Maths Day 2021, Canberra

After an arduous and wearisome four hour drive, Michael Cheng, Linh Huynh, Matt Wong, and Alex Zhao supervised by Miss Kim and Mr Callaghan arrived at Canberra Questacon at 1:30pm.

Science and Innovation | Questacon

Questacon, the land of discovery and study. We enjoyed a guided tour through the museum. Amongst the galaxy themed shirts were wacky whimsical wonders that lay within the winding walls of Questacon; there was a large granite ball weighing 633kg suspended by Hydraulic pressure and lubrication, allowing for the large mass to be pushed around like a children’s toy. There were also numerous musical attractions that, needless to say, struck a chord with us.

“Steadfast as thou art” | The Observatory

The Observatory was my personal highlight of the trip. It started with a tour of Mount Stromlo observatory. We were introduced to the history of the Observatory putting historical emphasis on the aftermath of the devastating 2003 fires including the creative utilisation of the items retrieved from the ruins. After the tour we were ushered into a dome. We ogled at the Moon and the bright stars in the sky, however the meddling clouds had other plans. While waiting for the clouds to part we played with the engrossing acoustics that could have entertained us for countless hours as we waited for the hiatus.

Collaborative Numeracy | ANU Maths Day

We had the ANU Maths day in the morning of the second day. At the start of the event Adam Piggott, a lecturer at ANU, gave a speech outlining the importance of collaborative mathematics. He expressed the issues with the current way of teaching maths as a solitary experience when a job in maths is a fundamentally collaborative endeavour. There were 24 schools in total competing for glory and prestige on this mathematical battleground. The maths competition was split into four main parts:

1. Group Contest

This was a 10 question collaborative test that was designed to test our cooperative problem-solving ability. Each problem was designed to take multiple people to solve. This was achieved by being conceptually dense and mathematically challenging. The most memorable question for me was trying to find the total number of paths from one corner of a 3x3x3 cube to the diagonally opposite corner assuming that you pass through 5 sections on your way through.

2. Swiss Contest

The Swiss Contest was where the members of each team sit in a semi-circle, alternating schools. In front of us was an XY correlation table. But here’s the catch: The XY correlation table is governed by an obscure rule. For example:

Alex was a star in this game. He figured out the correlation much faster than us and our opponent school.

3. Cross-number Contest

The Cross-number was a collaborative crossword but instead of words it was numbers. We were split into two teams. Linh and I had the across clues and Alex and Michael had the down clues. We could only communicate through numbers we sent to each other though the supervisor and we had to fill out the cross-number within 40 minutes. We completed around 80% of the crossword (a significant improvement over our practice run). This was the event that we performed the best in relative to those around us.

4. Relay

The Final event was a mix between a type of relay and a maths test. We were once again split into two teams and given out-of-the-box thinking maths questions. We had three tries to answer it and couldn’t start the next question until our partner finished their question. When we finished a question we had to run to our supervisor situated at the other end of the hall to check the result. These problems were very tough and it didn’t help that we were getting tired from running, however we did acquire a large sum of points!

Overall, we as a team shot way above expectations and were proud to represent South Sydney High School at the ANU Maths Day.

Matthew Wong

SRC - Student Representative Council

Come and join the SRC!

The South Sydney High School Student Representative Council is a student-run organisation that has weekly meetings on Wednesdays in B4. We make critical decisions around the school and organise events, fundraisers and more. Anyone from years 7-12 can join and there is no election or requirements to join! Come and see us on Wednesdays at lunch in B4 or Miss Kim in the Maths staffroom to join.

Zone Athletics Carnival

Amazing sporting achievements by our fit and ready students at the Zone Athletics Carnival.

VET Hospitality News

Year 11 Hospitality class completed their first work placement industry experience for the Hospitality Food & Beverage course they are studying. Students were provided with a range of venues from Camy’s Char Chicken, Bondi Pizza, Sunny’s Café in the Children’s Hospitality to Coco Noir Cafe at Eastgardens. Year 11 loved working in the industry, valued being part of a team and have worked collaboratively to produce food products that cater for customers needs. Macklin and Anthony both quoted “I love work placement and I don’t want to go back to school”

Much excitement and valued learning experiences happening down here in the J block.

Mrs M Stephenson - VET/TAS/Hospitality Teacher

Library News

New Resources

100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze by Clayton Zone Comber A heart-warming story about the fabulous connection that Xander has with his Nanna. His Nanna has cancer and tasks him with a list of 100 Remarkable Feats, in order to maker her better! Xander Maze is a truly amazing character. His love for his Nanna is beautiful, as is his view of the world. The friendships he forms with a diverse range of people are wonderful, and the whole premise of the book is to try to live a better, fuller life. Both for others, but also for yourself.

Echo in the Memory by Cameron Nunn An evocative Australian young adult novel told in two intersecting stories – the first being a teenage convict sent to Australia, circa 1830, to serve seven years for theft. We live through his struggles and dreams for the future, and the hardships and horror that surround him far from home. The second story is set now, when 15-year-old Will, along with his younger sister Rose, are sent to remote Australia after his Mum died and his Dad couldn’t cope. Here Will finds a loving Gran and an ailing Grandfather. As two stories unfold, nearly 200 years apart, two boys exiled to what feels like the end of the earth struggle to find their identities and voices in the face of abandonment and tragedy. A page turner about family, place, and how history has a way of weaving itself into our present.

One Hundred Days by Alice Pung A fractured fairy tale exploring the fault lines between love and control in a parent-child relationship. At times tense and claustrophobic, it is nevertheless brimming with humour, warmth and character. With themes of teen pregnancy, control, isolation and love, this is mostly importantly a young girl’s coming of age story.

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon From the author of the bestselling Everything, Everything, this is Dirty Dancing with a supernatural twist. Evie is disillusioned about love ever since her dad left her mum for another woman and she’s throwing out her beloved romance novel collection. A book swap mysteriously leads her to an old dance studio where she can see a couple’s whole relationship play out in front of her. Evie also meets the mysterious X and he becomes her dance partner. Contains themes of love, relationships, changing family dynamics and hope, making it a wonderful, warm YA novel, that also has a few twists along the way.

The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott Two girls, one list and twelve chances to fall in love this summer. When Emily finds her late Mum’s senior-year bucket list, she finds twelve ways to feel close to her again. She finds help in the form of Blake with whom she creates a deep bond. Slowly Emily’s true identity emerges, one that at first, she tries to deny, but ultimately embraces. This a powerful and heartfelt novel, with themes of grief, discovering yourself and your sexuality, family and small-town prejudices.

The Boy Who Stepped Through Time by Anna Ciddor When Perry and his family go to a Roman festival while on holiday in France, he never imagined he would be transported back to actual Roman times as a slave! This is a wonderful time-slip adventure with so much historical detail. The characters are lots of fun, and the story full of action and adventure. A perfect introduction to Ancient Rome.

HSC Resources

As our Year 12 cohort are moving towards their final assessments and trial examinations, they are reminded the library holds copies of study guides and previous year’s HSC exam workbooks with sample answers and responses. These texts are extremely useful for revision and practice, especially those subjects with a new syllabus. This senior reference collection is available for loan and are located in the Year 12 Senior Study for easy access.

Students can also have a look at some texts on study skills, such as, If you want to blitz your year 12 exams by Alexandra Smith or access an eBook or audiobook any time using their student logins. Listening to an audiobook, such as, The mindful teen: powerful skills to help you handle stress one moment at a time by Dzung could relieve some nervous tension. The eBook, Mindfulness for teen worry: quick and easy strategies to let go of anxiety, worry, and stress by Bernstein, may also be beneficial to alleviate study and exam angst. The library has many books in our collection on Wellbeing. Log in to Oliver and search the catalogue. Please ask if you require any assistance with searching or finding library resources.

Ms Maddocks - Teacher Librarian

TAS News

On Monday 7th of June Year 10 Food Technology had the opportunity to prepare and present their group choice practical as part of their assessment task for this term. Students are working on the topic Food Product Development and investigating the reasons why new food products are developed and how this occurs. Wearing their creative thinking caps students had to develop a possible line-extension of an existing food product that they could market. With much planning, organisation and working effectively as a team, students demonstrated their ability to plan and present a range of snack foods that reflected this criterion. An absolutely great effort from 10FTE1 class.

Much excitement and valued learning experiences happening down here in the J block.

Mrs M Stephenson - TAS/VET-Hospitality Teacher

High Potential, Gifted & Enrichment

Year 7 Mentors and Year 5 SSEP Program

The year 5 SSEP program is well and truly underway with students from local schools who have been nominated to take part in this enrichment program enjoying the weekly Friday workshops. Year 7 students are also enjoying working alongside these students with two different mentors each week, nominating for a workshop of their choice. On the 21st of May Charlie, Lewis and Douglas welcomed these students to our school and assisted with the presentation. They were also on hand as the year 5 students embraced "Getting to know you” challenges and Rubix Cube challenges with Mr Ryan Chadwick.

On the 28th of May Elias and Alexander worked alongside Ms de Paor as the Year 5 students took on challenges offered in a workshop day devoted to the Mathematics of Strategic Games. Activities that required students to deepen their understanding of symmetry and games employing strategic thinking were the focus during this day devoted to mathematical challenges.

Effective communication was the topic covered on the 4th of June when regular members of our South Sydney Public Speaking Club, Cassandra and Bronte assisted students in a wide range of activities designed to develop student speaking and communication skills.

It is encouraging to see so many year 7 students eager to work alongside year 5 students to assist them in undertaking the challenges they are encountering during our SSEP program.

South Sydney’s Legacy Public Speaking Final

We have five very capable public speakers looking to represent our school on the 13th of August at the Legacy Public Speaking Inter-school Challenge. Bronte, Cassandra and Noah from Year 7, Audrey from Year 8 and Henry from Year 9 are all regular attendees at our Public Speaking Club meetings every Thursday morning from 8.15am in the Drama Room. The speeches they are preparing are on a wide range of topics including men’s mental health and the importance of sufficient sleep in our lives. Ms Janice Neilsen, our school Principal and Ms Beth Callaghan our acting Head of English will decide on the 17th of June which of these wonderful speakers will represent our school at the interschool competition.

Book in a Day

Our first ‘Book in a Day’ preparatory workshop for this year’s ‘Book in a Day’ event will take place on Thursday 24th of June in periods 1, 2. Illustrators and writers are needed to produce imaginative and engaging books that will be sent to hospitals around Australia. Students who might be interested should see Ms de Paor during SSCIM on a Thursday, talk to their English teacher or our school librarian, Ms Julie Maddocks to register their interest.

ICAS

Parents are encouraged to sign their sons and daughters up for ICAS exams in subjects for which they have a clear aptitude. These examinations will run at our school in Term 3 and enrolment is via the ICAS website. Use South Sydney High School's unique school code LDG260 to register your interest

NSW Schools Netball Cup

On Tuesday 1st June, South Sydney High School took six teams to compete in the annual NSW Schools Netball Cup. All teams played at least 5 games and we won some and lost some. The girls had a great day and are to be congratulated for their willingness to umpire and play fair. Congratulations! We look forward to the next round of games when the SSHS boys’ team will compete to qualify for the finals at Homebush.

IST Lego Robotics

IST Lego Robotics Tournament

For the past two terms the Year 10 IST (Information and Software Technology) class has been learning about robots and robotics. As part of this, students have been building autonomous sumo robots to compete in a tournament. Through this the students learnt about sensors and actuators as well as enhancing their programming ability. They also learnt about problem solving, teamwork and managing a project. There was a lot of creativity and thought put into their designs which were quite varied.

Well done to all of the groups. Particularly George and Fionn who made it through the tournament unbeaten.

Also to :

- Dylan, Chris and Bojan for the smoothest line following code by far

- Hugo and Cal for a complex strategy which was almost pulled off

- Sam and Lachlan for a robot which effectively hunted down it’s opponents

- Erin, Linney and Daniella for persisting and trying different designs all the way up to the last minute

The class had a lot of fun and learnt a lot about how robots function.

Mr Ryan Chadwick - Computing Teacher

Student Ambassadors

Student Ambassador Interview with one of SSHS’s newest Teachers: Mr Caton

The student ambassadors have recently set out to get to know the new teachers at South Sydney high school. To do this we want to interview them to find out a bit more about them, and that you can get to know them better too! We interviewed Mr. Caton who recently joined South Sydney at the start of 2021 and is in the HSIE department.

Where is he originally from?

He originates from a town in England called Fair Oak which is near Southampton. He says it is exactly as it sounds rolling green hills, woods, woodlands, and little streams.

What is his favorite part to teach in History?

He particularly loves studying and talking about the first and second World Wars. He also likes the French Revolution because it is such a monumental thing.

Why did he choose to live in Australia?

He originally came here on a holiday and fell in love with it and he never went home. He fell in love with the sunshine, fun, and good times. He got a job where the company sponsored him (getting a visa), allowing him to stay.

What was his favorite subject at school?

It was sport because he loved getting out and about and playing football. However, the love and passion he has for History now he didn’t possess when he was at school and has grown in the life after he left school. He said this shows how your interests can change, and that just because you don’t like something as a teenager doesn’t mean that your tastes won’t change and you will develop interests elsewhere.

Does he have any hobbies?

He has two main ones. He is obsessed with football and enjoys playing and watching football. He follows the Premier League in England and supports Manchester United. He also plays the guitar, quite heavy rock music.

Does he have a favorite band?

He likes the American band Tool, which is a heavy rock band. They first released stuff in the ’90s and released an album a couple of years ago. He is a massive Nirvana fan as well as Chris Cornell.