Words are very important – they can convey a whole range of connotations. At NBCS we recognise the importance of words and the power they have to help grow and shape culture. There sometimes comes a point when a word has reached its ‘use-by date’. We firmly believe ‘homework’ is one of those words, evoking a myriad of experiences, thoughts, emotions and perspectives and a great deal of baggage.

In order to help re-shape our understanding of homework as a community, we are phasing out the use of the term ‘homework’ because it is laden with negative and vague connotations. Please note that we are not phasing out the practice of learning at home!

Instead, the following terms will be used by teachers:

1. Pre-learning
   When a teacher requires students to pre-learn a topic by becoming familiar with concepts prior to a specific lesson; this would also include pre-reading a novel or perhaps viewing other media sources.
    
2. Home learning
   When a teacher requires students to undertake specific work to support class learning e.g. complete Project-Based Learning (PBL) exercises.
    
3. Applied learning
   Learning that draws from or extends concepts that have been taught or covered during class.

We anticipate that these more accurate terms will denote far more appropriately the intention of any given task.

Mr Stephen Harris
Principal

This week is Student Opportunity Week in Secondary, with all students in Years 7-11 participating in a broad range of programs from Wednesday to Friday.

Student Opportunity Week will be both an exciting and challenging time for the students. Programs are created under one of four categories: Awareness, Action, Activities and Adventure. Students were able to choose activities themselves based on their interests and passions, and each program includes students from across each grade.

Specific programs include:

• Duke of Edinburgh
• Outdoor Adventure
• SWAT
• Masterchef
• PBL+ Design/IT
• PBL+ Media
• PBL+ Fashion
• PBL+ Art
• Music
• Musical Theatre
• Marine Environment
• Urban Challenge
• Horse Riding
• Cricket
• Tennis
• Mountain Biking
• Touch Football
• Visual Art

Please note that due to the forecast extreme weather conditions, some alternations to programs may be necessary. So far, this only affects the Gold Duke of Edinburgh and Mountain Biking programs. Please refer to updates as the week progresses via the Student Opportunity Week website.

An up-to-date list of drop off and pick up times and locations for each program can be found here.

All enquiries for the duration of each program should be made through the School Office (9450 1311), and information will be relayed to the relevant program coordinator as soon as possible.

We look forward to a fantastic week.

Dr Hugman’s Year 8 Quest class have completed “60 Minute Mission on Mars”. This first  involved learning about conditions needed for human life, then students planned their route on the ‘Mars landscape’ set up at the Powerhouse Museum. From their classroom, remotely driving an actual robotic rover, students steered their rover, Mawson, on a search for life and water. Using cameras placed about the rover, students were able to guide, observe and take photographs of sites just like the scientists controlling the real Mars rovers at NASA.

On Tuesday last week, students in Stage 2 took Maths to the kitchen. Through a series of investigative, messy, playful experiences we challenged the students thinking around the mathematical concept of mass.

Fruit salad, play doh, gloop and Coconut & Apricot balls provided the forum for a range of deep thinking, the challenging of existing ideas and beliefs, the posing of interesting questions, developing logical explanations and communicating their ideas and understanding.

As is regular practice at NBCS, we framed our learning with some Harvard Visible Thinking Routines:

• What do you know?
• What do you think?
• What do you wonder?

Recently I read a great blog post called What Does It Mean To Be Smart In Mathematics by Secondary Maths Researcher Ilana Horn. The author glimpses into the history of mathematics to demonstrate that multiple competencies (other than the fast recall of facts) propel mathematical discovery and she summarises them here:

• posing interesting questions (Fermat)
• making astute connections (Wiles)
• representing ideas clearly (Poincaré)
• developing logical explanations (Klein)
• working systematically (Appel and Haken)
• extending ideas (irrational/complex number systems)

As always, we encourage our students to ask great questions which lead to more questions, thus deepening their learning and extending their understanding. Who would have thought that a cooking experience would have led to…

• How do I add 1/8 of a melon to 1/16 of a melon so that I can write the recipe accurately?
• If I write 3 bananas but your bananas are bigger than mine, won’t that change the recipe?
• How is mass different to weight?
• Do I really have the same mass as 240 pears?

Or wonderings…..

• When the apricots were chopped, they must have weighed more because there was a bigger pile.
• Coconut is lighter than apricots so ½ kilo of coconut must weigh less than ½ kilo of apricots.
• Does adding water change the mass of something?
• How can we prove or disprove it ?

The NBCS Training Band is a committed group of students who have only been playing together as a band since the beginning of this term. Most of the students only began to play an instrument this year. The Training Band meets on a Tuesday morning before school, learning about playing as an ensemble, reading music, and preparing for performances.

Under the direction of Mr Mitchell Staines, a passionate conductor with a wealth of experience, the Training Band had their first performance last week in the Primary Playground (pictured above), with an enthusiastic audience of parents and peers. They will be performing again this Friday at the Primary CIA Assembly. Congratulations to the students for starting this exciting journey, and we look forward to the many great things ahead of them in the Band Program.

Any student who would be interested in joining this fantastic group of up-and-coming musicians should contact Dani Cosford: dcosford@nbcs.nsw.edu.au
 

Band Program on Twitter

The NBCS Band Program has recently set up a Twitter account to help provide timely updates for parents and students in the NBCS Band Program, including upcoming performances and opportunities: @NBCSBands

With the 2014 Snow Season fast approaching it is time to call for all budding Skiers and Snowboarders who would like to be part of the NBCS Ski and Snowboard Team and compete at the Northern NSW Interschools Championships.

Dates: Wednesday 2 July to Saturday 5 July
For the full race schedule download the NSW Interschools Event Dates & Schedule.

What is Interschools?
The Interschools Snowsports Championships is a series of snowsports competitions where students compete for their school as part of a team or as an individual, in any of the seven discipline events. Thousands of students have been introduced to competitive ski and snowboard competitions through the Interschools Championships. Many athletes have gone from competing for their school to competing for Australia, and we have seen at least 20 Olympians begin their competition days in NSW & ACT Interschools Snowsports Championships.

Who Can Compete?
School students from kindergarten to year 12 can compete. Students can compete as either an individual or part of a team in the Regional Championships to qualify for the NSW State Championships and/or Australian Championships.

What Skill Level are the Competitions Suitable For?
School students from all ability levels are encouraged to enter, with an emphasis on fun and participation in the initial Regional Championships. As the competitions move into the NSW State and Australian event, the level of competition and the degree of difficulty increases.

The NBCS team will have a School Coordinator who is a parent volunteer but all parents are responsible for their own children for the duration of the Championships. Please note that NBCS will not be sending a staff member to supervise students.

Booking of accommodation and lift tickets is the responsibility of each individual family that attends.

For further details download the 2014 Interschools Handbook.
 

INFORMATION SESSION

An information session will be held at NBCS on Thursday 3 April from 7:30-8:00am. To confirm your attendance at this session please register here: Information Session RSVP

If you are unable to attend the information session and are interested in your children being part of the team, please email Tracy Dowling to receive more information: tdowling@nbcs.nsw.edu.au