An Inspector Calls School News VTAC Applications Two weeks ago, Year 12 students attended the La Trobe Tertiary Information Session (TIS) day. Apart from the free sausage sizzle, and

REPORTING STUDENT ABSENCES

Yr12 Christine Farmakis

9458 6141

Yr11 Anne Herschell

9458 6138

Yr 9 & 10 Jan Wason

9458 6125

Yr 8 A,C,F,H Tim Polwarth

9458 6133

Yr 8 B,D,E,G Sarah Brain

9458 6150

Yr 7 Grant Wason/Helen

Herouvim

9458 6170/9458 6168

THS NEWS 18th May 2012

IMPORTANT DATES

TERM 2

11th June

Queens Birthday

12th –14th June

Year 12 Exams

12th-15th June

Year 10 & 11 Exams

14th June

GAT

Yr 12 Lunch

Yr 12 Cosi Play

18th—22nd June

Work Experience

18th June

Report Writing Day

Pupil Free Day

18th—22nd

Urban Week 9E, F, G, H

19th June

Year 9 Health Day

25th—29th June

Yr 10 First Aid Training and health week

Urban Week 9A, B, C, D

26th June

Mid year Music Concert

29th June

Last Day Term 2

1.40pm Dismissal

16th July

Pupil Free Day

to mind and values that this

play evoked. They could

not wait to get back to the

classroom to discuss its

implications.

While it did not

have the slickness of

a professional pro-

duction, for many it

was the first time

inside a theatre,

which added to the

pleasure. Acting

skills and ways of

c o m m u n i c a t i n g

through art were also

part of our discus-

sions.

As their teacher, I

could not have been

prouder of these ma-

ture young people.

They looked splen-

did and were a credit

to Thornbury High.

Helen Walsh

duction of J.B. Priestley‟s

mysterious play, An In-

spector Calls. Far from the

classroom they may have

been, but they were totally

engaged in the challenges

An Inspector Calls

The Year 11 Literature

class had a delightful eve-

ning at the Heidelberg

Theatre‟s entertaining pro-

An Inspector Calls

are competing for the first

time in August. Thanks to

Elle Haydock for her work

with the girls

Chewing Gum:-

Is totally banned on the

school premises. Students

have been warned and de-

tentions are now being is-

sued. Thank you for your

support with this.

Meredith Stephenson,

Assistant Principal

Uniform: -

We felt that it may be

timely to remind parents of

uniform requirements,

these can be found on page

10 (x) of the student plan-

ner. This will give you time

in the holidays to purchase

any articles that your child

may be missing such as

jackets, shoes etc.

Second hand uniform

profits: -

So where do the profits

that are made from the sec-

ond hand uniform shop end

up????

We have placed posters on

the walls of the shop which

we will update as changes

occur.

However, in a nutshell, all

profits raised are used to

fund extracurricular activi-

ties for the students.

The most recent funding

went towards the competi-

tion aerobics squad who

From The Assistant Principal

An Inspector Calls—

Year 11 Literature

excursion to Heidelberg

Theatre

THS NEWS 18th May 2012 Page 2

was just like voting in an elec-

tion. The results were around

what I was expecting, which

was good for me. At the end,

we left Old Parliament House

and visited the National Ar-

chives of Australia. It was a

very brief visit, but we got to

see some documents that were

signed by the Queen, the ones

that weren‟t usually opened to

the public, so that made it

extra special.

All in all, it was an excellent

three days in Canberra. I

really would have liked to do a

bit more touring of the city

and more time in the question

time session in Parliament

House, but anyone who gets

the chance to participate in

this program will definitely

love it!

Mariam Haliem 10D

Earlier this year, I went to the

national Schools Constitu-

tional Convention. It was

amazing. The topic this year

was „Australian Federalism: a

question of balance.‟ We got

to meet many different people

including students from differ-

ent states and many politi-

cians. The first day was really

good because we saw the in-

side of Parliament House and

the question time session. We

all got to see Julia Gillard and

Tony Abott—who I think EVE-

RYONE was excited to see. It

was very interesting to see

that the two parties weren‟t

really getting anything done,

rather, it was more of, “look,

Mr Speaker, this guy isn‟t

listening to you!” Like a little

catfight. It was awesome.

My favourite part of the sec-

ond day was the panel discus-

sion. All four speakers put up

really good points and really

informed me on a lot of differ-

ent things regarding the topic,

„Australian Federalism‟ and

the control of health and wa-

ter. I really learnt a lot of

things from this session and I

think it was good that students

got to ask questions; we were

a part of the discussion.

The High Court was definitely

a highlight. We got to see one

of the courtrooms, and when

you‟re inside, you really un-

derstand why it‟s called the

„High‟ Court. The design was

simple yet unique and I could

have sat in there for ages just

imagining the judges, lawyers

and barristers all sitting in

their chairs in the middle of a

case.

On the last day, we all partici-

pated in the referendum which

National Schools Constitutional Convention 2012

Senior School News

VTAC Applications

Two weeks ago, Year 12

students attended the La

Trobe Tertiary Information

Session (TIS) day. Apart

from the free sausage sizzle,

and a short lecture on the

VTAC process, our students

had the opportunity to speak

with representatives from

different Institutions who

were all too happy to provide

us with career information,

pathway booklet and of

course pens, rulers and note

pads.

Parents and students should

start reading the information

collected, in order to help

prepare for the VTAC Appli-

cation. The senior school will

hold a VTAC Information

Night in August to explain

the VTAC Application

Process and Post-

Secondary Options.

Thursday 9th August

Year 11/12 Parent Teacher

Interviews

On the evening of Thursday July

19th the Senior School will hold

Parent Teacher Interviews. Par-

ents will receive information and

appointment sheets in the next

two weeks and we encourage

you to make appointments with

all teachers.

Year 11/12 Exams

All students have received their

exam timetables and many have

implemented revision proce-

dures to ensure that they enter

each exam prepared and confi-

dent. We wish all students the

best of luck and hope the experi-

ence is a positive one.

Students have also received

specific guidelines/rules for the

exams. We ask parents to peruse

the documentation, be aware of

their child‟s exam timetable and

school expectations during ex-

ams.

A reminder that Year 11 stu-

dents will not be required to

attend Year 11 classes during

the exam period.

Year 12 classes will be run-

ning for students who do not

have Mid Year Exams. Year

11 students enrolled in a

Year `12 subject must attend

their Unit 3 class as usual.

Year 12 students will con-

clude their exams with a

lunch and then a live per-

formance of „Cosi.‟

Unit 2 and 4 subjects.

Unit 2 and 4 will commence

on Monday 18th June, follow-

ing the completion of Unit 1

and 3 exams. Year 11 stu-

dents who have requested a

change in their program for

Unit 2 (Semester 2) will re-

ceive their new timetable

during exam week.

Maria Ioannidis, Senior

School Manager


An Inspector Calls—

Year 11 Literature

excursion to Heidelberg

Theatre

Try A Trade

On Wednesday 16th May a

number of year 8 students,

with Ms Brain and Ms

Bartsh, headed to Broad-

meadows Town Hall for a

„Try A Trade‟ information

session. The aim of the day

was to broaden students‟

knowledge and awareness of

various trade industries using a

„hands on‟ approach. Students

got to „try‟ from the following

trades, Bricklaying, Locksmith-

ing, Tiling, Printing, Plumbing,

Horticulture, Automotive, Sport

and Massage.

„Try A Trade‟ was really fun

and I got to try a lot of differ-

ent things. I also learnt a lot –

Jayden

Year 8 team: Tim Pol-

warth, Lisa Dunne, Chris-

tine Bartsh

2nd Hand Uniform

Open: Mondays (during

term), 3.00 – 4.00pm

Location: First Aid Room 1

(near Reception)

A Bargain Rack has now

been set up in the shop. The

rack contains various items

which are not in best condi-

tion but are still acceptable to

wear. Pop in and pick up a

bargain!

We currently also have a

good range of: white & gold

polo shirts, sports shorts &

track pants, jumpers and jack-

ets in Good to Excellent condi-

tion.

Depending on condition, items

for sale are priced from 25% to

60% of the new price. These

are bargain prices!

Don‟t forget to go through

your wardrobes and bring in

anything that‟s in good or ex-

cellent condition for sale. You

get 50% of the selling price.

See THS website for further

details and Seller‟s Forms.

Please place clean uniform

items in a plastic bag with

your Seller‟s Form and drop

into front reception. Donated

items are appreciated.

We are only able to accept

CASH, EMA or SCHOLAR-

SHIP entitlements.

Contact the school on

9480 4066 with any queries.

Year 8 Girls Group


Instrumental Music News

Music Parents BBQ – Mas-

ters Hardware Store This

Sunday!

This Sunday 10 June the Music

Parents Group have secured

the BBQ at the new Masters

Hardware store. If you can

lend a hand, please come down

on the day, even for an hour. If

you can‟t help out because

you‟re having a fix-it-up week-

end, come down and buy a

sausage or two.

Chamber Concert

Last Wednesday we held our

first Chamber Concert for the

year. The night was a huge

success with approximately

200 students and parents in

attendance. Thank you very

much to Diana Norton for

organising the night, Jane Far-

nan, Nick Dean, Lance Cross

and Fionn O‟Sullivan for be-

ing there on the night to en-

sure the night was a success.

Music Uniform

Details of the music uniform

are in previous newsletters.

Music shirts and school ties

are available from the Uni-

form Shop here at school on

Wednesday lunchtimes (1-

2pm). Skirts are to be plain

black and ankle length and

pants are to be plain black suit

-style trousers, not skinny

jeans, leggings or jeggings!

Mid-Year Concert

The second largest concert on

our calendar is nearly upon us!

We have outgrown the Kaye

Coghlan, so this year the Win-

ter Music Concert will be held

at the Furlan Club on Tuesday

26 June at 7:00pm. Get there

early to grab a table. BYO

picnic dinner (drinks at bar

prices) if you wish, otherwise

there will be pizza slices and

chips available to purchase as

per usual. $5 entry for adults/

concession, $10 families.

Bring some extra money for

the silent auction! Looking

forward to seeing every music

family there!

Junior Music Camps

The Year 7 and 8 music

camps are fast approaching

(July 23-25 and July 24-26).

Deposits, first and second

installments are now due with

the final payments due very

soon. The camp is compulsory

for all Year 7 and 8 Instru-

mental Music Students.

Kyle Schutz, Instrumental

Music Coordinator

ise this payment at the General

Office as soon as possible.

Urban Week Year 9 E,F,G,H

18th until 22nd of June 2012.

Year 9A,B,C,D 25th until 29th

June 2012

All Year 9 students are busy

preparing for their Urban

Week experience. This oppor-

tunity to work in the City for a

week is a valuable part of their

Year 9 education and I would

like to remind parents to final-

ise payments and complete all

required forms. Year 9 stu-

dents will also be undertaking

a Health Day in the final

weeks of term immersing them

with interesting speakers and

fun activities.

Middle School Team

Safety Module that is required

to allow them to enter the

WorkForce. While at their

placement students need to

complete a work book and

learn as much as they can

from this opportunity.

First Aid Course Certificate

2 25th June until 29th June

2012

All Year 10 students have

been given an opportunity to

undertake First Aid Course

Certificate 2. This training

will be undertaken in the last

week of the term starting the

25th June 2012. Thornbury

High School is subsidising a

large part of the cost for this

training with students only

paying $20 towards the cost.

Can I remind parents to final-

As the semester draws to an

end all students have been

busy completing CATS, pre-

paring and sitting for tests and

exams. During this time stu-

dents might need extra sup-

port with homework and are

reminded to attend Home-

work Club which runs every

Monday and Wednesday af-

terschool. Extra assistance is

also available on Tuesdays

and Thursdays, Please see the

co-ordinators if you need help.

Up-coming Events

Year 10 Work Experience

18th June until 22nd June 2012

Most students have finalised

their placements for Work

Experience and have com-

pleted their Occupational and

Middle School News

Thornbury High School

Author Visit


cartoonist and author of the

smash hit series “Diary of a

Wimpy Kid”, Jeff Kinney,

was greeted by screaming

fans. He treated the audience

to insights into the creation of

the novels and behind the

scenes photos of the film

spinoffs. Finally, Jeff sat for

hours signing copies for stu-

dents while comedian Jeff Earl

entertained the waiting crowd.

“All his books are really great

and I haven‟t seen any of his

movies and I would like to.”

Danny Jovanovski

“The comedian‟s songs and

stories were really funny.”

Chris York

“Jedd won a book for his

unique book covering”

James Grujovski

“I can‟t wait until we find out

what the new book‟s name is!”

Ronald Prasad

“The next movie will be about

two books, Dog Days and The

Last Straw”

Mootesm Abdulrahman

The Library was lucky enough

to receive invitations for stu-

dents to meet two very popu-

lar authors when they visited

Melbourne last month.

Students from years 8 and 10

met Irish author Eoin Colfer,

whose “Artemis Fowl” series

is an international bestseller,

in an intimate Q&A and book

signing session. Here are some

of our students‟ thoughts:

“Eoin entertained us with his

stand-up comedy style of

speaking, and afterwards we

went off to get books signed.

He told us about upcoming

“ A r t e m i s F o w l ” a n d

“Airman” movies. He was

very informative and overall,

it was interesting and excit-

ing.”

Harish Vallury Year 10

“Meeting Eoin Colfer was a

very inspiring experience. He

told us about how much of his

life was put into his books,

and how a lot of his charac-

ters are based on people he

knows. He was very funny,

and kept us interested just by

talking about his family. He

ended by giving us some sim-

ple tips on writing, which gave

us an idea of why his books

are so brilliant.”

Riah Stanley Year 10

Eoin‟s tips on writing:

Read, Read, Read! Not just

for entertainment but to see

how good other people are.

Try and write a little bit

every day.

Nothing is wasted, so never

throw anything away!

Don’t be afraid to go back

and change your work.

Get rid of your boring

friends!

As a reward for their brilliant

participation in the Premier‟s

Reading Challenge, 7B and

8B were among hundreds of

Victorian students to meet Jeff

Kinney at the Melbourne Con-

vention Centre. American

News From The Library

healthy eating and nutrition

we cooked pumpkin soup, fruit

smoothies and baked potatoes,

Kate VanRoo (an ex-student)

who is a nutritionist came in to

answer question we had about

food.

Overall, we‟re all extremely

glad that we had the opportu-

nity to participate in such an

awesome program. We would

like to thank Amy and Harriet

for putting time and effort into

making sure we had a brilliant

time!

Chelsea Kincade and Zoe

Kokkinos 8E

„Girls on the Go‟ program.

We have done many fun and

exciting activities which have

taught us self-confidence,

good social skills as well as

other useful skills. We have

spoken about personal issues

and still had loads of fun at

the same time.

Our favourite lessons were

healthy mind /enjoying physi-

cal activity (session 3) and

healthy eating/nutri tion

(session 4). For the healthy

mind activity we danced and

did Zumba with an instructor

from the local YMCA and

learnt to be confident and

happy about who we are. For

Girls group has been running

very well and we have cov-

ered issues such as body im-

age, healthy mind/ enjoying

physical activity and healthy

eating. We have 2 more ses-

sions left to go. Session 5, on

Tuesday June 5th is about trust

and confidence and the girls

will participate in a circus

skills workshop. Session 6,

Thursday June 14th is the final

session where we will look

back on and celebrate what we

have done.

Amy Jess, Student Wellbe-

ing and Social Worker

“This term, 15 year 8 girls

were chosen to be a part of

Year 8 Girls Group

Year 8 Girls Group


our bodies and our brains.

Fruit juice is better than soft

drinks, but still contains quite

a concentrated amount of

sugar, so we should only have

it in small amounts, ie a glass

with breakfast or for morning

tea. Soft drinks and coke etc,

have almost no nutritional

value and should be avoided

or drunk infrequently.

Reminder to parents: Chil-

dren learn by example, so by

eating a healthy breakfast

yourself, you are modelling

healthy eating for your chil-

dren!

Reminder to students: Thornbury High School is re-

introducing UpStart, a FREE

breakfast program open to all

students every Monday,

Wednesday and Friday morning. Held in the Student

Wellbeing Portable, UpStart

offers students a nutritious and

delicious selection of breakfast

foods from 8am-8:45am. The

program will commence on

Wed 13 June. So if you forgot

breakfast you can always pop

in for some toast and vegemite

at school!

Source: Better Health Channel

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au

Harriet Robin, Adolescent

School Nurse

Did you know your brain uses

20-25% of the total energy

you eat? Research has found

that the better you feed your

brain, the better it works!

Breakfast has also been shown

to be the most important meal

of the day.

Studies of those who do and

don’t eat a healthy breakfast

show that:

Breakfast eaters perform

better at school and at work –

eating healthy breakfast gives

energy and nutrients to im-

prove concentration and learn-

ing.

Breakfast eaters are more

likely to get better marks at

school, pay closer attention,

participate more in discussions

and manage more complex

academic problems than

breakfast skippers.

Breakfast skippers are

more likely to be inattentive,

sluggish and get lower marks.

Breakfast skippers are

more likely to eat less nutri-

tious foods and give in to junk

food cravings throughout the

day.

Research in Australia and

overseas has found that many

children who skip breakfast

are significantly heavier than

those who eat breakfast.

A healthy breakfast is what

matters. Cognitive tests

showed that kids breakfasting

on junk food performed at the

level of an average 70-year-

old when it came to memory

and attention. But that doesn‟t

mean it has to be all raw

muesli and stewed fruit

(although that‟s good too!).

Some other breakfast ideas

are:

Wheat bix with low-fat

milk (add some low-fat fruit

yogurt or a chopped banana

and it tastes even better!)

Porridge and stewed

apple with low fat milk

Poached egg on toast

Toast with baked beans

(a real brain booster)

Wholemeal toast with

vegemite (packed with B vita-

mins, shown to be a brain-

booster)

Bowl of low-fat fruit

yogurt and a couple of slices

of wholemeal toast

WATER is the best drink for

Feeling Sluggish? Can’s Sleep? Maybe you forgot Breakfast

EMA 2nd Installment—Do You Need To Apply?

The Education Maintenance

Allowance (EMA) is pro-

vided to assist eligible

families with the costs asso-

ciated with the education of

their children.

To be eligible for receipt of

the EMA you must:

be either a parent or

guardian of a primary or

secondary school student up

to the age of sixteen; and

be an eligible beneficiary

of a Centrelink pension,

allowance or benefit within

the meaning of the State Con-

cessions Act 2004 or be a Vet-

erans Affairs (TPI) pensioner,

or be a foster parent.

C o n s e q u e n t l y , p a r e n t s /

guardians are able to access

the EMA if they have a valid

Health Care Card or valid Pen-

sion Card.

The eligibility criteria must be

met as of the first day of Term

3 (16th July). The EMA appli-

cation must be submitted to the

school by 3 August 2012 for

the second instalment.

Parents with continuing eligibil-

ity, who were paid the first

instalment through this

school, will not be required

to complete a new applica-

tion for the second instal-

ment. Parents who have

transferred children from

another school after 28 Feb-

ruary 2012 and prior to or on

3 August 2012, must reapply

at this school for the second

instalment.

Contact: School Office for

application form and further

information.

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/

An Inspector Calls School News VTAC Applications Two weeks ago, Year 12 students attended the La Trobe Tertiary Information Session (TIS) day. Apart from the free sausage sizzle, and

Documents