────────────────────────Golden PALis Issue #2───────────────────────
to the second edition of Golden Palis! Golden Palis is a newsletter created by students of
PAL International School, a selective private school in Canley Vale, free for anyone to read!
To help raise the status of our local community, we plan to raise our standards of academic
excellence by changing the way our school approaches education and making sure our
students are keen to learn. Through this newsletter, you will have a sneak peek at the daily life
of a PAL student - enjoy!
We have been touched by the recent donations by generous members of the community. We would like to thank
the following kind hearts, who have made contributions to the School in the past fortnight:
1.
2.
3.
Robyn & Michael from Chipping Norton, who donated their upright semi-grand Hapsburg piano. Thanks to
them, our music classes and corridors are filled with beautiful melodies and artistic development.
Wayne Drewell & co from Ryde, who unloaded an limitless amount of classroom and office furniture, which
has allowed us to fit out several teacher offices, student library/study room, bookshelves, student exam tables,
and benches & cabinets for our science laboratory.
Gregg Donovan from Wonderlink Entertainment, who donated office chairs and an office table for use in our
staff-room.
Our school is built on the foundation of compassion to better our local community, and supportive gestures like these
reflect every part of our pedagogy in producing empathetic, selfless and determined young adults.
Page 2
────────────────────────Golden PALis Issue #2───────────────────────
On the 27th of April, our school
hosted an Open Day and ran a
competition called Battle of the
Bands. These school-held events
help spread the word about PAL
International School and allow it to
circulate throughout Western
Sydney. The Battle of the Bands
showcased the many musical
talents of the youth within our
area. There were 5 performances
in total which were in the running
to win a cash prize. It was the first
time PAL International School has
hosted such an event, and the
students enjoyed it very much and
everyone had a lot of fun. To view
the performances and vote, go to
our
Facebook
page
(www.facebook.com/
palinternationalschool) and vote
for your favourite simply by liking
the
video.
Voting
closes
30/06/2013.
By Jenny Tran, Year 10
CONTESTANT 1:
Katherine Maria Ho
CONTESTANT 2:
Gary Le
CONTESTANT 3:
Bao Tran
CONTESTANT 4:
TAP
CONTESTANT 5:
Spasians
Step
Step
Like our FB
Watch the videos
and LIKE your
favourite
performance!
Page 3
────────────────────────Golden PALis Issue #2───────────────────────
Vaccinations
Stephen from Year 9, having a needle
injected into his left arm. Now, it
was my turn.
Surprisingly, the lead up to this event was extremely
terrifying but somehow exciting.
The woman who was
going to inject me
asked me to take off
my blazer and roll up my
sleeve to reveal the upper
part of my right arm. It was
horrifying as she brought out a
massive needle right before my
The whole event commenced during science class
while I was engaged in looking down my
microscope. I was called into another room for the
vaccinations and while I proceeded there, I saw
eyes.
When it was time for the injection, I forced myself to
look away but curiosity goes a long way - I just
couldn’t prevent myself from looking at the needle. It
pushed into my skin and I felt an immediate sting.
This was repeated another three times for HIV,
Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B.
But I suppose the stinging pain and numbness from
the vaccination are worthwhile because I’m immune
to the viruses that I was vaccinated for.
Now my body has created the anti-bodies to block
and wipe out these diseases!
By Jimmy Chu, Year 7
Above: Stephen Duong (left) and Jimmy Chu (right)
Sausage Sizzle @ Bunnings!
At PAL International School, the
students and staff go to Bunnings
Warehouse at Villawood regularly
once a month to hold a sausage
sizzle.
It is a fundraising event where the
money goes towards supporting
the school to pay for supplies
needed for our every day use. The
money also supports the school to
build their science lab and music
room.
The staff and students at the School
enjoy their time volunteering at
Bunnings and spend a couple of
hours each cooking sausages, selling
drinks, speaking to the public and
handing out fliers. The students
provide customers with information
Page 4
about the school in hope they will
support us. The skills we learn from
volunteering progress each time we
do it and it furthers our
u n de r st an ding
and
h el ps
communication skills improve.
Students of the School dedicate
their time willingly on weekends to
help the school grow!
By Brandon Tran, Year 8
────────────────────────Golden PALis Issue #2───────────────────────
Alice Tran, Year 8
A Book Review by Alice Tran, Year 8
Based on a true story ‘Dead Poets Society’ follows
the adventure of a group of boys who embark on
a life changing journey that challenges the school’s
curriculum and philosophy.
Set in Welton Academy an elite, strict preparatory
school in America, the novel begins with the
school’s annual opening ceremony where the
headmaster Gale Nolan delivers a speech which
can only be described as, ‘parent pleasing.’ Nolan
speaks about the schools future vision for the
students as 75 per cent of the 51 students who
graduated the previous year went on to Ivy
League universities. The schools ‘four pillars’ are
“tradition, honour, discipline and excellence”
which are ‘enthusiastically’ shouted by the boys at
the ceremony.
The characters Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, Knox
Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron,
Steven Meeks, and Gerard Pitts are the senior
students of the academy that this novel follows.
During the first week of the school year, the boys
take a liking to their new English teacher, John
Keating, who was also a student at Welton
Academy. Keating’s passion for learning and
unusual teaching method, leads to Neil Perry
looking him up in the library’s old yearbooks,
where he discovers that Keating was part of a
secret club called ‘Dead Poets’ Society.’ Intrigued,
the boys seek out Keating to question him about
the ‘club’ to which he replies it was a ‘secret
organisation’ that was ‘dedicated to sucking the
marrow out of life.’ The point of the club was to
read and study poetry that was not accepted at
the school. However, they did not only simply
read; they ‘let it drip from their tongues like honey.
Women swooned, spirits soared and gods were
created.’
Secretly, the boys revive the literary club and meet
at the cave that Mr. Keating told them of. There,
their inevitable journey begins. There, they are
able to let loose and be free by expressing their
emotions in words of the great poets and words
of their own. The boys grow to men who know
about the world and society outside Welton
Academy. This is proved when Knox falls in love
with a girl named Chris and expresses his newfound love in words and Perry’s courage to
audition for a role in the Shakespearian play ‘A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
‘Dead Poets Society’ is the story of teacher’s
passion for English which influences a group of
boys to follow their dreams and consider English
because ‘Medicine, law, banking-these are
necessary to sustain life. But poetry, romance, love,
beauty? These are what we stay alive for!’ This is
definitely a novel that I recommend for young
adults and adults and definitely for those who are
passionate about English. To truly appreciate this
novel one must read between the lines.
Rating:  out of 5
By Alice Tran (Year 8)
Page 5
────────────────────────Golden PALis Issue #2───────────────────────
“Think Inquisitively!”
Emily Ho
With that verbal one two punch of reality, it finally
occurred to me that my lack of understanding was
far greater than I had imagined. When two such
simple words are put together, the meaning
becomes overwhelming and my pathway became
clear to me.
I drew two pathways that would lead me to my
goal, the journey that I took as I stepped into PAL
International School was a choice that the word
‘regret’ would never come close to. I had the
choice to make, I could choose either of two paths;
both in which would lead me to my life’s wish but I
did not choose to do so. Instead I formed a new
path, I opened up a new door that not only made
me realize that I was conforming to society’s norms
to reach such unfulfilling expectations but I was
learning in a way where society did not let my
imagination run wild.
As I learnt from the Headmaster, he taught me the
foundation that is essential to what learning should
all be about- the elements that are so vital to all of us. I
have stayed here long enough to know that with effort
my future will not be unclear. The
environment at Pal is that which I
had been longing for- it is a
place that I can call my
second home. Despite age
or gender everyone here
considers one another as
family.
By Emily Ho
Year 10
Learning Life’s Valuable Lessons
By: Sammi Tran, Year 10
Every week on a Sunday for the
past few weeks, PAL International
School students volunteer our free
time to develop and learn lifelong
extra-curricular skills.
We were given the opportunity to experience
life by acquiring many skills which we can also
apply to our studies. These skills include
communicating, leadership, team work, time
management and many more.
We approached and were approached by many
keen parents and students who were interested
in our new school, which no one seemed to
have heard of.
If you see us at Cabramatta on John Street
Page 6
handing out fliers and drawing attention, please stop by and say
hello. All contributions to help our school grow are greatly
appreciated!
Our students and staff at John St, Cabramatta
────────────────────────Golden PALis Issue #2───────────────────────
“A Decade of Perfection”
By Jimmy Chu, Year 7
Page 7
────────────────────────Golden PALis Issue #2───────────────────────
Sticky Recipes
By Jesica Tran (Year 9) ft. Mr Ryde
Among the exciting events that took place during
the Open Day at PAL International School were the
science experiments held by our very own
science wizard, Mr Ryde. He held two
different experiments which produced many
“ohh”s and “ahh”s, coupled with the
occasional KABOOM! Visitors of different ages
took part in the experiments taking place and managed to go
home with some slime! For those who missed out, here are the
recipes:
HOW TO MAKE SLIME
You need:
High grip PVA glue
Borax solution
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dilute 'High grip' (brand) PVA glue in a ratio of
1:1. This means there is 50% water and 50%
glue.
Put 120 ml of high grip glue into a zip lock bag
Put 30 ml of borax solution into the zip lock bag.
The borax solution should take up to about 4%
Add 6 drops of food colouring of your choice.
NOTE: Favourite colours were blue and green
Bag was zipped up and mixed for 10 min
HOW TO MAKE A HYDROGEN
OXYGEN ROCKET
1. Electrolysis of water breaks the water molecules
into hydrogen and oxygen.
2. Separate the water and hydrogen. NOTE: There is
twice more hydrogen, H2O.
3. The separated water is put into a fruit juice bottle
4. The bottle is lit up by a ruler with a flame on the
end. The 'flame stick' is about 2m long.
*NOTE* This rocket uses the same fuel a rocket
uses or space shuttle
Senior Editor Jessica Luong, Sammi Tran
Editors Emily Ho, Jane Vo
Writers Alice Tran, Sammi Tran, Jesica Tran, Brandon Tran, Cindy Tran, Jimmy Chu, Tonny Chu, Emily Ho, Jenny Tran
Design Team Sammi Tran, Alison Nguyen, Jesica Tran, Jessica Luong, Cindy Truong, Jenny Tran
Front Cover Andrew Luong
Images Jenny Tran
Address: 14 First Avenue, Canley Vale, NSW 2166 │ www.pal.nsw.edu.au │ Phone: 02 9755 7778