Semper Paratus
Newsletter of
James Sheahan Catholic High
School
Volume 31 Number 6
6 May 2016
Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 May
Years 7 and 9 NAPLAN
18 May
Casual Clothes Day
19 May
Yr 12 Presentation Assembly
St John Baptist de la Salle – Pray for us
Venerable Catherine McAuley – Pray for us
Mercy given – Mercy received
Live Jesus in our Hearts – Forever.
Period 4 (11:55am)
19 May
Yr 8 Retreat
20 May
Yr 11 Examinations begin
20 May
Yr 10 Retreat
23 May
P&C Special General Meeting
Leaders Room at 6.30pm
25 May
Yr 10 Examinations begin
Yr 9 Examinations begin
1 June
Yr 7 Immunisation
24 and 25 June
Music Manifesto
2017 Uniform Fittings
1 Apr to 29 May
2017 Year 7 fittings and
9 May to 24 June
2017 Yr 11 Uniform Fittings at Orange
Clothing Company
School Clothing Pool
By appointment only through School
Canteen. Donations are also always
welcome.
School Administration Office hours
Mon, Wed, Thurs and Fri 8:00 to 4:00
Tues 8:30 to 4:00
School Fees Office hours Mon to Fri - 8:30 to 4:00pm
closed for lunch 12:30 to 1:30pm. I recently came across a story of a tourist in Thailand who saw that a
group of beautiful elephants was being held by only a small rope tied to
their front leg. There were no chains, no cages, just a short rope
tethering each huge creature to a small stick in the ground.
It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from
the rope but for some reason, they did not. The tourist asked the trainer
why the elephants just stood there and made no attempt to get away.
“It’s simple,” the trainer said. “When they are very young and much
smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s
enough to hold them. They try and try to get free but cannot. As they
grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They
believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to escape.”
The tourist was astonished. These enormous animals could at any time
break free but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right
where they were.
How many of us, like the elephants, go through life believing that we
cannot do something, simply because of something that we thought we
learned when we were young? How many of us keep that notion alive in
our own children?
As we enter a new term, we need to ensure that our students are not
being held back because of some belief that their learning is not for
them. Or that improvement is not possible or achieving great results is
not attainable.
Our message to our children should be: Believe in yourselves for you
may be surprised by how far you can go. This is the basis of “allowing
learning to happen”.
So this term, let us help our students “break away” from this notion of
not being able to learn, or improve or achieve great results. Who knows,
perhaps they may no longer be tethered to any negative thoughts about
their own ability and potential.
Mr Mark Pauschmann
Principal
SEMPER PARATUS FEATURE ARTICLE
Here are some of the scintillating Science activities students and faculty members have been involved in this
year.
New Science Classrooms
The Science faculty was lucky enough to obtain two new classrooms this
year – Lab 7 and Lab 8. Lab 7 is fitted with the space age Node chairs
which can be arranged for any classroom situation, especially for group
work. Here are some pictures of Ms Mason’s year 7 Science class in a
problem solving activity to make the tallest tower using the scientific
method. A Scaly Encounter!
Year 9 students have slithered into Mercy Hall to learn about what life would be like as a reptile.
Snake Tails was a tur(tle)riffic seminar presented by reptile genius, Bob Withey, who shared his
outstanding knowledge with our students in a safe, interactive and fun adventure for all. On
leaving, students raced at an iguana's pace, with grins on their faces in search of Jurassic Park.
Professional Learning Teams
Teaching staff have continued to be engaged in Professional Learning Teams in 2016. Their aim was to focus
on learning rather than teaching and we have spent time working collaboratively on matters related to how our
students learn. Essential Learning content has been identified and Common Formative Assessments have
been created.
Electrifying Experiment
Some year 8 and 9 students had a hair raising experience with the Van der Graaf generator
to investigate the forces of static electricity. Colourful Food Tests Quiz
Year 8 students carried out food tests on various every day foods to
identify different nutrients found in foods.
The Biuret’s test (purple) was carried out with egg white. What
nutrient does it test for? Hint: What is egg white the best source of?
The Benedict’s solution test (orange) is for the presence of glucose.
What food could it have been tested on?
Science Faculty Staff
The Science faculty welcomed a new faculty coordinator this year - Mrs. Jennifer Wickham.
We thank Mrs. Wickham for joining our Science faculty and look forward to many exciting Science adventures
in the future.
MESSAGE FROM ORANGE BUSLINES
It is a condition of travel through the Transport for NSW School Student Travel Scheme that students must produce a valid BUS PASS to the bus driver when boarding any Orange Buslines bus, for travel to and from school. Students wishing to use the buses other than to travel home in the afternoon from school must also produce a valid bus pass to the driver when boarding. Students who are not eligible for free travel or use another bus company to travel to and from school and wish to travel on an Orange Buslines bus to after school activities must pay a fare of $1.10 ($3.00 fare will apply for travel to Molong, Manildra, Millthorpe, Bathurst) or other travel arrangements are to be made. Due to excessive loading on the afternoon school buses departing James Sheahan this year, priority will be given to eligible students who show the bus driver their Orange Buslines bus pass. Mr Peter Meers Assistant Principal NAPLAN 2016 Years 7 and 9 The 2016 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program‐ Literacy and Numeracy) Tests will be held from Tuesday May 10 to Thursday May 12 (Week 3 of Term 2), with catch up tests being held on Friday, May 13. All government and non‐government schools throughout Australia are involved in this program. NAPLAN provides standardised testing for all students throughout Australia in the areas of Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy. The tests are conducted by James Sheahan on behalf of ACARA (The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority), with all tests being sent away for external marking. The tests are completed by all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. All parents/carers will receive a report showing how their child has performed in comparison with all other students in the same year group in Australia, including the following information 
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The national average The range for the middle 60% of students Whether your child has achieved the national minimum standards Student achievement will be shown against common national assessment scales, continuing from Year 3 through to Year 9. As students progress through the NAPLAN Tests from Year 3, parents/carers will be able to compare an individual student’s results from previous NAPLAN Tests. Students will be reported in terms of bands on a 10 band national scale. A student assessed in a particular band is likely to have correctly answered questions in that band and in each band below it. Information gained from the NAPLAN tests will also be used to provide an overview of the school’s performance in comparison to other schools in Australia through the “My School” site at http://www.myschool.edu.au. Teachers at James Sheahan also receive information on the performance of their students in Years 7 and 9. This information is used by the school, together with the school’s own assessment programs, classroom observations and professional judgements, to provide for individual student needs and to shape the development of programs and teaching units. Parents/ carers can find additional information, including sample tests, and support materials at http://www.nap.edu.au This year, the tests will be organised in the following manner, with Years 7 and 9 completing the same testing areas on each of the days: 
Tuesday May 10 2016 
Wednesday May 11 2016 Thursday May 12 2016 Numeracy (Number, Algebra, function and pattern; Chance and data; Measurement and Space) Students will NEED Calculators Friday May 13 2016 Catch up day 

Language Conventions (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) Writing Reading It is important that all students attend school to complete the NAPLAN tests. Changes from past years; This year all students need to bring their own grey lead pencil, eraser, pencil sharpener and calculator (for the Numeracy test on Thursday 12th May). Please note that any student who misses a NAPLAN Test on May 10, 11 or 12 will need to catch these up on May 13 and will not be able to attend any sporting or other excursions on the 13th, even if a permission note has been returned for an excursion. Mr Philip Kirkwood Learning Enhancement Coordinator
SRC Report
The SRC has had a very exciting start to 2016, beginning with our opening Mass, where Father Garry blessed
our leaders during the Badging Ceremony, recognising the important role they will play in the James Sheahan
community. Each member of the SRC has already shown great leadership and school spirit and they have
begun the year with enthusiasm.
Valentine’s Day was our first major event and was a huge success. The
SRC willingly gave up time to organise and execute this event, where
students were able to send cards, balloons or a rose to their friends, all of
which were delivered by the SRC on Valentine’s Day. The purpose of this
event is to allow students to express their friendship and appreciation and
the array of Valentine’s balloons around the school was a wonderful site,
showing the kindness and strong friendship bonds that exist in our school.
During Week 6 we held our first Disco, with the theme
“Mexican Fiesta”. This event was a great success despite the
very realistic Mexican soaring temperatures that were
experienced in the hall on the night. The disco was a near sell
out demonstrating the wonderful response and enthusiasm
from James Sheahan students. The SRC worked collectively
to create a fiesta scene in the hall with cactus’, piñata’s and
a giant ‘mexican’ camel joining the mariachi support band. It
was terrific night but would not go ahead without the ongoing
support of Staff, of which the SRC and all students are so
grateful. There were so many great costumes with the prizes
been awarded to the Dorito family, 11-humped camel and the
cast from the Day of the Dead.
The SRC were proud to recently support three students from James Sheahan who reached a state level of
competition in their representative sports. Congratulations to Ethan Crisp, Kinisha Roweth and Jessie Dean on
your achievements and as excellent representatives of James Sheahan.
In the coming year, the SRC will continue to work together to bring some new and exciting events to the
community. With Sheahan Day, the Term 3 Disco and something new for Christmas in July approaching, there
will be plenty for the SRC to spread the word about and continue to represent the student community.
Mr Winston West
SRC Coordinator
ACCELERATED READING PROGRAM
All Year 7 and 8 students are working on the Accelerated Reader program.
Accelerated Reader is a reading comprehension program which is suitable
for all students, Kindergarten to Year 12. Its focus is not only how well a
student can read but their ability to read and retain the information and
then successfully answer questions relating to the text. The student’s
reading level is determined by the STAR
Assessment. Accelerated Reader encourages
each student to read at their level a wide variety
of texts, both fiction and non-fiction. As a result,
the student is required to remember facts that
they may normally not be interested in. The
program is aimed at improving a student’s vocabulary and developing their study
skills.
During Term 1 Year 7 and 8 students read and completed quizzes for nearly 1500
books. This involved reading over 25 million words!
Ms Carolyn Johnston
Administration Coordinator
ANZAC DAY
March
Squadron @ Orange
@ Millthorpe
@ Molong
Assessment Support @ JSCHS
PARENTS WANTED !!
At James Sheahan Catholic High School, we are in desperate need of people to provide help at exam
and assessment times for our brilliant students.
The assistance we require would include people to be able to read examination papers and material to
students doing exams and also for some students, be able to write.
Some of our students require that extra special help and attention one to one can give them to succeed
to the best of their abilities. Some students also have the misfortune of breaking an arm or having some
injury that prevents them from being able to complete a task to the best of their abilities.
If you feel that you might be able to assist our wonderful students to succeed and find their abilities,
please make contact with me, Mr Phil Kirkwood, at the contacts below. It is always less stressful if an
adult is able to act as the tutor in providing this help.
WE NEED YOU if you can spare some time.
I will be providing training that will show exactly what is involved. Our TRAINING afternoon will be
advertised in the school newsletter and in the Parish Bulletin.
If you think that you would be able to help provide this assistance, could you please contact me at the
school, or alternatively email me at p.kirkwood@bth.catholic.edu.au
Mr Philip Kirkwood
Learning Support Coordinator
CASUAL CLOTHES DAY
Cathedral Restoration Appeal
Casual Clothes Day on Wednesday 18 May, students must incorporate one item that is their house colour
and the normal standards of dress for casual clothes day applies. All proceeds are going to the restoration of
the Bathurst Cathedral and it will be a gold coin donation.
You may wish to check the guidelines on the schools’ web site http://jschs.nsw.edu.au/policy/casualclothes.pdf. Mrs Victoria Munro and Mr Winston West
Coordinators
P&C (Parents and Carers)
We have renamed and rebranded as the James Sheahan P&C (formally PCRC). Our new email address is: sheahanpandc@gmail.com and all notices and information will be via a schools newletter. P&C Notice of Special General Meeting Monday 23 May at 6:30pm The P&C hereby give notice that there is to be a Special General Meeting of the P&C, to be held at 6.30pm on Monday 23 May 2016 in the Leaders Room, in order to finalise changes to the Constitution, which includes altering the Constitution to align with the new name of Parents & Carers (P&C), a new AGM date (the final P&C meeting of the year, instead of the first) and changes to auditing requirements. Additionally, our Treasurer, Cathy Gutterson, has stepped down from the role, which means that we need to elect a new Treasurer. We therefore give notice that the election will be held at this Special General Meeting, so if anybody is interested in standing for the position, please come along. Any input and interest is always appreciated! Proposal for a VOLUNTARY P&C Contribution James Sheahan Catholic High School Families To be implemented next year – 2017 We need your feedback! Your P&C realizes that parents are time poor and incredibly busy (we hear it from parents a lot, and as we’re parents too, we’re in the same boat!), so we are considering a small entirely VOLUNTARY contribution to be administered on a per family basis ONCE A YEAR (commencing in 2017) to enable us to reduce fundraising activities and requests. Your P&C does some amazing things around the school (think new bus shelter and path, $4,000 for fans in classrooms, grants for the multilit program, the human powered vehicle, sporting uniforms, cattle team banner and quad artworks, an irrigation system for newly planted trees ‐ amongst other things!) – we think it’s really important to be able to continue doing these amazing things without imposing constantly on you to assist with various fundraising activities. Here’s your opportunity to help out without having to contribute many hours of your precious family time! We propose to reduce other fundraising activities to a minimum (i.e.: one social event per year, such as the trivia night), pending the outcome of this survey. Otherwise, our role will continue as an interface between parents and the school, and also to help promote a positive school community and to implement parents’ and students’ ideas for improvement at James Sheahan. Your P&C invites you to answer some questions regarding the proposal, and also some questions regarding your preference for the type of activities you would be happy for your P&C to support. The survey will only take a couple of minutes of your time. We will also be at the parent/teacher interview nights handing out surveys, so if you prefer, you can fill in a paper form on one of those nights. Thank you in advance for your participation. Link to survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5MNZMTQ P&C Trivia Night First Sub‐Committee Meeting Request for volunteers The P&C (in conjunction with James Sheahan Rugby) are hosting a Trivia Night in August! Dave Wickham and Andrew Logan will be our MCs for the evening, so it’s bound to be an entertaining night. Trivia nights take a bit of organising, so we’re holding our first sub‐committee meeting at 6:00 pm on Wednesday 11 May 2016 at James Sheahan in the Leaders Room (Opposite school Canteen) and are looking for volunteers. Anything from organization before the night, to setting up tables just prior to the event, to helping out on the night itself. We need lots of people, so come along and join the fun! Put the date in your diary and we’ll see you there. We have a number of exciting initiatives on the boil, and hope you might be interested in coming along to our next general meeting, to be held at 6.30pm on Tuesday 26 July 2016, in the Leaders Room (near the Bus Bay). Regards from the P&C team Tom Capell (President) Yann Guisard (Vice President) Lisa Tracey (Secretary) Mary Taylor (Acting Treasurer)