S trive & T hrive

ORACLEWarialda High School newsletter

Providing advantage through diverse educational opportunities for every student

Issue 4- Term 1 - Week B Tuesday 21st March, 2017

A proud School of the Gwydir Learning Region

Apollo Avenue, Warialda NSW 2402

T 02 6729 1000 I E warialda-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Events for the CalendarWeek 9-BWednesday 22 MarchBiology students excursion on the Gwydir River in Bingara

Thursday 23rd MarchSenior Agriculture students-”Baroma Downs” Croppa Creek excursion

Week 10-ATuesday 28 MarchSenior Visual Arts students excursion to Tamworth

Wednesday 29 MarchNW Winter trials-rugby league, soccer and netball-Armidale

Friday 31 MarchPrincipal’s assembly-11.45am

Well done to all students who attended the social last week on your exemplary behaviour. Reminder to all students that the expressions of interest fo r the Silver Certifi cate excursion need to be returned to ensure an accurate booking.

Well done to our swimmers who travelled to Armidale for North West swimming, as they have all qualifi ed for the CHS carnival in Sydney in April. The 4 x 50 m Under 15 freestyle relay team came 1st and 4 x 50m Open Medley relay team came 2nd, consisting of the same swimmers: Rachel Coulton, Emma Hall, Hannah Tooley and Madeline Armstrong. Isaac Armstrong came 3rd in the 100m Under 13 Boys breastroke, Hannah came 1st in the 100m Under 15 Girls breastroke and Rachel came 1st in the Under 14 Girls backstroke. Both the Under 14’s and Under 16’s Boys Rugby League teams performed well at the Inverell gala day, with both teams securing two wins on the day. The following boys are to be congratulated for their selection for the Namoi zone rugby league teams: Andrew Marle, Christopher Keeley, Will O’Sullivan, Wade Newcombe, James Williams, Jacob Hodge, Wyatt Laidlaw, Tye Smith and Ted Hamilton. Congratulations to Molly Kennedy, Alisha Sleiman and Jessica Hall who were selected in the Namoi Zone Netball team to travel to Armidale next week

The Under 14 and Open League teams will be playing the fi rst round of the State knockouts against Moree on our school oval on Friday 24th March, with an 11am kick off for the Under 14’s and 12:15pm for the Opens. The Open Boys and Girls soccer teams had fi ne matches against Moree last week. Whilst Moree had more experienced teams and won the games, our teams showed great enthusiasm for a relatively new sport in Warialda. Thanks to Mr Butler for his efforts coaching the teams.

Currently our school receives additional funding from the Federal Government as part of the current “Gonski funding model”. In 2017, our focus for this funding is for additional leaning programs and resources for all students, additional School Learning Support Offi cer time for in class learning support, additional teaching time to reduce class sizes in Years 7 and 8, plus reduced costs of all travel for all extra-curricular events for all students. This matter is regularly discussed at P&C meetings, with the next meeting tonight.

I am delighted that this term, our school, like many other public schools in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey. The survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices.

More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au

The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Schools in Australia and around the world have used the Tell Them From Me survey to help improve how they do things at school.

I want to assure you that the survey is confi dential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered during school hours between 27th March and 7th April. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.

A consent form and FAQs for parents/carers about the survey is contained in this Oracle. If you do not want your child or children to participate, please return the form in this Oracle to school by 27th March. Copies of the form and FAQs are available from: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parents.

Gary Hampton

Upcoming AssessmentsAssessment tasks due:

Week 9 (20th March)

Year 12: General Mathematics 1 and 2

Year 11: Physics, Industrial technology, Ancient History, PDHPE

Year 10: Agriculture, IST, D &T, Food Technology, Commerce

Week 10 (27th March)

Year 12: Study for half yearly exams

Year 11: Biology, Agriculture, SLR, Visual Arts, IPT

Year 10: PASS, Geography, Metal, Wood

Week 11 (3rd April)

Year 12: Half Yearly exams

Year 10: Science, History

Topic Helping Students Learn - Parent TipsProcrastination Procrastination is the counterproductive putting off of tasks to a later time. It does not necessarily mean that students are lazy but it is often used by them as a way to cope with the anxiety of starting or completing a task, or making a decision. Procrastination can make students feel anxious, confused or frustrated. It is normal for students to struggle with motivation - especially when they don't feel like doing the task at hand. Help your students to avoid procrastination by suggesting strategies to increase their motivation, such as setting realistic priorities or goals, creating a distraction-free study space, using a study plan, breaking tasks into smaller chunks, taking regular breaks, using instant rewards to acknowledge achievements, focusing their thoughts to the present, not the past or future, and just doing it! Find out more at: http://au.reachout.com/13-tricks-to-get-things-done

WHS Launches PBL 2017 is expected to be a vibrant and exciting year for students at Warialda High school. A ‘Positive Behaviour for Learning’ initiative (PBL) has been designed and implemented specifi cally to support the wellbeing of our students.

The initiative focuses on expectations and requires a consistent approach of encouraging and rewarding positive student behaviours. PBL aims to create a learning environment that allows Warialda High students to be healthy, happy, successful and productive.During the assembly, the school captains provided their peers with information on the concept of being part of a RARE school.

RARE is the acronym that outlines Warialda High Schools four key concepts of PBL – • Respect• Achievement• Responsibility • Excellence.

RESPECT

ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE

ENGAGEMENT

INITIATIVE

COMPLETE TASKS

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

GOOD DECISIONS

OWN YOUR CHOICES

BE PREPARED

SAFETY

MANNERS

Dignity

COOPERATION

ACHIEVEMENT

RESPONSIBILITY

EXCELLENCE PERSONAL BEST

ORGANISATION

PRIDE

STRIVE FOR QUALITY

EV

ER

YO

NE

EV

ER

YW

HE

RE

EV

ER

YT

IME

WWarialda High is a RR.A.R.E sschool..

WWe value RRESPECT, ACHIEVEMENT,, RESPONSIBILITY aand EEXCELLENCE

Year 11 visual arts class sketches based on the theory unit - Expressionism ! Students have drawn self portraits using Charcoal to create dramatic tonal

gradations.

Best dressed girl-Senior-Dakota Perrett-Ayra-game of thrones Junior-Abbiegail Dunnicliff-DoctorBest dressed boy-Senior-Christopher Keeley-Jammer Junior-Zack Crouch-Bruno MarsBest dressed couple-Rhiannon Byers and Molly Kennedy-Australian Rugby Players Shanae Rose and Holly Phillips-The TrollsBest dressed group-Louisa Gilmour, Rachel Coulton, Madeline Armstrong and Isabel Biddle-Groovy Granny’sA huge thankyou to Nicholas Waller for being DJ for the social and to Mrs Karen Gobbert for running the canteen. Also thanks to Mr Hampton, Mr Beattie, Miss Wilkins, Mrs Mack, Mrs Hall, Mrs Pleffer, Mrs Jane, Ms Thomson, Mrs Biddle and Mrs Smith for supervising students who attended the social.Social games winnersCorners-Jarrod NolanLipsync-Holly Phillips and Shanae Rose-Home among the gumtreesWorm-Rhiannon Byers and Jai HarrisonFreeze-Rachel CoultonCookie Challenge-Isaac Armstrong

WINNERS ARE GRINNERS

P & C AGM - The P & C AGM will be held today in the staff

common room at 5.30pm. All welcome

SRC NEWSThe SRC are running a table tennis competition for Harmony Day, 25 teams of students

are involved over the next 2 weeks.

SOCCER

When: Friday 7th April 2017 Where: Bingara Central School

Ages: 12yrs - 18yrs Time: 10am - 2pm

Gwydir Shire Council in conjunction with Bingara Central School will be holding an event to celebrate National Youth Week. In addition to inspirational speaker Sam

Baily there will be guest speakers from UNE, Hunter New England Health, HealthWISE and Headspace speaking on issues young people face on a daily basis.

Every once in a while a speaker comes along who stands out from the crowd. Sam Bailey is one of them. A farmer, pilot, husband and

best-selling author, Sam has achieved all of this from a wheelchair and has the incredible ability to take an audience on the journey of his life.

It's a rollercoaster ride that promises to make people laugh, cry, appreciate what they've got and realise that nothing is impossible.

Sausage Sizzle

$2.00

School Counsellor – WEDNESDAYOur newest staff member we welcome to our school is Mrs Kate Newton. Mrs Newton offers a counselling service each Wednesday. If the counsellor’s offi ce door is open, then Mrs Newton is available and she welcomes students who wish to just call-in! Should you wish for your child to have an appointment with Mrs Newton, please complete and return the referral form. It may be placed in a sealed envelope and we will ensure it is provided to Mrs Newton. Mrs Newton will then make arrangements to meet with your child. If you have any questions regarding the School Counselling Service, please contact Mrs La Fontaine or Mrs Newton.

WARIALDA HIGH SCHOOL“Providing advantage through diverse

educational opportunities for every student” Apollo Avenue

WARIALDA NSW 2402ABN 18 246 198 266

Phone No: 02 67291000 Email: Warialda-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Dear Parents/Carers

On Tuesday 2nd May 2017 we have scheduled a Parent-Teacher Interview for our school community, Year 7-Year 12, from 4pm – 7pm in G-block. At this time, our staff are available to share work samples and discuss your child’s progress in their learning. Should you wish to meet with staff, please complete the return slip below to the Front Office.

Parents may wish to have 5-minute appointments either with staff privately, or share this discussion opportunity with their child.

Once appointments have been made via our centralised system, appointment times will be provided to you via email. We will do our best to allocate appropriate times as requested.

Should you require further information, please contact Kate La Fontaine on 67291000.

Gary HamptonPrincipal

Parent-Teacher Interview Request form – Tuesday 2nd May 2017

Preferred Timeslot 4:00-4:30pm 5:00-5:30pm 6:00-6:30pm(please circle) 4:30-5:00pm 5:30-6:00pm 6:30-7:00pm

Student - Yr - Student - Yr -Teacher Names: Subject Teacher Names: Subject