General School News

Boots for Bre

Lake Illawarra High School and Brewarrina Shire Council would like to extend our thanks to all those families and individuals who contributed to our ‘Boots for Bre’ initiative. A special thanks, goes to Murrells Transport, who were kind enough to deliver the boots to Brewarrina on our behalf. The exciting news is they have been delivered and we were sent the following article which outlines the impact your contributions have made to those living in the Brewarrina community.

Barwon United Roosters make it to the Grand Final at National Indigenous Rugby League Championships!

Barwon United Roosters under 14’s team and their road to the National Indigenous Rugby League Championships 9’s Competition that was held in Dubbo for the 9 & 10 of March 2019.

Our main sponsor Wayne Griffiths from Winanga-Li had organised for Timana Tahu to come out to Brewarrina to do some training run with our under 14’s team. The boys were all very excited to be running around with a legend like Tahu,  they became even more excited when he told them that he would also be attended the NIRLC in Dubbo to go and support them by assisting them with their warm ups before they run on. This made the boys very eager to go as only a hand full of them had ever played in a knockout before.

Many of the under 14’s players did not have football boots to play in, nor did they have access to purchase any for the up and coming competition but, the club was fortunate enough to be approached by Brewarrina Shire Council who had been liaising with Jeff Chaseling a PDHPE Teacher from Lake Illawarra High school, Shellharbour area. Lake Illawarra high did a drive called “Boots for Bre” late 2018; Bre received much needed boots right on time. Everybody ended up with a new pair of boots which allowed them to play and perform the much loved sport and proudly represent their district. 

The under 14’s team all met up at the tennis courts on Friday the 8th of March at 12:00 PM to get on the bus and travel down to Dubbo.

The boys were all very well behaved, they had a training session when they arrived in Dubbo and then to McDonalds that night for dinner, they then returned to their accommodation to settle in for their first big day of football the following morning.

The under 14’s played their first game at 9:00 AM they had a quick warm up session with Timana Tahu before taking the field against Butacarbin Warriors. The under 14’s came out the winners of the game and sat down to await their second game scheduled for 11:30 AM against Jordan’s Rabbitohs Memorial. The boys went down in their second game having their first loss against the strong Wello/Dubbo combined memorial team; the boys were pretty upset with their loss but knew they still had a shot as their third game was approaching at 1:35PM against Walgett Aboriginal Connection. The team all took the field knowing they had to win this game to stay in the competition. The team came out victorious in their third game for the day and ran away with the win. Everyone was extremely excited happy and proud of our little under 14’s team for how far they had made it in the competition for their first knockout together. The boys went to the river to cool down after their long day and then home to rest up for the next day of football!

Their first game kicked off at 10:15AM against Wiradjuri United, going into the game the boys were nervous and excited, they knew that they only had to win this match by two points to make it to the grand final. The team took to the field, putting on a show for all of their supporters in the crowd. They left the field with the win they were hoping for, also receiving the confirmation that they had now made it to the grand final to be played at 12:45PM against the Jordan’s Rabbitohs Memorial team!

The boys had their warm up session with Timana Tahu prior to taking the field for their final match of the day! The under 14’s Jordan’s Rabbitohs Memorial ended up defeating the Barwon United Roosters 24-0 in the National Indigenous Rugby League Championships Grand Final.

After the boys finished playing, they were pulled aside by Timana and were told that he in conjunction with Winanga-Li child and family centre would fully fund a trip for our under 14’s team to go down to Newcastle and watch the Newcastle Knights play against the Roosters which is scheduled for Friday the 24th of May. After hearing this news, the boys were all excited to be apart of this great accomplishment and grass roots team!

I would like to thank the following for helping with organising and sponsorship for our team.

Michael Nicholls – under 14’s Coach.

Warwick Clarke – Men’s Coach.

Angie & Bob Wright-  Housing our under 14’s team.

Thomas Conroy, Bailey Nicholls & Jye Sullivan – Under 14’s trainers.

Wayne Griffiths & the Winanga-Li staff –  Major sponsor for men and under 14’s uniforms, donated bus, funding trip to Newcastle.

Timana Tahu – Support and encouragement for our under 14’s team.

The Brewarrina RSL Club – Donation of funds to the under 14’s team for group activities, fuel and food.

The Parents of all players - Thank you for intrusting us with your kids for the special weekend!

Brewarrina Shire Council, AEO Denise Willis & Jeff Chaseling (Lake Illawarra High) & Murrells Transport – Organising the “Boots for Bre” drive for the youth of Brewarrina!

The club will be taking the junior and men’s team to the upcoming Walgett Annual Knockout held in September every year as well as the NSW Koori Knockout held every October long weekend.

If you would like to discuss donations or sponsorship for the teams please do not hesitate to contact Reba Jeffries club representative on 0475 194 654 or email the club account at barwonunitedrooster@hotmail.com

Barwon United Roosters After the Grand finale.

Barwon United Roosters & Jordan’s Rabbitohs Memorial.

Lake Illawarra High students, “Boots for Bre”.

Aboriginal Education

On Wednesday 27/3/19, our Aboriginal Elders and a group of students from Mount Warrigal Primary School came to visit LIHS to celebrate the success of the group performance which took place on International Women’s Day.

The performance group enjoyed a pizza lunch together and were able to share lots of stories and laughs together about the day.

Also, the Year 12 students from Miss Robinson’s HSC Aboriginal Studies class were able to bring down their major research projects to share with the Aboriginal Elders. The students presented their projects and talked with the Elders about how their research had helped them to better understand a variety of Issues concerning Aboriginal People.

The Elders enjoyed their time with the students at LIHS and MWPS and our students loved being able to work with the Elders throughout their performance and also having them here to visit and share lunch, we hope that this relationship between students and Elders can continue to grow in the future.

Clontarf at Lake Illawarra High

The Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, discipline, self-esteem, life skills and employment prospects of young Aboriginal men and by doing so, equips them to participate more meaningfully in society. Clontarf Academies have been established in all parts of Australia since the year 2000. This year the Lake Illawarra High School Clontarf Academy was established as part of the NSW expansion.

So far, in Term 1 the Academy has almost completed the setup of the Academy room, registered 46 boys into the program, carried out inductions on what the program can offer the boys and the expectations of being a part of the program. We have participated in “Clean up Australia Day”, started our morning trainings each Tuesday from 7am, participated in after school activities each Monday including a table tennis tournament, golf lessons at the range, and a bush walk. Our first Clontarf Overnight Camp was up to Sydney to visit another academy, a footy game a Jubilee Oval, then out to Goulburn for a behind the scenes tour of the Australian Superbike Venue at Wakefield Park.

Future activities within the program will also include Employment visits to various companies and organisations around the Illawarra and Sydney, Various Clontarf Sporting tournaments including Touch football, League, AFL, Rugby 7’s and Cricket.

Our number one goal in Clontarf is to provide positive experiences throughout the boys’ school journey so that they complete year 12. Beyond Year 12 we have Employment officers to assist the boys in finding and keeping employment.

We are only young here at Lake Illawarra High School, but have already achieved so much already. We look forward to assisting the boys in their school journey.

Glen Stephen: Director

Paul Morris: Operations Officer

NAPLAN Information

Harbour Centre

Our Yr 11 & 12 students are enjoying their elective Marine Studies class. On our double period we walk to various locations along the lake to fish. The students are taught the proper techniques using a fishing rod.

Carl Stone caught a small whiting near Windang Bridge and Courtney Fry was looking to see if her bait was still on her hook.

Our Friday swimming program is coming to an end. The students enjoyed going to Warilla Pool for sport. The students participated in various games, such as noodle and kickboard races.

Many of our students are working closely with Fiona from Workplace Learning. Fiona talks and prepares the students for the workplace. Seth Perrin and Kenneth Naylor-Hosa have been outstanding. These two students are ready for work experience next term.