Thomas Reddall High School
Term 4, 2019
Contact Us
Phone: 4625 4404
Email: thomasredd-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: www.thomasredd-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
Address: Cnr Woodhouse Drive and Jaggers Place
Ambarvale, NSW 2560
Principal's Report
Mrs J Fuller
It is hard to believe that this will be the last edition of our newsletter for 2019. For 2020, we have decided to move away from our newsletter format as most parents and carers engage with our other methods of communication such as Facebook, Twitter and SkoolBag.
Last week our Director, Dr Glen Patterson, presented our data to the Executive Team and there was a lot to celebrate. Some more work to be done in the area of attendance and adding value to student performance between Year 9 to 12; however, on the whole very pleasing. Our students are achieving comparatively to other schools in our local area when looking at the areas of numeracy, reading and writing.
Whilst we have continued to focus on attendance, parents and carers have the greatest influence in this area. Your continued support is appreciated and we would like to see every student exceed expectations and meet our new benchmark of 90% in 2020. Every day that a student misses places them at a disadvantage. The satisfactory completion of schooling is one of the key predictors of post school success. I recently set Year 12, 2020 a target to achieve this and at the time of writing, we have 49% who have achieved this. This 49% have also exceeded expectations with all of them attending 100% of the time. A remarkable achievement and I am extremely proud of them. I look forward to them enjoying the benefits of exemplary attendance and continuing along this path.
As the end of the year approaches, I would also like to thank all parents who have paid their fees. Your support is very much appreciated as this money goes directly to supporting your child. If you still have money outstanding, your prompt attention to payment would be valued. Please remember that fees do accumulate and what you don’t pay this year will roll on to your 2020 invoice. We do try to keep fees as affordable as possible.
We have had a number of students and teachers recognised at recent awards ceremonies. I congratulate the following students and staff:
Mrs Belinda Jones and Ms Kate Maher – The Teachers’ Guild of NSW World Teachers’ Day Award
Godfrey Wong and Chiramnoor Sahota – Victor Chang Award for Science
Olivia Masterfield and Chloe Hardy – Aboriginal Student Achievement Award
I would also like to formally introduce our Student Leadership Team for 2020:
Captains – Jhett Brewin and Jordan Paul
Vice Captains – Mark Lloyd and Anne-Marie De Audney
Prefects – Shivam Thakur, Alison McGuire, David Stone, Abdullah Abid, Yasmin Dinclik, Miriama Mangi,
Our school is fortunate to have such a high calibre of applicants and I know that this team will leave a lasting legacy for the students that follow them.
As we head towards the celebratory part of the school year, I would like to acknowledge the outstanding staff at Thomas Reddall High School who have all worked extremely hard all year to provide for your children. Our staff really do go above and beyond every day and I value the care and compassion that they provide to our students.
It has been an incredible year of learning and growing at Thomas Reddall High School. As the year comes to an end, I encourage all students and parents to reflect on their achievements and set goals for improvement for 2020. I hope to see you all at one of the many functions or events that are organised over the coming weeks. If I don’t get the opportunity, I would like to thank you all for your continued support of our great school. I wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas and hope that you enjoy some quality time with your children. I look forward to seeing you all in 2020.
The Teachers’ Guild of NSW World Teachers’ Day Award Recipients
Ms Kate Maher and Mrs Belinda Jones
Road Safety Concern
It has come to my attention that many students are still not using the supervised safety of the pedestrian crossing on Woodhouse Drive. We have specifically rostered staff there to ensure that students can cross safely. Unfortunately students dangerously maneuvering their way through a very busy road at 2.35pm.
Sometimes these students are crossing to meet parents who are waiting in their cars on the opposite side of the road. We expect ALL students regardless of their destination (walking home, crossing to catch the bus or meeting their parents) to use the crossing, the few extra steps are ones that will ensure their safety.
DEPITY PRINCIPAL
Ms L McGarry
I would like to congratulate students who participated in ABCN Interview or Impress and Leaders of Tomorrow Programs over the past few weeks and also the Year 9 students who attended the Western Sydney University’s Fast Forward Year 9 University Day.
Year 12 Students in the school’s Leadership Team recently completed the first day of ABCN’s Leaders of Tomorrow Program. The Program is run in partnership with American Express and students have the opportunity to work with senor and emerging leaders from American Express. The program is designed to equip students with leadership skills and provides them with the opportunity to share leadership experience and insight with mentors form the business world. Students will complete their second day of the program in the coming week.
The leadership group who participated in the program enjoyed the experience and gained some valuable insight into leadership and their own skills in this area.
A group of students also recently participated in the Interview 2 Impress program facilitated by ABCN. Interview 2 Impress is a one day program designed to equip students with the necessary, practical skills needed to engage in employment options beyond school.
The Interview 2 Impress Program allows students to experience realistic interview scenarios in a corporate environment. Students are able to practice their skills and work with a mentor who is able to provide direct and relevant feedback advice. Topics covered include effective non verbal communication, building rapport, a typical interview structure and questions.
Students who participated in the Interview 2 Impress Program found the experience enjoyable and informative. I would encourage all students to take the opportunity to be involved in this program when it is offered in the future.
Year 9 students involved in the Fast Forward Program attended a Year 9 University Day earlier this term. The theme of the day was ‘Rise to the Challenge’. Students participated in a range of activities aimed at developing their understanding of the value of tertiary education. The students had the opportunity to get to know the university campus through fun, interactive, challenging activities and to explore personal strengths while developing problem solving and critical thinking skills.
Students who attended this day enjoyed the experience of learning more about the university and the opportunities for future study and employment that are there for them to consider as they start thinking about their future study and career aspirations.
I strongly recommend to all students that they take up any opportunity to participate in any of the programs that are offered to them at school. Leaders of Tomorrow, Interview 2 Impress and the Fast Forward Program are only a few examples of the opportunities provided to ensure students have a range of skills and experiences to support the work they do in
classrooms every day. I would encourage all students to make the most of all of the opportunities available to them whether that be in the classroom, excursions organised to enhance classroom experiences, and external programs such as Fast Forward and the various opportunities offered by ABCN.
Deputy Principal
Mr P Whitherly
With the weather getting warmer and people becoming naturally more motivated because of this, I thought I would look at one thing that makes people more likely to be successful compared to others.
Generally I wake up at 5:15am, turn on the TV and coffee machine, before I make the children their lunch and get us all ready for school. Once they are dropped off at before school care, I can get into the car and start my journey to school. My latest craze is to listen to my favourite podcast series on the trip to work. Once I arrive at work, I meet and greet my colleagues before getting stuck into some yoghurt and grains/seed mix (cardboard in a bowl) ……… I have also been known to get a bacon and egg roll on the way in. I then look at my prepared list of jobs, check my emails and then begin my day.
When I’m playing cricket at the weekend I also start the day off with a coffee, pack my kit (the night before if it is an early start), head off to the game, get a feed on the way and arrive at the ground. Once I have organised my gear in the changing room, I head out with the others to warm up. My warm up is pretty similar to my teammates, but I add some resistance band work and don’t practise my batting. I generally leave the warm up earlier than my teammates so I am less rushed and can change in peace.
The point with both examples is that I need a routine to get myself both in the right mind space, and physically primed to get the best out of myself. The same is for athletes, business leaders, singers and social media influencers … they all have routines. Being successful in the classroom is much the same; wake up, ease into the day, have your gear ready, eat well, arrive on time and socialise before going about your day’s work.
If students need help establishing a routine please feel free to contact the school; we have Year Advisors, the Head Teacher Wellbeing and our Student Wellbeing Support Officer all available to assist.
Faculty News
HSIE
HSIE would like to thank its students for such an awesome semester! We have been fortunate enough to see a growth in assessment submissions, which is a testament to the improved work ethic of our students.
This semester has seen students participate in lots of different types of fieldwork and excursions as well as in class creative tasks such as poster making, PowerPoint presentation and information brochures.
Our Geography students have enjoyed our topics focusing on human geography and our History have looked at Ancient Egypt, Ancient China and WWI & WWII.
We look forward to seeing the students next year in our electives, senior classes and mandatory HSIE classes. Get ready for an exciting year!
Miss O’Loughlan’s Modern History class learnt about capitalism and monopolies through a classic board game. It separated the Rockefellers from the...others. Well done to Joel for being the overall winner
Ms K O'Loughlan
Teacher
Mathematics
This will be the last term for the Year 8 Numeracy lessons. Throughout the year, students have used Ninja Maths to improve their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills. In Week 2, students played “Decimal Race to 300” using a pack of cards. This activity helped them to improve their understanding of decimal place value and addition.
Students from Years 7 to 10 have completed their Yearly examination. However, we will continue to run the Maths Tutoring in room A15 every Thursday break 2 for students who would like to catch up or get help on certain topics.
There have been several opportunities for students to work mathematically outside in the playground. Year 9 calculated the height of the school flagpole using Trigonometry. Year 10 found the surface area and volume of different objects in the playground. 7A worked with Ms Perusco on Linear Relationships in the amphitheatre.
Our Year 11 students have now settled into their new HSC classes – Mathematics Advanced, Mathematics Standard 2 and Mathematics Standard 1. Their first HSC assessment task will be in Week 8.
Students from 10-1 and Year 11 will be going on an excursion to the Sydney Hunt Escape Room in Week 9 of this term. Students will use logic, mathematical knowledge and team building skills to solve problems in a real world setting. A report for this excursion will be in the next newsletter. Stay tuned!
Mrs A Latu
Head Teacher Mathematics
Support
This semester the Support Unit students have taken part in some amazing inclusive sporting activities. All sporting activities has been successfully building students’ peer relationships, comradery and communication skills. The students have been actively participating in T-Ball and Soccer, as well as some newly introduced inclusive activities of sit-down Volleyball and Paralympic sports of Boccia and Goal Ball.
Sit-down volleyball has been a big hit, where students play with a soft dodge ball rather than a standard volley ball and they sit down with the net lowered. The game is scored the same as volleyball however adjustments are made to accommodate all skill levels.
Goal Ball is a Paralympic sport where three team members are blind-folded and they defend their goal line. The ball they use has bells inside and students are to use their hearing to locate and roll the ball back trying to score. Students enjoy having a good laugh watching each other try and catch, defend and throw the ball blind.
Boccia is similar to lawn bowls and much like a giant game of marbles. Students sit down in two teams and try to get their ball closest to the white ball or knock out the other team’s balls. The closest ball to the white one wins. This has been a big hit with students of all athletic abilities.
Mrs K Stinson
Teacher
The Panthers class did some amazing artworks of Monsters. They also enjoyed eating their Big Cooked Brekkie in Living Skills.
Ms A McKee
Head Teacher Support
TAS
Term 3 has been a busy term in TAS with students continuing to develop their skills and work on practical projects.
On Thursday 26th September our Year 11 Hospitality class, along with Krystal from Stage 5 Hospitality, spent the morning preparing morning tea for our graduating Year 12 students and their families. They did a fantastic job and prepared and made a variety of different dishes.
The Pumas class got to experience cheese tasting, cheese making and butter making through their ‘Paddock to Plate’ unit this semester. They also learnt about how milk is made, and how we can use milk in a range of other dairy products.
Students in the Leopards class have been using Lego Robotics. They have built and coded their robot creations to move and follow instructions uploaded to the computer.
Technology Mandatory students in 7F completed their textile designs using a selection of fabric decorating techniques. Term 4 sees them using the Anki cars in the Fast and Curious unit of work.
7E and 8E have also been developing their skills in textiles. Year 7 made a tote bag and year 8 made a pillow out of felt.
Stage 5 Textiles studied the Australian pyjama designer Peter Alexander. Using Peter Alexander as an inspiration, they designed and produced their own pyjamas.
Mrs C Edwards
Head Teacher TAS
CAPA
Music
Year 8 Music have been enthusiastically engaged in Rock Music. They have listened to a variety of 1960’s rock songs and had their choice of song to prepare as a performance. They have all demonstrated excellent independent learning skills by learning their individual parts and then scheduling their rehearsals with the rest of their rock group with little to no assistance from the teacher. They will present their Rock performances in a few weeks and we are all so excited to how well they have done.
Ms M Collison
Teacher
English
The English faculty has been hard at work preparing for the end of the year, with Year 11 now becoming our Year 12 students the HSC has started in earnest and our staff are very excited to begin work with a very promising cohort.
The HSC examinations have recently seen changes to English and students have been asked questions in their exams that require a deep knowledge of the texts studied in class. It is like we always say, “Reading at home is the most helpful thing a student can do for their own education.”
The English staff at Thomas Reddall encourage students to read at home regularly, take advantage of our school library, or come and have a talk to your English teacher, we all have a variety of our favourite novels in our class rooms that we would love to discuss with our students.
Term 4 also sees developments in public speaking, a local competition which we have won and has many successful entries in, students who are interested have been asked to speak to Ms Albrecht and we are looking forward to working with our students in this exciting field.
Though the year still has a way to go, the English staff would love to wish our students, families and whole community a safe and happy Christmas and holiday season!
Mr Matthew Humphry
Teacher
Science
This year, we were lucky enough to nominate two Year 11 students for the Victor Chang Awards. Congratulations to Chiramnoor Sahota and Godfrey Wong who received the award for their passion and outstanding achievement in Science.
Both students are studying Biology, Chemistry and Physics in Stage 6.
7F started a new topic, Forces, with a game of tug of war. The students observed forces in action and discussed how this shows balanced and unbalanced forces.
Mrs A Kumar
Head Teacher Science
Library
In the Library we have a host of Thriller and Horror stories we displayed to encourage our students to read. Reading for pleasure will improve their speed and vocabulary.
Ms D Boot
Teacher Librarian
Year 12
With most of the HSC exams out of the way our Year 12s are thinking about their upcoming formal and a future beyond school.
I would like to thank all the parents and carers who helped make year 12 Graduation a very special event. It was wonderful to see so many people there to support our students on one of their biggest days. The event was a great success due to the hard work of many staff and students, expertly led by Ms Callaway. The atmosphere on the day was really positive, due largely to the parents, carers and other friends and family in attendance. Every year 12 I spoke to afterwards was very positive about the way the school celebrated their graduation.
I already miss seeing our year 12s around the school and I look forward to catching up with them at the formal. Just a reminder for them that a bus will be going and they can catch that along with a number of staff who are attending. Please let me know if you require a lift.
I hope that in the future I will catch up with all of our year 12s and find out how they are going with their chosen path. I know that there are bright futures for young people who possess the many positive attributes this group do. Feel free year 12s to call in and let us know what you are doing. Along with all the staff at TRHS I would like to wish you all the best in the future.
Mr G Edwards
Year Advisor
QuickSmart
Quicksmart may seem or sound boring as you learn maths and you may think to yourself “But maths is boring and I’m not good at it”, but it’s not boring at all. The teachers there are so nice and caring and you even sometimes will have a laugh. We get to do QuickSmart 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time.
You will always use Quicksmart in maths class, just like if your teacher asks you a maths problem like let’s say 5 x 4 you will get it fast, but what if it was 9 x 6 you may be stuck. That’s where Quicksmart can help. Firstly you do flash cards followed by speed sheets. You then do a computer quiz, followed by problem solving work and after you have done all of that, you can play a game ( a maths game of course ). Although it does sound very boring when you hear you’re doing maths work it’s very fun and great and has really helped me. If you have the chance to do QuickSmart give it a go!
Lillya Dabelstein
Student
QuickSmart Update
Term 4 is a busy time for the QuickSmart Program. We have 23 Year 8 students completing the numeracy program this year. They are currently focusing on improving their problem solving skills using the Cubes strategy and are gaining automaticity with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. All students have achieved excellent improvement and are thoroughly enjoying each session. Over the next few weeks the post testing will take place and the results will be sent to the University of New England. Results will be available early next year and reports will be sent home. A morning tea will be held for the students at the end of this term to celebrate their success.
Planning for QuickSmart 2020 has already commenced. All Year 7 students have completed a Pat Maths Test. NAPLAN results & attendance data have been analysed and collaboration with the Maths Faculty & Learning Support Team has taken place. 24 students will be offered a place in the program for next year. Parents will receive information packs shortly. Please return the permission notes promptly to secure a spot for your child.
Finally, I would like to say a special thank you to Vera Hunt, for all of her efforts & support in QuickSmart over the last 3 years. Vera has accepted a permanent SLSO position in our Support Unit. She was a valued member of our QuickSmart team and will be greatly missed. We wish her all the best in her new role at Thomas Reddall High School.
Mrs K McCarthy
Teacher
School Link Magazine
School-Link strengthens the early identification of mental health issues for children and young people, provision of evidence-informed early intervention programs in schools and TAFEs, early access to specialist mental health services and support for the recovery journey.
We are pleased to attach the School Link Magazine – Issue 3 2019.