Farewell Year 12

Ode to Year 12 2010

Kathryn A – Now is not the time to deny and fight, we all know you’re a huge fan of Twilight.

Cherie B – To put it simply you’re beautiful, tall and absolutely loved by all.

Mitchell B – We’re all more than willing to walk, swim or jog, to go see the hot guy who works at The Loaded Dog.

Melanie C – After six years of reminding us every single day, we agree you are awesome in every single way.

Joseph C – In a sense you’ve beat the rest of us, having the longest nickname “Jossepi Clarkadopolous”

Jordan C – We know you put up with all too much teasing, since that time when you asked if “ the rocks were breathing?”

Grace E – It’s safe to say you’ll be remembered forevs, as the girl who always says “whatevs”.

Monique F – It’s evident that you aspire to be a star, maybe one day even bigger than Gaga.

Kristopher G – Leaves us saying “oh my gosh!” when we observe him playing squash.

Samuel G – Deceptively quiet is the rumour, but be aware he has a sharp sense of humour.

Dylan H – It’s very well known that it’s your aim, to be the best in the world at every video game.

Nerissa K – With a smile as bright as a disco ball, you will indeed be missed by all.

Jessica L– ls it your wish for you to be known as “Lavish”?

Carl R – Do you only play guitar just for fun? You could potentially be the next Angus Young.

Mitchell S – We love Mitchell he’s our man, he rides a bike further than anyone can.

Courtney T – We know you as a “legal eagle”, but you keep it as cool as Snoopy the beagle.

Jake T – We have all come to better know you as, that farmy boy that goes by “Gaz”.

Stuart T – I think I speak on the whole school’s behalf, when I tell you have a truly unique laugh.

Timothy W– The humour at this school will never be the same, we’ll miss the “Tim jokes” that were never lame.

Emma W– She may not be six foot tall, but she shines bright and gives her all.

Lauren W – We’re sad that you’ll be gone ever so long, please promise us to not return as a pom.

Samantha W – Where ever you go you’ll be the one to beat, but always remember you’re Grenfell’s own athlete.

Thank you, Year 12, for everything that you have done for us and the school. We’re going to miss you and we wish you all the best for the exams and all your plans for the future. Year 11.

And from me - farewell Year 12 2010, we've enjoyed your company and delighted in watching you grow up.  We wish you well and look forward to catching up with you in the future.  Best wishes for the HSC and remember: 'As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do'.  Zachary Scott (1914-1965).

Golden Girls Visit

 Past school captains

At this week's induction of school leaders ceremony, we were delighted to have five past school captains participate in the official proceedings: Jean Livingstone (nee Walmsley) - 1937, Pat Aston (nee Simpson) - 1944 and Edna Simpson (nee Chivers) - 1940.  Also there was Mayor Maurice Simpson, school captain  1950 and current staff member, Damien Johnson, school captain 1988.

New House Captains

Our new house captains and vice captains 2011:


Lehane - captains - Sophie Hancock and Alec Walsh
  vice captains - Emma Knowles and Steven Dinham


McCabe - captains - Ellena Lynch and Emrys Owen
  vice captains - Holly Bowerman and Matthew Cashen


McNamara - captains - Emily Crutcher and Ben Peterson
  vice captains - Alice Fennell and Stephen McAway


Congratulations!

Meet our new school leaders!

Elections are the talk of the nation, as indeed, they have been here at The Henry Lawson High School, only we've moved on from the federal election and this week held our SRC election.  Well done to all those students from Years 7-11 who accepted nomination for the SRC and congratulations to those elected to office.

Thank you to the outgoing SRC for the valuable contributions you have made over the over the last twelve months.

Our vice-captains elect are Gerard Smith and Jessica Millar.  Our captains elect are Grace Walker and Jason Causer.  They will make great team leaders!

Sporting success!

Great stories from the sporting arena!  Firstly, Emily Crutcher is back from Canada, having competed in her first international event - the World Youth Games.  Emily is ranked number 1 female in the world in her age group (under 16) for high jump.  It was all very exciting as well as nerve wracking for Emily over in Canada, and she was disadvantaged by an ankle injury.  However, she now has the experience of an international event under her belt.  Next on Emily's schedule is Paris (2011) and then Barcelona (2012).  Of course, Emily also has her sights set on qualifying for the London Olympics.  Go you good thing!

Matt Clarke is currently in Dubbo representing NSW schools at the national level, and our school team which includes Matt, his brother Joseph, Mitchell Steenbergen and Tim Walker are concentrating on making it to the state final. Congratulations and best wishes to all.

Congratulations also to Sammie Wood who has succeeded in achieving her long-held dream of being selected to play in the Australian All Schools Under 19 Football Team. Sammie too has been plagued by injury in recent times and worked very hard to make the team.  Last week she travelled to Melbourne with the NSW team to compete against other states in the national championships. It was during this tournament that Sammie made her mark on selectors, so that in January she will head off to China, then Japan to compete internationally.

Education Week: leading the learning with technology

Teaching and learning with technology is the theme of our Education Week celebration.  In line with that theme, the official assembly was used to unveil the school's new website;  it's not quite ready to go live yet, but very near to it, so look out for our web address coming soon.

Helen Sweeting, representing Samaritans Purse, presented Ms Margret Roper with a certificate of appreciation to our school for our continuing contribution to the Operation Christmas Child project. Ms Roper is the school's liaison on on this fundraiser which works to support children who are victims of war, famine, natural disaster, poverty and disease.

 

Also at the assembly, many people from the school community were aknowledged for their contributions and achievements.  Community members included Lisa Eastaway, Mark Liebich, Gerry Perceval and Joanne Simpson; students were Grace Best, Emily Crutcher, Stephen MacAway, Cherie Bernard, Courtney Taylor, Stuart Taylor and Sammie Wood; from our SASS, Tony Fenech, Denise Fennell and the library's very own Jill Hamilton (pictured left, with Principal Margaret Carey), and from our teaching staff, Megan Crossley, Ross Hunter, Damien Johnson and Barry Jones.  Congratulations to all!

Welcome back!

Everyone seems to have had an enjoyable break from school but it's already week 2 so we are all back in the swing of things. Emily Crutcher returns from Canada next week and we look forward to her telling us all about what it is like competing in high jump at international level; and well done to Matthew Clarke  who has been selected to represent New South Wales in squash.

Education Week next week and we read that there are many plans for the day's enjoyment. Do come to our special assembly if you can, drop in on classes and be sure to visit the new science block while you're here.

Speaking of assembly, we had a great one this week. Our SRC presented an anti-bullying skit:  Stuart Taylor, Courtney Taylor and Tim Walker gave accurate and entertaining impersonations of Mr Hunter, Ms Lynch and Mr Jones, though the real Mr Jones seemed to have difficulty working out who was who. 

We also had a guest speaker, former student Matthew Hunter here to promote awareness of cystic fibrosis.  Matthew and other 'old boys', Paul Taylor, Daniel Cooper and Luke Armstrong will take part in the The Great Escape  -  a charity motoring event that travels through the Australian outback raising funds and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis Australia. We wish them well on their road trip. We too will run a fund raising event here at school this Friday.

History in the making!

"What does Australia have in common with Ireland, Finland, Germany, Liberia, India, Argentina, Bangladesh, Iceland, Lithuania, Croatia, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago? No, it's not the letter ''A''. What we have in common is that our leader is a woman."

(The Diary, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June). 

A day is a long time in politics.  Just before 10.30 pm Wednesday night,  Kevin Rudd announced that there had been a formal call for a change in ALP leadership; then, well before 10.30 am the next morning we learn we have a new prime minister - Julia Gillard.

Politics aside, this is a historic day, and one that the children of our current students, who are working away in their classes right now, will study when they are at school.  So kids, remember where you where when you heard the news - one day your own children will ask you about it!

Read these!

                                     I am Nujood, age 10 and divorced.

It's hard to imagine how different other people's lives are from our own.  This is an extraordinary true story told by Nujood, a 10-year-old girl who won a divorce from the man she was forced to marry, courageously defying both Yemeni customs and her own family. With harrowing directness, Nujood tells her story, beginning with  her married life, and ending the day she slipped away while running an errand .

Also newly arrived in the library is Stephanie Myer's The short second life of Bree Tanner.  Enough said: come and get it!

Lions Youth Leadership Quest, Spelling Bee, WR Cross Country

Public speaking continues to thrive - last Monday evening saw Grace Best, Ben Kelly and Jessica Kiss compete in the Lions Youth Leadership Quest. All three spoke remarkably well; Grace gave a speech on the Grenfell Town Band, Ben on professionalism in sport and Jess on the challenges of the future. The impromptu speech asked the competitors to comment on Jessica Watson, the 16 year old who recently sailed solo around the world. The public speaking section was won by Ben and Grace took out overall champion. She will now go on to represent Grenfell Lions at the zone level.

Well, the wait is over - our spelling bee champion for 2010 is Rowan Wilson of Year 7. Congratulations to Rowan and well done also to our other finalists, Emma Taylor and Grace Best. Many in the audience were overheard remarking on the spelling skills of all three!  Time to revisit Spell Sardoodledom, a previous post on this blog.

After placing in the top six at Wellington last week, Rowan Wilson and Kate Mitton are off to compete at state level in cross country later next month.  We'll keep you posted.

Henry Lawson Festival of Arts

Another successful festival with unusually  kind weather! It was astonishing to note the variety of contributions made by our staff and students: Year 12 student Melanie Carter played cello at the opening of the art show on Thursday;  the school's band and choir performed at the festival concert on Friday evening and there was a knockout ballet performance from Year 10 student Miranda Foster, followed by singing sensation SASS girl Jennifer Kelly;  Megan Crossley and her senior Hospitality students assisted in the catering at Saturday's civic reception while other students performed for the gathering's entertainment; and the great turnout for our entry in the festival parade won the prize for Best Community and Sporting Entry.  Our staff and students were involved with the Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in so many differents ways - what great community spirit!

Gerard Smith - first to finish cross country!

Congratulations to all the age champions and well done to everyone on your participation in last week's cross country event. Spotlight on Year 11 student Gerard Smith - 17 year boys champion, (6kms) and also the first to make it back to school (8kms) in only 35 minutes. Gerard ran steadily all the way, stopping only once at the 6km checkpoint to register his arrival, then continuing on to the school to be the first one to arrive from all age groups. Gerard has been in training for some time in preparation for both this event and the upcoming City to Surf fun run to take place in Sydney in August.

Spell sardoodledom!

It's hard to believe that the finals of a spelling bee can have an audience seated on the edge of their chairs, anticipating the next letter in a word, but that's exactly how it was for us last year, and we are certainly looking forward to this year's final.  Watch out though, there are some very odd words in the English language - play this video to see what one student was hit with in a spelling bee.

Bulla

Jilly here - you may have noticed I was missing from my desk during week 6. Instead, I was soaking up the tropical atmosphere of Fiji while attending my niece's wedding there. Fiji was wonderful! The weather was warm and balmy, the food divine and the Fijian people so friendly and caring. I enjoyed snorkling on the reef but had to leave the water rather hastily after spotting a sea snake.

It's nice to be back at school and surrounded by books and students again, though I'd like to return to Fiji if I ever have another chance. Oh, and bulla means hello in Fijiian.

Twilight fans will be happy to read this ...

We read in the Sunday papers (The Sun-Herald, 30 May 2010) that Twilight author Stephanie Myer is about to release her latest novel, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, a character originally featured in the third novel of the series, Eclipse. If you can't wait for the hard copy, you will be able to read the book free online at http://www.breetanner.com/ only from June 7 to July 5.

Tomorrow ...

John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began was a ground breaking series for young people - a group of ordinary Australian teenagers celebrating the end of high school return from their camping trip to discover our country has been invaded and everyone they know has been rounded up and taken away. How they fight back makes riveting reading. The film version is about to hit cinemas and no doubt it will be as popular as the series. Time to revisit the books and read up on the story yourselves before you see it on the big screen. Check out the promo for the film below.

What's it all about?

Simple, it's about communicating with our audience in a different way. The library is a gateway to many things - books and reading are only one aspect of what we are about; but now that we're on the topic of reading, check out this great video from Ocoee Middle School in the U.S.

Why Claude's Corner?

Welcome to our blog - the library of The Henry Lawson High School,Grenfell, NSW. Why Claude's Corner? Because it is the Claude Mendham Memorial Library, named to comemorate Claude Mendham, Mayor of Grenfell from 1961-1970. Check out the plaque on the wall above the magazine rack. Thanks to Year 11 student Ben Peterson for help with the name.