creating opportunities, achieving success

1 December 2010PO Box 123

Mullumbimby 248202 6684 2600

www.mullumbimb-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Aspiring leaders learn the art of communicationEarly in Term 4, Mullumbimby High School hosted its inaugural ‘Student Leadership Day’ as part of its en-hanced transition program for upper primary school students preparing for high school.

The aim of the program is to provide an opportunity for aspiring leaders from our partner primary schools to develop their skills across a range of areas in order to increase their confi-dence and effectiveness as leaders in our community.

Students were offered a choice of workshops in which to participate including ‘Caring for our social en-vironment’; ‘Caring for our physical environment’; ‘Data collection and processing’ and ‘Using media for ef-fective communication’. In all work-shops, strong emphasis was placed on the importance of good commu-nication skills in order to be an effec-tive and proactive leader. To that end, students were given opportunities to practise public speaking, as well as

developing their skills in data collec-tion and interpretation.

The program was facilitated by Head Teacher HSIE Jasper Kent assisted by student members of the SRC and Green Group, as well as a number of teachers who gave their time freely to ensure the success of the program.

‘The day was an outstanding success,’ said Mr Kent, ‘and that can be attrib-uted to the contribution of the Mul-

lum High students and teachers. They engaged with our primary students extremely well and made sure the ac-tivities were not only informative, but entertaining as well.’

With very positive feedback from the primary school students involved, this is likely to become a regular fixture in the Mullum High school calendar. Congratulations to Mr Kent, our SRC and Green Group, and our aspiring leaders.

Spanish student gets a head start for HSC Buenos dias de Espana! Year 10 stu-dent Tulla Carson is loving every minute of her exchange program in Spain. With the current rush on Eu-ropean languages for HSC courses, an exchange should be considered as an excellent opportunity for im-mersion in the language of choice. With limited opportunities to com-municate in European languages in Australia, students often strug-gle with listening to and speak-ing their chosen language; immer-sion gives them an excellent start.

creating opportunities, achieving success

Early birds enjoy business breakky

The Mullumbimby High School Business Breakfast celebrated its fourth birthday this year with an excellent turnout of guests from our local busi-nesses who have supported our school over the years. A big thank you to the volunteers from our P&C who, under the guidance of our CLO Mandy Hallinan, cooked up a storm for our guests, all of whom thoroughly enjoyed the morning.

Troy Williams

Congratulations to Zaro Kasi in Year 10 who has picked up a TVET Excel-lence Award for his accomplishments in Horticulture this year. Zaro has completed his Certificate II already despite only being in Year 10 and has also demonstrated excellent skills in and commitment to his chosen course of study.

Zaro has had to arrange his own transport each week, greatly support-ed by his mum, and has also had to continue with his other Year 10 sub-ject requirements at school while un-dertaking this extra work load. There is no doubt these issues added to the challenge of Zaro completing the course satisfactorily, but evidently he has achieved over and above expec-tations. Well done Zaro!

Award for Zaro

Heroes and humour at SRC induction

On Friday 12 November, Mullumbim-by High School inducted its new Stu-dent Representative Council mem-bers for 2011 at a school assembly.

Our guest speaker was local comme-dienne and journalist Mandy Nolan who entertained with her humour, but also spoke about the importance of leadership in our community. She highlighted the need for leaders to have the courage to stand up for what is right when that decision may not always be popular, and the im-portance of integrity.

She went on to speak passionately about the need for us to recognise the heroes among us; those who have overcome adversity against the odds, and how these everyday heros deserve our admiration and respect. We were also entertained by our Year 12 musicians who blew us away with their talent.

Congratulations to all our new SRC members, in particular 2011 school captains Zoe Parsons and Tom Her-ford, and vice captains Ruby Walters and Craig Ensor.

creating opportunities, achieving success

Lighthouse learning community launched

Ian Graham

An audience of 200 teachers, par-ents and public education supporters gathered at the Byron Bay surf club on 16 November to witness a key mo-ment in the history of public schools in the Byron Shire - the official launch of the Lighthouse Valley Learning Community.

Comprising all the public schools in the Byron Shire (two high schools and their 12 partner primary schools), Lighthouse Valley Learning Commu-nity (LVLC) is a powerful education alliance that has the potential to reap enormous benefits for students through the sharing of resources, and

by working together to provide ex-cellence, innovation, creativity and success. These elements were clearly evident in the stunning student per-formances and artworks on display at the launch. Sharing between Mullumbimby High School and its nine partner primary schools in the Brunswick Valley began over a decade ago. However, earlier this year the planets aligned when initial conversations around a closer relationship between Byron Bay and Mullumbimby High Schools provided the impetus for all public schools in the Byron Shire to form a learning community. Thus the Lighthouse Val-ley Learning Community was born.

From the perspective of the two high schools, the formation of the LVLC has brought a whole new dimension to the partnership. Mullumbimby High School and Byron Bay High School working together has already yielded many benefits including: leadership teams from both schools sharing ex-pertise; collective professional devel-opment activities and the broadening of the curriculum for senior students. Aboriginal elder Delta Kay summed up the significance of the event in her welcome to country when she said: ‘On behalf of the Arakwal people we love things like this…as an Aboriginal person (I say) we are all one tribe now – so well done.’

Passion and persistence pay off for EmilyEverybody has a true passion in life, and for Year 10 student Emily Finberg, that passion is horses - specifically her horse Flash.

Emily has been riding more or less all her life, but only took it up seriously when she was nine. Having acquired Flash about four and a half years ago, Emily began training him for competi-tion, working with him for up to two hours a day.

All her hard work and effort are starting to pay off with some really

pleasing results at the recent Mul-lumbimby Show. Emily and Flash en-tered five events: maiden, novice and open hacks; 90cm showjumping and 1.05m showjumping. The pair won third place in the novice hack - which Emily describes as ‘like a beauty pag-eant for horses and riders’ - and man-aged a clear round in the 90cm show-jumping.

Emily is delighted with her results and is determined to make horses and riding her future. Congratula-tions Emily, and good luck.

creating opportunities, achieving success

Julia wins first prize for peace posterCongratulations to Year 8 student Julia Vanderbyl who has won first prize in the Lions International Peace Poster Competition entitled ‘Vision of Peace’.

The brief for the work was to create an eyecatching piece that could be understood in an instant using bold, dramatic images that fill the entire space. Consideration also needed to be given to types of media used in the exercise and what different ef-fects could be achieved.

The judges commended Julia on her creativity, commenting that her entry ticked all the boxes of originality, ar-tistic merit and interpretation of the theme.

‘By using images of children linking hands, the artist conveyed the image of co-operation for peace with other cultures and peoples, while the im-ages within the ribbon carried by the dove conveyed the concept of work-

ing for peace through international understanding and patience.

‘Each little scene reflected an aspect of living, such as medical help, heal-ing, farming with clean water, play-ing, being educated. It is an artistical-ly outstanding entry with originality

of ideas strongly expressed.’

Julia’s work has not only showcased her artistic talent, but also her com-passion for and understanding of the challenges facing communities round the world that have been ravaged by conflict. Well done Julia.

Relay girls record another runaway victory

Mullumbimby High School has long enjoyed a tradition of sporting excel-lence. This is no better demonstrated than by a group of four young athletes who have been running together in a 4 x 100m relay team since Year 7.

The girls - Julia Riches, Kaya Ricketts, Deanna Thompson and Sara Howard - have put in countless hours of train-ing over the years under the guidance of their coach Poly Fung, and all their hard work has paid off with dividends

as the girls have enjoyed unprece-dented success at local, regional and state level competition.

Their impressive record at state level began in 2007 with a fourth placing in the final followed by gold in 2008, bronze in 2009, and gold again in 2010 with a winning time of 52.16 seconds.

The girls came from both Mullumbim-by Public School and Ocean Shores Public School where they had com-peted against each other as fierce rivals. However, their collaboration on enrolment at Mullum High has re-sulted in not only a highly successful relay team, but also a strong friend-ship and understanding between them that undoubtedly contributes to their ongoing success. Congratula-tions girls.

creating opportunities, achieving success

Natalie Grant

During the October holidays, the me-dia studio was invited to contribute films to the Byron Bay Community Centre Children’s program. We were successful in screening eight films on the centre’s newly purchased state of the art screen.

The films included animations from across the years with such engaging titles as ‘Mr Birdy’s Adventure’, ‘Surfs Up’, ‘Scared Guy’ and ‘Litterbugs’. We also screened a Year 9 silent film en-titled ‘Ugha Wha?’; a parody called ‘The Good, the Bad and the Mexican’; and two Year 11 short films called ‘Damn It’ and ‘Man vs Wild’.

The students’ work was well received and has established our media studio as a regular contributor to this annual event.

Hands-on learning for Aboriginal mentorship girls

This year, Mullumbimby High School introduced an Aboriginal Mentoring Program which was offered to select-ed boys who were considered would benefit from interaction with an adult male mentor. Such was the success of the program for the boys that this term, the program was expanded to include girls who are being mentored by women from the Aboriginal com-munity.

The many benefits from this program include the positive interaction be-tween the students and their men-tors, and the passing on of Aboriginal history, culture and tradition to young men and women who may otherwise not gain this insight.

Over the course of the program, the boys have learned about the warrior mentality, the origin and history of

the first people in Australia, and how to make and throw boomerangs and spears.

The girls are also learning about Abo-riginal culture and history, but their hands on experiences will be based on traditional women’s business, such as making fish traps, fruit baskets and coolamons. All participants are thor-oughly enjoying the experience.

Film studio newsHSIE teacher inspires successEx Mullumbimby High student Gavin Ottery was a recent visitor to our school, giving a talk to Ms Wark’s Year 10 Commerce class and Mr Kent’s Year 11 Business Studies class about his successful career in the competi-tive field of investment banking.

Since leaving school, Gavin com-pleted a degree at UQ before gaining employment, then going on to spend a number of years working in Hong Kong before being head hunted for a position in Singapore recently.

Gavin held the students in thrall as he discussed the benefits and disad-vantages of working in such a com-petitive field and gave the students excellent guidelines on how best to prepare themselves for employment in this area.

‘I have to tell you that having Mr Kent as my teacher was my inspiration,’ said Gavin. ‘It was because of him that I pursued this line of work in the first place.’

creating opportunities, achieving success

Mullum senior cricketers knock ‘em for sixThe Senior Boys Cricket team re-corded a comfortable victory against Byron Bay High School in round one of the NSW Combined High Schools Knockout. Josh Evans top scored with 54, while Todd Arthur (34) and Vin-nie Quigley (28) helped lift the score to 7 for 206. Vinnie and Remy Veselis were the main wicket takers in Byron Bay’s innings of 107.

In round two, Mullum hosted South-ern Cross at Lomath Oval where Billy Hedditch took four wickets with his pace bowling and two catches in the field, and Joe Hughes took three wickets and one catch. Joe and Todd

top scored with 27, while Ben Curtis (22 not out) and Billy Hedditch (20 not out) led the team to victory. Con-gratulations to Todd Arthur, Vinnie Quigley and Remy Veselis, who were all selected for the Far North Coast CHS representative team.

Musical duo wins youth mentorshipTwo of our talented Year 11 Music students, Millie Hauritz and Grif-fin Kilpatrick, have recently won a highly competitive mentorship with the Mullum Music Festival. This year, the festival turned its attention to highlighting the vast range of young musical talent in this region with the launch of its Youth Mentorship Program.

Young musicians under 18 years of age were invited to apply for a men-torship in four categories: Band, World, Hip Hop and Singer Song-writer. Mentorship co-ordinator Tom Whitaker judged the applications, and was blown away by the incredibly high standard of the entries.

‘The talent displayed in the record-ings submitted was a gob-smacking reminder that we live in an area where many artists, musicians and creative types have come to breed,’ said Tom. ‘We also received applica-tions from as far north as the Sun-shine Coast and as far south as Coffs Harbour.’

Millie and Griffin won the opportu-nity to spend time with Emily and

Jesse Lubitz of Tinpan Orange in a fo-cused rehearsal before performing in a 20 minute slot at the Mullum Music Festival last Saturday. The mentorship has given the duo the unique oppor-tunity to spend time with established musicians and a chance to perform in a serious music festival, something that would otherwise be extremely difficult for young musicians looking for a break.

While the pair has only collaborat-ed in the last few years, neither is a stranger to the field of songwriting,

with both of them creating their own work individually since they were about 14 years old. So how does it all work? Well, according to Millie and Griffin, they just write what they want to listen to, which for them is an acoustic/folk style of music.

‘The music just evolves,’ said Millie. ‘It might be going around in my head for a while, and then I start to play it and write it down. Once Griffin or I have created something individually, we share it with each other and we continue to work on it together.’

creating opportunities, achieving success

Carpet players captivate with creativity

An audience of children is probably one of the toughest audiences to play to, yet our Year 10 Drama students man-aged to captivate the youngsters from our partner primary schools during our annual Carpet Plays tour held this term. Mullum High students performed a series of well loved children’s productions with talent, style and dignity - even coping with a small wardrobe malfunction - and delighted spectators with their creativity. Congratulations to Marisa McEwan and Year 10; we’re already looking forward to next year’s performances!

Year 8 students goat some Christmas giftsAisha Pelmore

As part of the ‘Be the Change’ project, students in 8D decided by consesus to nominate the Paddle Pick Up as their Community Quest. The selected day, Wednesday 17 November, dawned fine at last and 29 excited students donned life jackets and stepped into the canoes.

The aim of the Paddle Pick Up was to paddle canoes along the Brunswick River from Mullumbimby to Bruns-wick Heads observing the river sys-tem, the impact of human activity on the river and its water quality.

Apart from raising awareness about the sources of rubbish that accumu-lates in the Brunswick River and col-lecting plastics along the route of the journey, 8D have also been motivated to collect spectacles for people with poor vision in Papua New Guinea who are not in a position to buy such an item for themselves.

To conclude their ‘Be The Change’ project, 8D have collectively raised money to be spent buying real things for people who haven’t got very much at all. How did 8D spend the $231 they raised? On a pair of goats, a

family of chickens, seeds for farmers, hygiene kits and water for a school.

Interested? Go to www.oxfam unwrapped.com.au to goat a gift this Christmas. Happy shopping!

creating opportunities, achieving success