1. education
2. school

Term 4 Issue 1
10th October 2014
Phone: 9476 5711
9482 2525
THE TORCH
Fax:
HORNSBY GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL
S
We wish our current Year 12 all the best in the upcoming HSC exams. They have
worked hard over many years and will do very well in the HSC. Their final week
of school saw three big events – the Lip Sync Concerts, the Clap-Out Assembly
and the Graduation Ceremony. The Graduation Ceremony on Thursday night at
the Hornsby RSL was attended by 400 members of our community. It was a
wonderful celebration of their school life and their multiple achievements.
Students, parents and teachers enjoyed the celebratory evening. Thank you to
Mrs Sexton for her organisation of the event.
Many awards and prizes were announced at the Graduation Ceremony including
the nomination of six students for possible inclusion in the ENCORE HSC Music
student performances to be held on Monday 9 March 2015 at the Sydney Opera
House. Congratulations to Jasmine He, Anika Ng, Naomi Ng, Daisy Ou, Rachel
Wang and Sherrie Zheng for their nomination to ENCORE. Congratulations to
these students and their Music teacher Mr Hughson for inspiring them to
achieve such excellence.
Congratulations to Daisy Ou who was acknowledged as the joint winner of the
21st Young Performer Encouragement Award 2014 from the Zonta Club of
Hornsby Ku-ring-gai’s Women of Achievement Presentation Dinner held on 10
September 2014 at the Killara Golf Club. Zonta is a global organisation of
executives and professionals working together to advance the status of women
through service and advocacy.
Congratulations also to the following students who received awards from
Education Perfect an online learning platform for their ongoing commitment to
learning Maths Bronze Award – Coco Xiaoge Huang
English Credit Award – Coco Xiaoge Huang
Science Silver Award – Martine Illing Kelly
Science Bronze Award – Emma Gosbell
Science Bronze Award – Morgan McKenzie
Science Credit Award – Masako Wong
Congratulations to Cherie Pan and Isabelle Parui who received a Bronze medal
at the National Sport Aerobics Championships held in Brisbane over the
holidays. Congratulations to all the girls who attended and thank you to Mrs
Email Address: hornsbygir-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Web Address: www.hornsbygir-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
Wallwork for attending the event with the students.
Congratulations to Mme Barbeau who is a recipient of an Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship for 2015.
The ELTF is a part of the Australian Government’s broader Endeavour Awards, providing opportunities for
practising language teachers, retraining teachers and pre-service language teachers to take part in short-term
overseas study programmes to improve their language and cultural skills. Mme Barbeau will undertake a
three week study programme in January in Salamanca Spain.
A reminder to students that the Running and Cross Fit Club meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on
the school oval from 7:30am – 8:20am. All welcome!
Congratulations to all the students and staff who were involved in the Food and Fashion Night held on
Wednesday. It was a great success and demonstrated the outstanding design and food technology skills of our
students. Thank you to Mrs McGuire, Ms Lech and Mrs Graham from the TAS Department for their
organisation of this wonderful celebration of design and food.
Next week we welcome a student teacher Mr William Huyler from Indiana University, USA who has been
placed here for eight weeks in our Music Department. Mr Huyler is participating in the Global Gateways
Program and is a highly accomplished vocalist and musician who is looking forward to learning from our staff
and teaching our students.
Our next P and C Meeting will be held on Wednesday 15 October 2014 at 7:45pm. I will be discussing the
Lenovo Laptop Program for Years 7, 8 and 9 for 2015, our NAPLAN results for 2014, some recent research
findings on teaching and learning at the school and our focus areas for the School Management Plan 2015 –
2017. I look forward to seeing you at this meeting.
Justin Briggs
Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards
Congratulations to Esther Barnes, Simone Luca and Amy Thomas
of Year 12 who have completed and been
approved for the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award. Esther, Simone and Amy will be
presented the Award next year by the
Governor of NSW at Government House. It
is a wonderful achievement, reflecting their
ability to take the initiative, their dedication
and willingness to challenge themselves.
Congratulations to the following students who have been awarded their Silver Duke of Edinburgh: Alicia
Evans, Kangying Lin, Alyssa Lo, Weinnie Zhou and Bronze Duke of Edinburgh: Jessica Chan, Shanaya de Silva,
Kassandra di Bono, Katherine Du, Ayesha Earey, Soo Bin Lee. A wonderful achievement by all these students.
Robyn Riches
Food and Fashion Night
The food and fashion fiesta was a huge success! The mouthwatering finger food designed and produced by the year 10 and 11
students was very authentic with something to meet all taste buds.
Savoury appetisers served included Mexican Skewers & Chicken
and Curry Puffs. Green Tea Cheesecake Bites and Chilli chocolate
ice cream were also served, satisfying the sweeter palate. The
students did a fantastic job parading down the catwalk
demonstrating their amazing talent and skills. A special thanks to
Mrs McGuire, Mrs Graham, Miss Lech along with all of the staff
who attended on the night for making the fiesta so successful.
Pardon... we missed the deadline for the last TORCH, here is a short review from the girls who ran the FRENCH
Crêpe stall with Mr & Mrs Mathias.
A HUGE thanks to Mr & Mrs Mathias without whose help we couldn't have run the crêpe stall so smoothly
and to all the wonderful students who donated crêpes, lemons, cream. Merci aussi to Mme Anderson and Mrs
Roberts whose help was invaluable on the day.
Mme Barbeau & Mme Anderson
Félicitations Vivian!
In May this year Hornsby Girls High French students in Years 10, 11 and 12 underwent the rigorous Alliance
Francaise examination for 2014, in which their Reading, Writing and Listening skills were tested as part of a
state-wide competition. The Language Department was thrilled to learn that Vivian Jiang of Year 10 attained
first place and will attend a formal Award Ceremony at the Alliance Française to receive her prize next term.
Vivian’s achievement in French has been outstanding over the last three years as she has immersed herself in
the language through wide reading and expansion of her grammatical skill base. It is fitting that her
competence is recognised both here and in the wider French speaking community.
Mme Anderson
A HUGE Thank You to the wonderful
girls from 8VA4 who came in to help
clean up the art storerooms during the
holidays. The VA staff are immensely
grateful for their help and support and
are currently enjoying a much less
cluttered experience. Also, the great
Minerva girls who worked on our 2014
magazine. They all worked hard evidenced by the 12 pizzas they
consumed!!!
Year 9/10 Gala Day
The following girls competed in a North Sydney Regional Netball Competition, held at Gosford on Wednesday
September 10th.
The girls were selected in Term 1 and have
been training every Friday lunchtime since
then under the coaching expertise of Ku-ring
Gai Rep Netball Coach, Ms Maddy Shume. The
girls advanced their fitness and netball skills
over this period and this was definitely
evident on the day of competition where the
girls acquitted themselves very well!
A huge thank you to the two Year 10 girls who
umpired for Hornsby all day - Xenia Lopes and
Brittany Gibbs.
Yr 9/10 Netball Team
Lisa Bae, Natalie Chua, Kia Collins, Katherine Du, Grace Hang, Kate Lee, Nirosha Pillalamarri, Natasha Pye,
Grace Roberts, Olivia Se.
Taekwondo at Hornsby Girls High School
Taekwondo program is conducted on Monday
afternoons at 3.30pm in the gym. The classes are
run by Malcolm Duckworth who is a 4th Dan Black
Belt and part of the Wyllie Taekwondo academy and
who has been with the After-school program for
over 6 years. There are no special skills required to
start Taekwondo and it is a great way to gain self
confidence and essential self-defence skills. The
focus in class is tilted more towards self defence but
all aspects of martial arts are covered and the
session is also great for exercise and fitness. All are
welcome to join in the program.
For a second time, Hornsby Girls High School has been represented at the All
Schools Taekwondo Tournament. Asha Hossain (below) took part in the event.
Asha has been a part of the program for some time and has shown exceptional
talent and skill.
The All Schools Tournament was held at St Ignatius’ College on Saturday 06
September and saw Asha come away with a Bronze medal.
Hornsby Girls High School
P and C ASSOCIATION
"Excellence in Girls' Education"
INVITATION TO ALL PARENTS
to
our October P & C Meeting
on WEDNESDAY 15 October
at 7.45pm
in the School Common Room.
Our next P and C Information Meeting on Wednesday October 15 from 7:45pm will
be a presentation by Dr Justin Briggs on the Lenovo Laptop Program for Years 7, 8
and 9 for 2015, our NAPLAN results for 2014, some recent research findings on
teaching and learning at the school and our focus areas for the School
Management Plan 2015 – 2017.
Light refreshments will also be served, so please come along and meet other parents in a
relaxed and informal atmosphere.
All welcome!
________________________________________________________
Regular HGHS P & C Association meetings are held on the 3rd Wednesday of
each month during the school term. Please mark the dates in your diary.
With your active participation, the P & C can achieve great things to enhance
your daughter’s education. Please show your support.
You will be made very welcome!