Issue 9
Thursday 7th June, 2012
YEA HIGH SCHOOL
Racecourse Road, Yea, 3717. Phone: 57972207 Fax: 57972931
Email:yea.hs@edumail.vic.gov.au Website www.yeahs.vic.edu.au
CYBERSAFETY SESSIONS
Year 8 & 9 Typo/Evolve
Camp Group
Key Dates
June 6th—Typo/Evolve students arrive back
from Camp
June 7th-8th-12th—Yr 11 VCE Exams
June 12-14th—VCE Unit 3 Exams and GAT
June 13th—YHS Students recording on
UGFM from 6pm
June 14th—Yr 12 GAT Students Night Out
June 15th—Student Free Day
June 19th—VCE PE Students Excursion to
RMIT University
Susan McLean joined students in years 7 -12 on Thursday 31st May for a one
day series of Cybersafety sessions.
Susan McLean is Australia’s foremost expert in the area of cyber safety and
young people and was a member of Victoria Police for 27years. Widely
known as the ‘cyber cop’, she was the first Victoria Police Officer appointed
to a position involving Cybersafety and young people. In 2003 she was the
Victoria Police Region 4 Youth Officer of the Year. She has also been
awarded The National Medal and the Victoria Police Service Medal and 2nd
Clasp. Susan is unique in her vast knowledge and expertise in this area. She
is the only person in Australia with her specific background, experience and
qualifications.
Susan’s Cybersafety sessions were very informative and relevant to what all
students and young people do online. She made the students aware of what
the short and long term consequences could be for all offenses, be that serious abuse or inappropriate messaging on the internet and mobile phones.
Students were shown how to groom their profiles online and make them
private so that only their friends can access their information. This will help
to protect themselves from strangers who could be potentially dangerous.
Susan also spoke about what to do and how to report if students are getting
bullied or come across suspicious people online.
Thank you to our Wellbeing and Careers Hub Coordinator Ms Janae Barns
for organising this event.
SOUTHERN RANGES CROSS COUNTRY
On Monday 28th May, YHS sent nearly 30 students to
the Broadford Motorcycle Complex where they
participated in the Southern Ranges Cross Country.
Ben and Lachlan White finished 1st and 2nd in the 14yr
boys, running well ahead of the rest of the field. While
Harrison Jarvie finished a close 2nd in the 15yr boys.
Bass Quilliam, Shem Quilliam, Nikola White
Aiden Buchannon and Sam Wareham who placed in the
top 10 for their age groups are also proceeding to the
Hume Region Cross Country which will also be held at
the Broadford Motorcycle Complex on Tuesday 19th
June.
SENIOR ART
On Friday the 25th of May four senior girls from Yea
High School travelled to the Yea Nursing home to do
portraits of some residents. The excursion was organised by Berry Street and Yea High School to celebrate
education week. Alia Bulbeck, Kate McMaster, Haylee
Morgan and Naomi Driscoll created portraits of Tom,
Marjorie Jeffrey, Judy Evans, Marjorie Apps and Shirley
Lawrence. The girls did a fantastic job, creating the
portraits in an hour while the residents enjoyed seeing
the drawings unfold.
YR 11 & 12 FOLIO PREPARATION
Latrobe Uni is offering an intensive, but enjoyable 2 day
folio preparation program for year 11, 12 & TAFE art
students wishing to enter university.
On completion you will have the skills required to
build an impressive professional portfolio, and be able
to approach a university pre-selection interview with
confidence. Packed with course specific interview tips
and other valuable information you will maximise your
chances of success. For further information please
contact Jennifer on 5444-7969
PRINCIPAL TEAM REPORT
Mr. John O’Meara and Mr. Bruce Skewes.
EMA CHANGES
A number of families have contacted the school
regarding the changes to EMA funding for 2013. Here is
a summary of the funding changes flowing through from
decisions made at both the state and federal level.
 The state funded School Start Bonus has ceased
 Federally there is a one off School Kids Bonus to be
paid shortly to parents
 Schools were paid the equivalent EMA amount to
that paid to parents. There is no payment to schools
any longer
Parent component of EMA has increased marginally:
Year 7 from $250 to $300
Year 8 on from $235 to $250
The school component of EMA state-wide was around
$32million.
$16 million of this will be taken by Treasury for their
own purposes
$13 million of the $32 million is coming back to eligible
government schools
Under these arrangements Yea High School will lose
$16,000 from the 2013 budget coupled with the cuts
made to VCAL in 2012 the school will lose 13.4% of its
discretional cash budget in 2013.
The EMA funding was used by families to pay for
excursions, camps, book lists, materials etc… Under
these new arrangements for 2013, all families will be
responsible for paying for these items up front.
The Yea High School Council has written to the
Premier and our local MP, Cindy McLeish, to express
its concern regarding these cuts. We await their reply.
PARENTING IDEAS
Yea High School has subscribed to ’Parentingideas’
which is Australia’s leading provider of parenting
education resources to
schools. We intend to have
a short Parenting ideas
article on a topical issue in
each edition of the
newsletter. They have a
website which parents can
visit at
www.parentingideas.com.au
We also have access to the
‘Parentingideas’ magazine
written for parents with a
range of articles on areas
such as children and
behaviour, daily life and routines, kids, school and
learning, life skills for children, teenagers and general
parenting. The link to the magazine appears below
www.parentingideas.com.au/Parents/ParentingMagazine
We encourage you to take a look.
VCE JUNE EXAMINATIONS
VCE students have been issued with their VCE
Examination Navigator which is full of information
pertaining to the examinations, including a timetable.
The June examinations and GAT will be conducted at
the council offices on June 12, 13 and 14.
Students are preparing for these examinations at
present along with finalising their Unit 3 SACs.
TRADE TRAINING CENTRE
Mr O’Meara attended a meeting of the consortium
responsible for the overseeing of the development of
the Trade Training Centre facilities in Seymour,
Whittlesea, and hub facilities in Alexandra and
Assumption College.
As a consortium member Yea High School has had the
opportunity to have input into the development of the
facilities and courses offered. We are very confident
The TTC facilities will provide further educational
opportunities for our students by the way of VET
courses in the years to come.
SEMESTER 1 REPORTS
Teachers are beginning to finalise assessments for the
end of Semester 1 reports. Reports will be posted
out to families prior to the last day of Term 2.
REPORT WRITING DAY
On Friday 15th June the school will be closed for
students. Teachers will be report writing and collating
Semester 1 assessments.
LAST DAY OF TERM 2 AND TERM 3
START
Friday 29th June is the last day of Term 2. On that day
school will finish at 1.30 p.m. to allow buses to
complete bus runs prior to the build-up of holiday
traffic.
Term 3, for students, will commence on Tuesday 17th
July; teachers will be involved in professional
development activities on Monday 16th July.
BUS TRAVEL
Students who travel to school by bus are reminded
that they must follow the bus rules to ensure safe
travel and at no time should their conduct distract the
attention of the driver. Families are reminded that bus
travel is a privilege, not a right.
Parents are required to provide a note if casual bus
travel is required. The note should contain details of
pick up and drop off requirements.
YEAR 7 EXPO
ROTARY PROUD OF YHS STUDENTS
Four Year 12 students spoke at the Rotary meeting about their experiences at two summer schools, which have
greatly assisted in their Year 12 studies and performance. These students were sponsored by the Yea Rotary Club,
which has a strong focus on Youth and are always happy to sponsor a wide range of youth opportunities. It is especially rewarding for club members to see and hear about students experiences and how the courses have benefitted the participants.
Holly Gouldthorpe and Steven Bennett attended the VCE Summer Science School at Melbourne University and
Tara Watts and Laura Cavanagh attended the University of Melbourne Leadership Conference.
Holly and Steven stayed on the University Campus while attending multiple lectures and tutorials over the two
weeks. They felt the lectures gave them inspiration as well as a firm grounding for their courses this year and they
were also able to show the rest of their class many simple tricks and techniques to assist with some of the more
difficult course work.
Tara and Laura spoke of their three
day Leadership course and how
they met some amazing and inspirational people and gained many skills
to improve their own motivation
and leadership qualities. The slogan
for their conference was
“Leadership is every action that
makes the world I touch a better
place”. The girls said it was an
amazing experience and they thoroughly enjoyed sharing such a positive atmosphere at the conference.
All four students thanked Yea Rotary for their generous support
which enabled them to participate
in this incredible experience. They
spoke about how they would encourage the Year 11 students to
participate in these courses over
the next summer holidays.
BERRY STREET DRAMA OPPORTUNITY
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Next term there will be an opportunity for year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students to become involved in a performance project. This is a drama based film project where the participants will explore acting, script writing, directing and design. There will be opportunities for music performance and visual arts as well. The project will be based at Yea
High School and facilitated by Cath Scott and Suzie Bates, Youth Arts Workers from Berry Street.
The 10 week program will have a wellbeing focus and will creatively pursue issues such as bullying, peer support
and managing emotions. We hope the participants will work collaboratively to create a film which may address
some of these issues in an imaginative and engaging way. The participants should leave the program with greater
confidence, acting and performance skills and improved resilience. The project will be will run within the curriculum over two alternating periods per week so as to limit the disruption to regular classes. The 15 students who
are accepted into the program will play a key role in the content of the project.
If your child is interested in participating in the project please collect a form from the Yea High School office and
return it filled out to the office by 15/6/12. Please email sbates@berrystreet.org.au for any enquiries.
BEYOND BUSHFIRES
Beyond Bushfires is a 5-year study working to understand how people and communities are getting by after
the February 2009 bushfires and what helps them
through this process. The study focuses on health and
wellbeing in rural communities across Victoria. We
need to include people who have and have not been
affected by fires to get a full understanding of impacts
and experiences.
To make the results useful for your community; it’s important as many current and past residents (2009 onwards) as possible participate. We would love to hear
from everyone; adults, secondary aged children and parents/guardians on behalf of primary school aged children.
We hope the selected communities reflect a diversity of
experiences and exposure to bushfire (communities are
listed at: www.beyondbushfires.org.au). Invitation letters have been posted and surveys can be completed
over the phone or online. If anyone misses out on a
letter but lives (or did live) in a selected area, contact:
Call: 1800 020 727 or email Elyse: infobeyondbushfires@unimelb.edu.au
The Kinglake Ranges Neighbourhood House will
be offering places in the following accredited courses in
Semester 2 (July – December 2012).
Certificate III in Business
Certificate III in OHS
Certificate III in Aged Care
Certificate III in Disability
Certificate III in Children’s Services
Certificate III in Retail
Certificate III in Tourism
Certificate III in Hospitality
Certificate IV in Youth Work
Certificate IV in Training & Assessment
Fees do apply. Please contact Laura Caine as soon as
possible to register your interest by completing a short
survey.
admin@kinglakeranges.com.au
||INSIGHTS||
by Michael Grose - leading parenting educator
Is your teenager sleep-deprived?
Sleep research has shown that the brain practises what it has learned during
the day when a young person is asleep. So sufficient sleep consolidates past
learning as well as keeps a young person fresh to maximise their future learning.
Many teenagers today are sleep deprived because they
don’t get enough sleep. They need between nine and
10 hours sleep each night, yet most get about seven or
eight hours sleep. Some get less.
Sleep deprivation is akin to jet lag, where they don’t function at
their optimum.
The sleep-wake cycle for teenagers is delayed by up to two
hours. That is, they are sleepy later and awake later than when
they were children.
Most teens secrete melatonin, which makes them sleepy,
around 11.00pm, which makes the time before then a sleepless
zone. Children secrete melatonin far earlier than this.
Cortisol, the chemical that wakes them up, is secreted at
8.15am for many teens. It seems the teen brain wants to be
asleep just when most have woken up.
One US study found that 20% of teens were asleep in class in
the morning, which had catastrophic effects on learning. As
a result a number of high schools have delayed the start of
school time to accommodate the teen sleep-wake cycle. This
enables teens not only to get more sleep but to be at their best
(or at least awake) when they are at school.
The results were startling and immediate, including better
learning, better behaviour, less fights and fewer kids dropping
out of school.
Sleep maximises brain growth, which occurs during
adolescence. Sleep also consolidates learning. Sleep research
has shown that the brain practises what it has learned during
the day when a young person is asleep. So sufficient sleep
consolidates past learning as well as keeps a young person
fresh to maximise their future learning.
2. Have a wind-down time of up to 45 minutes prior to bed.
This includes, removing TV and other stimuli, calming
children down, and limiting food intake (and caffeine for
teens).
3. An established bed-time routine that makes the brain
associate behaviours such as cleaning your teeth and
reading in bed with sleep.
4. Keeping bedrooms for sleep and not for TV. Bedrooms
that resemble caves seem to be recommended.
5. Maximising the three sleep cues of: darkness (cave-like
bedroom), lowering body temperature (baths can be good
for this) and melatonin (work within their cycle).
Better knowledge of the biology of sleep and of sleep patterns,
as well as instigating good habits, will go a long way to helping
kids and teens get a good night’s sleep.
Sleep tips for teens
1. Allow them to catch up on lost sleep during the weekends.
2. Help your young person schedule their after school
activities to free up more time for rest.
3. Discuss ways to limit stimulating activities such as
television and computer around bedtime. Encourage
restful activities such as reading.
4. Afternoon naps are good ways to recharge their batteries.
5. Make sure they go to bed early each Sunday night to
prepare for the coming week.
Published by Michael Grose Presentations.
All rights reserved.
For more ideas, support and advice
for all your parenting challenges visit:
www.parentingideas.com.au
Sleep experts have noted that children who develop good
sleep patterns tend to carry these into adolescence.
Good sleep habits include:
1. Regular bed-times. Kids may fight this, but be regular
during the week and let kids stay up a little later on
weekends.
PO Box 167 Balnarring VIC 3926 P. + 61 3 5983 1798 F. 03 5983 1722 E. office@parentingideas.com.au
www.parentingideas.com.au
www.parentingideas.co.uk
© 2010 Michael Grose
Did you lose someone close to you through the 2009 Victorian Bushfires?
• Family member • Neighbour • Work colleague • Friend
You are invited to a social day out with others who have experienced similar losses.
This FREE family day out includes access to Scienceworks AND the Planetarium OR
Lightening Show. Bring your family and friends … make a great day of it!
11am meet at Planetarium Entrance
SCIENCEWORKS
RSVP
Before Wednesday 6 June
Tickets are limited so don’t miss out!
RSVP is essential to Jodie Bowker: jbowker@each.com.au or 0447 336 852
When you RSVP, please advise:
If you are bringing children/young people 16 years or younger
If you are a concession card holder AND type of concession
Lightening Show OR Planetarium - only ONE show admission per person
Email address and mobile phone number
Other important information re. access and entry to Scienceworks will be provided upon RSVP.
Note: information re. Lightening Room Show and Planetarium Show can be seen at:
www.musuemvictoria.com.au/scienceworks
together with the Bushfire Bereaved Community Advisory Group, and with support from the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement