Narrabri High School Newsletter

Need some help lightening your mental load? ?

You’re not alone. ReachOut.com Australia has fast tracked the launch of a study support hub to help you with whatever the HSC throws at you. It’s full of great tips and case studies to help you on your journey to 2020 HSC.

The partnership aims to build an even greater support network around HSC students this year, as they work towards their HSC during COVID-19.

Find more info here: https://bit.ly/3c8ubOH

Narrabri High School welcomes Alex Schwarz,  Director of Narrabri Clontarf Academy. 

"I was born and raised in Manly Beach, and attended school in Sydney where I was heavily involved with rugby, basketball and athletics. After completing my HSC, I enrolled to study Sports Management at the University of Technology, Sydney (Ku-ring-gai) and completed my final

semester on exchange at Oregon State University in the US. Upon return, I decided I wanted to further my education and improve my qualifications, so I went back to UTS and studied Law in the Juris Doctor program. During these 6 years of university, I was working at primary school in Sydney, before & after school care. I had a strong passion for working in child development and spending time with these kids and their families. 

Upon completion of my law degree I decided I wanted to go back to the US and try to work in the sports management business, primarily working with athletes. After a few months in LA, I had an offer to play rugby for a team in New York which I took, and shortly thereafter I was interviewing for a job with an Australian-founded sports marketing agency. I spent 6 years living, working and playing rugby in New York, which gave me some of the best opportunities I could not have previously imagined. I was able to travel the country and across the world through rugby. I met so many incredible people and was fortunate enough to get a run with the USA 7s team, but ultimately by the end I was unhappy with the work I was doing. 

Towards the end of 2019 I became a weekly volunteer at Ronald McDonald House in Manhattan, spending my Wednesday nights with young kids and their families, some of which came from all corners of the earth for different forms of peadiatric cancer treatment. I found the time incredibly valuable and later realized this was the catalyst that pushed me back towards my career in education and youth work. The COVID-19 pandemic hit and this was the perfect time to move home, so I packed up my bags in one week and left. During the 14-day hotel quarantine period I was put in touch with one of the Regional Managers for Clontarf who then secured me an interview with my (now) boss, Mick Riddle. I was extremely thrilled to find out I had got the job and couldn't wait to take the opportunity to come work with the Academy and school in Narrabri. I had one friend before moving here, and didn't know much about the town, but since the relocation I have loved every minute of it. Everyone has been incredibly friendly and supportive, from the staff, to the kids and their families, and everyone else in town. I look forward to working with Chris Binge in the Clontarf Academy room, in consultation with the school, help grow the program, build engagement levels with the boys and ultimately do our best to get every boy completing high school with a pathway into tertiary education or the workforce with a fully developed plan in place."

Alex Schwarz 

The Clontarf Academy is thrilled to have everyone back at school and re-engaged with their teachers face-to-face in the classroom. We are proud of our boys’ attendance in the first full week back, with 94% attendance (63/67 boys). Here is some of what we have been up to the past few weeks:

On the final day of the ‘staggered start’ to school in Week 4, the boys from Clontarf held a Sausage Sizzle for the whole school. This was a great opportunity for the Year 7 boys to learn about, and participate in ways, in which Clontarf gives back to the school and local community. It was also a great opportunity to say ‘goodbye’ to the COVID-19 restrictions and get the kids excited for full-time school the following week. 

In week 5, Clontarf resumed morning training sessions for the first time since COVID-19 regulations were implemented at school. The first training session was touch football, where the boys worked on their passing skills and footwork. We had a good mixture of all different ages from Year 7 to Year 11. After the session, the boys enjoyed some bacon & egg rolls for breakfast, whipped up on the BBQ by Chris.

We have also added boxing to the morning training regime, led by Clontarf alumni and Narrabri High’s very own Jackson Walsh. Jackson will be helping out with boxing training each Tuesday morning for the rest of term 2. We love having him around and developing his coaching skills, while the boys have an additional role model to look up to.

“National Reconciliation Week.

Reconciliation is a time where togetherness is of such importance. We all have a roll to play with building bridges, closing the gap and strengthening relationships. Understanding and acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples culture and heritage, valuing justice and equity for all.

RESPECT. TRUTH. FORGIVENESS.” ( Jackie Jones NHS)

The Department of Education has set guidelines for the safe return of students to full time schooling. To meet these guidelines, there have been some changes to how sport will be organised for the remainder of Term 2. Instead of students being able to choose a sport to participate in each Wednesday they have been split into year groups. Each year group participates in a different activity each week, via a rotation system. The activities include athletics, cricket, kick tennis, walking, dodge-ball and a fitness circuit at various venues around town.

For now, all inter-school sport is still on hold with many events being cancelled including CHS swimming, athletics & cross country. All sport knockouts have also been cancelled for 2020. However, if time permits when sport is able to resume North West are looking at running some form of gala days.

I am hoping that there is a possibility of running the school Athletics Carnival at a later stage this year as it is an event the staff and students look forward to. 

Daisy Robinson 

Sports Coordinator  

NHS Year 12 Careers Newsletter

All Year 12 students receive regular emails with Careers news relating to job, training, course and Career events. The Year 12 Newsletter summaries this information as a quick reference for those items that are most relevant for the bulk of our students. Download NHS Year 12 Careers Newsletter May, 2020 below. 

For a more comprehensive view of opportunities on offer please go to the Job Jump Newsletter below. 

Year 10, 11 and 12 TVET (TAFE) Students

Students studying with TAFE NSW are scheduled to return to face-to-face teaching over a four week period commencing Monday June 15th 2020, according to the schedule below. This schedule will also apply to those students who are not part of a face-to-face class, but attend their online classes at the TAFE campus. All classes will recommence on the same days and times that were scheduled prior to the disruption as per the following schedule.

Until their physical return to TAFE, students are advised to continue their studies at home during their regularly scheduled TAFE lessons with the materials provided by their TAFE teachers.

Year 10: Please Return Careers Workbooks

All year 10 students were provided with a Careers workbook at the beginning of the year. Originally, the workbook was to remain at the school and was only to be used in lessons. After stricter Covid restrictions came into place, however, it was necessary to distribute the workbooks to students so that they could undertake their lessons at home, augmented with online work through Google Classroom.

The workbooks are an integral part of the Careers program and are now needed urgently for classwork. Despite many requests, however, fewer than 50% of students have returned their workbook to the school. Parents are urged to encourage students to return these workbooks as a matter of urgency.

Sophie McFarland started her career in 2011 as a School-based nursing trainee with Hunter New England Health.

Sophie was inspired to pursue the traineeship after witnessing her mother and grandmother working in the health care sector during her childhood. “I was always keen to do something in that field, and I was l trying to decide between paramedics and nursing. So, as soon as the traineeship was mentioned at school, I jumped at the opportunity.”

One of the first School-Based Trainees to enter service at Narrabri District Hospital, Sophie was aware at the outset that she was competing against many other applicants. She knew that she was going to have to work hard to secure one of the limited number of positions available. At the time only a select number of hospitals were offering the program. Luckily, Narrabri District Hospital was one of them. After submitting her resume, Sophie and her mother were invited on-site to attend an interview.

As part of a brand new program, Sophie and her fellow trainees from Narrabri High School had to navigate their way through uncharted waters. It was hard going, coping with the demands of her HSC courses while working at the hospital every Wednesday. Sophie would commence work each Wednesday at 7am, work until 3:30pm, and then undertake her TAFE studies (the Certificate III Health Services Assistant course) between 4pm and 7pm. It was a gruelling schedule, but she was determined to make it work. Every Thursday she would collect work that the class had done in her absence, then devote her weekends to the task of catching up. School holidays were taken up with more on-the-job training at the hospital as she strove to meet the workplace component of the traineeship.

Sophie cannot speak highly enough of the staff at the local hospital, her TAFE teachers and the school for the support they provided over the duration of her traineeship.

On being asked about the benefits of undertaking the traineeship, Sophie felt that she had profited in a number of ways. Firstly, it enabled her to gain entry to the Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Southern Queensland based solely on the Certificate III in Health Care Assistance that she had achieved as a trainee. It also gave her re-assurance in her career choice: “I was confident of what I wanted to do. People have gone to Uni and then dropped out, but I was confident that I was going to like it because I had already had some experience in the job.”

Sophie also found that many of the things she had learned during her traineeship helped her with her studies, particularly her work placements, while at university. “Seeing procedures performed when I was a school-based trainee gave me the confidence I needed when I had to do these same procedures on work placement for my uni course.”

Since completing her traineeship Sophie has added the Bachelor of Nursing and Diploma of Midwifery to her resume. She is currently employed as a registered nurse and midwife at Narrabri District Hospital.

Her advice to those that follow: “I wasn’t great at school but I was determined to succeed, and I was passionate about nursing. Just keep working hard and you will get there. Just follow your dream.”

Each unit in all of our courses covers content on food hygiene.  

Before any class starts practical lessons involving food preparation in the kitchen, they cover units of work on safety and hygiene. The correct procedure for washing hands is taught using 'Glitterbug'. The Glitterbug lotion is invisible to the naked eye but glows under UV light providing a great learning tool for hand washing procedures, cross-contamination and thorough sanitizing practices. 

Year 11 Food Technology put their knowledge into practice when they prepared and presented Thai Chicken Curry. Meat and vegetable preparation were done separately. 

Year 11 Food Technology put their knowledge into practice when they prepared and presented Thai Chicken Curry. Meat and vegetable preparation was done separately. 

Students in Year 12 Hospitality were issued with a take home pack of ingredients to continue their practical work at home. Students are studying for their Certificate II in Hospitality and have practical assessment tasks in the next couple of weeks. Their brief included preparing and plating the food & sending a photo to the teacher.

As part of our Technology Mandatory studies this term, students in Year 7 & Year 8 watched an interview with 3D artist Jimmi Buscombe & Ms. Baldwin (one of our Technology teachers). Jimmi answered questions that students had sent him about the art that he does. We were each given a ‘Trick of the Eye’ colouring workbook that included pictures to colour in to turn into 3D art. Some of the images included sunglasses, a spider, a Rubik’s cube & wildlife. Last week in class we coloured and shaded in images from our workbook. After cutting away certain parts of the image, the pictures became 3D when photographed a certain way. (Written by 8 Technology 4)  

https://vimeo.com/395822028https://vimeo.com/395822028    Study and homework help available online, 24/7  

We know the school day may look a little different for your child right now. That’s why, along with all of the online learning modules, we’re providing around-the-clock human support with ‘Studiosity’ for all students.

Your child has 24/7 access to a huge network of expert teachers and subject specialists, online, on-demand. They can connect to an expert in minutes and ask a question one-to-one when they get stuck, or upload a draft essay or assignment for review anytime and get fast, helpful feedback on how to improve it. 

Students can access Studiosity FREE all year, thanks to Narrabri High School. Simply log in to the school’s Studiosity service via studiosity.com. Your child should have received an invite to use this service via their school email address.  

Watch this video to find out more: https://vimeo.com/395822028

Contact person Miss Anderson

Narrabri High School celebrates current and past student achievements.

When Matt Nash was asked Have you had many opportunities to perform? Which one was your favourite and why? It was no surprise that Matt mentioned Narrabri High School MADD Night. Full Story from Griffith University follow the link  https://news.griffith.edu.au/2020/05/13/opportunities-while-studying-trumpet-at-the-con/

With the cooler weather starting, school winter uniform is encouraged to be worn. This means, plain navy jumpers only. On Wednesday, students are allowed to wear plain navy school representative jumpers. Please remember appropriate black leather/suede shoes are compulsory. If your child is out of uniform please provide a note of explanation. Financial support is available for purchasing the uniform, any questions please contact the school on 6792 1633.

We are strongly committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of our students at this school. This is best achieved when we keep you informed and work in partnership with both you and your children. For asthma and anaphylaxis, it is important for students to have immediate access to their medication.

If you would like to request your child to carry their own adrenaline autoinjector or asthma reliever medication to and at school please download and complete the attached form. Once completed please return it to the school.