Mitchell High School
Delivering excellence through innovative and unique learning opportunities for student success
Celebrating 50 Years of Education (1964-2014)
June 2015 Newsletter
Contact Details
Relieving Principal’s Report
________________________________________________
_____________________________
Relieving Principal
Ms E Marinis
Relieving Deputy Principal
Mrs L Pares
Relieving Deputy Principal
Mr C Campbell
P&C President
Mrs C McMillan
Address
Keyworth Drive Blacktown 2148
Telephone
9622 9944 / 9622 8926
Fax
9831 2805
Email
mitchell-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website
www.mitchell-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
SMS Absences
0427 463 129
Dates to Remember
_______________________________________________
The Mitchell High School Parents and Citizens Association (P&C)
meets on the second Wednesday evening each month at
7.00pm in the Mitchell High School Common Room. All
parents/carers and friends are welcome to attend.
P & C Meeting
Wednesday 10th June
Year 7 Vaccinations
Wednesday 24th June
Parent teacher interview (Years 9 & 10)
Wednesday 24th June
Last day of Term 2
Friday 26th June
School Development Day
Monday 13th July
First day of Term 3
Tuesday 14th July
Subject Selection Night
Year 9 (2016) 6pm
Year 11 (2016) 7pm
Tuesday 21st July
Parent teacher interviews (Years 7 & 8)
Wednesday 29th July
Trial HSC Exams
Monday 3rd August – Friday 14th August
P.R.I.D.E Card applications due
Friday 7th August
Subject Selection forms due
Friday 7th August
March 2013 Newsletter
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
The term is drawing to a close and it is hard to believe
that we are half way through the academic year.
Students are reminded to ensure they stay on task and
be effective learners by taking responsibility for their
learning. Staff and students have been working hard to
achieve excellence and this comes from ongoing
commitment. In good schools learning is seen as the
central purpose of the school and takes precedence
over everything else. They have the highest
expectations of the school, teachers and students.
At Mitchell High School, there are high expectations for
student learning, whether it be in the classroom,
playground or other learning contexts. There is a deep
belief in the ability of every student to learn and to
achieve high personal standards with appropriate and
effective teaching. Class time is used as learning time
and students should show diligence and sustained
effort. Success is recognised and celebrated with the
reward programs of the school and the intrinsic reward
of achieving ones personal best. Passion for excellence
is a driving force each and every day.
Mitchell High has dedicated staff working together,
pushing themselves and their students to do their best.
The best teachers work to improve their ability to teach,
they explore new techniques in an effort to develop
themselves and their skills. They lead by example
encouraging your child to accept responsibility for their
own learning and providing them with the skills to be
lifelong learners. They provide a culture of selfevaluation, reflection and informed decision making.
Parents are encouraged to be involved in setting goals
and during the development of school policies that
reflect the needs of the local community. Not all
parents have the same expectations and we
anandaunderstand that parents often have different
priorities for their children.
Page 1
understand that parents often have different priorities for
their children.
Parents and teachers both want to promote values such as
respect for others, honesty, tolerance, fairness and the
pursuit of excellence. School may not always be the best fit
for students but at Mitchell High we look at providing
support and opportunities for all students. This can only be
successful with effective communication betweenteachers,
students and parents/caregivers.
Examination period
Examinations for Year 7 and 8 (Stage 4) and Years 9 and 10
(Stage 5) are now complete and teachers have been
working hard to mark examinations, provide valuable
feedback to students and complete reports.
Year 9 & 10 reports will be posted home and parents should
take the opportunity to arrange interviews with their child’s
teachers. Parent / Teacher interview evenings allow for
detailed face to face discussions of your child’s progress
and ways to support learning in the future.
The Learning HUB
Work has begun on the new learning hub adjoining the
library. We hope the scope of work will be completed by
mid term 3. This new facility will provide an additional
learning space to facilitate examinations, remedial
programs and small group activities. We ask students to be
conscious when moving close to the building site to take
care and not cross safety barriers.
Practise punctuality
It is every student’s responsibility to get themselves to school
on time and ready for learning. Lateness is unacceptable
at school and at work and is considered disrespectful
socially. Unless there is exceptional circumstances, students
who come late to school will receive detention. This is the
consequence of their unpreparedness, or unwillingness to
do the right thing. Students who continue to be late will be
asked to attend a meeting with their parents and the
Deputy Principal.
Bullying
Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological
behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power
by an individual or group towards one or more persons.
Cyberbullying refers to bullying through information and
communication technologies.
have long term effects on bystanders. Conflicts or fights
between equals or single incidents are not defined as
bullying.
Schools exist in a society where incidents of bullying
behaviour may occur. Preventing and responding to
bullying behaviour in learning and working environments is
a shared responsibility of all departmental staff, students,
parents, caregivers and members of the wider school
community. No method of addressing bullying has been
reported as 100% effective and no one intervention is
appropriate in all circumstances of bullying.
Students and parents are encouraged to report bullying so
that the perpetrators may be dealt with. At Mitchell High
we take bullying very seriously and will not hesitate to take
disciplinary action in line with the School’s Code of
Conduct and Welfare policy. If warranted we shall engage
the support of the local police.
Safety when travelling to and from school
Students need to ensure their safety when travelling to and
from school. Those students who catch a bus should enter
and exit the bus in an orderly manner, without rushing and
they must show their bus pass to the driver. When exiting
cars or buses, students need to wait for the traffic to leave
so they get a clear view of the road. All too often on
Pendant Avenue and at the pedestrian crossing on
Keyworth Drive, I have observed students get off the bus
and one after the other walk in front of the bus, or directly
behind it and straight out on to the road with the
expectation that cars will slow down for them. At Mitchell
High School we aim to be safe, Respectful Engaged Active
Learners. (R.E.A.L)
Students who ride a bike must ride on the left hand side of
the road. Cyclists from Mitchell High School have been
observed riding in the middle of the road and going too
fast while swerving in and out of cars and people on
footpaths.
Again, when you are travelling to and from school you are
representing the school and your behaviour is a reflection
on all of us. Ensure you do not enter private properties or
dispose of your litter inappropriately. Please respect other
people and their property.
Ms Marinis
Relieving Principal
Bullying can involve humiliation, domination, intimidation,
victimisation and all forms of harassment including that
based on sex, race, disability, homosexuality or
transgender. Bullying of any form or for any reason can
March 2013 Newsletter
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Page 2
Relieving Deputy Principal’s Report
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School Locker
The uniform shop now has all items produced and
available for sale. It is the expectation of the school that all
students are in full school uniform from now on. If it is cold
students are able to wear a white skivvy underneath their
school shirts. Under no circumstances are hoodies allowed
to be worn at school. Students will be asked to remove
them. The School Locker is open on Tuesdays 8am – 12pm
and Thursdays 12pm – 4pm.
School Contributions and Fees
A reminder to all parents of those students studying elective
subjects with fees must ensure they are paid off or paying
installments. These should be finalised by the end of Term 3
and invoices are being sent home regularly. There are
many options for paying that are listed on the school
website and the invoices.
Year 11 2016 and Year 9 2016 Information Night
The information nights for Year 8 into 9 and 10 into 11 is
being held on the 21st July (week 2 next term). This night is
very important for both parents and students to ensure you
are well informed about not only the subjects but also the
processes around selections and regulations according to
BOSTES. Year 10 students will go through an interview
process at school and parents are being offered an
opportunity to make an appointment to be present at
these interviews on the 12th August from 3 – 6pm. Please put
this date into your diary.
Assessments and N-Awards
With examinations just finishing now for all years it is timely to
remind students that all other assessment work – research
tasks, practicals, experiments etc must be completed on
time and in detail. There are still too many students being
issued with N-Award warning letters and then needing to
still complete the tasks. The amount of time, effort and cost
to the school has increased and all it takes is for students to
be REAL about their studies. Be RESPECTFUL to yourself,
peers and teachers who put time and effort into preparing
the tasks, be ENGAGED in all your class work and
assessments that also demonstrates respect, be ACTIVE in
your learning – seek out help, make use of the Homework
Center and finally be a LEARNER – be the best you can and
get the best possible marks to enhance your life.
Homework Centre
The Homework Centre continues to run on a Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday afternoon in the library from 3.10 – 4.10,
fully supervised and resources available. This is a great way
to get some extra assistance or even just a quiet space
away from the home to get on top of work or get
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
assessments started and completed. Please encourage
your children to make use of this resource at MHS.
Mrs Pares
Relieving Deputy Principal
Relieving Deputy Principal’s Report
_____________________________________________
Well we are quickly moving through Term 2. It really is
incredible how fast things move at Mitchell High School.
There continues to be plenty of wonderful opportunities
and programs available to our students.
NAPLAN
Year 7 & 9 are to be congratulated for their application to
NAPLAN and the excellent conduct they displayed
throughout the process. I would like to particularly
commend Year 9 for outstanding behaviour in the hall
during this time. It was reported by many staff that they
demonstrated outstanding maturity.
Year 11
A reminder to all Year 11 students that the Preliminary year
is only three terms long, which means they are half way
through their courses. N-Award warning letters can begin to
accumulate very quickly which can lead to enhanced
unnecessary stress. It is imperative that students are well
organised and diligent in completing and submitting work
and have a regular set study routine. It is important that
students are aware that the transition into Year 12 relies
upon satisfactory completion of preliminary requirements. If
you have any concerns regarding your child’s progress
please contact the relevant faculty, Year Advisor or make
an appointment to see the Deputy Principal. Students need
to regularly refer to the school’s Senior Assessment Policy,
with particular attention to illness and misadventure
processes.
School Playground
I have been disappointed recently by the amount of
rubbish that has been left on the playground instead of
being placed in one of the numerous rubbish bins we have
positioned around the school. This is a reminder to all
students to take pride in the school playground and
appreciate the many wonderful facilities we have at our
school. I have always believed that the physical
environment in which we operate has an impact on our
general behaviour, attitude and productivity. It is vital that
as members of the school community we respect our
environment.
Mr Campbell
Relieving Deputy Principal
Page 3
Science Report
Sport Report
On the 13/5/2015, students in Mr
Debrincat’s Year 7Q Science class
made a model of a cell. Year 7 are
currently learning the topic called –
Invisible World. We teach students how
to use a microscope and look at the
differences between plant and animal
cells.
Term 3 2015 Sport Selections
The idea behind the activity was to have a fun lesson with
the students looking at the features (similarities and
differences) of an animal cell compared to a plant cell.
We also learnt about the significance of models used in
Science and how they play a big part in learning Science;
assessing the advantages and disadvantages (limitations).
We started off by making the Animal cell:
Could you please ensure that your child has their sport
uniform ready for Tuesday. If the uniform is misplaced, lost
or in the wash they will still be allowed to participate if they
bring a note and alternate sports gear. Students will be
allowed to participate if they have running shoes but will be
issued with a uniform note for the incorrect uniform.
Students who do not bring their full PE uniform will be sent to
sport detention for the afternoon.
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The biscuit represented the cell membrane
The icing represented the
cytoplasm
The red jaffa represented
the nucleus
The 100’s and 1000’s
represented the
mitochondria
The white milk bottles
represented small vacuoles
We then added a few more lollies (yum!) to then show
what a Plant Cell looked like.
Term 2 Sport has commenced and students are enjoying
the variety of sports each week. A reminder that there are
no I.O.U’s given for paid sport. Students who forget their
money will attend a school sport or go to the library.
Sport Uniform on Tuesdays
Tuesday Early Leavers and Sickness
Students who require an early leaver’s pass on Tuesday are
to bring a note with a parent/caregiver contactable
phone number on it. Students bring this note to the AV
ROOM at Recess. The Parent/Caregiver will be contacted
by Mrs Maguire to verify the reason for the early leavers
identified in the note.
Students who are sick or injured are to bring a note to be
signed by Mrs Maguire in the PE staffroom by the end of
Recess. These students will then go to the Library during
sport time.
Mitchell High School Athletic Age Champions
Congratulations to the 2015 Mitchell HS Age Champions
To the animal cell above, we then added:
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Green mint leaves to represent the chloroplasts
More white milk bottles clustered with the other
white milk bottles to represent a large vacuole
Pink musk sticks along the side edges of the biscuit
to represent the cell wall
BOYS
12yr
13yr
14yr
15yr
16yr
17yr
Manjot Bhathal
April Junio
Daniel Casaje
Nihal Khurshid
Lachlan Davis
Marcus Crossley
GIRLS
12yr
13yr
14yr
15yr
16yr
17yr
Taneisha Canoy
Cryste Degollacion
Sinead Davidson
Mariah Correia
Deyana Trikaliotis
Eden Carter
Knockout Competitions
The best part of the lesson was when the students got to
eat their model of a cell!
Mr Debrincat
Head Teacher Science
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Congratulations to the Open Girls Knockout Netball team
who played Merrylands High School in Round 1 of the
knockout competition. It was a tough game and
unfortunately we were defeated.
Beveridge, Molly
Graham, Madison
Hardie, Amy
McMillan, Amy
Page 4
Moes, Teigan
O'Garey-Larbie, Nanahenma
Pollard, Alyssa
Rayner, Tayla
Tran, Celina
Webb, Riquelle
Faller, Samantha
Trikaliotis, Deyana
Sydney West Cross Country
Congratulations to the Open Girls Soccer team who played
Castle Hill High School in Round 3 of the Knockout
competition.
Good luck to the following students who will represent
Blacktown Zone at The Sydney West Cross Country
Championships on Wednesday 10th June at Sydney
Motorsport Park.
Atfield, Elizabeth
Beveridge, Molly
Bhathal, Manjot
Bloomfield, Gavin
Canoy, Taneisha
Carter, Eden
Davis, Timana
Davidson, Sinead
Hulley, Kaitlyn
Kollie, Justina
Atfield, Elizabeth
Carter, Eden
Davidson, Aisling
Davidson, Sinead
Durmo, Margareta
Grebenar, Sarah
Halcomb, Laura
Hulley, Kaitlyn
Ipatas, Melanie
Molchanov, Lateesha
Nguyen, Calissa
Schembri, Olivia
Singh, Nisheeta
Storey, Bianca
Lee-Eyles, Patrick
Lisle, Christopher
Schembri, Olivia
Solomons, Ashley
Strickland, Liam
Trikaliotis, Deyana
Mrs Maguire
Sports Co-ordinator
BZSSSA Representatives Athletics
Congratulations to the following students who competed in
the Blacktown Zone Athletic Championships on Thursday
28th May and Friday 29th May 2015.
Abogodah, Mazin
Adhikari, Mohan
Anokye, Bismark
Arronis, Demetri
Arronis, Panayioti
Ashby-Brigandi, Jordan
Atfield, Olivia
Baig, Shaharyaar
Bartuah, Joe
Bell, Jayden
Berbari, Anthony
Bloomfield, Ashlee
Bloomfield, Gavin
Bucher, Jasmyn
Buttigieg, Jack
Carter, Eden
Canoy, Taneisha
Cook, Alysha
Correia, Mariah
Crossley, Marcus
Cruz, Rebekah
Davis, Lachlan
Davidson, Aisling
Davidson, Sinead
Degollacion, Cryste
Dennett, Chloe
Dixon, Caroline
Dolan, Isaac
Dudgeon, Matthew
El-Rassi, Christian
Fagan, Camryn
Farhat, Hawraa
Francis, Ryan
Hahn, Clayton
Halawi, Mohamed
Hughes-Nelisi, Chloe
Hulley, Kaitlyn
Junio, April
Kamara, Fomba
Kambala, Venkata
Khin, Yee Mon
Khurshid, Nihal
Kollie, Justina
Kullar, Jeevan Jot
Kumar, Jaiden
Lam, Jesse
Lee-Eyles, Patrick
Lisle, Christopher
Makhoul, Danny
Maki, Nagmeldin
Micallef, Blake
Olayiwola, Wuraola
Pollard, Chloe
Reyes, Tyrone
Schembri, Olivia
Shong, Brandon
Solomons, Ashley
Strickland, Liam
Talakai, Kanavale
Talakai, Taniela
Timewell, Brandy
Tran, Celina
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Maths Report
What’s happening in the classroom!
This month 9M5 has had a prac teacher join the classroom
in Mathematics lessons. Here is what one student had to
say about the experience:
“Mrs Loudoun has been a great teacher. The first time I met
her I was a bit upset but she made me feel really happy.
She taught me how to do Pythagoras’ Theorem and the
square root in one day. She is really nice and treats
everyone fairly. If you need help or need something to be
shown again she doesn’t mind. So far she has taught us
Hypotenuse, Opposite and Adjacent sides, the meaning of
and also sin , cos , and tan . We also learnt
SOHCAHTOA, finding the length of sides and doing quizzes.
She is an amazing teacher and I would recommend her as
a teacher.” Johnston Hayes
The Math STAR Awards
Term 1 saw the launch of the Math STAR awards for Years
7&8. This award recognises Students with a Terrific Attitude
in their Mathematics classes. Each Year 7 and 8 teacher
has chosen two students to receive the award, which was
presented to them at a morning tea in week 9 last term.
The Math STAR awards will run again this term for Years 7, 8,
9 and 10.
Years 9&10 will be presented in week 9 and Years 7&8 in
week 10.
Australian Mathematics Competition 2015
The Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) is
internationally renowned and has been held annually since
Page 5
1978. There is an emphasis on problem solving, a valuable
life skill, and the questions are designed to be fun. The
competition aims to be accessible to all students, not just
the mathematically gifted. Although it is aimed at the
average student, the AMC also identifies gifted students.
Positions in Mathematics classes at Mitchell High School are
competitive. As part of enriching gifted students’ learning
the following classes will be participating in the competition
in 2015.
7A
8M1
9M1
10M1
11M1
Australian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads
(APSMO)
The Maths Olympiad is currently running for classes 8M1 and
8M2. There is no cost for students. The Olympiads consists of
five separate tests held approximately one month apart
between May and September, and consists of a series of
problem solving questions. Good luck to our competitors.
Here is a question from the first test to try:
Travelling from home to school, Jacob passes 100 homes.
He photographs the first home he passes, and every third
home thereafter. On his return from school to home, along
the same route, he again photographs the first home he
passes, but now photographs every second home he
passes until he arrives home.
How many homes were photographed twice?
Or
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Navy blue MHS tracksuit pants (available from the
uniform shop Tuesday mornings and Thursday
afternoons)
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Suitable sporting footwear (not Converse or similar
shoes)
MHS jacket or jumper

A reminder, if students do not have the required uniform for
a specific reason, they must bring a signed and dated note
to their PE/Sports teacher explaining the situation. If their
uniform is wet, in the wash or they have left it somewhere
they are allowed to wear suitable sporting attire for that
specific lesson with the excusable note. If a student does
not bring a note they will receive an equitable
consequence. If this is an ongoing medical problem,
students are to present with a medical certificate from a
medical practitioner stating the injury and expected time
out from sporting activities.
The PDHPE faculty would also like to encourage
parents/carers and students alike to follow our MHS PDHPE
Facebook page which keeps you informed about
upcoming sporting events, health initiatives, displays
examples of student participation in MHS sporting events
and PE lessons as well as student assessment examples.
Next term, we will be running the Lunchtime Sporting
Competition. The focus sport for Term 3 will be soccer. If you
are interested in participating in this weekly competition,
you can sign up outside the PDHPE staffroom.
Free Tutoring for Mathematics
Students are still able to access free help with mathematics
after school 3:15-4:15pm.
General Mathematics 11&12 Wednesday room 55
2Unit Mathematics Yr11 Wednesday room 53
7-12 Mathematics Thursday room 54
Calculators
Casio AUfx82 scientific calculators are
available for purchase from the school. The cost is $24.
Students from Years 8-12 now require calculators to
complete their class work. Year 7 students do not require a
calculator for regular class work.
PDHPE Report
In the upcoming months, MHS also has an exciting
purchase to release to the school community. Watch this
space!
Dance
The Mitchell High Dance School dance students have been
busy this term with a dance workshop and performing in
The Synergy Dance Festival.
On Friday 22nd May thirty students from Dance elective, the
dance ensemble and the hip-hop dance group
participated in a contemporary and hip-hop dance
workshop. Two guest teachers Emma Jarman and Jay
Johns came and taught these students for a day. The
students had a great time and both teachers were
impressed by the high levels of respect and enthusiasm
shown by all the students throughout the day.
As the cold wintery weather has arrived, we would like to
remind everyone on the importance of getting changed
into the correct PE and Sports uniform. All students are to
be changed at the commencement of the lesson into:
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White MHS Sports Polo Shirt
Navy blue MHS shorts
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Page 6
On Thursday 4th June and Friday 5th June, members of the
dance ensemble represented Mitchell High School in The
Synergy Dance Festival. The students presented a
contemporary number “Shadows of the Night” and are to
be commended on their hard work and dedication
leading up to this event. The students were praised by
members from other schools on their professionalism and
their performance. They are to be commended on the way
they represented the school and themselves.
Mrs Spadina
Head Teacher PDHPE
Debating at MHS
Computing Faculty
The Year 9 and 10 IST classes have finalised and competed
in the Mitchell High School inaugural ROBOT WARS. On
Wednesday 27 May 2015, Miss Bell’s X elective class, Mr
Connolly’s Y elective class and Miss Scheerhoorn’s Z
elective class spent 3 periods in the hall to compete
against each other, but mainly to showcase their
programmed Lego NXT robot. There were 18 teams (6 per
class) with 4-5 students in each group. Some teams created
an amazing robot that also had attachments that could be
connected and disconnected during the challenge. The
challenge proved that we have some budding engineers
and programmers in our classes. The event was set up like a
tournament with the Year 12 Software Design and
Development class providing the music and operating the
camera to live feed what was happening on the
competition table to the big screen, so that everyone
could share in the experience. The Year 12’s also wrote a
program to randomly select the next team to compete
and keep track of all the scores. It was a fun afternoon and
every team successfully completed a couple of missions on
the Food Factors challenge mat. Final class scores were:
Position
Class
Points
1st
Z elective
513
2nd
Y elective
459
3rd
X elective
450
Well done to everyone involved and congratulations to the
Z elective class!
Debating has started well this year. We had
a Debating Training Day in Term One and
we meet every Friday to discuss ideas and
refine skills in manner and method. Our Year
7 team opposed Greystanes High School in
Week Four of this term. They debated the topic ‘That
studying another language should be compulsory
throughout high school.’ Our students took the negative
position and made a valiant effort to dispute the merits of
this idea. Unfortunately they were defeated on the day but
I was extremely proud of the gracious way in which they
received feedback, and the humility that they
demonstrated in congratulating the winning team.
Our Year 8 team opposed Holroyd High School in Week 7
debating the topic ‘That uniform should be abolished’.
Mitchell adopted the negative position and through strong
manner, method and matter, secured a win for our school.
They worked very well together as a team. Our Year 7 team
were fortunate enough to observe this debate and learnt a
lot about how to debate convincingly. Honourable
mentions also go to Cryste Degallacion and Chloe Raad as
Chairperson and Timekeeper. We are extremely proud of
both teams. There are three more debates yet to occur. I
look forward to reporting again on these teams very soon.
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Page 7
The West African Drumming Ensemble
On Monday the 18th of May, if you happened to witness six
Mitchell High School students wandering about Sydney
Harbour…we have an explanation. Zorkanah Groupee,
Princess Pawa, Wura Olayiwola, Justina Kollie, Mowada
Tagir and Malaz Abogodah were the six girls you might
have seen posing on a bridge during their break in
between the drumming practice.
Despite total exhaustion, later that day they performed in
front of an enthralled audience of 1000 plus. Although the
girls shook in their shoes and bit their nails, it was an eyepopping performance that now has a place in their hearts.
Written by: Wura Olayiwola, Mowada Tagir, Malaz
Abogodah and Justina Kollie
Let’s start at the beginning; the girls were in the city to
perform in the first West African Drumming Ensemble, along
with 4 other schools and the 750 choir members from across
NSW. To prepare for the concert they would later perform
in, the students had to participate in a workshop at Mitchell
High School and be chosen to represent their school at the
rehearsal and performance at Sydney Town Hall. The girls
had the opportunity to perform with the world renowned
drumming sensation Yacou Mbaye, who directed the
drumming ensemble, the choir and the soloist in the
opening sequence of the concert.
Mitchell High students met the other schools on the steps of
Sydney Town Hall, and after taking a few selfies/pictures
proceeded into the concert hall for a quick rehearsal with
the choir. Later on the girls were let loose for a 5 and a half
hour break in which they took on the city by storm. On their
break they literally turned the city upside down. From
Madam Tussauds to a water taxi, from Louis Vuitton to
Sports Girl, from the Opera House to posing on a bridge,
from China Town to George Street, they explored the city
without a corner unseen.
LAY ON MACBETH!
The last month has been filled with trips to the theatre for
English students. We were fortunate enough to book tickets
to ‘Macbeth’ for Year 11 to see at the Riverside Theatre,
Parramatta. The production by Sport for Jove was exciting
and brought the text the students had been reading to life.
The actors answered questions after the performance and
really showed the relevance of Shakespeare to the 21st
Century. A group of Year 9 students also attended a
performance of ‘Macbeth’ at the Seymour Centre. For
many, this was their introduction to live theatre and to
Shakespeare and several are now anxiously awaiting the
opportunity to see ‘Romeo and Juliet’ later in the year.
The Year 12 Standard and Advanced classes also had the
opportunity to see performances of their set texts. The
Advanced class attended a symposium on ‘The Tempest’
and were given an insight into the play by a variety of
actors who then performed selected scenes to highlight
the connection of the play to ‘Discovery’ which is their
Area of Study text. The Standard English classes travelled to
Kirribilli to see either ‘A Shoe Horn Sonata’ or ‘Educating
Rita’ both of which are their prescribed texts. Having the
opportunity to see a live performance of a prescribed text
is of huge benefit to the students who have to write about
interpretations of the texts they are studying. It was also
great fun!
The next few months will be exceedingly busy in English. We
are looking forward to the ICAS English Competition and
The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition. We have
booked Claymation, an animated workshop using stop
motion techniques, for a group in Year 8 and a group in
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Page 8
Year 9. We also have more theatre opportunities booked
for performances of ‘Shellshock’ at the Riverside Theatre
and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Hamlet’ at The Sydney Opera
House.
The English Faculty
Year 9 & 10 Commerce
In class Year 9 & 10 have been learning about Ethics and
the promoting and selling of products. Below are 2 poems
and a rap written by students in the class.
Short poem – Child Labour
This jumper is really nice
Feeling just so soft
It’ll keep me nice and warm
From the freezing frost
The colour is just right
Matching all my clothes
It even has some pictures
Like little blue shaped bows
I’m not going to buy it
I’m doing the kids a favour
By definitely not supporting
The terrible child labour
Poem – Child Labour
Waking up every morning
Before the sun rises
Having to go to work
That holds awful surprises
Being treated unfairly
Getting paid low wages
You want to know why?
It’s because of our ages
The conditions are very poor
Which is definitely not for kids
Should be stopped
immediately
But the law doesn’t forbid
Health is depleting slowly
Dying at a young age
Some people are just heartless
This really makes me rage
Working for long hours
Working all the day
Working without speaking
Working with no say
Child labour is wrong
It really isn’t right
Everyone please stand up
And stop this awful crime
Ethics rap 2015
Ethics are really cool
You’ll learn them at school
Don’t be a fool
Or you’ll drown in a pool
Keep the world clean
Don’t be mean
Throw around rubbish
And you’ll be seen
Saving nature will help us later
We’ll be rising like an elevator
By saving trees you’ll be pleased
Which would also reduce your fees
By changing your lifestyle to be more ethic
Then you’ll seem much less pathetic
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Page 9
Food Revolution Day
5.
Place lids on top and press lightly – tuck in!!!
On Friday 15 May Year 11 Food Technology students
participated in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day! Food
Revolution Day is Jamie’s global day of action to fight for
food education and get children excited about cooking.
It’s about celebrating the importance of cooking good
food from scratch and raising awareness of how it impacts
our health and happiness.
The students “cooked” along with Jamie Oliver via the live
streamed video displayed on the interactive whiteboard at
the front of the classroom, as he chopped, squashed and
mixed, to produce a delicious, nutritious “Squash it
Sandwich”!
One of the best bits was hearing some of the students,
before we prepared the food, saying “Yuck, I don’t eat
those healthy things!” and then watching them tuck in to
their creations complete with ALL ingredients and asking for
more!!! There were some very interesting ingredients going
into our Squash it Sandwich that stretched most of us out of
our usual eating habit comfort zone! See the recipe below.
Squash it Sandwich
Serves 4
4 seeded wholegrain rolls
4 radishes
5cm piece of cucumber
½ small carrot
2 cauliflower florets
½ small red pepper
½ small apple (cored)
1T balsamic vinegar
1T extra virgin olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh soft herbs such as dill, flat-leaf parsley, basil,
mint
½ a punnet or 1 handful of salad cress or sprouting herbs
1 handful of fresh podded peas
1T quality cottage cheese or cream cheese
2T quality hommus
1.
2.
3.
4.
Chop all of the vegetables into small pieces and
mix together in a mixing bowl.
Place a clean tea towel onto the chopping board
and place the vegetables and apple in the
middle. Fold the tea towel up over the vegetables
and carefully crush and squash the vegetables
down with a rolling pin.
Tip the squished vegetables back into the bowl.
Pour over balsamic vinegar and olive oil and snip
herbs and cress in and mix well.
Spread the base of each roll with cottage cheese
and spread each top with hommus. Equally divide
the vegetable mixture between each roll.
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Mrs Saul
TAS Teacher
Peer Reading Tutoring
Peer Reading is a program that has run successfully at
Mitchell High School for several years. Year 10 students
volunteer to work with, mentor and support Year 7 & 8
students to increase and improve their reading/language
skills.
The Peer Tutoring program has been an amazing
experience so far. Knowing that we are benefiting not only
our tutees but ourselves as well makes us feel a great sense
of accomplishment.
As part of the Peer Tutoring program Year 10 students have
had the opportunity to complete a two day TAFE course to
develop peer reading tutors. Throughout the two days we
learnt various techniques in order to assist us with our
tutoring. The activities involved a lot of teamwork,
communication skills and strategic thinking. This enabled us
to build stronger bonds with our peers and further our
knowledge on how different people interact and express
themselves.
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The program has been successful for a number of years
and this year is no different. On behalf of the tutors, I’d like
to acknowledge the fact that none of this would’ve been
possible without the help of Ms Barber. It is a fantastic
program and I wish for it to continue benefitting others for
years to come.
Be on the lookout for more Vivo raffles and new prizes!
Stay REAL!
The PBL Team
Chantelle Lowther
Welfare News
YourTutor – Online Tutoring Program
Stuck during study? YourTutor is a free online homework
help site provided through our partnership with The
University of Sydney. It is a live, one-to-one, anonymous
online help program. The online tutors are teachers or
university experts, thoroughly trained and monitored.
Student information is confidential and protected. No
appointments or travel are necessary. Tutors are available
from 3.00 – 10.00pm, Sunday to Friday to help students get
unstuck. Students can log in through:
astar.tv/yourtutor
Find out more at –
sydney.edu.au/compass/programs/parents/yourtutor
Student Eyecare Program
PBL Team News
The Student Eyecare Program is well under way with
optometrist Christina Dinh. The program involves a free
comprehensive eye examination that is covered through
Medicare Australia. All attendees will receive a full health
report and a prescription will be provided if glasses are
required. The prescription can be taken to any optical store
to get the glasses made. Permission notes can be returned
to Ms Cate or to the print room.
African Community Liaison Officer
The Cookie Monster is alive and well at Mitchell in our PBL
lessons and has been very helpful in showing students the
correct ‘in bounds’ areas where students are supervised on
the playground. The Staying ‘in bounds’ session proved to
be entertaining as well as informative and even included a
recipe for choc chip cookies.
The next session was on manners and engaging with
people in a positive way. Manners are important as they
allow us to connect with each other and help us to
communicate more effectively. This enables us to
understand each other and therefore, we are more likely to
be able to help each other out. Having and using manners
helps put people at ease and builds self-esteem.
The final PBL lesson for Term 2 is about the school’s BYOD
(Bring Your Own Device) policy.
Congratulations to Daniel Pennycook for winning two
tickets to the first State of Origin in the Vivo raffle draw.
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
The school has welcomed Mayor Cagai as our African
Community Liaison Officer. He is at Mitchell to provide
support to our African students and works on a Thursday
and Friday. Mayor is keen to help and encourage young
people and to forge links with community resources and
programs. He especially loves basketball and sees the
value in making links between sport and working hard to
achieve a good education.
iTrack Program
Ten students in Year 10 are participating in the iTrack
Program which involves online mentoring with mentors from
a variety of corporate backgrounds. This program is
supported by our partnership with The Smith Family. On
Thursday the 21st May students travelled to the NAB Wealth
office in the city for their first face to face meeting with their
mentors. The majority of students had the opportunity to
meet and get to know their mentor outside of the school
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context and they all got to experience the corporate
sector. The students participated in various activities on the
day and focused on goal setting and future challenges
that can continue to be explored in the online sessions.
Year 10 Study Skills
Fifty Year 10 students accepted the opportunity to
participate in the Sydney University Study Skills Day on
Friday 29th May which was run by members of Compass, a
partnership link through The Smith Family. Students took part
in hands on tutorials, presentations, practical sessions and
spoke to current university students about their experiences
and paths of study. The excursion was an excellent
opportunity for students to gain insight into best practice
when preparing for English, Mathematics and general study
skills. A follow-up session will be held at school in August for
the students that attended the study day.
The Smith Family and Microsoft Australia partnered to
deliver a coding event to help students discover the fun of
coding, how it can be a catalyst to create and achieve
great things and enhance ICT skills. Ninety of our students,
along with those from other schools, participated in short
interactive sessions at the University of Technology Sydney
and gained understanding of the breadth of opportunities
that exist in this field. A special congratulations to Ashley
Halcomb who did Mitchell High proud as he delivered the
speech thanking Microsoft for the day and the dignitaries
for their words of wisdom. Carlton Paske and Sharon Liu also
shared their appreciation for the day and highlighted how
they use coding in their lives.
Year 11 – Thinking Ahead Workshop
On Wednesday 3rd June, sixteen Year 11 students
participated in a workshop, providing them with valuable
Information about the types of scholarships and admissions
pathways available to university.
Presented by a Sydney University Compass staff member
and two student ambassadors, participants analysed
typical extracurricular activities in terms of the leadership
skills employers and scholarship committees look for in an
application. The aim of the session was to help students
build stronger application skills, confidence and motivation
to apply for university. A ‘Promote Yourself’ workshop will be
available for students when they are in Year 12 to build
upon the skills learned in the ‘Thinking Ahead’ session.
Connect Program
Connect is a personal development program for girls which
has been developed by Bernie Coleman, our Youth Worker
and is being run by her and Tracy Edwards, our Aboriginal
Education Officer. The program will run over six, one period
sessions. Each session ends with a yarning circle as a
method of debriefing about the topic explored that day.
Connect topics include:




Developing skills to improve self-esteem
Teaching girls how to recognise and cope with feelings
and how to react in positive ways
Dealing with stress and conflict
Enhancing friendships
Connect also:


AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience)
Thirteen of our Indigenous students from Years 9, 10 and 11
attended the first AIME session for 2015 at the University of
Western Sydney, Parramatta Campus. The students
participated in three workshops during the day, focusing on
topics such as goal setting and identity, and enjoyed the
opportunity to speak with mentors about their experiences.
Indigenous Art Workshop
Alajah Wright, Year 12 and Crystal Ferguson, Year 9
participated in an Indigenous Art Workshop hosted by AIME
at Blacktown Arts Centre. The girls went on a walking tour of
Blacktown, taking photographs in order to capture the
beauty within the urban surroundings. The girls had the
opportunity to work with Bronwyn Bancroft, a renowned
Indigenous artist, who inspired and encouraged the girls
and their interest in art. The program culminated in the girls’
work being exhibited at the art centre.
Vaccinations
The second phase of the vaccination program will occur
on Wednesday 24th June. On this day the second phase of
the HPV vaccination will be provided. There will also be
catch-ups provided for students that missed vaccinations in
Term 1. Only students that have returned signed permission
cards will be allowed to be vaccinated. Please contact Dr
Munro-Smith in the Science Staffroom for any queries about
the program.
Teaches skills in developing support networks
Develops ways for girls to enhance their self-worth
Microsoft – We Speak Code Excursion
Mitchell High School
Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
Page 12
The Smith Family – Learning for Life Scholarships
Due to our school’s partnership with The Smith Family, we
have been offered some Learning for Life Scholarships.
These scholarships help to provide financial support for a
student’s educational expenses such as excursions,
stationery and uniforms. A parent must have either a
pension or health card in order to put in an application for
their child. If interested, please contact Ms Cate for details.
Field of Dreams
Mitchell High has forged a partnership with the University of
Western Sydney through the Field of Dreams program for
Indigenous students. The program focuses on connection
to the local community, exploring culture and identity and
setting goals for the future. Our students had the
opportunity to meet James from the Sydney Kings and
participate in a basketball workshop. It was a great
morning for the students involved.
Nanga Mai
The Nanga Mai Program has been developed to give
Indigenous students a taste of what life is like at the
University of Technology Sydney and to allow them to
dream about their future. The program in May involved
lectures and workshops, meeting current Indigenous
students, hearing about their experiences and gaining
information about what UTS has to offer.
Year 7 and 8 Indigenous University Experience Day
The University of Sydney and Compass hosted Year 7 and 8
Indigenous students’ participation in an opportunity to
explore the university. Students took part in a range of
hands-on tutorials, presentations, demonstrations and
practical sessions including building towers with dried
spaghetti and a marshmallow. It was a great day to meet
students from other schools and to listen to inspiring
students and their paths to tertiary study.
Ms Cate
Relieving HT Welfare
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Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
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Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
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Respectful, Engaged & Active Learners
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