From the Principal's Desk
Excellent HSC Results
Congratulations to the following students who recieved Band 5 or 6 results in their Higher School Certificate.
Caitlyn Campbell - Band 6 - Hospitality & Band 5 - Business Studies
Aaliyah Wright - Band 5 - Business Studies & Band 5 - PD/H/PE
Joshua Dowler - Band 6 - Industrial Technology, Band 5 - Chemistry & Band 5 - Physics
Pedro Oste - Band 6 - Software Design & Development, Band 6 - 2 Unit Mathematics & Band 5 - Physics
Eboney Miller - Band 5 - Hospitality & Band 5 - Visual Arts
Maddison Burgess - Band 5 - Visual Arts
Angel Mascord - Band 5 - Visual Arts
Tahleia Mascord - Band 5 - Visual Arts
Amber Williamson - Band 5 -Visual Arts
Naomi Heywood - Band 5 - Hospitality
Presentation Night
Presentation Night last Monday evening was a great opportunity to showcase the great achievements of our students.
Another special award presented on the night is to an outstanding member of our community, who has made a significant contribution to Molong Central School.
Donna Shapland was the recipient of the Parents & Citizens Association School Community Award, which is voted on by members of the community.
Donna has been part of our P&C for many years and served as President for 2 years. She has been responsible for the coordination of and contribution to, many fundraising events and has secured numerous donations to help improve our school environment. Congratulations Donna, very well deserved!
Sporting success
Jackson Gersbach has recently returned from a Rugby League tour of the United Kingdom where he played at places like Headingley Stadium in Leeds. Jackson’s team was very successful as they took on representative teams from around England. They defeated England East Community Lions and won 64-0 in Game 1. In Game 2 they defeated Leeds Under16’s 34-4 and in Game 3 they played England Community Lions West and won 62-6. Jackson played in the front row and felt he played the best in the first game at Headingley. The experience has enhanced Jackson’s knowledge of the world and motivated him to continue aiming high in Rugby League. His goals are to make the final team to play in the Laurie Daly Cup and hopefully make the under 18”s Country team again within the next two years. Jackson is our current Vice Captain and has grown into an outstanding young man. He also acknowledged the support of the Cabonne Roos who gave him some significant financial support towards his trip.
Well done Jackson!
Heidi Townsend has recently been named in the Under 18 Indoor Hockey Team which will play in the National Championships in January at Wollongong. Heidi impressed selectors while playing in the Open Indoor Championship, where I had the privilege of coaching her and I knew that she had a great chance at making the 18’s team. Congratulations Heidi!
Moving into 2020
The year seems to have passed by so quickly. Last week Mr Duncan Auld, Orange Schools Director visited Molong Central School to reflect on 2019 and discussed targets in the areas of numeracy, literacy and attendance for 2020 and beyond. It was an opportunity to explain the progress we have made in achieving our “Bump it Up” goals in numeracy and literacy. Molong Central was set a target 4 years ago to increase the amount of students in the top two NAPLAN bands and I was pleased to explain that the strategies used in numeracy and literacy has enabled us to achieve this goal. Similar targets were discussed for numeracy and literacy in the future and attendance has been added as a target. It is hoped that by focussing on these important aspects of school, that our students will continue to meet the identified targets. Monitoring our progress will help us develop a new school plan in 2021.
Club 100
One of the literacy strategies we use at Molong Central School is to encourage home reading and the Club 100 is a strategy designed to ensure our students have an opportunity to read at home, supported by parents. Mrs Honeyman coordinates the program, which involves students being encouraged to read 100 books. Once they have reached this goal, students have morning tea with me, read from a book of their choice and discuss their reading habits. Last week I had a small group of students, Isabel from Mrs Monk’s class, who told me she has a bookshelf full of books. Laura, in Miss Lee’s class told me her mum gives her lots of books and that her aunty has just given her the Enchanted Garden. She is looking forward to reading it. Zara, also in Miss Lee’s class, told me she has a chapter book that has more than one hundred and fifty pages.
Reading is something we really encourage all parents to foster with their children, as it promotes brain development and imagination, teaches your child about language and emotions and strengthens your relationship. There is a website that you may be interested in accessing if you would like to know more about developing literacy at home. It is also useful for all aspects of raising children and has great advice about how to support your child at all stages of their life through school.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/
Uniform at Molong Central School
The School uniform promotes a sense of belonging for students and creates a positive identity for the school community. This uniform also contributes to the personal safety of students by allowing easier recognition of students inside of the school and community. In recent weeks, we have noticed a decline in Primary and Secondary students wearing the correct uniform. We believe this is due to several factors including the drought, which affects a family’s ability to wash and afford a uniform, but we get the overriding sense that many students have their correct uniform, but choose not to wear it.
There are options for students who have one off issues with uniform, including uniform passes. We have also decided as a school, that all students must wear the correct jumper, or we will supply an appropriate one, to ensure easy identification of our students. If you require financial support for your child to purchase the appropriate uniform, please email me directly and I will arrange this discretely and quickly, so that your child is not disadvantaged in any way. Please use my personal DoE email address, michelle.barrett@det.nsw.edu.au.