Tumut High School Newsletter

By Don Dixon, Principal

Friday, 11th September was a great sunny day for students to be sharing time with teachers and asking RUOK? It was great to see a lot of yellow on the oval.

We have lots of student happy snaps from the RUOK? Day activities on our website.

https://tumut-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/gallery/ruok-day-11th-september-2020.html

Music students entertained the crowds at our RUOK? Day activities and created a relaxing atmosphere with live music in the background. The weather was beautiful and the Batyr organising committee did a fantastic job.

Students were engaged in a PowerPoint presentation prepared by our Batyr Student Chapter crew and is displayed below. 

Elevate Education recently visited our school and spoke with our Year 11 and Year 12 students about effective study skills. Staff also participated in follow up sessions from Elevate Education to reinforce what the students learnt during the session.

All involved agreed it was a valuable presentation and most worthwhile.

Elevate Education also offer free advice for parents and carers on how to support students during study. 

Visit their website for more information. https://au.elevateeducation.com/

- Last day of Term 3 is Friday, 25th September 2020.

- First day of Term 4 is Monday, 12th October 2020.

- Parent Teacher Interviews are Tuesday, 20th October 2020.

(See details below for booking details)

Semester 2 Parent Teacher interviews will be held on Tuesday, 20th October over the phone and bookings are now open through Sentral Parent Portal - link to Sentral Parent Portal on our website

https://tumut-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/student-and-parent-portal.html

Teachers unavailable for interviews are Mrs Taylor, Mrs Pearce, Mr Stewart and Mr Taylor. Please contact the school if you wish to speak with any of these teachers.

Please note Miss Coleman is available on both Tuesday and Wednesday (21st October) 4:00 to 5:00pm.

Please ensure your current phone number is held by the school and be aware the teacher may call parents from a private number.

Our canteen has introduced online ordering through My School Connect. 

To register and download the app follow link https://myschoolconnect.com.au/

Over 120 families have registered for this service and find it so easy to use. Students can collect their ordered lunch a lot quicker rather than waiting in line to purchase on the spot.

Features include quick and easy sign up, option for payments, order for more than one child and order for more than one day.

Our school Canteen has donated $3000 to the THS P&C who in turn have donated the funds to Tumut High School to go towards a new projector and screen in the MPC.

The P&C were successful in a UNICEF grant of $3000 and this too was donated to the school for the MPC project.

Pictured are Principal Mr Dixon, Canteen Manager Mrs Pendergast, Canteen Assistant Mrs Wickman and THS P&C representative Mrs Dodds at the presentation of $6000 to the school.

Our P&C is in need of new members to keep the committee going.

The P&C manage the school canteen and without a P&C committee we will not be able to have our canteen in 2021. The canteen is self-sufficient but requires the P&C to govern the operations.

Details for a P&C gathering in Term 4 will be advised in October and we encourage all parents and carers to consider being a part of the P&C to ensure our canteen can continue to operate next year. 

The committee meet only once a term and there is no requirement for any fundraising. 

Meetings are casual and a great place to meet other parents, share ideas and find out about the education happening at Tumut High.

For any questions regarding Tumut High School P&C and/or the Tumut High School Canteen please contact the school and ask for Mrs Kay Dodds - THS P&C Canteen Convenor.

As warmer weather approaches please remember the school uniform we expect all students to be in next term​.

Being in school uniform is considered part of our PBL values. Safety - follow procedures and Responsibility - Be prepared.

Black shorts are not school uniform and blue shorts with reference to sporting clubs are also not part of the Tumut High School uniform.

Students may be required to change into correct uniform from the front office if they are not wearing correct uniform.

Shoes should be upper leather for safety reasons and black in colour with no markings.

Our Uniform Procedure can be viewed on our website;

https://tumut-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/policies.html

To ensure your app is up to date please visit 

https://skoolbaghelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015536632-How-to-update-to-the-new-SkoolBag-App 

To ensure you are receiving notices specific to your child's school year please update your year group. To do this open up Skoolbag App and click on our school logo icon at top of the page. Then click on GROUPS. Click on Add/remove groups to update your year groups. 

Introducing the NSW Department of Education School Updates app. ??

Opt-in to receive notifications when public schools have temporarily ceased operations due to adverse weather, bushfires or other emergencies.

Find out more and download the app now: https://bit.ly/2PD2jd3

*Posted by the NSW Department of Education*

Great to have students completing book requests for our Resource Centre.

Details for nominating books are on the counter.

Book Week 2020 - Curious Creatures, Wild Minds match up guessing activity, organised by Librarian Mrs Stiles, is proving lots of fun for our students and not as easy as you may think to know which staff member or student owns or loves which creature.

Week 1 Winner was Emily Mudie in Year 11.

Week 2 Winner was Abigail Morgan in Year 7.

Week 3 Winner was Chloe Manning and Heidi Schorn in Year 10.

All the winners are happy to be sharing their chocolate prizes!

Mrs Stroud would like to remind students in Years 10 to 12 to regularly check their emails for information including details on future study and employment paths.

For loads more careers information visit Tumut High School Careers Facebook page;

Winners are grinners! 3 from 3!

Congratulations to our Year 7/8 debating team of Brooke Davies, Jemma Wickman, Marianna Smith and Allie Piper who won their Round 1 debate against Corowa High School. They were the negative for "That we should pay teachers a bonus when their students' test results improve". Coach Mr V was very impressed with their first effort stating students carried themselves well, managing to speak for the allocated 4-6 minute time.

Round 3 was against Coolamon B "That Year 7 and 8 students should learn self defence at school". We were the negative team. Coach Mr V said "We had a clear victory and according to the adjudicator debating at a level higher than Year 7 and 8, with our knowledge of the status quo and 3rd speaker refutation. A very well deserved victory - girls worked well together and came out on top." 

The team is eagerly awaiting details of their progression in the competition for Term 4.

Our Year 9/10 debating team of Megan, Eddie, Daniel & Abbey have also tasted victory winning 2 from 2.

Round 1 was against Temora High School. The topic was "That classes at school should be organised by ability instead of age". Our team were the affirmative and whilst the topic leaned towards a loss for our team, they argued well to score victory.

Our senior debating team have had 2 debates online against Braidwood Central School on the topic "That HSC Assessments should consist solely of examinations". The team of Harry Bottero, Keely Wickman (Yr 10), Andy Dodds and Jeane Van Der Merwe spoke well making the required 8 minutes each. They lost this round but secured a second debate.

Next was against Denison College, Bathurst. Keely, Madison Hibbert, Harry and Andy worked hard at collaborating their arguments to debate 'That Olympic athletes should be able to compete as individuals rather than representing a nation.' We were the affirmative and the result was a close one but unfortunately our team were not victorious.

Help THS Year 12 create a mentally healthier world.

Year 12 of Tumut High School are standing up to join Team Black Dog to turn ground breaking research into life saving action. This cause is very close to their hearts and as a year group they want to make a difference.

Mental illness affects 1 in 5 Australians every year, with the most common being depression and anxiety. Mental illness doesn’t discriminate. It affects people from all walks of life — individuals, families, workplaces and communities.

Our students are unable to collect money from the community due to COVID-19 restrictions so please help them by donating via the link below;

https://www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundr.../year12tumuthigh2020

Please familiarise yourself with this invaluable website which offers help for all Australians to have safer, more positive experiences online.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/