Newsletter Term 2 Week 9 2022

Principals Report

Earlier this term in a senior student assembly with years 10, 11 and 12, we had the opportunity to recognise the success of our 2021 HSC Graduates where 21 students achieved an ATAR over 90 and are now studying Bachelor degrees, some combined, at UTS, UNSW, USYD or Macquarie, including our Dux Lincoln Yan earning an ATAR of 99.85. It was heart-warming to hear how in their first semester at university these students had found their “groove” with like-minded people, studying the challenging but riveting course content, and how they were so appreciative of their teachers and mentors at Killarney who encouraged their work ethic and studies. We also heard from a 2011 graduate of Killarney who shared stories of failure, success, determination and life satisfaction. This was a timely celebration as our current students were leading up to assessments and it was a motivator to aspire to their true potential.

As we approach the end of term, it can be a point of reflection in a school especially as Years 7, 8 and 9 receive reports on the afternoon of July 1 in the Parent Portal. As a parent, this is an opportunity to learn a bit more about your child and how they are learning at the moment, and to help them to set goals for their future. Research has shown that the combination of effort and perseverance through goal setting earns success in school and life, rather than skill alone. To start the process of reflection and goal setting, you may wish to ask questions such as: What do you think of the grade or mark? Do you know why you got this result? Have you been putting a lot of effort into this subject? What is happening that is affecting your effort? What can you do to improve? You may want to find out what they do in each subject: What tasks have you been doing in class? What did you find easy? What was hard for you? If your child thinks they are doing well or not, focus on their effort or progress rather than the result alone. If you would like an opportunity to discuss this with teachers, the Parent Teacher interviews for Years 8 and 9 will be July 26 in the 2^nd week of next term.

While most of us are looking forward to a rest, Year 12 are at a crucial point of their assessments where major works will be coming to fruition as they are due next term, and the Trial exams which often have the greatest weighting for each course will be held in weeks 3 & 4. Many students already have a good study habit, but all is not lost if it has not started yet. One successful routine students use is to follow their school timetable each day to guide a routine of study to summarise and revise notes, while others may prepare by having multiple HSC Past Papers on hand where they commit time each day to complete a whole exam under timed conditions. Exam preparation not only includes knowing the content, but being able to apply it in timed conditions and to have the stamina to write for that period of time.

Term 2 is always busy for students and teachers with NAPLAN which was online this year, and assessments and reports for each year group. However, this term has been particularly challenging due to the additional demands of state-wide staffing shortages, resulting in all teachers covering additional classes and supporting student’s wellbeing. Nevertheless, I am encouraged by the incredible work that teachers and support staff at KHHS continue to provide to our students in learning, social and emotional opportunities. Here is a list of some of the extra-curricular activities that teachers have done on top of their duties to enhance the learning of our students this term: Raise Mentoring, Friends Program, Athletics Carnival, Cross Country, Zone & regional carnivals, KO teams: volleyball, netball, football, The Run Beyond Project, Music night, Musical Voyages, Bands performing at: Star Wars Event Forestville RSL, Music Spectacular finalists, Autumn Festival, Instrumental Festival, Fete de la Musique, Winter Festival. The Printmaking club, Science Primary Links, Elevate Study Skills, Duke of Edinburgh qualifying hike, Channel 10 recording, Pride week celebrations, NAIDOC Week celebrations, Excursion to the Disease museum, creek water surveys, collecting local bush resources, Pride Club Equine therapy, student and staff support through Seasons for Growth, Counselling, Lifeline, Blackdog Institute.

I am very grateful for the resilience, perseverance and energy our teachers model to students every day. They deserve a well-earned rest.

 Dennielle Woskanian
Relieving Principal

Dates to Remember

NCCD Letter

Administration Information

Pass Outs
Pass outs are provided when a student needs to leave school early for an appointment, the easiest way to ask for one is to send in your son/daughter with a note in the morning which they bring to the office before school starts.  Otherwise you can send an email to the school.  The note needs to have the students name and year, what time they need to leave and the reason for leaving (required so we can code it correctly).

Sickness
If a student is sick in the morning please let the school know by phoning or emailing the school, or respond to the text which is sent out. Please do not use the Sentral App to log absences or reply to a  sms sent a previous day.
If a student becomes sick during the day please ask them to let the teacher know who will send them to the office, we will then put them into sick bay and call a contact to come and pick them up.
If a student is sick for 3 or more days in a row the school requires a medical certificate.

Leave
If a student will be on leave for 4 or more days in a row for something such as a family holiday you need to put in an extended leave form. This can be downloaded under Forms & Documents near the top of the Newsletter or collected from the school office.

Misadventure
If a student misses an assessment or exam due to illness you need to submit a misadventure form.  This can be downloaded under Forms & Documents near the top of the Newsletter or from the school website under Year Information.

Payments
We can no longer accept payments over the phone.  You can pay at the school office or via the school website (Make a Payment at the top of the Home Page),  or via the link you may have been sent in an email for a specific payment.

Languages

Year 9 Japanese

Year 9 Japanese went on an excursion to Ichi-ban Boshi Ramen and the Japan Foundation. The students enjoyed trying Japanese food, and practicing their Japanese listening and speaking skills whilst wearing yukata at the Japan Foundation. Some students said they didn't want to take the yukata off!

Stephanie Rosier-Takeuchi
Japanese Teacher

Year 8 French

For our French Assessment task 2, we went to The Little Snail, a french restaurant in Darling Harbour. Whilst we were there, we enjoyed snails, fish, chicken, ice cream, mouse, creme caramel, salad, calamari rings. All the food was delicious, and there was a very nice atmosphere. All the staff were friendly, and we had a blast chatting with friends and eating exciting french food. 

Sports News

Cross Country

The cross-country carnival was postponed due to poor weather in late term 1. After consultation with some decision makers and looking at the jam packed calendar it was decided to run a competitors only cross country. Tuesday the 17^th was the day and the new course was around Killarney Oval through the school to mimic the famous movie “Chariots of Fire”.

The loop was 1.5kms and involved a steep run-down Melwood followed by a steep hill to test the student athletes. The course was a promotional dream with students running in front of the KHHS sign which was followed by a straight 300 m run to the back of killarney oval. Mr Wilson was the course starter with several students from the PASS course helping for the day.

Despite only having competitors the standard was high with many top students progressing to the zone carnival.

Congratulations to all competitors and here are the top 2 from each age group followed by the house winners points for the whole carnival.

Knockout News

The season is going on and despite some close encounters the opposition seem to be like a Queensland state of origin team with many teams being knocked out.

Here are some of the results from this term:

Boys U-15 Soccer  Round 2 vs Northern Beaches Christian School 3-1 loss
Girls U-15 Soccer Round 2 vs Covenant Christian School 7-0 loss
Girls Open Soccer Round 2 vs Freshwater Senior High  4-0 loss
Girls Open Netball Round 3 vs Cheltenham Girls 58-28 loss
Girls U-15 Netball Round 1 vs Manly Selective 36-22 win
Girls Open Volleyball Round 2 vs Pittwater 2-1 loss
Boys Open Soccer Round 3 vs Manly Selective 3-2 win
Boys Open Soccer Round 4 vs Randwick Boys 3-1 loss

Zeke Desiatnik

Table Tennis 

NSW Schoolboys Challenge Cup in Table Tennis was played at Olympic park on Monday 30^th May. KHHS was represented by six teams: Elouan CESTIER / Witali LESNEWSKY, Kimi MAK / Allen LI and Finley HUMBERSTONE / Toby HANSEN in Juniors, Dylan DEPREE / Freddy YOULE in Intermediate and Nicholas HUBBARD / Nathan ROBERTS and Daniel NEL / Miki AMRI in Seniors. The boys played well, each winning some of their games and thoroughly enjoying and exhausting themselves. To their own great surprise, Dylan DEPREE / Freddy YOULE won their group games and advanced to the knockout stages of the competition where they continued to be successful, bringing home bronze medals! In the individual repechage for players who did not advance from the group games, Allen Li became third in the Junior division. Thank you to all the boys and their parents for making the boys' participation such a successful reality!

Dr Ernist

The Library Lowdown

The 2022 Premier’s Reading Challenge is well underway and all of our students from Year 7- 10 are encouraged to participate. The library staff are happy to help them navigate the PRC website and our school catalogue to locate and record suitable books.

Students can login and record the books that they read at:

With restrictions eased and everyone back to school, sport and catching up with friends, it can be hard to find the time to read. Maybe over the winter holidays we can provide our students with some down time and allow them to immerse themselves in the wonderful world of fiction. The Premier’s Reading Challenge requires student to read and log 20 books by Friday 19th August.

Popular PRC listed titles include:

Ms. Kate Thompson
Teacher Librarian

The Run Beyond Project

On Sunday the 19th of June, 19 girls departed for Gosford to do their final group run together. The Bay to Bay Running Festival 12km. The group is a mixed together selection of girls across all year groups, initially designed to celebrate International Womens Day and take these girls through a journey of resilience, goal setting, community, connections and friendship. 

The girls trained each Monday at 7.30 am. Rain, wind or shine. 

They participated in multiple community events called Running Stars. A Sunday morning fun run starting at 7.30 am. They invited their parents to join them on their running journey, creating deeper connections with their families and friends. 

The group fundraised for the Run Beyond Project, helping other students who don’t have opportunity or access to the same resources that they do, to experience the same journey as them. Each girl had a goal to raise $400 each. Making the total $7,600. 

The group ended up raising $7,647 for the Run Beyond Project! A big thank you to everyone who contributed. 

This is the second year that Killarney Heights High School has participated in this project. The 14 weeks of training were not without challenges:

• COVID and isolation rules making the rounds through the group 
• icey winds and heavy rains became a tradition
• then came the flu. And injuries
• And of course, the loss of our beloved team member Morgan

With each hurdle, the girls made deeper connections with each other, vowing to make it to race day, together. 

A few special mentions: 

• Sophie, our year 12 team member, was always early to training and responsible for keeping the group connected in the early stages of training. She also felt the full effects of a post run slurpy on the way home. Sophie never lost her positive attitude and kindness towards the rest of the group. 
• Artemisia has been the catalyst for strong relationships between the year groups and always cheering everyone on while doing her extra streets and hills during training. 
• Liz kept us on edge with her witty humour during training. She stepped up to the 12km only to take a fall during the race. Our hearts broke when she did not finish the run. Little does she know that she will be back next year. 
• Adeline. Aways happy, always on time. Adie came up with fun fundraising and promotion ideas. Her acceptance of everyone and generosity to the charity were exceptional.
• Veronica begged to join the team when the team was already full. And what a asset to the vibe and smiles she was! Having Veronica join us was one of the best decisions for the group and the friendships that were made. 
• Lily came back for the 2nd year and during training always tried her best. Her positive attitude helped her friends keep pushing. She couldn’t run with us because of sickness, and she was very missed on race weekend.
• Tessa had big goals and those weren’t related to running. She found her mental strength as the weeks passed and got stronger every week in her self belief and positive thinking. 
• Maia was the support and the person whose friends lean on when they aren’t feeling great. Maia held the group strong with her nurturing but firm personality. 
• Millie was quiet and positive through all of her training. Having only gotten lost ONCE, her finish run was watching her bound over the last bridge with a big smile on her face - evidence of just how proud she was to be there, and to finish.
• Mia. No one walks past Mia without a smile and a wave. As we tell her to keep on running, her sweet smile turns around and says ‘no, well, in a bit’. Running the 5km because of a recent bout of COVID, she smashed all her goals this year and kept a smile on all our faces.
• Des, a late comer to the team but she has made her impact on our hearts, with her quick wit and funny jokes. She sped through the 5km course. 
• Gizelle is friends with everyone and would run and chat with anyone very early on. Gizelle always supported anyone who needed it and seemed to have the best music while running. 
• Gidget is a quiet competitor and a supportive friend. She turned up to training and put everything into it each week, despite being formally known as a ‘sprinter’. She also held the voice of reason when excitement took over the group she was ready to lend a hand to calm the others down.  
• Charlie J, was the first to turn up to the community running event and start to understand what the group was about. Not winning, just being a part of something. She slid into the group and found her place in demonstrating to the others what they could achieve, not just talking about it. 
• Charlotte was our motor and our constant running person. She’d often hear the teachers shouting ‘run with Charlotte’ as students sprinted out too hard and then stopped to walk. She was our constant with a KILLER sprint finish.
• Niamh found out quickly what being ‘Hangry’ felt like when she skipped breakfast on running days. This quickly changed and she became the quickest learner of all of the projects concepts and regular participant at the community running events with her family. 
• Imi is one of the early trainers, squeezing the training in before Band. This meant arriving at school for 7am, showing commitment to the training week in and week out. 
• Evie is our voice of reason, sleeping when she needed to, eating the right food and setting her self up for the best possible result. In the end, she finished with the biggest smile in a cracking pace.  
• Zabel had the pleasure of running the race with Mrs Hozack, smashing her time from last year by 11 minutes. Holding beautiful honest conversations together throughout the run. Zabel could be forever the group mentor in the project. 

The only way this program can work is with the support of our fellow teachers. The teachers who put their hand up to also be vulnerable. Do something they are not really comfortable with, and turn up to training week after week. So, THANK YOU to Eliza Slater, Candice Smith and Sarah Jervis. Without needing to say a word, they showed the students how to be resilient, set goals, stick to the plan and overcome adversity.

Finally, Run club in term 3 will open up to ALL students. Wednesday Mornings at 7:30 am

Heather Hozack

Pride Club

Pride Club is a vibrant student led initiative that provides a safe space every Friday lunch for our LGBTQIA+ students and allies. The group meets to celebrate the diversity and inclusivity of KHHS. They run fundraisers such as bake sales and hair colouring stations for LGBT+ services such as Twenty10 and Minus18. The sense of connection and community within Pride Club is almost tangible and KHHS is so lucky to have these amazing students as part of the fabric of our school.

Candice Linton-Smith

Student Achievements

Annabelle Dietrich achieved amazing success with her partners at the 2022 Australian National Gymnastics Championships for Acrobatic Gymnastics on the Gold Coast May 11-15.

Level 10 (3 compulsory routines)
2^nd Balance Routine
3^rdDynamic Routine
2^nd Combined Routine
OVERALL SECOND - NATIONAL SILVER MEDALLIST

Congratulations Annabelle!

Vouch for Lismore

Band News

KHHS Bands on stage on the road and on song

It’s been a busy period for our Band students with performances, tours and competitions. 

The Symphonic Winds, Big Band and soloist Mathew Di-Ienno performed superbly to finish second overall in the annual Northern Sydney School Band Spectacular finals. The audience and adjudicators were impressed by the exemplary standard of music performances achieved by our students.  KHHS Bands were pipped by just one point by the competition winners and hosts Killara High. Congratulations to KHHS students, conductors and teachers on being runners up this year.

Then it was off to Port Macquarie where our jazz band students attended the Big Band Blast festival. A great weekend of performing and fun for members of the Big Band and Stage Band. Many thanks to the teachers, conductors and Band Committee parents involved in helping with the tour. 

Our younger musicians in the Concert Band have also had a chance to stretch their talents before an audience. They have performed in the very popular Northern Beaches Instrumental Festival and received good feedback from adjudicators.   At the same festival, our Chamber Ensemble had the opportunity to perform with the guidance of stand-in conductor Mr Powning.

There was also an opportunity for the school community to sample what our students have to offer with Big Band supporting the High Achievers Assembly. 

The year continues and so does the music with our bands appearing at the Festival de la Musique at Killarney Public School and NSSWE Winter Festival for our Concert Band and with planning underway for more touring.

Our thanks once again to our conductors and school staff for their support. 
KHHS Bands

NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to recognise and learn more about the history and culture of indigenous communities.

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced back to the Aboriginal rights movement, when on Australia Day 1938, protestors marched through the streets of Sydney to highlight the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Today, it is a week-long celebration held in July that consists of range of traditional and contemporary activities.

NAIDOC Week is an important event that helps build positive relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. It enables a deeper understanding of our differences and similarities. NAIDOC week is an opportunity for all Australians to eliminate bias and discrimination by reflecting and reconciling the wrongs of the past to facilitate hope and build a fairer future. Families are encouraged to join in and support young people in learning the significance of NAIDOC Week.

This Special Report offers suggestions on how families can celebrate NAIDOC Week together. We hope you take a moment to reflect on the information offered, and as always, we welcome your feedback. If this raises any concerns for you, a loved one or the wellbeing of your child, please seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the special report :

Community News

Northern Beaches & Mosman College

Click on the link below to access the Term 3 Brochure