17 November 2022

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Address

Principal’s Message

Kaya

Time is flying by here at Newton Moore SHS School, with only five weeks to go until the end of another school year. It has been a busy couple of weeks for students and staff with many assessments being carried out to help finalise the end of year student reports.

This year, we will again be sending reports out to parents via email Connect except Year 12 students who get reports in their presentation night package. If you do not have access to internet services and need a paper copy, please contact the front office. To this end, it is very important that students in Year 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7 stay focused, with a strong impetus on attendance and application.

This year’s “Presentation evening” is on the 17th November at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to farewell the 2022 graduates. This event is a highlight of our school year, and this year our indigenous dance group Koondam Dance will be performing on stage. We will, of course, be recognising each and every Year 12 student. It is significant and important that all students finish Year 12 as data suggests that these students are more likely to have more options with their future life directions.

My self, Mrs Parks and two students have been lucky enough to be invited to attend a special function at the National Science Fair located in the John Monash Science School, which is Victoria’s first specialist secondary school. This school focuses on Science, Mathematics and the Technologies. The students attending will be involved in some cutting-edge scientific activities with other students from across the nation. John Monash school is located in the grounds of Monash University and works in partnership with various faculties within the University.

We have been working tirelessly to coordinate an “On Country Program” for the Bunbury South Network with the aim of developing a Reconciliation Action Plan for all schools within this network. We have a group of Elders who will be meeting us “On Country” to share their knowledge about Aboriginal history and to tell us about the many local significant sites.

We were also lucky enough to have an Elders’ group have one of their meetings at our school recently and we were able to get their ideas about what they wanted us to do as a school to support their children’s education. I am proud to say that on our first School Development Day in 2023, all of our staff will attend an “On Country” event.

My thanks to the Deputy Principals, Heads of Learning Areas and staff for their hard work in planning for 2023. Thanks to Mrs Nightingale and Mrs Martyn, as we now have our 2023 timetable. We have also planned the school Orientation Day, Flying Start Program, class lists and staffing, all of which is being coordinated by Mrs Seghini and Mrs Dyson in this very busy term. All of our school staff have been working very hard on planning and curriculum development to ensure we are ready to return in 2023 for another fantastic year.

Finally, I’d like to thank the Newton Moore SHS community for the way you continually engage in the school. I would also like to thank the School Board, the canteen staff and volunteers, and the P&C for their ongoing support of our school.

Borda/ Goodbye

Susan Kerr M.Ed.Admin, B.Ed,Dip.Teach
PRINCIPAL
Newton Moore SHS

From the Finance Team

2023 Resource List for Years 7-12 Now Available

Next year’s booklists have been published and are available to parents in the attachments. The online ordering cut-off date for FREE home delivery will be Thursday 15th December 2022, for delivery during the week of 20th January 2023. Orders can also be dropped off at the school office and we will forward them to our preferred supplier, Campion Education, on your behalf, but they must be prepaid. Hard copies of the booklists can also be obtained from the school office. Campion also have retail stores in Malaga for families who regularly travel to the metro area.

2023 Secondary Assistance Scheme and Abstudy Supplement Allowance

The Secondary Assistance Scheme (SAS) is to assist low-income families with secondary schooling costs for students in Years 7 to 12. It is made up of two allowances:

• $235 Education Program Allowance (EPA) paid directly to the school
• $115 Clothing Allowance (CLA) paid to the applicant or the school.

The $79 Abstudy Supplement is to complement the $156 Centrelink ABSTUDY allowance and is paid to the school to support the student’s contributions and charges.

The forms attached provide more information, and parents/guardians can complete these forms now and return to the Accounts Office to ensure you do not miss out on applying for this financial assistance for the 2023 school year.

Contributions and Charges

Thank you to all of our parents and caregivers who have paid their contributions and charges in full. We really appreciate your commitment to our school.

The ‘charges’ component of your child’s C&C’s are compulsory and must be paid in full to ensure the resources that are required to meet the outcomes for that subject are available to your child in their education program. The Department of Education does not provide funding for this purpose and so the school then has to reallocate funds from other priorities to cover any charges that remain unpaid by parents and caregivers.

Contributions, although voluntary, do make a huge difference to the school’s ability to deliver the many programs at Newton Moore that benefit your child. The school greatly appreciates those parents and caregivers who support the school by paying their voluntary costs.

Our school offers many low-cost subject options, in every learning area, that parents can select if they do not wish to pay the compulsory charges. Your child will still benefit from a good range of subjects and educational outcomes.

The 2023 Contributions & Charges book will be available to parents on the school website, on Connect and in the next newsletter, once approved by the school Board, prior to 1 December, 2022.

MASH, Science Horizons and Science Engineering Specialist Programs

Those students in the specialist programs, MASH, Science Horizons and Science Engineering, who still have unpaid compulsory charges for these programs may not be able to continue in them in 2023 unless payment is made. These charges are now overdue. Please contact the Accounts Office on 9722 2419 or newtonmoore.shs.accounts@education.wa.edu.au if you need to check whether you have paid or need the amount due. Payment can be made to the school bank account via BPay or bank transfer or by phoning the Accounts office to pay by credit card.

Payment Plans

Newton Moore is happy to accept instalment payments for C&C’s. Parents and caregivers decide the amount and frequency of payments to suit their household budget. Please contact the Accounts Office if you would like to look into this payment option. We also accept Centrepay payments.

Lower School Deputy Principals’ Update

Bullying

All Year 7 and 8 students have recently participated in a lesson on bullying within Health classes, appreciating what bullying is and how to best respond. Students were reminded of the school process to report all issues of bullying or student conflict to Student Services and to always involve an adult in the successful mediation of conflict. If your student comes home indicating an issue has taken place at school, please call the school and request to speak with the Wellbeing Coordinator and/or Student Services.

Year 9 OLNA

Well done to all the Year 9 students who recently sat their first OLNA assessment. Results will be provided during term 1, 2023. Current Year 9 students will not get another chance to sit OLNA until Round 2 (September) 2023. Round 1 2023 is set aside for Year 11 and 12s only.

Semester 2 Reports

Students will be completing their final assessments for 2022 in the coming weeks as teachers commence writing of reports and finalising their students’ grades. I encourage all students to meet the deadlines for upcoming assignments and gain feedback as to where they are academically sitting prior to their final tests. Should any parent wish to enquire regarding their student’s progress, please email teachers via Connect or call the school on (08) 9722 2400.

Semester 2 reports for Years 7-10 will be emailed home on Wednesday 14th December 2022.

Transition Day 2022

All students enrolled in NMSHS for Year 7 2023 will be attending the Year 6 Transition Day on Tuesday 6th December. A morning assembly will take place and parents are encouraged to drop their students off in the grassed area near Student Services on Hotchin Street. Students will then do a tour of the school and commence a fun secondary school timetable for the day. Please see attached flyer for further information.

Attendance

Admin Report

Student Services Update

Career Practitioner

Science Industry Visit to RCR Mining Technologies

Students who registered their interest to learn more about RCR Mining Technologies at the STEM Fair earlier this year, were invited on an industry visit! Ms Brookes’ Neptune Level 4 Big Sub team and Mr Murcott’s Nova team were also invited.

Ms Brookes visited RCR Mining Technologies’ Picton East branch, along with 10 students from Years 8, 9 and 10. The morning involved learning of the company’s history and visiting their various work locations, including:

Students were informed of apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities within the company.

A great time was had by all.

School Nurse

1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of developing hearing loss due to the unsafe use of personal audio devices and exposure to damaging levels of sound in noisy entertainment venues.

Under the theme “Make Listening Safe”, WHO draws attention to the rising problem of noise-induced hearing loss due to recreational exposure to loud sounds.

Learning Areas

Visual Art

Zonta – Expect Respect Poster Competition.

Congratulations to the following students who were finalists in the Zonta Choose Respect, Expect Respect Poster Competition.

• Willam Goode, Year 9
• Alexander Hunt, Year 8
• Elouise Pearce, Year 10
• Ruby Penny, Year 10
• Issabelle Riley, Year 9

Four non-Zonta judges selected the winners and they were impressed with the messages in the students' artwork. It was quite a difficult task to choose the first and second prize winners and highly commended in each category.

Newton Moore and Janice Myers (Art Teacher) are super proud of their efforts and awards.

HPE

Lightning Carnival

Technologies

Year 10 Home Economics students have been working on cafe style foods this semester from breakfast through to deserts, and they recently tried their hand at making souffles. The souffles turned out perfectly and looked fabulous. The students then tried their hand at plating them up as they would in a cafe/ restaurant, with a raspberry sauce and dusting of icing sugar.

Aboriginal Education

Clontarf

Week 4 was a busy week at the Clontarf Academy with several events and activities. We started the week off taking our Year 10 cohort to Coates Hire Bunbury, where the boys got to see firsthand what happens and the different jobs they offer. It was a great tour, and the boys were really engaged. A few of the boys even started applying for work experience and looking into traineeship opportunities.

On Friday, we took five of our Year 8 students to participate in the 2022 Wadjemup Cup. We arrived on Rottnest Island at lunch time, where we met up with all the other Clontarf Academies and participated in a cultural/history tour of the island. On Saturday, we joined up with three other academies and competed in the Wadjemup Cup Football Carnival. Though the results didn’t go our way, the boys tried their hardest and kept fighting right through to the final game. They can all hold their heads high with the way they played and handled themselves over the weekend.

News from Parent Bodies

School Board

Our school Board promotes the school in the community. It also takes part in establishing and reviewing the school's objectives, priorities and general policy directions, and in evaluating the school's performance in achieving these.

The Board has distinct functions provided under the legislation. We are very lucky to have parents, staff and community members who are involved in school decision making and in giving advice through their Board.

On behalf of the school community, I want to thank the members of the school Board, and in particular, the Board chair, Andrew Templeman.

Community Notices