Brighton Secondary School Newsletter September 2016

Brighton Secondary School

Newsletter ISSUE 7 I September 2016

From the Principal You may have read recently in The Advertiser, that all public schools are reviewed, both as an individual school (the School Review) and as part of a partnership of schools (the Partnership Review). It is true that preparing for these reviews takes a lot of time. However, it’s important that we collect ongoing feedback to self-reflect on how we can make improvements to student learning, student engagement and teaching methods.

All 98 teachers and 100 students will have the opportunity to speak with the three Review Principals. We are interested in the Review Panel inquiring into: 1. To what extent is learner voice evident across the campus?

2. As all students have a device and staff have multiple devices including interactive projectors, to what extent is challenge evident in the task design?

3.

To what extent are the school’s professional learning and performance development processes effective in building teacher capacity to stretch and challenge the students.

Department for Education and Child Development T/A South Australian Government Schools CRICOS Provider Number: 00018A

305 Brighton Road North Brighton, SA 5048 P 618 8375 8200 F 618 8296 0949 E admin@brighton.sa.edu.au www.brightonss.sa.edu.au

The recent professional development day saw teachers working on improving their skills to ‘flip’ the classroom. Flipping the classroom means that we ‘flip’ or reverse what used to happen in class and what used to happen at home. Now students watch the ‘flip’ (a video or a voice-over PowerPoint etc.) at home, to receive the information and then work on the understanding with the teacher, face-toface. Brighton has made a major investment in digital technologies and we are keen to inquire if this investment has produced more challenging tasks.

Sadly, the Moon Lantern Festival was cancelled due to rain. It was a shame because the students who organised it had worked very hard.

Parent / Student / Teacher Interviews Please put the following dates in your diary.

The next Parent / Student / Teacher interviews will be held in term 4 as follows: Years 10 & 11 on Tuesday 18th October, 3.30pm – 8.30pm Years 8 & 9 on Monday 24th October, 3.30pm – 8.30pm These interviews are by appointment and are booked online via the web site.

2017 is imminent. Term 3 is racing to a close - the Year 12 students have less than 20 school days left before the exam process begins. The 2017 timetable is under construction since the students selected their subjects. Selection of 2017 leadership positions is well under way. Unfortunately, both the Design Technology/ STEM and Science/ STEM Coordinator positions had no successful applicants. Fortunately, we had a result in the 2017 Maths/ STEM Coordinator congratulations Femia Bakuszowski.

The new ICT Manager, Sean Brennan, starts in Week 10. We are grateful to Brody Stevens and Michelle Steel who are to be congratulated for their excellent work keeping the ICT network running smoothly and answering all the issues that arise with more than 1600 devices.

Finally, I have included the results of the latest Parent / Teacher / Student Opinion Survey on page 3. It was pleasing that more parents, more students and more staff answered the survey this year.

Olivia O’Neill Principal

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Diary Dates OCTOBER 17 First day of term 4 18 Parent / Student / Teacher conferences, Years 10 & 11, 3.30pm – 8.30pm by appointment.

24 Parent / Student / Teacher conferences, Years 8 & 9, 3.30pm – 8.30pm by appointment.

25-28 Year 11 Outdoor Education camp 27 Year 12 classes conclude 28 Jazz Cabaret 28 Year 11 SIV Aquatics 28 Year 12 Breakfast 31 Valedictory 7.00pm, Adelaide Convention Centre

NOVEMBER 2 New Music Night 2 SIV In-school trials Years 8-11 7 Year 12 Exams commence 7 Governing Council meeting 7pm 7-11 Year 10 Outdoor Pursuits camp 11 Year 8 / 9 KO SIV @ BSS 11 Year 11 Research Project Expo 14 Year 8 Immunisations (all houses) 14 Year 8 Beach SIV 15 Year 8-10 Showcase (Music) 15 Year 9 Beach SIV 18 Charities & Recognition Assembly 19 World Challenge Team departs for Cambodia 23 Year 12 exams conclude 23 Sports Presentation Evening 23-25 Year 11 Exam week 24 Shakespeare Festival Year 10s

DECEMBER 2-8 Australian Business Week for Year 10s 3 SIV trip leaves for Melbourne 5 Governing Council, 7pm 5-9 Civics and Citizenship week 7-9 Concert Band Regional Tour 8 Civics and Citizenship assemblies 9 Civics and Citizenship panels 12-16 1.00pm dismissal 14 Lessons and Carols 8pm 16 Last day of school year

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Congratulations Congratulations to Tom Lightfoot, Year 8, who recently competed at the South Australian Short Course State Championships at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre. He competed in 13 individual events in which he medaled in all. Tom was only 4 points off the highest point scorer of the meet.

Aidene Parr, Year 12, who was selected to represent Secondary School Sport SA at the School Sport Australia Football (Soccer) championships. These championships were held in Western Australia in August.

Velvet Klass, Year 11, who was selected to represent Secondary School Sport SA at the School Sport Australia Football (Soccer) championships. These championships were held in Western Australia in August.

Sam Will, Year 12, who competed in the Australian National Diving championships in Sydney earlier this year. He was selected as Captain of the South Australian team. Sam has set 3 state records this year and has won state and age championships in Adelaide.

Congratulations to Grace Mayor in 1003CY who has been chosen in the top ten of the AIME’S Got Game finals. Brighton Secondary has been working with AIME (Australian, Indigenous Mentoring Experience) this year in their many workshops and programs they’ve held. AIME’S Got Game was a competition that AIME held across Australia that gave Indigenous students involved with the program a chance to enter via video. Grace was filmed singing Adele’s Turning Tables, and entered into the competition. Grace has been informed she has been chosen in the top ten students across Australia and will be flown to Sydney in November for vocal workshops with industry professionals as part of the AIME’S Got Game finalists.

Emergency Foster Carers Needed Foster care agencies are currently seeking emergency and short term foster carers.

What is emergency foster care? Sometimes children need urgent placement with a foster carer because there are concerns for the child’s immediate safety. These placements can occur any time, day or night, including after hours and on weekends.

‘Emergency’ does not mean you start today. All foster carers receive thorough training and assessment to ensure the children placed with you are safe and that you have the skills needed to provide quality care.

For more information, visit the Families SA website.

Contact: Program Officer, Foster Care Services, Maria Krahling, phone 8226 6617

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Parent / Teacher / Student

Opinion Survey Results

Brighton Culinary Skills On Monday 15th August both Sung Bae and Ellen Hamilton worked alongside 20 chefs at Regency TAFE to cater for 250 people at the Australian Culinary Federation President’s Gala Dinner.

Both Sung and Ellen were awarded with $100 Creative Cook gift vouchers and the Secondary Schools Culinary Shield. The night was very successful with much needed funds to support young chefs and students in their travels for future cooking competitions. Another dinner will be held at the Rydges Hotel on the 17th October to further support these students; details will be announced soon.

To top off the night Ellen was offered an Apprenticeship at the Rydges Hotel next year due to her skills in the kitchen.

Ryan Elliott Food and Hospitality Teacher

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Music

News The six weeks since Kate Ceberano’s visit have been incredibly busy and rewarding in Music culminating in our matinee and evening Music Spectacular concerts.

Essentially Ellington Down Under Following on from Generations in Jazz, Craig Bentley and Mark Cameron-Smith travelled to Melbourne on August 10 to continue their professional development by attending the Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival. This two-day workshop saw two lecturers from the Lincoln Centre, New York work specifically with big band rhythm section players on the finer details of the swing idiom.

When Icicles Hang On Saturday 20th of August the Brighton Concert Choir joined together with choirs from St Mary’s College, Christian Brothers College, St Peter’s College and Young Adelaide Voices to present a combined concert in our Concert Hall. When Icicles Hang, a choral work by John Rutter, was the main featured work in the program and celebrates the theme of Winter in all its guises. The Concert Hall was the perfect venue for the combined 150-voice choir which was accompanied by piano and two flutes as well as tenor soloist Jim Zhang. These instruments conjured up the haunting atmosphere of bitter winter winds, soft falling snowflakes and birds in bare trees as these images were also displayed on the big screen above.

The first half of the concert featured each choir performing their own repertoire and all groups presented at a very high level. There was a great variety of pieces which ranged from the relaxed, bluesy piece by Otis Redding Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay, through to Mary Lynn Lightfoot’s Tiger Tiger with text by William Blake and Thulele Mama Ya a Zulu wedding celebration song. The concert was such a fantastic celebration of choral music and fulfilling project of collaboration between schools.

Overall, the project raised $1200 in donations which will go to the St Vincent De Paul Society.

ABODA Band Festival This year was yet another successful campaign for our ensembles at the ABODA Band and Orchestra Festival.

Our Percussion Ensemble 2 was awarded a silver placing while the Concert Band received a gold award. The standout performance was

by Percussion Ensemble 1 who were crowned state champions.

Percussion Showcase This was an extremely well-run event by Billy James (supported by Mike Gillard) and demonstrated all facets of percussion playing from our students in ensembles and as soloists, as well as some guest performances by Jamie Adam’s ensemble and Adelaide University’s Andrew Penrose. Old Scholars Maddie Chandra and Jack de la Lande also took part in this event.

Andrew Barrett Head of Music

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BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Other events included: • Somerton Park Retirement Living – Brass Ensemble, Year 9 and 10 Music students • Recitals Australia – Lilla Davies-Ardill, Katarina Holmes, Jessica McDonald, Christopher McDonald, Mae Napier-Traeger • Austism SA Fundraiser – Jambol • Linkage Performance – Brooke Chapman, Travis Collins, Tatjana Damjanovic, Katarina Holmes, Meg Pope • The Cold Plunge – Bermuda Bay • Lions Club of Noarlunga Morphett Vale fundraiser for survivors of domestic violence – Mattea Osenk, Belle Harrison • Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s “Big Rehearsal” – Megan Paterson, Izzy Mason, Natalie Bertram, Shelby Bertram, Lauren Owens, Charlotte Rayner, Esmond Choi and Emma Richardson • Student Forum for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle at Adelaide Oval – Experiment One

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Music

News Music Spectacular This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Special Interest Music Centre and our Music Spectacular concerts celebrated this milestone. The matinee showcased primarily our junior ensembles as well as a visiting string quartet from Marryatville High School (also celebrating their 40th anniversary). In recognition of his stupendous contribution to Brighton Secondary School, we welcomed back Jeffrey Kong in a performance of Franz Strauss’ Nocturno for horn and piano (Sarah Barrett, horn). We were also delighted to include the Beachfront Hub Band in our Music Spectacular for the first time.

The 1970s (’76 in particular) were the theme of the evening performance with many ensembles honouring the 40-year milestone with pieces from this time. Brett Carruthers and his tech team went to town (including a disco ball suspended from the Concert Hall ceiling) in a sound and lighting extravaganza, adding a real party atmosphere to this event. After interval, Olivia O’Neill set an historical context before handing over to Old Scholars Sandy Hosking, Rob Chenoweth, Kym Waters, James Brown and Sam Hicks who recounted fond memories through the decades of their time as music students.

Special thanks to Cheryl Evans and her team for creating the laser cut 40th anniversary plaque, presented to Olivia O’Neill by Jeffrey Kong. As the evening drew to a close, we took a moment to farewell our Year 12 music students before Big Band 1 blasted the audience home with a rousing rendition of the Rocky theme song.

Andrew Barrett Head of Music

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BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

Responsibility | Integrity | Fairness | Co-operation | Respect | Excellence

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

Responsibility | Integrity | Fairness | Co-operation | Respect | Excellence

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Year 12 Health

Investigations As part of Year 12 Health, students are required to do a major investigation. Students identify and investigate a contemporary health issue, which is accompanied by a personal or community activity or social action to promote health. The following articles are by students who felt the School Newsletter was the best method to promote their health issue.

It is OK to feel grief

By Tenaya Pisters 1 in 20 Australian children will experience the death of a parent before the age of 18. Grief is a strong and sometimes quite an overwhelming emotion for some individuals. Grief is a natural reaction to loss. Some examples of loss can include; the death of a loved one, the ending of an important relationship, job loss, loss through theft, loss of a pet or the loss of independence through disability (Mayo Clinic, 2016). However, the more significant the loss more intense the grief is likely to be. Grief can affect your emotions, thoughts and behaviours, beliefs, physical health, your sense of self-identity, and your relationship with others. It can leave you feeling sad, angry, anxious, shocked, regretful, relieved, overwhelmed, isolated, irritable or numb (Lifeline, 2010).

However, grieving is extremely important because until we grieve effectively, a part of us remains tied to the past. You need to understand that grieving is not forgetting. Healthy grieving results in the ability to remember the importance of your loss, but with a newfound sense of peace, rather than agonizing pain (University of Washington, 2016).

I created a survey about grief with 83 responses. Interestingly, 51% said that they try to avoid feeling grief because it hurts too much (Pisters, 2016). Often grieving people are afraid to confront their grief for that if they open the door they will be drowned in a flood of tears or rage. Bottling up these feelings can be extremely bad for your mental health and physical health. It can sometimes lead some individuals down bad pathways such as taking drugs, alcohol addictions, smoking and many others to help them from feeling grief.

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Pets can help individuals dealing with grief. Pets can reduce risk of heart disease, lower stress levels, lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure.

They can also reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation. Pets can fulfil emotional needs like the need for love, security, companionship and comfort.

It can also give someone a sense of purpose (The Light Beyond, 2007).

There are many places individuals can go to get help with their grief. My survey results indicated that 83% said that just crying is extremely helpful and 80% said that their family helps them. Other places or people that can help are counsellors, Lifeline, Beyond Blue, General Practitioner, friends and therapists (Pisters, 2016). Always remember that it is ok to grieve and that grieving is not forgetting, it is about remembering the importance of your loss.

Reference List Healthy grieving 2016, University of Washington, Washington, accessed 3 August 2016, <https://www.washington.edu/ counseling/resources/resources-for-students/ healthy-grieving/>.

Loss & Grief 2010, Lifeline, accessed 3 August 2016, <https://www.lifeline.org.au/ Get-Help/Facts---Information/Loss---Grief/ Loss-and-Grief>.

Pets and therapy animals provide comfort in grief 2007, The Light beyond, accessed 3 August 2016, <http://www.thelightbeyond. com/pet_animals_provide_comfort_in_grief. html>.

Pisters, T 2016, Grief, survey, Google Forms, 3 August, accessed 3 August 2016, <https:// goo.gl/forms/33MbSko76sYCncL33>.

What is Grief? 2016, Mayo Clinic, accessed 3 August 2016, <http://www.mayoclinic. org/patient-visitor-guide/support-groups/ what-is-grief>.

Is your child getting enough quality sleep?

By Jack Dinnison Sleep is just as important for your child as eating and breathing (NSF, 2013).

So why isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough emphasis put on adolescents achieving the right amount of sleep each night? Not getting enough sleep can limit the ability your child has to listen and learn, as well as concentrate, remember names and other important information (NSF, 2013).

I conducted a survey of 200 Brighton Secondary School students, revealing that a staggering 22% of the respondents are currently receiving 6 or less hours of quality sleep each night.

The recommended amount of sleep is 8-10 hours each night for adolescents.

Alarmingly, only 17% of the respondent group were achieving this each night (Dinnison, 2016).

A range of pre-sleep activities can be blamed for the lack of sleep amongst students, with use of a mobile phone for social media, texting or phone calls (70%) the most popular, followed by watching TV (37%) and doing homework (26%). Interestingly, 22% of the students said that their emotions limited the amount of sleep they were getting (Dinnison, 2016).

It is extremely important that adolescents are getting quality sleep each night.

So what can parents and guardians do to help their child get the recommended amount of sleep each night?

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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1. Reduce screen time before bed. The bright screens that adolescents stare into for hours each night stimulates their brains, therefore, limiting the amount of screen time, especially just before bed, will ensure your child can unwind and fall asleep quicker (SHF, 2015).

2.

Routine, routine, routine. Creating a night routine will also benefit your child, helping them to unwind and settle in for a quality night sleep.

Relaxing activities such as having a bath or warm shower will signal to the brain that it is time for bed (SHF, 2015).

3. Bedrooms are for sleeping. Get your child out of their bedroom, allowing the brain to associate the bedroom with sleep and only sleep. When the bedroom is used for watching movies and playing video games, the connection between the bedroom and sleep can become confusing for the adolescent brain (SHF, 2015).

4. Relevance. Lastly, ensure your child understands the importance of getting enough quality sleep each night and how not achieving this can affect their grades, speaking, memory and attention span (SHF, 2015).

Please take the time to complete a short feedback survey about this article for my investigation: https://www. surveymonkey.com/r/63W2W67 Reference List NSF, 2013, Nutrition, Exercise & Sleep National Sleep Foundation. 2016. Nutrition, Exercise & Sleep - National Sleep Foundation.

[ONLINE] Available at: https://sleepfoundation. org/sleep-topics/diet-exercise-and-sleep.

[Accessed 02 August 2016].

Dinnison, J. 2016, Sleep habits survey, Brighton Secondary School, Adelaide SHF, 2015, For Everyone. 2016. For Everyone. [ONLINE] Available at: http:// www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/publicinformation.html. [Accessed 02 August 2016].

Why has Australia’s music festival culture turned deadly?

By Olivia Taylor Drug related deaths and injuries have and will continue to occur at music festivals around the world if something is not done. Such deaths and injuries could be avoided with a simple harmminimization intervention. Pill testing, also known as drug checking, identifies and provides feedback to users on the content contained within their illegal drugs, allowing them to make informed choices (NDARC, 2016). Pill-testing kits or booths at venues could be the change that could save the life of adolescents.

I conducted a survey in which 91 adolescents (aged 15 to 25) took part.

In order to do the survey the individual must have attended a music festival.

Alarmingly, 43% of participants confessed to have taken drugs more than once and 6% of participants confirmed that they only participate in drug use at music festivals due to the atmosphere and social aspect (Taylor, 2016). It was interesting to discover that 42% of participants believe that pill testing is something that would be used at music festivals by adolescents.

Indeed, many believe that the problem lies not within young people and festivalgoers, who’ve always been exploring ways to alter their consciousness in the pursuit of a good time, but with the organization that prevents them from doing it safely (NDARC, 2016). Opinions can differ from each individual who is at fault of these drug related deaths, although I can guarantee that the safety of the young people within the community is a concern for all.

Pill testing is not a fundamental idea.

Although it is a harm-minimization intervention provided by community and local governments. Pill testing is available in several European countries

including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain and France (NDARC, 2016). Australia is home to few of the most popular music festivals around the world, so why has pill testing not already been introduced?

Its effectiveness is strongly grounded in evidence, supporting that there are good reasons why this country should introduce the measure.

Pill testing is known in European countries to change behavior; research from Austria shows 51% of those who had their drugs tested said the results affected their consumption choices.

Two-thirds said they wouldn’t consume the drug and would warn friends in cases of negative results (NDARC, 2016).

Additionally, pill-testing interventions would create an important opportunity for providing support and information for young drug users. They would enable drug services to reach a population that is otherwise difficult to contact; with survey results showing that 39.6% of participants were unaware of the recent drug related deaths at music festivals before partaking in my survey (Taylor, 2016). Finally, pill testing means we can capture long-term data about the legitimate substances currently present in the drug scene, therefore creating the potential for an early warning system.

I ask you, from the above information, do you support pill testing? Please complete the survey below to help me understand what our community supports: https:// www.surveymonkey.com/r/CLZCJ28 Reference List Six reasons Australia should pilot ‘pill testing’ party drugs | NDARC - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. 2016. Six reasons Australia should pilot ‘pill testing’ party drugs | NDARC - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. [ONLINE] Available at: https:// ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/blog/six-reasonsaustralia-should-pilot-‘pill-testing’-party-drugs.

[Accessed 03 August 2016].

Taylor, Olivia, initial survey involving adolescent participants, https://docs.google.com/forms/ d/1n-jfHtZmQro9V74yH7rePffisP1Av5K_ ptqkOhUl_U8/edit#responses

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Volleyball

News Schools Cup State Volleyball Champion School 2016 At the recent Schools Cup Volleyball Championship in August, Brighton entered 260 students in 29 teams in the three day tournament playing in venues all over Adelaide.

At the end of the weekend we had achieved 9 Gold, 5 Silver and 8 Bronze medals.

Brighton Volleyball Program also retained the South Australian Champion School Trophy for the fifth year in a row.

Thank you to the teaching staff and coaches who volunteered their time at, before and after school practices during Term 2/3 and for giving up the 3 days of their time over the weekend.

We are proud to have had 27 Old Scholars who had previously been members of our Brighton SIV Program volunteer to coach our students at trainings and over the weekend. Without all of our coachesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; enthusiasm and commitment to giving back to the school community, it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be possible to offer these opportunities to our students.

On behalf of the SIV Staff, I would like to thank all of the parents and families who transported their children around to the many venues during the weekend and in particular for the positive vocal support during matches.

Once again the SIV staff were very pleased with the outstanding results, but the greatest satisfaction comes from observing the high level of sportsmanship and comradery displayed by our coaches and students which reflects the positive culture that we endeavour to build within the SIV program.

Sue Rodger Special Interest Volleyball Coordinator

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BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Brighton

Ski Trip After many weeks of fitness training, cycling classes, core training and aerobics at lunchtimes, all students were ready to hit the slopes. On Saturday 13 August, 42 Year 10 students and 6 staff, commenced the 15-hour journey to Mt Hotham, Victoria for the 2016 annual Brighton Ski Team trip.

Who wouldn’t want to join the Brighton Ski team? 5 days of skiing/snow boarding, 5 days of no school, 7 days away from my family; this sounds like the best deal ever! As students learned quickly, skiing and boarding isn’t as easy as it looks and after many falls and tears everyone was able to navigate a blue run. The journey was full of excitement that only increased at the first sight of snow on Sunday morning as the buses arrived at the Alpine Heights, which would become home while we were away.

Daily routine for the next five days consisted of an early wake up call at 7am for breakfast, a ski/board lesson with an instructor then the students were split into ability groups to have future lessons with Brighton teachers. The ski group learned quickly from Ms Olonga to ‘push the button, and squash the tomatoes’, and not copy Mr Brooks’ 70m fall on a black run. The good weather conditions allowed students to maximise their time on the slopes getting the most out of every day and skiing until the lifts closed at 4:30pm.

Each night dinner was provided at the Last Run Bar in the Lawler’s apartment complex where a range of amazing foods were served.

Wednesday night is always a highlight as students had the opportunity to try night skiing/boarding. As it was a green run, this allowed students to be more social with each other and enjoy the night. As the week ended, many students and teachers had sore muscles and bones, friendships were formed, new skills were learned, and great memories were lived.

A very special thank you to the teachers who contribute hours of behind the scenes work that ensures the Brighton Ski Team runs smoothly and who additionally take time away from their families and loved ones to come on the trip as leaders. The teachers for this trip were Ms Moyle, Ms Olonga, Mr Thomson, Mr Smith, Mr Gohl, and Mr Brooks.

Mr Graham Brooks Teacher

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Drama

News Year 9 Drama – Approaches to Script Writing Students in Year 9 Drama this term have been learning about different approaches to scriptwriting. The class has learnt about the use of dramatic form and the incorporation of dramatic conventions and techniques.

In small groups students were tasked with developing their own short performance around a central theme. Students developed a range of characters and constructed from start to finish their own story, which was then rehearsed and then performed. Below are several student reflections.

Clynton Oakley Drama Teacher

‘We all worked really well together as we have all pitched ideas to make the play as best as it can possibly be’ – Lara Grocke ‘Every time we practiced we would add, remove and tweak different scenes to make it much better overall’ – Frankie Wright ‘We have all had super creative ideas of what to add to make our play more creative and interesting’ – Rachel Learmonth ‘I think we all worked well together as we all contribute to the task and get along well’ – Georgina Dinnison

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BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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SALA 2016

‘Inspired’ We celebrated SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival this year under the theme ‘Inspired’ in the foyer space of the Brighton Concert Hall on 16th August. It was definitely inspiring to see so many students and staff participate and display their artwork.

In all, over 100 works were entered in this exhibition including works from the staff at Brighton Secondary School. The exhibition included a range of approaches to portraiture, abstraction, sculptural forms, digital artworks, drawings, mixed media works, photography and figurative paintings on canvas.

Eckersleys Art Supplies sponsored our event with ‘Encouragement Awards’. Isabelle Batchelor (Year 10), Emma Hanlin (Year 12) and Ms Ovan were each the recipients of a $50 gift voucher. Isabelle created a delicate and poignant figure reaching out from a coca- cola can provoking ideas about consumerism. Emma’s work, a portrait of a Year 12 colleague, highlighted her immense control and sensitivity with biro as a drawing tool. Ms Ovan‘s mixed media paintings utilised a range of impasto media and techniques linked to landscape and creative interpretations of still life.

Travis Collins (Creative Arts 2016) played acoustic guitar showcasing his skills and talents as a musician. Special guest Ms Stephanie Iannella (Year 12, 2015), opened the exhibition and provided us with an insight into her current studies at University and her ongoing involvement with the visual arts.

This was a very special community event that continues to grow each year. Over the SALA month many students visited the exhibition enjoying and appreciating the creative outcomes of many Brighton staff and students. Congratulations to all the exhibitors and a very special thank you to the Arts staff who assisted in this annual event.

Yasmin Paterson Coordinator the Arts

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Think Bright

Science It has been a busy time for the Think Brighters, especially the Year 10 class as they prepare and organise for their upcoming celebration of the completion of the Think Bright program, entering into SACE next year and developing the skills required to successfully navigate the requirements and pressures of Years 11 and 12.

In Science, the Year 10s have entered into the world of physics, exploring forces and energy transfers. They have been integrating this knowledge into Rube-Goldburg machine designs with the brief of dropping a marble from a height of 60cm and having it take 20 seconds or longer to reach the ground. They must demonstrate four types of forces and four different energy transfers in their machines and be able to explain this to the judge who will select the most creative and ingenious design that meets the criteria for future fame, fortune and prestige (or a chocolate bar!).

The Year 10s also began their STEAM program this semester, an integrated learning approach through Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.

This year’s class are undertaking Animatronics and have been mapping the musculature of the skull using 3D-printed skulls and plasticine. This unit of work involves understanding DNA-phenotyping, where our physical characteristics are identified by specific markers in our DNA, and forensic facial approximation, used by anthropologists and forensic artists to map the physical characteristics of a person from their underlying skeletal structure. This is vital knowledge so that we can design our characters with realistic musculature. Students have used Sculptris, a 3D-design program that enables students to manipulate a sphere by building on or pushing into a digitally malleable surface in order to create their characters.

Recently, Mr LeCornu’s Year 8 science class joined forces with the Year 10 class so that the Year 10s could act as mentors to assist the younger students undertake their ‘cell cities’ assignment. This was a novel opportunity for the Year 10s to think in a different mindset by undertaking a teaching role, and also sharing their experiences of the program with the newer students just beginning their Think Bright journey.

Sam Moyle Think Bright Teacher

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BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Word

Mania Open Handball Brighton entered two Open Boys teams in the recent Handball Carnival held at Pasadena High School on Tuesday Over the past few weeks, Year 9 English and Year 9 Think Bright classes competed in a nationwide literacy competition called WordMania.

Similar to the board game Boggle, the iPad app required students to sift through a grid of jumbled letters to create as many words as possible in three minutes. The more words students made, the more points they earned for their individual score and the overall school total.

The game was created to build literacy skills in a fun and innovative way to make everyone want to join in. It also focused on making literacy skills instinctive as words needed to be built quickly yet accurately. Students soon realized that many words follow spelling patterns, and that utilizing suffixes and prefixes saved time and gained extra points.

7th September.

Both teams represented the school extremely well and demonstrated excellent sportsmanship.

After each round of the competition, schools were ranked based on their participation and skill level. The competition lasted for three weeks and then the top ten finalists were chosen across Australia to compete in the finals. At the end of the three-week period, Brighton came in sixth overall, out-competing hundreds of schools across the country. We were also the only school from South Australia to make it into the finals which made us regional champions.

As regional winners and national finalists, we won a range of books and literacy board games for our library, and battled it out the ‘old fashioned way’ in a board game lesson. We’re looking forward to Wordmania in 2017, where we’re hoping to take out the final and become national Wordmania champions.

Ms Aimee Shattock, English Teacher and Uri Hauben, Year 9 Student

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

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Poetry

in Action The Poet’s Quest: Two weeks ago all of the Year 8’s went to the Brighton Theatre to watch a group from Sydney called Poetry in Action. Poetry in Action is a group who travel around Australia to show their performances based around poetry. The story we watched was based around a couple in high school who were dating. When it comes to their anniversary, the guy fails to impress the girl as he gives her a lame card and cannot express his feelings.

She dumps him, storming off in a rage. Seconds later, a crazy lunatic time traveller with an umbrella (just pretend it’s a time machine), tells him he must learn three techniques of poetry: rhyme, rhythm and imagery. The lunatic man tells him he must learn these techniques by going back in time to save his future with the girl and to save the future or words. Once completing his journey back in time and poetry, he must go back and save his relationship with her with his new wordskills. The play went for an hour and was linked to this term’s learning of poetry in English.

Personal thoughts: The performance was spectacular and their acting skills were on point. They gave a lot of helpful tips about poetry! 10/10. Jereyll Chia It was very interesting and fun to watch. It was hilarious and I enjoyed every moments of it! 10/10. - Kane Stewart Poetry in Action was a great learning experience and engaged the audience. 9.5/10. - Leqi Wu It was amazing. They connected with the audience and made sure that everyone was involved with the play somehow. 9/10 - Caleb Grech I thought it was outstanding; the play was funny, entertaining and educational. 10/10 - Deborah Smith We, as the reviewers, really enjoyed the show, and based on the feedback given, everyone else enjoyed it also. If given the chance to have Poetry in Action back, we would definitely recommend it.

Aidan Damarell and Caleb Gretch Year 8 Students

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On August 18th Brighton’s Year 11 students had the privilege of being involved in a Poetry in Action performance. The Words of War presented poetry relating to World War 1 and written by Wilfred Owen. Each poem was influenced by his life and experiences at the war front and were written before his untimely death at 25 years of age.

The performance focussed on using humour and the reality of war to ‘hook’ the audience in to feel each emotion they portrayed. All of the three cast members rapidly changed characters to present both heart warming and breaking pieces.

The 6 pieces offered explored the bravery, fear and hopelessness of war showing the vast relevance his words have to our modern world, despite being over 100 years old.

Many students found that the young cast were easy to relate to, using language that was new and advanced, however, easy to interpret.

From speaking to many of the Year 11 students, all were certainly pleased to have had the opportunity to be involved with Poetry in Action and were grateful for the preparation leading into the English topic of ‘war poetry’.

This was a great eye opener to an area that some students dreaded, changing disinterested minds to become highly interested in poetry.

On behalf of Brighton’s Year 11 students, I would like to thank Poetry in Action for presenting such an exciting and emotional experience.

Tara Maland Year 11 Student

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

Responsibility | Integrity | Fairness | Co-operation | Respect | Excellence

Slam Poetry

Excursion On Friday September 2nd, a group of Year 10 English students attended heat 3 of the Australian Poetry Slam competition. In the competition, each poet has 2 minutes to perform a poem which is then judged by random members of the audience. The competition is open to the public and each year, students are encouraged to present their work.

The winners from each heat go on to compete in the state final, and the top two finalists progress to the national final held at the Sydney Opera House. The Australian Poetry Slam Champion is then sent on an Asia Pacific tour of writer’s festivals in China, Bali, Sydney and Byron, and offered a publishing contract with Pitt St. Poetry.

Past winners such as Luka Lesson and Omar Musa have gone on to have fantastic careers in poetry and BSS was lucky enough to host Luka Lesson in a performance earlier this year.

This heat was held at the State Library and tied in nicely to what we have been studying in English this semester. We have been analyzing slam poetry performances in class and learning how to perform them so we can produce our own. It was a marvelous experience to attend this competition and see how poetry is performed in ‘real life’. It was a wonderful night and we all learned a lot. From watching the competition, it really helped other students and me understand slam poetry better, the meaning behind the poems and the ways to really engage an audience. I have learned that slam poetry usually focuses on social issues, personal issues, and other topics that are personal to the poet. Overall, from this experience, I have learned so much about slam poetry and how to use words powerfully to make a difference.

For those interested in seeing slam poetry in action, the state final will be held on September 30th at The Goodwood Institute.

Ms Aimee Shattock, English Teacher and Hannah Eichner, Year 10 Student

BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

Responsibility | Integrity | Fairness | Co-operation | Respect | Excellence

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Outdoor

Pursuits “Monarto Zoo exists to prevent animals from extinction”.

On Friday 26th August our three Outdoor Pursuits classes participated in an excursion to Monarto. We did a safari tour in the morning to support our development of environmental awareness and understanding of sustainability. In the course we are developing an understanding of the energy cycle and the effect of human interaction on environmental sustainability.

Our very knowledgeable guide Peter, instructed us about the animals’ plights to avoid extinction and provided us with an insight into management processes the zoo uses to keep the animals healthy. In the afternoon the classes participated in paintballing as a culmination to the group dynamics and leadership component of our course. It was an exciting day filled with learning, group work, self-discovery and fun.

Peter Vowles and Esther McCann Outdoor Pursuits Teachers

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BRIGHTON SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER I ISSUE 7 I September 2016

Responsibility | Integrity | Fairness | Co-operation | Respect | Excellence