HARBOUR LIFE - Sydney Secondary College Balmain Campus

English at Balmain CampusTerm 4 has been another exciting and successful term inthe English/Drama Department here at Balmain Campus.Staff have been busy wrapping up their Teaching andLearning Units for the year, tirelessly writing ReportCards, while planning for the advent of the 2013 schoolyear.A highlight for the term was the very successful ‘WritersIn Residence Program.’ A group of 14 enthusiastic,budding young writers met and worked for two hours aweek with 2 professional, published authors and editorsfrom BYDS. On the Monday evening of Week 10, a ‘WritersIn Residence’ Showcase Night was held here at theschool, which involved the group reciting sections of theircompleted works to an excited, engaged and very proudaudience of parents and staff. In short, the night was aresounding success! You can check out the full body ofstudents’ works athttps://sites.google.com/site/sscbalmainwriters/Next year, the English/Drama Faculty are very happyabout our new Year 9 Elective Drama Class, which willrun for the first time here at Balmain Campus. Lots ofresources have been purchased for the implementation ofthe course, and a planning day is to be held before theend of the year, with Mr Kearsley and Mr Thomasformulating the program and assessment tasks for theyear.2013 will also see considerable amounts of planning forthe introduction of the new National Curriculum, which isto begin implementation in 2014. Watch this space formore news regarding its developments and directions.CAREERS MATTERSCongratulations to all Year 10 students whoundertook Work Experience. The feedbackfrom employers contacted was very positive –A job well done.A ceremony to celebrate the Premier’s StudentVolunteering Awards was conducted onThursday 13 December, 2012 at the St GeorgeRowing Club. Congratulations to JemmaHamilton and Elizabeth Morison who receiveda Highly Commended Award for outstandingcommitment to serving their community andwere selected as State finalists for the NSWPremier's Student Volunteering Scholarship. Inrecognition of their contributions to thecommunity Zoe Brown and Elizabeth Morisonwere recipients of a Black Opal Certificate(150+ hours of volunteering). It was a greatafternoon and the girls were greatambassadors for the school.The Careers Adviser Mr Floriani can becontacted by emailinghugo.floriani@det.nsw.edu.au or phone theschool on 9810 0471 (Ext. 127).Hugo Floriani, Careers AdviserTo finish, the English Staff at Balmain Campus wish thestudents and families of Balmain a very happy and safeChristmas. We look forward to working with you in 2013!Kirk Thomas, Head Teacher EnglishMathletics 2012/13Students are reminded that they can log on to Mathleticsduring the holidays 24/7 anywhere in the world. So rememberto have your log on details - Username and Password – whichyou can collect from your Maths teacher before the end ofterm.Work hard on your Maths during the Summer break and youwill notice the difference when you return to school