Contents - Penola High School

Penola High School
Issue 3
Contents
Principal’s Report
PHS Athletics Carnival
Governing Council
Materials and Services Charge
Year 8 Camp
Athletics Carnival Photos
Community Notices
Important Dates
Monday 8 March 2015
• Adelaide Cup Holiday
Monday 16 March 2015
• Governing Council
Wednesday 18 March 2015
• Interschool Athletics
Wednesday 1 April 2015
• SANTOS Athletics
43 Cameron Street
Penola SA 5277
T: 08 8737 0000
F: 08 8737 0050
E: [email protected]
W: www.penolahs.sa.edu.au
Principal’s Report
Fleur Roachock
5 March 2015
Dear Families
We have reached the halfway point of the term at breakneck speed, mainly
due to the enormous number of activities that have been crammed into a
very short space of time.
Twelve of our students undertook the Lions Youth of the Year Quest this
year. This meant that the Penola Lions Club and the Kalangadoo Lions Club were both involved,
as the number of entrants was too great for one club to manage. Our students performed
beautifully and we congratulate Alex Male, who won the Public Speaking competition, and
Georgie Beighton, who won overall in the Kalangadoo section, and Alana Winter who won both
competitions in the Penola section. Both Georgie and Alana will compete at regional level at
Millicent on 14 March 2015. We are very grateful to both Lions Clubs for providing our students
with this excellent opportunity that has been part of our Year 12 English assessment for the
past three years. We also thank Jackie Poumako for her coordination of the competition at the
school end.
Athletics Day last Thursday was another fine example of how the wider community and the
school interact so positively, with many parents assisting us with various duties throughout the
day. Once again, the event was a huge success aided and abetted by lovely weather. Highlights
for me, as I mentioned on the day, were Scott Merrett’s record breaking throwing of the javelin;
Sam Burgess’s face as he crossed the finish line to win his last Open Boys’ relay and Ben Casey’s
outstanding leadership and mentoring of younger students throughout the day. I continue to
be amazed at the great sportsmanship shown at these occasions and the support our athletes
give each other regardless of whose team they are on. My own competitive nature, however, is
still finding it difficult to deal with the shoddy tactics these same wonderful students employ to
beat the staff in the Tug o’ War each year! Thank you to Simone Combe and all of her fantastic
helpers for ensuring the day was an outstanding one on the school calendar.
After a Student Information session and a Parent Information evening, 14 students have
elected to take part in World Challenge’s trip to North Vietnam in December 2016. It has been
heartening to hear stories of how our students plan to raise the money to enable them to take
up this amazing opportunity – one is getting up very early in the morning to feed orphan calves,
another is planning a wood chopping enterprise over the winter, others will be committing the
majority of their earnings from their part time jobs. In the World Challenge program the onus
of raising the money required is placed firmly on the student, so we anticipate seeing a strong
development in maturity levels in these young people well before the plane takes off!
Plans for the whole school production of “A Midsummer Night’s Midterm” are well in hand,
with auditions having been completed and eighteen students cast into roles, as well as many
others volunteering for backstage work. It has been wonderful to see such a plethora of
performance talent among our students and we look forward to seeing that develop as the
play comes together. I believe there will also be cameo performances by some more seasoned
and senior members of the school community which will be something to watch out for when
the season opens in June!
All in all, we have had a fantastic start to the year with a gratifying number of athletic, academic
and cultural activities being taken up by our students. At the same time, they are applying
themselves to their schoolwork with noteworthy commitment. We look forward to this
excellent work continuing.
Kind regards
nurturing individual successes
PHS Athletics Carnival
Governing Council AGM
Simone Combe
On Thursday 26 February 2015, Yalluminga claimed the winner’s
shield by a single point in the Interhouse Athletics Carnival,
managing a back-to-back double sweep of Swimming and
Athletics. This is the third year in a row that Yalluminga have
managed this feat.
The competitors, officials and spectators were able to enjoy the
warm conditions with not too much heat being poured out by the
sun. All events provided close battles and great entertainment
for spectators. One of the highlights of the day was the Staff v
Students Tug-O-War. With the student team employing a few
“extra competitors” once the event began, it was always going to
be an uphill battle! However, the undisputed highlight of the day
was Scott Merrett smashing the Open Boys Javelin record. The
record of 45.01m stood for 45 years, and Scott threw a whopping
46.96m with his final throw.
The competition for points began on the previous Wednesday
with the running of the 1500m event, with Torilla placed
narrowly ahead of Moyanga and Yalluminga at the end of the
day. However, Yalluminga came out strongly right from the first
race on Thursday and managed to hold on to a narrow lead for
the entire day.
A new award was introduced last year, and was given to one
student in each house who showed genuine commitment to the
house and selflessness on the day. This was aptly named “The
Legends Award” and was proudly accepted by the three recipients
– Scott Merrett (Yalluminga), Brianna Oppelaar (Moyanga) and
Nick Rowe (Torilla). The inaugural Principal’s Award was awarded
to Ben Casey for his sensational leadership and mentoring of
the younger students. The day ran magnificently, thanks largely
due to the fantastic efforts by staff, volunteers and the house
captains.
U14 Girls U14 Boys U15 Girls U15 Boys U16 Girls
U16 Boys Open Girls Open Boys Winner Emily Winter Tom Abbey Gorgia Robbie Brandon McMurtrie
Ella Kain Cory O’Connor Hannah Klemm Tom Walker Final Results
Yalluminga Torilla Moyanga
679
678
552
Runner Up
Kelsey Hutchesson
Sam Gartner
Erin Fielder
Josh Currie
Alana Winter
Will Cadzow
Georgie Beighton
Gus Eckermann
The PHS Governing Council AGM was recently held on Monday 23
February 2015. The following committee was formed for 2015.
Chairperson
Vice Chairperson
Secretary
Treasurer
Parents:
Staff:
Bryan Tonkin
Angela Winter
Kathia Martin
Jo O’Connor
Susan Byne
Mark Colbert
Allan Kain
Melinda Moore
Vicki McDonald-Burgess
Pia March
Jo O’Connor
Darren Skeer
Fleur Roachock
Michael Hentschke
Winsley Wighton
Thank you to all parents who volunteer their time and expertise
to the school in this way. The Governing Council is a fantastic
group of people who work hard to further our school.
New Student Absence Recording System
In the past couple of weeks, our school has been trialling a new
IT system (called Sentral) to record student absences. Now
that the trial period is over, we will be going “live” on Tuesday
10 March. Therefore, please be advised that as of Tuesday 10
March, if your child is absent unexplained you will receive an SMS
message alerting you to this and asking for an explanation for the
absence. Please reply to this SMS message with the reason for
the absence so that our records are updated.
Alternatively, if you know prior to the day if your child will be
absent from school, please either send a note to be given to the
HG teacher, phone the school on 8737 0000 or SMS the school
mobile on 0400 134993.
Materials & Services Charge and School Card
Families who were eligible for School Card in 2014 MUST reapply for School Card in 2015. Application forms are available
from the school. If you have children attending different schools
(ie secondary and/or primary), a separate application form must
be completed for those attending secondary school and those
attending primary school.
We encourage all parents to review their financial circumstances
carefully to see if their students’ education costs can be financed
in this manner. Please note that those students in receipt of
School Card will have the School Materials & Services charge
automatically deducted.
Parents have the option of paying the Materials and Services
charge in full or in instalments by cash, cheque, credit card,
direct debit, eftpos or centrepay system.
Parents who wish to pay the Materials and Services charge either
in instalments and/or by direct debit and centrepay system please
phone Vicki at the school on 8737 0000 to make the necessary
arrangements. The Materials and Services charge is due and
payable by all parents as soon as possible.
nurturing individual successes
Year 8 Camp
Kristen Bence
On Wednesday 18 February 2015, 22 eager students, Year Level Organiser Scott McCulloch, SSO Dave Vannini and I gathered in the
school carpark to embark on a very loud and musical (these kids love singing) journey in 2 mini vans and a car to Cape Bridgewater
on the South Coast of Victoria. Upon arrival students were allocated to their dormitories – the girls had a massive sleepover in one
dorm, which made for interesting girly bonding sessions - while the boys settled into their much larger dorm, with lounge and kitchen
area. The first activities for the afternoon were two-person canoeing and raft building. The students were split into two groups and
swapped activities half way through the afternoon. The canoeing group paddled out into the middle of the lake to a sandbar where
they played team games and into the reeds where they spent time rafting and playing games like running along the front of the
canoes. This was a balancing act that saw Dave fall head first into the water, which the students found hilarious. The raft-building
challenge saw one team from each group as the victors, with their constructions allowing them to float out to the buoy and back
in the fastest time. Some constructions needed a few safety checks, which resulted in a lot of students swimming back to shore
dragging their rafts behind them.
The 12km hike along the coastline on Thursday morning was absolutely spectacular. We stopped at many picturesque spots along
the way to witness the majesty of nature and the cliffs, seals and Southern Ocean provided many photo opportunities. The boys
and Mr McCulloch scared a kangaroo along the way who may have then jumped over the cliff edge, so we pay tribute to the poor
kangaroo who was scared out of its wits by us. We are unsure if it made it out of the drama alive, but we hope so! Gerard Merrett
and Sam Klemm won the award for running up the steepest hills on the hike, I wish I had that much energy. I was bringing up the
rear with the first-aid kit. The afternoon boat adventure to see the seals nearly ended in disaster when I was nearly thrown into the
deep seal infested waters around the cliff after being hit by two giant waves in the boat. Luckily the driver had the quick reflexes to
pull me back into the boat and also luckily the students were safe in their seats at the front of the boat. The algae and seal caves
were awesome and provided us with rich scientific information, aided by James Krieger and his endless thoughtful questions.
Sandboarding on the last day turned out to be the most fun. The weather was perfect with a clear blue sky and most kids were
standing on their boards surfing the sun-kissed sand in spectacular style. I even made my way up the sand hill, although it took me
10 minutes to reach the top, and thanks to the assistance of Dave and Mr McCulloch, I sped my way the bottom of the sand hill after
a swift push from the fellas and a short spell to catch my breath at the top of the sand hill. Phoebe Tregenza and Kate Skeer were the
queens of the sand hills, with both girls climbing the dunes and boarding at least 20 times in the session. Great style girls!
All the students shared their turn at the cooking or cleaning while on camp, with a few students mastering the art of making spaghetti
bolognaise for 30 people (a great feat). While Jack Walker and Phoebe Tregenza made some excellent beef patties on BBQ Burger
night. All students assisted with no complaints – I have never seen a group of students eat so much – they must have been burning
the calories during the activities.
The Adam Sandler Movie “Big Daddy” was a hit on the Thursday night – while the students enjoyed a night of lollies and relaxation
in the cinema. Students also spent a couple of hours in the pitch black dark playing storm the lantern (or Miss Bence). Again Kasey
Morton, Darcy O’Connor and Phoebe Tregenza took out the titles. The major focus of the camp was to build new relationships and
strengthen those that already existed. All students participated well and laid the foundations for a great year.
nurturing individual successes
Penola High School Athletics Carnival
nurturing individual successes
nurturing individual successes
nurturing individual successes