8 September 2023

School Motto

From the Principal

Parent involvement with the school

Thanks to the families who have completed their annual survey and attended the recent parent teacher interviews and student led conferences. We realise that it is not possible for everyone to attend on a given night but still encourage parents to keep in touch with teachers to see how their children are progressing and how to best support their learning. It is also important for the school to receive feedback on how department policies and procedures are enacted and the impact on students so I would encourage any parents with suggestions to contact me at the school to have those conversations. During Term 4, the school will be reviewed by a panel of educational experts who will assess what has happened in the past four years and make recommendations for the next four years. It will be important that parents are involved in this process too. We will invite school council members and a random selection of parents to be part of this process but can include any families who wish to express interest. Please contact me at school if you would like to be part of the school review early in November. It will only involve a commitment of about an hour of your time.

2024 planning

We have been starting to prepare for next year’s school program as we need time to recruit staff to fill vacancies that may arise from some people leaving and potentially different subject offerings in senior years. Part of this process includes Year 6 Orientation sessions where students considering attending NHS in Year 7 next year have the opportunity to see some aspects of the program. While not all new students are enrolled yet, our initial planning suggests that we will have slightly more students than this year. In the next fortnight, Year 10 and 11 students will make their subject choices for next year and we will look to confirm which staff will be staying and leaving. If you know that your children will be leaving the school at the end of this year, please let us know this in confidence so we can plan based on accurate numbers.

Do you know what they’re vaping?

Nhulunbuy High School, like many other schools, is putting resources toward educating young people about the dangers of vaping. E-cigarettes, or ‘vapes’, are not safe for young people. They come in many shapes and sizes and can be hard to spot as they can look like everyday items including highlighters, pens or USB memory sticks.

Many vapes contain nicotine which can cause long-lasting negative effects on young people’s brain development, including impaired learning ability and altered mood, as well as increasing the risk of depression and anxiety. Vapes contain the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray, which can lead to serious lung diseases. Young people who vape are 3 times as likely to take up smoking cigarettes.

It is illegal to sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18 years. Young people often purchase vapes online, from retail stores, or from friends and contacts on social media, all of which is illegal. If you are aware of unlawful sale of vapes, it can be reported to NT Health via email to tobacco.control@nt.gov.au 

It’s important to take the time to talk to your child about the risks of vaping. If you don’t feel you have the knowledge to do so, you can seek information from official sites such as nt.gov.au/vaping

As a school, we will continue to provide education to students and take other steps as necessary to minimise the chances that students are exposed to vaping or smoking at school.

What happens around the school?

There is a lot that goes on within a high school on any given day. Students are writing creative essays, solving equations and puzzles, conducting experiments, discussing different interpretations of events, making sculptures and other products as well as developing skills for a range of physical activities. Throughout the day, students are asked to switch their ways of thinking to adapt to their next one hour session which can be a challenge for even the most capable students. Many students are recognized in class and in assemblies for their efforts and achievements in classrooms and other activities. In this newsletter is a selection of pictures from different classes and year levels. I would encourage you to use them as conversation starters with your children about what they are learning and how they are progressing. 

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Brad Madden
Principal
Nhulunbuy High School

School Calendar-

The school calendar is available on Compass and parents can see what events the school is holding daily. This Term’s Big Calendar items are:

Term 3

Week 9 –   Thursday 14 September – RUOK? Day
Week 10 – Thursday 21 September – School Council Meeting
Week 10 – Friday 22 September – Last Day of Term 3

Term 4

Week 1– Tuesday 10 October – First Day of Term 4
Week 1– Thursday 12 October – Pathways Evening
Week 2 – Thursday 19 October – School Council Meeting

2024 Year 7 Enrolment Interviews

2024 Year 7 Enrolment Interviews are now open. Please call the front office on 8987 0844 to book.

Cross Country Carnival

The top runners from our school Cross Country carnival in week 5 were invited to the District Cross Country event in week 6 at Nhulunbuy Primary School. Our students raced against 75 of the best Cross Country runners in our District. Some outstanding displays of effort and sportsmanship from our NHS students. A special thanks to NPS for hosting, as well as some our Senior yr10 girls who assisted in marshalling. Special mentions to these students for their outstanding race results:

Stuart Jones
Teacher

CDU Bidjipidji Camp

12 NHS students travelled to Darwin in August to attend Charles Darwin University's Bidjipidji camp. The camp aims to provide indigenous students from remote schools with an opportunity to experience what university life is like. Students got to visit different parts of the CDU campus and learn about the various study pathways available to them. It was great to see students from various schools come together and share their stories with one another and the NHS group should be very proud of all the effort they put in during the week.

Oliver Friedman
Teacher

Maritime

This term our senior maritime students have completed some assessments as part of their Level 1 in maritime operations. The assessments were done by Charles Darwin University in Melville Bay.

The students were assessed in operating outboard motors, following environmental work practises, complying with legislation to ensure safe operation of a vessel up to 12 metres, handling a vessel up to 12 metres and applying seamanship on a vessel up to 12 metres. All 10 students achieved a competent result which is a great achievement.

Joe Cooper
VET Trainer

Mental Health and Wellbeing in Health Classes

In the leadup to RUOK? Day, we have been covering the important topics of mental health and wellbeing in Year 7, 8 and 9 classes this term, including campaigns and organisations such as Headspace, RUOK? And the Blue Tree Project. Year 9 students had the job of creating our own Blue Tree, with the information below attached

WHAT IS The
BLUE TREE PROJECT?
Our mission is to help spark difficult conversations and encourage people to speak up when battling mental health concerns.
By spreading the paint and spreading the message that "it’s OK to not be OK", we can help break down the stigma that’s still largely attached to mental health

Jane Utting
Middle Years Leader

Michael Long Cup

Congratulations to NHS students Isaac Mununggur, Bokeem Puertollano, Noah Press, Wesley Gondarra, Callum Vanderburgt, Mackenzie Mununggurr, Liam Ranford, Richard Wunungmurra and Lazarus Lami Lami for being selected to represent East Arnhem Region in the Michael Long Cup at TIO Stadium in Darwin. The team came away with one win, and our superstar Lazarus was selected in the Team of the Tournament. Well done fellas!

Jane Utting
Middle Years Leader

Volleyball NT Visit

Volleyball NT set up four courts at Dawurr which gave many students the opportunity to develop and practise their volleyball skills. We are so fortunate that sporting organisations such as this travel to us to give us such fantastic opportunities at NHS.

Jane Utting
Middle Years Leader

Year 6 – 7 Orientation

Year 6 students thoroughly enjoyed their three visits to NHS as part of their Year 6-7 Orientation Program. They participated in Cooking, Metalwork, PE, Art and Science activities along with an Amazing Race. Thanks to all the teachers and student helpers who enabled this fantastic program to happen. We look forward to welcoming our new Year 7s in 2024.

Jane Utting
Middle Years Leader

School Student Broadband Initiative

The Australian Government has established the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) to provide free home internet for 12 months for up to 30,000 families with school aged children that do not currently have a National Broadband Network (NBN) connection at home.

The Department of Education is supporting the Australian Government’s SSBI by becoming a nominating organisation to help identify eligible families within the Northern Territory (NT).

To be eligible families must:

• have a child living at home that is enrolled in an Australian school in 2023
• not have an active NBN internet service at home. Having a mobile internet service does not affect eligibility
• live in a premises that can access the NBN via a standard connection. This will be validated by NBN Co.

The SSBI is unavailable on NT Island Communities.

There are many ways families can nominate for the SSBI.

1. Receive/request a nomination form from your child’s school
2. Access the nomination form online at https://forms.office.com/r/sLSrGb74BP or scan the QR code with your phone’s camera and click on the link that appears.
3. Request a nomination form by emailing doe@education.nt.gov.au  or calling 8972 5344.

Nomination forms need to be returned to schools or completed online as soon as possible so that vouchers can be delivered and activated before 30 April 2024.

For more information on SSBI please visit the link below.