Calendar of Events Bandana Day Christmas Raffle Tickets Opening ...

The CONCHIssue9/2008NovemberCommunity News & Chat for Darwin Middle SchoolPO Box 2257 Parap NT 0804Email: admin.darwinmiddle@ntschools.netWeb address: http://www.schools.nt.edu.au/darwinmiddle/Telephone: 8942 5200Fax: 8942 5211Calendar ofEventsFriday 5th December• Christmas Raffle DrawnFriday 12th December• Last day of school termWednesday 28th January 2009• Students resume classesPink Ribbon DayBandana DayOctober 31 st saw Canteen’s Bandana Daydescend upon Darwin Middle School.With a vast variety of bandanas and waysto wear them the staff and studentssupported the cause of Canteen. Canteenis an Australian organisation set up tosupport young people living with cancerand their siblings through peer supportand positive encouragement. The schoolraised $900 towards Canteen. Thankyouand well done for all those who supportedthe day.OpeningCeremonyFriday 28th NovemberThe Darwin Middle• Official Opening of Darwin School OpeningMiddle SchoolCeremony will be held• ‘The Simpsons Movie Night Friday 28th630-9pm ($5 adults, $15 November from 830-family, $3 kids)915am. Please arriveby 820am soeveryone is seated intime. There will bevarious performancesby students, includingsinging and dancing.All parents arewelcome to attend.On Monday the 27th October, three students (JacalinEkins, Despina Zikos and Nomiki Halkitis) decided toraise money for breast cancer. They arranged a freedress day, pink hair spray and pink icecups at recess anda ‘Guess how many jellybeans in the jar’ competition,which was won be Ms Simeone with a guess of 375. Withtheir hard work and determination the students raised$300 for their important cause. Great effort girls!Christmas Raffle TicketsJust a reminder for parents to sell and return theirraffle tickets with the money as soon as possible. Eachchild received a 10 ticket book in homeroom.Thank you to the following sponsors for their kinddonations;• Bardens Pharmacy for their beautiful His and Hersdeluxe basket of Clarins beauty products• ARB 4x4 for their recovery kit in bag, Engel 8litrecoller/heater and 21 inch Mountain BikeTickets drawn 5 December.Future Olympians?Congratulations to the following students who wereselected for the Pacific School Games to be held inCanberra during week 9.• Hockey - Sarah-Mae Bates & Simon Collister• Basketball - Kia Bond• Track & Field - Petra McCullagh, David Munro,Nelson Rossingh & Bradley Yuen• Swimming - Jarrod SallisCongratulations also to Andrea Mullins who has beenselected to be on scholarship for Weightlifting with theNTIS.We wish you all well in your competitions. Good luck!

From the PrincipalDear Parents & Friends,As the year closes I look back on a momentous year and look forward to significant improvements in what choicesand systems our new found stature as a school will enjoy in 2009. Firstly as the student body will include a year 9cohort, the staffing formula will allow us greater diversity to build programmes that offer diversity. The communitysurveys conducted in 2007 stated the value parents had in core subjects such as Maths, Science, SOSE and English.It also stated that we should look towards language choices and we did this through the inclusion of Greek, Italian,Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese in our programme.Parents also asked for choice and I believe this is well and truly available for 2009. Shortly you will receive formsfor electives. Allocation will be on a first in best dressed scenario, so please ensure you discuss these choices withyour child and complete the paper work early. The time table will dictate at what stage of the year these choicesare available but I believe this extra diversity shall enrich our student’s creative potential. I believe that Music,Dance and Physical Education, Home Economics and Industry have all played a role in providing that diversity thisyear. Next year however, Visual, Graphic Design, Manual Arts and subjects such as Tourism will be available to ourstudents and they will be able to demonstrate new talents and expand upon existing interests.Finally I read with some interest an article in the Northern Territory News on Saturday that suggested poorMathemtiacs results in the Territory. For your interest our year seven results were as follows.2.5% Below a national minimum standard15.5% At a national minimum standard82% Above a national minimum standard (nationally this was 80%)When you consider the make up of Darwin including its international & indigenous client base which makes us such afantastically rich and diverse community, you can remain assured as to the rigour and quality of our students andteachers at Darwin Middle School.Marcus Dixon - PrincipalItalian Language ClassAs part of their assessment, students in the Italian language class were asked to read and respond to a letter froma student in Italy. The following is Bayley Valentine’s work:Cara Tina,Ti ringrazio per la tua lettera. Mi ha fatto piacere ricevere tue notizie. Io sto bene grazie. Ho dodici anni e anchesono nell’anno sette a scuola. Io abito in Australia con la mia famiglia. Darwin e’ molto caldo. Fa caldo oggi! Amoleggere I libri e giocare gli sport. Gioco a netball. Non ho sorelle o fratelli. Ho un cane e gatto, si chiamano Lochy eRemy. Il gatto miagola molto.La mia scuola e’ moderna anche, nuova di quest’anno. Si chiama Scuola Media di Darwin. A scuola mi piaccionoItaliano e Cucina. Non mi piace matematica e scienza. Che materie studi?La mia amica …..parla molto in classe. Lei e’ molto divertente. Mia altra amica….ama I delfini molto. Hanno capellibiondi e lunghi.Il weekend io sto a casa con amici. Vado a scuola dale otto alle due e trenta. Prendo il pulmino della scuola omia madre mi porta. Per il pranzo squisito mangio un sandwich o compro qualcosa dal Caffe’ Driftwood.Stasera noi abbiamo la festa di Halloween e mi sto preparando.Scrivi presto Melissa2

Program AchieveSome Suggestions for Teaching Your Children Emotional Resilience1. Accept that it is normal and healthy for children to experience negative emotions. It is good to show and talkabout different negative feelings you have as long as they are not too extreme.2. Explain to children that it is normal to have negative feelings and that there is nothing wrong with them ifthey go through periods of time or react to evens with high amounts of anger, anxiety, or feeling down.3. Provide children with words to describe their feelings (eg, ‘You are feeling angry, worried or have hurtfeelings-down.’) as well as your own feelings (eg. ‘I am worried about you staying out late.’)4. Help children become aware that when something bad happens to them (eg, teasing, bad mark in school, no oneto play with), they have options in how upset they get (extremely upset, medium upset, a ’bit’ upset).5. Help children put together a list of negative things that can happen to them at school, at home or with theirfriends and discuss with them the common negative feelings they can have when these things occur.6. Spend time discussing with children how getting extremely upset (furious, panicked, very down) when negativeevents have occurred or are about to occur is not so good and that it is better to try to be only medium upset.(The exception to this is when children experience life threatening or catastrophic events,)7. Introduce the term ’Emotional Resilience’ (’Toughness’) to children and explain that it means not gettingoverly upset when something negative happens, as well as knowing what to do to calm down and feel betterwhen they do get overly upset.8. Teach children not to blow the ‘badness’ of things out of proportion. Help children see that while some eventsare truly the worst things that could happen (eg, death of a loved one, natural disasters), other things (eg,difficult/boring homework, being teased) are bad but not the worst things that could happen. Help children todiscriminate among things that are terrible/horrible/awful, things that are bad, are things that are ‘a bit’bad.9. Teach children not to put themselves down when they do something wrong, fail at something, or someone ismean to them. Help children identify all their positive qualities (eg, good athlete, good friend, good reader)and help them see that doing something wrong, failing at something, or rejection doesn’t take away their goodqualities and doesn't’ show they are totally helpless.10. Help children understand that they will not always be treated fairly and considerately by others and thatwhen that happens, they can handle it.11. Model for children the kinds of positive thinking they can use when they have to do something that isdifficult or boring and discuss with them the downside of negative thinking.12. Provide children with specific positive feedback when you catch them not getting overly upset in a difficultsituation (eg, ‘That was great how you8 didn’t allow yourself to get too angry.’)13. Discuss with children the importance of finding someone to talk to when they have very strong feelings. Thiscould be the parent, another family relative, a member from church, a school counsellor, or a trusted friend.Interested in Swimming?Darwin Symphony OrchestraThe Palmerston & Rural Swimming Cub is a familyorientated club which provides an opportunity forthose interested in swimming for competition,recreation, or fitness to improve their skills.We are currently running sessions for young childrenjust out of learn to swim through to national levelswimmers; including a newly formed adult squad.Swimmers with a disability are also catered for.For further information on our Club please visit ourwebsite www.palmerstonsharks.websyte.com.au.For the first time in DarwinMiddle School’s history, one ofour students, Isabel Guthridge,took to the stage as a cellist forthe Darwin Symphony Orchestraon Saturday 15th November.Isabel was the youngestperformer on the night, andshould be very proud of herachievement. The night went offwithout a hitch and Isabelplayed beautifully. Well done!3

Halloween DiscoAs they danced the night away, fun was had by the seventy or so students and staff that dressed up andattended Darwin Middle School's first Halloween Disco! It was a great event with music, sounds and lightingprovided by Year 7 Cowry student, Tom Lydiard and his business, Cyclone Discos. It wasn't just the students thatdressed up and had fun either; many staff joined in the fun. There was Steve "Milo" Irwin, Tony "Cereal Killer"Vanderway, Rhiannon "Pink" Frawley, Merryn "Pumpkin" Brown, Long-haired Slocombe, Ghostly Grant Ebbers andVeronica "Cast-a-spell" Ross.Students dressed up as witches, mummies, devils, rabbits, monsters, ghouls and party girls/guys. There was plentyto eat and drink, and there were glow products on sale ranging from glasses, bracelets, rings, hats, lightsabres andpirate swords.Like most events, they can only happen because of the generous contribution made by a large team of people. Manystaff members contributed their time and energy into preparing this event and we'd like to thank each and everyone of them. We'd really like to see more students next year to make it even bigger and better!4

Music Student’s Guitar EnsembleOur guitar students enjoyed aday at the NT Music Schoolplaying music with otherstudents and have been invitedto join their Guitar Ensemble.If you want to enjoy the musicof these talented students be atour official opening ceremony at8.30am on 28th November.ADCU Visit DMSRoad Safety TalkJeff Watson,Manager ofAustralian DefenceCredit Union(ADCU) RobertsonBarracks, visited MrsBrown and MissGregorio's Year 7Volute and Cowryclasses on Friday14th November todiscuss budgets and savings. Students were also introduced During week 4, Aimee from Road Safety came toto other concepts such as gross wages, nett wages, taxes, Darwin Middle School to talk to us about being safecredit, credit cards, debits, debit traps and interest. This on the roads, and to wear a helmet when riding towas all part of the Enterprise unit of work that students school. She told us some stories and showed us somehave been involved in this term.photos from accidents.- A Year 8 Student’s Recount of the talk.A reminder to all staff students and parents;ICT Fair PrizesCongratulations to MadelineRichards! She created aninteractive powerpointpresentation for her assessmenttask during Term 3 for Italian.She submitted it to theITEANT (Information TeacherEducator Association NorthernTerritory). She won lots of ITprized for both herself and theschool. Well done Madeline!Recorded Jam Sessions• Students under 17 years must wear asecured helmet• For a person 17 years of age or older anapproved helmet must be worn when travellingon a road or bicycle lane that forms part of theroad• All people must wear a seatbelt while avehicle is in motionTo date, there has not been a helmet designed tojump from the handlebars and secure itself onto yourhead just before an accident is about to happen.A group of students have worked together and written and sung their own song, titled ‘DMS’. To listen to the song,accompanied by photos of the students, please go to this link on our website:http://www.schools.nt.edu.au/darwinmiddle/contents/cocurricular.php?sub=PerformingArtsThe writing group included: Elijah Malibiran, Jacqui Wilcocks, Danny Thorne (also our resident ‘beatboxer’), CaseyWarr, Desiree Philp, Priscilla Lorenz, Cassidy Pratt, Jessica Gibb, Emma Tatnell, Alone Nona, Amber Parrish, KieranIson and Sarah Meldrum. The singing group included: Virginia Cardona, Anthony Nicholls, Anna Blackwell. BothAdrian Wright and Harry Winspear were a part of the writing and singing groups.The students had fun working together and creating this original song. It’s worth a listen!5

PresentingDarwin Middle School’sMovie NightThe Simpsons Movierated PGWe would like to invite all Darwin Middle School studentsand their families to view the movie students voted andselected for our inaugural Movie Night. Come dressed asone of the Simpsons or a favorite movie star.Come along and see Power Point Presentations showcasing2008 student activities, thanks to “Moving Pictures” andtheir 6m x 6m inflatable, portable screen.Help Darwin Middle School celebrate its Official OpeningDay!Friday 28 th November6.30pm – 9pmMovie begins at 7.30pm in the school’s undercoverarea$5 adults$15 family$3 childrenHeadliceThere have been some reported cases of headlicegoing around the school. Please remember to checkyour child’s hair and keep them at home if you findeither eggs or lice in their hair. Headlice can spreadvery quickly, and it is important you ensure your childis treated and lice free before he or she returns toschool.Welcoming CommitteeDMS has a welcoming committee of students who aretrained to assist newly enrolled students on theirfirst day at school. Recently, the welcomingcommittee helped with week long activities helpingyear 6 students from our feeder primary schools ontheir orientation days.Welcoming Committee students are also used at ourschool as ambassadors for official visitors and do anexcellent job!A big thank you goes to these friendly and helpfulstudents. The photo below is of some of thecommittee; Kirra Basnett, Eric Hampson, Kae JennTchia, Jessica Dempsey & Asha Hargreaves.*Entry at rear gate bus stop*BBQ dinner, food, snacks, desserts, drinks for sale!Raffle tickets on sale for terrific prizes!Prizes for best dressed Simpsons or Movie Star Costume!*BYO CHAIRS*Northern Territory Music SchoolThis is to welcome you to the community of students andparents of the Northern Territory Music School, and to inviteyou to aSt. Vinnies Christmas AppealParent Information Evening onWednesday 26 November 2008 from 5:30 – 6:30In the Nightcliff Middle School Band areaNightcliff Road Nightcliff NT 0810Parents of new students (2008) and prospective students(2009) are especially invited. However, there are aspects ofMusic School operation that will be of interest to all parents, socome and hear the Combined Middle School Band perform, meetour staff, find out about the Music School and some of ourspecial programs, learn how your child can gain maximum benefitfrom instrumental music lessons.RSVP 26/11/08 to Matthew on 8985 0877or Jill on 8985 0872Limited parking within the school grounds –Otherwise park on Nightcliff or Ryland RoadThere are many families in the Top End who will haveto go without this Christmas. If you would like to helpSt Vinnie’s supply these families with a small‘Christmas Hamper’, please donate the following itemsand place in the box in the front office by Monday8th December.- Christmas Cake - Bon Bons- Fruit Mince Pies (6pk) - Tinned Ham- Christmas Confectionary Bags- Cordial (750ml or 1L)- Tinned Fruit (400g or large tin)- Long Life Custard or Cream (small, medium, large)- Plum Pudding (small, medium, large)- Christmas shortbread/biscuits/cookiesYour kind generosity is much appreciated.6