3 August 2023

Important dates

Monday 7 August – Picnic Day Public Holiday
Friday 11 July - 9am to 2pm – CMS Cross Country Carnival – Telegraph Station
Friday 25 July – Interschool Cross Country – Telegraph Station
Monday 28 August to Wednesday 30 August – Year 8 Camp – Hamilton Downs
Monday 11 September to Friday 17 September – Year 9 VET Week @ CDU
Wednesday 13 September – Alice can Dance – Araluen Art Centre

Werte, Hello

Dear Families,

Welcome back to CMS for the start of Term 3! We hope everyone had a refreshing break and is ready to embark on an exciting journey of learning and growth. In this newsletter, we have some important updates and information to share with you.

Firstly, please join us in giving Ms Jemma Seddon a warm welcome to the CMS community. Jemma has moved seamlessly into the classroom teacher role in 8.2, and we are confident that her presence will further enrich our student's educational experience and contribute to our school's overall growth and success.

NAPLAN Results

NAPLAN results for Years 7 and 9 have been mailed home this week. Our student's hard work and dedication have paid off, and we are incredibly proud of their achievements. The result in this report provides a ‘snapshot’ of how your young person went on one series of assessments in one week in March. They do not replace the more extensive, informative, and ongoing assessments and reports that the school provides. The next formal report will be distributed at the end of Semester 2, but you are welcome to contact your young person’s teachers at any time to obtain an update on how they are going.

If you have any further questions about the NAPLAN assessments or student report, there are resources available online at the link below:

Alternatively, you are welcome to contact the school on 8955 2333.

Attendance Matters

We want to remind all parents and students about the importance of regular attendance at school. Attending classes consistently is crucial for academic success and ensures students can fully engage in learning. If your child cannot attend school due to illness or other reasons, please inform the school as soon as possible. Let's work together to make this term successful by prioritising attendance and participation.

Year 8 Camp - Week 7

Get ready for an unforgettable experience! Our Year 8 students will embark on a fun-filled camp during Week 7 at Hamilton Downs. The camp promises a fantastic opportunity for students to build friendships, develop teamwork skills, and engage in various exciting outdoor activities. Detailed information will be provided in the coming weeks, including dates, locations, and required forms.

New Uniform in 2024

We are excited to embark on a journey to create a fresh and modern look for our school uniform! As we look forward to the 2024 academic year, we will collaborate with our community to ensure we have a uniform that represents Central Australia and that our students are proud to wear. At CMS, we strive for continuous improvement, and our school uniform is one area we are keen to enhance. A new uniform will give our students a sense of pride and belonging, symbolising our commitment to progress and growth. The new look will represent our values and dedication to providing an exceptional educational experience.

We look forward to another term filled with growth, learning, and fun. Thank you for your continued support in making CMS a thriving educational community.

School news and updates

Assessment Schedules

Here are the key assessment tasks your young person has completed or will complete in each subject area and the timeframe for when items are due. The Term 2 Assessment Schedules for Year 7, 8 & 9 are below.

Vaping at School

Centralian Middle School, like many other schools, has seen a recent spike in young people vaping.

E-cigarettes, or ‘vapes’, are not safe for young people. They come in many shapes and sizes and can be hard to spot as they can look like everyday items including highlighters, pens or USB memory sticks.

Key vaping facts

• Many vapes contain nicotine. Nicotine can cause long-lasting negative effects on young people’s brain development, including impaired learning ability and altered mood, and can increase the risk of depression and anxiety.
• Vapes can contain the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray, which can lead to serious lung diseases.
• Young people who vape are 3 times as likely to take up smoking cigarettes.

The laws around selling vapes.

It is illegal to sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18 years. Young people often purchase vapes online, from retail stores, or from friends and contacts on social media. You can report suspected illegal sales of vapes to NT Health via email to tobacco.control@nt.gov.au

Talk to your child about vaping.

It’s important to take the time to talk to your child about the risks of vaping. Try to start the conversation in a relaxed easy-going way, and remember your goal is to have a conversation, not deliver a lecture. Importantly, get the facts at:

NAIDOC Celebration at CMS

CMS celebrated NAIDOC in style during week 10 of Term 2. We started with a whole school assembly on Monday morning and Brayden Molloy did the acknowledgement of country in Arrernte. One of our school counsellors, Sally Axten acknowledged country in her Western Arrernte language and then spoke to the students about the importance of NAIDOC and this year’s theme, ‘For Our Elders’. Sally was assisted by Arrernte teacher Mrs. Jannette McCormack and Classroom Support, Rachel Abbott. Their words inspired us.

After assembly, students were treated to a variety of activities where they experienced and enjoyed Aboriginal ways of knowing. Thanks to our wonderful Language Centre partners, especially Susan Moore, for coordinating visiting presenters.

NAIDOC themed learning and fun continued throughout the week. We enjoyed a NAIDOC display in the library created by Student Leaders. In Home Groups, students did NAIDOC colouring, viewed an informative PowerPoint and participated in a Kahoot Quiz on their understanding.

On our last Friday for Term 2, we had a BBQ lunch with music performed by students and staff. Special guest speaker Bev Angeles, an important elder and role model, spoke to us about making time for elders and treasuring their stories. Bev also judged the CMS poster competition and presented the individual prize winner Cowen Foster with his prize. Congratulations also to 9.1 and 7.8 who were Home Group winners.

From the NT wide NAIDOC competition, our own Dorathy Wilson was the overall winner with her story-art work, “Honey ants are travelling along the river in Arrernte Country”. Congratulations, Dorathy!

Year 7

Welcome back to all of our wonderful Year 7 students! It was so lovely to see everyone back at school last week and to hear about their school break adventures. We hope everyone is feeling rejuvenated and ready for another term of learning, growth, and exciting experiences. We are excited about our Year 7 students participating in their first CMS Cross Country event. It's an opportunity to try something new and demonstrate their great sportsmanship. Another fantastic event on the horizon is the Alice Can Dance. It's a chance to let loose, show off your dance moves, and enjoy a night of celebration. We know a lot of students participated in this event while they were at primary school, and we hope to see many of co them continuing their involvement this year.

Year 7 Camp – Hamilton Downs

Before we dive into the excitement of Term 3, let's take a moment to celebrate the great camp we had at Hamilton Downs during Week 10 of last term. The camp was an absolute blast!

Mr. Gould, our talented music teacher, guided everyone in creating some fantastic music that provided a soundtrack for the students playing volleyball in the creek under the guidance of Mr Druce. Ms Mavec and Ms Pegg had students hooked in a competitive scavenger hunt, and Mr Mapstone facilitated some exciting team build games on the play equipment. On the last night, everyone sat down to eat smores and watch the State of Origin Game - which brought about some of the loudest cheering I have ever heard in my life!

I’d like to extend a big thank you to all the students and staff who joined us on camp.

7.2 SGC

7.2 has been learning about what archaeologists do. They practiced some of their skills by “excavating” chocolate chips from a cookie and by excavating fragile ancient pottery from a dig site.

Year 8

Biology

This term, year 8’s biology students have been learning to use microscopes. They looked at the letter ‘e’ from newsprint and noted it was upside down through the lens and they also experimented with other things such as the torn edge of some newspaper, sand and a thread from a cap. Next, we will be learning about cells next using the microscopes as they are not visible with the naked eye.

Year 9

Design & Technology

Madi’s monster artwork is inspired by a video game from Nintendo. Madi worked using plywood and a wood burner to create a texture drawing of a monster called Ratha. Ratha is Madi’s favourite monster and the artwork now proudly lives in Madi’s house.

VET Conservation and Land Management

The VET Land Management team have completed a series of land restoration activities for their "Support Ecological Restoration" unit.

This included...

• Cactus Busts at the Telegraph Station's Spencer's Hill, identifying and safely removing invasive cactus that has spread through the hills (thank you to Parks and Wildlife's Ranger Dawn for her training and introduction to the site!)
• planting out native species, including installing irrigation on Alice Springs Desert Park sites (shout out to Bryce, Greenie and Bonnie for your expertise and training!)  

We've also been observing the seasonal changes in the bush. All the flowering species are helping with our identification knowledge.

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Jacelyn Anderson
VET Land Management trainer/assessor

Stars Foundation

We are back in action here at Stars, with a great first Semester to reflect on and a whole bunch of exciting activities to look forward to this term.

One of our Term 2 highlights was our Year 8 Stars Reward Sleepover, which some of our students were able to attend in recognition of their hard work, dedication, and effort throughout term 2. We were able to watch a movie at the cinema and enjoy the stalls and performances at the Alice Springs Finke Markets, before heading back to the Stars room for a sleepover and activities. Seeing the girls reap the rewards of their hard work is always such a highlight here at Stars!

We were also able to end term 2 by partnering up with the Congress Link Up team to hear about the great work they are doing, and the different opportunities and support that Congress offers young people here in Alice Springs! Thank you to the team for coming in and talking to the girls! Additionally, our Year 7s were able to end the term with a trip out to Simpsons Gap, where they were able to focus on wellbeing and reflect on the term before the break.

Term 3 is off to a busy start with morning walks and contact times in full swing. A key focus for us this term has been healthy lifestyles, with some of our Stars students waking up early to walk up Anzac Hill and watch the sunrise. Our Year 7 Stars students were also able to keep this focus while partnering up with Clontarf for team-building games during contact time.

We have plenty of exciting activities coming up this term, including morning and afternoon activities, day trips out to Ross River with the Yirara Stars, and our Stars Basketball Carnival with the central region academies. It’s always great being able to build new friendships and connect with our other Stars academies from both Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. We will also be focussing on workplace readiness with our Year 9s in preparation for VET this term. We look forward to the upcoming term and hope to see our Stars students smash their personal and attendance goals!  

Clontarf Corner

What a great start the fellas have made to Term 3 getting stuck into all our activities.

We were lucky to be joined by our CEO Gerard Neesham and the Minister of Education, Jared Clare for our Super Training. The fellas put on a show for the founder of Clontarf with their footy skills and high energy. They were impressed especially after being shown around the CSC Clontarf space from our lads and others from each Academy. Well done fellas!

Trainings have started off with a bang with the fellas keen to meet the criteria for our big footy trips to Tennant Creek and Katherine for the Top End Cup. The Centralian Middle Titans will be looking to reclaim the trophy that we won in 2021.

The fellas have been getting around the afternoon activities including mountain biking, gym, backboard footy and our UFC championship. With plenty happening it is great to see the fellas also getting involved after school.

Looking forward to a big Term. Let’s go Titans!

Polly Farmer Foundation

The IAHA (Indigenous Allied Health Australia, High School to Deadly Careers Program visited Follow the Dream students to showcase exciting careers in Allied Health. The IAHA Deadly Careers team Indigenous student ambassadors studying allied health degrees from across Australia inspired and educated students about the diverse health pathways. These highly interactive sessions gave students great hands-on experiences to better understand and inspire future careers in Allied Health professions. Here are some photos of our future health professionals!

Hamish McLoughlin

Community Announcements

CAWLS uHaven Project - Launching August 31^st 2023

uHaven is a website designed to help young people check-in with their relationships and learn more about domestic violence.

Possum Magic at Araluen Theatre

6pm Thursday 27 July, 10am and 1pm Friday 28 July.
Where: Araluen Art Centre

An award-winning stage adaptation of the beloved Australian picture book by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas, to celebrate its 40th birthday! Mem Fox and Julie Vivas’ beloved picture book Possum Magic has enchanted children for decades! Monkey Baa’s award-winning creative team have translated the whimsical world of the book to a live experience for audiences 3–8 years (and their families). To find out more Go to the link below:

Sunny Science & Satellites – Session 1: SOLAR & Session 2: SATELLITES

Session 1 - 3.45 pm Wednesday 16 August
Session 2 – 11 am to 12 pm Saturday 19 August
Where: Business & Innovation Centre, Desert Knowledge Precinct

Learn how the sun’s radiation converts into electricity using free power & build your own mini solar car to take home!

Edge of the Future Workshops - Youth Climate Writing Workshop (12-18 years)

• Youth Waste Man­age­ment Tour — Sat­ur­day 29July from 12pm to 2pm at Region­al Waste Man­age­ment Facil­i­ty (80 Com­mon­age Road).

Join us to re-imag­ine waste. This tour will intro­duce young peo­ple to cre­ative waste man­age­ment prac­tices and show the envi­ron­men­tal ben­e­fits and pur­pose of respon­si­ble con­sump­tion and pro­duc­tion of waste. Work­shop reg­is­tra­tion here.

• Youth Recy­cled Art Work­shop — Wednes­day 2August 3:30pm to 5:30pm at Cen­tral Craft (Aralu­en Cul­tur­al Precinct, Cor­ner Lara­p­in­ta Dri­ve and Memo­r­i­al Avenue)

Join us and get hands on to cre­ate art out of recy­cled, re-used and found objects. Work­shop atten­dees are invit­ed to bring their own. Work­shop reg­is­tra­tion here.

• Youth Cli­mate Writ­ing Work­shop — Wednes­day 9August 3:30pm to 5:30pm at the West­side Com­mu­ni­ty Gar­den (56 Mil­ner Road).

How do you feel about the future of the plan­et? Do you feel like your voice mat­ters or gets heard? Join mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary artist, poet, activist and per­former Vic­to­ria Alon­dra to explore cre­ative respons­es to cli­mate change and the future, and get the chance to cre­ate your own poet­ry with expert guid­ance and men­tor­ship. Work­shop reg­is­tra­tion here.

• Sub­mis­sion Final­i­sa­tion — Wednes­day 16August 3:30pm to 5:30pm at Alice Springs Pub­lic Library (Cor­ner Gre­go­ry Ter­race & Leich­hardt Terrace)

Spend some time to com­plete and sub­mit you Edge of the Future art­work. Work­shop reg­is­tra­tion here.

National Science Week - SCOPE

August 16 -18 from 3.30-5.00pm @ the Alice Springs Public Library.

The Alice Springs Public Library is partnering with Children’s University to deliver SCOPE: a photomicrography (the art of taking photos through a microscope) competition, giving young Territorians the opportunity to explore the tiniest details of the Territory.

Come into the Library for a SCOPE workshop. Limited spaces available so BOOK NOW!

Link: 

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