T | 4274 0621 F | 4276 2835 A | Military Road Port Kembla NSW

As 2019 is drawing to a close, it is time to celebrate the many successes of our stu-dents and staff from Five Islands Secondary College. In all areas of school involvement our students have given their best and have embodied the college values of Respect, Responsibility and Aspiration. Congratulations to our 72 graduating students who are now eagerly awaiting the re-sults of the HSC. Particular congratulations to the 11 students who have received early entry into the universities of their choice. We look forward to hearing from all of Year 12 about where they are heading in the future. Big Picture has continued to thrive in 2019. Three Big Picture students have applied to

the University of Wollongong through the Graduation Portfolio Program. Students who have participated in Big Picture this year love telling me how much they enjoy coming to school and how much this pro-gram has changed their lives. We will be expanding the Big Picture Program in 2020 to six classes. Our Permaculture garden continues to evolve and supply amazing produce that is utilized by our Hospi-tality students. The garden has continued to provide students with a positive environmental space for them to visit and has been the feature of a number of news items including a segment on Gardening Aus-tralia. This year was the first year of our Stage 6 Year 12 Permaculture course. This course has continued to thrive and is still one of the most popular courses in the school. We have continued to upgrade the visual amenity of FISC with many of our external buildings being painted. There has also been significant upgrades to many classrooms as well to ensure that students and staff have great environments to work in. Our hall also received an upgrade with the replacement of the stage curtains. The SRC has continued to expand in numbers and their role in the school. A member of the SRC provides weekly updates on what is happening at FISC to the entire school community. Student Voice is highly val-ued at FISC. Every year brings about change and FISC will experience a number of changes in staff in 2020. Andrew Griffiths, Head Teacher Science, Ian Gillett, Head Teacher TAS, Mark Berry, Head Teacher Special Education, Peta McEwan, School Administration Manager, Michael De Main from Big Picture, Phil Ste-phens from HSIE, Ellie Stewart from Learning Support/Library and Richard Donnelly our Chaplain will move to other roles or adventures next year. On behalf of the FISC community, I would like to acknowledge the contribution each of them has made in making FISC the great place it is and wish them all the best in their new endeavours. I would like to take this opportunity to recognise and thank all staff right across the school. Teachers, Learning Support staff, Counsellors, School Administrative Assistants, our General Assistants and Clean-ers. I would like to thank you for the professional and caring way you have committed yourselves to im-proving learning and life outcomes for all students at Five Islands Secondary College. Finally, I wish everyone in our community a safe and happy festive season.

Jenny Flowers Principal

ILLAWARRA VET STUDENT OF THE YEAR Congratulations to FISC student, Nina Bruce of Year 12, who was named the best school-based trainee in the Illawarra and also won the Illawarra Vocational Education Stu-dent of the Year award. Nina competed with 2800 other students from the region. As well as studying for the HSC, she had on-the-job vocational experience working at KFC as part of her schooling. Nina plans to stay with KFC and has dreams of owning her own KFC store one day.

HSC GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP The Year 12 Geography field trip to Minna-murra Spit was a requirement of the topic: “Ecosystems at Risk” The students were lead by an informative guide and their class room learnings were enhanced by experiencing the ecosystem first hand.

MATHS Year 10 Maths class have been busy cre-ating and folding while mastering the Art of Oragami. Oragami is the ancient art of paper folding; this can be used to support and enhance geometrical reasoning and mathematical learning. There is a direct relationship be-tween mathematics and oragami; people who are good at maths are usually good at origami—-mathematics is not just about numbers (ask Euclid); maths is the lan-guage of patterns and concepts.

SRC INDUCTION Congratulations to the SRC leaders for

2019/2020. The team have exciting lead-

ership ideas planned as part of their tar-

gets for 2020. As SRC the students have

been involved in leadership opportunities

with Wollongong Council and are looking

to continue supporting the recycling pro-

ject. The SRC proudly supports fundraising

initiatives such as Jeans for Jeans day, Big-

gest Morning Tea and National Anti-bully

day. They have also taken the lead at as-

semblies and open days. The SRC weekly

announcements will continue to inform

the college of events and provide relevant

information. Thank you to Andy and Gor-

SRC & BIG PICTURE TOWN PLANNING SRC students and Big Picture students were given a unique opportunity to contribute t the planning for Cringila Hill, a $100,000 project. Ben, Kye, Robert, Brandon, Loch-lan, Hayden, Denisha, Brody and Lauren spoke about their ideas to improve the fa-cilities at the baseball fields, incorporate safety and environmentally friendly fea-tures and encourage young people to use the area. The aim of the project is to devel-op a versatile space that includes bike tracks as a key feature but expanding ideas to engage all members of the community. Well done to the students involved. It will be a rewarding experience to see your ideas built in the near future.

eSMART SCHOOL FISC is working towards becoming an eSmart School FISC has been working with student and

staff to spread the knowledge on how to

stay safe and smart online. Police talks

have been organised with students and

every student has been registered to par-

ticipate in the Digital Licence from eSmart.

OLYMPICS UNLEASHED Judo athlete Josh Katz

visited our year 10, 12

and Big Picture stu-

dents and delivered an

inspiring presentation

on the value of persis-

tence and passion . Josh shared stories

about his dedication and what it took to

represent his country on the world stage at

the Olympics.

BIG PICTURE This year has been an amazing year for the students and advisors of Big Picture. Throughout the year, our students have focused on a range of different topics such as yoga, anatomy, nursing, psychology, working with animals, and trades such as carpentry and construction. Some stu-dents have completed Internships and shadow days, to further their learning in their areas of interest. They have partici-pated in many excursions to places such as Luna Park, the Cinema, Shoalhaven Zoo and the Treetop Adventure Park. We have also been participating in walks to the beach, bowling, learning to surf and other community excursions. The students of Big Picture are looking for-ward to developing skills related to their passions and interests as well as welcom-ing two new Big Picture classes into the family. We would also like to wish all the Big Picture students who are leaving us all the best. We know you will do us proud!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

FISC Permaculture students embraced the opportunity to present some of their work at the “Warrawong Permaculture Partners” celebration day that was held

at Port Kembla Public School.

Well summer is definitely here and the days are getting longer and hotter. The garden has been loving the warmer weather, and our students and staff have

been hard at work preparing the garden for the holiday break.

Our Big Picture students have built some fantastic bamboo trellises for our climb-ing veggie plants to grow on. The tomatoes and cucumbers are already loving the

extra height in the sun.

The outdoor kitchen area is looking great with some new café furniture and two big storage containers to keep everything safe and secure. The next HSC Perma-culture class is really starting to get into the swing of things with some awesome

design projects to come.

Each year in Term 4, FISC Year Ten students experience one week of work in the 'real world'.

Students learn great employability skills but also learn that a work day can have incredible highs and lows, just like a school day.

A big 'Thank You' to the Work Experience Mentors who have helped the students with pre work experience phone calls and visited the students in the work place, in lieu of their Year 10 classes. The students really get a buzz from seeing a familiar face interested in

their progress. Teacher Mentors this year included Ryan Cox, Meg Mancell, Lauren Coutts Smith, Bronya

Celima, Joshua Delucyk, , Melissa Jones Gabbi Patane and Paul Forrest.

The College expressed its thanks to our volunteer mentors with a luncheon at the Illawarra Yacht Club last week. Dave, Dianne, Jill, George, Ross, Gerd and Bruce have freely given of their time each week to support our students in their studies through their particular areas

of expertise. We know how much our students appreciate them and we thank them for their great contribution, especially Jill who is finishing up this year. We are pleased to know

that the others are all promising to be back next year!

FISC’s resident Assistance Dog, Walnut, would like to wish everyone a Happy and Safe Christmas.

Walnut is looking forward to seeing our returning students and meeting new students in 2020.

Counselling Service and Support

“Telling someone you’re going through a tough time isn’t easy and usually, the worse a proble becomes, the more difficult it is to talk about. Even though seeking help can be difficult, it’s important to talk about what you are going through as soon as possible”.

If you’re concerned about someone: Listen to what they’re saying. Sometimes , when a person wants to talk, they do not always want ideas, but just need to talk. Tell them they have your attention and you are lis-tening. You may like to save any suggestions for later. Use positive body language. Keep eye contact and sit or stand in a relaxed position. This will help you both feel comfortable. Use open ended questions such as “So tell me about…. ?” which require more than a yes or no answer. This is ofen a good way to start a conversation. If your conversation becomes difficult or the person you’re talking to gets angry, remem-ber to stay calm. Admit if you are wrong and don’t lose control. Just spending time with the person lets them know you care. Take care of yourself. Suppor ting someone can be hard, so make sure you take some time out to look after yourself. Encourage getting help. Encourage the person to seek help from their family doctor or school counsellor.

ORGANISATION WEBSITE PHONE

eHeadspace www.eheadspace.org.au 42 207660

Biteback ww.biteback.org.au

Reach Out www.reachout.com.au

Aftercare www.aftercare.com.au

Kids Helpline www.kidshelpline.com.au 1800551800

NSW Mental Health Line 1800011511

Lifeline www.lifeline.org.au 131114

Suicide Call Back Service www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au 13006594700

Police Think U Know Online Safety Www.thinkyouknow.org.au

There are a number of supports available to students and families at Five Islands Secondary College. One of these supports is the school

counselling service. Our school counselling service team members are Heidi Page, School Counsellor and Registered Psychologist; Jennifer

McKinnon, School Counsellor and Registered Psychologist; and Jane Schmidt, Senior Psychologist, Education.

BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND MERRY CHRISTMAS ENJOY THE BREAK

AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO A FANTASTIC 2020