The Bevo Voice

Transcription

1 Beverly Hills Girls High School Issue 5 Parent & Community Newsletter July 2014 My name is Winnie Saseve and I m in Year 11. A few weeks ago the Year 12 VET Entertainment girls, assisted by Mr Bennie, put together a competition and fundraiser called the Bevo Voice. Being a part of the Bevo Voice competition with other girls from Years 7-12 has to be the best opportunity that I have been given to showcase my talent and my passion for music. Since winning the Bevo voice competition, I have had the amazing experience of being able to release a song that I have written, to communicate the feelings and emotions of a personal experience to a worldwide audience through the lyrics of my song. The Bevo Voice On the day of the release of "10 Years Gone By", it reached the top 100 most purchased singer/songwriter songs as no.87 on the itop charts. Being able to work with Mr.Bennie as my music producer has been a great privilege and I am looking forward to writing some more songs and getting the chance to be heard by people all over the world. Selling at $1.79 on google play store (on android brands) and $1.69 on itunes (apple brand), my song "10 Years Gone By" is now available to purchase worldwide and on various other websites including amazon.com. As Bob Marley said, Love the life you live, live the life you love. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 1

2 Message from the principal By Mr Skene, Principal Celebrating Public Education Week Beverly Hills Girls High school is a proud member of the public education community of NSW. Our school has a proud and distinguished history of achievement and recognition as being a successful and innovative one and we share in the collective strength of the many, many public school communities that are the foundation of our great state and nation. We believe strongly in the capacity of our students to be leaders and contributors in any field or endeavour and to represent our community and their family in a dignified, intelligent and purposeful way. Our young women do it day after day after day. And, they do it wonderfully well. During Public Education Week (28 July 1 August), two of our Year 11 students, Anastasia Tellis and Joumana Ghazzaoui, were selected to shadow senior DEC officers as they went about their significant leadership and management roles. Anastasia was selected, on merit, to work with the Secretary of the Department of Education and Communities, Dr Michelle Bruniges. This is the second such appointment for members of our school community, with Daniella Mraovic also undertaking that role (then called Director-General) with Dr Bruniges in In what is shaping up as a stellar year in the life of Joumana Ghazzaoui, having recently returned from a week at the prestigious UBS Young Women s Leadership Academy at Sydney University, she was selected to work with the Public Schools Director (Relieving) for Canterbury, Mr John Selby, and to contribute to a range of discussions on key educational reforms as well as attend official ceremonies marking Public Education Week. To have nominated two students and for them both to be selected to undertake these leadership opportunities within DEC speaks volumes for the quality of the programs that we offer that help build the leadership potential of the young women of our school. And, as importantly, it is a proud and worthy acknowledgement of the work of their families in encouraging and supporting their daughters through their years in public education. Joumana and Anastasia have written a short article on their experiences during Public Education Week and I encourage you to read it in this newsletter. Other school initiatives during Public Education Week focused on showing our appreciation for our near neighbours that surround our school, as well as members of the local business and residential communities of Narwee and Beverly Hills. Small gifts were distributed on behalf of our school by members of our Student Representative Council to remind our local community that we are very much appreciative of our position within their daily lives. As a gesture of thanks and appreciation, I had the great privilege to visit, along with Anastasia and Joumana, some of our neighbouring K 6 schools and offer a small gift to celebrate and acknowledge them during Public Education Week. After visiting Narwee PS, Beverly Hills North PS, Riverwood PS, Peakhurst PS, Beverly Hills PS, Hannans Road PS and McCallums Hill PS, we all felt a great sense of pride in being part of the important institution that is Public Education, and enormous confidence that the system that helps develop such outstanding young leaders as Joumana and Anastasia, is as strong, vibrant and vital as ever in providing those same opportunities for our young people in public schools in NSW. Long live Public Education! In other news of note, a former student of Beverly Hills Intensive English Centre, Esther Qin, won a Gold Medal for Australia in Diving (3m springboard) at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Esther also won a Bronze medal in the 1m springboard! Now 22 years old, Esther enrolled at BHIEC in about 2008, and indicated to David Rice (HT BHIEC) that she had been a competitive diver in China. She was supported by BHIEC to attend Regional and CHS Diving events, where she duly won a range of titles. She was ultimately snapped up by the AIS and spent some time in Brisbane before returning to work with the NSW program in Sydney. Congratulations Esther. We are so proud of your achievements and look forward in anticipation of more to come! BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 2

3 Reflections from the deputies By Ms J Grimshaw and Mr M Christison Deputy Principals Education Week Celebrating Public Education: Valuing Our Community reflects our key message for Education Week School Assistants, teaching staff, volunteer students and members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) enthusiastically embraced our planned activities. This year marks the 60 th Anniversary of Education Week and the theme this year, as it was 60 years ago, was: Lighting the way to a better world. To begin the week, Mr Skene, Mr Christison, Ms Grimshaw, Mrs Antoniadis, Ms Byrne and SRC members visited each of our neighbours and presented them with a school pen. We wanted to thank our neighbours and reinforce the positive relationship we have with them. On Thursday, teams went further afield into the communities of Narwee and Beverly Hills. Students had wrapped 200 apples and attached gift tags. These simple yet symbolic gifts were given to businesses, employees and the public in our broader community. Faces lit up with broad smiles and it was a joy for all. Technology Although the Federally funded Digital Education Revolution (DER) has finished, the use of technology within schools has not. Students in Year 9 bring their computer device to school, as part of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program. This device must meet strict requirements to successfully integrate with the DEC system. Along with the close of the DER initiative, the Technology Support Officer (TSO) positions ceased. The school is investigating options to support students in Years with a DER computer. Year 10 into Year 11, 2015 The process of supporting students in the transition into Year 11, 2015 has begun. Students will soon be briefed on subjects the school offers as part of the senior school. Individual career counselling, in later August, aims to assist students with information required to make wise choices. A parent information night is scheduled for Wednesday 13 th August, Celebrations As a school and as individuals, the Beverly Hills Girls High School community has a strong record of success. We acknowledge and congratulate: Esther Qin, a student who won regional and CHS awards for diving and who then went on to study at the Australian Institute of Sport represented Australia at the recent Commonwealth Games. Esther won gold in the 3m springboard and bronze in 1m springboard. Anastasia Tellis and Joumana Ghazzaoui who were selected from a strong field from across the state to shadow a significant educational person for a day during Education Week. Anastasia shared the top job as Secretary and Joumana was the Director of our Canterbury cluster of schools. Winnie Saeseve, a singer/songwriter, who with staff support released a song called 10 years gone by. As Winnie said I just want my song to help others. The song has reached number 87 on itunes. IN THIS ISSUE Principal s message Page 2 Reflections from the DP Page 3 Education Week Page 4 Public Education Page 8 Just for Kicks Page 9 Sister School visit-- Italy Page 10 Secretary for a day Page 13 Refugee Day Page 14 Bevo Refugee Day Page 17 Coffee Club Page 18 Science Page 19 A Successful Garden Page 20 Uniform Page 23 BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 3

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5 Public Education week By Anastasia Tellis and Joumana Ghazzaoui Year 11 As part of celebrating Education Week 2014 our school took the initiative to visit local primary schools in order to express our appreciation towards staff contribution in public education. Both Joumana and I, accompanied by Mr Skene, had the opportunity to meet and greet with various principals and office staff to recognise their continuous hard work and commitment. Without their assistance and support, public education wouldn t be as great and successful as it is today. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 5

6 Public Education Week By the SRC In celebration of the 60 th Anniversary of Public Education Week (28 th July- 1 st of August) selected members of the Student Representative Council, together with Mr Skene, Mr Christison, Ms Grimshaw, Ms Antoniadis and Ms Byrnes visited our wider community to raise awareness and promote the value of education as well as to thank our wonderful neighbours and community members. For the first time we were able to forge greater links between our younger students and our valued community members to form strong interpersonal connections. The theme of this year s Education week mirrored that of the first in 1954, "Lighting the way to a better world, which our students interpreted as education being the primary tool to achieving success. As young women, they were particularly inspired by the central theme as they felt privileged to be in a community accepting of women gaining an education. Students described the experience as rewarding, an eye-opener and truly enjoyable. Ghina Hamade of Year 10, who visited our local community in the shopping strip of Narwee said, Their reaction wasn t as expected. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our community members were so blown away by simple acts of generosity in appreciation of Public Education. Public Education institutes celebrate the wider community and without the cooperation of the array of families and businesses in our local community, our embracement of Education Week would cease to exist. We truly value the fact that as a school we do not exist in isolation. Our community members are accepting and supportive of our learning and showcase this every day, said Emily Pearson, Year 10. Our small act of appreciation was in no way equivalent to their constant contribution as seen in the highly successful P&C, their patience and understanding especially on public transport and an overall welcoming of our students and staff members. Nidhi Bedre of Year 11 had the privilege of meeting a previous resident of the Beverly Hills community who claimed that our appreciation of and interaction with our neighbours is the reason she returned to live in our community. Dania Roumieh and Amani Mahmoud were able to experience first-hand the gratitude of a local business owner who reciprocated the gesture with a complementary cookie. We felt most obliged to show our appreciation to Fernwood Gym as they so greatly contribute towards our recreational sporting program. We look forward to continuing the tradition in the future and once more thank our wider community for supporting and working with our school. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 6

7 Community Response. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 7

8 ..building independent learners! When reading a book or a website with your daughter, try.. CLARIFYING any difficult or strange words, MONITORING that we understand the language being used (Super strategy No 3) and QUESTIONING about the text: what did the place look like? What would you see? Hear? What did they feel? (Super Strategy No 4) Reading is the key to learning, research, achievement in assessment and further training. At BHGHS, we are promoting the Super Six Reading Strategies across subjects in Years 7-10 to build independent learners. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 8

9 Just For Kicks By Ms B Sharkey Just for Kicks has continued to grow this term. Going into Term 3, we are seeing increased numbers attending Friday lunchtime activities participating in a variety of competitive activities. Friday after school sessions aim to improve students level of skill and increase their confidence to participate in competitive team sports. Towards the end of Term 2, students challenged their skills and fitness level, participating in kick boxing. The girls really enjoyed trying something new. This term, JFK students are participating in the Premier Sporting Challenge, working as a team to improve their physical activity levels. Students record their activity and earn award levels each week. All students activity level is then combined to create a team total which is then entered into the challenge. A big congratulation goes out to both Vanessa Turnbull and Keasha Mailei on their short Propeller film. This film was created by the Foundation of Young Australians with the aim of inspiring other young change makers to make a difference in their communities as the girls have at our school. Both girls will be flying down to Melbourne at the end of August to attend the Unleashed festival and awards ceremony. They should be very proud of their accomplishments. If you are interested in participating in JFK or the Premier Sporting Challenge you can still come and join in. Students meet on a Friday at lunch and after school in the Gym or on the Field. If you have any questions, don t hesitate to ask your sports captain Vanessa Turnbull or your House Captains. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 9

10 Sister school visits. On Tuesday 22 nd of July, 18 very excited students and two teachers arrived from Italy at Sydney International airport on the trip of a life time! These students and teachers come from the High School in Montepulciano, Tuscany, with whom we have a sister school exchange that has been operating for the past 18 years! Since 1997 Mr Man, Head Teacher Languages, has been taking students from Year 10 and Year 11 Italian classes on a one month tour of Italy that includes a home stay in Montepulciano. Now, it s the Italian students turn to visit our wonderful city. In fact this has been the ninth visit by students from San Bellarmino High! So far the students have been to a number of attractions including the Rocks, the Opera House, Bondi and Manly beaches, Sydney Tower, Darling Harbour and even a day trip to the Blue Mountains, where our Year 9, 10 and 11 Italian students had the opportunity to converse with the visiting students in Italian. Our visiting students will be here with us until Tuesday 12 th of August. Here are some of the diary entries from our visitors: Diary entries from our sister school in Tuscany.. Anna Ceccacci My name is Anna Ceccacci and I am a teacher of English at Poliziano - Bellarmino High School in Montepulciano, a little town in Southern Tuscany, Italy. This is my first time in Sydney and I am supervising, together with another teacher of Italian, Mrs Antonella Morgantini, a group of 18 students, 8 boys and 10 girls aged from 15 to 18 years old. Our stay in Sydney is from 22 July to 12 August. My host is Professor Marco Man who is universally considered as the father of the exchange between Beverly Hills High School and San Bellarmino High School. I thank him very much for having given me and my students the opportunity to stay and visit his school in Sydney. Our students through this exchange have had the opportunity to improve their fluency in English, as they are living with host families many of whom are from Beverly Hills Girls High School. Our students have been visiting the numerous attractions that Sydney has to offer, as well as attending classes with their host sisters. My students, my colleague and I thank Professor Marco for this unforgettable experience in Australia and we look forward to his return visit to Montepulciano in September this year. Blue Mountains - Sydney Opera House - Sydney Arrival at Sydney airport BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 10

11 Simone Urbani I am Simone and I come from Tuscany. I am taking part in a cultural exchange between Italy and Australia. I have visited, with my group, some really interesting places in Sydney such as the Opera House and Darling Harbour. I have also attended an Australian school, Beverly Hills Girls High, which is really different from Italian high schools. For example, in Italy, we don t have schools just for male or female. I am a guest of a very nice family that lives in Croydon and provides me all I need. This is a great experience and I recommend it to everyone. Ciao Simone. Irene Di Gioia Being in another country is always a beautiful experience. Culture, traditions, food, everything is so different from things you usually do at home. In the beginning you could feel dumbstruck because of all this new stuff but you gradually get used to your new (temporary) life. When I arrived in Australia, at first, I couldn t believe I was actually here! Everything looked so unreal, like in a movie or in a dream. Driving on the left, dollars, waking up in the morning saying Morning instead of Buongiorno, eating at weird hours (you do have dinner at unbelievably early times, mates!), all these things were hard to understand but now I feel like an actual Australian (or should I say Aussie!) By the way, I really recommend everyone should do this exchange because it changes your world upside down. See ya soon, Australia! Irene. Matteo Calvarese My name is Matteo and I m from Tuscany. I m taking part in an exchange program between our school in Montepulciano and Beverly Hills High School. My experience here has been really exciting so far. We have visited some beautiful parts of the city, including Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Tower. Furthermore my host family is very welcoming and lots of fun, they took me to a rugby match and even to Symbio Wildlife Park where I managed to take a selfie with a kangaroo! I hope that this exchange program will continue in future years because it is a fantastic experience which helps you to grow up. Elisa Boncompagni It's quite strange that a small village like Montepulciano has an exchange program with Sydney. They are very different: size, food, organisation, languages and tradition aren't the same. People aren't so similar, too. In Italy, all of my friends are Italian but here there is a mixture of cultures. My host sister is Syrian for example. She is the first Muslim person I have ever known and she's absolutely nice, patient (she always repeats words twice because I'm stubborn and not very good at English, so I can't understand), she's funny and cute. We did lots of things together: we went for a run in the park, we went to a traditional Arabic engagement, to the blue mountains... I loved every activity we did, especially the excursion to the Opera House and the walk on the Harbour Bridge (it has a fantastic view, it doesn't even seem real). Overall my experience in Australia has been wonderful! Mariasole Monaci I'm feeling one of the most lucky person in the world. Being on the other side of the world is an amazing opportunity and I have to say "thanks" to my host sister Vanessa Zakir and her family that are so nice with me and make me feel at home. Because of the teachers Anna Ceccacci and Antonella Morgantini's organization, I and the other 18 Italians of the group have visited the best places in Sydney, like the Opera House, the Botanic Gardens, the Museum, the Harbour Bridge, the Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach. This is an awesome experience that I'll suggest to everyone when I'll return in Italy and will rest forever in my heart. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 11

12 Blue Mountains excursion with the visiting Italian students around Sydney to places such as the Opera house, Taronga Zoo and the Blue mountains. The Luidens family who hosted me have been very kind. I would recommend Sydney to anyone who wants to have a fun and interesting experience. Ruggero Meucci On Monday the 4 th of August a group of girls studying Italian accompanied by the exchange students from Italy travelled by coach to the cold and windy Blue Mountains, we arrived at Katoomba at around 10:45 in the morning. Temperature was approximately 7 degrees. The day was filled with laughter, joy, happiness and more importantly we had the experience of a life time! From native birds and fresh air, to breathtaking views of the World Heritage-listed region including the Three Sisters, Katoomba Falls and Scenic World, the day was magical we had a blast! Not only was it an adventure, but also it was a test of our knowledge. We forced ourselves to interact and start conversations with the students from Italy. We thank Mr Man very much for the opportunity he has given us to explore our own country. THANK YOU SIR! Italian and Australian students having conversations in Italian with the visiting Italian students and their two teachers. Layal Zbib, Year 10 Italian Year 10 Italian students with Ruggero Meucci on excursion in the Blue Mountains Hi, I'm Ruggero Meucci, when I decided to visit Australia, I didn't know exactly to expect. Now, after visiting Sydney, I have realised that everyone who comes here will find a young, developing and modern country. I have really enjoyed my holiday here! I have to thank many people for that: my teachers who have made this trip possible and that have guided us Mariasole, Cristiana and Elisa at the Opera House BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 12

13 Secretary for a Day program By Anastasia Tellis, Year 11 As part of the Secretary for a Day program, myself and another student from Wollongong were chosen, out of all the applicants from across the state of NSW, to have the amazing opportunity to shadow Dr Michele Bruniges, the Secretary of the Department of Education. Early Monday morning on the July 28 th, my fellow Secretary for a Day and I met the lovely Michele Bruniges as we made our way to Campbelltown Performing Arts High School for the Education Week Launch. We had the chance to meet the Premier, the Minister of Education Adrian Picolli and a range of other directors and officers who were all very welcoming. The assembly that was held was amazing, consisting of several remarkable performances and videos of alumni of public education such as John Howard and Chris Bath. Later on in the day we had lunch with the Secretary, had a tour around her department as well as an interesting chat about her career and involvement with many different affairs. As soon as we finished chatting we resumed our very busy schedule of attending meetings and having the privilege to meet the honourable Minister Dominello of Citizenship, Communities and Aboriginal Affairs. We had a great chat with Minister Dominello as well as an amazing view of the Centre Point Tower and the Harbour from his office! As our day with Dr Bruniges concluded we took a few photos and said our goodbyes before she was off to resume her crazy schedule. On Tuesday the 29 th, the group of 20 students elected from all corners of NSW, including myself, attended a Student Leadership Forum where we built on our leadership skills and were introduced to a new program developed by the DEC. Not only was this day very productive but it also gave us time to further build our friendships with one another. Our exciting two days came to an end as we took selfies and said some bittersweet goodbyes to our new friends. Needless to say, it was an amazing once in a lifetime experience where I gained an insight into the frenetic agenda and responsibilities of being the Head of the Department of Education and Communities! BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 13

14 Refugee Camp By Celia Huang and Emily Pearson On June , students from the elective Geography class HG32/42 Our World in Crisis and from the S.R.C were invited to attend The Refugee Camp simulation at Sir Joseph Banks High School. The simulation was organised as part of National Refugee Week and as part of the Refugee Challenge program that aims to raise awareness for issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers. The Refugee Camp really was an eye-opening experience and gave us a stronger understanding of what the life of an asylum seeker is like. Upon arriving at the school, we were escorted to the hall where we were all then given an identification number (as many asylum seekers are not seen as people with real names and identities but rather as a series of numbers) and then divided into groups. Subsequently, our school group were split apart and this also highlighted the reality that groups of families fleeing persecution are often separated. The teachers and students of Sir Joseph Banks High School had set up several tents inside the hall each representing a necessity most of us take for granted. These tents ranged from information on food eaten in refugee camps, medical assistance and information on education received. A few of the tents contained interactive activities in which we were placed in simulation of a leaky boat and was able to experience the story of an asylum seeker. One of these activities also gave us an opportunity to place a handprint on a piece of paper and write a message, and these messages would be given directly to those suffering in refugee camps and asylum seekers in detention. We are thankful that the Elective Geography class and selected members of the SRC were given this opportunity to attend an event such as this! BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 14

15 Refugee Camp Sir Joseph Banks BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 15

16 Refugee Day By Celia Huang and Julia Loukas On the 20 th June 2014 Beverly Hills Girls High School acknowledged the major issue of refugees and asylum seekers in detention, as it held the first ever Beverly Hills Girls High School Refugee Day. The elective Geography class, HG32 Our World in Crisis, and the SRC extensively planned this day to raise awareness of asylum seekers in our school and potentially our broader community. This day consisted of an interactive activity with representative speakers from Amnesty International, who are a worldwide organisation who campaign for internationally recognised human rights to be respected and protected, followed by an emotional documentary Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. This documentary monitored the lives and struggles of asylum seekers who had troubles with on and off-shore processing along with inhumane living conditions in detention centers and provided a real insight into the reality of asylum seeker s lives. During this time, the elective Geography class set up such activities such as a photo booth, a bracelet stall and a banner that encouraged the students to write messages on the day s theme - restoring hope. However, due to very unexpected (and unappreciated) rain we had to move all of our rain soaked equipment to an undercover area. However, the weather did not dampen the attitude of the students, as they were very enthusiastic and participated in the set activities; taking selfies in front of the backdrop (and encouraged them to use the day s hashtag #bevorefugeeday), buying bracelets and signing the banner with support messages underlying the theme of restoring hope. Overall, the first ever Beverly Hills Girls High School Refugee Day was a success and we believe we have instilled a real and truthful perspective of asylum seekers to the student. We hope this is the first of many future Beverly Hills Girls High School Refugee Days! BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 16

17 #BevoRefugeeDay BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 17

18 Coffee Club s World Vision Fundraiser By Mrs Duffy Every Friday between 7:30 and 8:45, groups of Year 11 and 12 Hospitality students run a café. This provides an opportunity for the girls to develop skill using the Espresso Coffee Machine, and prepare and serve a breakfast menu. Our numbers of customers has grown steadily we average 30 staff members and several students each week. All items are priced at $3 and the menu varies. Examples are corn fritters, omelettes, frittata, pancakes, and banana bread. Xi Xi Wu, one of our Year 11 volunteers, proposed that takings from Friday August 8 th be donated to World Vision. Many customers also made additional donations. We were thrilled to raise $160! Thank you to everyone. The Hurting Game By Students of Year 7 On the 30 of May Year 7 experienced an educational yet humorous performance called the The Hurting Game. The Hurting Games is a performance about bullying and the struggle about growing up. The structure of the play was peculiar, but we still enjoyed it! The performance was about two Year 12 s who had to create a video game for a drama assignment. The most significant parts were about the pressure on students to conform to behaviours that they are not happy with just so that they can belong. Jimmy was trying to impress Louis, so he engaged in calling people names, avoiding old friends, interacting with the wrong group of people and using inappropriate behaviour with social media. He changed his whole self to be noticed by the cool guys. It was very humorous. The other girl in the play was using diet pills because of being issues with her body image. She was more conservative about the way she looked; she had a very low self-esteem and felt as though she wasn t good enough. Her eating disorder was called bulimia and she was taking diet pills to make her skinnier because she wanted to be considered thin, like her friend Kerstin and magazine models that are considered the right size for society. The most significant part of the whole play was when Jimmy faced consequences for the mistakes he made when he was younger. The play touched on underage drinking and bullying which was when he was in Tenth Grade, causing him to get a criminal record. Therefore Jimmy couldn t travel overseas to follow his dreams. We had a great discussion after the play with the actors and the messages were very important for us. The moral of the story is to never doubt yourself. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 18

19 New Science Electronic Data Loggers By Mrs Briggs Year 11 Chemistry class Our Year 11 Chemistry class were the first to use the new Science data loggers for our experiment to see how adding salt changes the boiling point of water. In the experiment we used the metal temperature probe and slowly increased the temperature of pure water until it boiled. The probes and data loggers were attached to the science laptops where a real-time graph was being displayed. For the second part of the experiment we dissolved a large amount of sodium chloride (that s table salt to you) in the same amount of water and repeated the procedure. The results were very interesting. The water with salt added took longer to increase in temperature, but it boiled at a few degrees higher that the pure water. Very interesting! The thing we liked about the new equipment was that we didn t have to try to read a thermometer every minute! We also ended up with a fantastic graph that had the results of both the pure water boiling and the salt water boiling on the same graph, which was great for comparison. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 19

20 A Successful Little Garden By Mia Castagnone At the beginning of 2014 the junior Student Representative Council members were given a planter box and the task to create an SRC garden and grow something. Nearly 7 months later our garden soldiers on! At first, it took a while to get things happening, and we were unsuccessful, growing no more than 3 small snow peas. This time around we planted the remaining snow peas and they are growing wonderfully! Our lone planter box is filled with an abundance of little, green snow pea plants. Coming back to school and seeing our peas still alive after a dry holiday gave us much joy and hope. We recently placed in longer stakes to give them added support and noticing that the stakes have helped, we will be placing more. Each week we water them and watch over them to make sure they are growing well. We have high hopes that we will be harvesting many snow peas by the end of this term. Our goal is to expand our school garden with more planter boxes and student involvement and to keep this initiative thriving. If anyone at school not in the SRC wishes to help with the SRC garden, they can see Teresa Feng in Year 9 or myself. Our Talent Showcased By Mariam Abdoh At Beverly Hills Girls High School, we pride ourselves in developing and embracing the many talented girls in our school, and what better way to showcase their talents than the annual Beverly Hills Girls High School Talent Quest. The 2014 Talent Quest Committee comprised of eight Year 11 students, including Mariam Abdoh, Alysia Kwan, Joumana Ghazzaoui, Serena Ford, Mariam El- Masry, Malak Baydoun, Michelle Nguyen and Nancy Doh. After long discussions and a few votes, we finally decided that the 2014 theme would be The Great Gatsby. Our next tasks were to choreograph an opening performance, organise an audition and a rehearsal, come up with suitable costumes and collect money from all the students. After many announcements, early morning meetings and a lot of preparations, the big day arrived. On Friday the 27 th of June, the last day of Term Two and the traditional day of our annual Talent Quest, we found ourselves making the last few adjustments to the backdrop and fine tuning our opening performance. When all the girls were seated in the hall and Mrs Antoniadis began to introduce the first act, I heard someone say behind the curtains, Is this actually happening? and before we knew it, we were moving around the stage to great classics including Mambo Number 5. Backstage was hectic throughout the performances, with the Committee running from backstage to the back of the hall, hosting and introducing the acts, but we managed to improvise and overcome all the technical difficulties, as cliché as it sounds. Well done to all the students who attended, you girls were a great audience! Thanks to you and the efforts of the committee, lots of money was raised for the Year 12 Valedictory Celebration. I would like to thank all the staff members and teachers who helped us out with organising the event and whom without we wouldn t have been able to produce such a fantastic turnout. A huge congratulations to all the girls who performed, you all did a wonderful job! We would also like to thank Mrs Antoniadis for allowing us to be a part of such a rewarding and fun experience. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 20

21 Competitions National Science Week August Guessing Competitions Fun BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 21

22 COMPETITION Tell us a Science story about Living in the 21 st Century You could use any of the following formats to show your take on how life has changed for the better in the last hundred years because of scientific discoveries and inventions: A narrative A picture book A formal scientific report A short video presentation A comic book Negotiate any other format with Mrs Briggs You will be judged on the following: How well you incorporated the scientific principles that underpin changes to our lives over the century How accurate and scientifically correct your information was How engaging your presentation was There will certificates and a small present for all those who enter and a more substantial prize for First Place and Runner up! Please see Mrs Briggs in the Science Faculty for more information Entries close by 31 August BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 22

23 Parents please ensure that your daughter attends school in full school uniform. Black coloured scarves and tops are not uniform. SCHOOL SHOES At Beverly Hills Girls High School, students must wear: Black, fully enclosed, leather, lace-up shoes. Occupational Health and Safety rules require this type of footwear to protect students. Subjects such as Food Technology and Science require such appropriate, safe footwear to be worn. or On days when students have a timetabled Sports / PE lesson, students must bring the PE uniform and joggers / sports shoes to change into. BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 23

24 Calendar Dates August Tuesday 12 Yrs. 9,10 Cremorne Orpheum Cinema Tuesday 13 Year 10 into 11 Subject Selection Thursday 14 Yrs. 9, 10 Fresh Ed Teen Nutrition Thursday 14 Sports Captain Election Thursday 14 Yr. 12 Incursion UAC Application in Hall Friday 15 Crossroads Day 3 Friday 15 Yr. 9 Fundraising ZONTA Friday 15 Yrs. 8,9,10 Modern Greek Excursion Wednesday 20 Year 8 Knock out Debate Thursday 21 Police Talk -Safety Thursday 21 Police talk Friday 22 Motivated Media Impact Hall Thursday 28 Year 12 Biology Senior Science Excursion September Monday 8-15 Tuesday 16 Wednesday 17 Thursday 18 Friday 19 Year 11 Exams ZONTA Presentation Dinner Year 12 BBQ Dress Up SRC Investiture Assembly Year 12 Valedictory Assembly BEVERLY HILLS GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL CNR BROAD ARROW ROAD BEVERLY HILLS NSW 2209 LOCKED BAG 3 BEVERLY HILLS NSW 2209 PHONE: FAX: WOMEN CAN DO ANYTHING BHGHS-Providing Quality Education for Young Women 24