LEARNING & FUN AT MOONEE BEACH

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1 To p o f t h e H i l l Newsletter of Duval High School Inside this issue: Page 2 Vaccination Update for Parents Page 3 Prefect News Interact Club News Mr Valentine s Challenge Farewell to Mr Jones Page 4 Year 12 Geography Page 5 Year 8 at Moonee Beach Year 8 arrived back last Friday afternoon from a week full of learning and camping fun at Moonee Beach, north of Coffs Harbour. Page 6 Community Noticeboard See page 5 for reports and photos of this year s annual excursion. DATES FOR THE DIARY 9-12 May 12 May 16 May 17 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 22 May NAPLAN for Years 7 & 9 UNE Year 8 Maths Day DHS String Ensemble performance Tamworth Careers Expo P&C 6pm Athletics Carnival Year 7 Excursion to Pine Forest Coffs Cost Futsal Responsibility Expectation Support Privilege Encouragement Caring Trust Publication of this newsletter is made possible through the generous support of the Duval High School Parents & Citizens Association. CORNER PO Box 751, Crest Road Armidale NSW 2350 Telephone Facsimile duval-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au LEARNING & FUN AT MOONEE BEACH Newsletter No. 7 PBL

2 Page 2 Hunter New England Population Health NSW SCHOOL VACCINATION PROGRAM Each year NSW Health works in partnership with schools to offer the vaccines recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for adolescents as part of the school vaccination program. In 2017 the following vaccines will be offered: YEARS VACCINE NUMBER OF DOSES Year 7 Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine Varicella vaccine (chickenpox) catch-up * The second dose of HPV vaccine is being delayed to later in the year (at least 6 months after the first dose) to allow the recently-announced Meningococcal ACWY Vaccination Program to be offered to students in Years 11 and 12 from Term 2 when the second dose of HPV vaccine is usually given. There is no harm for Year 7 students in delaying the second dose of HPV vaccine and further advice for parents will be provided later in the year regarding HPV course completion. Parent Information Kits that include an information sheet, consent form and privacy statement will be sent home to parents/guardians. To consent to the vaccination of their child, parents/guardians are advised to: read all the information provided complete the consent form, including signing their name next to the vaccine/s they would like their child to receive return the completed consent form to their child s school ensure that their child eats breakfast on the day of the school vaccination clinic. 2-doses in 2017 at least 6 months apart* Single dose Single dose Years Meningococcal ACWY vaccine Single dose Please note that students who commence HPV vaccination in school clinics in Year 7 but do not complete the course during the school year may be offered catch-up doses at school in Year 8. Students who have any HPV doses at their GP will be advised to complete the course with their GP. Parents/guardians who wish to withdraw their consent for any reason may do so by writing to the school Principal or phoning the school. The Procedure for Withdrawal of Consent is available on the NSW Health website at To improve vaccination completion, students will be opportunistically offered any missed doses throughout the year where possible. A Record of Vaccination will be provided to each student vaccinated at each clinic as a physical card. Parents/guardians should ensure that this record is kept for future reference and should not assume that their child has been vaccinated if they do not receive this Record of Vaccination.

3 Page 3 PREFECT NEWS The Prefects have been busy selling raffle tickets to raise funds for Beyond Blue. The prize is a trailer load of red gum generously donated by Mr Conrad Post. Tickets are available at the front office if you would like to support this worthy cause, costing $2.00 each or three for $5.00. We will also be running a BBQ at Bunnings at Bunnings on Saturday 27 May. Please come along and grab a sausage sandwich to assist in our fundraising efforts! INTERACT CLUB NEWS Ms Verwayen Prefect Coordinator The Interact Club has been busy this year at the Markets in the Mall. We have attended two markets this year and raised $500 for the Rotary Central CareVan. This will be presented to the Club at the next school assembly. The Interact Club now has a permanent stall at the Markets so you can find us in front of Office Express. Come and support us! Did you know the GreaterBank is giving away $5,000 as part of its Making Armidale Greater competition? The three organisations that receive the highest number of votes will win $3,000 and $1,000 respectively. Please log on to vote for the Interact Club at: greater.com.au/armidalevote If we are successful with a grant from GreaterBank it will be used towards funding a Wellbeing Day next term. The Club is working with Ms Squires to hold the Wellbeing day for all students at Duval to promote the awareness of mental health and strategies to help. MR VALENTINE S CHALLENGE I am taking the Act for Peace Ration Challenge during Refugee Week, and opening my eyes to what it's like for refugees to survive on rations. From June I will be eating the same rations as a Syrian refugee - just a small amount of rice, lentils, chick peas, sardines, oil and kidney beans. That's it. No meat, coffee or alcohol. Please sponsor me to take this challenge, and donate whatever you can, by going to: h ttps ://actforpea ce.ra tioncha llenge.org. a u / fundraisers/mitchvalentine#sthash.vggyjjxu.dpuf The money you give will help provide urgently needed food rations, healthcare, and education to help give Syrian refugees the strength they need to cope. It will also help many other refugees around the world to build safe, just and dignified lives, now and in the future. FAREWELL TO MR JONES Duval said goodbye to one of its finest teachers on Friday. Mr Jones has decided to take a position at NEGS. We would like to thank him for all his work at Duval over the years; not only in maths but also in the school as a whole. We wish him well in his new position. Mr Valentine Mrs Rajaratnam

4 Page 4 YEAR 12 GEOGRAPHY Year 12 Geography students spent the past week on an excursion at the Gold Coast. The excursion covers the fieldwork component of the course and case studies for the unit Ecosystems at Risk. Students experienced mangrove and sand dune ecosystems first hand. We also caught the new light rail, to visit Griffith University for a lecture from Millicent Kennelly, past student of Duval, who introduced the Tourism unit. It was coupled with a lecture from the education unit at Dreamworld, which together, have set us up well for our People and Economic Activity unit. Ms Verwayen VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! DUVAL SCHOOL CANTEEN Can you offer some time (even a couple of hours) to assist at the Canteen? We are urgently needing help to prepare and/or serve food. All profits raised by the P&C Canteen go directly to school programmes. Our fundraising history is exceptional last year Duval received over $20,000 in resources and activities from Canteen profits. Your help is an important way to support Duval s successful learning environment. Contact: Belinda & Katy (Canteen Supervisors ) Suellen Simpson (P&C Canteen Convenor)

5 Page 5 YEAR 8 AT MOONEE BEACH There were a range of activities like raft building and knot tying, orienteering, sand modelling, a walk on the jetty, rock pool walking, beach walk, swimming, and free time. There was even time to sit and watch the movie Bridge to Terabithia with a warm cup of cocoa! The game mostly played was Truth or Dare ; and can I just say a lot happened like people running through the opposite genders campground screaming I m a girl or guy and people blurting at the top of their lungs singing Let it Go! The most cutest thing that happened was a couple blossomed. The craziest thing was that a student broke their ankle jumping off a sand dune! Every day the students would make their own breaky, lunch and dinner; and so no-one starved. Everyone was sad but excited to leave Moonee so they could tell their families what they did. Our first day we mostly travelled, but we also got to sketch a view and find locations on a map, and of course swim at Boambee Beach. When we got to North Coast Holiday Park Chipiki Pittman Moonee Beach everyone was happy we had finally got there because that meant we got to set up tents! That night we went on a bush walk and everybody got sandy! On Day 2 everyone went off to different activities. We were all sorted into groups so it was easier: there were the Wobbegongs, Whiting, Seahawks, and Sandflies. At some stage throughout the day everybody got to swim in Moonee Creek, which was less than a minute s walk from our camp. That nigh we watched Bridge to Terabithia and then had milo and went to bed. On our last full day at Moonee it was miserable weather; it was wet, rainy and windy on our activities both at camp and away from camp. Lots of people slipped in mud or had leaky tents. When we went for a walk at the pier, one person lost their entire folder with their work into the ocean! We watched the rest of Bridge to Terabithia and then we had two cakes because Ronnie and Kayli each had a birthday! On Day 4 it was time to go home. Most people were happy. We stopped at Dorrigo for lunch and then at Ebor we stopped again for our presentation ceremony. There were some funny awards, like Takoda got an award for being the first person to break their ankle, another was for two mystery teams becoming a blossoming couple! When we got back to Duval everybody was relieved to be finally home! Mia Bradshaw

6 NEEDED! PRELOVED UNIFORMS Our cupboards and shelves are bare. Can you help us to get ready for winter? Please donate your uniform items today. Clothing can be left at the office. Page 6