Granville Boys Principal:  Angela Lyris Special Features: Order of the day The Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir, was “almost speechless” at the “shining lights” before her. The parents and principals were proud as punch. And the students glowed in the stately rooms of Government House as they were recognised by the esteemed Order of Australia Association. Eighteen students from NSW public schools and three students from independent schools were last term awarded Certificates of Commendation and bronze medallions. They came from all parts of NSW and between them had participated in hundred of acts of community service. “I often meet here at Government House students from right across NSW and I never cease to be amazed at their commitment – your commitment – to rectifying some of the more confronting issues facing all Australians today,” Dr Bashir said. The Order of Australia Association NSW Branch convenor, John Lincoln, said the awards meant a great deal to the students. “Early in the year I communicate with every principal asking for nominations from their school – this is a whole statewide affair. The 21 students today are regarded as the 21 best who have been brought forward. If you noted, they all had smiles on their face.” Ahmed Fattouh from Granville Boys High School said the experience had taught him the fine art of life-work life balance as he juggled his HSC with community service such as cultural harmony, mentoring junior students and supporting charities. “Once you balance your time and you have a timetable and you know what you’re doing on a daily basis you’ll be fine ¬– stress free!” Ahmed said he was overwhelmed on receiving his award. “Just the fact that you can help people and you are recognised, it gives you more encouragement to go on,” he said. “My future plan is law. I love helping people and that’s my main goal and I’ll continue – I think my whole way through life I’ll keep helping people.” Granville Boys High principal Angela Lyris said the award made the community aware of what’s available and how young people are recognised. “There’s an ethos in our school that you’ve got to give to the community. There’s a real focus on leadership and definitely at a school like ours we put a lot of time and energy into the area because it is a priority.” Kim Cotton Photo: Kim Cotton Caption: The NSW Governor, Marie Bashir, with students awarded Certificates of Commendation by the Order of Australia Association. This article was originally published in Side by Side, the newspaper for NSW public schools (Issue 7 February 2007), © NSW Department of Education and Training THE DON OF GRANVILLE A course on Pacific Islander and Maori culture is reaping results in the classroom and the community, writes KIM COTTON Students call him 'Doni', as Tongan custom dictates, but drop the 'i' and he could be the Don. Community liaison officer Don Hones's reputation throughout the Pacific Islander and Maori community at Granville Boys High School is one of strength and respect. He has invested in the boys' lives and become part of the family. And like Don Vito, played by Marlon Brando in The Godfather, he also means business (without the notoriety). "But I don't think any kid in the school is scared of me," Mr Hones laughs. "My relationship with the boys is one of teacher and student. In Tongan culture, teachers are put up on a pedestal but at the same time Tongan kids have a respectful but very friendly relationship with their teachers." The boisterous din of recess infiltrates the garage-like den that acts as a think-tank for the school's community liaison officers. Inside, new ways of supporting boys from various cultural communities are appraised and tested. One program has made significant inroads to engage the 90 Pacific Islander and Maori boys at the school. It's a Board of Studies endorsed course based on the islander culture. Boys in Years 9 and 10 choose it as an elective, which goes towards their School Certificate. "It gives a focus on their culture and on them to write and study something they are interested in. The hidden agenda is the development of their literacy skills," Mr Hones says. "Not all the Islander boys in the school choose to do it but parents asked if their boys could have a course that would bring in their culture, their family life, language and customs." The course won Mr Hones the Best National Achievement by a School Support Staff Member at this year's National Awards for Quality Schooling, and $15,000 for the school. The principal of Granville High, Angela Lyris, says the course has been a windfall for the community. "It has given recognition to their culture, showing that the school values them," Ms Lyris says. Mr Hones speaks in a gentle island way that reflects his close cultural ties. He is married to a Tongan woman, Pepe, and speaks fluent Tongan. "Don has been able to connect with the kids, work on the issues outside but focus on what's happening at school," Ms Lyris says. "He goes out of his way to support boys in all areas whether it's practical, educational and emotional. "He relates to the boys extremely well. He knows every child individually and he knows what baggage they bring to school." Some of the boys have arrived from other schools after being expelled. Some have narrowly avoided juvenile justice institutions with the assistance of Mr Hones's assurances to magistrates that the boys will do better in school than in the justice system. His cultural insight and extension into the community has gained the communities' confidence in unique ways that work on the boys' maturity. At the suggestion of a parent, father and son gatherings are being held on Friday nights. "The boys are with their fathers, they are sitting down socialising but also we bring up school matters like attendance and behaviours and goal setting," says Mr Hones. "We have parent nights at the school but sometimes some dads aren't terribly keen on turning up and it's difficult for people whose language skills are not well developed in English to speak up at a question-and-answer type of event. We sit down and talk with them in Tongan," he says. "It's important in the relationship that people feel they can talk to me about almost anything." Photo caption: Cultural insight - Don Hones with Pacific Islander and Maori students at Granville Boys High. This article was originally published in Side by Side, the newspaper for NSW public schools (Issue 3 July 2006), © NSW Department of Education and Training School Contact Details: Granville Boys High School 14 Mary St Granville, NSW 2142 Phone: 9637 0489, 9637 0480 Fax: 9897 2421 Email: granvilleb-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: www.granvilleb-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Orara Principal:  Graham Mosey Special Features: National reward for a job well done By KIM COTTON A careers adviser has won a national award for his work combining vocational education and Quality Teaching. Kim Harland, careers adviser at Orara High School, Coffs Harbour, was presented with the ACS Judith Leeson Excellence in Career Teaching Award in the secondary school sector at the Australian Association of Careers Counsellors conference in Perth last term. Mr Harland has been the driver of initiatives through the School to Work Program, most notably The Real Quality Teaching Game and the Portfolio Project. He said The Real Quality Teaching Game, which is documented on a DVD available to all NSW public schools, demonstrates the explicit links between The Real Game and the Quality Teaching Framework. The DVD provided a snapshot of how the project evolved to become a collaborative and integrated teaching and learning experience for students and teachers, giving students a clear understanding of the concept of work as a “lifelong journey”. “I have students in Years 8 and 9 looking at the type of work they’d like to do and what they’d like to gain out of the work that they do,” Mr Harland said. “They understand what’s happening with other contexts such as superannuation, interest rates, why we have taxes, a whole range of things that work and fit into a career education framework.” Mr Harland said the award acknowledged the work careers advisers contributed to public education. “It demonstrates to other teachers that all teachers are valued in our system.” CAPTION: Kim Harland with Orara High students. This article was originally published in Side by Side, the newspaper for NSW public schools (Issue 10 June 2007), © NSW Department of Education and Training Students hardwired for future success By KIM COTTON It’s not often that a school records a meteoric rise in student performance over a single year. So when Orara High School recorded the highest growth in its history for Year 8 literacy and numeracy, the principal, Graham Mosey, summed it up in three words: “We were thrilled!” Last year almost half of the school’s Year 7 cohort was under the national benchmark for literacy and numeracy. But in 2006, all of the students, now in Year 8, performed above the benchmarks – almost doubling the state average growth in their English Language and Literacy Assessment results, and more than doubling the state average growth in writing. Similar results were brought home for the Secondary Numeracy Assessment Program. “Anecdotally, we’d been told things were really improving, but it was good to get some data that confirmed that was the case,” Mr Mosey said. Rod Jones, one of the school’s deputy principals, attributed the strong growth to Orara High’s participation in a trial of an intervention program, QuickSmart, coupled with a TAFE-accredited in-school peer tutoring program and an intensive writing initiative. Mr Jones said the Coffs Harbour school participated in the QuickSmart trial last year due to the large number of students who could potentially benefit from it. This year, 67 students are undertaking the program in numeracy and 29 students are enrolled in the literacy strand. This was supported in part by funding from the Australian Government Quality Teacher Program. QuickSmart aims to improve the literacy and numeracy development of students who are experiencing learning problems. It was developed by Professor John Pegg and Dr Lorraine Graham from the National Centre of Science, ICT, Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia at the University of New England. Professor Pegg said students who had difficulties with learning use “effortful strategies” (inefficient strategies that are hard to use and taxing on students’ cognitive resources) to complete basic tasks such as elementary multiplication. This impedes their ability to take on the more complex tasks required in secondary education. Over time children become “hardwired” to the practices they have learnt and neural pathways are formed, Professor Pegg said. Research shows that once a neural pathway is established it stays that way. The only way to change the child’s behaviour is to create new neural pathways. “We’ve identified the basic skills and we’ve put children in highly motivational environments to help them automate those skills,” Professor Pegg said. “There’s a focus on accuracy and also a focus on doing it [basic skills tasks] quickly. If the focus is on speed as well as accuracy then the kids have to let go of these effortful strategies. The key is working closely with kids in pairs in a motivational environment and helping them develop new neural pathways … to let go of old strategies.” The program operates by withdrawing the students from class three times a week for 30 minutes over a 30-week period. The students work in pairs with a support teacher learning assistant and teachers aides in a highly structured environment. “Students are coming back into class a lot more enthusiastic and willing to take risks with their classroom activities,” Mr Jones said. “They’re showing a lot more confidence within themselves, sharing ideas with other students in the class, enjoying their learning and having a lot of success.” Mr Jones said that incorporating the peer tutoring program, which involves Year 11 students taking some of the Year 7 students for the QuickSmart sessions, enabled the school to target large number of students. Year 10 students also peer tutor the Year 7 students during the daily Drop Everything And Read sessions and rollcall. Mr Jones said QuickSmart, along with the other initiatives, had been interwoven into the Quality Teaching framework with the assistance of co-deputy principal Michael Bleakley. “Michael and I have been very conscious that we’ve had to integrate all these things into the framework to make sure they’re successful and sustainable,” Mr Jones said. This article was originally published in Side by Side, the newspaper for NSW public schools (Issue 6 November 2006), © NSW Department of Education and Training School Contact Details: Orara High School Joyce St, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450 Phone 6652 1077 Fax 6651 3842 School Email orara-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au School Website www.orara-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Elizabeth Macarthur Principal:  Justina Barnier Special Features: How to get fit for learning By KIM COTTON When the Maths faculty – and not the sports teachers – wins a school fitness challenge it’s a good indication that a healthy lifestyle campaign is filtering out to the whole school community. The Mathematics teachers at Elizabeth Macarthur High School won the annual pedometer challenge by each walking an average 14,500 steps a day (the recommended daily guidelines suggest a comfortable 10,000 a day). The Narellan school has embarked on a broad healthy lifestyle program – Eat it, Work it, Move it – developed in collaboration with the Macarthur Division of General Practice. The program aims to increase student, staff and parent awareness of healthy eating and physical activity, provide healthier eating alternatives at school and promote and encourage healthy lifestyle options outside of school. The program began when the school’s PDHPE head teacher, Mark Long, approached the GP division last year to explore ways to address health issues being observed in students. “We saw change in the students coming [to the school] and change in their physical activity levels, both in school and out of school, and also an overall change in the body types of the students over a couple of years,” Mr Long said. “There’s a similar pattern with a lot of students who live in suburban Sydney.” The GP division had already run a community-wide metabolic management program to address obesity in the Macarthur area. This program was adapted with the assistance of Nicole Arts, a dietitian and exercise physiologist at the division, who is now working with Elizabeth Macarthur High. A pilot for the program involving the school’s Year 7 students began last year and has continued this year with Year 8 students. To understand the lifestyle changes needed, the students’ body mass index was measured and a baseline survey taken on their exercise levels. Students were surveyed on their eating habits to understand how often they skipped meals, whether they ate fruit and how much junk food they consumed. Ms Arts said the findings showed the students consumed high amounts of soft drink and cordials and not enough fruit and vegetables, most students watched more than two hours of television a day and were not doing the recommended amount of physical activity. Along with guidance from Ms Arts, the division appointed a nutritionist to work with canteen staff to develop new menus for the students. In line with the DET’s Healthy School Canteen guidelines, all full-sugar soft drinks have been phased out, chocolates and sweets have been restricted and canteen staff are designing healthy menu options. Physical activity has increased with lunch-time sport competitions, before-school fitness and swimming training for 30 students with a professional swimming coach. A similar approach is being taken with the cross country running training program. There is also the teachers’ pedometer challenge. Technology and Applied Science teacher Jenny Lawrence has designed a unit of work on healthy eating habits for Year 8 students, which is being linked to the program. Students will learn to make healthy foods, which they can then cook for their parents. School sausage sizzles have been replaced with lean chicken kebabs and steak sandwiches and students now bring water to drink in class. “We’re looking at changing the students’ eating habits and making them aware of the different options that are available,” Mr Long says. “I don’t think anyone wants to be unfit – it’s about giving them the skills and the information so they can make intelligent choices.” A manual based on the program will be available later in the year for other schools to use. CAPTION: Go health ... Elizabeth Macarthur High students warm up. PHOTO: David Lefcovitch This article was originally published in Side by Side, the newspaper for NSW public schools (Issue 10 June 2007), © NSW Department of Education and Training School Contact Details: Elizabeth Macarthur High School Waterworth Drive, Narellan NSW 2567 Phone 4646 1899 Fax 4647 1569 School Email elizabeth-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au School Website www.elizabeth-h.schools.nsw.edu.au