Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2 - Peak Hill Central School

Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
Peak Hill Central School
Caswell Street
Peak Hill NSW 2869
Newsletter
T: 02 6869 1304
We are Respectful, Responsible, Safe and Successful
E: peakhill-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Celebrating 125 Years of Public Education
From the Principals Desk
F: 02 6869 1776
W: www.peakhill-c.schools.nsw.edu.au
School Calendar - Term 2
Tuesday
28 July
Rugby League 7’s –Dubbo
Welcome back to Term 3 which has already
gained a momentum as events and activities
125 Years Open Day
unfold. Staff and students returned to a very Thursday
30 July
11.30am Formal Assembly
cold start to the term. It may not have been
snowing but the weather was most certainly
Monday
17 Aug
Book Fair
unpleasant. The cold weather is a reminder
Tues /Wed 25/26 Aug Peak Hill Show
that all students should be wearing the correct school
uniform including the outer layer. I would appreciate all
parents ensuring that their children leave the house in
year’s theme was also chosen specifically to highlight and
uniform and appropriately dressed for the conditions.
celebrate the anniversary of the ‘Handback’ of Uluru, one of
these sacred sites, to its traditional owners on 26 October
The combined School Development Day with all the
Western Access Schools on 13 July was a great opportunity 30 years ago. Thank you to Ms Sarah Browning, Miss
for networking. The keynote address delivered by Directors Corina Barnes and Mrs Vicki Sharah for their organisation
Mr Glenn Stewart and Mr Michael Cronk explored the new of the events over the week which will be a highlight of the
reforms in education and what was impacting on schools in term for our students.
the next three years. I then facilitated a workshop on the
Australian Teaching Standards which are the framework for
the expectations of teacher knowledge, practice and
engagement with our profession. The remainder of the day
allowed staff from across the schools to work together on
programming and assessment. Thank you to Ms Crystal
Williams, Head Teacher Access, for her organisation and
Mrs Mary Wright for catering the event
Welcome Ms Camilla Bourne, who joins us this term as an
experienced English teacher for the remainder of the year.
We also extend a warm welcome to Ms Juanita Keed who
has been employed as a Student Learning and Support
Officer Ms Keed will be working with Stage 4, Years 7 & 8,
to support them in their learning and engagement with
school and the curriculum. We have also engaged Ms
Jordan Bennett as a primary temporary teacher following
the permanent appointment to Bunniyong Public School of
Ms Shailee Zaiden. I am sure you will make them welcome
in our school community .
This week we have held our NAIDOC Celebrations. The
National NAIDOC theme for 2015 is:
We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and
Celebrate our week began with a flag raising ceremony and
explanation of this theme to the student body. The theme
highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’
strong spiritual and cultural connection to land and sea.
“The theme is an opportunity to pay respects to country;
honour those who work tirelessly on preserving
land, sea and culture and to share the stories of many sites
of significance or sacred places with the nation.” This
Next week is EDUCATION WEEK. Education Week is a
time to celebrate the achievements and successes of our
students, teachers and support staff across all NSW public
schools. Public education is undergoing significant
transformation with a clear agenda of reform to provide the
best possible education for our children.
Great Teaching, Inspired Learning policy is raising the
standard of teaching at every career stage. Higher
university entry standards for future teachers have been
introduced, increased support for beginning teachers and
additional funding for teacher professional development
have been budgeted.
Tijuana Keed and Lilly Schaefer enjoying the NAIDOC
Week activities.
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
Principal
Mrs Paula Payne
Head Teacher Admin
Mr Paul Champion
Head Teacher Well
Being
Mr Jeremy Whiterod
Head Teacher T&L
Mrs Rachel Cody
Administration
Manager
Mrs Tanya Stanford
Aboriginal Education
Officer
Mrs Vicki Sharah
Assistant Principal
Primary
Miss Rachel Heywood
Miss Sarah Browning
Head Teacher of WAP
Ms Crystal Williams
In School Access
Coordinator
Ms Crystal Williams
P & C 2014
President
Mrs Donna Kopp
Vice President
Mr Matthew Sharah
Secretary
Mrs Cathy Goodwin
Treasurer
Ms Kim Dern
Education Week 2015 is an opportunity to
celebrate our successes and show how our
schools are improving to benefit every student
in NSW.
At Peak Hill Central School we have decided
to hold our 125 Years Celebration during
Education Week on Thursday 30 July. It will
commence with a formal assembly at 11.30
a.m. which will be attended by our Director for
the Department of Education, Mr Glenn
Stewart and Mayor Mr Ken Keith O.A.M. The
Mosaic Sculpture Garden will be officially
opened and the plaque commemorating the
milestone unveiled. All parents and
community members are warmly extended an
invitation to join us for this significant event.
Following the assembly there will be an Open
Day.
This week saw the publication of Harper lee’s
sequel to her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Go
Set a Watchman tells the story from a mature
character’s point of view. It was one of those
books which made a significant impact on me
growing up because of its strong themes of
fairness, justice and truth. Remember the
well-known quotation “You never really
understand a person until you consider things
from his point of view... Until you climb inside
of his skin and walk around in it.”
I look forward to sharing our school with you
over the next week as we join together to
celebrate our great school and its
achievements.
Mrs Paula Payne
Principal
School Leaders Program
On Thursday 25 June I had the pleasure of
accompanying our School Captains, Brooke
Carpenter and Alistar Koop to Sydney to
participate in a state wide School Leaders
Program. The day commenced with an early
rise as we needed to be at the Parkes Airport
at 6.00am for an expected flight at half past
six. Alistar and I had flown before; however
this was to be Brooke’s first flight. The thick
blanket of fog looked ominous as we travelled
to Parkes and the anticipated delay in
departure added to the tension for Brooke’s
maiden flight. We were delayed for nearly two
hours, finally boarding the aircraft at 8.00am.
A short flight to Sydney and a rushed train trip
from Mascot to the City and we entered the
New South Wales Parliament House.
Following an introduction from the Education
Officer, a selection of members from both the
Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
addressed the hundred plus School Captains
from across NSW. Brooke and Alistar were
introduced to Mr Andrew Gee MP, the local
member for the Orange electorate, where a
number of ‘selfies’ were taken.
The School Captains were then invited into
Legislative Assembly, the Green Room where
we witnessed an address from the opposition
leader Mr Luke Foley MP. The Bear Pit as it is
colloquially known was in full flight as the
members of the house jeered and booed
those opposite. The Legislative Council, the
upper house was certainly tame in
comparison. Students had the opportunity to
watch a debate
focused
on
proposed
amendments to
the regulations
for the closure
of small public
schools.
Following
a
light luncheon,
the
School
Captains
walked
the
short distance
to Government
House. The students had the privilege of a
tour of the grounds and public rooms before
meeting His Excellency General The
Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd),
Governor of New South Wales. The Governor
spoke with the students about the valuable
contribution youth can make to our society.
The inspirational talk was followed by an
opportunity for each School Captain to be
presented to the Governor and his wife, Mrs
Hurley.
The flight home departed Sydney at 7.20pm
and we returned to Peak Hill after nine an
exhausting though inspirational day. I wish to
thank Brooke and Alistar for their exemplary
behaviour and manner in which they
presented themselves as representatives of
Peak Hill Central School.
Mr Paul Champion
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
Future Moves
I’d like to focus this Future Moves article
around the program and its partnership with
CSU Future Moves, particularly for those
parents and community members who are
unaware of what it is. PHCS began its
partnership with CSU Future Moves in 2012,
with the aim to “increase the connection and
accessibility of university and other higher
education opportunities”. Since then, students
in all year groups have participated in a range
of workshops and activities offered by CSU- in
school as well as on campus in Bathurst,
Orange and Dubbo.
Coupled with this partnership was the
implementation of dedicated Future Moves
lessons from Kindergarten to Year 8, which
careers. (‘Career’ in the 21st Century refers to anything
are clearly mapped to the Australian Blueprint for Career
you do in your life. When viewed in this perspective, the
Development and aim to equip students with the skills,
relevance of PHCS’ Future Moves program is even more
knowledge and attitudes to effectively manage their
significant especially in a central school context.)
The success of this ‘full partnership’ was
recognised by CSU Future Moves who
recently
submitted
a
case
study
‘benchmarking good practice’ at PHCS to the
Federal Department of Education as an
attachment to their overall 2015 report. The
overarching aim of Future Moves is to help
students to better manage their lives,
learning and work. It is an investment in their
future, and I thank the school, community
and CSU for their continued support and
investment into the lives of our young
people.
Mrs Rachel Cody
Future Moves Coordinator
Traditional Indigenous
Games
Our group celebrated NAIDOC week by learning about
some traditional Indigenous games. Each time a new
game was introduced, we read about where the game
originated from and how our equipment these days differs
from that used by the Aboriginal people of Australia many
years ago.
centimetres in diameter. It was made of lime, ashes, sand,
clay and sometimes hair, rolled into shape, either between
the hands or the folds of a blanket, and subsequently
baked, thus making it smooth and hard.
Miss Rachel Heywood
A favourite among the students was Jillora (pictured)
where participants raced to spin a ball on the ground and
the team whose ball spun the longest got a point. We
learned that the spin-ball used in the northwest central
districts of Queensland was a round ball of about 2 to 3
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
As part of our NAIDOC celebration at PEAK
Hill Central School we were fortunate enough
to have the presence of the local police force
Kevin Read, Maureen Leonard, Wally Biles,
Tracey Bolan and Kristy Knight who not only
worked on building positive relationships with
the students, but shared their stories of
growing up and striving for a better life to help
out their people and the local communities.
The students related to how local people had
worked hard to join the police force, that the
police cover large areas of the state, they work
so hard as well as experience police force in
other countries.
Batons, Taser, gun and
handcuffs attracted much attention from the
inquisitive audiences throughout the school.
Kristy had a strong message shared her
knowledge of the dangers and warnings of the
use drugs.
The important message from the talks was to
go to school and do your best to be the
best you can be and Drugs are dangerous.
Miss Corina Barnes
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
NAIDOC WEEK
NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders
Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced
to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s
which sought to increase awareness in the wider
community of the status and treatment of Indigenous
Australians.
Peak Hill Central School celebrated NAIDOC week
beginning with a flag raising ceremony on Tuesday
Morning. We had many special guests come
throughout the week to speak to students K-10. A
special thank you to: Kevin and Brendan Read, Kristie
Knight, Maureen Leonard and the Parkes Police
department Activities were run each afternoon for
students K-6 leaning about the history and culture of
the Aboriginal people (see article below). To conclude
the week we had a short assembly where the dance
group performed.
A big thank you to Kyle, Casey, Braydan, Nakayla, Tyle
and Shyan for their effort. The Kindergarten and Stage
1 students sung heads, shoulders, Knees and toes in
Wiradjui and the cutting of the cake. The day would not
have been possible without the generous donations
from the following businesses: Duffs Butchery
Narromine, Coles Narromine/Parkes, Peak Hill
Butchery and Woolworths Parkes
Miss Sarah Browning and Miss Corina Barnes
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
They then designed a fitness program to suit their specific
goals and carried out the program for three weeks. On
Each week there will be a newsletter article promoting completion of the program they re-tested themselves to
courses run across the Western Access Program.
see if they improved. Students applied knowledge and
This program is highly successful in delivering a
skills learnt relating to types of training, designing
wider curriculum across our schools, maximising
programs and the nature of fitness.
student choice and achievement.
Sport, Lifestyle & Recreation –
Ms Trish Morgan
Trundle Central School
Year 11 SLR having been studying a module called
Fitness. Students develop the knowledge, understanding
and skills necessary to design, implement and evaluate
individual fitness programs. As part of their assessment
students had to carry out a range of fitness test and
compare their results to standards for their age.
The Standing Long Jump
The Sit & Reach Test
EDUCATION WEEK
You are invited
Thursday 30 July 2015
Assembly at 11.30am
In the school hall
With the unveiling of a plaque by
Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith
marking
125 Years of Public Education
in Peak Hill
And the opening of the Mosaic
Sculpture Garden
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
Drama Spotlight
This term in Drama, Stage 1 are continuing their
exploration of how actors use their vocal and expressive
skills to lift words off the page. Students have participated
in a range of drama activities, using simple props and
costume pieces, to engage their bodies and minds as they
learn about poetry and communication through dramatic
play.
Students have investigated how their voices can show
expression and emotion, and the clues that are provided
through the poet’s use of punctuation to create emphasis.
We looked at the use of meter in poem, and explored Dr
Suess’ Horton Hatches an Egg. This was a very
memorable lesson with students demonstrating their
understanding of meter by tapping on the desks. They then
created mood and atmosphere using their voices to create
sound effect.
Following this, we then looked at how we can use our
memories and sensory recall to improve our
communication of ideas. Students recalled their own
personal experiences, and used this to add expression to
their performance of poems in groups. From here, students
have begun exploring how they can recall their own
emotions and use these memories to show the emotions of
the characters they are portraying.
Students will then investigate how they can use their
imaginations, and ask themselves ‘What if?’- ‘What if I were
an astronaut, what would it be like?’ or ‘What if I were a
superhero?’ or ‘What if I were the leader of a band?’
The end of the unit will culminate in students collaboratively
‘writing’ a poem about a specific animal and then
performing it in their groups, demonstrating aspects of
meter and rhythm, expression, sensory and emotional
memory, imagination and ensemble skills.
Mrs Rachel Cody—Drama Teacher
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
School Noticeboard
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
School Noticeboard
Woolworths
CALL TO ARMS
Earn & Learn
PARENTS and CITIZENS ASSOCIATION
Have you ever asked yourself how can I help my
children? How can I be involved in their school days?
Well the answer is P & C!
2015
Dear Parents,
This year we will be participating in the Woolworths Earn
& Learn program. Through this program we will be able to
get new educational resources for our school/early learning centre – and all we need you to do is shop for your
groceries at Woolworths.
From Wednesday 15th July to Tuesday 8th September,
we are collecting Woolworths Earn & Learn Stickers. You
will get one Woolworths Earn & Learn Sticker for every
$10 spent (excluding liquor, tobacco and gift cards).
Place the Woolworths Earn & Learn Sticker onto a Woolworths Earn & Learn Sticker Sheet and when it’s complete, the Sticker Sheet can be dropped into the Collection Box here at the school or at your local Woolworths.
At the end of the promotion, we’ll be able to get some
great new equipment. The range is extensive and offers
lots of items ideal for our students – including resources
for Maths, English, Science and some fantastic fun supplies for Arts & Craft, Sport and for our library. If you’d like
to know more visit woolworths.com.au
au/earnandlearn
Winter Uniform Available
Parents and Citizens is an organisation run by the
parents (and any citizen who is interested in public
education) for the children and the school. We help raise
funds to ensure that our students have resources that
help them achieve the best they can. We have input into
what is going on at school. We are a forum to discuss the
good things that are happening and the things that are
concerning us as parents.
Have a voice, get involved join the P & C. Help us ensure
that our students are getting what they deserve- the best
possible public education.
It’s your students, your school, your voice.
Volunteer working with
children check
Attention all parents
As a part of our responsibility to keep our students safe
at all times, we require all volunteers within our school to
complete a volunteer working with children check. This is
Polar Fleece Jumper
$25.00
particularly relevant to the many helpful parents who
drive students to sporting events and excursions. If you
Guernseys- (Yr 5-12 only) $70.00
Woollen Jumper
$80.00
Canterbury Track Pants
$40.00
are a parent who regularly helps us out by volunteering
your time, please go to the website below and click the
blue button (pictured). Please note, this application is
FREE for volunteers. Please bring a copy of your
working with children approval to the top office.
If you need assistance or internet access, please contact
Navy Track Pants
$30.00
Rachel Heywood or Sarah Browning and we will be
happy to assist you with this.
Fleecy Track Pants
$18.00
http://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/working-withchildren/working-with-children-check
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
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Issue 10 Term 3 Week 2
Each year we run a Schools’ Challenge. Anyone who
registers for one of the events at the Stampede can
choose to register with a particular school; the school
racking up the most registrations in given categories,
receives a substantial monetary prize and trophy.
Hello everyone!
Welcome back to Term 3! With the new term comes a
wonderful opportunity to sign up for the 2015 Dubbo
Stampede to be held at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo
on Sunday 6 September! Many of you have been part of
The Stampede in the past, helping to make it a wonderful
community experience and we would love for you to take
part again or perhaps participate for the first time.
The event that often appeals to families is the 5.5km
Dingo Dash; a walk, jog or run that loops past animals
from all around the world. However, the 10km Cheetah
Chase, the 21.1km Zebra Zoom and the 42.2km Rhino
Ramble are also alternatives.
Details regarding events, times, pricing, merchandise and
the registration process are available at
www.dubbostampede.com.au
An event like The Dubbo Stampede also requires many,
many enthusiastic volunteers. If you think that
encouraging walkers and runners or helping out is
something you or your family would like to be part of, we
would love to hear from you via
contact@dubbostampede.com.au
We look forward to seeing as many of our local families
(and your friends and families!) as we can on Sunday 6
September.
Sarah Strahorn – Schools’ Co-ordinator
www.dubbostampede.com.au
If you are a parent or community member and would like to attend, please leave your name at the school office by the registration
closing date 29 July 2015.
All welcome.
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