Fast Forward

Year 9 welcomed

A fantastic evening and opportunity for our students to officially welcome our 2018 Year 9 students and their parents/carers to the Fast Forward program held recently.  These students will be involved in a Sdutiosity workshop (study assistance) on Tuesday, 18 September followed by a University on Thursday, 27 September.    

Mary Reid | Careers Adviser

On 15 August,  eighteen Year 9 students from Cecil Hills High School attended the Fast Forward Welcome to Western evening at Bankstown campus to be officially inducted into the Fast Forward program.  Over 120  parents and family members were in attendance to witness their children being welcomed into the program and receive a gift of a book, Letters to my Teenage Self.  An official welcome speech was given by Dr Katrina Barker, Director of Academic Programs, School of Education, on behalf of the University.  We also heard from guest speaker Mr Robert Patruno, the (Acting) Principal from Punchbowl Boys High School and Fast Forward Scholarship recipient, Mr Jason Vo who all talked about their experiences with the Fast Forward program.  

Carol Richardson | Project Officer, Fast Forward

Office of Widening Participation | Western Sydney University

AIME Day

AIME day at the University of Wollongong 

(Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience)

Throughout the year Cecil Hills High School has proudly taken part in the AIME mentoring program at the University of Wollongong. Through AIME Mentoring, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are given the chance to work with Indigenous students from the Greater Western Sydney Region. The AIME program strives to connect university students with Indigenous high school students across Australia.

The program itself is the largest volunteer movement of university students in Australian History.

Guided by AIME mentors and university educators, our students yarn about current social issues, how to overcome prejudice Indigenous students can face and how they can be the best version of themselves. Students worked in teams to build confidence, perseverance and resilience.

Our students participated in all activities throughout the day such as; depositing their hopes for the future in a deposit box, breaking through barriers that have been holding them back, performing raps, dances and poems that evoke their emotions and finally the ever entertaining connect four championships, which Travis Mobbs of Year 9 proudly won.

The goal of the AIME program is to engage and motivate the students to be the best they can be in their studies and sports. At the core of the program is the Indigenous students heritage and closing the education gap between Indigenous and non- indigenous students. This is an aspect of the program that Cecil Hills High School proudly supports and actively takes part in.  

D Kulevski | Teacher Representative