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Mac Fields News Macquarie Fields High School

April 2010

2 Harold Street, Macquarie Fields NSW 2564 Phone 9605 3111 [email protected]

Issue 9 – Term 4 December 2017

Calendar Events

Week 1 – Term 1 2018

Monday January 29 School Development Day – Staff Only Tuesday January 30 Year 7 Students start Wednesday January 31 Year 8-12 students return

PARENTS PLEASE NOTE

Students absent from school

Please note changes to School Attendance Policy. Where a student is absent from school, a note explaining the absence must be received by the school within 7 school days. Where a note is not received the absence will be recorded as unjustified. This cannot legally be changed should a note be received after 7 days. Absences both justified and unjustified are recorded on school reports.

Recipient’s of PBL Raffle Prize Draw

NAME Year Wk/Term PRIZE Spencer Standish 9 Wk8/T4 $30 Macarthur

Square gift card

Safwan Hossain 9 Wk9/T4 $30 Macarthur Square gift card

Kial Hinchcliffe 8 Wk10/T4 $30 Macarthur Square gift card

From the Principal As the academic year draws to a close, I would

like to take this opportunity to wish all members

of our school community a very happy Christmas

and a prosperous new year! I would also like to

recognise the hard work of our amazing staff as

well as that of our students, whose

achievements we recognised at our recent

Semester Awards ceremony and our

Presentation Day last Monday. We have some

very dedicated students!

Orientation Day for Year 7, 2018

On 5 December, we welcomed our incoming

Year 7 students who will be joining us in 2018. It

was a very successful day, with a very full

program of events for both students and parents

but it was designed to give those new to our

school an authentic taste of life at Macquarie

Fields HS. I would like to thank Year Advisor , Ms

Samantha Bell and the Assistant, Ms Chanel

Wano for their attention to detail in planning the

day and their care and concern for their new

charges. I would also like to thank the HT

Welfare, Mrs Imelda Judge for her support of the

Year Advisors and the orientation process.

Back to School 2018

School development Day 2018 for staff only will

be held on Monday 29 January 2018. Year 7

students will commence on Tuesday 30 January

with the rest of the students returning

Wednesday 31 January.

December 2017

Issue 9 - Term 4 October 2014

School Reports

Reports for Years 7 – 10 were issued on

Thursday 154 December. Please discuss the

report with your child and contact the school

early in the new school year should you have any

concerns about your child’s progress.

Staff Changes for 2018

As is usual this time of the year, we have some

changes to our staffing and sadly, we say

farewell to some of our team. Mrs Gai Lees has

been on extended leave prior to retirement and

she has advised that she will officially retire on

the final school day this year. Mrs Louise Heath

from our office has also been on leave and she is

also retiring and likewise, Mrs Leanne Grech,

our longstanding Learning and Support Officer

will also be retiring at the end of the week. I wish

all of these dedicated staff members a long and

happy retirement and all the best from Macquarie

Fields HS!

Miss Marinda Barnes from the Social Science

Faculty was successful in gaining a position as

HT Wellbeing at Mt Annan HS for 2018. Mrs

Amanda Langley from the CAPA Faculty is

taking up a position at Ingleburn HS and Mrs Kim

Colley from the office has accepted a transfer to

Elizabeth Macarthur HS. On behalf of the school,

I wish these staff members all the best in their

new roles.

Finally, it is with a tinge of sadness that I advise

that our longstanding Deputy Principal, Mr Mark

Tishler has decided to retire from the NSW

Department of Education after 37 years. This is a

significant change for MFHS, with Mr Tishler

being at the school since 2002. Mr Tishler will

return for the first 2 weeks of the new school year

and finish up on 9 February. Mrs Heather Costa

will remain in the Relieving DP role until the

position is filled.

Looking ahead to 2018

We have another busy year ahead of us in 2018!

Next year marks the start of a new 3 year plan

and we have made some innovative changes to

curriculum, the timetable structure and sport.

As always we are looking to enhance the

opportunities we have on offer for our students

whilst maintaining our relentless focus on

teaching and learning, underpinned by ongoing

professional learning for staff to ensure we have

expert teachers teaching your children.

I have included in this newsletter, a copy of the

letter sent home with the reports which outlines

the major changes. It is shaping up to be a very

exciting year ahead!

Once again, I wish you all the very best for the

festive season and look forward to all that 2018

brings us!

Mrs J Dolstra

Principal

December 2017


Technological and Applied Studies

Showcase

The Technological and Applied Studies faculty

takes the basic principles of Science and

Mathematics and makes them relevant to

students through Technological and Engineering

applications. The following are some examples of

how Mrs Fernando has been doing this with her

classes.

The Year 10 Food Technology class catered a

High Tea function for a small group of staff. All of

the food was created by the students as a

practical assessment for the unit "Food Service

and Catering".

The response from the staff was all positive, with

students receiving praise for their preparation,

presentation, and service. The students

performed very professionally under the

guidance of their teacher, Mrs Fernando.

In Year 8, the students in the Creative Enterprise

course have created and made themed

cupcakes suitable to sell in a café.

December 2017


During Semester Two, Mrs Fernando’s Year 7

Technology (Mandatory) Textile class designed

and made cushions for their bedroom as their

final project. The creativity displayed by the

students is excellent, as is the quality of their

work. These are currently on display in the

library.

Well done to all of the students involved. Mrs

Fernando is extremely proud of what everyone

has achieved.

Mr G Byrne

Head Teacher TAS

December 2017


Immunisations 2018

To all Parents please note the Public Health Unit

has informed the school of our 2018

Immunisation schedule for Year 7, 8, 10 and 11

students.

Varicella vaccine will not be offered to our

students in 2018, the catch up ends at the end of

2017.

The 2018 Year 7 program will be HPV (Gardasil)

and will be a 2 dose course with Diphtheria,

Tetanus and Pertussis (Boostrix) provided at visit

1 and at visit 3 HPV (Gardasil) only. Any missed

vaccinations will be made up at each visit.

First dose will be held on Thursday 15 March

2018 for Year 7 students for the Human

Papillomavirus (HPV) and

Diptheria/Tetanus/Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

(dTpa).

Second dose will be held on Thursday 8

November 2018 for Year 7 students for the

Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

At each visit Year 8 students who started their

immunisations in Year 7 2017 at Macquarie

Fields High School who missed there

immunisation will be offered the opportunity to

complete/catch up there immunisations.

Year 10 and 11 students will be offered

Meningococcal (ACWY) vaccine. This will is

booked for Wednesday 20 June 2018.

Students in Year 7, 10 and 11 will be issued with

consent forms and these will be required to be

returned to the school by Friday 16 February

2018.

A letter from the Department of Health is also

included to further explain the change in the

reduction of immunisations for the HPV from 3

injections to 2.

Ms V Shipley, Immunisation Coordinator

MFHS Owning the Moment at the 2017

Schools Spectacular

Schools Spectacular is an annual celebration of

the creative and performing arts in NSW Public

Schools. All 5500 performers are students, and

this year, Macquarie Fields HS was represented

by Sebastian Kelly-Toiava from Year 12 as a

featured vocalist, 17 members of the school

vocal ensemble were part of the massed choir,

and our Teacher Librarian, Miss Hannaford built

the 6 giant dragon puppets and the dragon egg

for the segment “Fantastical Moments

The journey to Schools Spectacular starts early

in the year for the performers. Each year, our

vocal ensemble submits an audition video

showcasing their diverse choral repertoire. Once

our ensemble was selected to be part of the

2700 strong choir, the ensemble participated in

weekly rehearsals of the 24 songs in 5 different

languages.

MFHS Vocal Ensemble outside Qudos Bank Arena

December 2017


As the spectacular became closer, the entire

choir was brought together for combined

rehearsals at the Salvation Army Chapel in

Sydney, then Netball Central at Olympic Park

before finally moving into Qudos Bank Arena the

week of Schools Spectacular. The Schools

Spectacular choir is comprised of both primary

school and high school students. Performing as

part of the choir at Schools Spectacular is not

just singing, but the performers are also required

to do choir choreography.

Miss Hannaford’s journey to Schools Spectacular

started in June when her puppetry colleague Kay

Yasugi was asked to build 6 giant dragon

puppets and a giant hatching Dragon Egg for

Schools Spectacular. It took 5 months to build

the 6 dragons out of cane and fabric.

The largest dragon, “Big Mumma”, was 20

metres long with a wing span of 10 metres, the

medium dragons “Ginger” and “Fred” were 6

meters long with a 3m wingspan, and the 3

smallest triplet dragons, called “Stuart”, “Kevin”

and “Bob” were 1.5m long with a 1m wingspan.

The dragon egg was made in two halves and

covered in 166 scales. This year was the first

time that there was a specific drama segment as

part of the Schools Spectacular.

Miss Hannaford’s role backstage was to repair

and prepare the dragon puppets for each show

but also be on constant standby should the

puppets be needed for rehearsals including the

pyrotechnic rehearsal. The pyrotechnic rehearsal

was the scariest, because real flames were

coming very close to the students and the

The 2700 member choir performing Dies Irae by Mozart in the stands and on the arena floor

The Choir performing choreography during the opening number.

The small amount of space backstage for storing the puppets between shows.

December 2017


puppets! There is very little room backstage in

the tunnel that surrounds the arena to store the

puppets and work on them when repairs were

required. Being prepared with the puppets was

very important backstage as the students who

performed the dragons, only had a few minutes

to actually pick up their puppet and walk it to their

assigned entrances in Tunnels 1 and 4 (either

side of the stage).

The days at Schools Spectacular are really long

for our students and teachers. Our school’s

Friday show day started at 6:45am at Glenfield

station and we did not get back to Glenfield

station until 12:45am on the Saturday, only to do

another 2 show day on the Saturday, starting at

10am, getting home at 12:30am on Sunday

morning.

Schools Spectacular has been an incredible

professional learning opportunity for Mrs

Davidson and Miss Hannaford and an

opportunity to showcase the wonderful talents of

the students at Macquarie Fields High School.

The 2017 Schools Spectacular will be broadcast

on Channel 7 on December 16 at 7pm.

Mrs Davidson & Miss Hannaford

Miss Hannaford with the Dragon Egg

Miss Hannaford with 4 of the Dragon Puppets and the student puppeteers.

December 2017


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