Kariong Mountains High School

NEWSLETTER4th August 2011TERM 3 Week 3KARIONG MOUNTAINSHIGH SCHOOLTelephone0243 400246Facsimile0243 400259Festival Drive, Mount Penang ParklandsKARIONG NSW 2250Emailkariongmtn-h.school@det.nsw.edu.auWebsitewww.kariongmountainshigh.com.auin the diaryMonday August 8Week BP & C MeetingMonday August 87pm - C BlockSchool Plan for 2012-2014to be discussedUNIFORM SHOPwill be open onwednesday andfriday morningsfrom8am-9amtill further noticea word from principal anne vineLast week I visited Newcastle University, Ourimbah Campus and had the privilegeof viewing the new state of the art Exercise and Sports Science buildings. It wasgreat to see such a facility right on our doorstep and in an area of university studythat has great potential for students at our school. As well as a Bachelor’s program,students can continue their study to do a Master’s year and become ExercisePhysiologists (who are licensed Medicare providers) or use their initial three yeartraining to matriculate into physiotherapy or medicine and so on. What excitingpossibilities for those students interested in the Health Sciences and PDHPE areasof study and what a great fit for our Biosciences focus. We are, of course, the onlyschool that offers Exercise and Sport Science (in our Biosciences curriculum) as asubject in Years 7 & 8 and then goes on to offer a range of subjects from the PDHPEsuite of options. Certainly, schooling offers much more choice than when I was aschool student!I also took note of a particular quote “I used to believe that university is a placewhere the rich and smart go; I now know that it is a place where you go to becomerich and smart!” Our community’s role is to encourage students to pursue theirdreams and see that doors do open for those with motivation, perseverance and apositive ‘can do’ attitude. At Kariong Mountains High School, we shall continue tohelp students aim high and strive to achieve their dreams.Articles for submission in ourweekly newsletter are welcome.Items, including written or creativework, can be left at our front officeor sent by email tojulie.kellner@det.nsw.edu.auby Monday 4pmnewsletters u b m i s s i o n sparent meeting - the 2012-2014 school planmonday august 8, 7pm C blockIn place of the regular P&C meeting on Monday 8thAugust at 7.00pm, there will be an open meeting todiscuss the next three year school plan. This plan sets thecourse for school decision making and goal setting andparent and community contribution is valued indeveloping it together. Hope to see you there.free coachingfor allKMHS athletesCoaching in speed and power for all team sports as well as specific technique training forathletic events across all disciplines is being provided for our students on a weekly basisafter school on Mondays and Wednesdays 3.45 – 5.00pm. All welcome.Ms Kerry SmithATFCA / AA Level 4 Coach: Throws; Sprints, Hurdles, Relays; JumpsBHMSc – majoring in Exercise Physiology / Biomechanics

NEWSLETTER4th August 2011TERM 3 Week 3KARIONG MOUNTAINSHIGH SCHOOLTelephone0243 400246Facsimile0243 400259Festival Drive, Mount Penang ParklandsKARIONG NSW 2250Emailkariongmtn-h.school@det.nsw.edu.auWebsitewww.kariongmountainshigh.com.auwhy are energy drinks banned at kariong mountains high school?Since Red Bull energy drink hit the market in the 1990s the popularity of energy drinks has soared in Australia with a numberof manufacturers entering the market with competing products and overall sales increasing to $550 million annually.The main stimulating effects of energy drinks is caused by the combination of caffeine and the high dosage ofcarbohydrates and sugar found in most of these drinks. Some drinks also contain natural products such as guarana, ginseng,amino acids and bitter orange. About 30 percent of 12 to 17 year-olds admit to regularly drinking them. They say the mainreasons for consumption include coping with insufficient sleep (67 percent), boosting energy (65 percent) and getting abuzz (54 percent).Some reports suggest that young people can get ‘drunk’ on caffeine when they consume high doses. Although individualresponses to caffeine vary, energy drinks can increase heart rate and blood pressure, causing palpitations and can causedehydration and insomnia. They main effect on students at school is that they become restless and have difficulty inconcentrating on the task at hand and sometimes become a distraction in the classroom.Long term frequent use of highly caffeinated drinks affects the developing teenage brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex,which isn’t fully developed. Another area of concern is the potential interactions of energy drinks and medications e.g.energy drinks combined with popular prescription drugs for attention deficit disorder.Students have been told that energy drinks are prohibited at school and if found in their possession they will be confiscated.Recently there has been an upsurge of students purchasing these drinks on the way to school. Do you know what your childbuys with their lunch money?Gus VrolykDeputy Principaldebating reportThe regular season of the Premier’s Debating Challenge has drawn to a close, with Kariong Mountains High Schoolachieving some outstanding results in their local pools. Our Year 7 team, consisting of Kallen Farley, Marika Tults, SophieClarke and Amelia Chadwick were undefeated in all three of their debates and will represent our school in the knockoutrounds that will commence shortly. Congratulations to the team on their outstanding success and best of luck in theupcoming rounds.Our two other teams also performed admirably, with our Year 8 team, consisting of Lachlan White, Nathan Carraro, ZacSimunovic and Sammy Pirrottina, coming a close second to our very own Year 7 team. This is a huge credit to the boys,particularly Lachlan and Sammy who had no debating experience until the beginning of the year. Our Year 9 team,consisting of Billie and Matilda Eder, Erik Tults and Monique Skillen, also came second to a very talented Terrigal High Schoolside. Their improvement over the season has been outstanding and they will certainly pose a threat to the moreexperienced Central Coast sides in 2012.I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the students who contributed to Kariong Mountain’s success in debatingthis year. Their dedication to training and preparation has been inspiring (I certainly have never been at a school beforewhere students decide they come together and prepare themselves every break for two consecutive weeks before). I wouldalso like to thank Mr Crum and Ms Henderson for their contribution to our success and the time and commitment they haveput into creating an outstanding debating and public speaking culture at our school.Mr Jai LesterHead Teacher English

NEWSLETTER4th August 2011TERM 3 Week 3KARIONG MOUNTAINSHIGH SCHOOLTelephone0243 400246Facsimile0243 400259Festival Drive, Mount Penang ParklandsKARIONG NSW 2250Emailkariongmtn-h.school@det.nsw.edu.auWebsitewww.kariongmountainshigh.com.auEDUCATION WEEK - CREATING THE FUTUREvisual arts and photography and digital mediaMore than ever before our students are immersed in a visual culture. In Visual Arts and Photography and Digital Media,students get the opportunity to create and 'make sense of' this visual environment that they are a part of. In the VisualArts, students engage in creativity through traditional and contemporary artmaking techniques. By creating art with anunderstanding of the latest digital technology, students are well poised to be part of the creation of their future world.personal development health and physical education / sportEngagement in Physical Education and Sport lessons has been outstanding at KMHS. Students have been developing theirgames sense in a variety of settings allowing for transfer of knowledge and understanding across different sports. Thisshould see greater success of our representative teams as competitive opportunities arise with greater frequency in thefuture. Year Nine students have also stepped into administrative roles to enhance the smooth running of their sportprograms. It is hoped that the spin off from this exposure will strengthen the pool of sporting volunteers in the communityin the future as students draw on their experience at school.Our Personal Development classes have continued to encourage students to clarify their values and explore controversialissues while developing empathy towards others. Successful students in PDHPE will be responsible citizens with a socialconscience and the courage to stand up for what they believe in.human society and its environmentStudents over the past semester have been studying History in order to broaden their knowledge to use as active citizensin the future. Year 9 has studied Australian History up to the end of World War II and are now currently studying AustralianGeography, focussing on the physical environment of the local area. This civic knowledge will assist them to participate inthe future developments in the area. Year 8 has completed learning about Australia’s Indigenous history and medievalhistory. They have studied the rights and freedoms of cultural groups over time, and will be able to apply this knowledgepractically to participate in political debates in the future. Our Year 7 HSIE classes have been experiencing the variety thatHSIE has to offer, broadening their civic knowledge to use over the next three years in History and Geography.The civics and citizenship focus of HSIE subjects supports students to become responsible, active citizens within their localcommunity, the nation and, ultimately, the world.

NEWSLETTER4th August 2011TERM 3 Week 3KARIONG MOUNTAINSHIGH SCHOOLTelephone0243 400246Facsimile0243 400259Festival Drive, Mount Penang ParklandsKARIONG NSW 2250Emailkariongmtn-h.school@det.nsw.edu.auWebsitewww.kariongmountainshigh.com.auEDUCATION WEEK - CREATING THE FUTUREmathematics‘Creating the Future’ for the Mathematics classroom involves harnessing the technology tidal wave. Teachers need to beexperts in navigating the digital world. Or do we?Teaching is about the students. It’s about building relationships with them, about having confidence in them, about findingout what they can do and providing opportunities for them to do it better. And it’s about our students taking risks andgiving them the chance to try again.At the end of the day, the digital world will have an impact on the mathematical classroom, however, more importantly,creating the future is assured when we know our students.technologyAs the Technology course has developed in its second year more exciting and interesting technologies have been explored.Year 7 has spent time understanding the concept of cyber bullying, how it affects others and what to do if they encounterany form of cyber bullying. Year 8 has been learning skills they will be able to develop further when they receive their DERlaptops in Year 9. All classes had a great time creating podcasts to advertise a product they created using Audacity. Atpresent Year 8 is focussing on animation and finding out about the different forms of animation. The students are thengiven the chance to create animated clips using different websites like www.xtranormal.com to convert text to speech andbring their imagination to life. Many of the skills that all our Years 7 and 8 students are learning in Technology will continueto be used in many subjects in later years to make presentations and learning more dynamic.english/dramaYear 7 has just completed some outstanding work in their visual literacy unit and students have developed someoutstanding picture books.Year 9 have completed a ‘Wording in the Workplace’ unit where they developed an understanding of how to use literacy tomanage their own hypothetical business. They presented some very interesting work portfolios during their ‘performancereview interview’ assessment tasks last term.Our Creative Writing students have just submitted their first short novel after a semester of developing, writing and editing.Drama students have just embarked on an exciting new community theatre project.Later this term the English faculty will be trialling portfolio learning as a new method of assessment that allows students toshow off the best of their abilities.

NEWSLETTER4th August 2011TERM 3 Week 3KARIONG MOUNTAINSHIGH SCHOOLTelephone0243 400246Facsimile0243 400259Festival Drive, Mount Penang ParklandsKARIONG NSW 2250Emailkariongmtn-h.school@det.nsw.edu.auWebsitewww.kariongmountainshigh.com.auEDUCATION WEEK - CREATING THE FUTUREloteThe decision was made, last year, that the focus of LOTE in Years 7 and 8, should be Japanese. This is highlyrelevant as Australia is a major player in the Asia Pacific region and, as Japan is one of our major trading partner’s,then developing not only an understanding of the language, but also appreciating the rich culture of Japan, isvitally important to our students’ future. A large majority of our students will, at some stage in the future, havedealings with our Japanese partners either by way of commerce and business, sport, or pleasure. As highlightedin a previous newsletter article, our students were required to report on a virtual trip to Japan, which not onlyhighlighted their knowledge of Japanese culture and geography, but raised awareness of the importance of ourcountry’s relationship with Japan.bioscienceBioscience is a rich subject that allows a student to explore a range of important areas such as Exercise and SportScience, Food and Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyles, Coastal Communities, Environmental Studies, Zoology,Horticulture, Marine Studies, Forensics and Biotechnology. All of these areas will directly impact on the lives ofour students in the near future and, indeed, are already beginning to impact on some students in more than onearea. These modules lead into subject electives in Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10) and again into Stage 6 (Years 11 and12). Most importantly, students recognise how to look after, and sustain, not only their own bodies for thefuture, but also the environment and surroundings in which they live, play and work.scienceAll students in Science are currently being challenged to see the importance of Science in their everyday livesthrough their Science Research Projects, the projects require them to not only identify problems and issues indaily life, but also devise problem solving solutions through experimentation and investigation. These are skillsthat are vital to their future lives as they attempt to carry out the multiple demands of their careers and personallives. Year 7 is being challenged to understand the dynamics of the Earth and its place in the Solar System by wayof a modelling project. Year 8 is learning the skills necessary to undertake team based projects to solve problems,utilising the specific strengths of each team member. Year 9 is undertaking an individual research project wherethe students must first identify a problem or question and then devise an experiment to analyse a set of data soas to draw a conclusion and thereby solve a problem.In all of these areas, it is very evident that the Education Week theme of “Creating the Future” is already a solidfoundation of the LOTE, Science and Bioscience programs.

NEWSLETTER4th August 2011TERM 3 Week 3KARIONG MOUNTAINSHIGH SCHOOLTelephone0243 400246Facsimile0243 400259Festival Drive, Mount Penang ParklandsKARIONG NSW 2250Emailkariongmtn-h.school@det.nsw.edu.auWebsitewww.kariongmountainshigh.com.auEDUCATION WEEK - CREATING THE FUTUREtas reportThe Kariong Mountains High School TAS (Technology and Applied Studies) faculty strongly supports the 2011 EducationWeek theme “Creating the Future” through its multifaceted approach to teaching and learning. The faculty has developedprograms that provide diversity within the subject content while meeting the varying needs, abilities and learning styles ofthe current student cohort.The course material is designed to form the foundations for everyday living skills, Stage 6 HSC based subjects, VET courses,Traineeships/ Apprenticeships, Tertiary Education and the many and varied career options currently available within today’ssociety. This is achieved by the students undertaking academic, creative and practical components within each subject.Students are demonstrating active engagement during the lessons due to the many challenges presented. These requirethe development of skills in time management, problem solving, multitasking, planning and presentation of individuallearning projects offered over differing time frames.All students in Years 7-8 (Stage 4) participate in the Technology Mandatory course which is designed around different areasof study including products, the built environment and information and communication technologies. Through thedevelopment of different design projects, students are provided with an opportunity to develop knowledge andunderstanding of and skills in the wise use and responsible selection of a broad range of materials, tools and techniques.Students are encouraged to experiment and test their design ideas, demonstrating that they are able to work responsiblyand safely, not only for the betterment of themselves, but also for those around them.Kariong Mountains High School currently offers a wide variety of electives in Stage 5 such as Food Technology, TextilesTechnology, Industrial Technology- Timber, Industrial Technology- Metal, Graphics, Electronics and Child Studies.The TAS staff is engaging in Professional Development with the focus on remaining current with educational trends and theregular changes to subject and employment requirements. As the school enrolments increase, more resources are acquiredand students’ interests change, TAS staff will be able to respond with the offering of even more subjects in the future.

NEWSLETTER4th August 2011TERM 3 Week 3KARIONG MOUNTAINSHIGH SCHOOLTelephone0243 400246Facsimile0243 400259Festival Drive, Mount Penang ParklandsKARIONG NSW 2250Emailkariongmtn-h.school@det.nsw.edu.auWebsitewww.kariongmountainshigh.com.auCanteen NewsIF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER PLEASE CALL MARIE ON 4340 0246 DURING SCHOOL HOURS~Canteen Roster:-Next week8/08/2011 9/08/2011 10/08/2011 11/08/2011 12/08/2011Jenny W Jodie H Anita M Vicki S Janine FDenise M Trish S HELP NEEDED Fiona F Anita MCANTEENNETWORK MT15/08/2011 16/08/2011 17/08/2011 18/8/11 19/08/2011Trish S Sandra C Pia C Maria S Kerrie CHELP NEEDED HELP NEEDED Tracey W HELP NEEDED Darline L-fr 1.15pmThanks Marie Connolly, Canteen SupervisorGosford Little Athleticsare having their Registration Days for 2011/2012Friday 26th August and Friday 2nd September between 6pm – 8pmAdcock Park, West GosfordCost is $145 for 1st child, $100 for 2nd child, then $90 for 3rd onwardsDual Registration with Senior Athletics is $10 extraThere is a $30 Refundable Parent Assistance Levy/Bond per familyWe do not have credit card facilities so please have cash or cheque payable toGosford Little Athletics Centre Inc. Further information available on our websitewww. gosfordlittleathletics.com.auOr contact our president Stuart Farrant on 0404 466 848