Our year continues with many cultural events to enrich our learning experiences at Georges River College Penshurst Girls Campus.

The Sydney Region 2009 Deadly Kids Awards was held at the Carriage Works Theatre Eveleigh on 18 September. “Deadly” in indigenous culture means to be talented, impressive and an achiever.

Our Deadly Kid for 2009 is Sophie B. in Year 8. This award goes to a most deserving student who has matured into a student leader this year by taking part in our school assemblies performing the Acknowledgement to Country. Sophie has achieved pleasing academic results across all of her subjects in Year 8 and participated in a number of cultural projects this semester including the Indigenous Parliamentary debate and Aboriginal inspired art projects.

Our staff common room has now been designated an “Aboriginal Art Gallery” space for permanent exhibitions. Recently an exhibition of fabulous student artworks developed from a Naidoc Week initiative was acknowledged at a morning tea for parents and students and the gallery space officially opened.

Students involved in the Naidoc Week art project include: Athanasia S., Coco F., Iris Z., Lisa T., Isabelle M., Sarah K., Jodie L., Astrid V., Evie A., Eteveneaux M., Gabriella N., Vishaka J., Amelia L., Zoe H., Sophie B., Joan C., Jessica G., Susanna H.

Also Corinne L., Sophie B. and Angela P. created an indigenous style painting for our sister school in China. ‘The artwork was a visual statement about the coming together of the different groups of people who make up our school’s learning population. The two meeting hands are trying to give form to a shape that we identify as Australia.’

A current exhibition has just been hung in the Gallery Space and this time it is the Year 10 Visual Arts Annual School Certificate Bodies of Work Exhibition. This display of artworks is a culmination of a year’s exploration into artistic media as well as personal themes and comments through art. The variety of media and techniques is extraordinary and each student has developed individual styles and interpretations of the world. Congratulations to Year 10 Visual Arts 2009, especially to Lily H. whose exquisite artwork has been selected for the Principal’s art collection and reproduced as thankyou cards for our school this year.

Last week on 11 November, we had an exciting visit from Kojimachi Girls High School, Japan. Over forty students entertained us with story telling and singing and provided wonderful opportunities for language and cultural exchange throughout the day. The students attended conversation classes together, shared a typical Aussie morning tea and barbecue, played cricket and exchanged gifts. The girls laughed and talked together all day and there were lots of hugs and tears when the Kojimachi girls had to leave.

I would like to recognise the following teachers who made these cultural events possible: Garry Belinfante and Olga Chochula for the Indigenous projects; Helen Sarantopoulos and Janelle Byrne for the Japanese Visit.

Anne Ross
Principal

FROM THE PRINCIPAL - MS ANNE ROSS:

China Trip

The Georges River College trip to China during the October school holidays provided many amazing cultural experiences for both staff and students from all four campuses.

The highlights included:

• The visit to our Sister School in Yangzhou where we were given the royal treatment with newly refurbished dormitory bedrooms with fresh flowers, beautifully prepared banquets and gifts for everyone from the college. East Campus Yangzhou University Affiliated Middle School presented a wonderful welcome and performance afternoon, school tours, engaging visits to Year 8 classrooms and opportunities for excellent exchange of teaching and learning ideas from both staff and students from Australia and China in an enormous meeting forum.

• Our tour travelled through China visiting the ancient sites and cities of Suzhou, Nanjing, Tongli, Yangzhou and Shanghai. We visited temples, ancient gardens, lakes and bridges, Mausoleum, President Mansion, museums and numerous markets.
• We experienced a country of contrasts from the old cities and areas to the new and totally progressive and technologically advanced sites in Shanghai, especially Pudong and the preparations for World Expo in 2010. The 94^th Floor of the SWFC (Shanghai World Financial Centre) the Underground Bund Tunnel, the Harbour Cruise to view the city skyline and the Maglev train totally astounded everyone on the trip.
• The cultural education gained by all through the fabulous stories and anecdotes from our tour guide Ken Tong. He taught us an enormous amount about the history and cultural traditions of his country, from ‘One Child Policy’ to the ‘Leadership of Mao’. We all came away with an enriched view of China and a greater understanding of where the country has come from and where it intends to go in the future. 

But our trip did not quite go according to plan as two of our travellers (my daughter and a boy from Hurstville Campus) had accidents and unfortunately had to go to hospital for medical treatment. The members of the trip rallied and staff stepped up to undertake extra duty of care, students watched out for each other and there were amazing acts of human kindness from passerbys, educators and medical staff. Together this enabled the trip to continue without any delays or further complications which was absolutely incredible.
One of the aims of the trip was to further develop avenues of communication with our Sister School in Yangzhou. After productive discussions with the Principal Mr Xia and curriculum leaders at the school we are in the process of arranging email exchange details between students, between teachers and between Principals. We are also investigating the organisation of video conferencing between the two schools and feel confident that this should be possible in the near future.

Finally I would like to thank all of the members of the trip, but especially the staff and students from GRC Penshurst Girls Campus: Evie A., Joanne W., Annick D., Laura M., Mrs Hooper, Mrs Bell and Ms Kimber.

Anne Ross
Principal

COMMEMORATIVE PAVERS

"The School is part of your history, now become part of its history"

Your name or message can be engraved into a paver which will then be laid in the school grounds permanently in our "Commemorative Pathway".

OFFER CLOSES 1 NOVEMBER 2009

See this link for more details:  Paver Order Form

FROM THE PRINCIPAL - MS ANNE ROSS:

As Term 3 draws to a close I am extremely pleased to announce our NAPLAN results for Years 7 and 9 and to further acknowledge the achievements of individual students.

NAPLAN
Last week NAPLAN results for all students in Years 7 and 9 were forwarded home. The results of these national tests, which were held in May, help schools to identify the relative achievement of students in literacy and numeracy. The NSW state wide trends are very encouraging as indicated by the Deputy Director General of Education, Trevor Fletcher:
Our results generally show improvements when compared with the 2008 outcomes and again we are among the best across Australia.
Generally, our results at GRC Penshurst Girls Campus are well above the state mean in Year 7 and 9 Literacy and Year 7 and 9 Numeracy. Our growth from Year 7 to Year 9 in both Literacy and Numeracy is extremely encouraging and reflects real improvements compared to 2008. 
To facilitate access to NAPLAN information for parents of NSW school students, a new website www.naplanforparentsnsw.com.au has been developed. In addition to general information about NAPLAN, this website contains documents to assist parents in understanding the student report and the NAPLAN reporting scales. Details of our success in NAPLAN are outlined later.

Debating
Our debating team consisting of Atia R., Natalie K., Sara J. and Jennifer Z. who performed brilliantly in the St George Eisteddfod Final, however came runners up to St George Girls High School. The girls most capably debated the topic: That violence has a place in entertainment and were supported professionally by their talented coach, Ms Ghazaleh.

Public Speaking
Two entrants made it to the finals of the St George Public Speaking Eisteddfod, Sophia P. Year 9 and Abigail W. Year 7.  Abigail was a successful runner up in the competition. Thanks go to Mr Kolega for his direction and support in preparation for these competitions.

Deadly Kid Awards
Deadly means talented, impressive and an achiever.  This year at the inaugural Deadly Kid Awards Sophie B. Year 8 was a most deserving recipient for our school. Sophie has represented these qualities everyday by positively engaging in her learning, by her involvement in the recent NAIDOC activities especially in the Art Workshop and assemblies. Sophie has demonstrated positive leadership qualities especially within her cultural group. Sophie was presented with her award at the Carriage Works Theatre, Eveleigh by the Director General of Education Michael Coutts-Trotter.

State Athletics
Two students have also recently represented our school at the NSW CHSSA Athletic Championships. Congratulations to Laura H. Year 9 who competed in the 3000m walk and to Kate C. Year 10 who entered the Long and Triple Jump events.

Outstanding aspects of the NAPLAN results include:
Year 7 Literacy
·            All students achieved above the state mean in all areas of literacy
·            Improved performance of students in percentile bands 7, 8 and 9
·            Excellent growth rates above state
·            Positive movement of the trend line well above the state mean

Year 9 Literacy
·            Students have performed well above the state mean with improved results compared to 2008, especially in reading
·            Improved performance from LBOTE (Language Background other than English) students in reading and spelling
·            Outstanding positive expected growth for 63% of all students
·            Excellent positive movement of the trend line above state and region means

Year 7 Numeracy
·            All students achieved above the state mean in overall numeracy
·            Improved above state results in percentile bands 6,7 and 8
·            Increased positive growth rate above state this year

Year 9 Numeracy
·            All students achieved above the state mean in all areas of numeracy
·            Students performed well above the state mean in percentile bands 8, 9 and 10
·            Excellent positive movement of the trend line above both state and regional lines

Our School Plan targets in literacy are to:
·          Improve reading for Year 7 and 9 students to above state mean and this has been achieved successfully when compared to all students in the state.
·          Improve reading and spelling for Year 9 LBOTE students to above the state mean and there has been excellent improvements in this area for  LBOTE students in all aspects of literacy - reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Our School Plan targets in numeracy are to:
·          Increase the proportion of non-LBOTE students in Year 7 and 9 achieving above the state average in measurement, space and geometry which has been successfully achieved in these NAPLAN results.
·            Increase the proportion of non-LBOTE students in Year 7 achieving above the state average in number, pattern and algebra which has also been achieved this year.

As indicated by these NAPLAN results our students have performed extremely well in both literacy and numeracy skills and have continued to improve on performances from 2008. As our staff start to analyse these results further a number of teaching strategies have been identified as supporting student learning in literacy and numeracy. These include:
·            Explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy skills across all subject areas
·            Structured homework program in numeracy for all students
·            ESL literacy strategies across a range of curriculum areas including History and Science
·            Individual literacy and numeracy learning support for identified students
·            Literacy and numeracy programs introduced during DEAR time
·            Higher percentage of students involved in the Mathematics, English and Writing competitions in 2009.

 FROM THE PRINCIPAL, MS ANNE ROSS: 

As you can see from the full range of activities and events listed below, Term 3 is in full swing!

Chinese Students from Yangzhou visit GRC Penshurst Girls Campus
Over 250 students from China, Yangzhou and Pudong, travelled to Sydney to perform at the Opera House. Just prior to this event 40 students and 4 teachers from Yangzhou visited our school on Friday 21 August. The visit consisted of English language opportunities within class time with sporting activities including cricket, badminton and table tennis. The visitors also experienced an Aussie BBQ, tours of the school and gift exchange. Our students superbly acted as tour guides, interpreters and buddies for the duration of their visit.

Expanding Horizons Gala Concert at the Opera House
Mrs Bell brilliantly supported our vocal group as they performed in the outstanding massed choir as part of the culturally rich program at the Opera House on Monday evening 24 August. It was a pleasure to experience a cultural exchange between China and Australia through the creative and performing arts.  Australian students sang the National Anthem in both English and Mandarin, students from China and Australia performed together in a combined symphony orchestra and Click Go the Shears was performed by the students from Yangzhou in Mandarin. Also our Georges River College Stage Band performed wonderfully in the forecourt of the Opera House prior to the concert. Congratulations to Claudia B., Samantha H., Jacqueline I. and Kate H.

Georges River Gifted and Talented Day
Mrs Pankhurst is to be acknowledged for her outstanding organisational skills and passion for gifted education as the facilitator of this middle school regional program. This day’s program was an excellent series of learning experiences for nominated students from many primary and secondary schools. Mrs Pankhurst was supported by a team of outstanding teachers: Mrs Barsoum, Mrs Harrison, Mrs Zeritis, Ms Metlikovec, Mr Belinfante and Mr Andrew. Congratulations to everyone involved as the day was a fabulous success, especially the following girls who were selected for the wide range of workshops:
Year 7:  Evangeline A., Veronica B., Monique B., Ruby C., Coco F.,  Suzanna H., Nicolette K., Jodie L., Aislinn M., Felicia Fei Fan Q., Julia S., Thuy T., Astrid V., Christina W. and Christina Z.
Year 8:  Isabel B., Amina C., Halcyon F., Mikaela S. and Sonia W.
Year 9:  Renee A., Georgia F., Lydia L., Tony L.,  Nicole L., Laura N., Joanna S., Georgia S., Feng Amy W. and Elena W.

St George Eisteddfod and Public Speaking
This year we had the most teams entered by any school in these competitions. Numerous teams made it through to the later rounds. Our 14 years team were a very close runner up to St George Girls High School. The students performed exceptionally well and represented our school brilliantly. Congratulations to Atia R., Natalie K., Sara J. and Jennifer Z. Also well done to their coach Ms Ghazaleh. Mr Kolega trained the public speaking entrants and we need to recognise Sophia P. in Yr 9 and Abigail W. in Yr 7 who were runner up in their section.

Indigenous Parliamentary Debate
“The Great Debate” was held on Friday 21 August in the Lower Chamber of Parliament House. Mrs Chochula organised a small group of our Aboriginal background students; Sophie B., Jessica G. and Katelyn F. and other students who assisted during NAIDOC Week to attend this function. It was opened by Verity Firth and Phil Lambert. Our debating team spoke with great spirit and conviction on topics such as “That the education system has low expectations of Aboriginal students” and “That the police target Aboriginal students”. The theme of the debate was “Honouring our elders, nurturing our young”. The quality of the delivery was impressive and the eloquence of a number of speakers in the hallowed environs ensured that sensitive issues were debated with great insight and fervour.

Visual Arts Excursion to Canberra
Close on 60 students enjoyed a wonderful excursion to Canberra last week. They viewed a stunning exhibition of photographs (many of them iconic images) from the American magazine “Vanity Fair” at the National Portrait Gallery (the PM’s wife, Therese Rein was there at the same time!), the McCubbin exhibition at the National Gallery and exhibits at the Australian Museum. It was a packed day with a very early start but thanks to Mr Belinfante’s meticulous organisation, a congenial bus-driver and exemplary behaviour from our students, everyone had a fascinating and enjoyable day.

Rebranding of Georges River College
This long awaited event was held at GRC Peakhurst Campus in the Dome on Thursday 3 September. Staff, students and parents from all four Campuses attended this presentation which included the official launch of the new college logo and school uniform. This celebration will symbolically mark a new way forward for the College, one that will be more collegial and united as one school.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL - MS ANNE ROSS:

Last year I stood in our school hall and addressed the students on the meaning of NAIDOC. As NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, I challenged the students to organise a program of celebration for 2009.

I wasn’t disappointed. This year a team of staff and students initiated and planned a series of events to acknowledge our indigenous peoples.

Our program started with a flag raising ceremony, flying both the Australian and Aboriginal flag on our school flag pole on the Penshurst Street side of our school.

A most professionally planned school assembly engaged staff and students in a multi media extravaganza of items. Stephanie R. Year 10 gave the Acknowledgement to Country and a group of SRC girls delivered a NAIDOC Week presentation.

Feng Amy W., Maggie C. and Samantha S. spoke about the history and meaning of this celebration. The school watched film and music clips and visual presentations based on the works Que Didgeridoo and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.  Rita Z. introduced the hilarious web video Chooky Dance which has been extremely popular on YouTube.

A group of our girls accompanied by Mrs Chochula visited Hurstville Westfield for the Opening Ceremony of NAIDOC Week. The students experienced performances by Matthew Doyle and Tony Lewis “Fusion”, Adam Hill “What’s with the Didgeridoo?” and a work by the Descendance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dance Theatre.

Another NAIDOC Week venture has been an art project with an Aboriginal artist working with indigenous and non-indigenous talented art students.

While the students have totally engaged in this project, unfortunately the artist has been ill and unable to participate.  Mr Belinfante has most capably stepped into the role and facilitated the creation of expressive artworks.

Overall this was a most poignant acknowledgement of our Indigenous people and if further educated the students about the meaning behind the week.  I would like to praise the initiatives of the SRC students Feng Amy W., Maggie C., Samantha S. and Rita Z.; the leadership of Stephanie S. and the brilliant behind the scenes organisation of Ms Kimber, Mrs Chochula and Mr Belinfante.

This event is an important celebration for our country and I am pleased to see it now embedded into our calendar at GRC Penshurst Girls Campus.

The following students have achieved outstanding academic results in the first semester.

Year 7:  Evangeline A., Veronica B., Monique B., Samantha B., Aveline C., Poling C., Amelia C., Victoria C., Angela Si Yu C., Lina C., Nina C., Tiffany Ya Ting C., Joan C., Ruby C., Emily C., Nicole D., Kaitlin E., Ana E., Isabella F., Bianca F., Coco F., Lauren H., Susanna H., Sarah H., Sanjida H., Sharon I., Elena I., Yasmin J., Natalie J., Vishaka J., Jodie L., Eman L., Amelia L., Jessica L., Esther L., Lu Jian Julien L., Karen L., Fely L., Katerina M., Aislinn M., Jacelyn M., Rema N., Bethany P., Felicia Fei Fan Q., Emma R., Anna S., Julia S., Rayner S., Thuy T., Stephanie V., Erica V., Astrid V., Abigail W., Anita W., Josephine W., Christina W., Xiao Ke Vicky W., Shi Yun Sharon Y., Zie Jie Wendy Z., Christina Z.

Year 8:  Kate B., Phillipa B., Claudia B., Isabel B., Paris C., Connie C., Sue Jin C., Amina C., Annick D., Lucia F., Halcyon F., Amal G., Sophia G., Alice H., Suleigh H., Sarah I., Cleo I., Katarina K., Man Angel K., Lily K., Sarina L., Toni L., Helen L., Corinne L., Bethany M., Jacqueline N., Tiffanie O., Natalia P., Suvekchhya R., Claudia S., Mikaela S., Amelia S., Ana T., Haley Leying T., Sonia W., Dale W., Shirley W., Belinda Y., Ka Pik Janice Y., Yixuan Rita Z.

Anne Ross