Narrabri High School Community News Educational Excellence and Innovation in a Unique Caring Environment

Meetings 15th August in Library 6.00pm Canteen Committee 6.30pm P & C Meeting

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Nira Windeatt (Stove)

Olympian 1976 and

Narrabri High School Captain

Nira at the Opening Ceremony Every four years a very special phenomenon occurs. For two weeks in August the world slows down a little and focuses its attention on one very special city that has been chosen to host the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is the coming together of the world’s current elite sportsman in a huge event which showcases the best that the world has to offer in a wide range of sports. In 1976 the Olympic Games were held in Montreal, Canada. It was a very big year for me as at the National Championships and Olympic Trials in Sydney in February I qualified as one of twenty eight members of the Australian Olympic Swimming Team to compete in the butterfly events. In the previous year, 1975, I had been part of the Australian Swimming team that competed at the World Championship in Cali, Columbia, South America where I swam in the butterfly events and placed fourth in the 200m, my favourite event. In September of 1975 I returned to school at Narrabri High and continued to train at Narrabri pool for the 1976 Olympic trials. My father Jeff Stove was the local pool manager and club

coach and worked hard to keep me fit and motivated to compete at a high level. 1976 was a big year for a young 17 year old girl from a small NSW country town. I qualified for the Olympics which is the biggest sporting event on the planet, I was Narrabri High School Captain which is an immense honour and I met my future husband Graham Windeatt. Graham had swum at the previous Munich Olympics in four events and won a silver medal in the prestigious 1500 metres freestyle. In

C a l e n d a r August

10-22 Trial HSC

15 Canteen Committee Meeting 6pm Library

P & C Meeting 6.30pm Library

22-31 Dental Clinic

23 Back to School Night 6pm

25 Year 10 Mock Interview (all day)

September

1-3 Dental Clinic

7-9 CHS Athletics, Homebush

12-16 Year 10 Ski Trip

14 Year 6, 2016 Gala Day

16-22 Preliminary Yearly Exams

21 Year 12 Activities Day

23 Year 12 Farewell Assembly

Holidays 23/9 – 9/10

October

10 Term 4 commences for staff & students

19 Year 11 Senior Success 6-7pm Library

26 North West Softball Trials

November

7-10 Year 10 Exams

15-16 North West Boys Cricket Trials

18 Year 12 Formal

28-30 Year 10 Work Experience (5 days)

December

1-2 Year 10 Work Experience

7 Presentation Night

16 Last day Term 4

February 2017

3 Staff Development Day

6 Year 7, 11 & 12 Commence

7 Year 8, 9 & 10 Commence

1976 in Montreal he swam in three events and was captain of the swim team. That was forty years ago but some of the memories from then are as clear as if it was yesterday. The pride of my family, friends and the town overall was fantastic and even though at times I felt very much alone and overwhelmed by the enormity of being so far from home and participating at such a high level I knew I was being supported and cheered on by so many back home. One of the most amazing things about Olympics is that once you arrive at the Olympic Village you become part of a new, very large and diverse family. One of my favourite memories was eating in the cafeteria in the Village. This is where all the athletes and officials from all countries gather to eat all their meals. The food is diverse and healthy to cover all sorts of dietary requirements. The tables are long and plain with no segregation. One lunch time I had to smile to myself as I looked around and from my seat could see the Chinese women’s basketball team who made us look like elves, members of the USSR (Russian) weightlifting team who were massive and near them the Romanian girls gymnasts who were tiny and very quiet and sharing our table were two Kenyan marathon runners who looked like they needed a good feed. What an assortment of humanity and in the middle of this was little old me from Narrabri. The Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies were quite surreal. To have so many amazing athletes together in one area to celebrate the one thing they love, sport, is a life changing event. Australians have a great reputation in sports and I am very proud to have been a very small part of our wonderful sporting history. I am even prouder to have been from Narrabri High School representing our country at the highest level. Every four years the Olympics come around again and each time they do it reminds me of how fortunate I was to have been part of such an amazing event and how lucky I was to come from a family and town who worked with me to make my dreams become a reality. My Olympic pride is Narrabri’s Olympic pride. Warmest regards

Nira

Principal’s Report Welcome to our August Community News. Earlier this term, the Minister for Education announced changes to the HSC credentials in upcoming years. Please see the message from the BOSTES President:

I have attached 2 pages of the Frequently Asked Questions document that provides more information. On the 27

th July we held our NAIDOC Week

Celebrations. I would like to congratulate Jackie Jones (Aboriginal Education Officer) and her team for putting together a great day of celebrations. It was wonderful to

see the many and varied activities, all being support by students, staff and the community. Great job Jackie. Our congratulations are extended to Will Alexander in Yr 9 who recently travelled to Canada with the Australian Youth Athletics team. Will won a gold and silver medal for the Javelin and also two bronze medals for the hammer event. Fantastic achievement Will. Please see the full story later in our newsletter. I would like to welcome Mr Chase Magner to Narrabri High as a permanent member of staff. Chase was appointed to the school last week through a vacancy we had. This was great news for all of us. We recently held two terrific parent information nights for transition to high school. Both nights were well supported and I hope, enjoyable and informative for the parents that came along. I would like to thank Amy Johnson and her team for their continued work in providing our Yr 6 students and their families with an outstanding program of transition to high school. Last week we had our final design meeting for our Secondary Schools Renewal Program proposal. The Project Manager and Architect came up from Sydney to discuss the design concept for the front of the school (Gibbons St) and also the refurbishment and re-development of our Administration build. Their concept for our school was very exciting and with a few minor

Message from the BOSTES President

Literacy and Numeracy Standards

From 2020, in order to be eligible for the HSC,

students will be required to reach a minimum literacy

and numeracy standard. The standard is set at the

Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) Level 3,

which is a nationally agreed standard of functional

literacy and numeracy.

Students can demonstrate that they meet the standard

by achieving either:

· a band 8 in each of their Year 9 NAPLAN reading,

writing and numeracy tests, or

· a pass in the online literacy and numeracy test in

Years 10, 11 or 12.

A band 8 NAPLAN result is not the literacy and

numeracy standard. A Year 9 NAPLAN result below a

band 8 will rather act as an early warning system to

identify students at risk of not meeting the standard.

These students will then have time with their teachers,

parents and schools to work to improve their

performance, before taking the online literacy and

numeracy test.

Students who do not demonstrate the standard during

schooling will have five years after leaving school to

meet the literacy and numeracy standard and receive

an HSC.

Exemptions will be made for some students, such as

those with disabilities undertaking Life Skills courses,

and students from non-English speaking

backgrounds who have been learning English for less

than one year.

More information on the literacy and numeracy

standard is available on the BOSTES website.

alterations to Option 3 for the Admin centre, we now move into the next phase. There will be more meetings over the course of the next 4 months and hopefully our program might start during the Christmas holidays. If not, early 2017. I have attached the landscape plan and also the Admin plan. They do, however look a lot better in A3. (See pages 4 & 5) I was also informed last week that our application to have both boys and girls toilet blocks completely refurbished was successful. This is long overdue and another great outcome for our school. I would like to thank our Director, Ms Ruythe Dufty and also the New England Asset Management Team for supporting our nomination. The planning, tender and construction process will start shortly. I look forward to seeing everyone at our next P&C meeting Rod Jones Principal

Country Cup Rugby League

Our opens rugby league team travelled to Port Macquarie to compete in the Northern Finals of the CRL Country Cup during week 2. The boys played eventual winners Chatham HS in their first match and after trailing 22-0 at half-time, the boys fought back in the second half to finish 22-12. In the second match the boys played Woodlawn HS and were pipped on the post in the last 30 seconds to go down 16-12 after the score was locked at 12 all for most of the match. In the final game, the team started well against St Edwards of Gosford. The physical nature of the 3 games eventually caught up with the boys as they went down 14-0. The team would like to thank the parents and the teachers who transported the boys to Port Macquarie.

North West Athletics Carnival Forty five Narrabri High students travelled over to Tamworth to represent our Namoi Zone at the North West Regional Athletics Carnival. All of our representatives ran, threw or jumped a personal best which was fantastic! All of the students had a great day and were fine ambassadors for the school!

Those students who finished first or second have qualified to represent North West SSA at the NSWCHS Athletics Carnival at Homebush on September 7,8,9. The following NHS students qualified:

Will Alexander (1st Javelin, 2

nd 15s Relay)

Makayla Beddow (1st High Jump)

Angus Browning (2nd

Discus)

Liam Davis (2nd

800m)

Zara Foley (1st Discus)

Angus Gourley (2nd

800m)

Mae Harvey (1st 15s Relay, 1

st 200m)

Felix Johnson (2nd

15s Relay)

Amy Larson (2nd

800m)

Chloe Myers (1st 15s Relay)

Jonty Schwager (2nd

800m)

Cody Shepherdson (1st 200m, 2

nd 15s Relay)

April Smith (1st 15s Relay, 1

st Javelin, 2

nd Triple

Jump)

Sam Soper (1st 800m, 2

nd 1500m)

Bella Stewart (1st High Jump, 1

st Long Jump, 1

st

Triple Jump, 2nd

100m 1st 15s Relay)

Nick Tomlinson (1st 100m, 2

nd 15s Relay, 2

nd

Long Jump)

Dylan Williams (2nd

High Jump)

School Landscape Plan

School Administration Plan

Will Alexander

Australian Youth Athletics

Will Alexander was selected to join the Australian Youth Athletics Team to compete in Canada through the company Sports Travel Australia in Victoria when he competed at the 2015 NSW State All Schools Athletics Championships in Sydney. A team of 43 athletes were joined by 4 elite coaches who gave professional training sessions and assisted athletes during the meets in Kelowna and Vancouver.

Will medalled at both meets taking gold at Kelowna in Javelin. He was humbled to be able to compete against Canada’s best taking the silver position on the podium in Vancouver throwing the javelin 45.80m just short of his new school record of 46.16m. Trying his hand at the hammer event for the first time Will threw a 4kg hammer and he grabbed bronze at both

meets throwing just over 33m. He will compete in this event at NSW All Schools in October. Touring with the team he was able to try mountain biking at snow capped Mount Whistler, spotted wild bears at Grouse Mountain. Meeting some Canadian native Indians he was invited to a special meal to try their food, enjoyed Canada Day in down town Kelowna City and enjoying many sites across Vancouver. He attending his first Grid Iron game where the atmosphere was electric. Flying into Los Angeles

they continue the tour staying at Anaheim California going to Universal Studios, Disneyland, Hollywood Boulevard and Santa Monica before returning back to Australia, this three week trip was a brilliant experience for any young athlete.

Merle Hurley

Mrs Merle Hurley has Graduated from Tramby University, completing Certificates I to IV in Community Development and Community Services. Mrs Hurley has generously donated her Graduation prize consisting of three Aboriginal Art books to the Aboriginal Resource room. Thank you Mrs Hurley for your kind gesture.

Rock & Water Program

Year 7 Boys Some year 7 boys are participating in the Rock &

Water Program. This teaches the boys about Self

Esteem, Discipline and Resilience. The Program is

being run by Mr Magner & Mr Doherty.

P o e t r y

It’s an Earthquake

I made a giant cake It was really hard to make

I mixed the milk and the butter Then the house began to shudder

It’s an earthquake It’s an earthquake

Now the cake’s going to break I’ve got to get the rake

It’s an earthquake It’s an earthquake

Now the milk is all on the floor I’ve got to shut the door

And that’s how you know

It’s an earthquake

By Emily Redman and Aimee Fladrick, 7 Red

Where Are They Now??

Jacinta Merten

Ex-student

I graduated from Narrabri High School in 2009, and

in 2011 I started a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of

Surgery at the University of New South Wales,

located in Kensington, Sydney (not too far from

Coogee Beach!), living on campus at Baxter College.

It was a full on two years, with the year divided into

8 week courses, with an exam at the end of each

course and a couple of extra exams thrown in at the

end of each semester for good measure. However,

there was also time for sports, college plays, balls

and other social events, and I made many new

friends from all around Australia (and some from

around the world).

In my 3rd year, I completed a research project at

the Translational Neuroscience facility, working on a

viral delivery system of a molecule that would

effectively image neurons in brains of mice when

they were undergoing changes during a stroke. The

end of the year also ended my time in Sydney – I

elected to complete the rest of my degree at Port

Macquarie. My class in Port was a lot smaller than

Sydney – including the two years above us there

were 50 students altogether. The doctors in Port

are fantastic and and go above and beyond to teach

us all they can.

The highlight of the medical degree for many is the

elective course, and this was certainly true for me,

where students undertake two 4 week placements in

any clinical setting anywhere in the world. The first

elective I completed was at Cornwall Hospital in

Montego Bay, Jamaica, where I joined the plastic

surgery team. This involved looking after many burns

patients, including one patient who needed his

forearm amputated, a gruesome operation where I

was lucky enough to scrub in and saw off the ulna.

The second elective I completed was at Viet Duc

Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, where I was based in the

Emergency and Intensive Care departments. I saw a

lot of different patients, but the majority were

head traumas from motorbike accidents.

I am now in my final year of medicine, and I have

just completed my last clinical placement at a GP

surgery in Narrabri. I have 8 weeks of revision and

clinical practice to prepare for my final exams in

September. I have accepted a position at Royal

North Shore Hospital, Sydney, where I will work as

junior doctor in 2017 and 2018. After completing

specialist training, I hope to work in both regional

and rural areas in the future.

Medicine is a long degree, but it is endlessly

fascinating, and all the study is worth it when I think

about the awesome doctor I hope to become. My

words of advice to anyone wanting to study at

university is work consistently in high school, choose

subjects you like, and be kind to your teachers.

Make a study guide, stick to it, do a little bit each

day and you will be in good stead for getting an

excellent ATAR and more importantly, enjoying your

education. I have such fond memories of Narrabri

High School - my classmates and my wonderful

teachers who encouraged and inspired me.

Maths Challenge In term 1 Year 7 students participated in the

Maths Challenge for Young Australians. This is an

Australian wide competition where students work

on 6 problems over a 3 week period. The students

had their brain stretched and learnt some valuable

problem solving skills. Congratulations to all

students involved but particularly to Elsie Ford

who received a credit and to Sofia Fawcett who

solved all 6 problems and received a High

Distinction. An example of the type of problem is

as follows:-

On the TV show ‘The Price is Perfect’ Chloe will

win all the prizes if she can work out the

mystery number. Joe, the host of the show,

says: ‘Tonight’s mystery number is the largest

7-digit number which has these two properties:

• no two digits in the number are the same;

• each of the number’s digits divides into the

number exactly.

1. Find the three digits which cannot be in the

mystery number. Explain why they must be

excluded.

2. Find the mystery number. Explain why it is

the largest 7-digit number which has these

properties.

School Contributions Reminder

Could you please ensure your child’s fees are paid asap.

Elective fees (INCLUDING MATERIALS ARE COMPULSORY).

Please phone the school on 67921633 if you require any

information. Thank you

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