Before you begin, revisit the requirements, format and criteria for the task. Be very clear on what the assignment is asking you to do and any guidelines you have been given for the assignment. If you are unsure at all, check with your teacher. PLAN A STRUCTURE Your approach will vary depending on the style of your assignment (eg. essay, speech, presentation or report) but regardless of this, unless it is explicitly given to you, you need to decide the structure of your assignment. Have you determined the main points, the headings and sub headings? Have you made sure you have gathered information about all parts of the question? Have you found any diagrams, images, photos, quotes needed to reinforce any points? Before you begin the writing, create a structure for your work listing all of the headings and sub-headings you will write about. Keep checking back with the criteria or requirements to ensure you are answering the assignment questions. JUST START WRITING The best thing to do if you have no idea how to begin your writing, is to just start writing. Now this may sound a little strange, but many students do not start writing because they want what they write to be perfect or ‘right’ the first time. Don’t worry whether your writing is up to standard at this stage. Instead concentrate on getting your ideas down onto paper or screen. Choose a section and start putting down ideas on the sorts of things you could include in that section. The hardest part of any writing is starting. Once you start putting down ideas this generates other ideas and before you know it you have some text to work with. So even if you have no idea where to start just write or type ‘I don’t know what to include here’ and even writing this will get your subconscious thinking about what could be included! USE YOUR NOTES Once you have started, you can use your notes from the research you did to build your ideas and arguments for your assignment. This mean that you integrate your own thoughts and ideas with the research you have done using this to help support your ideas. Make sure that you reference correctly, this means that when you use materials you have researched, particularly quotes, you make it clear where this material has been sourced from. You may find holes in your research as you progress and have to then do additional research about those areas. BE CREATIVE Unlike an essay, you generally have a bit more scope in how you present an assignment. Think about how you can bring the material to life for the reader. Photos (appropriately referenced) are a good start and sometimes diagrams, tables, examples, statistics or flowcharts may be appropriate. You might use lists, bullet points or colour to make the material more user-friendly. Your teacher will be reviewing many assignments on the same topic, so what can you do to make yours stand out or have a unique angle. REVIEW AND REVIEW AGAIN Have you ever had that experience where you write something, leave it, come back the next day and read it again and find a whole heap of errors you didn’t see the first time? This is why it is important to space out your work on your assignment over a number of weeks and days. You need time to edit your work and you need space between edits. When you come back with a fresh eye, you will be able to look at your work from a different perspective and get ideas on what you could do to improve your work. As you review your work, look for spelling and grammar errors, possible repetition or unclear areas. Reading your work out loud is surprisingly a great way of locating errors or things that don’t make sense. You can learn more in the Research Skills unit on www.studyskillshandbook.com.au and our new unit coming at the end of this year on Assignment Skills. Our school’s subscription details to www.studyskillshandbook.com.au are - Username: forsmithshillhsonly Password: 46results

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION UNIFORM SHOP CO-ORDINATOR POSITION VACANT Smiths Hill High School and Daylight Sportswear are looking for a bright, happy and friendly person to fill the position of Uniform Shop Coordinator. Hours will be approximately 6 hours per week, with extra hours during busy periods. Successful applicants will need to have a friendly personality, good written and oral communication skills, excellent organization skills and general computer knowledge. Previous retail, cash handling experience, customer service background and/or a previous position in school or community organization will be highly regarded. Please forward a cover letter addressing the above criteria and a resume to: [email protected] or fax to 02 9758 5566 by Friday, 18 October 2013 Successful applicants will be notified of interview times within 2 weeks of the closing date. If you have any enquiries please contact Mrs Rae Mitchell during school hours on 4229 4266. UNIFORM SHOP CO-ORDINATOR - JOB SPECIFICATIONS 1. To open the shop at each day and secure the premises at the close of day. 2. To sell items of uniform to students and parents/carers of students. 3. To handle payments for uniforms by way of cash, Eftpos or credit card. 4.To record all details of sales, refunds and exchanges on P.O.S computer system and to oversee the overall operation of the School’s on-line Uniform Shop (with help from Daylight I.T manager) 5. To balance takings at the end of the day and send sales summary to Daylight Head Office. 6. To act in accordance to special instructions from the Principal. 7. To count and record stock take figures on all items of uniform held in the store at the request of Daylight P/L 8. To keep the shop premises in a clean and tidy condition at all times. 9. To assist in advertising by way of displaying dummies, price lists, school newsletters and any approved promotional material. 10. “SPECIAL OPERATING TIMES” – During this period, assist in the planning and operational procedures, and to make time available to attend the shop during the days scheduled, e.g. Orientation Day, January holidays and ‘return to school’ periods.

Positive Partnerships Positive Partnerships is part of the Helping Children with Autism package (HCWA) and we are managed by DEEWR. All our workshops and materials are free. Our website is fully approved by DEEWR and there are many resources for teachers and schools, as well as parents, to download at www.positivepartnerships.com.au. We also support the parents for up to four months after the workshop through the appointment of a local facilitator.

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION Scholarships Now Open. The Public Education Foundation has recently opened a new round of scholarships for 2014. Twelve scholarships categories are now open for applications from NSW public school students. These include the Friends of Zainab Scholarship for students who are refugees or asylum seekers, the Pinpoint Scholarships for girls in year 8, the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust Opportunity Scholarships for students with a physical disability and the Inner West Technology Scholarship for a student with an interest in pursuing a career in trades or technology. Scholarships are for the students' educational benefit and may include financial and other support. Some scholars will receive a free laptop computer, courtesy of our supporters, Lenovo. The average value of the scholarships on offer is approximately $5000. Students who are interested in applying for a scholarship should download an information pack from the Public Education Foundation website – www.publiceducationfoundation.org.au. Applications must be received by the Public Education Foundation by Friday 20 September 2013. WOLLONGONG SWIM CLUB REGISTRATION 2013/14 The Wollongong Swim Club is taking new registrations for the coming 2013/14 summer season. Point score evenings run every Friday night with entries from 5.45pm and cater for swimmers aged U6 (bubble club) to adults. We are a strong club that has both recreational swimmers, Country, State and National Competitors. Come and enjoy swimming for the summer season! Where: Beaton Park Leisure Centre’s Indoor Heated Pool. When: Friday 11th October 2013 (Start of Point Score) and every Friday night after that until Christmas. Time: 5.45pm for a 6.30pm start for point score. Finish approx. 7.15pm For any enquires please email: [email protected] Wollongong City Little Athletics Club Who are we?

How do I join?

WCLA is a locally based community club providing competition for athletes aged from Under 6 to Under 17. It is the largest Little Athletics Club in the Illawarra region.

Joining the club involves registering athlete details, paying a registration fee, showing proof of birth documentation, and purchasing a uniform.

WCLA is for athletes of all abilities that promotes family, fun and fitness.

What do we do? Each club night of the season there are 4 events for the Under 6 to Under 12 age groups and 5 events for the Under 13 to Under 17 age group. The events usually consist of two track and two field events for each age group. Membership of WCLA also entitles each athlete to compete in gala days held by local centres throughout the year; the Zone, Region and State Championships; the State Multi-event Championships, State Relays and the State Cross Country Championships.

Registration can be done on-line or in person on our registration days. On-line registration commences August 1, 2013 at www.laansw.com.au.

Season 2013-2014 Registration Registration Days: Thursday September 12 (4:30-6:00) Sunday September 15 (10:00-2:00) At the Kerryn McCann Athletic Centre (Beaton Park) New members need to bring their birth certificate.

Wollongong City LAC encourages all new and returning athletes to register and pay on line. Costs: Early-Bird On-line registration only $110 In person registration Fee $120

Contact Information for Wollongong City Little Athletics Club: [email protected] www.wcla.org.au

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION It’s getting hard to get lost these days. GPS and other locating technologies are small, cheap and work almost everywhere on the planet. GPS even works for satellites in low Earth orbits, hundreds of kilometres above the ground. But there are places in our solar system where GPS doesn’t work – where finding yourself is a lot more difficult. GPS satellites are essentially clocks in space. A GPS satellite transmits the time continuously, using radio waves. These waves travel at the speed of light to your receiver. With accurate enough clocks, you can tell how long the signal took to get to your receiver. The receiver then calculates the distance to the satellite. If you know your distance to enough satellites, you can work out exactly where you are. Unfortunately, as you get further away from Earth, signals become harder to receive. On interplanetary journeys, these signals become too faint. To make navigation in deep space easier, we need a new ‘GPS’. An international team of scientists, including researchers from CSIRO, realised that we don’t need to launch new and bigger clocks – there are already clocks in space! Pulsars are collapsed stars that shoot out beams of radio waves and sometimes X-rays. They rotate, sweeping their beams in giant circles. If the beam is pointed directly at our solar system, we see a spike in radio waves and potentially X-rays depending on the star. Since the star is rotating, we see the spike again and again. Although the pulsar is spinning, all we see is a star flashing regularly. The researchers chose several pulsars, known for their regular frequency and X-ray emissions. They constructed accurate algorithms specific to each star, which also corrected for the effects of gravity from the Sun and Jupiter. Using their formulas, a simulated space ship could work out its position within 20 kilometres, and would know its speed to within one kilometre per hour! This new positioning system won’t work for existing spacecraft – they don’t have the right antennas to detect pulsars. But for new missions, it could be a lot harder to get lost in space! Try this: Rolling block puzzle You will need * A copy of the board game ‘Upwords’ * Plasticine * Sticky Velcro dots (optional) What to do 1. Make two cubes of plasticine, with each face the size of an Upwords tile. 2. Stick the two cubes together to make a block – a rectangular prism. 3. Push tiles, letters down, into the plasticine rectangular prism to make indents. Push two tiles into each long side, and one into each of the ends. Make sure the sides of the tiles are in line with the sides of the plasticine – everything needs to be rectangular. 4. Remove the tiles and try rolling the block around on the Upwords board. It should fit into the bumpy surface neatly, without slipping. 5. Mark one of the squares on the board with a Velcro dot, and put the block somewhere on the board. 6. Roll the block around the board, trying to get it on its end on top of the Velcro dot. 7. Cover some of the board with more plasticine to mark an out-of-bounds area. Put the block somewhere on the board. Once again, try to roll the block onto the Velcro dot. Not all arrangements can be completed, so try moving the plasticine out-of-bounds area if you can’t solve your puzzle. 8. Make a challenging puzzle, and then see if your friends can do it! 9. If you like this game, you can make a stronger block using oven-setting clay such as Fimo. A Fimo block feels good and is a lot harder to squish out of shape!

Smith’s Hill Hill High High School School PROMOTING PROMOTING EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE IN IN A A SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF TRUST TRUST AND AND CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION What’s happening? This puzzle is about counting. There are three different ways the block can stand – on its end, lying front– back or lying left–right. If your block is lying front–back and you roll it to the side, it will still be lying front–back, one square from where it started. If you roll it the other way, up onto its end and over, it ends up three squares away from its original position. If you want to move only two squares away and keep your original direction, you’ll have to be more innovative. Brainteaser question The owner of a motorcycle store had died and so his three sons Robby, Robert, and Rob were left with their father’s 17 motorcycles. Their father told them that the first son would get 1/2, the second 1/3, and the third 1/9. However, the three sons couldn’t agree on how to share the bikes without taking them apart. While they were arguing, a wise BMX biker rode past, and the three sons asked for his help. Within a minute, the cyclist had solved the problem and rode off. How did he do it? Hear maths! When you play several musical notes at once, you get a chord. If you line up all the chords so similar ones are close together, you get some fascinating mathematical shapes! Do maths! You’re in a group, trying to solve a question. Should you just agree with the smartest person? The maths says no! Did you know? The International Space station orbits about 400 kilometres from Earth’s surface. GPS satellites orbit around 26 000 kilometres from the middle of the Earth. The Moon orbits about 400 000 kilometres from Earth. Brainteaser answer The cyclist added his bike to the motorcycles to make 18 bikes. Half of 18 is nine, a third of 18 is six, and a ninth of 18 is two, so the three sons shared 17 bikes between them. The cyclist then took back the remaining bike and rode home.

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