WYNDHAM COLLEGE A partner within the Nirimba Collegiate Group of Schools and the Nirimba Education Precinct

WYNDHAM WHISPERS
Nirimba Education Precinct, Eastern Road, Quakers Hill Phone: 9208 7100 Fax: 9208 7199 Website: www.wyndhamcol-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

DECEmber 2013
Principal Karen Smith Deputy Principals David Macleod-Jones & Robert Bredin Collegiate Deputy Principal Joe Camilleri

December December 17 December 17 December 18 December 20

Wet N Wild Uniform Shop open 6pm-8pm Last day Term 4- Students Last day Term 4 Staff

January January 23 January 28 January 29 January 30 January 30

Uniform Shop open 10am -1pm Staff Development Day Yr 11 Commence Yr 12 Return Uniform Shop open 12.30pm 1.30pm

FROM THE COLLEGE PRINCIPAL This year I decided to organise a Wyndham Whispers for December. There has been so many outstanding achievements and events that have occurred since the last newsletter. I can proudly report that 6 of our students have been selected for Art Express. They are Divya Kerai, Kwame Odoom, Jessica Hodge, Nadia Krygsman, Clare Molnar and Wail Rudwan. This is an outstanding achievement. We are the only DEC school to have 6 students selected. Congratulations to these students and our fabulous Visual Arts Faculty. Another outstanding success has been Jordan Walcott and Angel Adams who both were finalists in the Moran Foundation Awards competition. Ethan Smart also recently won the short film competition with his film Bring to Light at the Robin Anderson Film Awards. Jacob Hansford and Damian Scott were awarded a CHS Blue (NSW Combined High Schools Sports Award) for swimming and trampoline sports. This is one of the highest accolades for sports that can be awarded to high school students in NSW. Celebration Assembly for Class of 2013 change of date NOW 11 February 2014.

FRIENDS OF WYNDHAM COLLEGE (P & C)

All Parents are invited to attend

Tuesday 18 February 2014 7PM Welcome BBQ (Tour of College) Administration Block

Wyndham College

December 2013

We recently welcomed 450 year 10 (Year 11 2014) students to Wyndham. It was great to see so many parents at the inaugural orientation evening for the families of these young people. A reminder to our parents/caregivers that we are a uniform school school shirt has a school logo. To assist parents in ensuring they can be ready for 2014 the uniform shop will be open at the following times: Thursday Tuesday Thursday Tuesday Thursday 12 December 2013 17 December 2013 23 January 2014 28 January 2014 30 January 2014 12.30 1.30pm 6 8pm (last day for 2013) 10am 1pm (school holidays) 5-6pm (School Development Day) 12.30 1.30pm

New Uniform Shop Hours the uniform shop is moving to a new day (Mondays) in 2014. From Monday 3 February the hours will be 12.30 1.30pm. Approximately 300 students recently attended the Class of 2013 Formal at Rosehill Racecourse. The evening was a great success and many thanks to Kasia for organising. A reminder to the Class of 2013, the informal barbecue is on Wednesday 18 December. We hope to see as many Year 12 as possible. We recently celebrated the achievements of our current Year 11 at the annual presentation day. I was pleased to see so many outstanding results and also the many parents/caregivers who took time out of their busy schedules to help celebrate with us. We are fast coming to the end of the year and I hope the class of 2014 has started organising their assessment schedules/major works for next year. Staffing 2014 Margaret Farrey (English Faculty) will retire early in 2014. She will be replaced by Tim McIntyre. Lana Immonen (English Faculty) resigned this year and she will be replaced by Deborah Franco. Jeff Catt, Head Teacher HSIE will be on long service leave. Tine Papas will be relieving Head Teacher for most of 2014. We wish Margaret and Jeff all the best for 2014, and we warmly welcome Tim and Deborah. Some important dates to remember for 2014: Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 28 January 28 January 29 January 30 January Office open Staff return School Development Day Year 11 return Year 12 return

I have attached our new bell times for 2014 please remember we start at 8am each day. I would like to publicly thank and acknowledge the outstanding staff here at Wyndham. They are very committed and devoted to their students and teaching. As a community we are extremely fortunate to have such great staff. I wish everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas. I look forward to working together with everyone again in 2014. Karen Smith College Principal _______________________________________________________________________________ 2

Wyndham College FROM THE YEAR 11 DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

December 2013

Since I arrived at Wyndham College just 118 days ago, I have made a number of interesting observations. I immediately noticed many aspects of this adult learning environment that I had been hearing about for some time. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly quiet it was. I remember one lunchtime thinking that everyone had gone home such was the incredible silence. Straight away I got a sense of the more studious environment into which I had arrived. Secondly, I noticed many students I had known in another place that I feared would never grow up, and some of whom I had actually suspended. Miraculously, somewhere along the line they HAD actually matured. And I was overcome with jealousy. How had these incredible Wyndham teachers achieved in 3 terms what I had FAILED to achieve in 4 long years? Thirdly, I noticed signs of academic success in many students who in Year 10 demonstrated NO evidence of academic maturity at all. Fourthly, in last weeks online Engagement Review, staff identified students level of engagement in class. (Engaged meaning on task not the step before marriage.) I was shocked (and in some pain due to writers cramp) when I signed over 170 Well Done letters to students 50% of this Year group! Just 1% of students received letters indicating that I was concerned about their disengagement. Looking at the remaining 49%, the majority had more teachers happy with their level of engagement than unhappy. What does engagement look like in the classroom? 1. Engaged students are ON TIME to class. I can imagine how painful an 8 am start is for teenagers but engaged students manage it. 2. Engaged students LISTEN in class because they know thats where understanding begins. 3. Engaged students ASK QUESTIONS to fill gaps in their knowledge and remove uncertainty. 4. Engaged students submit assessment tasks ON TIME. 5. Engaged students WILL get good results. They WILL have more career and course choices. They WILL have a brighter future. In my wanderings around the school, I am continually impressed with the engaging lessons that my staff are delivering and the student engagement that results. I recently asked students some crucial questions: Is it worth investing just one year of effort and engagement to get 40 years in better jobs? When the annual surveys of job satisfaction are released, do you want to be in the 2/3 who dont like their job or, like me, in the 1/3 who love their job? I am famous for stealing quotes, as anyone who visits my office knows, so I will finish with some quotes from some of my favourite dead people: John F Kennedy: Once you say youre going to settle for second best, thats what happens to you in life. Benjamin Franklin: By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail. Yoda: Do, or do not. There is no try. Congratulations to all of todays award recipients who have lived by those three quotes perhaps without realising it. Congratulations to all of those students who, while not receiving an award today, ARE continuing to deliver their personal best in Wyndham Colleges adult learning environment. And for the rest of you, make the decision today not to settle for second best.

Robert Bredin Deputy Principal _______________________________________________________________________________ 3

Wyndham College FROM THE COLLEGIATE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Orientation Days at Wyndham College

December 2013

It was my privilege to witness two wonderful days of Orientation at Wyndham College on the eighteenth and nineteenth of November this year with well over 400 students, Collegiate and non Collegiate strong student body attending. This large contingency of students for the Year 11 2014 were cordially welcomed to the Wyndham site. A few inviting senior executive staff speeches, including the Principal Karen Smith, next years Year 11 Deputy David Macleod-Jones, the college deputy and their year advisors, were made. Central to these presentations included the essential commitment to learning in an adult senior environment. The students were grouped into connect groups for 2014. Motivating workshops were organised for all these young adults. The program also managed to have everyone present to be photographed in readiness for identification while on site for 2014. All students were advised to attend in current school uniform on the first day and sports uniform the second day. This physical gesture of school of origin, clearly indicated the multiplicity of schools enrolling at Wyndham College to the cohort. The rain challenged proceedings but the program successfully achieved its intended outcomes. Congratulations to all staff who supervised and to those who presented sessions and led various groups in the program. Well done one and all for this great program. Seven Hills High School Showcase 2013. What a night! On Wednesday the 27th November 2013, Seven Hills High School put on a spectacular showcase evening of talent at its school. From dancers, to singers, actors, instrumentalists and much more the students of the school revealed their heart and souls. Lets not forget the back stage crew who kept the flow of acts smooth and professional and delivered incredible lighting and sound. May I also congratulate the staff. Their energy, resilience and dedication in making this Showcase a success was remarkable. When the Acting Principal David Erwin was acknowledging staff for their individual contribution to the show it was quite obvious from the students wild cheers that they too appreciated the work of these teachers. One must always remember that without the hard work and dedication of these teachers, which is beyond the call of duty, these productions would not take place. May I thank the many parents who attended the evening. Their presence demonstrated their support for the energy and contributions their children are making to the culture of the school. Well done!!

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Wyndham College

December 2013

Presentation days and nights The Nirimba Collegiate of schools will all be hosting events to celebrate, acknowledge and appreciate the successful achievements of many of the students in this precinct. Through academic, creative and performing arts and sport many students have performed admirably to achieve the accolades they deserve. Our job is to recognise these wonderful achievements by attending these days/evenings to enjoy these wonderful educational moments in our kids lives. To those who may be receiving higher accolades and special awards, including leadership and community services, congratulations!! May I wish you all a safe, reenergising and Holy Christmas. See you all in 2014 for another hectic but productive educational year. Please dont hesitate to give me a call at Wyndham College if you have an educational issue/s youd like to resolve or investigate. Yours in Education, Mr Joe Camilleri - Collegiate Deputy Principal.

CRAVE Excursion On the 25th of November four members of the Christian group Crave gave up their Monday afternoon after school to work at the Samaritans Purse warehouse. Students and accompanying staff, Jenine Varady-Szabo and Margaret Farrey were put to work placing the shoe boxes filled with goodies onto age and gender appropriate palettes. We were then told stories by the manager Craig about the miracles and impact these simple shoe boxes have had in the past. They deliver them all over the world to small villages and those living in poverty over several months and we all wanted to actually go and deliver them in person, but of course that was not possible. We were so touched by the stories that we had goose bumps and tears in our eyes. It was such a wonderful experience we all wanted to go again on our own and help out before the last boxes were put on the ship on the 14th of December. Aaron, Naomi, Sally and Mila

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Wyndham College

December 2013

Celebrating Student Achievements

Dylan Johnstone has been named Outstanding School Based Trainee and 2013 Student of the Year.

DANCE
Each year the NSW Department of Education and Communities presents Callback, a selection of outstanding performances and projects from HSC Dance students This year two of our students have been nominated for possible inclusion in Callback. Nadia Krygsman for Core Composition and Kristin Martin for Major Study Performance.

The Moran Art Prizes

PHOTOGRAPHY

The Moran Prizes recognise excellence in Australian portrait painting and Photography. The following students were Finalists in the Photographic Competition: Jordan Walcott Angel Adams _______________________________________________________________________________ 6

Wyndham College

December 2013

ArtExpress is an exhibition featuring a selection of outstanding student artworks developed for the artmaking component of the HSC examination in Visual Arts. From nearly 10,000 students only 220 achieve selection, Wyndham has the most of any school in NSW! The following students have been selected for ARTEXPRESS 2014 in shows across NSW. Divya Kerai, Kwame Odoom, Jessica Hodge, Nadia Krygsman, Clare Molnar, Wail Rudwan

VISUAL ARTS

SCIENCE
Thanks to Science staff for their dedication and hard work and for making this year a success. Congratulations to students who took part in the Royal Australian National Chemistry Quiz. Seven students from Year 11 and four students from Year 12 took part in this quiz. The results obtained were very encouraging. Shubhkaran Singh and Sam El-Kamand from Year 11 attained distinction in the competition whereas Lucas Crouse attained a credit. FromYear 12 Pei Nie Long and Pouya Zadbar Toroghi attained credit in the quiz. Students doing Biology, Chemistry and Physics attended one day practical skills program at UWS College. This is a new venture towards working collaborative with UWS College. This program leads to building educational partnership between Wyndham College and UWS College. Students found this experience worthwhile and also it is a smart way of attaining skills in science. From December 9th to 10th ten students will be attending an Engineering Frontiers Program at UWS Kingswood Campus. This workshop will provide opportunity to the students to identify career path in science. Congratulations to Jesse Dowland and Lucas Crouse for receiving the Victor Chang Award. Chandrika Prasad Head Teacher Science

Congratulations to Iliesa Lewadromodromo who has been selected to play for the North Sydney Bears Rugby League SG Ball Team.

SPORT
Jacob Hansford and Damian Scott were awarded a CHS Blue (NSW Combined High Schools Sports Award) for swimming and trampoline sports. This is the most prestigious award an athlete can achieve in NSW. Only two awards per sport are presented each year. Damian also received a Sydney West Regional Sporting Blue.

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Wyndham College Sports Stars of the Year Year 11 Rachael Carrick, Zoe Savage, Todd Owen and Hayden Landels Year 12 Victoria Firth and Damian Scott

December 2013

SPORTS STARS OF THE YEAR

LEARN TO CODE LIKE A NINJA

The University of Sydney hosted a programming challenge for secondary school students that ran for five weeks, from 5th August 2013 to 8th September 2013. The challenge teaches students to code in Python 3.3. Python is an easy to learn scripting language used for many different purposes such as web applications and scientific research. Companies like Google and Facebook use Python in their infrastructure and web services. Three students from Wyndham College Brandon Ong, Ashneil Roy and Shubhkaran Singh participated in the challenge. The course was done online and over the five weeks students were given notes containing the information that they needed to complete for each weeks programming challenges. The marks for the challenge submissions contributed towards a score on the leader board. Brandon is one of forty five students who achieved a perfect score and was ranked equal first. All three students said that it was a great learning experience and would recommend other students taking up the challenge next year. There is no prerequisite for the course and all support material is provided. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates have all said that students should learn how to code. Its a skill that not only teaches you how to work with computers, but also teaches you how to think about solving problems with systems.

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Wyndham College

December 2013

HSC THANKYOU

I would like to thank the following students for working as Readers and/or Writers for the 2013 HSC: Natasha Hawken, Shiraz Costello, Jessica Skene, Chloe DCruz, Enya Groom and Tori Vella. These students gave up their time, often until 5.00pm, to assist our HSC candidates to achieve their very best for the examinations. Whether it be a broken arm, an inability to write easily or a Learning Difficulty, all students have the right to be on an equal playing field. Again, thank you. Special Provisions 2014 Students who have received Special Provisions for their Examinations and Assessment Tasks this year need to apply to the Board of Studies for the 2014 HSC. You will receive a letter in the mail outlining the procedure. It is imperative to adhere to deadlines and provide all information necessary for the application. Miriam Birkmann-Little - Learning Support Coordinator

UNIFORM SHOP The Uniform Shop is open on Thursdays 12.30pm -1.30pm It is located at the top of C Block. EFTPOS is now available with a surcharge of $3.00 Orders are to be paid in full at time of ordering.

FREE -MATHS TUITION- CHANGE OF DAY & TIME All students are invited to join the free Maths tuition that is held in C4 every Wednesday afternoon from 3pm to 5pm. Be there!

FREE -CHEMISTRY TUTORIALS Every Tuesday at 3pm 4pm in B01

FREE -PHYSICS TUTORIALS Every Monday at 3pm 4pm in

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Wyndham College

December 2013

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS additional opening hours The uniform shop will be opening on the following days:

2013 Thursday 12th December Tuesday 17th December

12.30pm-1.30pm 6pm 8pm

2014 Thursday 23rd January Tuesday 28th January (Pupil Free Day) Thursday 30th January

10am - 1pm 5pm- 6.30pm 12.30p

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Wyndham College

December 2013

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
HOME DOCTOR SERVICE is a Government funded, community service and Australias most trusted provider of Doctor home visits. Home visiting Doctors available:

-Weeknights 6PM-8AM -Weekends from Noon Saturday -All day Sunday & Public holidays -Bulk Billing available -Your patient record is kept up-to-date -Complimentary mediaction starter pack
*conditions apply.

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Wyndham College

December 2013

IMPORTANT ATTENDANCE INFORMATION

SMS - the College number is 0416 906 146.

Excursions Excursions are an important part of the school curriculum. They provide students with a diversity of learning experiences that are very valuable. However, the excursions take considerable time and effort to organise so that they run efficiently. For this reason the school policy is that all excursion money must be paid by the date indicated on the permission note. Students who do not pay by this date will not be able to attend the excursion. If there is a special circumstance preventing payment by the due date, your child should see the Head Teacher.

CHANGE OF DETAILS
To keep student records as up to date as possible please complete the slip below, if you have changed address or changed phone numbers, and return to the front office. Student Name ... New Address Home Phone ... ..

Mobile Phone Mother Name.... Mobile Phone -Father Name Date...............

Signed .

Emails
If you have recently changed your email address please complete this slip and return to the office:
Student Name ___________________________________________________ Email Address ___________________________________________________
Please print carefully

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Wyndham College

December 2013

UPDATED STUDENT INFORMATION

The Department of Education and Communities has requested all schools to have the most up to date data on the following: Health information of students and parental background information including occupation, school education and qualifications, current address, language background and Aboriginality. STUDENT HEALTH Information gathered will assist us greatly in the management of daily and emergency health needs of students. The information required is set out in Student Details additional information forms and is in two sections: Allergies (including Anaphylaxis) Medical Conditions Other Than Allergies and Anaphylaxis

PARENT BACKGROUND INFORMATION The gathering of parent background information may benefit the students and college in terms of the provision of funding and levels of additional education support provided, as was evidenced in the granting of funds for 2014 from the RAM (Resource Allocation Model). Of course, all of the above information is confidential. The college and Department of Education and Communities are subject to the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002. If there has been a change in your childs health or parent background information please obtain the relevant forms from the office or contact us on 9208 7100 for assistance.

The Staff at Wyndham College wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.
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