Faculty Focus: Support

Welcome to one of the most dynamic faculties and to some of the most hard working and incredibly talented students.

Our Support Unit has 7 classes made up of 10 innovative teachers, 14 supportive SLSOs and our amazing students. It is fair to say that in Support, we thrive on challenge and celebrate the strengths of everyone.

2023 saw us welcome new staff and farewell others as they moved on to other educational and family adventures. While we bid farewell to Miss Sjostedt, Mrs Bardakos and Ms Handley (returning in 2024) we were lucky to secure Ms Harding and Miss Higgins and, to cover Miss Gibson and Ms Withyman during Term 3, we were able to secure Ms Bird, Mrs Clydsdale, Mrs Fishlock and Mr Carswell. We have also been very lucky to welcome additional SLSOs to the team: Jess, Matt, Steve, Abigail, Hannah and Belle.

On top of shuffling and adding staff to the SU roster, our students have been working hard in their classes learning about Liveability and Landforms, Outdoor Recreation, Dystopian Worlds, Auslan (and Braille), Financial Literacy, Data, Time and Number, the Material World, Food for Champions, the Human Body, Ancient Rome and Newspapers. Students also further integrate with same age peers during mainstream electives, school swimming and athletics carnivals, Passion Projects, Snow Trips and whole school cultural events and assemblies. Our junior and senior IM classes have been working with staff from The Story Factory to devise poetry through the Deadly Lyrics program and our IO students have been accessing the Newcastle Library each fortnight as part of their Literacy program. Students have also tried their hand at tennis, performed at StarStruck, competed in Boccia, Rugby Union and Rugby League and have worked with Sailability and Making Waves to complete sailing programs and gain valuable skills in problem solving, tenacity, teamwork and confidence. After all this hard work (inside and outside of the classroom), it stands to reason that a thirst (and hunger) for learning continues with students taking on cooking and entrepreneurial pursuits such as fundraising for Red Nose Day, pie making, hamburgers and milkshake stalls and the new Shake ‘n’ Cake initiative to upskill in customer service, food handling skills and numeracy.

Our senior students are also involved in a number of YES short courses at TAFE such as Bakery, Childcare, Nursing, Film Production, Podcasting, Aviation, Community Services and Auto Mechanics, have attended Future Choices Career Expos and some students have undertaken work experience as Tech Support, kitchen hands and stock taking at the Blood Bank. Students deliver Acknowledgement of Country during official school events and celebrate culture during NAIDOC week activities. We even have a talented student currently starring in the newest McDonalds advertisement. There really is no end to the talents of our students.

But..

It is only Term 3.

We have so much more to do! With even more exciting activities and opportunities lined up including: Activate Inclusion Sports, Representative Ten Pin Bowling, an author visit for Book Week, farewelling our Year 12 students (Aidan, Paige, Ben, Aiden and Violet) and a performance of Matilda the Musical in Term 4.

Our opportunities for learning, growing and exceeding are endless.

And, this is just how we like it in Support.

Khym Harris – Head Teacher

Support News

Didgeridoo Stands for the Cottage

During term 2, the support unit was asked to build some Didgeridoo stands for the Cottage. MC3 had already made and decorated a Didgeridoo stand for Room 3 and therefore relished in the challenge. A group of indigenous students from the support unit, including; Drue F, Shannon M, Fortunato P, Mitchel P and Duncan C. were very keen to decorate them for Aunty Belinda once they had been made. As a group they decided to theme each one and then proceeded to plan and dot paint.

The pictures below show the boys decorating the stands in the themes of flags, Wedgetail Eagle of Awabakal and the Black Dolphins of Worimi. The boys were amazing and I think they have found a new passion. They were all so excited to present the Didgeridoo stands to Aunty Belinda.

Shake 'n' Cake

MC3 have created a little business that has been operating on a Friday morning. This was a continuation of the great work Miss Handley had done making milkshakes in the past.

As a class we visited the very successful Sunny Beans Cafe that the Support Unit at Cardiff High School operates. This gave the students an insight into the operations of a small scale business. Our first step was the planning phase where the boys sat down as a group and decided exactly what our business model would look like, what we needed to run the cafe and most importantly a name. As teachers have access to beautiful coffee in their staff rooms, the class decided that offering coffee was not an option and milkshakes will be our focus. When deciding on a name, the class wanted to incorporate the initials MC and initially thought Milkshakes n Cake (MC). This changed the model to incorporate cakes as well, and the name was finally reduced down to Shake 'n' Cake. Once we decided on a name, we needed a logo. One of our Boys Ben Coleman who is a wiz with digital art was given this task. The briefing was that the logo needed a milkshake cup and needed to incorporate the personalities of all the current members of the class. Within 90 minutes he had completed the logo you can see above. Nailed it first go.

The next step was trialing our recipes to ensure we were offering a great product. I’m sure the boys took longer than what was necessary to make the perfect milkshake, however, they certainly enjoyed the process. Once the class had nailed everything it was time to start Shake 'n' Cake on a Friday morning. The vibe in Room 3 on a Friday morning is awesome and the boys are thoroughly enjoying supplying beautiful milkshakes and cakes to the customers. Apart from the benefits of eating and drinking some of the profits, the boys are loving learning the life skills that come with running a small business.

Morning Fitness Walk

In the MC3 class we start every morning with an approximate 2km walk. This is a great way to start the day and allows the students to burn some energy before sitting down to start their class work. To help stay motivated, we set ourselves goals. Our first short term goal is to complete at least 8 laps of our track (approximately 2km), however the students can do more if they are feeling up to it. Our long term goal is to walk to a destination as a class. Our laps are added up and added to our total.

As a class, MC3 walked from Newcastle High School to Melbourne last year, which was 1027km. This year we have made the goal a little more difficult and we are continuing our journey around Australia walking from Melbourne to Coober Pedy, which is 1557km. All the students have contributed to the goal and every now and then we are joined by other motivated students wanting a great start to the day. Below is a picture of how we track our performance.

Mr Grove - Class Teacher

IO Boys Room 5

Room 5B have had an exciting and busy semester 1. Students have had opportunities to participate in a diverse range of activities including Sailability, Star Stuck, JobQuest, Cinderella at Civic Theatre, Japanese Tyke-oh Drumming, Newcastle 500, Come and Try Athletics Day, Rail Safety, making and selling burgers, fortnightly Newcastle City Library visits and Community Access excursions. The invaluable experiences gained from these endeavours have equipped the students with the ability to seamlessly apply the acquired skills and knowledge both within their classroom activities and in their day-to-day lives. The integration of classroom learning about landscapes, dystopian futures, addition, time and the human body, ensures that the lessons learned outside of the classroom continue to help shape and enhance the overall learning journey of our incredible students.

We look forward to seeing what adventures Semester 2 has in store for us!

Megan Callinan - Class Teacher

IO Girls Room 5G

During semester one, Room 5G has set the tone for a year of exploration, growth, and boundless learning. They have started the year by learning about landforms and landscapes, Australian animals, material products, Dystopian worlds, the human body, newspapers/ journalism, Ancient Rome and using Australian Money.

In a bid to provide our students with firsthand experiences our ventures extended far beyond the confines of the classroom walls. They explored Maitland Art Gallery and Maitland Riverside Walk, took a stroll through Blackbutt Reserve, glimpsed the retail world at Kotara Westfield, learned independent cooking skills, displayed their commitment to safety by attending a Rail Safety day, showcased their sportsmanship at the regional Boccia competition, Inclusive sports days and fortnightly tennis lessons, bargain shopped at the Hamilton Op Shops, learned to Sail with the Winds of Joy program, explored their artistic side through participation in the Starstruck Ignite combined schools concert and a viewing of Cinderella the musical, investigated the Newcastle Foreshore and even spotted a few whales.

With an abundance of engaging activities both within our school premises and beyond, these students have seamlessly intertwined subject-specific knowledge with the development of fundamental life skills, fostering their communication, social, and emotional goals. Through each endeavor, Room 5G has not only showcased their pride in representing Newcastle High School but has also exhibited remarkable growth and resilience so far this year. Looking forward to a fantastic end of the year!

Miss Standen - Class Teacher

Art and About

Students from Support Unit went on an arty Out and About on Friday 4 August.

The first stop was Straitjacket, a new purpose built art gallery in Broadmeadow. The exhibiting artist, Barbara Nanshe, joined them to talk about her work. The students then caught up with ceramicist and photographer,  John Cliff, in Beaumont Street. He told them the story of the mosaics down the street and the pottery on the side of Piggott's chemist shop. On the way to catch the train back from Hamilton Station, the students stopped off at Sue Stewart's mosaic arch, on Donald Street corner. An enjoyable art experience in the local area.

Support Year 10 JobQuest Program

To celebrate Red Nose Day the Year 10 Stage 5 EVET JobQuest students created a beautiful fundraiser event. We made a giant nest and filled it with our artwork. It represented taking care of the little things. 

The students raised $100 for SIDS and had approximately 50 guests visit our room to chat and donate to Red Nose Day.

The students did an amazing job of everything!

Winds of Change Program

“One of the best programs I’ve ever been involved in” These are the words that were spoken consistently by students, teachers and volunteers involved in the Winds of Change program. The students involved included; Mitchel P, Aiden J, Aidan L, Scott O, James B, Fortunato P, Anthony M and Pheenix P.

The idea of the 8 week program is to start week 1 with Discovery Week and finish week 8 with Command Week. Discovery week is exactly that, discovering what it takes to successfully sail a 45 ft racing yacht. The boys started off being introduced to the volunteer staff from the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (NCYC) and to all the different roles on the yacht. It was amazing to watch all the boys naturally gravitate towards a volunteer and a role based on interest and personality. Over the next 6 weeks, the boys slowly took on more and more responsibility with the ultimate goal of being confident enough to take charge of their role under guidance and supervision of the volunteer staff.

With an unfavourable forecast for week 8, we decided week 7 will be our Command Week. The boys agreed, although the nerves were evident, from the teaching staff mainly. With perfect sunshine and 12 knot gusts of westerly winds, the day was perfect. The boy’s aim was to maneuver through the Newcastle Harbour and outside the heads to a range of buoys and get close enough to touch them with a pole. They were successful in all tasks and rewarded with food. Personally, I believe this is one of the best educational programs I have been involved in. The growth all the boys showed over the program was amazing.

The volunteer staff at the NCYC were amazing to work with and so accommodating to a group of boys with limited sailing experience. We have already booked in for next year and can’t wait to do it all again.