Newsletter - Yanco Agricultural High School

Yanco Agricultural High School
As you sow, so
shall you reap
UPCOMING
EVENTS
Newsletter
Term 2, Week 10, 1st July 2016
Private Mail Bag, YANCO NSW 2703.
Telephone: 02 6951 1500
Fax: 02 69557297
Email: yancoag-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: www.yancoag-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
July 17th
STUDENTS
RETURN FOR
TERM 3
July 22nd – 24th
Shooting
Competition
July 29th – 31st
Fishing Trip to
Forbes
August 2nd – 3rd
KROP
August 4th
Riverina Athletics
August 5th – 6th
Shooting
@ Bowral
The coveted Coonabarabran Chamber of Commerce
Perpetual Trophy for the Best Presented Team in the Grand Parade,
awarded to Yanco Agricultural High School Equine Team.
August 18th
Travel Day for
Designated Leave
Weekend
August 22nd
Travel Day for
Designated Leave
Weekend
August 25th
School Photos
Extra-curricular
Activities
August 26th -27th
Hook Line &
Sinker Fishing
Trip to Hillston
Stud Limousin Heifer acquisition
CAPTAINS’ TRIP TO SYDNEY
On Tuesday the 31st of May, the four School Captains, of Yanco Agricultural High School,
Cambell McMaster, Deanna Johnston, Mitchell Pippin and Courtney Menzies, attended the annual
Captain‟s Trip to Sydney in the company of our Year Advisor, Mr David Haskins. We travelled by
Rex Airlines and the city train to arrive at our hotel that evening for an early night. The following
day was going to involve attending both State Parliament and Government House for informative
sessions about the system of parliament, run within our state.
We arrived the next morning at State Parliament along with over 150 other school captains from
around the state, including Hay, Hillston and Griffith. Within State Parliament, we were introduced
to 10 parliamentary members who briefly spoke about their roles and experiences whilst they had
been in parliament. Adrian Piccoli, our member of Murray and Minister for Education, was asked a
question from one of the students; “Is the current HSC testing system the most appropriate way of
determining the abilities of students?” This prompted some cheering from the other ministers and
eventually the entire room was applauding the young ladies‟ question before Piccoli could reply.
We then continued the day viewing both the upper and lower houses of the parliament. In the lower
house, representatives were arguing over a bill regarding the punishments that occur with regards to
disrespect shown in a courtroom. However, Gareth Ward, Acting Speaker, did pause briefly to
acknowledge the schools in his Kiama area and banter about it being the best region in the state. We
then sat in on the upper house whilst they were having a commemoration service for a recently
passed away member.
Our group then walked down to Government House NSW, where we were given a tour of the
bottom floor of the building and met his Excellency, David Hurley. Upon entering Government
House, we walked into a room containing paintings of all the previous Governors of NSW, each
wearing their past military uniforms, with the exception of Marie Basheer. A vast difference in
room size, room quality and decorations could be seen
between the main rooms and the old servants‟ quarters, as
the formal dining room, sitting room and ballroom were all
extremely glamorous. Each of these major rooms contained
a theme which was evident in the images contained within
the room. The dining room had a passionfruit vine running
through the carpet as well as other foods painted into the
ceiling. The sitting room had beautiful ceiling paintings
representing the four seasons of the year which came with
one central image displaying both day and night. Finally,
the ballroom had a musical theme that was seen in the
paintings of musical instruments across the roof. After our
tour, we were seated in the ballroom where his Excellency
entered and spoke to us about his role of Governor, how he
came to gain this title and also offered powerful pieces of
School Captains: Cambell McMaster,
advice for us as students. The three C‟s are what Mr Hurley
Mitchell Pippin, Deanna Johnston and
views as a Governor‟s priority; these are Constitutional,
Courtney Menzies outside
Government House.
Ceremonial and Community.
After his Excellency, Mr Hurley, had finished speaking we continued into his beautiful, well-kept
garden that backed nicely onto Sydney Harbour. Here we took some excellent photos and, as we
easily could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we wondered what Mr Hurley thought about his view
of the fireworks. We then left Government House for the airport and had a safe return flight back to
school; well in time for the start of State of Origin.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
The new temporary village is well underway with 14 demountable accommodation units now on
site. Due to the poor weather none of them are yet on their foundations but this should start to
happen this week, weather permitting. The purpose of this is that all dormitories have to have
upgraded fire protection systems and the school will have new fire hydrants at the same time. Over
the next 18 months all students will be rotated through the new demountable accommodation as the
builders work through each of the dorms. This work is not planned to start until the current Year 12
finish their Higher School Certificate so it does not disturb their examination preparation. The
school will work with the builders to ensure that next year‟s HSC students are similarly not
disadvantaged by being moved during preparation for exams. At the end of the program the
temporary buildings will be removed to another school.
The school has been through the selective schools process for 2017 and we hope to have a complete
year group of 60 students to start Year 7 at the beginning of next year. Applications have just
opened for students Year 8 to 12 to enter selective schools at the beginning of 2017. The interview
process for this will be early next term and I will talk to the school‟s P&C regarding a
representative for this panel. After discussions with the other senior executive and welfare staff the
school believes we can accommodate 375 students without overcrowding and creating issues with
student wellbeing. The schools current population is approximately 345 students.
Earlier this year the NSW Premier Mr Bruce Baird announced his priorities for the education sector
and as a result of this the school will need to go back and revisit the school‟s plan to meet and
report on these priorities. The school will work and liaise with the P&C regarding input for the
revised plan.
I wish all students the best over the coming holiday break and am looking forward to a hopefully
warmer next term.
Note Term 3 starts on Monday the 18th of July for all students. Sunday the 17th is designated
the travel day.
Gary Hunt
ADMINISTRATION REPORT
What a busy Term 2 we have had at Yanco, there has been so much happening behind the scenes.
Students Reports have been finalised and sent live on Millennium, parents should be able to access
their children's reports. If you are having trouble please call and we can help you.
Selective High School applications for Year 7 2017, parents will be notified by the Selective High
School Unit in July 2016 of their child's outcome. If parents have any queries they can call the
Selective High School Unit on 1300 880 367.
Applications for Years 8 to 12, 2017 opened on 27th June 2016. Application documents are on,
Education Public Schools and Selective High School websites. If you have limited internet access
please call the school and we can email an application. Closing date for the completed applications
is 22nd July 2016.
Griffith Boarding Expo was held on Thursday 16th June at the Bagtown Motor Inn, Griffith. Julie
Fitzsimon and myself attended this expo which was a huge success with a lot of enquiries for 2017
Years 8 to 12. There were twenty four other boarding schools attending the expo.
If your contact/email details have changed throughout the year could you please notify the front
office ladies Vivienne and Lindy and they will update your records. If you have any queries please
do not hesitate to contact the school.
A reminder to all parents, guardians and carers, when signing your children out of school during
school hours, 8 am – 3pm, please go to the front office and use the sign out book. After school
hours, from 3 o‟clock onwards, the sign out book will be in the Duty Room.
Alison Evans
School Administration Manager
BUILDING PROJECTS REPORT
There are 2 major building projects that have been started at the school in recent weeks.
Modifications to Bottom Mutch bathroom
This project has been in the pipeline for at least six
years and has recently been funded by DEC. The job
involves a new internal wall to allow the hot water
boiler to have its own room. Two new entrances are
being made to the bathroom - one from the Mutch
veranda and the other from an extension to the
hallway near the PE Staffroom. The new entrances
will allow the bathroom to be used without students
needing to pass close to the hot water boiler.
New Demountable Accommodation
This project involves establishing a new “village” comprising accommodation units for both staff
and students. The buildings will accommodate seventy two students in self-contained, air
conditioned single rooms and three members of staff, each in a two bedroom building. The
buildings will be arranged in three
groups on the hockey field. Each group
will be in a rectangular shape with a row
of twelve rooms on either side, staff
accommodation at one end and a
common room at the other. Each group
will have its own security system and a
timber deck and shade area over the
middle.
In turn, each of the main dormitory
buildings will be vacated for about a term as work is carried out to bring the dormitory buildings up
to the current standards for fire safety with the installation of sprinkler systems and new fire alarms.
There will be no access to the dormitory building while the upgrade is carried out
Another part of this project involves the construction of a new fire water main around the school
and installation of new pumps and water storage for the new fire system. This project is being fully
funded by the DEC.
The commencement of this project has also brought significant rain, with the hockey field being too
wet for the buildings to be placed in their final position, so they have been stored in one of the
paddocks till the ground conditions are better.
Bruce Hammond
COONABARABRAN - NW EXPO 2016
On 2nd June members of the Yanco Equine team travelled to
Coonabarabran, our trips ranging from around 600km to
1150km. Most of us arrived Thursday to set up camp at our
usual spot, with fifteen students and twenty one parents in
total. We were all very excited not only about competing and
representing the school, but to see each other, especially for the
parents to catch up with each other and meet new Yanco
“horse” families. There were only four students competing on
the Friday in the dressage phase of the eventing, so once
completed we all packed up for an early night. Friday night it
Bella, Jane and Laura
rained heavily and on Saturday we all awoke to hear the news
that there would be no riding until the team managers meeting at noon. We learnt from that meeting
that the Saturday events had been postponed until Sunday, and horses where only allowed to be
walked. This made Sunday a very busy day with events starting early with dressage and show
jumping. Completing the combined training and some of the One Day Event riders finalised the day
with their Cross Country phase. After checking results that evening, riders got dressed and ready for
presentation. Three competitors placing in the C grade divisions of the, One Day Event. In their
respective divisions Tully Byrnes placed 8th, Annabelle Hall placed 8th, Laura Harland placed
2nd and Jane Fitzgerald placed 1st. Moving onto the D grade divisions we had Brad Daunt placing
3rd, Georgie Constance placing 3rd and Bronte Doyle placing 10th. The excitement for our results
hadn‟t ended as the combined training results were called with Chloe Ward placing 1st, and Grace
Armour placing 3rd in the D Grade Division, along with Grace Daunt also placing 1st in C Grade.
On Monday, we had three students qualify for the working horse finals, all coming back with great
results; Molly Stubberfield placed 3rd in the 12yrs, Brad Daunt placed 3rd in the 15yrs and Chloe
Ward placed 1st in the 17yrs. In the Dressage, Grace Daunt placed 1st and 3rd in her novice
dressage tests, to place 2nd overall, and was Reserve Champion Novice Dressage Rider. Also,
Grace Armour placed 1st in her preliminary dressage test. Monday afternoon was show jumping
where Laura Harland placed 2nd in the Astronomical Show Jumping, Jane Fitzgerald placed 2nd
and Annabelle Hall placed 4th in the 95cm, Georgie Constance placed 3rd in the 80cm and Chloe
Ward placed 4th in the 60cm Show Jumping.
Throughout the day riders had the opportunity to squeeze in sporting events around their show
jumping or dressage. In their age groups Jane Fitzgerald placed 1st in the time trial, Tully Byrnes
placed 4th in the bending and Bronte Doyle placed 4th in keyhole. Yanco also had two teams
competing in the team barrel event, which was run on Monday night. One team included Tully
Byrnes, Georgia Nicholson and Molly Stubberfield. The second team was Brad Daunt,
Annabelle Hall and Jane Fitzgerald who excitingly took out 10th place! Remembering that there
are over 100 teams and this is the first time that Yanco has ever placed.
Tuesday was the final day of competition with students dividing off into the team penning and
hacking events. All riders in the ring were successful, with Grace Daunt placing 2nd in her hack
and 5th in her rider class, Annabelle Hall placed 4th in her hack, Molly Stubberfield placed 2nd in
her rider and 4th in her hack, Brad Daunt placed 3rd in his hack, Grace Armour placed 2nd in her
hack, Jane Fitzgerald placed 3rd in her hack and Chloe Ward placed 1st, Chloe then proceeded to
take out Champion heavyweight galloway hack.
After the completion of hack and rider classes, the riders doing hacking got prepared for the pairs
event where Laura Harland and Jane Fitzgerald placed 1st, Grace Daunt and Molly
Stubberfield placed 4th. The students then looked on as Brad Daunt, Chloe Ward, Laura
Harland and Grace Armour won the Team of Four riders. We also had Molly Stubberfield and
Grace Daunt in a composite team where they placed 2nd.
At the completion of hacking and team penning, it was time
to get ready for the Grande Parade, white bandages were
wrapped around the leg of every horse and the parents were
buzzing around making us look our best, Yr 12 students
Grace Armour and Meagan Lette led the parade with the
school banner, we were very excited after circling the main
arena with every one of the 480 competitors from all the
other schools, to claim the “Best Presented” large school of
the event and all students and parents (especially Nickey)
were very impressed as Laura Harland was named 15 year
old girls Age Champion!
Laura Harland on Foxhall Miranda
As students of Yanco we were very proud to represent our
school at Coonabarabran. The way we work together and help each other out makes it a very special
time for everyone. As students we are all very aware that the Coona experience would not be
possible without a supportive Principal, our team manager, Nickey Harland, and the parents who
take time off work to support our sporting interest. On behalf of all the equine students who went to
Coonabarabran, we would like to say a huge thankyou to Bob for supervising us every afternoon
and setting up jumping grids and going through a few polo cross skills. As well as Miss Troldahl for
helping with our dressage, we realise that it was your time and we all really appreciate your help.
Written By Grace Daunt & Jane Fitzgerald
Chloe Ward
Jane Fitzgerald
The winning “Team of Four”
Coonabarabran 2016
RIVERINA BOYS VOCAL WORKSHOP
On Monday 6th to Wednesday 8th June, the NSW DEC
Arts Unit held the first Riverina Boys Vocal Recording
Workshop in Griffith. Over the three days the boys
involved learnt the song “Weather with You” by
Crowded House in five part harmony. It took two days to
perfect the song, and once we did we had to record the
song at a radio station. On Monday we worked at the
Griffith Regional Theatre. The teachers‟ plane from
Sydney was late due to fog so we just practiced the song
to make it perfect, before the teacher arrived, to impress him. Our teacher arrived from Sydney at
12:30. We sang the song for him by which time we had completely learnt the song.
On Tuesday we continued to practice the song all day.
That day the workshop had ordered over fifty pizzas for
all the boys at the workshop. On Wednesday we worked
at the radio station and called in to the recording studio
group by group to record our part. Once all the parts
were recorded, they will be edited together and then
published on YouTube in the next couple of months.
Daniel Morris
CHESS REPORT
The YAHS First IV Chess Team travelled to St. Francis
College for the second Round of the NSW Junior Chess
League Country Secondary Schools Competition. A tight 2-2
draw resulted in St. Francis winning on count back 2-1.
Fittingly, it is important to remember that no one has ever
won a game of chess by taking only forward moves...
Sometimes you have to move backwards to take better steps
forward.
M. Young, J. Jenkins & J. Dickson
Grandmaster Robbie Gifford, Chess Coordinator
CAREERS EXPO - LEETON
On Tuesday 21st June, students in Years 10, 11 and 12 attended the Western Riverina Careers
Expo, held at Leeton High School. Students had the opportunity to ask questions from a variety of
people representing universities, private enterprise, TAFE, the military, government employers and
private educational institutions. There were also opportunities to participate in practical activities
linked to many of the TAFE exhibitors.
This Expo helped students to focus on their after school goals and to find out information relating to
this. Students had a thoroughly beneficial experience whilst at this event and many came away with
a clearer understanding of what they wish to do when they leave school.
REPRESENTATIVE RUGBY
Lachlan Carney was selected to represent The Central West for Rugby
Union. They played in Scone over the weekend of June 18th and after that
he went on to be selected for The Country Squad. Only five players were
selected from the Central West, so it's quite an achievement for Lachlan.
He was presented with a Country Championship jersey after being selected
in the Country side, quite a hard jersey to attain, yet, he gained the #1.
Well done Lachlan.
RIVERINA CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL 2016
On the cold, rainy morning of Friday the 17th of June 2016, 19 YAHS cross country participants
travelled to Gundagai to compete at the Riverina carnival. We were the school with the most
qualifiers and saw success in almost every race.
I would like to make special mention of Chloe Ward and Courtney Menzies‟ efforts on the track.
Chloe took out first place for the 17 years girls and Courtney took out the 18 years girls event. We
have nine students who have now qualified for the State Championships at Eastern Creek to be held
on Friday 22nd July.
All students participated to the best of their ability and I was proud to be the accompanying staff for
the awesome group of students from Yanco Agricultural High School.
Shaylee Millard - PDHPE Teacher / Sports Coordinator
BUCKLEY SHIELD
On the 24th June Yanco travelled over to Griffith High School to participate in the next round of the
state wide Buckley Shield competition. To say the conditions were unpleasant would be an
understatement. It was so cold in fact, that
before the game, three polar bears had to be
moved off the field to allow kick off to
occur.
The game itself was a tough forward battle,
with many mistakes and tough hits. Yanco
gained the early ascendency through a try
to Daniel Trembath. Joshua Elworthy was
able to kick a difficult conversion.
Yanco carried this lead into half time and
protected it well. Griffith scored an
unconverted try after fifteen minutes of
attacking Yanco‟s try line. Two late tries
for Yanco scored by Nicholas Bennett and Noah Saddler sealed the win for Yanco 14 points to 4.
The next round will be a match against the winner of Western region or North Sydney region.
RIVERINA CUP
The first round of Riverina Cup was played at Yanco with Leeton High School and James Fallon
High School travelling to take part in a Gala day. First match, on a day so wet that players would
have been better equipped with flippers rather than boots, was between YAHS and James Fallon.
James Fallon High School was somewhat underprepared for the well drilled Yanco side and were
handed a comprehensive defeat 42 – 0. Bryce Johnston was one of many stars, running the risk of
being kicked out of the front rowers union by scoring two, long range tries. A special mention must
go to Thomas Mitchell, who decided to help James Fallon out against Yanco and was undoubtedly
their best player.
Yanco‟s second match was against Leeton High School who were also victorious against James
Fallon. Again Yanco came away comprehensive victors 38-4. Beau Routley was the star in this
match, leading from the front with numerous bone crunching hits.
Yanco will now travel to Wagga on Wednesday the 29th of June to take part in the final of the
Riverina Cup, a title the school has not won in well over ten years.
RIVERINA CUP
On Wednesday 29th June YAHS Riverina Cup squad travelled to Wagga to take part in the final
Gala Day of the competition. The Riverina Cup is a prestigious Rugby League competition catering
for Under 16s Rugby League players, Year 10 and under throughout the Riverina. The competition
was the brain child of two former Yanco Agricultural High School teachers Mr Robert Sherriden
and Mr Gary Neville. The idea of the competition was to create something to keep school students
engaged in Rugby League between the Buckley Shield (Under 14s) and University Shield (Open
age) competitions. The Riverina Cup was first held in 1993 and was last won by YAHS in 2004.
YAHS were drawn to play Griffith High School, having both won all their pool games earlier in the
term, and progressed due to a forfeit. YAHS were now slated to tackle Young High School in the
final. The tone for this match was set in the opening two plays. YAHS kicked off and Beau Routley
and Jarod Brain lead a ferocious first tackle. The second tackle Beau Routley lined up and jarred the
ball free from Young‟s best player in a
vicious and legal tackle. Two plays later,
team captain William Barnes cleverly
scooted over from dummy half and the
score was 6-0 before Young High
realised what was going on.
The onslaught continued throughout the
first half. Beau Routley led from the front
in defence all match, physical asserting
his presence everywhere on the field. He
played like a man among boys. He was a
fearless leader of a destructive forward
pack. Jarod Brain and Bryce Johnston
were solid in the front row, laying the platform for the creative play out of dummy half from
William Barnes. Clever halves Jayden Pippin and Max Gay were consistently able to poke their
noses through the Young defence and capitalise on the forward packs complete domination.
After a twenty minute first half YAHS lead 24 nil with two tries to William Barnes, and one a piece
to Jayden Pippin and William Matheson. Jayden was razor sharp with the boot, converting all first
half tries.
The first half started very similar to the first with forward domination leading to a clever short side
raid from fullback Oswald Herrmann and another YAHS try. It was clear the Riverina Cup was
coming home. Jayden Pippin shanked the wide conversion attempt to take the score to 28-0. YAHS
went into cruise mode from here and played well to close out the game 28-4.
In a strong all round team performance it was difficult to single out a best player. William Barnes
was always creative and dangerous from dummy half. Beau Routley set the tone for the match early
and never relented. Young High School ball runners were always looking out for him and his work
with the ball in hand was just as impressive. Jarod Brain was his usual strong workman‟s like
performance in the centre of the field, supported well by Rugby League newcomer Bryce Johnston.
Bryce impressed in all matches throughout the Riverina Cup. He is a quick learner and despite his
position in the front row, probably the fittest and fastest player in the team. His work off the ball,
pushing up in support and running block plays was vital to creating space for his team mates.
William Matheson continues to develop into a powerful running forward. Halves Jayden Pippin and
Max Gay played controlled calm football, and without starring, did their job effectively,
consistently taking the right options.
The performance here shows promising signs for future YAHS University Shield aspirations. They
are a fantastic group of students and a pleasure to both train and take away. “Yanconians” in every
sense of the word.
Grant Coelli
CHS STATE AFL U15’S CHAMPIONSHIPS - ALBURY
Oswald Herrmann and Angus Boulton represented the South West Riverina Public Schools U 15‟s
AFL side recently in Albury at the State Championships held over 3 days, June 7th - 9th. A great
achievement for Oswald as this was his first season playing AFL.
They played in a round robin competition and won their first two games on the Tuesday against
CCC North and Western Darling. Angus kicked a goal against Western Darling which put them in
second place going into Wednesday. They finished up in sixth place overall.
Oswald played some great football and Angus did a lot of the grunt work playing out of the centre
and was mentioned in the best in several games. Both boys played to the best of their ability and
certainly learned a lot from attending the carnival.
ZONE ATHLETICS
YAHS took 72 students away for the Zone Athletics Carnival held in Griffith on Thursday 2nd June.
All students proudly represented their school and their behaviour and sportsmanship was
exceptional. YAHS placed 2nd for the day (1st being Wade High School). Casey Morris was
awarded Girls 16 years Age Champion, Tommi Booth 3rd for 13 years Girls and Natasha
Greenshields also 3rd for Open Girls.
Yanco Agricultural High School will be competing in 43 events at the Riverina Athletics Carnival
which will be held on August 4th in Albury at Alexandra Park. We look forward to seeing any
parents who can make it there on the day. Proceedings will begin at 9:15am and hopefully finishing
around 3:30pm.
Congratulations to all competitors.
Miss Kelly Seidel
TAS REPORT – AGRICULTURE REPORT
This term has been filled with lots of different agriculture events for the school.
On the 14th to 15th of May Mrs Quinn took a small group of Year 12 students consisting of Claudia
Kuerschner, Deanna Johnston, Lara Mitchel and Stacey Gardiner to the National Merino challenge.
The event was held in Sydney where they undertook many workshops and competed against varies
schools from WA, SA, VIC and NSW. Activities included visual scoring of sheep, condition
scoring, use of Australian Sheep Breeding Values in ram and ewe selection, wool typing and
valuing and feed budgeting. Students also attended the Industry Dinner, where they networked with
Wool Industry Professionals, university students and other secondary students. Deanna Johnston
placed third overall in the Secondary School Division. YAHS overall won the Champion Secondary
School Merino Challenge. Well done girls.
Students from Year 10 Animal Management travelled to Tamworth to tour Farrer Memorial
Agriculture High School. They learnt about the Helmsman auction selling system and watch the
Farrer Bull Sale take place. This trip was beneficial to those students as they are getting ready to
prepare for the Ram Sale they will be running in September.
Yanco‟s Shorthorn Bull, Kalvin Clein performed well in his division at the National Shorthorn
Show and Sale on the 14th June held at the Dubbo showgrounds. He placed 3rd in his competitive
class and was successfully sold to Warwick Knight and Family from Coonabarabran for $7000.
Cooper Carter also did well with a bull of his own, exhibiting the Grand Champion Shorthorn Bull.
The Yanco Equine students took part in the Coonabarabran expo where they were successful in
winning the best presented School. Well done to Chloe Ward for placing 1st in the Combined
Training and Working Horse Challenge, 4th place in Show Jumping and won Champion Galloway.
Also congratulations to Jane Fitzgerald who placed 1st in the C grade Division 2 ODE, 1st place in
Time Trial, 2nd place 95cm Show Jumping, 3rd place Galloway hack under 15hands, 1st place in
pairs with Laura Harland. Well done Equine Team.
Equine student Chloe Ward attended the Wagga Horse Trials and successfully placed 1st in her
division for eventing, well done Chloe.
On the 12th May Students in Year 10 Animal Management assisted in ultrasound scanning of the
Yanco White Suffolk ewes, with Year 12 Physics and Agriculture visiting to look at the use of the
ultrasound technology.
Phillip Balcombe from Canowindra travelled down to scan the ewes, showing the students how the
technology works and demonstrating what to look for when detecting pregnancy and the number
and age of foetuses. Ewes scanned in at 173% foetuses in utero, with a significant proportion of
twins and triplet bearing ewes to both the artificial insemination and backup rams. The Embryo
transfer program was successful with 50% of embryos implanting; slightly below the industry
average of 60%, however, still a good result given the unseasonably extreme temperatures at the
time of the program. These ewes will be due to lamb in Week 1 of Term 3 and Primary Industries
and Animal Management students will be involved in tagging and weighing lambs at birth for data
to submit to the LAMBPLAN database.
Mr Hammond, Mr Hunt, Mrs Fitzsimon and Mrs Evans took seven students to the Broken Hill Ag
Fair where they represented and promoted the school to future students in the Broken Hill district.
They visited School of the Air and participated in a Kindergarten lesson while also visiting the
Royal Flying Doctors.
On the 1st May students attended Dubbo Show and competed in Junior Judging of Merinos and
Meat Sheep and in the Junior Handlers competition. Rohan Lacey won the Junior Merino section,
took out the Junior Wool Handling Award and placed 5th in the Meat Sheep Section. Mitchell
Whyte placed 4th in the Junior Merino Section and Hannah Brown placed 3rd in the Junior Meat
Sheep Section. Amelia Rawling placed equal 5th in the Senior Merino Section. The school also
reviewed the Supreme Champion Prime Lamb of the show. Well done to those participants.
The Stage 6 Primary Industries and Agriculture students have had the duty of checking on the
school cows over their birthing period, this included checking for signs of troubled calving and also
tagging the newborns. They have finished up their calving with a success of no deaths and two sets
of twins.
The Year 7 students have continued their poddy calf unit and are currently raising five Friesian
poddy calves and one shorthorn poddy calf that was 1 of the twins, that unfortunately his mother
orphaned him. The shorthorn poddy is outperforming the Friesian which is to be expected due to his
productive breed of animal. The Year 7‟s have also been busy setting up their worm farms which
are being fed by the hospitality centre as well as recycled paper from the photocopier.
The Year 12 students have recently completed their farm case study on Rice and have had the
opportunity to venture into the local community to meet with growers and tour production factories
that handle rice. The students were able to look at farm gate to consumer processors and view end
products of rice. Thank you to Peter Draper for allowing us to visit his rice farm and to Coprice and
Sunrice for allowing us to tour around there company‟s infrastructure.
The winter crops are growing well after some much needed rain. Yanco received 112mm of rain for
the month of June. The next big task is to ensure we are able to control the weeds, which will keep
both the farm staff and Certificate III Agriculture students busy upon their return next term.
The steers are in from stud breeders across the state in preparation for Melbourne Royal Show. Due
to the lovely wet weather the team are awaiting the yards to dry out a little so they can carry on
training up the cattle. We have recently received a delivery of the new Le Martres Limousin heifer
which was donated to us by stud breeders from Albury who have been strong supporters of the
YAHS Ag program over the past two years. The decision was made to donate a stud heifer in calf,
following a visit from the stud to YAHS as they were very impressed by the stud cattle enterprise
and the way that students are involved in all facets of the program.
As we wind down for holidays, preparations are already taking place to ensure all resources on the
farm will be utilised across all year groups. The upcoming events to take place include lambing,
cattle joining, spraying weeds and fertilising crops, to name a few.
Luke Collins, Relieving Head Teacher TAS
STUD LIMOUSIN HEIFER ACQUISITION
The McCaughey Limousin herd here at Yanco has a new
addition, with the donation of a stud heifer from Leon
Martin and Ron Leary from Le Martres Limousins.
Yanco has prepared steers for Le Martres Limousin Stud
with much success, and following a recent visit to Yanco
by Ron, a decision was made to further support the
Cattle Stud Stock program by donating a pick of the drop
heifer. The heifer was shown at Canberra Royal Show
earlier this year and I am confident that she will go on to be a sound matron in the McCaughey
breeding program. Along with the heifer came 2 purebred limousin steers which will be prepared by
our students for Melbourne Royal Show later in Term 3. I would like to thank Leon Martin and Ron
Leary of Le Martres for their continued support and investment in the cattle programs that we offer
our students.
Luke Collins
TAS REPORT - 57TH NATIONAL SHORTHORN SHOW & SALE - DUBBO
On June 11th Mr Collins, our Head Teacher Agricultural, Jack Barnes and I, headed to Dubbo for
the Shorthorn National Show and Sale. We attended the Show and Sale from Saturday 11 th till
Wednesday the 15th June. It all began on the Monday with weighing and scanning, which was
carried out by Roger Evans who annually scans our
stud cattle here at Yanco. We were quite happy with
the bull which weighed in at 1052kgs and had scans
of 29/17mm and an eye muscle area of 130cm2.
The following day was judging day for Yanco Kalvin
Clein, who stood 3rd in a very competitive senior
class. Wednesday was the big day which was sale
day, and throughout the lead up to the sale there were
plenty of people enquiring about Kalvin Clein. There
were hundreds of people in attendance at the auction
Jack and Thomas with Kalvin Clein
ring, but at the fall of the hammer, the winning bid
was $7000 and it went to Warwick Knight and his family from Coonabarabran. Warwick annually
joins around 600 commercial breeding cows which consist of Charolais x Shorthorn cows. We feel
that Kalvin Clein will excel in the commercial side of things as he has all the necessary attributes
and an early maturity pattern which makes him well suited to a crossbreeding operation.
On behalf of Yanco Agricultural High School I would like to thank all purchasers and under bidders
for making it an excellent sale all round, I would also like to thank Mr Collins and Farm staff for all
the continual work and effort that has made this event possible. I would also like to thank
professional fitter, Jonno Tink for giving us a master class on show-ring preparation.
Written by Thomas Hotham
TAS REPORT – TEXTILES STAGE 5
Stage 5 Textile Technology class have made a range of garments this term and
experimented with tie-dyeing techniques. They have also produced design
folios and worked on improving their overall design knowledge and skills.
………………………………………………………………………………………….
TAS REPORT – WOOD WORK
This term has been a busy time for Woodworking: The HSC Students have been assembling their
Major Projects. Year 10 students have been finishing their Document Boxes. Some nice Pedestal
Tables have emerged from the Year 9 students, where woodturning dowelling and biscuit joining
have all been utilised to produce good results. Serving trays are starting to be completed by the Year
8 students with interesting handle designs taking shape. The Year 7 Students doing Technology
Mandatory in the Timber Focus have produced some very nice Door Stops to prevent the doors
slamming shut. The Year 11s are currently working on their VET Metals projects and students have
also worked on easels throughout this term.
YEAR 11 HOSPITALITY
Practicing their non-alcoholic beverages and preparing for the competition. Thank you to Miss
Posselt and Miss Troldahl for being our Judges.
YEAR 7 FOOD 101
Year 7 having fun learning to make pizza and work safely in the kitchen and using good hygiene.
DEBATING REPORT – YEAR 11 AND 12
This year, Yanco entered two teams in the senior category of the Premier‟s Debating Challenge.
The season started with our Year 11 team taking on Finley High School, achieving a successful
outcome against their team that dealt with the controversial topic of how Australia should raise the
entrance levels to universities across all degrees. Following this round and subsequent forfeits by
competing schools in the region, both our Year 11 and Year 12 teams were required to debate each
other on election issues in Australia. Whilst all members of each debating teams should be proud of
their efforts, our Year 11 team were again successful to progressing to Round 1 and Round 2 finals
of the NSW state competition.
After challenging teams including Albury High School and Orange High School at the top level,
Yanco‟s Year 11 team unfortunately were unsuccessful in progressing to Sydney for the State
Championships. However, they were acknowledged for their supreme efforts in this year‟s
competition and were handed the title of becoming Riverina Champions for the Premier‟s Debating
Challenge (Year 11 and 12). I look forward to seeing these students continue to debate in 2017 and
congratulate them on their successes in this year‟s competition.
LEADERS OF LEARNING – A NEW LITERACY PROGRAM!
This term, Year 9 and 10 students
were invited to undertake training to
help launch a new program at Yanco
called „Leaders of Learning‟. The
program seeks to train Mentors (Year
9 and 10 students) in literacy
practices in order to help boost the
achievement of our junior students in
Year 7. At the current stage, all Year
7 students will be asked to participate
in this program for approximately
one hour per week during Preparation.
In each session, Mentors will focus on helping their students deconstruct a vast range of texts using
a number of strategies they have learnt during three weeks of training at the end of Term 2. Some of
these methods include:
•
Inference – where a text is understood from a set of assumptions that can be made, either
through interpretation of images or written words.
•
Phonics – when the readers has an awareness of the different sounds made by words. These
sounds allow individuals to comprehend what they are reading.
•
Visual – focusing on the symbols and visual representation of characters/ settings to help
comprehend the text.
After an overwhelming response whereby over 70 students in Year 9 and 10 sought to be involved
in the training, their first session with their Year 7 Mentees will commence early in Term 3. It is
hoped that by participating in this program that our Year 7 students will not only gain further
expertise in reading comprehension, but our Year 9 and 10 students will build confidence in their
learning and ability to guide students ahead of future leadership opportunities in the Senior School.
It has been great to see so many enthusiastic members of the Yanco community involve themselves
in this new venture and I hope to see fantastic results once all students have commenced the
program.
Martin Dickens
YEAR 8 NEWS
Students in Year 8 will undertake a day of training on the first day of Term 3 to foster Peer Support
and Personal Development. The day will consist of a series of activities where students will
investigate how to establish personal goals to achieve success at school and how they can help
contribute and improve their local school community. There will be a number of staff involved on
the day. Please stay tuned for more information on this exciting day in the next newsletter!
YEAR 12 GEOGRAPHY EXCURSION - SYDNEY
From Monday 6th to Thursday 9th June, students in the Year 12 Geography class travelled to Sydney
to complete their compulsory fieldwork for the course and develop their knowledge and
understanding of two specific topic areas they are
currently studying.
On Tuesday students attended a fieldwork day with
the Observatory Hill Environmental Education Centre.
The focus of the day was "Building Better Cities"
which relates to their syllabus topic Urban Dynamics.
Students met at Customs House in Circular Quay, then
caught a ferry around to Pyrmont, where they
completed their fieldwork activities. That evening we
travelled back to Circular Quay by ferry to see some
of the “Vivid” displays at the Opera House and
Museum of Contemporary Arts, which should assist
students in their topic People and Economic Activity
and their focus area of Global Tourism.
On Wednesday, students attended a study day at St Andrew's Cathedral School. There were four
informative sessions that assisted students in their preparations for the HSC.
A big thank you is extended to Mr Greg Press for his assistance in driving students to Sydney and
his outstanding company. Another thank you goes to Hurlstone Agricultural High School, who
supplied students from YAHS with accommodation and meals at no charge.
GRANDPARENTS’ DAY
Following the success of the inaugural Grandparents Day last year, the school has decided to
incorporate it again into this year‟s school calendar. The date has been set for Monday 5th
September and is a great opportunity for the Year 7 students to show their school to their
Grandparents and special guests. This day is fast approaching and Year 7 students have been busy
hand writing letters to invite their Grandparents and special guests to the school.
The day will provide the students with the opportunity to show their grandparents/guests around the
school‟s farm, educational and dormitory facilities. Guests will also experience some special
musical items that are being prepared by the Year 7 students and will be able to view a selection of
the work they have completed in their classes.
Bruce Hammond
DRAMA CAMP
On June 14th Georgia Nicholson and Grace Hughes attended the Riverina Drama Camp at
Borambola on the outskirts of Wagga. While there the girls took part in drama workshops each day
where they learned new skills and perfected their drama skills.
Each day we chose a new elective to learn. We chose juggling, melodrama, costume design,
miming, scripted writing, physical theatre, interview and shapes and spaces.
“The best part about the drama camp for me was meeting new people and getting out of my comfort
zone. My favourite electives were melodrama and physical theatre because they were so much fun
and I got the most out of them. I also liked the interview elective as it taught me a lot of things like
presentation, being prepared and what to expect. I loved the final performance because it shows
how well and quickly we all adapted and used our team work skills
to put a piece together.” Georgia Nicholson
Every day we had play building which was when our assigned
groups would come together to work on their own piece for the
Saturday night concert. Every group had different materials to work
with as well as a different tutor to help put things together. Most
groups used sound and their bodies others used small things such as
lights, bottles, books and my group (Grace) used umbrellas to make
the item or object that was needed for the show.
“The best part of the week for me was also meeting new and exciting people and learning better
team building skills. My two favourite electives would have to be juggling and scripted writing.
Manly because it was something new and juggling was a challenge that I really enjoyed and I love
to write and scripted writing helped me to better structure what I was writing in a story. Overall it
was a fantastic week and I only wish I could have done my performance one last time.”
Grace Hughes
PONY CLUB RALLY DAY
In recent weeks arrangements to host Pony Club Rally days at YAHS have been developed and
implemented. Principal Gary Hunt wrote to both the Leeton and Zone Pony Club organisations
inviting them to use the facility, particularly on days of inclement weather. On a wet and wild
Sunday 19th June, fourteen pony club riders, including six from Yanco, enjoyed the use of the
indoor and adjacent sand arenas. The Yanconians were successful in obtaining or upgrading their
Show-jumping, Equitation and Cross Country grading. Riders and their horses were very tired by
days end after plenty of steady instruction and fun events in the sand arenas.
MUSIC NEWS
Students in the Drum Corps will be performing at KROP (Kids Rapt on Performing) at the Griffith
Regional Theatre on Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 August.
Tickets are currently on sale through the Griffith Regional Theatre Box Office. You can book
tickets via phone (02) 6962 8444 (Open 10-5pm Monday –Friday) or the theatre
website www.griffithregionaltheatre.com.au
Students in Year 7 and 8 will also have the opportunity to view the matinee performance of KROP
on Wednesday 3 August.
TERM 2 COMMENDATION AWARD RECIPIENTS
YEAR 12
Olivia Alexander, Grace Armour, Jemima Bargery-Medcraft, Sharalee Blair, Justin Bolam, Cody
Brown, Kimberley Butler, Madeleine Casey, Liam Catanzariti, Darcy Cromack, Tobias Daniel,
Olivia Gay, Courtney Gleeson, Natasha Greenshields, Matt Guttler, Alisha Harrington, Thompson
Helwig, Liam James, Deanna Johnston, Brittany Manwaring, Odette Mara, Cambell McMaster,
Courtney Menzies, Lara Mitchell, Mitchell Pippin, Chelsea Pratt, Molly Schlunke, Myranda
Thomas, Hannah Williams.
YEAR 11
Olivia Carbone, Jessie Cutcliffe, Benjamin Davis, Loren Gregory, Mia Groves, Charles Hogan,
Luke Howard, Abbie Hurst, James Kearines, Hannah Kolve, Kathy Mara, Aleksi McDermott,
Jaimee McQuellin, Simon Miller, James Morrow, Renae Nash, Reba Nicholson, Emily Parker, Zoe
Potter, Angus Smyth, Isabelle Steiner, Kelsie-Rose Thatcher, Zeb Uebergang, Chloe Ward,
Sebastian Webb, Alexandra West, Dylan Whiley, Erin Whitfield, Matthew Young.
YEAR 10
Amber Bevan, Jarod Brain, Ella Brooking, Lindsay Brown, George Clarke, Sebastian Clarke,
Emma Cullen, Abbey Curran, Hayley Dowling, Daniel Guilford, Laura Harland, Max Hatty, Kiara
Henderson, Jock Hudson, Lachlan MacMaster, Nelson Manwaring, Abbey McCloskey, Lyndsey
Mitchell, Casey Morris, Chloe Neilsen, Georgia Nicholson, Amy Pellow, Beau Routley, Cameron
Saul, Thomas Semmler, Arrabel Smith, Chelsea Stephens, Ashley Strachan, Zoe Thomas, Breeanna
Trembath, Ashleigh Turner, Kiera Whitehead.
YEAR 9
Jessie Armstrong, Jacob Brouwer, Katherine Butt, Natalie Byrnes, Cooper Carter, Kate Cattle,
Ireland Clancy, Jack Dickson, Emma Dixon, Justine Gribble, Lachlan Henderson, Michael Holz,
Molly Horneman, Lachlan Hughes, Charlie Hurst, Audrey James, Tashi Jansen, Brook-Lyn
Johnston, Jock Neilsen, Emma-Kate Nicholson, Bianca Smith, Anita Tagliapietra, Connor
Whitehurst.
YEAR 8
Kelsey Bandy, Rhiannon Bolam, Erin Brown, Summer Bullion, William Carey, Angus Clarke,
Maeken Danen, Dimity Evans, Max Findlay, Stanley Herrmann, Tully James, Kate LauritsenGraham, Elia Lelea, Harry Morris, Jessee Reid, Ned Routley, Noah Saddler, Tye Studholme.
YEAR 7
Aiden Bensch, Isabella Bergmann, Abigail Carey, William Dixon, Vincent Edwards, George Hatty,
Rose Hogan, Stevie Hurst, Eliza Kurrle, Rohan Lacey, Lucy MacMaster, Sarah Manwaring, Grace
McBride, William Price, Tahnee Purdie, Aaron Read, Molly Stubberfield, Ryan Thomas, Chelsea
Twigg, Rory Walsh.
STUDENT EXCELLENCE AWARDS PRESENTED TERM 2
For being selected to play Rugby Union at a Representative level: Lachlan Carney
For representing the Riverina in Netball at the NSW CHS Carnival: Courtney Menzies
For being selected in the NSW CHS Opens Rugby League Team: Zac Saddler
SAFER DIVERS COURSE
This Safer Drivers Course has been designed by the Roads and Maritime Services (formerly the
RTA) to establish safer driving practices for learner drivers under 25 years old who already have 50
hours real driving experience. It will assist young learner drivers to:
- Improve their own levels of safety when driving, by learning how to manage road safety risks.
- Increase current driving skills and acquire new ones through a combination of classroom learning
and practical supervised instruction from a professional driving instructor.
After the successful completion of module one and two of the course the learner will receive a
twenty hours reduction in their log book (from 120 hours to 100 hours). NRMA Safer Driving are
facilitating Module One of this course on Tuesday July 12th. The course will be held at the Leeton
Shire Library for a total cost of $140. Course numbers are limited to twelve people with a minimum
of nine people required to run the course. For further information and booking contact the Leeton
NRMA office Ph. 6953 3600 or visit the NRMA Safer Driving website at:
www.nrmasaferdriving.com.au/safer-drivers-course.htm
LIBRARY NEWS
OPENING HOURS: Monday – Friday: 8.30am
AFTER HOURS: Monday-Thursday: 4.30 – 8.30/9.00pm
Sunday: 1.00 – 3.00pm
VALUABLE LEARNING AND SUPPORT TIME: The primary role of all library staff is to
support and enhance student learning. This means that staff re available to work with individual
students and/or conduct tutorial type sessions. Students are encouraged to utilise this opportunity,
particularly if they require additional assistance with research and prep (homework) tasks.
4.30-5.30 (Monday-Thursday) is a designated time for individual support and each of the After
Hours Library Supervisors have specific skills that enable them to provide additional support.
AH Library Supervisors – specific skills
Monday/Sunday: Mrs Valerie Draper (Agriculture & Science)
Tuesday: Mrs Nicolle Sachs (Mathematics)
Wednesday: Mr Bruce Hammond (Business & Economics)
Thursday: Mrs Elizabeth Hammond (Library information & research).
After many years YAHS has a new Library
Management System. What does this mean?
It means that our library is now running on a single, browser-based
library management system (Oliver) replacing the library module of
state‟s 26 year old, DOS-based OASIS platform. This contract was
awarded in 2014 and since then NSW State schools have been
transitioning to this new system. „Oliver‟ utilises contemporary
technology, presents a familiar web interface, and has the capability of
searching across other repositories and integrating ebooks and other
resources. This transition has taken two terms of preparation by Library
staff and (with much relief) „Oliver‟ went live at YAHS on 23rd June!
Students can now access this new system via their student portal and
they are encouraged to click on the video links, which will provide them
with details about how to use this new system.
Year 11 student, Mathew
Young, first student to use
„Oliver‟.