Tumut High School Newsletter

It is great to be back in the Principal's chair after taking some very enjoyable extended long service leave. I would like to thank Mr Brad Taylor for filling in for me over this time and highlight the impressive nature of how he has both led and managed the school during my time of absence.  My time away, amongst other things, has given me an opportunity to reflect on the many experiences I have had while at Tumut High School. There are so many positives about our school, there are so many amazing students doing amazing things and there is an incredible number of teachers who provide engaging learning environments. I have thoroughly enjoyed my leave, and look forward to continuing to play a role in educating the youth of our community.

Year 12 2019 Farewell

for Year 12 students and their parents/carers

on Thursday, 14th November 2019

at Tumut Golf Club 

from 6pm to 8pm.

More details will be advised closer to the date.

From Term 4, 2019 the Tumut High School dress will be available to purchase from Swans of Tumut, located at 50 Wynyard St, Tumut, Phone 6947 6500.

The dress costs $70 each and comes in sizes 4 – 24.

To ensure you have a dress ready to go for Term 4 please visit Swans of Tumut and place your order by Monday, 9th September 2019. No money is required with order and there will be extras of each size ordered to ensure the right fit.

Extra stock will be ordered and held in store at Swans for purchasing throughout the year, however, an order is preferred to guarantee correct sizing and availability.

We are a Positive Behaviour for Learning school and our values are Respect, Responsibility and Safety.

Students who demonstrate these values during lessons are rewarded with an extended recess. This term we have focused on Respect with regular mini-lessons to reinforce these values. 

- Be polite. Being polite will help gain employment, add to family harmony and assist to develop personal relationships. We encourage this behaviour in using manners and listening to others who are speaking at all times and in all situations.

Photo 1 - Our Year 7 students showed respect being polite in the office.

– Follow instructions. Students who follow instructions will be active learners and be able to maintain employment outside of school. 

Photo 2 - Our Year 12 students followed instructions during class under the guidance of Miss Fowler.

- Be tolerant. Students who are accepting of differences and understand differences enrich our lives, will be creating social harmony and a sense of belonging. Our students demonstrate this behaviour by including others in teams, classroom activities and friendship groups. 

Photo 3 - Our Year 9 students showed tolerance with their team members as they shared ideas during their Photography lesson.

Year 7 student Brooke Davies represented THS at the Riverina Combined Schools Band Camp last month. Brooke plays clarinet in the Tumut Town Band and this was her second year at Riverina Band Camp. She joined with other talented young musicians from across the Riverina, rehearsing for the band tour held in the final two days. The tour took place in the Wagga area. Brooke made lots of new friends from Young, West Wyalong and Hillston. She is very keen for the 2020 band camp!

Earlier this term the Tumut High School Chess team, consisting of Atticus Blenkins, Chad Smuts, Paddy Thompson and Tay Crane, travelled to Canberra Grammar to compete in a chess tournament consisting of secondary school chess teams. Multiple schools from the surrounding area competed with a total of 81 players. When we arrived we were all quite nervous but as the tournament progressed we felt a bit more confident.

The competition was played Swiss style and with chess clocks meaning seven matches are played. A win is worth a point, a draw is half a point and a loss is zero points. The matches were balanced by making it so that if you lost you would face easier opponents but if you won you would face more difficult opponents.

The team played well, scoring a total of 15 points, Atticus getting 4 points, Chad getting 4 points, Paddy getting 4 points and Tay getting 3 points. The team ranked high enough to go to the finals which will be held later on in the term.

We’d like to thank Mr Dierkx for providing us the opportunity to compete in the chess tournament and also for providing transport to Canberra.  We had a lot of fun!

 By Chad Smuts (Year 8)

Our Year 7 girls Tahlia Deacon and Melodie King-Neville performed strongly and had lots of fun competing in the ACT Girls Chess tournament this term. They have gained some valuable experience ready for the next opportunity to compete. 

Any students interested in learning or playing chess are always welcome to visit Room 8 with fellow chess players and Mr Dierkx to enjoy the game at lunchtime.

Year 9 Agriculture students enjoyed eating tasty lamb in Agriculture with a Farm to Plate theme. This is possible due to a partnership with Gundagai Meat Processors. The lambs were grown at the Agriculture farm and sent to GMP for processing and came back to the school for eating. GMP also have provided detailed reports on the quality of the carcases. Students can use this information to make informed decisions for future lamb raising.

The students enjoyed eating the leg of lamb and look forward to another Farm to Plate day later in the year. Thanks to Michelle Henry from GMP and Ron Elliot (THS Ag Assistant)  for help with cooking.

Last term, THS students Daisy James (Year 10), Annika Casey & Ruby McSweeney (Year 8) attended the Riverina Choral Camp, held at the Borambola Sport & Rec Centre. Due to their hard work and passion for singing, all three students have been invited to be members of the State Choir. In addition, Daisy and Annika will join the Schools Spectacular Mass Choir, which will perform in Sydney at Olympic Park, during Term 4. 

Congratulations girls.

Congratulations to our Year 7/8 debating team who have defeated Kooringal High arguing the affirmative for "Social media should be banned for people under 18".

Great work from Noah Parker, Brooke Davies, Jemma Wickman and Atticus Blenkins.

That's 3 from 3 for this team.

Congratulations to our Year 9/10 debating team who have advanced to the next semi-final in the Premier's Debating Challenge. They defeated Temora High School debating for the affirmative "That we should study more films in English classes".

Well done to Daniel Castle, Eddie Dodds, Megan Castle and Abbey Taylor.

That's 4 from 4 with one more semi-final to go to qualify for State Finals.

Thank you to Mr V for organising and coaching our teams. 

Get ahead, join the library!

Your local, public library has all the resources you need to smash your school work this year! Books, newspapers, magazines and DVDs are all free to borrow, and the library staff can help you find just what you need for your assignments, or for fun. Readers are learners! You don’t even need to come in to the library to find great information – check out the website at rrl.nsw.gov.au/info-online/ for great, reliable information.  Joining the library is FREE, and every member of the family can have their own library card. You can even get started online – just click on ‘Join the Library’ at rrl.nsw.gov.au. Everyone who joins the library during September, or refers a friend if they are themselves already a member, goes into the draw to win a voucher for a local café!

Ray was a student at Tumut High School from Year 7 in 1990 to Year 12 in 1995 where he was School Captain. His favourite subject was Agriculture with Mr Tony Butler. Ray commented on his likeness for Mr Butler was for being so down to earth who spoke with experience and relevance to our own area.

Ray has so many fond memories of Tumut High including being Captain of the Rugby side on many occasions and winning one of the first 10 a side competitions at Mt Austin being a great memory.

Ray also appreciated the opportunities at Tumut High School to be involved with the Student Representative Council. He recalls being on the State Student Council for many years being one of the first students to be permitted to consult with the Ministers in Parliament. Ray has continued this path of representation with the invitation to be a Key Note Guest Speaker at the Rural/Regional Ray White Group Conference this year.

Ray now owns and operates a franchise of the Ray White Group and is a highly successful businessman receiving many awards for selling real estate over the past years including achieving the highest accolade known as the Ray White Chairman' Elite group with less than 40 people achieving this out of 12,500 sales people.

Ray's advice for Tumut High School students is to set goals and think about how the impacts of your decisions made today will have on your life in the future. Ray says "Choose to make the right choice in life".

Thank you to Ray for sharing his story with our school community.

Tumut Swimming Club will be holding an information session for the 2019-2020 season on Thursday, 19th September at Club Tumut between 4pm and 6pm.  Parents/carers of all renewing members need to come along to collect the handbook and details for registration. New members are welcome and parents/carers are encouraged to attend this information session to express their interest in joining. For any registration enquiries please contact Registrar Le Wickman on 0400 164 700.