Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius

from the senior school
Uncle Garry Williams, Luke Fussell, Brendan Lim, William Hart and
Nicholas Plummer
Uncle Gary asked us what we thought of Nambucca as
a town, to which we answered that Nambucca to us was
a small town compared to the hustle of Sydney but it had
this “air” about it and the people who lived here made us
feel welcome.
There were other questions such as what we had done
so far, but I won’t go into detail as these will be covered
elsewhere in the article.
Will Hart (Year 9)
Nambucca Heads High School
Nambucca Heads High School is located at the
Pacific Highway end of Nambucca Heads. The
school first opened in the early 1990’s and the
Principal is Mr Hilton Humphries. Mr Humphries along
with the billeting families went out of their way to make
us feel welcome. Mr Humphries’ dry wit and rye sense
of humour ensured a smile and a laugh was never far
away.
Nambucca Heads High School is a Co-Educational
Public High School. Yes this means there were girls!!!!
The four of us therefore, were naturally excited about our
first day at Nambucca Heads High School. It can be said
that it was a very different experience to that of St Aloysius’
College. Nambucca Heads High runs on a different format
to that of Aloys, with different subject choices available to
Year 9, a six period day, roll call and behavioural levels
and sports Co-curricular on Wednesday afternoons from
period 3 onwards.
All core classes were graded into four class levels,
depending upon aptitude. The students attended compulsory
Maths, Science, Geography, English, History and PDHPE,
taking scripture classes only once a Term.
Nambucca Heads High School students, choose to
study any three electives from the following; Wood
Tech, Metal Tech, Food Tech, Drama, Music, Visual
Arts, Japanese, Gumbaynggnirr (the local Aboriginal
Language), Aboriginal Studies and Applied Sports. We
generally attended classes with the billets, however, we
were permitted to choose our own electives which meant
St Aloysius’ College
A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879
we often drifted between the electives our school doesn’t
offer so as to make the most of the experience.
Some of the fun activities we participated in while
attending the school were practical music lessons, PE, Food
Tech, Metal Tech and Wood Tech.
Some of the things we made in Food Tech, were Sang
Choy Bao and Yum Cha. Luke made a metal box in Metal
and Wood Tech and I made a ring.
At lunchtime we would meet most of the Year 9s outside
while eating lunch and having a chat about our experiences
at home and in Nambucca Heads.
Personally speaking my favourite elective subjects were
Drama and Food Tech.
Nicholas Plummer (Year 9)
Nambucca Heads High School and St Mary’s
Primary School
At 7.15am on Monday 11 September, four Year
9 students, Nicholas Plummer, William Hart, Luke
Fusel, Brendan Lim and Miss Emily Moran boarded
a train bound for the coastal town of Nambucca Heads.
We were embarking on the first Cultural Immersion with
the Gumbaynggirr People of the Nambucca Valley and
Exchange with the students from Nambucca Heads High
School.
What did we think we would encounter? We didn’t
really know. The only problem that filled our minds was
how to survive the eight-hour train ride. The answer to this
was simple and effective, a $6 pack of cards and plenty
of edible goods to sustain us, courtesy of the Natural
Confectionary Company.
Eight-hours and 1kg of snakes later, we were met by our
billeting families and settled into what was to become home
for the next two weeks. The school Principal, of Nambucca
Heads High is Mr Hilton Humphries. The four of us were
quickly reassured that we will be well rested, watered and
fed by the kind, friendly faces that were to be our familyaway-from-home
family. But St Aloysius' didn’t forget Miss
Moran. She was put up in a roomy apartment overlooking
a stunning view of the ‘vee wall’ and the ocean.
On Wednesday 13 September, accompanied by
Shirley Ballangarry, an elder from the Gumbaynggirr
Nation, we drove to a small town outside Macksville,
called Bowraville population of two thousand. There we
met the Principal Ms Claire Mellon and the students of St
Mary’s Primary School.
St Mary’s is a great school with roughly fifty indigenous
pupils ranging from Kindergarten to Year 8.
Any initial awkwardness we might have felt soon
dissolved as Luke and Brendan got into answering the
questions from the children about where we live and go
to school. They are great kids and soon we were feeling
like we had known them for a long time. After recess
(playground games included crocodile, i.e. tip, and see-
a l o y s i a d / p a g e 2 2