What's On?
- Thursday 14 November: Year 12 Formal
- Wednesday 20 November: Sports High Schools Athletics Carnival
- Monday 2 - Friday 6 December: Student Dental Service at HSHS
- Tuesday 3 December: Year 6 Orientation Day
- Tuesday 10 - Thursday 12 December: Year 7 Swim School
- Friday 13 December: Year 7-11 Presentation Day/Formal Assembly, 11.35am in S Block
- Wednesday 18 December: Last Day of School for 2019
principal's message
In what has been a very busy year, the final weeks seem to be flying even faster! With only five weeks left in the school year, the HSC exams have come and gone, our Year 12 students have officially signed out of high school and we will celebrate the end of their school days with them at their formal tonight. I'm sure they will all look fabulous and have a great night. Special thanks to Mr O'Neill for organising the night and for the fantastic job he has done as Year Advisor for this group over the past six years. Many of these students were also recognised for their outstanding sporting achievements at our annual TSP Awards Presentation Night last night and we're sure there will be some terrific HSC results to share when students receive their marks on December 17. We wish them all a wonderful future, whatever path they choose.
Meanwhile, students in Years 7-10 will complete final assessments over coming weeks and our Year 11 students have commenced their Year 12 HSC coursework. The Newcastle JETS Academy kicked off at Hunter Sports High last week and we look forward to welcoming many new students and families when they join the program next year.
What an honour it was to attend the 2019 TSP Sports Awards Night last night. It was standing room only as over 500 students, parents, coaches, staff and special guests joined us at Wests Leagues Club to recognise our TSP students and their outstanding sporting achievements. Congratulations to all our award winners and to all who came along to support their teammates. Thanks to our special guests Lawrie McKinna and Roger Davis and to all who worked so hard to organise the event - it is certainly a highlight on our school calendar each year. You'll find all the details further in the newsletter, including a copy of the speech presented by outgoing school captain and TSP graduate Connor Lentfer - it will give you goosebumps!
Over the final few weeks of the school year we will have several more special events to celebrate with our students, staff and parents. Our Minimbah Celebrations night is on Thursday 5 December (see more details below) and our annual Presentation Day Assembly will be held on Friday 13th December. These events are always a highlight on our school calendar and give us an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the efforts, success and dedication of our students. We look forward to seeing you at these special events and if you can't make it, we'll share all the highlights in our final newsletter in Week 10.
homework centre
A reminder to parents and carers that our Homework Centre is up and running, giving students a chance to complete schoolwork and assignments after school with support from HSHS staff. The Homework Centre operates in the Innovation Centre four days per week: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 3.15pm - 4.30pm; and Tuesday 2.15pm - 4.30pm. All students are welcome! If you have any questions about the Homework Centre, please contact the school office on 4943 5755.
TALENTED SPORTS AWARDS NIGHT
kirsty fenton named 2019 sportsperson of the year
Five hundred of our talented athletes and their family members celebrated another outstanding year of sporting achievement at Hunter Sports High last night at our 21st annual TSP Sports Awards Presentation Night held at Wests Leagues Club.
Year 10 student Kirsty Fenton claimed the 2019 Sportsperson of the Year Award after a stellar year in her chosen sport of football. At school level, Kirsty was a key member of the Open Girls team who made the State Final of the PUMA Cup and was also selected in the Hunter Region and NSW CHS school representative teams. At club level, she is in her fifth year as a member of the Newcastle JETS Academy. This year she was in the JETS U19 women’s team and has recently become a train-on member of the JETS W-League team. At an international level, Kirsty has developed herself into a key starting player for the U16 Junior Matildas National team. In 2019 she attended seven national team camps and three international tours throughout Asia, playing in World Cup qualifying games against the likes of Japan, Thailand, Bangladesh and North Korea.
Congratulations to Kirsty on her amazing achievements this year! Congratulations also go to the 11 other Sportsperson of the Month winners who were tough competition for Kirsty after outstanding achievements throughout the year in their chosen sports, and to the many other students who were recognised on the night.
Our Director of Sport Mr Pascoe highlighted some of the impressive statistics from this year's crop of talented athletes. "We are State Champions in two team sports this year and have placed second, third or fourth in 12 other team competitions. Our Talented Sports Program has assisted in the development of 405 students across 13 sport programs this year, we've trialled 280 students for our 2020 intake, we've had 115 Hunter region representatives, 44 NSW representatives and eight students who have represented Australia."
Mr Roger Davis, President of the NSW Sports High School's Association and former Principal at Westfields Sports High, spoke to guests about the opportunities available to sports high school students and the important partnerships that have been forged with many state sporting bodies to put our students on elite development pathways and on their radar.
Newcastle Jets CEO Lawrie McKinna was another special guest speaker on the night. He shared the story of his own pathway to elite football, from the streets of Scotland to the Central Coast Mariners, becoming the Mayor of Gosford and now heading up the JETS. He spoke about coaching former HSHS student and JETS Captain Nigel Boogaard, about overcoming adversity and the importance of discipline, determination and being a good person. He certainly inspired our students to be and try their best and explained that it is their character that will see them succeed in sport and in life. A big thank you to Roger and Lawrie for joining us last night and for giving our students so much to think about as they continue their journey in sport and at Hunter Sports High.
Congratulations to the following students who received major awards on the night and to all students who came along to support their teammates.
- Body Science 2019 Sportsperson of the Year: Kirsty Fenton (Football)
- Newcastle Herald Senior Sportsperson of the Year: Abbey Taylor (Cricket) & Boston Kerapa (Rugby Union)
- Ethos Health Junior Sportsperson of the Year: Lainee Harrison (Athletics) & Evan Kilminster (Basketball)
- Sportsperson of the Future Award: Hannah Jarvis (Athletics) & Joe Harrison (AFL)
- High Achiever Academic Award: Ellie Jones (Football) & Brendan Knowles (Football)
- Fitness All Rounder Award: Lara Gooch (Football) & Chai Davis (Football)
- Team of the Year Award: Under 14 Girls Rugby League Team
Sportsperson of the Year Awards were also presented for each sports program. Congratulations to the following students:
- AFL: Joe Harrison
- Athletics: Lainee Harrison
- Baseball: Brett Allen
- Basketball: Jai Smith-Hayes
- Cricket: Abbey Taylor
- Football: Keegan Hughes (Boys) & Te-Reremoana Walker (Girls)
- Hockey: Benjamin Martin
- Netball: Kyra Powell-Caffyn
- Rugby League: Brody Perry (Boys) & Jesse Southwell (Girls)
- Rugby Union: Boston Kerapa (Boys) & Charlie Norton (Girls)
- Swimming: Cody Carruthers
- Tennis: Farisha Khan
- Touch Football: Ashton Daley
athlete reflection by connor lentfer
minimbah celebrations
thursday 5th December - 5.30pm at Charlestown Bowling Club
Join us at our Minimbah Celebrations on December 5 to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Hunter Sports High's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and farewell our HSC graduates. The night includes a two-course meal, entertainment and an awards presentation. Dress code: semi formal. RSVP and payments to the school office by 28th November.
learning to lead
Hunter Sports High's new student leaders and Student Representative Council members attended the GRIP Leadership Conference at Newcastle City Hall last week, gaining new skills, new perspectives and new ideas on how to make a positive contribution to our school community. The conference involved a combination of information and hands-on activities through workshopping ideas. GRIP Leadership conferences are designed to allow students the optimum training for their role as current and future school leaders. They also learnt new ways of incorporating all students into school-based initiatives.
Well done to the following students who displayed the all the qualities that make great leaders: Brett Allen; Abbey Broderick; Tamika Bull; Jack Gillett-Faulkner; Elana Lloyd; Reinhard Lloyd; Jai MacPherson; Bethany McKenny; Joshua Muddle; Amy Parkinson; Zachery Renshaw; Lorien Saunders; Scarlett Simmons; Kim Trappett; Brodie Volkiene and Kayla Waldron.
Support unit news
As part of our Leaving To Learn program, students in the Support Unit participated in an All Ability Cricket program each Monday during Term 3. The program was very successful and students not only improved their cricket skills but also learnt how to work effectively in a team and listen to the coach's instructions. Hunter Sports High proved too strong for Warners Bay High and Glendale High in the gala day and brought home the cup which now has pride of place in the front office.
On the technology front the Ruby class have been learning some amazing new skills on the iPads. Ms Browne has recently attended some Professional Learning around the use of iPads and has been utilising different applications and programs. Each member of the Ruby class has an individual iPad and they are becoming experts in using iMovie and Keynote. Students are being encouraged to think creatively about different ways to present their Personal Interest Projects at the end of each term incorporating their new skills.
Planning is well under way for STEM rotations in 2020. Students have been practicing using new robots and devices along with learning all new skills. Next year students will be delving into learning about QR Codes, Drones, Robots, Ozobots, GoPro's and Kittenbot activities. 2020 will bring a whole new year of challenges, team leaders and all new learning experiences. Well done to all of our Support Unit students for working super hard to improve their social skills and team work skills while working with robots and other technology.
KICKING GOALS: Students continue to work hard to improve their literacy skills during our Kicking Goals program. Students participate in targeted and explicit reading, spelling, vocabulary and grammar activities. Completed work is then edited via google classroom and submitted to the teacher for feedback.
ATTENDANCE: One of the key goals we have been working towards in the Support Unit is increased school attendance. Students who have excellent attendance have been treated to a reward excursion including a movie in Term 2 and Go Karts in Term 3. It is very pleasing to see so many students improving their attendance and motivated to attend school everyday.
Thanks to all Support Unit staff and students for a rewarding and action packed year so far!
new class in 2020
From next year Hunter Sports High will have an additional support class. This means our school will now have four specialist support classes that cater for students with moderate to high learning and support needs, including intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder and the new class for students with a diagnosed mental health disorder. A student is offered enrolment in a specialist support class in regular school through a Department of Education placement panel process. For more information about our Support Unit classes please contact our Principal Ms Byrne via the school office on 4943 5755.
AROUND THE GROUNDS: SPORT NEWS
Jesse southwell named in australian all schools touch team
Congratulations to Year 9 student Jesse Southwell who was named in the Australian All Schools Under 15 Touch team at the end of last October. Jesse represented the NSW All Schools team at the national tournament held in Canberra, finishing as runners up after a loss to Queensland in the final. Congratulations to Jesse on this outstanding achievement!
futsal success for luis
Year 8 student Luis Bardetta has been back at school this week after a month overseas representing Australia in Futsal. After playing and winning all but three of their 15 tour matches throughout England and Scotland, Luis’ U14 Australian Futsal team competed in the Scossie Cup (Scottish/Aussie). After winning or drawing all of these games they qualified for the final. In an extremely skillful and physically tough match the score was 1-1 at the end of regular time, taking them to a penalty shootout which the Aussie boys won 3-1. Congratulations Luis on this fantastic achievement!
all schools athletics success
Hunter Sports High athletes enjoyed great success at the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships held at Homebush at the end of last term, bringing home gold, silver and bronze medals and a new Australian record! Congratulations to the following students on their outstanding efforts and results:
- Jai Callaghan (Year 7): 1st in U12 Long Jump; 1st in Triple Jump; 2nd in 400m; 3rd in 200m and 7th in 800m.
- Lainee Harrison (Year 9): 1st in Long Jump with a new U16 Australian Record; 2nd in 100m and 2nd in 200m. Lainee has qualified for National All Schools to be held in early December.
- Jai MacPherson (Year 11): 1st in 200m and 4th in 100m.
- Jassmin Daymond (Year 7): 3rd in U12 High Jump, 4th in 400m, 5th in 200m.
- Hannah Jarvis (Year 7): 5th in U13 800m, 5th in 1500m
- Amara Low (Year 8): 4th in U13 Discus
ATHLETICS COACH WINS FERNLEIGH 15:
Congratulations to Hunter Sports High's Athletics Distance Coach Guy Walters who took out the Fernleigh 15 race from Adamstown to Belmont last month! In a record field of over 1500 runners, Guy crossed the line in 47 minutes and 14 seconds, only a minute off record pace. Earlier in October he finished second in the Newcastle International Half Marathon and in December he will compete in the 10km Zatopek Classic as an Olympic Games trial. As a former HSHS student, Guy is an awesome role-model for all Hunter Sports High students and an inspiration for his athletics squad members!
student wellbeing news
positive behaviour for learning (pbl)
This year Hunter Sports High's PBL team has focused on student positivity, both within the classroom and in the playground. Working alongside the wellbeing team, the introduction of lunchtime activities such as table tennis and basketball has provided opportunities for students to be active during breaks and enhance positive behaviour. With fortnightly PBL lessons this year, students are aware of the expected behaviours surrounding our school values of respect, responsibility and success. As a result, we have seen a decrease in negatives incidents. The PBL team have continued to reward students who demonstrate positive behaviour. Last year we saw the introduction of online Star Awards within the classroom, with students being placed in a draw to win a voucher. This year we have included Star Awards for the playground with all awards for positive playground behaviour placed in a box at student services for the chance to win a weekly voucher drawn during Friday roll call. This is in addition to the draw for classroom star awards which happens once a fortnight during year meetings.
school dental program: december 2-6
Hunter Sports High will have a mobile dentist on site at the school from December 2-6 to provide basic dental services to HSHS students under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. Information and consent forms were sent home with children earlier this term. Please return these forms and questionnaire to the Student Services office as soon as possible. See eligibility terms and further details of this free service in the images below.
Year 10 Wellbeing Focus Day
All Year 10 students participated in a range of activities concerning decision making, drug and alcohol use at their Focus day last Friday 8th November. The program was delivered by the Lake Macquarie Drug Action Team and aimed to prevent and minimise harm from alcohol and other drugs. Students learned about how alcohol effects the body, drugs and the law, how to respond in the event of an emergency as well as discussing myths and misconceptions surrounding drugs and alcohol. The Year 10 cohort participated very positively in these activities saying that they found the Focus Day ‘eye opening and informative’ and ‘interesting and useful’.
Creating Chances
Each Friday a group of Year 9 and 10 boys are participating in the Creating Chances Program which aims to inspire, develop and empower young people to believe in themselves so they contribute positively to society and aspire to a brighter future for themselves and their community. The students have been working with members of the Creating Chances team since July and have just begun conducting coaching sessions with primary school students. The boys involved in this program demonstrated great competence, respect and patience on Friday when coaching for the first time. They were very well organised and required no support from supervising teachers. These students should be proud of themselves and we look forward to see them grow further in the coming weeks. It will be good to see how professional they will all look when the rest of their coaching shirts arrive!
White Ribbon Day 2019
Next Friday November 22 is White Ribbon Day. We will be raising awareness across the school not only about violence against women but that violence in any form is unacceptable. Students will be reminded about how to seek help, existing supports within the school and wider community and that every member of our school (and society) has the right be feel safe and respected. During Lunch 1 on this day, students have been invited to take part in a Lip Sync Battle to promote connectedness to others and positive wellbeing.
2020 book packs: order now
Year 12 amazing race day
Our outgoing Year 12 students finished off their high school days by taking part in the second annual 'HSHS Amazing Race' at the end of last term for a bit of fun ahead of their HSC exams. They completed a variety of activities and challenges around town while in fancy dress, including doing a conga line through the mall, visiting local landmarks, collecting points and finding out fun facts about Newcastle and their teachers along the way. The Amazing Race is now firmly entrenched as a Hunter Sports High tradition to farewell our Year 12 students.
community notices
KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM HUNTER SPORTS HIGH ON OUR SCHOOL FACEBOOK PAGE. OUR FINAL NEWSLETTER FOR THIS YEAR WILL BE DISTRIBUTED IN WEEK 10.