the oak leafarmidale-s.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/... · 2019-10-23 · page 2 issue 17...

The Oak Leaf Armidale High School

Wednesday 8th December 2010

Butler Street, Armidale, N.S.W., 2350 – PHONE: 6776 7466; FAX: 6776 7424 Email: [email protected]

Issue 17 – Term 4 – Week 9

Welcome Year 7, 2011 This week we welcomed Year 6 for their Orientation Day and they had a great time finding their way around, eating and having some high school lessons. Thank you to the Year 10 Peer Support Leaders who helped the younger students; and a big thank you to Mrs Kris Croft for the organisation of the day and to all staff who assisted. The Year 10 Valedictory is a great time of celebration; thanks to all parents, friends and family who were able to join us for this event. Congratulations to all those who are receiving awards, and certificates and thank you to Year Advisers, Ms Erica Smith and Mr Peter Laffan, for all their hard work. We were also very proud to win the Vampire Shield again – our students gave the most blood this year and that shield was presented at the Formal Assembly this week along with a large number of Principal’s Commendations and other awards. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year – all refreshed, organised and ready to work. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Year 7, 11 and 12 start on Monday 30th January and Years 8, 9 and 10 return on Tuesday 31st January. Anne Matley Principal

Don’t forget to purchase your copy of this year’s ACORN (School Magazine) from the Office – cost $10.

Worldskills Medalists

Pictured: Isabelle Hunt, Gold Medal in Commercial Cookery; Brendan Howe, Gold Medal in Metals and Engineering and Byron Smith, Silver Medal in Primary Industries celebrate with AHS Principal, Anne Matley. Each year apprentices and first year Vocational Education and Training students are offered the opportunity to showcase their skills in the Worldskills competition. Every second year students who win this Regional competition are invited to go onto State and National level. This year Armidale High School hosted the Regional Worldskills; using the new state-of-the-art kitchens and hosting Commercial Cookery for the first time. In the Commercial Cookery Armidale High School was represented by Isabelle Hunt and Carel Teseling who competed against eight students from across the Region. The four judges were Hilton Haddon (Ex-Services Club representing the industry), Barry Passkey (Armidale TAFE, Head

Wednesday 8th December 2010 Issue 17 – Term 4 – Week 9

Judge), Annette Turley (Duval High) and Karen Haywood (Moree Technical High). ‘Isabelle’s gold medal is a deserved reward and testimony to her commitment,’ Mrs Kim Morgan, Head Teacher Technology and Applied Sciences commented. Isabelle, who found the experience ‘nerve wracking’, believes the whole experience has been a very valuable one in developing confidence in her skills. Brendan Howe’s natural talent has impressed his teacher, Mr Michael Lord, over the years. ‘Brendan has been involved in metalworking since Year 7; he picks up skills very quickly; is accurate, determined and efficient. His willingness to share his expertise makes him a particularly valuable member of the class,’ Mr Lord said. To achieve the Gold medal in Metals and Engineering, Brendan had 6 hours to make a hobby vice; an intricate task, with an emphasis on skills and accuracy rather than machining skills. The judges were Chris Rowbottom, representing the Industry, a previous AHS student who achieved highly in the competition as a school student and is now involved in judging at the National level and Tony Walsh from Armidale TAFE. Mr Barnet, AHS Agriculture teacher, commented that the three students who represented the school in the Primary Industry section all performed extremely well, with the top medals being decided on a count-back. Byron Smith won the silver with Eleanor Brazier and Samantha Webster featuring in the extremely close results. The judges for the competition were Lindsay McDonald, Amanda Dooner and Belinda Millgate who judged fencing, first aid and tree planting and fertilization. Mrs Morgan observed that the results were extremely pleasing all round and cemented the position of Armidale High School as the school leading the way in Vocational Education and Training.

Christmas in Germany! Four students are off to Germany on Friday 26th November for 10 weeks as part of our long-running exchange program. Josh, Stephen, Rachel and Liam will be spending a white Christmas in Göppingen with their exchange families. The German students attended Armidale High from June to August this year and thoroughly enjoyed their Aussie adventure. Our students will attend the Hohenstaufen Gymnasium (a selective high school), have the opportunity to go skiing or snowboarding, see different parts of Germany (and maybe a bit of France, Austria and Switzerland) and greatly improve their language skills. Ms Matley and Mrs Evans will visit the school in January to foster exchange opportunities. We wish the students ‘’eine gute Reise und viel Spaβ’’! Jenny Evans

Josh Dobos, Liam Monaghan and Rachel Jones.

Stephen O’Hern, Josh Dobos, Rachel Jones and Liam Monaghan


N.E. Regional Vocal Camp 23rd -25th February, 2011

Venue: Lake Keepit Sport & Rec Camp During the course of this camp a vocal ensemble will be formed and an audition CD/DVD prepared which will be used as audition material for State Choir events, School Spectacular, CAPERS and other regional events. There will also be opportunities for solo and small group performances. Applications are now open!!! DON’T MISS OUT!!! If interested please see Mrs Teege or Ms Archer for more information and/or application forms. Got Your Ls ... or planning to get them? keys2drive – a joint initiative of the Australian Automobile Association’s clubs (ie NRMA in NSW) and the Australian Government – is set to change how novice driver training is delivered in Australia. Over time, it is hoped that the keys2drive program will contribute to a reduction in the number and severity of crashes involving young drivers. A keys2drive lesson is unique for a number of reasons: it’s FREE – the Australian Government is

funding a total of 200,000 lessons Australia-wide

it can only be delivered by a specially accredited keys2drive professional instructor

it gets the Learner’s supervising driver (most often mum or dad) involved too – teaching them the safest way to coach their Learner; and

it has the support of Australia’s motoring clubs, licensing authorities and driver training industry.

A recent survey of more than 200 keys2drive customers reported a 94% overall satisfaction rating with the program. If you already have your Ls or are planning to get them over summer, or if you’re a parent and will be or are already supervising a Learner driver, book now to avoid disappointment. Log on to www.keys2drive.com.au to register your details and book your free keys2drive lesson.

Christmas Holiday Tennis Camps Multi Standard Program

Camp One Monday 20th December to Thursday 23rd December 2010

or Camp Two Monday 24th, Tue 25th, Thur 27th and Fri 28th January 2011

9am to 2pm Cost: $120 each

Program 9.00am – 9.30am Warm up exercises, games &

dynamic stretching 9.30am – 10.30am coaching and tennis related

games 10.30am – 11.00am break for recess 11.00am – 12.30pm coaching and tennis related

games 12.30am – 2.00pm lunch and match play Students are required to bring a packed recess and much with a small canteen in the TAS pool available for their use as well. Students must also bring a drink bottle, hat and sunscreen. VENUE – TAS tennis courts – Chapel St entrance (All wet sessions will be held in the TAS gym) * No part payments or daily deductions, all fees to be paid on the 1st day of Camp.

**BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL - CONTACT JUSTIN 0423 915 850** Forms can be obtained from the AHS Office. Holiday Tennis Camps The camps will be held at the Sport UNE on the

following dates:

Monday the 10th of Jan - Thursday the 13th Jan

Tuesday the 18th of Jan - Friday the 21st of Jan

Students aged 6-10 will be held from 9am till 12pm.

Students aged 11-15 will be held from 1pm - 4pm.

To book your place please call Mitch on 0405 997

714 or email on [email protected].


TABLELANDS COMMUNITY TRANSPORT

BIG BUNCH OF FUN

Tuesday, 11 January 2011 $38.00 12-18 year olds

Includes bus trip to Coffs Harbour, 1.5 hours in Banana Slip Waterslide & Fun Park

1.5 hours in the Big Banana Skating Rink 2 x toboggan rides

1 x World of Bananas Theatre & plantation tour Bring a hat, sunscreen and packed lunch (or buy)

Bookings and payment due 22 December 2010

Bus departs Uralla Visitor’s Centre at 6.30am and Armidale Visitor’s Centre at 7.00am

Parents welcome $10 bus fare plus park entry

Bookings call Linda or Margaret (02) 6778 4089

[email protected] www.tablelandscommunitytransport.com.au

Nadya Kemp’s Picture Book As part of a unit on composing picture books, Nadya Kemp, Year 7, authored and illustrated a delightful story about a naughty young boy and his reformation. Nadya is shown here presenting her book to Sue McLeod, Librarian, who will accession it into the school library for others to enjoy.

Feast The year 12 Ancient History Class are currently studying the Cities of Vesuvius Pompeii and Herculaneum. Last week the annual AHS Roman Feast was held as a part of their continuing study of Roman houses, ancient food and dining customs, Roman clothing and naming conventions. The students researched surviving recipes from ancient Rome and then consumed the feast in a classroom converted into a typical Pompeiian triclinium (Dining Room). A first course (gustatio), primae mensa (main course) and secundus mensa (dessert) were enjoyed in a reclined position. This kind of historical re-creation is a reward for hard work in the first term of the HSC year and an excellent way of re-enforcing knowledge acquired in the classroom.

Back row: Alex McDonald, Alice Gaywood, Sam Clement, Meg Pierce, Ben Calvert, Maddi Ryan, Leo Pastor-Kellet, Front row: Tabitha Gailer, Robbie Braithwaite, Angus Swan


English Studies 2010 saw the inauguration of a new Stage 6 English course at Armidale High: English Studies. Armidale High School is a pilot school for this innovative course, which offers a rigorous program of study matched to the needs of students who need to balance work place commitments with HSC preparation. As part of the Module: English and Family Life, students interviewed family members and published a superb family cookbook made up of treasured family recipes.

Vampire Shield The Vampire Shield is presented to the school in the New England Region which has the highest total of student donations at the Blood Bank. AHS has over 50 regular donors and donated over 100 units; thereby helping to save the lives of over 300 patients. Rachael Knott (shown here holding the shield and Maddi Ryan have both donated 5 times.

Notes from Music Schools Spectacular Stephen O’Hern and Nick Kelly were great ambassadors for AHS and public education at the recent Schools Spectacular. Held at the Sydney Entertainment centre with 3,500 performers and capacity audiences of 10,000 this variety show will also be screened on television on 7.30pm Sunday, 12 December on ABC1 (1.5hr version)and 7.00pm Sunday, 19 December on ABC2 (2.5hr version). Stephen performed “Roundabout” solo on an empty stage, which is unusual for school spectacular as the stage is usually full of dance groups doing massed choreographed movement! After a tumultuous response from the audience Stephen joined Inverell High student Melanie Dyer to perform her original song. Stephen also joined the entire cast for the colourful finale. Nick Kelly performed as one of the junior ensemble of singers. Nick appeared in three segments all of which showcased his bright stage personality, dance skills and of course voice. If you are interested in finding out more about school spectacular visit their website http://www.schoolsspectacular.com.au. School Ensembles A big thank you to all the students who have been part of music ensembles in 2010. It takes commitment and application to maintain involvement and all students have contributed to the high reputation of our school through Eisteddfod, State Instrumental Concerts, Creative Arts Festival, New England Sings and many community performances and competitions as well as entertaining us at formal assemblies. We look forward to your involvement in 2011. Australian Youth Orchestra Congratulations to Aidan Gallagher and Zac Grafton (Year 12) who have been offered reserve places for the Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camp and Young Symphonist program. This reserve placing puts them in the top 5 nationally against students from around Australia, many of whom are professional music students much older and experienced than our Yr 12. National Songwriting Competition A large number of our Year 9’s and 12’s entered this national competition. This year had unprecedented number enter and Zac Grafton (Yr 12) was awarded Highly Commended in the Open Classical Instrumental Composition.


2010 Presentation Evening

Caitlin Argent-Schutz, a Year 11 student, presented a report from the SRC. Caitlin reported on an active year for the SRC with support to Pakistan Flood Appeal, Forty Hour Famine, Fred Hollows Foundation and the local neo-natal care unit. She thanked, especially, Mr Bartolo and Ms Thurgood for their input and the outgoing Year 12 members: Elijah Fittler, Aidan Gallagher, Izabella Glover, Kasimir Gregory, Toby Killen, Brooke Maisey, Liam Porter, Ben Sindel, Serena Turner, Lauren Weston and Faza Wulandari. Mr Peter Dooley, presented a number of Major Sporting Award, including the Ailie Dooley Trophy to the Outstanding Girl Swimmer, Karlee McMillan, and the Outstanding Athlete Award to Natalie Waters.

Guests at Armidale High School’s Speech Night: Mr Martin Brown, President of the Armidale Lions Club; The Honourable Tony Windsor, Federal Member for New England; Mr Peter Ducat, Armidale Dumaresq Mayor; Ms Anne Matley, Principal; Mr Phil Jones, School Education Director and Mr David Gee, former Principal of AHS. Mr Martin presented the Ben Partridge Memorial Award to Te Kapua Heremaia; Hunts Carpets Award for Diligence to Scott Fisher; Dymocks Award for Diligence to Tousif Islam; the Lions Club Award for Superior Academic and Community Involvement and the Lions Club Youth of the Year Award to Tara Riley . Mr Peter Ducat presented the Peter Monley Memorial Hope Award to Natalie Smith; the Armidale Council Citizenship Award to Carel Teseling; Ducat’s Hope Cultural Award to Angus Gallagher and the Newcastle University Award for Excellence in Science, Year 11, to Codey Burton. Anthony Saltis performed as part of the Senior Jazz Combos final performance. Anthony has been selected for Encore which showcases the best HSC works in the state.


The guest speaker, Peter McDonald, graduated from AHS in 1996 and was awarded a Bachelor of Education from UNE in 1999. He became a professional cyclist in 2008 and in 2009 was Australian Road Champion and Oceania Champion. In 2010 he was King of the Mountains Tour Winner of Langkawi, Malaysia and came second in the Japan Cup in October this year. Mr McDonald described how he had made the decision to leave teaching and become a bike courier which he described as ‘a lot of fun and a lot of freedom’. This decision opened a whole new world which has included riding through the deserts of Qatar, enjoying the patisseries of France and riding in his favourite place, Japan.

School Captains, Tara Riley and Christopher McGrath, who compered Presentation Night.

Johnathon Brown, Tyran Blair and Fred Campbell with Mrs Leslie Widders who presented the AECG Award for School Commitment to Tyron; the

Widders Family Award for Aboriginal Leadership to Birrahlee Cutmore; the Jenny Thomas Awards for Peer Support to Cameron Cormack and Felicity Barker Smith. Felicity also received the Zonta Club award for Maths and the Astrid Knirsch Award for German.

Sayma Hussain, Ms Anne Matley, Mr Andrew Curry, Year 7 Adviser, Alex Brown

and Aidon Turner. Sayma was awarded a Silver Medal; Alex received a major sporting award and Aidon received the Armidale Youth Futures Award for Encouragement, Year 7.

Mr Steve Goode, Mrs Kim Morgan and former AHS Principal, David Gee. Mr Goode presented the Steve Goode Mandatory Technology Awards

to Ada Garvey and Alex Cormack; the Steve Goode Award for Junior Numeracy to Elana Leske; the Howard McKern Memorial Prize for Junior Industrial Arts to Hugh Reeves and the AOK Signs Award for Industrial Technology to Patrick Killen. Mrs Morgan and her team were responsible for the organization of Presentation Night. Mr Gee presented the Black Dot Music Award to Stephen O’Hern; the David Gee Award for Music to Sam Prosser and the Struddys Sports Store Award for junior participation in Sport to Alex Brown.


Our Trip to Japan 2010 A Group of 14 students – 12 from AHS and 2 from Duval HS travelled to Japan with Mrs Moore and Mr Ryan for 17 days during the September holidays. The students were excellent ambassadors for our school and Australia. Here is a recall of our trip by 3 Year 9 students…… We left Armidale on the 22nd of September after farewelling our parents. After 15 hours of awesome plane travel we finally arrived at Kansai airport around 8am. We stayed one night at Osaka and visited Osaka castle. Next day we travelled to our sister school in Inami by train. It took 3 hours as it was on the other side of Japan in countryside Toyama Prefecture. Everyone was excited to meet us!! After we were welcomed we were split up and went home with our host families. We spent Saturday with our host families and met up with everyone for a BBQ on Sunday. For the next 2 days we had lots of fun at school with all the nice Japanese kids. Wednesday morning we went to school for the farewell ceremony. It was quite sad. Next we went by train to Kanazawa and had a tour of a really cool Ninja House. We made our way to Kyoto catching out first Shinkansen (Bullet Train) and stayed at the Tomiya Japanese style inn. We got up quite early to catch another Shinkansen to Hiroshima. We went to the A-bomb dome, Peace Park and Museum. After going through the Peace Park Museum we hung up our 1000 cranes near Sadako’s children’s monument. Next we caught a ferry to Miajima Island where there is a famous Torii gate in the water. We spent the afternoon riding bikes and patting deer. The next day we went to Himeji to see the well- known Himeji Castle. In the afternoon we went to a small village with a bamboo forest and a temple. The following day we visited lots of temples, they were: The Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji), the Rock Garden (Ryoanji), Nijojo Castle which had a nightingale floor and the Sacred Water Temple (Kiyomizuclera). The next day we travelled to Nara, the Ancient Capital of Japan. We saw the Big Buddha which is housed in the largest wooden structure in the world, Todaiji Temple. Next we made our way to Tokyo. We walked through the suburb Akihabara to visit electrical

stores. We spent the next day sightseeing around Mt Fuji. We caught different types of transport to see different areas. The Japanese call Mt Fuji, Fujisan. The next morning we travelled to Disneyland and we arrived there at 9:30 am and spent nearly 12 hours there. We had an awesome time. The next day was our last full day in Japan. We went to Studio Ghibli museum and the suburb of Shibuya where the famous crossing is. The next morning it was time to head home. Everyone was tired and reluctant to leave because we loved Japan so much. We had another 15 hours on planes and fully used our privilege of entertainment in-plane systems. We had a 6 hour wait in Sydney airport where we realised how different Australia and Japan are. When we finally arrived in Armidale our loving families were there to greet us after 2 and 1/2 weeks away!!!! Our thanks to Mrs Moore and Mr Ryan for all their organisation and patience. By Maddi Dyall, Saskia Knable and Niamh Simpson


Host a murder – Forensic Science Elective Yr 8 “You’re at a bbq having fun with friends whom you haven’t seen in ages, when you hear a commotion outside.” This is the scene you are introduced to. You have to discover who the vampire among your friends is because the host to this bbq, Nora, has been bitten by a vampire three times and it has flown off as a bat. Every character is under suspicion because they all have something to hide. Could the vampire be Jacqueline Hyde, a body builder who mysteriously vanishes in the middle of the night? Or could it be Juan Stephen Lagrave who is the son of Albanian funeral home Director and spends most of his time at the graveyard? What about Freda Evertin who is terrified of everything? Dwayne Denartery a prince, whose government has been overthrown and has fled his small eastern European country, then cheats on his girlfriend? Or could it be Anita Lotta Tai-pei whose parents left with the family fortune? She is going out with Dwayne but why, when she hates him? And what’s the go with Howie Bledsoe? Surgeons had to transplant every organ in his body after that freak accident during hurricane Vlad and he is obsessed with Nora. Robin O’positive is 15 and the state’s youngest surgeon and everyone loves her sunny disposition; and Killian Killagen is a superstar who is obsessed with everything spooky. At the end of recess, forensic science elective students went to the hall for a fun filled afternoon. We broke up into two groups and each person received a character booklet. This provided personal information and gossip about the other characters. There were four rounds, where we interrogated each other and discovered each other’s secrets. At the end of the fourth round, we had to make accusations as to who we thought was the vampire. (As it turns out Anita was the vampire, and no one suspected her.) All in all we had a great afternoon with food provided throughout and we learnt how to communicate better with our classmates. Thanks to Mrs Sajeev, for organising it, and to Charlotte Hunt, Chiara Vassallo (who organised the groups), Brett Field and Emma Austrin-Miner (who hosted). By Courtney Parker


Year 7 Camp to Woody Head Enter into our fantastical, wonderful, epic journey into the unknown of long ‘blissful’ walks, sunburn, blue bottles and sand! It all started off on a 5 hour bus trip where we found our first challenge which turned silver shoes brown and fluoro shoes even browner. We had to scramble our way up the treacherous rock called Weeping Rock. At our campsite our second challenge awaited: to put up our tents (which the girls clearly won at). Next we were briefed with our mission that involved the rules of the campsite. Then the beach came. We had a great time getting seaweed slaps. We were starting to get scared of going back to camp, or at least of Mr Curry’s cooking. We then went on a night beach walk where we were chased by crabs and relationship blossomed. The next day, thankfully, our tents stayed up. After a few hours of our mini ‘ashes’ we went on what felt like a 100km walk that was only 10 km, through all conditions and terrain. We encountered blue bottles, chaffing, blisters and (surprise, surprise) sand! We tackled the mountains like Bear Grills wannabes. Just as we neared starvation, we arrived at the buses. Then we drove to Yamba and had lunch and got wiped out by some waves. Then we got back to the camp and played our very own crazy version of “minute to win it”. Afterwards we went to “bed”. A new day dawned, and after a “century” of cricket (ha-ha), we finally set off for a day full of treacherous ticks and long walks. After we travelled to Iluka we set out towards tiresome rainforest tracks and peculiar rock pools and the magnificent beach. After a tasty lunch we leant why Iluka rainforest is a world heritage site. After this we were escorted back to our camp site and we dived into the cool beach water for a couple of hours. Later that night we had a showcase of our talents (the girls clearly won again!) and then finally the moment of truth: the reminiscent of camp; the bizarre, abnormal, slideshow of our wondrous, epically awesome journey. The following morning we crammed our tents back where they belonged, and got ready to go back to Armidale. We listened to Good Charlotte- the Anthem about 1 million times. Relief hit as we finally reached home.

We would like to thank all of the teachers: Mr Curry for pushing us to the limit, Mr Channon for awesome bush walks, Ms Galletly for the crazy minute to win it, Mr Smith for keeping a smile on our faces and Mrs Jenkins for putting up with our queer and unnatural behaviour. We had a great time and would like to finish off with an often heard quote: NOT FAR NOW! Callum Argent-Schutz, Melanie Brash, Caitlin Sillar, Sarah Bennett and Lydia Austrin-Miner.


Australian Mathematics Competition 2010 Fifty students from Armidale High School participated in the Australian Maths Competition this year. The competition is an international event which tests everything from basic numeracy skills through to advanced problem solving. Our students achieved very pleasing results with Tousif Islam achieving a Distinction and 13 Credits being awarded. Jarod Hartung, Year 7, achieved exceptional results in gaining a Prize, the highest award. His achievement was commended by Graeme Fell, organiser for the competition at AHS. ‘Jarod’s Prize is acknowledgement of exceptional understanding of mathematical skills and concepts. We congratulate him.’

Schools Challenge Triathlon (Armidale Triathlon Club) Three teams entered for Armidale High School in the Schools Challenge which was held recently. In the senior competition, Karlee McMillan (swim), Codey Burton (bike) and Byron Smith (run) won first place for the third year in a row. Mitchell Knox (swim) and Brent Weston (bike and run) came second. In the junior competition, Maddison Russell (swim), Freya Weston (bike) and Melanie Brash (run) came third. All competitors are to be congratulated on their great representation of the school. Amanda Garvey

North West Regional Athletics and Swimming Carnival for Students with a Disability. This was held at Coonabarabran on Tuesday 23rd November and four students, Chloe Widders, Amanda Devlin, Morgan McCarthy and Blake Nelson attended. The weather was perfect, the students were well behaved and we all had a great time; staying overnight in a cabin. Our students competed against students from Peel High, Coonabarabran High, G.S. Kidd (Gunnedah), Inverell High and Duval. Amanda Devlin participated in every athletics event available and came away with 6 purple ribbons for being such a great participant; Blake Nelson was placed 3rd in 300m and Javelin for 15/16 year old boys and 2nd 70m, and received 3 participant ribbons; Morgan McCarthy was 3rd in 300m and 70m, 2nd in discus, 1st in javelin, long jump and shot put for 17+ boys and Chloe Widders was 2nd in 300m, 1st in javelin, long jump, 70m, discus, shot put, 33m breast stroke. Seaworld 2010 Year 11 Hospitality students travelled to the Gold Coast to participate in the Seaworld Resort’s Workplacement Program. For three days they worked in every department within the Resort gaining skills and experience. Some of the departments they worked in were Housekeeping, Front Office, Reservations, Food and Beverage, Kitchen and Maintenance. At the end of the experience the students that participated were tested and assessed in the competency ‘Develop and Update Hospitality Industry Knowledge’. This competency will go towards their Certificate II in Hospitality Kitchen Operations.

the oak leafarmidale-s.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/... · 2019-10-23 · page 2 issue 17...

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