Feature News

ANZAC Assembly 2022 

Upon our return this term, we commemorated ANZAC Day. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing extensive impact of Covid-19 in our community, the decision was made at the end of Term One that it would be necessary to once again, hold this important event online. Our video assembly was filmed onsite at our school War Memorial wall which provided an inspiring backdrop. We were fortunate enough to have local Pelaw Main man, Garry Winchester, who served in the Vietnam War, as our guest speaker this year. Garry was born and raised in the area and attended Kurri Kurri High. In his ANZAC Address, Garry spoke of what ANZAC Day means to him and his mates. Our students really responded to the fact that Garry was an ex-student of our school. Many thanks to both Garry and Kellie Tilden for making his involvement possible. Additionally, I would like to thank our school captains, Sharra Gibson and Paul Jimenez; and JAECG President Samuel Tedd, who continue to show their commitment to their duties by attending school on the Staff Development Day to record their contributions to the video assembly.

 Looking forward to 2023, we are excited to be able to return to hosting this significant event as a live, whole-school assembly.  

Sustainnovation Challenge

For two days in week 8, six of our Year 8 students competed in the City of Newcastle's Sustainnovation Challenge against 9 schools from the Newcastle and Lower Hunter region. They were posed with the question: How do we get our cities and community ready for the future of work? 

Alongside discussions with key figures in the community including Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, students worked collaboratively to showcase their creativity and critical thinking skills in developing a solution that would help shape the new vision for Newcastle. The students then pitched their idea to a panel of judges who selected one winning team to work on implementing their design. All students played an important role in the creation of their idea, securing a win with their sustainable app system titled 'Partnership Points'. A HUGE congratulations to the participating students Ben C., Ryder H., Madison M., Savanah Mc., Peyton B., and Lewis J. 

Peyton shared the teams idea on ABC radio:

We started thinking about the ‘whys’ and what Newcastle would need to be sustainable in the future. We then planned what our perfect sustainable, smart city would look like which is where our idea ‘Partnership Points’ came from. Partnership Points is an app where citizens of Newcastle can exchange sustainable acts such as recycling, using gray water and volunteering for points which can be redeemed through public transport OR through offers promoted by local businesses. To make this beneficial for the businesses, we decided that they could sponsor a week – for example, Week 1 may be sponsored by a local coffee shop, Week 2 may be sponsored by Headspace for free mental health checks etc.