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PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Year 12 have had a smooth start to their HSC Examinations and deserve our congratulations. Thank you to the students and parents and caregivers for following the COVID-safe exam procedures. Examination venues are being quarantined from the rest of the school which should allow HSC Examinations to continue on site if the school was non-operational. Students are reminded to not mix with other cohorts at school to minimise possible contact exposure and avoid entering the main buildings, where possible.

The Department of Education has provided five large air purifiers for the HSC examination venues. These are set up and operational 24/7 in each examination venue and are used to supplement the natural ventilation (opened windows and doors) in these venues.

Year 12 Graduation Ceremony will be held on Monday 6th December from 9:00 am to 10:30 am. This will be an opportunity for the school to celebrate and recognise the achievements of our class of 2021. Due to square-meter rules requirements only Year 12 students will be able to attend this ceremony and it will be live-streamed to Year 12 Parents and Caregivers. The ceremony will be followed by a morning tea for Year 12 students and staff from 10:30 – 11:10 am. Year 12 students will depart the school after this time and could then be available for a celebratory lunch with their family and friends. Year 12 will then have three sign-out days: Wednesday 8th, Thursday 9th and Friday 10th December where they will officially sign-out from school, ensuring that resources, books and financial statements are finalised, lockers are emptied and the Cottage is cleared out in preparation for Year 12 2022.

Year 12 can continue to access wellbeing support throughout this term through the Wellbeing Team by contacting their Year Advisers or Deputy Principal or Student Support Officer. Year 12 students can continue to contact Dr Turner for assistance regarding careers and university entry. If you have any questions, please contact Dr Turner on the school telephone number or by emailing the school.

Thank you to the P and C for acknowledging the difficult year that Year 12 have had with a gift from the P and C which was distributed to the students on Tuesday. It was a lovely gesture from the P and C to our Year 12s. Please see the accompanying photos. Thank you also to the P and C for their gift to the staff to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of all members of the HGHS staff. Thank you P and C!

Our next P and C Meeting is our Annual General Meeting. It will be held in the school hall on Wednesday 17 November from 7:30pm – 8:30pm. Please see the flyer in this edition of the Torch.

The refurbishment of the Science Laboratories 401 and 104 continues with work to be completed prior to Christmas. The school successfully applied for the NSW Government’s Metro Renewal Program where the NSW Government matched school contributions to building projects. To date the project has cost the school $180,000. Thank you to all parents who contribute to our fully tax-deductible school building program. If you would like to contribute to this building program please contact the bank office and state the amount you would like to contribute and a fully tax-deductible receipt to the HGHS Building Program will be issued to you.

We also successfully applied for the NSW DoE Cooler Classrooms Program where a few fortunate schools were selected to have additional air conditioning. All four Visual Arts Classrooms, Rm 316 (STEM room) and the Little Room of Big Ideas (Extension English room) will be air conditioned under this government program at no cost to the school.

After a two-year wait for approval from the DoE work will finally commence in mid-December on the outdoor multi-purpose courts located on the edge of the school oval. These courts will mainly be used for netball but can also be used for other purposes including assemblies in the winter months. This was mainly funded from the estate of Cynthia Brew a former student at HGHS who trained and worked as a PE Teacher.

With the implementation of student swipe on to replace roll-call we are now working on a new lesson time structure for 2022. Lessons will be approximately 75 minutes per lesson each day apart from Wednesdays which traditionally have been an earlier finish for students and staff. This shorter teaching day has allowed teachers to meet for staff and faculty meetings and professional learning activities. I hope to present a draft to the P and C on Wednesday evening after a discussion with faculty representatives. We will then seek input from the students. The new draft times will only have minor variations e.g. 8:45am (rather than the current 8:48am) start with a 2:50pm or 3pm finish except for Wednesdays’ where we are proposing a 2:20pm or 2:30pm finish rather than the current 2:33pm finish (this is for Wednesdays only). With these changes we will still meet all our mandatory NESA minimum hour requirements. These lesson time changes will be particularly relevant if we decide to maintain our post-COVID ‘no bells’ policy.

Students in all years are adapting well to the changes at school with varied class times, different playground areas, and no bells. They are to be commended for their maturity. It is good to see a number of classes are now outside when the weather permits. Our strong learning focus continues. Well done students and staff.

We observed Remembrance Day with a ceremony conducted by Lucinda Eldridge , Andrea Bangayan and Amelia Chia from Year 10 organised by Ms Eakins (HSIE) and Mrs Gilmore (Head Teacher HSIE). Well done Lucinda, Andrea and Amelia. Our Senior Prefects Rose Mitsui and Tanaya Subramanian also attended the Hornsby RSL service where they laid a wreath on behalf of the school at the Hornsby Cenotaph. Thank you to our prefect coordinator Mrs Diaz for organising our participation. Please see the accompanying photo.

Justin Briggs - Principal

YEAR 7 FIELD SKETCHES

7T Geographers have been working on their Field Work Skills this week. We learnt about drawing field sketches and why they are an important tool when investigating geographic questions. We were all very surprised at the depth of observations that can be made about physical and cultural environments using photographs and field sketches. Ms Gilmore was very impressed with our skills and the curiosity we showed in asking questions as we worked. Here are a few samples.

Mrs Vanessa Gilmore - Head Teacher HSIE

remeMbrance day

Hornsby High School Senior Prefects Rose Mitsui and Tanaya Subramanian attended the Remembrance Day Commemoration at the Hornsby RSL auditorium, where they laid a beautiful floral wreath on behalf of our school to remember all those who sacrificed their lives in the First World War, and other conflicts that followed.

Ms Monica Diaz Vinuesa - Prefect Co-ordinator

Rose Mitsui and Tanaya Subramanian

OUTDOOR LEARNING

10K working on their postmodern theory paragraphs

YEAR 9 FRENCH AND GERMAN 2022

The Languages faculty is excited to announce a new opportunity for students of French and German.

Beginning in 2022 the Year 9 and 10 French and German courses will be run to accommodate the accelerated completion of a Beginners HSC course.

This means that students of Year 9 French and German in 2022 will study the Preliminary HSC course for the Beginners language subject and students in Year 10 2023 will study the corresponding HSC course and have the option of sitting the HSC examination at the end of the year. If students do not wish to sit the HSC examination they will still receive credit for completing 200 hours of study in French or German.

Continuers and Extension French and German will remain available for these students to undertake in Years 11 and 12.

Trent Wilson (JP) Head Teacher Languages, Technologies, and Careers

GOOD LUCK YEAR 12

INDOOR LEARNING WITH MASKS

Year 7 working on those tricky G chords, C chords and Em chords

peer tutoring

Former students tutoring Year 11 in the Library on Tuesday and Thursday after school

P&C MEETING

Year 12 receiving gifts from the P&C after the English exam
Thank you card from HGHS Staff to P&C
Staff receiving P&C Gifts

2021 operation art winner

Every year schools across New South Wales are invited to participate in Operation Art, an initiative of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in association with the New South Wales Department of Education.

Four students’ artworks were nominated to participate, including, Ann Jin – Self Portrait, Laureen Talao - The Frilled Dragon, Maggie Zhang – Small Crab, Big World and Yua Cho – Carried by the Waves. You can view their work, along with the other 723 artworks that were nominated – just follow the link to view the digital online exhibition.

https://digital.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/visual-arts/operation-art/2021-exhibition

Out of 211 schools, Maggie Zhang is to be congratulated for her work “Small Crab, Big World”. The artwork was selected in the top 50 to be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW next year and then go on tour around to the NSW regional galleries later in 2022. It will eventually be part of the Children's Hospital at Westmead's permanent collection. To view the Touring 50 follow this link.

https://www.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/article/2021/10/05/operation-art-2021-exhibition-award-selections

Ms Isabella Pozzolungo - Head Teach CAPA

mahboba's promise

This term the Social Justice Committee are fundraising for Mahboba's Promise. This organisation helps newly arrived refugees from Afghanistan as well as those still in Afghanistan. Next Friday 19th November wear a blue accessory and make a gold coin donation. Families are also encouraged to donate to this worthy cause. Details are found on the website: https://mahbobaspromise.org/

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