General School News

Year 11 Visual Arts Shine!

Year 11 Visual Art’s students have just completed an extensive unit of work focusing on 2D artmaking. One of their tasks was to create a large, expressive portrait of a family member or friend using charcoal and cardboard sheeting. The results, as can be seen in the attached images, are very impressive! Despite most students initially doubting their ability to achieve success, our school value of Resilience was echoed in their work practices as they continually sought to develop and refine their artmaking. Their excellent work bodes well for future HSC success!

If you are visiting the school for any reason, make sure you take a look at the student work on display in the front office exhibition space.​

Mrs Hudson

Head Teacher

CAPA

Reconciliation Week 

In Week 7, Lake Illawarra High School had the privilege of holding the 2021 Reconciliation Week assembly. The assembly was hosted by the new school captains, Aylish Mitchell and Andre Tauteka.

There were a number of student speakers, who spoke with respect for our Aboriginal community. And we were lucky enough to have the Black Swans perform. 

‘MORE THAN A WORD. RECONCILIATION TAKES ACTION’. The 2021 National Reconciliation Week theme, More than a word. Reconciliation takes action, urges the reconciliation movement towards braver and more impactful action. 

For reconciliation to be effective, it must involve truth-telling, and actively address issues of inequality, systemic racism and instances where the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are ignored, denied or reduced.

The Actions that we can take are:

• Maintain legal protections against racism

• Support public campaigns against racism

• Support public education on First Nations cultures and histories

• Reform mainstream service delivery, and workplaces, to address systemic racism and promote cultural safety and improve accountability

• Address justice issues that impact the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and institutions including addressing over-incarceration, rates of family violence, and children in out-of-home care.

Thank you to the following students for speaking:

Aylish Mitchell

Andre Tauteka

Chantelle Borg

Logan O’Sullivan

Akala Lawrence

Michael Tully

Byron Arif

Thank you to the Black Swan student performers:

Akala Lawrence

Chantelle Borg

Mikayla Amos

Talara Henry

Chellsie Shearer 

Thank you to the guitar players

Eddie Reid

Leilani Grimes

A big thank you to Denise Willis, Mr Overton and Mr Davison for all of you help with organisation!

Ms Emily Robinson

Teacher, HSIE

7HisL – Making an Ancient Egyptian timeline

Our Year 7 history classes are beginning to learn about Ancient Egypt. And like all new history topics, we need to know all about their time period. Ancient Egypt has so many important and interesting events, people and historical sites. 

Last week we made our own virtual timeline. We had a practice run in the classroom using our mini whiteboards, whiteboard markers and our birthdays to make a timeline. We found some interesting facts about each other, like some shared birthdays! 

We then replicated this and went bigger to make an entire timeline of Ancient Egypt. We had to make our timeline on the stairs in the main quad as there are so many events to uncover during this time period. Starting in 8000 BCE when the earliest settlements began to appear along the Nile, all the way through the building of the Pyramids in 2550 BCE. To when Tutankhamun became pharaoh (at age 8 or 9) in 1333 BCE and we ended at 196 BCE with the creation of The Rosetta Stone. Throughout the course, our classes will investigate some of these features and the people in Ancient Egyptian society and this was a different way of incorporating a timeline into our class.

Ms Sophia Armenis

Teacher, HSIE

Harbour Centre

Our Harbour Centre science unit this term was Rocks and Mining. We have learnt how rocks are formed, how they get their shape and colour. We learnt the names of different rock types such as igneous,  metamorphic and sedimentary. We also got to look and touch many types of different rocks and crystals. We made rocky road to show us how sedimentary rocks formed.

Thank you,

Caitlin 

(Harbour Center Student)

SRC BBQ Fundraiser

In Week 6, the SRC ran their first BBQ of the year! To help raise money for the Biggest Morning Tea run by Ms McKinlay, the students put on a lunch time sausage sizzle. Due to Covid, this BBQ was the first time that some of the students have been involved in a school BBQ. They were put through their paces, deciding who should do what role; lighting the BBQ, deciding when to cook the sausages and onions and who should be in charge of money! 

The students did a great job, even when one of the burners wouldn’t light. Eddie and Baylen were in charge of the BBQ and were great mentors for our Year 7 and 8 students who were keen to learn the ropes!

The students raised $130 from the BBQ, and combined with money from our Valentines Day fundraiser, they were able to donate $200 to help support people impacted by cancer. 

Thank you to the following students for helping on the day:

• Caitlin Worldon
• Dominic Borg
• Trinity Chandler
• Tori Henderson
• Chae Conte
• Lauren Davies
• Jov Poko
• Eddie Reid
• Baylen Russell

Ms Emily Robinson

Teacher, HSIE

Australian Mathematics Competition

The annual Australian Mathematics Competition is coming up in August! For any students who are interested in participating in this years event, please return the permission note and $6.50 to the front office by the end of Term 2.

Jake Barracosa

Uniform Update Survey

​Following survey and discussion with students, staff and P&C we are looking for the Community opinion of possible adjustments to the uniform. These adjustments are to accommodate male and female fits, long polo shirts and navy colour for skirt, shorts and pants.  We are making sure that we have considered a modern and professional look for the school while keeping adjustments and costs to a minimum. Possible uniform updates are in our online survey below and we invite parents/ guardians to take the time to respond to this survey. This survey will close by the beginning of Term 3.

Rhonda Willingham

Please use the QR Code below, or go to the following link - https://bit.ly/LIHSUNIFORM

Year 10 Child Studies

The young children from Queen Street Pre-School have been visiting our class every second week for a variety of activities. Some of the activities we have organised include; the obstacle course in the gym, painting rocks, feeding the fish in the science rooms, visiting the animals in the agriculture plot, making muffins, singing songs or reading books. 

The pre-school children are accompanied by their teachers and sometimes, their parents who have been ex-students or siblings of our current students. We always enjoy their visits and as a courtesy provide morning tea for our visitors. 

The children arrive via the back gate and we love to see them run across the oval to get to us. We are grateful to the Queen Street Pre-School for visiting us on a regular basis, as it provides our students with the opportunity to interact interaction with young children and the ability to plan suitable activities for the 0-5 age group. The Year 10 students can also observe the pre-school teachers and how they organise the children and teach them important behaviours. 

Our students have done work experience at the pre-school and some have worked there after school. We are lucky to have them to provide the community connection with our school and we have an excellent working relationship with the staff. We are looking forward to next term as we will continue our unique partnership.

Jane Cormack

Teacher, TAS

Science News

Some pretty interesting things have been happening in the Science KLA this term!

Our Year 8 classes spent the first part of Term 2 studying the systems that make up the human body. Students dissected sheep hearts to investigate the internal structure and function of this vital organ. They also had some fun dissecting chicken feet and figuring out the relationship between muscles and tendons and how we are able to move our bodies. 

Their second topic of the term was focusing on elements of the Periodic Table, and students will be putting demonstrations together – stay tuned for some of these in upcoming editions of the newsletter!

Year 9 students have been learning about the Nervous and Endocrine systems. Classes have had some fun dissecting cow eyes and sheep brains to further investigate how sense organs detect information from the environment, and how this information is processed and transmitted to other areas of the body. 

Students in Year 10 spent several weeks discussing DNA and Genetics, and the links between our genes and the physical characteristics that we have. They extracted DNA from a range of fruits, the DNA of which is made up of the same chemicals as ours. They are now learning about Plate Tectonics and how this impacts the geology of our continent. Through analysing maps, students have deduced that the Australian Plate is moving north-northwest by several centimetres each year. We have also modeled the formation of different types of fossils; the photos here are of carbon film fossils, formed when the carbon that makes up an organism is left behind as a black film on the surrounding rock.

Ms Kerry McKinlay

Head Techer

Science

STEM News

The first year of our Stage 4 iSTEM program has been a huge hit! Students in 7.1 and 8.4 STEM have been discussing Simple Machines and energy transfer. Two of their Term 2 tasks are featured here – a Rube Goldberg machine and a mousetrap car. 

Ms Kerry McKinlay

Head Teacher 

Science

Art Club

In Art Club this term we have been creating traditional woven art forms, sourced from plants on the school grounds.

Our weaving sessions have been led by Denise Willis, Lake Illawarra High's Aboriginal Education Officer.

These weaving techniques have been relayed by local Elders and have allowed students to transform materials from their local environment using skills that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have used for many thousands of years. The process of making items such as woven art forms, baskets and traps is an excellent example of renewable resources.

Students took a walk around the school grounds and other nearby natural areas, keeping an eye out for potential weaving materials. Students have highly enjoyed the weaving process and gained lifelong skills. These woven forms will be on display in the front office from Term 3.

Thank you Denise and our local Elders.

Art club runs every Tuesday from 3-4 please see

Ms Wunsch or Mr Plumb to join.

Discover Engineering Day

Recently 8L students attended a Discover Engineering Day organised by Engineers Australia. The students were involved in two workshops where they had to put their engineering skills to the test. 

The first workshop involved Cool Aeronautics where the students had to design a balsa wood aircraft to deliver a payload of vaccines to people across a river. Students were excited to design and construct their own planes, real aeronautical engineers were available on-line to offer help and advice. 

The second workshop was about how to build a floating house. The idea was to design a house that could survive in both the wet and the dry season in a place called Tonle Sap in Cambodia.

Students were given a budget and allowed to buy certain items to build their “house”. Representatives from Engineers without Borders were available to offer advice and encouragement. The houses were then loaded with marbles to see how much weight each 'house' could accept. Our school performed very well in this workshop, designing the 'house' that was able to hold the most marbles without sinking. All the students participating in the Discover Engineering Day demonstrated excellent teamwork skills and an ability to overcome challenges with creative solutions.

Ms Cheryl Kilpatrick

Teacher, Mathematics and STEM

SRC, Leadership and Sports Committee Induction

On Tuesday 22/6/21 the Student Representative Council, New Captains, Vice Captains and the Sports Committee students were inducted into their positions for 2021. 

The formal assembly was held in School gym, with parents and carers, Year 7, Year 8 and Year 11 as the guests. 

The assembly was a celebration of the newly elected student representatives. In being elected, they were chosen by their peers to represent their school because they make a positive impact within the school environment. This, in itself, is a solid accomplishment.

Congratulations to all students involved, and we are looking forward to a positive year ahead. 

School Captains

Aylish Mitchell

Andre Tauteka

Vice Captains

Jacinta Bazzano

Raquel Withers