What a delightful week we have had in the School this week with our Year 3 to Year 6 students putting on such a wonderful series of shows for The Little Mermaid Jr.  There are of course tonight’’s performance and then two tomorrow still to go, but what the students have been able to produce has been such a delight to watch.  I want to take this opportunity of thanking Mrs Nadine James and Mrs Rachel Freestone for leading the production.  Significant thanks should also go to Mr Kent Palmer, Mrs Haley Tuft, Mrs Rebecca Relyea, Mrs Katrina Ha, Mrs Laura Paterson and Mr Timothy Norman for their contributions.

The greatest congratulation should go to the students who have worked so hard to produce this very polished performance.  The future of Macarthur’s tradition of excellence in Musicals is in a great place when you look at the young talent and project their development to the senior musicals.

It has been a truly international week at Macarthur and there has been a sense of us needing to fly the ASEAN flag. There has been a significant number of students from China with us on a short term study tour, and on the afternoon following their morning departure, we welcomed our annual visitors from Nihon University the Third High School in Tokyo Japan. This has been an association that has been in place for well over 20 years and continues to be a great blessing to both Nihon students and Macarthur students.  I am delighted that in January a number of Macarthur students and staff will be reciprocating the visit in Tokyo.  Like the connection to our sister school in Hungary, the opportunities these international tours provide are priceless.  We also welcomed ten new full time International Students as part of our regular International Students Programme.  Most of these students will be with us for a couple of years, others a bit longer.

Please continue to pray for our Year 12 students who are in the midst of the HSC Trial Examinations.  These Examinations are always a great challenge, academically, emotionally and physically for the students and so I am sure they would appreciate your ongoing support.

At the end of this term I am very fortunate to be given the opportunity to take a period of study leave.  I will be combining it with some family leave and will be travelling to the USA.  I will be participating in a short course run by Harvard University’s Project Zero team.  Project Zero is the impetus behind my plans to see changes in our teaching pedagogy at Macarthur.  You would have heard me talk about Enduring Understanding, Visible Thinking, Creative and Critical Thinking and the development of soft skills for the 21st Century Learner.  These are the keystones of Project Zero and so I am very pleased to be heading over there to gain further knowledge and inspiration.

I will in effect be away for all of October and the School Council have appointed Mr Andrew Kokic as Acting Headmaster while I am leave.

David Nockles

Now that you have received your child’s report and weighed it against your financial outlay for their education let me take some time to console us both.

During a recent spring clean I unearthed my old school reports and quickly hid them again lest my children saw them.  My Year 7 and 8 reports in particular did not hold out much promise for the future. I received 45% in English and was lowly placed in an academically weak public school.  Worse still was my 111^th placing in ‘Technics’.  Sadly the towel rails I mounted crookedly in our bathroom are testimony that not much has changed in this regard.

I am not alone.  The Headmaster, who by his own admission, hated school until he came to Australia in Year 9, can tell a similar tale.  He received a caning in his South African school for his parsing of a French language exercise in a manner that polite company would call ‘French’, but which bore no resemblance to the national language itself.  Even Mr Bedingfield, an esteemed Mathematics teacher received embarrassingly low results in Mathematics in Year 10.

I realise that we all have those ‘friends’ who send us their Christmas circulars boasting of how their Year 6 child came first in the world Sanskrit championships and won a subsequent Science scholarship for them and their whole family to travel first class to the NASA Space Centre in Florida. In truth, however, the hard reality is that most of our children (and especially many of our boys) plod along unspectacularly, year after year after year.

It is often not until the so-called ‘business end’ of school (Year 10-12) that we see some students emerge from their long academic hibernation.  Suddenly, the Speech and Awards stage becomes a more contested space.  But even then, we will often not see the best that some students can produce.  I have lost count of the number of scallywags and ‘not working to potential’ students who are now great success stories (and earning much more than me) having found their mojo at university or in a workplace where they clicked into gear.

I did not discover ‘reading’ until Year 10.  Today, I have a large library of books.  I am qualified to teach English – the subject I ‘failed’ in Year 7.  Many students would tell you that ‘Bedo’ is a great Mathematics teacher.  And the Headmaster?  Well, I have heard ‘French’ on his lips once or twice, but only when he has been really annoyed!

Of course our children must know none of this.  It is our secret.  If you have a child that would choose to read this in the Bulletin you have nothing to worry about.  For the rest of us, however, I encourage you to keep lecturing your child on their efforts, stamp your feet and ask them rhetorically, ‘Why am I spending all this money on your education?’ etc etc, while secretly knowing it will probably turn out just fine in the end.  As for the Christmas circular from your ‘friend’…bin it and say, ‘Au Revoir’.

Andrew Kokic

Recently all staff attended a two day conference in which they were engaged in a wide range of activities to help them enhance their teaching strategies to develop students’ critical and creative thinking and digital/technological skills.  With a focus on engaging and challenging students, teachers were involved in learning hands-on activities they could implement with their students.

As a registered BoSTES Quality Teaching Council (QTC) provider, staff at Macarthur presented QTC workshops such as ‘Using iPads effectively’.  Some of the other sessions were based on sharing meaningful assessment for learning tasks, learning how to use apps to gather evidence of students’ ongoing learning and showcasing successful lessons.  UK presenter, Joe Dale also presented two sessions based on apps and technologies that could be utilised to enhance critical thinking and engagement.  Many of our Casual teaching staff and our current pre-service teachers also attended.

New Literacy and Numeracy Standard

Many of you would have heard about the new minimum literacy and numeracy standard for the award of the HSC.  From 2020, students will be required to reach a minimum literacy and numeracy standard in order to be eligible for the HSC.  This will affect all students in the current Year 8 cohort and those in lower years.

The standard is set at the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) Level 3, which is a nationally agreed standard of functional literacy and numeracy. The indicators for level 3 are outlined below. For more detail, go to http://tinyurl.com/jmoj9sq

Reading

• Evaluates and integrates information and ideas to construct meaning from a range of familiar, and some unfamiliar, texts and text types

• Select and applies a range of reading strategies as appropriate to purpose and text type

Writing

• Communicates relationships between ideas and information in a style appropriate to audience and purpose

• Selects vocabulary, grammatical structures and conventions appropriate to the text

Numeracy

• Selects and interprets mathematical information that may be partly embedded in a range of familiar, and some less familiar, tasks and texts

• Selects from and uses a variety of developing mathematical and problem solving strategies in a range of familiar and some less familiar contexts

• Uses a combination of both informal and formal oral and written mathematical language and representation to communicate mathematically

“Students can demonstrate that they meet the standard by achieving either:

•    a Band 8 in each of their Year 9 NAPLAN reading, writing and numeracy tests, or

•    a Pass in the online literacy and numeracy test in Years 10, 11 or 12.

A Year 9 NAPLAN result below a Band 8 will act as an early warning sign to identify students at risk of not meeting the standard.  These students will then have time to work to improve their performance, before taking the online literacy and numeracy test.

Students who do not demonstrate the standard during schooling will have five years after leaving school to meet the literacy and numeracy standard and receive a HSC.” Tom Alegounarias, President BoSTES.

Macarthur’s Year NAPLAN results are very strong and consistently well above State average, but we recognise that it may be difficult for some students to attain a Band 8 in Reading, Writing and Numeracy in Year 9.   As our HSC English results are very good; for example, in 2015 52% of students achieved a Band 5 or higher and 86% achieved a Band 4 or higher in English Advanced, we are confident, that the vast majority of students should be able to pass the Literacy and Numeracy Standard by Year 12. 

Melissa Gould-Drakeley

The 2016 Census of Population and Housing is on Tuesday 9 August 2016.  We have received the following information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

To make sure that everyone is counted once and only once in the Census, please make sure that all parents and guardians include their children on the Census form at home, as if they were at home on Census Night.  Students will not be counted at the venue they are staying at on Census Night.

Any adults accompanying students on the camp or excursion, including teachers and parents, will need to complete a Census form for themselves at the excursion location.  A Census Field Officer will arrange for delivery and collection of the Census forms for the adults to complete.

If one adult of the household is away at the excursion, and another adult is at home; do not count the adult that is away as they will complete their own Census form at the excursion.  Do count your child as if they were home.

Throughout the vacation period, students of Macarthur are busy representing the School in various activities including Snowsports, Equestrian, Duke of Edinburgh and helping lead Crusaders camp.

It impresses me that students are willing to give up much of their precious holiday time in pursuing these activities and just as importantly thanks should be given to parents who support their children in these activities navigating the logistics of transport, movement of livestock, while all the while continuing in the normal work hours demanded of us.

Individual Achievement

Efforts from parents and students of Macarthur have been rewarded with tremendous results in both Snowsports and Equestrian competitions.  Mr Bedingfield will no doubt comment more in detail about Snowsports, however I can report that many students compete in their chosen field separate to the School achieving results worthy of mention.  An example of this is Jade Errington (Yr 8).

Jade was sought out to play for the NSW Blues 17 and under Girls team at the 2016 Australian Indoor Cricket Junior Championships held in Dubbo over the first week of July.  There were seven teams in the competition and the NSW Blues ended up third on the ladder after the eight rounds.  In the semi-final they were up against the NSW Cyclones (Country), who the NSW Blues had beaten once in their two prior games, but the Blues simply didn’t amass enough runs after batting first and were beaten. Considering the Blues girls ranged in age from 12 (Jade) through to only one who ages out after this competition, it was a great achievement considering most of the teams consist of nearly all 16 & 17 year olds. Jade’s performance in the competition was ranked 35^th in the 71 girls in the 17 & under bracket.  With the eight games Jade played in, she hit 85 runs, got out 7 times and in her bowling, she had 16 overs for 10 wickets for 84 runs.

Claire Koski an ex Macarthur Anglican student and Women’s Big Bash League player, coached the ACT Under 14 Girls at the same competition, who lost to Victoria in the grand final.

Duke of Edinburgh

Nearly 80 students participated on the recent hike in the Grose Valley to complete their Silver Qualifying hike or the Gold Practice hike.  Both levels were challenged by the steep terrain and the cold and wet weather that settled in during night two and throughout the third day.  Gold hikers were challenged by a very steep climb to eventually arrive at Lockleys Pylon with fantastic views of the Grose Valley and its surrounds.

Eventually however, the conditions during Day 3 became so treacherous that it was decided that one more night in the mountains maybe one too many so the expedition was cut short.  In these situations, the decisions of Duke of Edinburgh participants must first consider safety above all else and this decision shows the maturity of thinking that has developed over the years of hiking that these students have experienced.

I am very proud of all the D of E students that participated in the recent hike because of the demanding conditions.  Endurance breeds perseverance not just for future hikes but in situations where pushing through difficult circumstance  is needed over giving up when pressure is faced.

I encourage all students to keep their online log books up to date and ensure that all aspects of the programme are underway to ensure the successful completion of each stage.

Tim Cartwright

A Super ‘Super Cru’ Holiday Camp

About 50 K-6s (mostly from Macarthur) enjoyed a Super Cru day camp held at the school during the holidays.  Crusaders ran the camp in partnership with local churches and our school.

Much fun, socialising and some good learning was had by all; including the 11 Yr 9-11 assistant leaders who did a fabulous job!

Here are reports from two of the assistant leaders:

Super CRU camps, a holiday camp assisted by a Macarthur team of leaders, was an enormous success.  Resulting from a huge effort in preparation of a range of activities and Christian Discovery initiatives, the camp had an enjoyable experience by which all the assistant leaders felt privileged to be involved with.  It was definitely apparent that the children in attendance had a great time and grew in their faith in the duration of the camp.  Specific interests of the camp attendees were also pursued, with each assistant leader organising and presenting their choice of activity.  This programme, called Choose Your Own Adventure, offered activities such as Cooking, Science, Superheroes, Sport and Music.  The creation of lava lamps, decorated cakes, superhero capes and a memory verse song (most importantly, to the tune of Uptown Funk) ensured that all the children had a great experience throughout camp.  Paired with great ministry leadership, in partnership with CRU leaders outside of school, consolidated the positive experience of the campers during the Super CRU holiday camp.

Cate Ward

Cru camp was an incredible experience that I will never forget.  I loved getting to know all the kids and seeing their own individual personalities.  It was so encouraging to see the kids learning more about Jesus and having fun at the same time!  My personal favourite part of the camp was the Christian Discovery time every morning, where we got to learn one 'key of life' each day, sing songs together, watch dramas, do challenges, memory verses and discuss what we'd learnt.  Leah from Cobbitty Anglican put together an awesome program for us, so the kids learnt heaps.  A great time was had by the kids and leaders alike.

James Key

[ the 'Keys to Life' were 'grace, mercy, faith, hope and love']

Victorian High Country Adventure 12-15 October 2016

Every two years the School offers current Year 7 and 8 students the opportunity to join a four day adventure in the Victorian High Country.  Students will enjoy each other’s company, ride horses, walk to the top of mountains, cook damper on an open fire, experience Ned Kelly bush, visit a zoo and cook up a ‘feast’, among other things.

Ten have registered interest so far but if you would like be included in the twenty-two who can go, please contact me on 4629 6225 as soon as possible. See brochure for details.

 The Reverend David Hayman

The Aristotle Showcase is a collaborative learning project for gifted and talented students in Year 8. Participants work on a series of deep thinking tasks and challenges across a series of lunchtime sessions and through a collaborative Google Document. Once the initial group tasks are completed, students commence working individually or in groups on a small personal interest area applied to a common theme. The aim of the Aristotle programme is to highlight the collaborative and critical thinking skills of the participants and to promote the “joy of learning”. 

The Aristotle Showcase was held in the Cranmer Room on Thursday 30 June. The team also presented to classes on Friday 1 July. The Theme for 2016 was “Colour”.

This group is to be congratulated on the standard of the Showcase this year. They have set the benchmark high. When you consider the work completed for the showcase is in addition to homework, assessments and so on, one can only be extremely proud of their efforts. The experience has given participants a myriad of skills they can use in their future studies. It has also, without doubt, inspired a number of other students. I look forward to what this group can bring to the Socrates Programme next year.

Rebecca Fitzpatrick

The School’s Annual Fundraising Dinner is on the 20^th August 2016, less than three weeks away! Drawing on the Alice in Wonderland theme, the evening will hold a number of surprises for our guests.

I’m excited by the amazing donations that have been coming in and it’s not too late to contribute. Contact me on 4629 6207 if you need assistance with this.

From Monday 15^th August you will be able to view and bid on our Silent Auction items by visiting www.galabid.com/wonderland.

Most importantly, it would be lovely to see you there. To book, use the link; https://www.trybooking.com/211890

Special thanks to our GOLD Sponsor for 2016, Wards Accounting.

Karyn Ingram

There is still confusion as to when a letter should be written to the Headmaster and when an Application for Exemption from Attendance at School should be completed.

If you are taking your child/children away on a family holiday during term time, a letter should be written to the Headmaster requesting the leave required.

If a student will be away due to an elite sporting event or to employment or participation in the entertainment industry (e.g. a dancing competition or selection into a State sporting team) then an Application for Exemption must be completed and given to the Michele Willsmore, the Headmaster’s Personal Assistant.

The Warren Scholarship Application process is now open for students entering into Year 11.  The Information Booklet and online Application can be found at the following link:  http://www.macarthur.nsw.edu.au/warren-scholarships

Applications close on Friday 23 September 2016.

During the holidays a group of Year 11 Agriculture students including Adam Ebeling, Daniel Pearce and Britney Harvey with Mr McCarthy and Mr Baker constructed a new shelter for the School’s steers. Much of the materials needed for the erection of the shed came from donations.  The shelter will allow the steers to be protected from the wind and rain in winter and heat in summer.

We are preparing for the Uni-steer Competition being held on the 13 August where we are competing against fourteen other schools in preparing our Poll Hereford steer RM.  He is a very quiet steer and is allowing our less experienced students an opportunity to lead him.  He is also growing well and is putting on weight every week.

Spring has sprung and the first lambs of the season have been born and new silky bantams have arrived which is perfect timing for our Junior School and international visitors from China and Japan.

David Baker

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Winter Term.  I trust you all had a wonderful break and found some time to relax, even if it was just for a short time.  It is fantastic to see the students return after a three week break. They all seem to grow up, both in stature and in maturity over the July holidays for some reason.  I have been pleased by the way the students are wearing their uniform with pride and have remembered to wear their blazers each day.  A reminder that earrings are not allowed to be worn at school and hair should be tied back.

Making Good Choices

I visited all T-4 classrooms last week and talked to the students about establishing clear learning goals for Winter Term and about making good choices.  Good choices in terms of the words that they use.  Good choices in terms of their behaviour both in and out of the classroom.  Good choices about the way they treat others.  It is important for all of us to remember that our choices have consequences.  Some good and some not so good.  No matter what, we need to accept the consequences and learn from them.  I also talked about looking to God to help us make the right choices and remembering ‘What would Jesus do?’.

Book Week Celebrations

Winter Term is an exciting Term filled with celebrations.  Our annual Book Week Parade will be held on Friday 26 August.  This will include a parade in the gymnasium 9.00am-10.00am and an extended morning tea where parents are invited to spend time with their child/ren and visit the book fair.  We also have some special guest readers for T-2 and 3-6 will be attending a presentation from Illustrator Donna Rawlins, who is well known for illustrating a number of books including ‘My Place.

Lunchtime Groups

Do you ever wonder what your child gets up to at lunchtime while they are at School?

At Macarthur there are so many opportunities for the students.  In the Junior School some students use the time to just ‘catch up’ with friends and play handball, explore on the equipment or just sit and talk.  Others are involved in lunchtime groups such as Construction Club, Writing Club, Chess Club, Junior Oasis, Coding Club, Art Club, Story Time, Recorder Group, Creative Crafters, Bible Study or 1220 club.

These photos show the fun that our students in Years 3-6 have at Junior Oasis, held on Friday’s at lunchtime each week.

All lunchtime groups will resume in Week 3 of this term due to the musical.  All parents should have received a Junior School Co-curricular Activities Summary via email early this term.

Kylie Elling

In Autumn Term, Year 2 was very privileged to visit the school farm not once but twice as part of their Science unit ‘Feathers, Fur and Fibres’.  Both times we were warmly welcomed by Mr. Baker who promised to answer all our questions about the farm and its animals.

Our first visit was focussed on feathers which meant visiting the chickens.  We were all very impressed with how many chickens our school has.  We got to collect the eggs with Mr. McCarthy and also pat a roster with Mr. Baker who showed us that feathers become fluffier closer to the chicken’s body for warmth.  Our second visit to the farm was focussed on fibres.  Wool is a type of fibre so it was off to see the sheep.  With Mr. Gower we were able to pat the sheep.  Their wool was so soft.  We were excited when he brought out some food for the sheep and we could feed them.  It was interesting that the sheep wouldn’t eat the food from our hands but only off the ground.  Inside the farm shed Mr. Baker had placed sheep and alpaca wool as well as goat hair on tables for us to hold and feel.  The sheep wool made our hands oily.  We had a great time on our farm visits and would like to thank Mr. Baker, Mr McCarthy and Mr. Gower for giving up their time to teach us about the farm and its animals.

Mr Langley and Miss Martinez

Last Tuesday 28 July a group of Year 5 and 6 students got up close and personal with farm animals to develop an appreciation for where our food and fibre come from.

The hands on curriculum-based workshop was hosted by the Royal Agriculture Society and allowed students to:

• Discover ‘where does my food and fibre come from?’
• Work with farm animals, large and small.
• See how technology is used in agriculture.

Imagine spending your first day back at school playing games all day.  It sounds easy and almost too good to be true.  Well that is just what twenty-four students in the Junior Chess Club did.

Six teams competed in the NSW Junior Chess League – Macarthur Zone – Competition last week. The competition was held at Glenwood Primary School where the teams played seven twenty-five minute matches.  Whilst it wasn’t easy, it was certainly a lot of fun.

Macarthur Anglican had two teams in the Championship division and four teams in the Rookie division.  Only teams in the Championship division can qualify for the next level of competition.

Congratulations to Rowan Hey (Team A Captain), Peter Cruz, Isaiah Gray and Luke Stewart who made up the winning Championship team on the day.  This was an outstanding result which now places our school into the next level of competition.  Congratulations also to our other Championship team, Joshua Ferguson (Team B Captain), Enoch Pei, Adrian Condoleon and Kye Newmann who came in second place.  These teams played against six other teams in this division.

Our rookie players were placed further down the leader board, but came away from the day with some valuable experience under their belts.  Many students had what I refer to as an ‘Ah..’ moment, that is when a student literally makes that sound when a concept suddenly makes sense.  These moments are great for ongoing improvement and continued success.

Kirsten Hey - Junior Chess Co-Ordinator

Between June and July, I attended the Global Young Leader’s Conference (GYLC) in America, in both Washington D.C. and New York.  This was a phenomenal trip that allowed me to explore my leadership skills, as well as learn more about cross-cultural communication and international relations through real world peace-keeping simulations.  Throughout GYLC, every student is given a country to represent, mine ironically being the United States of America itself.

Over the course of this extraordinary trip, I was able to participate in global workshops and construct resolutions for some of the world’s biggest issues.  Keynote speakers from the likes of the World Bank and the UN were inspirational and offered invaluable insight into these world issues.  One of my biggest highlights was being able to debate our resolutions at the Headquarters of the United Nations, in a Global Summit Meeting – a truly amazing experience!

I experienced so many diverse cultures and met individuals from all around the world, whether it be my new friends from America or Bulgaria, Columbia or Japan.  It was meeting such unique people that ensured I was opening my own mind and critically thinking.  GYLC has been an experience that has changed me for the better: the way I think about world issues and my own leadership abilities.

Kaitlin Taylor - Year 11

What an amazing result Macarthur had at the recent Northern Regional Interschools Championships. Macarthur has won the snowboarding, skiing and overall Northern Regional Championships for Secondary Co-educational Schools.  An incredible result and congratulations to all students who took part.  On top of this sixteen students have been invited to attend the State Championships in Thredbo later in August.

We had such a varied season in regards to snow cover, but a wonderful fall of snow just prior to the programme meant that all students were able to have a wonderful time.  During the programme we had everything from sunshine, rain, hail and snow and the students should be most proud of their efforts in all aspects of the programme.

Snowsports Camp 2016

This year we had eighty-six students from Years 3–12 venture with eight staff to Jindabyne and Thredbo for a wonderful two days of fun, skiing or snowboarding.  This was the biggest group that Macarthur has taken to the snow in one group and the students were outstanding.  For some of our students this was their first time at the snow and by the end of the two days all students couldn’t wait to come back and do it all again.  Many of the students indicated that they feel they would be now ready to participate in Interschools.

For our students who have been before the development of their skiing and boarding continued to be remarkable and for our ski team these two days were invaluable training for Interschools that was to follow.

Regional Interschools 2016

Following the snowsports camp forty-seven students stayed on in Jindabyne from the 1–4 July to participate and compete in the Northern Regions Interschools snowsports competitions, which this year held at Thredbo.  Information about events at interschools can be found in the results section at the link below.

Particular congratulations must be given to those students who have been selected to participate in the State Interschools in August, Sascha Masjuk (Year 5), Emily Simpson (Year 5), Joshua Hand (Year 9), Lincoln Bartlett (Year 10), Taylor Drayton (Year 10), Samuel Egan (Year 10), Jack Franklin (Year 10), Flynn Kellner (Year 10), Ryan Kennedy (Year 10), Callum Masjuk (Year 10), Jessee Sales-Hobart (Year 10), Leon Vogeler-Schmid (Year 10), Virginia Glover (Year 11), Claudia Kennett-Smith (Year 11), Sheldon Taylor (Year 11) and Addison Kubik (Year 12).

Thanks to our Snowsports Captain Addison Kubik who was an excellent example to our younger students and participated in three different events (skiing and snowboarding).

The Scots Race and Redlands Cup

Following the Interschools competition eleven students stayed on to compete in two further competitions, The Scots Race (an individual event) in Perisher and The Redlands Cup (a team event) in Thredbo.  This was a fantastic time and there is no doubt that the students continued to improve their race skills.

With Thanks…

A special thank you to all the staff and parent helpers who assisted in the smooth running of the Macarthur Snowsports Programme. Particular thanks to Mark, Caroline and Montana Byers (Year 12, 2014) who gave up much of their time to assist in the development of our team in 2016 - your support was truly appreciated.  Thanks to this dedicated team the results in 2016 were once again fantastic.

Scott Bedingfield - Snowsports Co-ordinator

For the full set of results please click the link.