From the editor
Leaves NewsletterPrincipal's Report
Open Night
Thank you to all the staff, Band Directors, students, parents and community who attended our Open Night
on 10th March and helped with performances, presentations, displays and tours of the school. It was a highly successful night and I have received many positive comments from the community.
We should all be very proud of this school and the outstanding quality of the work we do here.
GAT Testing
The Forest High School will be providing the opportunity for students who missed the first General Achievement Test (GAT) to sit the exam on Saturday 20th March to assist the school in placing students into their Gifted and Talented Year 7 class in 2011.
Registration will be at 8:45 am outside the school hall and the testing will conclude by 11:15. The cost of the
test is $17.00 to be paid on the day by cash or cheque made payable to The Forest High School.
Year 12 Half-Yearly Examinations
Year 12 students should be preparing for their Half-Yearly Exams, which begin Monday 22nd March. It is
very important for all Year 12 students to develop a focused study plan now in preparation not only for
these exams, but for the HSC Trial Exams and for assessment tasks. Students will need to allow sufficient
time to prepare for their exams. Each student should be averaging three to four hours per night and at least
six to seven hours on weekends.
School Contributions
Parents and caregivers will have now received their school fees. These payments are applicable to all
students as well as the costs for elective subjects in Years 9 – 12. We appreciate prompt payment of
fees as they allow us to purchase teaching resources and consumables for the whole school year. School
fees contribute directly to supporting your child’s learning needs.
Payments can be made by cash, cheque, visa/master card or eftpos.
Earth Hour – 8:30pm Saturday, 27 March 2010
Aiming to reach more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world, Earth Hour is asking
communities, business and governments to switch off the lights for one hour at 8.30 pm on Saturday 27 March. We are getting involved at school on Friday 26 March, find out what you can do at home by visiting www.earthhour.org.au
Avoiding cyberbullying
Resear
voluntary work) tend to be safer online, encounter less cyberbullying, and are more resilient to harassment
if it occurs.
For more information, see the newest edition of Click magazine: www.schools.nsw.edu.au/click
Time to get organised!
Are school notes taking up too much space on your fridge?
Do you need some help to get organised?
How about one place to store all school related information?
Help is here! You can now download for free a do-it-yourself school organiser – all you need to add is your own folder.
Go to http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/news/schooldays/index.php and start getting organised with your child’s paper work.
Rosemary McDowall
Principal
“My Space” Parenting, Technology and Adolescents
At Parent Line we hear many stories of parents of adolescents, who feel they have been
forced into an alien technological world. Children keep in contact with people on social
networking sites, twitter and texting. They play on line games with people all around
the world and have on line relationships with people they don’t know.
Most parents are not comfortable or familiar with the technological world that their children
live in. Children often have more skills and knowledge about technology than parents.
This can create anxiety and fear in parents. Parent Line counsellors often discuss
with parents, their concerns about what their children are doing on line.
Nearly 50% of Australian children access the internet after school and use it 2 – 6 days
a week and 25% use it every day. On average children spend 7.9 hours per fortnight
playing online games. (NSW Govt Factsheet “Game over! Knowing when to stop”, 2009)
So how can parents influence what their adolescent children are doing on line?
- Educate yourself about their on line activity. Join one of the social networking sites
and see what really happens (it’s might not be as scary as you think!), learn about
the games they play, talk to others about technology. Be curious and interested
when you talk to your children about technology and how what it means in their lives. - Try to have the computer in a public space so that there is a transparency about their
on line activity. - Discuss the issues that concern you in a real way. Instead of being critical of
technology, discuss what is concerning you about it (e.g. their safety, lack of
sleep etc) - Keep track of how your child is going in other areas of their life (school, interests,
friends (not on line!), routines – e.g. eating, sleeping etc) and make an assessment
about whether their on line activity is impacting these areas. - If you are concerned or think that your child might be addicted to on line activity,
contact a professional for help.
For the cost of a local call, Parent Line’s professional counsellors are available 24 hours a day to talk through any of your parenting concerns on 1300 1300 52 or visit our website www.parentline.org.au
SRC EASTER EGG DRIVE
Thank you to those who have already donated Easter Eggs for community giving. We will be collecting until Thursday 18th March and appreciate all donations. Each year, due to the generous Forest community, the school is able to deliver easter eggs to the patients at Mona Vale Hospital and the students visiting at Manly Far West and Stewart House.
Your donation will brighten someone's day - so please bring in some eggs to the Library to help our students give back to the community. We will be delivering from the 15th March.
CANTEEN ROSTER - MARCH 2010 (amended)
CANTEEN NEWS
Canteen Update: (revised version)
We still have a couple of days without volunteers in the canteen. If you can help in anyway – even just for a couple of hours in the morning preparing food it would be a great help. We need volunteers in order to produce the amount of food required to feed the students. It also affects the profit that the canteen makes for the day (as much as $300) which goes straight back to the school through the P&C. The canteen is the major fundraiser for the school.
A new system of texting/emailing a reminder to volunteers of upcoming shifts will be introduced over the next week or so. It is meant as a friendly reminder that you are rostered on. Please let us know if you are unable to make your shift (via text, phone or email cbone@optusnet.com.au ) so that we can replace you. We may be counting on your volunteer time for catering a school function.
Thanks once again to all the volunteers who do a fantastic job, we really appreciate it.
Canteen Committee