Newsletter Term 3 Week 3 2023

Principals Report

Uniform

Thank you to all students who wear their full school uniform every day, and for parents supporting in this. It creates a great image for the school when students wear the uniform with pride and represent our school in the community in a positive way. It is also a way in which all students are able to feel a sense of belonging and equality within their school environment.

The public often measure the reputation of the school by what the students look like.  This may not be a good way to judge a school, I would rather have us measured by our educational success, however, students who look sloppy and out of uniform do influence the perception of the public about our school.

Unfortunately, some students are not wearing the uniform consistently.  The main issues are:

• White shoes or sports shoes. Our uniform is black leather shoes, the leather is for safety in practical classes, art, science, and technology subjects. Please keep the nice white shoes for the weekends.
• Hoodies in various colours. Please wear the navy school sloppy joe with the logo, these are warm and serviceable, an alternative is the wind proof soft shell jacket, which may be worn over the sloppy joe.
• Track suit pants. The school supplied track suit pants may be worn on sports days.  Some students are wearing all types of track suit pants on other days. Below are the alternatives
  • Long grey trousers or blue pants (not jeans)
  • Skirts can be worn with tights when it is colder. We also have grey and navy school shorts.
• Wearing PE uniform throughout the day. PE uniform may be worn to school on the days when a student has a practical PE class in period 1, and they may wear the PE uniform home if PE is on the last period of the day. The sports uniform is to be worn on Wednesdays, however, if students have a practical class on that day, they will have to bring their full leather shoes to be compliant for safety reasons.

The uniform shop will be open on Tuesdays from 7:30am to 1:30pm and on Thursdays from 11:30am to 3:30pm. Entry is through the Main Entrance during school hours, Melwood Ave outside school hours.

 A link to the order form is below.

https://killarney-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/k/killarney-h/localcontent/2023/Uniformshoporderform23.pdf

Hayley Emmerton
Principal

Dates to Remember

HSC Showcase

NSW School Vaccination Program 2023

From 2023 you can provide consent online for your child’s routine school vaccinations.

The following vaccines are offered free to students at school:

Killarney Heights High School will be conducting vaccinations on the following dates: -

Thursday 17^th August 2023 

Year 10 Meningococcal ACWY – Single Dose   
Year 11 Meningococcal ACWY – Catch up 
Year 7 HPV - Catch up
Year 8 HPV & dTpa – Catch up

Any students who are absent at this visit can get their vaccination at the next clinic in September 2023. They do not need to go to their GP because they are absent.

Friday 8^th September 2023 

Year 7 dTpa 
Year 7 HPV – Catch up
Year 8 Catch up - HPV & dTpa – Catch up
Year 10 Catch up

Any students who are absent at this visit can get their vaccination at school in 2024, or go to the GP instead, as the parent prefers.

Vaccination will only be provided at school if consent has been received. 

To provide consent for vaccination click on the link below

You will need:

• your ServiceNSW log-in details, or to create an account if you don’t already have one (see below)
• Medicare details for parents/carers and your child

Benefits of online consent for parents/carers:

• SMS notifications when vaccinations are given
• easy updating of your child’s details online
• faster upload of your child’s vaccination records to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)

If you or your child do not have a Medicare card, consent can still be provided by requesting a paper-based consent form directly from our school.

Killarney Heights High School are the facilitator only. To help answer questions you may have regarding providing vaccination and online consent, please visit the NSW Health website 

• NSW Health is waiting on the outcome of a review by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination schedule. International evidence indicates that one dose of HPV vaccine provides equivalent protection to two-dose. If a one dose-schedule is endorsed NSW Health will contact all parents of students who have been consented for two doses of the vaccine and also parents of students who have received one dose of HPV vaccine (to advise that they are up to date and do not require any further doses).

Process with new online consent

1. The online consent is accessed via the link provided above in this letter. On the webpage there is information about the vaccinations as well as the consent form. This form must be completed by a parent or legal guardian, not the student. Both parent/guardian and the student must have a Medicare number to be able to use the online consent.
2. Students without a Medicare number and students whose parent doesn’t have access to the internet will need to complete a hard copy consent form (available at the school). Their consent details will be entered onto the online system by the nurses at the beginning of the clinic.
3. Overseas parent/guardians who can’t complete the electronic consent because they don’t have a Medicare number can now consent by email. The school can scan and email overseas parents a paper consent card and accompanying information. The parent can scan and email it back to the school to print out, and the nurses will use that printed emailed form to enter the consent onto the online system.
4. The online consent is accepted right up to the time of the clinic, but to ensure smooth running of the clinic, please complete your online consent at least one week in advance of the clinic date.
5. Information on the School Vaccination Program is available in languages other than English.
6. If you prefer not to have your child vaccinated, please return an explanatory letter. This will ensure that the school is aware that all parents/guardians have received and noted the vaccination information.

Year 12 News

Year 12 Formal Celebration for Students and their Parents

A reminder that tickets are now on sale for the formal on 21^st September. Earlybird tickets are available until 28^th August, https://prom.com.au/kh1223 

Languages

Year 8 Japanese

In Week 2 of Term 3, Year 8 students of Japanese participated in a whole day of Japanese culture related events. This included trying their hand at shodou (Japanese calligraphy), sumo wrestling games, an escape room based on their classroom learning, Japanese sports activities and more. Students enjoyed a Japanese obento box for lunch as well. We are grateful to Aoyama Japanese Camp for helping us to facilitate some of the activities on this fun day for our youngest Japanese learners.

Year 9 Japanese

In Week 3 of Term 3, students of Year 9 Japanese took a trip to the Japan Foundation in the CBD to enjoy learning about Japanese summer festival culture. They tried their hand at some festival games, and wore summer kimono - called yukata. We also took photos at a Japanese photobooth, where students could experience decorating sticker photos. This was followed by lunch at a Japanese restaurant. It is hoped that all students gained an insight into Japanese life and culture during our day out.

PDHPE

Regional Athletics Carnival

On the 24^th and 25^th of July Killarney sent 39 students to the Sydney North Regional Athletics Carnival at Mingara Sports Centre on the Central Coast to represent our school and North Shore Zone. Conditions were wet and cold but our enthusiastic athletes were not deterred and had risen early to make the trip up the Freeway to take on the best competitors from Harbour Bridge to Lake Macquarie. Killarney sent 4 relay teams,  the Girls 13 4x100m relay team put in an outstanding performance came first and are going to state championships. The team is made up of Naomi Krajancic, Harriet Aiken, Mio Irisawa, Mariel Buckland. We also had a 3^rd place in the 15 years girls that comprised Jasmine Rintel, Adriana Prizmic, Kristina Prizmic and Lilyana Rayner-Harvey.

The depth of talent went far beyond our relay teams with some absolutely outstanding results over the two days. Zac Roome set the track alight in the 800m on Monday, blowing the competition away to win the 17-19 years boys 800m in a time of 1 minute 54.78 seconds and setting a Sydney North Record in the process. Zac also went on to run second in the 400m on Tuesday which qualified him to compete in both events in the State CHS (Combined High School) carnival later this term.

Our newest track star, Naomi Krajancic in year 7 also put in an outstanding performance at the meet by winning the 100m, 200m AND 400m in impressive style. Naomi’s 400m time of 58.98 wasn’t just the fastest in her age division but was the fastest 400m time of all the girls in all age divisions at the carnival. Naomi is already a star but don’t be surprised if we see her breaking regional records in the future also.

It would seem this type of talent is extremely rare but unbelievably, Killarney had another lightning fast female athlete in Jasmine Rintel, who incredibly also won the 100m, 200m and 400m in the 15 years category leaving the crowd and officials gobsmacked. Jasmine’s relay team mate, Adriana Prizmic also qualified for CHS with an excellent run in the 800m, placing 2^nd.

Zac, Jasmine and Naomi have all been invited to represent the Sydney North Region in the 4 x 400m at the state CHS carnival. Some big decisions lay ahead for them with qualification for so many events and jam packed carnival agenda.

Cooper Horley also ran an impressive race in the 3000m on Monday, stalking the leaders for most of the race and putting the foot down in the final lap to pass all but the winner to place second in an awesome time of 9 mins and 7 seconds. Cooper backed up on the Tuesday in the 1500m and didn’t wait until the last lap to exert his dominance this time, pulling away from the pack in the second half of the race to finish a convincing winner.

We also had great performances from Cameron Nicholas (3^rd in the 17-19yrs hurdles), Ivan Prizmic (3^rd in the 17-19yrs long jump and 5^th in the high jump), Max Figueira (3^rd in the 14yrs Javelin) and Kaden Rintel (3^rd in the 16 yrs 400m and 4^th in the 800m). Apologies if I have forgotten any of the top results, I am still waiting for the list of results to come through from the Sydney North Convenor and it was hard to keep track of all 39 athletes over the two days but if I have missed any they will get a special mention in the next newsletter. Well done to all of the Killarney athletes for a great carnival and good luck to Zac, Cooper, Naomi, Jasmine and Adriana at the State CHS carnival that is being held at the Sydney Athletic Centre between the 6^th and 8^th of September.

Tom Wilson
Head Teacher PDHPE and North Shore Athletics Team Manager

State Combined High Schools Cross Country Championships

On Friday, 21^st July Killarney sent 5 competitors to the state CHS cross country championships at Eastern Creek. We had a strong showing of year 7 girls with Elin Maljaars and Evie Rayner-Harvey competing in the 12 years division and Naomi Krajancic competing in the 13 years girls events. Elin placed 25^th, Evie 26^th and Naomi 29^th – Outstanding efforts competing against the best in the state.

Amelie Hunziker from year 8 also competed in the 13 years girls division. There is a lot of young talent coming through the school and we look forward to tracking their achievements in years to come. Amelie’s brother Harrison also qualified for the event but unfortunately was sick on the day and couldn’t compete but congratulations to Harrison for qualifying.

Cooper Horley of year 11 also put in an outstanding effort, finishing 12^th in the 17 years boys division. Cooper has also been selected in the Athletics NSW team for the Australian Cross Country Championships in Canberra on the 26^th of August.

Congratulations to all of our remarkable athletes for doing themselves and Killarney so proud.

Matthew Hodgson – Australian Boomers Basketballer comes to Killarney

In the first week of this term, Erica Scotter (mother of Ava, Aylish and Hannah) contacted the school to say the family’s good friend, Matthew Hodgson was staying with them for the week and had offered to come to speak at school. With so many basketball enthusiasts at the school, we jumped at the opportunity and Matthew came in to speak to a group of about 80 students who had registered their interest on Friday, the 28th July.

Matthew shared his journey as a basketballer which started when Mr Scotter introduced him to basketball at the age of 14. Matthew’s career involved playing college basketball in the United States for Southern Utah and Saint Mary’s in California. He returned home to Australia after College and played for 4 NBL teams – Melbourne United, Adelaide 36ers, Brisbane Bullets and Perth Wildcats and has only just hung up his boots, playing the final games of his professional basketball career in Taiwan. Matthew also played for the Boomers (the Australian team) in their 2017 Asia Cup, gold medal winning team.

Matthew shared valuable insights into his career and how he developed resilience to deal with injury setbacks and the importance of maintaining academic standards to ensure he is able to develop a strong career after professional sport. Matthew had 3 key pieces of advice for our students;

1. When at high school, Matt scheduled 45-90 minutes every afternoon to do school work. He did it straight after school and eliminated all distractions (including asking parents and siblings to not interrupt him) and was always able to get a lot done in a short amount of time with intense focus. He looked at this as a way of earning the reward of going to train for basketball for hours afterwards, which he loved. This regular, short, intense study allowed him to stay on top of all of his school work and ultimately opened up the opportunity for him to play College basketball in the United States as you need to be studying a degree and passing in order to play in the college competition.

2. Set goals and allow yourself to enjoy them when you achieve them. It is great to look to the future but really enjoy the present moment, especially when you earn the right to, through achieving goals.

3. Find satisfaction for your life from within. This idea followed on from the second point. Take pride in your achievements but do things for yourself and try not to look to others for validation. Don’t change to please others because the best things in life are feelings, so let yourself feel good about who you are and fulfilling your own path.

The final point came with a warning about social media and not letting it distract you from who you are and what is important. Matthew used the example of LeBron James and how even one of the worlds best ever basketball players has thousands of negative social media comments, suggesting he should do things differently. The reality is, no matter who you are and what you achieve, criticism will always be lurking out there somewhere. Ignore it. Be your best. Be happy with who you are.

We extend a huge thank you to Matthew for coming to our school and sharing his story and valuable advice. All of the students who attended loved the presentation and got a lot out of it. Thanks also to the Scotter family for helping to organise Matthew to come in.

Tom Wilson
Head Teacher PDHPE.

Science

National Tree Day

 Friday the 28^th of July was a big day! It was National Tree Day.

The weather was perfect for our National Tree Day events. In the morning the Sustainability Squad and the Earth and Environmental Science Class worked carefully to repurpose the old chicken coop into a composting coop and worm cafe.  At the same time our RISE boys constructed the base of the greenhouse.

In the afternoon the Sustainability Squad and our Horticulturalist Diana scouted out areas for our new tree saplings (kindly donated by Northern Beaches Council). Once we located new homes for some of our saplings, Diana showed us how to prepare the soil and plant the seedlings.

Following this the Sustainability Squad members demonstrated their leadership skills by mentoring the students from the 10X, 10S, 7X and 7S classes to plant some tree saplings. Other leaders showed their groups how to identify and remove lantana in preparation for our future planting events. 

Killarney Heights High School now has a food waste processing facility for their fruit and vegetable scraps, student can bring their fruit and vegetable scraps to be weighed and deposited in either a composting bin or the worm cafe.

A big thank you to our Horticulturalist Diana, our GA Ray, Ms Roper, Mr Dempsey, Mr Bird, Ms Kang, Mr Gardiner, Mr McGrath-Peawini, and SLSO officers Josh and John for all their support.

Thank you for the bird net that was donated, we continue to look toward our Killarney Heights High School community for support in our sustainability journey.

We still have about 20 more tree saplings to go and a Greenhouse to finalise so watch this space.

Olivia Wiyana

Wellbeing

This month on SchoolTV - Neurodiversity

Neurodiversity emphasises the natural variation in how an individual’s brain functions and how they perceive and interact with the world, leading to diverse ways of learning and communicating. While most young people are neurotypical, some exhibit variations in brain development, such as ADHD, autism or dyslexia, making them neurodivergent.

Embracing neurodiversity involves accepting, celebrating, and supporting neurodivergent children and adolescents without attempting to change or treat their differences. Using respectful language, challenging unhelpful attitudes, avoiding assumptions, and actively promoting inclusivity can help embrace neurodiversity effectively.

Acknowledging the unique ways neurodiverse young people do things and then adapting tasks and activities to ensure their full participation will encourage them to develop strategies that feel natural to them. It will help improve their mental health, wellbeing and sense of self. By recognising and nurturing their strengths, parents and caregivers can contribute to building an inclusive and compassionate society where all young people can thrive.

Learning more about neurodiversity, equips caregivers with insights into effective communication techniques, educational strategies, and parenting approaches tailored to the specific needs of their neurodivergent child. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition, and we always welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek help from a medical professional.

Here is the link to this month's edition 

Thank you From Africa

The Uniform Shop donated some old uniforms to Africa, here is a video of the students showing their appreciation.

Careers

Don’t forget to check out the latest career information in the Library and outside the Careers Room, which is updated every week.  This week I have added the FIVE high paying unskilled jobs in Australia as well as upcoming Tertiary Open Days.  There are also multiple copies of 2024 university guides in the Careers Room for students to peruse or borrow.

Tertiary Open Days

A good idea would be for students in Year 10, 11 and 12 to attend as many of the Tertiary Open Days as possible so you are able to make a more informed decision about your career pathway.  Remember, you are leaving your options open!!!

Saturday 12 August
Torrens University                       torrens.edu.au
SAE Creative Media Institute   sae.edu.au
Macquarie University                  mq.edu.au
JMC Academy                                  jmcacademy.edu.au

Saturday 19 August                      
ADFA, Canberra                              defence.gov.au

Saturday 26 August
University of Newcastle               newcastle.edu.au
University of Technology            uts.edu.au
Notre Dame University                 notredame.edu.au
University of Sydney                      sydney.edu.au
TAFE, Ultimo                                    tafensw.edu.au

Saturday 2 September
National Arts School                      nas.edu.au
University of NSW                           unsw.edu.au

Saturday 9 September
ACU, Strathfield                                acu.edu.au

Year 12
Students by this stage, should have booked an interview time to meet with me in the Careers Room to discuss their career pathway, whether that be University, TAFE, apprenticeship, traineeship or a GAP year. 

Macquarie University Presentation

Year 12 students were given the opportunity to hear first hand about the Early Entry program and Scholarships available at Macquarie University earlier this term.  It was great to hear from 2019 Killarney Heights High School ex student Maria Kurdyukova about her career pathway and gain insights into what life is like at university.  The next round of Leaders and Achievers closing date for Macquarie University is 31 August.

University pathway?
Year 12 students now have an individual UAC Guide and they would be working through the multiple career and university options identified in the guide.

A few tips?
If you’re still not sure of career pathway, go to Pages 204-206 for your Topic of Interest and Pages 208-235, Find your Course, categorised into fields of study in your UAC Guide.

How do I apply for university?
Log in with your NESA number and your UAC Pin, which was sent to you in April this year.  Pay the administration fee ($78) and select your FIVE preferences.  Your first preference should be your DREAM course, the one that you really, really, really want to do.

All of the universities have now updated their options on the UAC website. https://www.uac.edu.au/

TAFE pathway?
Check out the link - https://www.tafensw.edu.au/course-areas  Year 12 students who are interested and keen, should attend the TAFE Open Day, Ultimo on Saturday 26 August.

Year 10
All Year 10 students have selected their 2024 subjects and the parent and student interviews will be held on Wednesday 19 August from 1.00pm – 5.00pm.  If your teenager has selected a TVET subject for Year 11, they should have completed an Expression of Interest (EOI) form and returned it to Ms Higgins, Career Adviser.

In Career classes, students have been working through Resume writing, interview skills and how to dress for an interview.  Each student has been asked to upload and submit their Resume by Friday 11 August. It would be great if you could have a discussion with your teenager about their updated Resume. Resume writing, interview skills and how to dress for an interview will assist students in preparing them for their upcoming Work Experience. Year 10 Work Experience has been planned for Week 5, Term 4 beginning Monday 6 November.

If students miss classes they can access all of the information on Google Classroom.

UNSW Work Experience

Last term, I participated in a week-long UNSW Civil and Environmental Engineering work experience program with 90 other Year 10 students from all around NSW.  The week provided me with interesting demos and great hands-on experiences. It was a fun way to learn more about engineering principles, problem-solving techniques, and cooperation. We travelled everywhere from the Opera House to Warragamba Dam to see demonstrations of eco-friendly technology like hydrogen fuel cells. We also got to see surveying operations that showed how important surveying is to construction projects. The week was invaluable to me as I learnt more about the type of engineering that I want to study after Year 12. I am very thankful to the teachers at Killarney who helped me to gain a placement in this program. I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in engineering and who is not sure exactly what area of engineering they want to study as it provides practical insights and valuable lessons that will lead to an engineering pathway. (Elliott Fiore, Year 10)

Kaye Higgins
Career Adviser

Crochet Club

Crochet club started at Killarney Heights this year. It is a welcoming club open to anyone with an interest in crochet and knitting, from total beginners to those with lots of experience. We meet every Friday lunchtime in D4 and share ideas on the projects we are working on, help each other with new skills and teach beginners the first steps to get started on their crochet journey.  

We were very grateful to receive a donation of unwanted yarn from a generous parent last term. If you have balls of yarn at home that you no longer need, we would love to take them off your hands and turn them into something new.  Please leave donations at the school office or ask students to drop them in to Ms Morris in the Mathematics staffroom.  

Here are some photos of the wonderful creations from Semester 1, including our ‘Pouch for your Yondr Pouch’ challenge. I look forward to seeing what Semester 2 brings.  

Ms Morris 

Student Achievements

Charlotte Cook (yr 11) represented the school at the OAGS Interschool Equestrian Event in Cudal on the weekend of July 22-23.

In her class (Years 11-12) Charlotte competed in Showing (1x 1st, 1 x 2^nd, 2x 3rds, 2x 4ths). In Dressage (Prelim Years 9-12), she placed 4^th in two events and achieved her goal score. She also placed in 4 Sporting events.

Overall, a great weekend for the Killarney Heights High School Equestrian Team!

During the holidays Tahlia Russell (Year 10) competed in the Alpine (Grand Slalom) event at the Interschools Snowsports competition in Perisher. She came an incredible 16th out of 65. A brilliant achievement. Tahlia has given the following report on her day racing.

"During the holidays I participated in the interschools championships for skiing down at Perisher. On the day of the competition the conditions were not so great as it was really cloudy creating a white out, but other than that the snow was great as it had just snowed the night before. The competition was really tough with over 65 girls from many different schools around Northern NSW and Queensland from years 9 and 10. But overall I had lots of fun competing for the school and it was a great experience meeting new people and learning new tricks when racing." 

Skye Stuart (Year 8) was also due to compete in the snowboarding but unfortunately broke her ankle in the weeks before and had to withdraw from the competition.

Jasmine Banning and Kiera Sakaguchi attended workshop at the Sydney Dance Company as part of the 2023 NSW Public School 'workshop-based' State Dance Ensembles.  In this intensive Choreographic workshop they creating their work for their perfomances at the State Dance Festival in September.

Community News