Around the School

K-2 Simultanious Reading Time - Armidale Regional Council Library Excursion 

On Wednesday 25th May the students in Rainbow, Lime and Mint walked to the Guyra Public Library to join with other students from around the district and take part in the National Simultaneous Storytime event.  People all across the country stop and read the same book at 11am every year. This year the book was 'Family Tree' by Josh Pyke and Ronojoy Ghosh. 

Students all had a great time joining in with a singalong before the story and listening intently to the special guest reader James Roncon (Armidale Regional Council General Manager). After the reading they announced the winners of the colouring in competition. Guyra Central School was very lucky and both winners were from our school. Airlie Vidler and Paisley Towler both received a copy of 'Family Tree' for their fabulous work.

Thank you to Guyra Public Library for hosting this wonderful event. We look forward to next year

Miss Tracey Condrick 

Teacher/Librarian 

Meet Big Picture student Braden Daly 

Introducing one of Guyra Central School Big Picture students Braden Daly.  This is Bradens second year studying in 'Big Picture' and is focusing his learning on Photography/Film Making.  At the end of Term 2 Braden will have a short film prepared for his exhibition based on his targeted learning.  Braden hopes that one day he will follow his passions and have a future  photography/film editing.

Braden has seized many opportunities to capture our schools activities by assisting in taking photos during these events. Braden has been doing a fantastic job. Mrs Louise Dowden has been supporting Bradens learning outcomes by providing feedback on the photos Braden has been producing.  We look forward to sharing what Braden has been producing in the future. 

Harding Miller Foundation Scholarship Awards Night 

The Harding Miller Education Foundation is a charity in Australia that offers scholarships to girls who are experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. The Harding Miller Education Foundation Scholarships are available to female students who are living anywhere in Australia, including regional and remote areas. This can create barriers to pursuing education for Australians living in rural areas. This is especially true for students living in remote and regional areas who need to travel long distances to continue their studies. 

Guyra Central School sencondary student Annabelle Collins applied for a Harding Miller Education Foundation Scholarship in 2021. Annabelle was required to submit a detailed application which addressed a selection criteria.  Part of the eligibility and selection criteria was Annabelle showing her commitment to continuing her educational journey onto higher education, her educational potential and demonstrate how a scholarship could help Annabelle gain high academic results in the future.  In addition to her application,  Annabelle was required to get letters of recommendation from teachers and a supporting letter from our Principal Mrs Michelle Nicholson to provide further evidence of her commitment, performance and potential.  

Annabelle was successful in recieving a Harding Miller Foundation Scholarship which was announced during Presentation Day in 2021.  

Annabelle will recieve the following as part of her scholarship; a high speed laptop, high speed internet, remote IT support, $2500 worth of online, face to face tutoring, online homework help, prepaid expense cards for items such as uniform, textbooks and school excursions. 

Annabelle recently attended the Harding Miller Foundation Awards night. This is what Annabelle shared with us about her trip;

"I travelled to Sydney for the Harding Miller Scholarship Awards Night. I was awarded this scholarship last year after my written application was accepted. Last week I was able to attend the Awards Night held in Sydney. On the day, we arrived at the Maritime Museum where I had the opportunity to meet my coach Sally Hurst, the Harding Miller Team and other scholars. We toured a submarine and navy boat as well as doing some fun activities. That night, we received our awards and many parents and other important people were there. The Australian Girls Choir sang for us and everyone enjoyed it. I wouldn’t  have been there without the help of Mrs Smith, Mrs Nicholson and the teachers of Guyra Central School." 

Multicultural Public Speaking Competition 

On Wednesday the 8 of June Mrs Bronwyn Paull organised the Guyra Central School the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking competition School Final. It was held in our school library. The adjudicators for the final were Mrs Jenny Atkin and Miss Amy Pixton. 

We had a Stage 3 School Final first. 

The Stage 3 Speakers were: 

William Collins whose topic was Australia Day

Bethany Small whose topic was Australia Day

Will Vidler whose topic was Everyday Racism

Zac Raper whose topic was Everyday Racism

Elsa Kliendienst whose topic was Australia Day

Billy Ryan whose topic was Australia Day 

Clee Beechey was the chairperson for the final and Lincoln Atkin was the timekeeper for the Stage 3 Final. 

The two students chosen to represent Stage 3 for the Local Final of the Multicultural Public Speaking Competition were Elsa Kliendienst and William Vidler. Billy Ryan was the runner up for Stage 3.

In the Stage 2 School Final, 6 people were representing their classes in the School final. 

They were: 

Willson McElroy whose topic was A safe place to call home

Corey Jnr Banfield whose topic was Racism - No Way!

Rose Gordon whose topic was History Matters

Mackenzie Tooth whose topic was Racism No Way!

Lachie Ellis-Colley whose topic was A safe place to call home

Alexia Towler whose topic was Australia on Screen.

Only two students can move on to the next level at the Local Final. The two people that made it were Willson McElroy and Rose Gordon. Alexia Towler was the runner up for Stage 2.

The timekeeper for the Stage 2 school final  was Indica Hoiland and the chairperson was Kiarnie Shersby. 

Mrs Atkin and Miss Amy were very impressed with the quality of student speeches and provided each student with positive feedback and encouragement in an area for further development e.g. to increase eye contact or speak with greater volume. Thank you Mrs Atkin and Miss Amy for being the adjudicators. Thank you Mrs Paull for organising the Multicultural Public Speaking, we have really enjoyed this learning opportunity and we can’t wait to see how our representatives go in the local final.

Best of luck Rose Gordon, Willson McElroy, Elsa Kliendienst and Will Vidler.

By Rose Gordon, Mackenzie Tooth and Alexia Towler 

Stage 2 Rose

Guyra Central School is committed to  Teaching Students Important Life Skills Like Changing Tyres & Checking Oil Levels

On Friday 4th June students from Year 8 to Year 12 attended a 90 minute Car Maintenance Workshop run by the ladies from Galmatic. They were taught how to change a tyre, how to effectively check tyre pressure, how to best monitor oil, and even how to pour oil from the oil bottle the correct way. Students were also taught how to react in the event of a car accident or breakdown in a place that could be dangerous.

Getting a proper education extends to areas outside of the classroom. It is extremely important for students to learn many life skills that will help them with day-to-day activities 

and problems, aside from ‘textbook’ subject matter. A group of students from GCS were shown just that as they learned the importance of regular car maintenance, which is a vital life skill, especially in rural areas where mechanics and help is few and far between. 

The wonderful initiative was instructed by long term Sydney ‘car educators’, the ladies from Galmatic, and funded by Ryan from RIEP (Regional Industry Education Programs). The idea was to make our students more comfortable behind the wheel, through a fun and interactive workshop. 

Ryan also organised for Jeff Bates to come and talk to the students about post school opportunities that the TAFE can offer. He spoke about his role at the TAFE, why he got into mechanics in the first place and how much he enjoys teaching a variety of mechanical subjects at TAFE. The students have the option of undertaking a Traineeship, a School Based Apprenticeship or TAFE full time once they finish school. The students had lots of questions for Ryan and Jeff, and more showed an interest in the area of mechanics than originally thought thanks to the engaging atmosphere of the workshop.

These are some of our students' reviews of the day. We hope that the skills the students learnt on the day will last a lifetime.

“On Friday 3rd June 2022 we had a car maintenance session with Galmatic. We started off with opening the bonnet then looking for the oil dipstick, then after we found it we had to check the oil and the oil was already full. We moved on to checking the brake fluid and it was up to the full line, then we looked at the battery and it was fine because it didn't have

 any corrosion. I stayed on for the second session to help the other group because I enjoyed it so much. We then looked for the cars jacking spot, then looked for the spare tyre. We also had a tafe teacher come and have a chat with us to finish it off. He spoke about our options if we went to TAFE or stayed at school and attended TAFE.” 

“The workshop was really fun but I struggled to take off some of the wheel nuts because another school had stripped the nuts and I couldn’t get it off.”

“I really liked the program because i got to learn about how to fix a car in a situation and we learned about how to check your oil and how to change a car tyre. I had so much fun that i hope we can do it again.”

“The ladies were excellent and helpful. They explained car maintenance in a fun way. They have inspired me to want to be a mechanic now and go through TAFE like Jeff suggested. I got a lot out of the session, I didn’t want to go back to class.”

Jailing is Failing Rotary Workshop

Guyra Central School took up the opportunity to take students to the first Annual Rotary 

Lecture in Armidale Thursday 9th June 2022. Seven students from Years 9-12 enjoyed lunch at the Armidale Bowling Club and a thought-provoking address by Robert Tickner, former Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. His extensive background in civil justice and as CEO for the Red Cross has provided him with an insight into what he describes as the failing legal system, particularly for young Aboriginal Australians. Our students enjoyed hearing from BackTrack employees who had overcome challenges of drugs, alcohol, and crime leading to jail-time and re-offending. The key message we took away was the importance of programs that seek to engage and protect our young people at every step of the journey; like Big Picture, the Police PYCY Boxing at school on a Tuesday morning and the BackTrack alternative pathway. 

Student reflections:

“The Jailing Is Failing lecture was really intriguing and made me open my eyes up to how much the system is failing the youth of today. I want to find more about what’s causing such high incarceration rates and to stop youth being incarcerated over and over. I was amazed by the cost of jailing one youth per day; over $500,000. This has a huge economic and social impact on our society. Changes need to happen and happen now. This has sparked an interest for me that I can incorporate into my Big Picture learning. I want to help out by helping to run youth programs, for example at PCYC or BackTrack. I want to attend more lectures like this, especially on this subject.” 

Peter Campbell  

Big Picture 

On Thursday 9th June, I attended the annual Rotary Lecture in Armidalealong with a group of my peers and Mr Moffit.

This years guest speaker, Robert Tickner, delivered the topic 'Jailing is Failing'.  I was shocked to find out just how far Australia's judicial system has to come.  Not only has there been a 38% increase in the number of Australians entering prison but a huge 60% of our female prisoners have children under the age of 18.  This means not only are prisoners suffering but so are their children and families.

It really made me think and this is definately a subject i would like to explore further, possibly as part of my Big Picture studies. 

Ingrid Geere

Big Picture

PCYC Fit for Life Program

The PCYC Fit for Life program has been continuing strongly throughout Term 2. Each 

week, Keith and Brad make the icy morning trip up the hill from Armidale to run students through boxing and fitness activities.

Through physical fitness, nutrition and social engagement, Fit For Life aims to improve overall wellbeing as well as prevent and divert youth from offending behaviours. Each week students are put through their paces, but connect with their peers and leave the program feeling stronger and happier going into their day.

Recently, the group have started celebrating a Trainer of the Week, with the Term 2, Week 8 award being given to Anja McIlwain. 

The PCYC Fit for Life program’s Trainer of the Week for Week 9 was awarded to Maddi Byers. 

This award celebrates a participant who has shown dedication to the program and who has really put in some effort and commitment to the week’s boxing and fitness training. Kirk’s IGA Guyra have kindly sponsored this award, meaning that each Trainer of the Week will be gifted a $15 IGA voucher. A huge thankyou to Kirk’s IGA Guyra for their support of this program, and congratulations Maddi!

PCYC’s Fit for Life program runs each Tuesday morning from 7:30am-8:30am in the GCS gymnasium.  The program will then take a short break over the school holidays before resuming in Week 2 of Term 3 on the 26/07/22. Students of all ages, from K-12, are welcome to attend- see you there!

T

Rockvale Station Shearing Excursion 

It has been a busy few weeks at the Guyra School Farm. We have been learning about the Wool industry and have visited the Rockvale Station Shearing shed to see our very own Hayden Wallace in year 10 on a school based trainee shearing day. We have also had a visit from Todd Clark from Shute Bell Agents of Guyra to learn about fleece judging. Many thanks to Todd for sharing his time and expertise.This is in preparation for our Merino wether challenge competition in Dubbo in August where 700 students from across the state will be taking part in Merino workshops and judging activities. We have also just recently purchased 2 lovely piglets for a porker competition to be held in Bingara, at the end of June. Our students will be caring for the piglets and determining feed conversion ratios. They will also need to present their experiences to a number of other schools. Students are going to be VERY busy next term! 

Rebecca Smith 

Agriculture teacher.

Term 2 Visual Arts Report

Congratulations to our Finalists in the UNE ‘Lets Hang It’ Visual Arts Exhibition, 2022. This year, NERAM will again be hosting this annual school art exhibition between the 29th of July and 14th August 2022. Artwork by students from Schools across the entire north-eastern corner of the state are eligible for entry in this year’s competition, which is ran by the UNE. Guyra Central School students Annabelle Colins (Yr 9 VA) and Georgette Loeb (Yr 7 VA) have had their artwork (below) selected to part of this exhibition of finalists in this competition.

‘Still Life with Flowers’Oil on canvas board - 

Annabelle Collins 

‘The Lagoon at Night’ Acrylic on canvas board - Georgette Loeb

Stage 4 Visual Arts - Marvellous Monstrosities in clay

This term Yr 7VA have had an opportunity to create a monster in clay as part of their exploration of this wonderful sculpture medium.

Big Picture Education- Student Personal Interest Project Exhibitions

The Traditional Japanese Kimono and the Boro Textiles Technique

After investigating Traditional Japanese Art and Culture in Term 1, Haylee Campbell turned her focus onto the traditional Japanese kimono and the Boro textiles technique used to make them. Boro is a Japanese textiles technique involving the mending or patching together of random scraps of material. The term is derived from the Japanese term "boroboro", meaning something tattered or repaired. The term 'boro' typically refers to cotton, linen and hemp materials, mostly hand-woven by peasant farmers, that have been stitched or re-woven together to create an often many-layered material used for warm, practical clothing.

An Animated Video on the Privacy Issues associated with being ‘Online’

Eli Wood presented an animated video where he discussed the issues associated with being online. He created a series of background scenes using the 3D animation software ‘Blender’ and then superimposed a video of himself delivering an eight-page script on the issues of privacy when online. He covered privacy issues relating to computer operating systems, browsers, mobile phones, social media and crypto-currencies and the ways our use of these technologies compromises our privacy and what can be done about it.

Wooden Children Toys

Toby Handebo has created a series of wooden toys for his Term 2 project. After drawing up plans for them, he then transferred them onto the timber pieces that were then cut out, sanded and assembled once finished.