school council
Parents
Virginia Swanton
(President)
(mob) 0408 031 531
virginia.swanton
@transport.vic.gov.au
30th November 2012 volume 9 edition 25 Newsletter
Falconer St Fitzroy North 3068 Telephone 94881900 [email protected]
Jacqui Van Vugt
(Vice President)
Communications Convenor
Events Convenor
[email protected]
AnTony McPhee
(Treasurer)
Finance Convenor
(mob)0425 781 405
[email protected]
Robert McWaters
Canteen Convenor
Cyndi Dawes
Education Convenor
John Melia
Staff
Sandra Dickins 9488 1900
Linda Mitchell 9488 1900
James Jackson 9488 1900
Community Representative
Tim Dolan
Buildings and Grounds Convenor
studied our biology notes (yeah well ...). When
we arrived at Barwon Heads we loaded up our
Leaving Fitzroy at the crack of dawn at 8.30gear and struggled down to the beach, only to
ish we braved the rush-hour traffic and headed learn that Peter can’t work out tides properly,
for Geelong. Xander won monopoly and we all which meant we had to have lunch at 10.30, it
Marine Biology
Executive Officer
Pauline Rice
School grounds patrolled from 8:30am every morning
Due to traffic safety concerns, students are required to enter the school grounds when they
arrive, and not wait in Falconer Street.
mark your calendar
30th November 2012 volume 9 edition 25 Newsletter
lots of interesting things about different marine
plants and animals, and used this information to
complete our final biology SAC.
School Tour
when Thursday 6
December
9:30am -10:30am
where FHS
who
Linda Mitchell
Year 7 2013 Orientation
Day
when Tuesday 11
December
9:00am - 2.45pm
where FHS
who
Jenny Fulford
After completing the transect we explored the
rock pools, finding a variety of organisms like
sea stars, various species of sea snails, limpets,
algae, scaleworms and crabs. The most
disgusting was the flatworm that looked like a
very slightly animated piece of flat jelly. The
cutest were the crabs, that seemed to have nice
smiles (even while they were trying to rip our
arms off – just as well they were only a couple of
centimetres across!). And if you haven’t held an
elephant snail in your hand you just haven’t
was terrible! But support groups were organised lived!
(there was a big one at the fish and chip shop)
All in all everyone had a fantastic time, learnt a
and somehow we survived.
lot and only few people got wet. Yay biology!
Returning to the beach we found that (a) the
ocean is wet and (b) it’s also cold, as is standing
in the wind and rain. Just as well we were fully
occupied with the construction of a 60-metre
transect and surveying the contents of our
quadrats.
VCE - CALCULATOR FOR SALE
TI-nspire CAS - $80
* Complete Owners Manual
* USB Cable
* CD with documentation and software
* Protective Slide Case
* Soft Pouch Cover
Has been used - probably needs new batteries
To the uninitiated observer these might have
(4xAAA) - has a name engraved on back.
looked like hoops, but once down on the ground $80 - See Doris at FHS or email
we counted organisms like crazy. We found
[email protected]
Neptune’s Necklace, elephant snails, chitons,
sea weeds and many other organisms. We
looked at the number of individuals in each area
and used the information to graph the
populations along our transect. We found out
30th November 2012 volume 9 edition 25 Newsletter
Rat Dissections
"Year 7 students" and "rats" don't often go in the
same sentence, but last week the science labs
hummed to the whispered rumours of 'rat
dissections'. Year 8 and year 10 students came
to see as the year 7s used an ipad app’s
instructions to open up a rat. While a few of the
year 7s couldn't stomach the idea and opted to
do Maths instead (!) for the students who stayed
for the experience there was lots to see and
learn from "skin's really thin" and "they smell" to
"the small intestine's really long". Most
importantly students could see how similar the
Primary School Transition
Visits
Some of the year 7 students have volunteered to
go into local Primary Schools to share their
experiences with grade 5 & 6 students, talking
about what makes High School different to
Primary School and giving hints on how to cope
with the transition. The feedback has been
extremely positive on all sides: the year 7s
realise how much they’ve grown up by going
back into a primary school environment; grade
5/6s have had plenty of questions to ply their
visitors with and have been happy to hear that
it’s not as scary as everyone imagines; teachers
– especially primary school teachers - have been
impressed by the self-confidence and
articulateness of our year 7s. Thanks to
Christine F and Sandra D for accompanying
some of the visits and congratulations to the
stars of the shows:
Stella, Jackson and Jemma who did most of the
organising;
accompanied by Jet, Indigo, Dharma, Taylor,
Adam, Ned, Cleo, Joe, Joel, Olivia, May,
Hannah, Cori
rat's body system is to a human's. Some
students carefully opened the heart to see the 4
chambers; some were fascinated about getting
to the brain; some managed to pull out a bundle
of nerve fibres from the tail. A learning
experience for all students including the few who
realised they could not stomach the study of
biology!
Looking their most grown-up best for a photo in
the foyer at Northcote Primary School are Adam,
Stella, Jemma, Indigo and Jackson.
Jenny Fulford
Christmas Puddings
(Awarded Melbourne’s best Christmas pudding, Herald Sun
2011)
Thank you to all those who supported our Great
Victorian Bike Ride participants by purchasing a
yummy Christmas Pudding.
They are now available at the front office for
collection.
30th November 2012 volume 9 edition 25 Newsletter
A reminder to parents and
guardians that 2013 school
levies are due
We’d love to create some open
space on level 3 – can you help
us?
Please pay the school levy by the due
date. Your prompt payment helps us to
plan the year’s activities; especially
useful for activities that require advance
bookings – e.g. camps, special
programs and speakers.
We have builder’s quotes to remove an
existing wall and sliding door from the
old locker area up on level 3, and to lay
new carpet and hang blinds. These
works will create a larger open space much needed for a range of activities
such as drama and other ‘active’
classes.
We know you greatly value the
wonderful programs we provide your
child; from the poetry workshops, school
drama productions and video projects,
to the woodwork and food tech options
and the kitchen garden, and also the
health and wellbeing programs. There
are so many great activities we can
offer, as long as you support us to do
so.
If circumstances mean that paying by
the due date is difficult, please call Sue
Farrell on 9488 1900 to discuss a
payment plan which can be set up for
you.
The trouble is, we don’t currently have
all the funds needed.
This year, when paying your school
levy, could you consider also donating
to the FHS building fund? With your
donation, we will be able to offer
additional ‘active’ classes across the
year levels, which we know are greatly
enjoyed by students.
All donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Please mark your donation ‘Fitzroy High
Students whose parents/guardians have School Building Fund’.
not paid the levy, or made alternative
arrangements, may have to pay extra
for subject consumables and some
excursions, and be restricted in their
ability to use the school printers. They
may also be excluded from extra
curricula activities organised by the
school, such as special trips (other than
year camps), formals and the
Valedictory dinner.