LMHS Smooth Sailing Newsletter - Term 1 2022

The 2022 Mock Trial competition is up and running. This is a competition run by the NSW Law Society where schools compete against each other in mock court room trials. On 18th March, the Lake Munmorah team of Duke A-C; Shai S-H; Charlotte T; Riley H; Finn H and Ashton W, battled the team from St Paul's Catholic College Booragul. We were prosecuting a person who had allegedly assaulted a policeman in the line of duty. The team performed very well given that they had never done anything like this. Unfortunately, we narrowly lost by a couple of points. As we go to press, we are about to go up against Henry Kendall High School. This time we are defending a person who, it is alleged, was in possession of stolen goods. It is a great competition and the students learn so much about the Australian legal system. We will keep you informed on our progress.

Mock Trial Update.

On 8 April the Mock Trial team took on Henry Kendall High School in Round 2 of the competition. This time we successfully defended a father of two who had been charged with possessing stolen property. Defending our client were our sharp barristers, Finn H and Charlotte T, ably assisted by their solicitor Ashton W with the cool, under pressure testimony, of witnesses Leo A and Shai S-H. Of course the court couldn't function without the commanding presence of the court officer Wally L. Unfortunately, we wone the legal case but narrowly lost by 1 point in the round. It was a great day and the students should be very proud of their achievement. Two more rounds to go.

Creative and Performing Arts Faculty Report

‘Lake Munmorah’s Got Talent’

On Friday 8th April the CAPA faculty held a wonderful talent show. This show was opened to all year groups, anyone who has a talent they wanted to show off. Talents included; music, stand-up comedy, dance, drama and magic. The dance/drama studio was set with sound and lighting equipment making the performance a professional experience for all performance and the audience. The talent on display, from different year groups, was incredible. The confidence and performance quality on offer by the entertainers was brilliant. Experiences like this build our students up and provide them with the life-long skills. Congratulations to all the winners!

Drama

The HSC Drama class has had a busy term working towards their HSC works. At the start of this term Ms Dyball and Mr Davis took the class to see Onstage, at the Seymore Centre in Sydney. Onstage is an exhibition and performance of exemplary HSC works from 2021. This excursion provided invaluable knowledge for students as they develop their own works for the upcoming HSC practical examinations.

Music

On Wednesday 6th of April two HSC Music students performed at the Junior SRC Induction Assembly. Monique M and Zarley M each performed a song they are working on for their HSC Music Performance Examination. Zarley performed her original piece ‘Adrenalin’ and Monique performed ‘Million Years Ago’ by Adele. With the support from Mrs Harris and Mr Barnier the girls performed brilliantly in front of a large audience of their peers. This was a great rehearsal for their HSC.

Visual Art

This term the annual excursion to the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania. This excursion was established several years ago her at LMHS for our senior Visual Art students. Due to the recent Covid-19 restrictions the excursion had been put on hold for a while. Now it is back! A group of keen Year 11 and Year 12 Visual Arts students will be travelling to Tasmania to visit MONA from June 23rd -25th. During this excursion students will be gathering inspiration to develop their Bodies of Work for their HSC. This is a very exciting excursion for all students teachers involved.

Art Attack

Art Attack is a “Passion Project” run every Friday afternoon for Year 7 and 8 students interested in engaging in Visual Art activities. In the past we have run successfully run ceramic courses. This term, students have completed illustrations of their favourite childhood toys. They then, brought in old broken toys and used these to construct Robert Klippel inspired sculptures with great success. The focus being shape and form.

Mrs Harris

Rel Head Teacher CAPA

PDHPE - Faculty Report

The PDHPE Faculty have had an extremely successfull first term back! We have had a number of opportunities to take out a variety of representative teams in a number of different sports as well as deliver a diverse range of learning activities for our students in both mandatory PDHPE classes, electives subjects including PASS and PASS Outdoor Ed as well as our Senior PDHPE subjects (CAFS, PDHPE, SLR).

Years 7 -10 (PDHPE) have been looking at the following units of work this term.

Year 7

• Theory: Changes
• Practical: Initiatives/Challenges

Year 8

• Theory: Shake it Off
• Practical: Net & Court Games

Year 9

• Theory: The Power of Love
• Practical: Net & Court Games

Year 10

• Theory: Life is a Highway
• Practical: Dance/Team Games

English - Faculty Report

Debating and Public Speaking

It’s been a busy term for debating and public speaking at LMHS. The Year 11 debating team completed their first debate in Week 5 and narrowly missed out on victory against Macksville High School. They will participate in Round 2 in Week 1 next Term against Cessnock High School.

The Year 10 team have begun preparations and meetings for their debates that will begin next term. Both Year 9 and 10 will have two debates take place next term.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Charlotte T represented Lake Munmorah High School for the second year in the Plain English Speaking Award that was conducted online on 22nd March. The first part of this competition required Charlotte to write an 8-minute speech on a topic of her choosing. Charlotte chose to write a very insightful and engaging speech on the monarchs and the role of the media and figures within the family over time; focusing on Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The second part of the competition was the impromptu section. In this part, Charlotte was given a topic (Package Deal) and had 3 minutes to prepare ideas and speak for as long as possible. She did amazingly, speaking for 2 and half minutes with just a couple of dot points. Unfortunately, Charlotte just missed out on progressing to the next round but has been shortlisted for the next finals round. She did incredibly well and should be congratulated on her efforts.

Central Coast Youth Week Awards

On the 7th April, Charlotte T (Year 11), Mr Keevill, Ms Welsh, Mrs Parrott and Ms Heffernan attended the Central Coast Youth Week Awards at The Hub, Erina. The ceremony was hosted by Central Coast Council and celebrated the achievements of young people on the Central Coast as part of National Youth Week. Charlotte was nominated by Ms Welsh to receive an award in the Excellence in Education category. This category recognised an individual who has demonstrated leadership in education, in school or community through innovative approaches and consistent effort. Charlotte was nominated for her outstanding efforts and application toward her schooling, and her participation in debating, public speaking, and student leadership.

Charlotte received a framed certificate to recognise these achievements and was named finalist in this category. Also on the night, Lake Munmorah High School was named winner in the Nominator Awards. This category comprised of the different groups and organisations that nominated young people for awards and winners received $500 to go towards their nominated area or project. Charlotte and Ms Welsh accepted a framed certificate and $500 to go towards the improvement of debating and public speaking projects within the school.

Literacy

The first term of timetabled literacy classes has had a busy and brilliant start this term. In their literacy classes, students have been learning about a range of literacy skills including word types, grammar rules and sentence structure to improve their writing skills. Through a range of activities, Years 7-10 have engaged meaningfully with specialised lessons.

Year 8 have had an especially busy term with all students completing the literacy and numeracy Check In Assessment task in their literacy periods. The Check In Assessment is as its name suggests - a check in with students to see how their reading and numeracy skills are progressing. This data is returned to schools for class teachers to identify student needs and use in their teaching to see further growth. It was great to see students give the tests the best attempt they could using their time meaningfully and showing interest in their results.

Year 12 English Studies

This term in Year 12 English Studies, students have been exploring the world of travel through our second HSC Module: On The Road. These studies culminated in the submission of their second assessment task - a research task that required students to select a location and plan a 4-day trip there. They had to include a budget, itinerary and document their experiences in a travel blog. Locations selected included Exmouth, WA; Disneyland, Florida; The Great Barrier Reef, QLD and the Great Wall of China. Lots of holiday ideas here!

Year 7 & 8 - RISE Class

Last year wasn’t enough! This year I have the pleasure of teaching not one but two RISE classes.

Throughout this term we have spent each day working through a variety of topics as part of the English, Mathematics and HSIE subject areas.

8RISE – Mulga Bill’s Bicycle illustrations

Our ‘Term 1 Assessment Packages’ will be sent home early next term with work samples and results for each subject area. Each and every student should be very proud of their accomplishments. We say this in every newsletter, but we feel so lucky to spend our working days in RISE. Together we have created a positive atmosphere where students are able to confidently build on their literacy and numeracy skills through teamwork and the use of a variety of resources.

Kylie Bridge and Sarah Jeffcoat (7 & 8 RISE)

Sport Report

The open boys touch football team played very well at the Eastlakes touch football gala day. We had some wins against Whitebridge HS and Swansea HS! Well done boys.

The open girls team played with great LMHS sporting spirit and we had wins against Belmont HS and Swansea HS! Congratulations girls.

Congratulations on your efforts throughout the gala day and our touch football skills improved with the more games we played!

Term 1 we had the School Swimming Carnival. This was a competitor only carnival and we saw some great performances from our LMHS students. All students who attended the carnival should be congratulated on their exemplary behaviour and sportsmanship.

Special congratulations to our 2022 LMHS Swimming Age Champions:

Girls:

• 12’s – Malli T
• 13’s – Te Ana T
• 14’s – Coco W
• 15’s – Kaley B
• 16’s – Pink W
• 17’s – Kaylee N
• 18’s – Jade B

Boys:

• 13’s – Lincoln M
• 14’s – Joshua C
• 15’s – Ethan A
• 16’s – Ashton W

The following students were all selected to compete at the Eastlakes Zone Swimming Carnival, where again they should be congratulated for their efforts:

Malli T, Zoey B, Mia B, Katie O, Shae H, Te Ana T, Georgie H, Lara S, Coco W, Kayley B, Hayley C, Pink W, Jade B, Phoebe W, Teleisha W, Casey B, Kaylee N, Mikaelah N, Billy C, Zavier A, Lincoln M, Joshua C, Tamaea T, Benjamin D, Blake K, Ethan A, Jack F, Mason G, Joshua B, Ashton W, Kye N and Tyler M.

Next up we will have the Eastlakes Zone Cross Country on Friday 29th April. Due to the cancellation of the School Cross Carnival, please see the PDHPE faculty if you would like to nominate for this carnival.

Upcoming dates for your calendar: - Please note some of these have been updated to what was previously scheduled.

• Week 1: Friday April 29th – Zone Cross Country
• Week 5: Friday 27th May – School Athletics Carnival
• Week 7 – Tuesday June 7th – Zone Athletics Carnival
• Week 8 – Friday 17th June – Hunter Regional Cross Country

Aboriginal Education

Yaama Everyone,

Another term done and dusted. This term, students have had the opportunity to participate in the Dhinewan Mentoring program, Literacy groups (All years), CCAS Talent ID day, NRL S2W program and Mentor talk with an Australian Federal Police Officer. Well done to the following students who received attendance awards throughout term one:

• Week 1 - Cooper T (Year 11)
• Week 2 - Jai N (Year 7)
• Week 3 - Lolli W (Year 10)
• Week 4 – Koko J (Year 11)
• Week 5 – Millie S (Year 11)
• Week 6 – Jacob G (Year 8)
• Week 7 – Chernise M (Year 10)
• Week 8 – Nicholas O (Year 7)
• Week 9 – Jacob P (Year 7)
• Week 10 – Holly C (Year 11)

Each of these students received a $30 gift voucher. A special mention to Lolli Williams, Felicity Cisco and Ethan Wilson who maintained 100% attendance for the term!

Term 4 last year we were able to hold our NADOC celebrations and Cultural Leadership excursion. Last year's NAIDOC theme 'Heal Country' focused on seeking greater protections for our lands, waters, sacred sites and cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction. Students participated in five workshops across the two days which included Life on the islands, Bush to sea, Our warriors, Paint your dreaming and Elder dreaming. Additionally, our students participated in a Leadership day at the Yula Punaal Cultural Centre. Students and staff participated in three workshops across the day including leadership & dance, OCHRE connection and mindfulness. The group also came together at the end to reflect on the day and perform a group dance. Both staff and students enjoyed the experience, and we would like to thank Aunty Tammy, Uncle Vic and the Dhinewan Mentoring team for facilitating the day. Also, a huge thank you to the Norah Head Sporties for providing a bus for our students to attend the excursion.

We had 4 staff who attended the Connecting to Country workshops in Term 1. We also look forward to upcoming PL in 2022, which includes Turning Policy into Action, Personal Learning Pathways (PLP) and embedding the 8-ways pedagogy.

Staff mentors have started the process of completing PLPs for 2022. We will hold our first Yarn Up on Monday 20th June (Term 2 Week 9) and will send more information out early next term. We encourage families and community to come and have a yarn with the staff at LMHS and discuss PLP goals for 2022.

On 16th March, LMHS was represented by a selection of our talented Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students at the Central Coast Academy of Sport Talent ID day at Terrigal. Trey O, Cooper T, Emily H, Tennesyn H, Ethan A and Taen G completed various fundamental movement tests and had their body measurements recorded to link them with specific sports that matched their biotype and existing athletic ability. Special mention should be made of Trey for his perseverance in the fitness testing and Emily for her overall dedication to all activities throughout day. Students who were identified from this day receive opportunities for further development in the sport they were matched to, and one lucky student will be awarded a scholarship.

We look forward to more exciting opportunities in Term 2. I hope you all have a relaxed and refreshing break and look forward to seeing you all next term!

Mr Brendan Quigg

Head Teacher Aboriginal Education & Transitional Pathways

Wellbeing

We have had a huge start to the year at Lake Munmorah High School. Each morning we provide Breakfast Club for the students. The Wellbeing Hub is open break one for quiet board games and break two for food. Our Wellbeing team has grown this year as we welcome Laurinda our new School Chaplain and Racquel our new Student Support Officer. We have three school counsellors available over the week for students to access. For Term One we have held the following Programs

- All Students participated in the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence Workshop

- All year groups attended Police Presentations on Bullying and Cyber Crime

- We celebrated Harmony Day as a whole school with thanks to the Leadership Team

DRUMBEAT has been very popular with our Yr. 9 & 10 Students with thanks to Mrs Patterson for facilitating the Building Resilience through Rhythm Program.

RYDA attended the School and delivered Road Safety Education for the Yr 10 Students.

SMASHED – Our Year 8 and Year 10 Students attended the Smashed Workshop.

We Welcomed our new Year 7 students with our amazing Peer Support program. They had a wonderful Wellbeing Day at the Raw Challenge with their Year advisor and some of their Year 10 mentors.

YEAR 8 FLIP OUT WELL BEING DAY

Year 8 had a wonderful time bouncing around the trampolines at Flip Out for their end of term Wellbeing Day.

CORE OF LIFE

Our Year 10 Students participated in the Core of Life Program Core of Life (COL) is an evidence based, health promotion/early intervention, relationships & reproductive health education program. It aims directly to empower young people and the wider community living in urban/rural/remote regions to build resilience for healthier, more timely parenting future.

THANKYOU to LINKS Youth Workers Kaz and Dan for attending each Monday to deliver the “Actually I Can” and “Reality Check” program to Students. Kaz and Dan have also worked individually with students to help support them with Goal Setting, Wellbeing Check ins, access to external support and programs.

SUPPORT SERVICES AVAILABLE TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILIES

- Eheadspace provides Free Online and Telephone Support and counselling to Young people 12 – 25 and their families and friends. You can visit Headspace at Lake Haven Group chat is 24/1 and 1 on 1 chat is 9am – 1am

https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/

- Wellbeing resources exploring topics such as responsible decision making, online safety, respectful relationships, mental health and more

https://studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/

The Wellbeing Team

Year Advisor Reports

Year 7 - Mrs Anna Martin

Our awesome Year 7 students had an awesome day testing themselves at the Raw Challenge. Below are some photos from the day!

Year 8 - Miss Samantha Kaye

Whoo hoo!! What a success 2022 has been. It is hard to believe we are already one year and one term into our high school journey.

Our Flip Out excursion was an awesome end to Term 1. Students and staff had a great time bouncing off energy and engaging in active indoor fun on the trampolines. In addition to having a great time, I am very proud of the behaviour and attitude our Year 8 students exhibited while representing Lake Munmorah High School in the community.

In the classroom, students have continued to develop their academic knowledge and skills. During English lessons, Year 8 students have been studying poetry, and engaging in DEAR (Drop Everything and Read). Immersing themselves in wide reading is a fantastic activity for students as it helps to develop competence in comprehension, and reading and writing fluency.

In HSIE, students have been studying the module, ‘Water and The World’, and their major task involved researching a hydrological disaster.

In music, Year 8’s topic this term has been ‘Instruments of the Orchestra’. During practical lessons they have been learning how to play short songs on the guitar, ukulele, and the keyboard.

Always ready to be amongst the school spirit, Year 8 proudly participated in the swimming Carnival, 5-a-side Soccer, Basketball, Harmony Day, and the LMHS Easter Drive. The cohort also made for some strong competition at the Lake Munmorah’s Got Talent show.

Year 8 should be commended for their effort and excellent behaviour this term, and as their Year Advisor I am very proud to be walking alongside them on their high school journey.

Year 9 - Miss Emily Davis

Year 9 have hit the ground running this Term!

The addition of elective courses has provided our Year 9 students with an array of opportunities to pursue including but not limited to: PASS, PASS Outdoor Ed, Food Tech, Child Studies, Technology - Timber, STEM and Marine Studies. The students have settled in nicely to their classes and are enjoying being able to learning about new and exciting things!

In addition, our Year 9 students have been fortunate enough to be able to participate in a variety of wellbeing programs on offer at LMHS such as DRUMBEAT & Police Presentations on Bullying and Cyber Crime with plenty more on offer for Term 2.

Next Term (28/4) we are going to TreeTops for our annual year group excursion. If there are any students that are still interested in coming we do have limited spots left so make sure you grab a note from the Front Office and return it ASAP!! Looking forward to an awesome day!!

A special mention goes to Vladimir & Milly for being successful in gaining a position on the Junior Leadership Team for Year 9! Well done guys!

Miss Davis

Year 10 - Mrs Sarah Patterson

Year 10 have had an exciting start to the year. It has been great to see the new YONDR pouch having a positive effect with student engagement in learning and socialising.

This Term Year 10 have had a variety of Wellbeing programs to help support them in becoming young adults. The Term started with our Police Liaison office talks regarding Cyber Safety laws. In Week 8, SMASHED live visited our school with an educational and interactive performance that empowers students to behave responsibly and make informed choices.

Year 10 also had the amazing opportunity in Week 9 to participate in a whole day event at school with RYDA which provided students with the tools and understanding they need to see themselves as active, responsible road citizens. Students in Week 10 also had the opportunity to engage in the wellbeing program Core of life which aims to empower young people/the wider community living in urban/rural/remote regions to build resilience for healthier, more timely parenting futures.

I hope that Year 10 have enjoyed Term 1 and have a lovely Easter Break.

Mrs Patterson

Year 11 - Mr Malcolm Van Drempt

Welcome to Senior High School Year 11! This term our students have stepped up into their Preliminary HSC courses in preparation for next year. It’s a wonderful time for learning as students have a great deal of say in what courses they wish to attempt and gain more independence and responsibility in their learning, and the direction of their life choices. By now, students have had the opportunity to settle in and confirm their selections as the year now begins to pick up speed.

In terms of expectations this year, as our students adapt to growth and change, this is a friendly reminder that we get our assessment tasks submitted on time. If a student is unable to do so it is important to notify our teachers in advance. Students unable to complete tasks on time are able to appeal by filling in a misadventure form and presenting it to their teacher in a timely manner.

One of the privileges of becoming a senior student is being given time to study during the school day. I would encourage students to utilise this as much as possible. As we know this has proven a little tricky this term due to staff shortages. In the rare event that a teacher is unable to assist or supervise during these periods in the resource centre, we are encouraging students to utilise the time by sitting outside the resource centre, or in the senior area, and studying from your textbooks, revise your notes, or complete assessment tasks. If you are in need of a laptop for internet access during the period, the welfare team are happy to sign out a laptop for you to utilise this. These are accessed through the Wellbing Hub.

Finally, it is with great pleasure that we now have our student run Senior Jersey Committee up and functioning. We will be using a democratic process for the year group to select a preferred style early next term and we will notify students when we have narrowed down a number of options. This is a tradition at LMHS for Seniors to wear their design specific to their graduating year and it builds a strong positive culture among the students. This year it’s our turn. Notifications on the development of this process can be followed by the student body on Canvas.

Kind Regards,

Mr Van Drempt

Year 12 - Mr Alex Maiden

It's been a busy term for Year 12. The students should be proud of their efforts, completing all their assessment tasks while navigating the difficulties that Covid and isolation has brought.

Early in the term Year 12 organised their first fundraising event. It was a Valentine's Day theme and the student's hard work ensured it was a success. Below is a couple of photos from the day.

The term finished up with the annual Munners Cup, where the Year 12s take on the teachers in a best of three sporting tournament. Round one was basketball. After a close first half the teachers ran away with the victory to take a 1-0 lead. There will be a lot of pressure on the students in round two to ensure the tournament stays alive.

I hope all students enjoy a well-earned break.

Mr Maiden