ISSUE 187

2023 - Term 4, Week 7

Welcome!

Acknowledgement Of Country

On behalf of the TGIF team, we begin this newsletter by first acknowledging the Indigenous people of the land that we gather on today. We would like to pay our respects to the rightful owners of this land, who have roots deep within these grounds forged over 65,000 years ago.

Words by Zander

Editor Welcome

Hi all, and welcome to the new and improved TGIF! For better layout and customisation, the team has decided to switch our newsletter over to google sites. We hope you enjoy the new format of Cooks Hill's newsletter, and that you share it with family and friends.

This issue is full of many different and exciting articles, separated into 'Welcome,' 'What We Did,' 'What We Saw,' and 'Info For You'. You can find student survey links, town hall announcements, outlearning opportunities and journal prompts at the bottom of this issue! We hope you've all had an excellent fortnight and that we have successfully helped to capture some fond memories.

Your editor, Matilda M.

TGIF Mascots

Here are a selection of our TGIF members as mascots, made by the amazing Kenny! More coming soon.

What We Did!

Amnesty Conference

The Amnesty Student Leadership Conference was held at Callaghan College Waratah Technology Campus on the 9th of November. Students from Cooks Hill Campus (CHC) attended with Jamaica and Elijah (teacher in training). Sophie, Isaac, Tessa, Jamie, Asha, Finley, Marley, Alex, Ciara, Lily VS and Anni all represented CHC.

There was a keynote speaker who discussed human rights and how they are not freely available to everyone in the world. He also discussed what’s happening in Australia that impacts human rights, and ways that they could be improved.

After the speaker, there were 2 x 2 hour workshops. Students were able to choose from this list:

Art in Action
Sing A Different Song
Sustainability
Students as Change Agents, raise Awareness and take Action
First Nations Art
Inclusion
STEM – Coding our future
Cultural Experience

The student-led cultural experiences workshop included exploring language, tasting traditional refreshments and the meaning of names (Saudi Arabian Culture & Arabic language), a traditional dance class, clothing & music (Burundi & Democratic Republic of Congo).

In the Coding our Future workshop, Finley and Marley created a game about the Right to Protest. It can be played here (a game coded in an hour please be nice!).

In the Art in Action workshop, Sophie and Isaac created a work that included 2 hearts and it was about an issue in health care.

Words by Lucie and Sophie

Lachy gets LTI Headstart

What is Headstart?

Headstart is a pre-apprenticeship skills course, in Engineering and Manufacturing.

What did you do?

The course was 10 days which is equivalent to 3 months of theory and tests at TAFE. It covered work safety, PPE, manual handling, tool identification and usage. It was theory and practical.

What were your favourite parts?

The best bits were where we got to make our own sliding bevel from scratch.

Least favourite part?

The tests were my least favourite, but the teacher was great and I passed all 6 tests.

How did you get this opportunity?

Lucie emailed the flyer to me from Hunternet. I applied for the Headstart program and also applied for an apprenticeship in Aerospace Structural. I got to do an interview with Hunternet for the apprenticeship however was not successful as there were older applicants who had their Cert II and Driver's Licence, but it was a good experience and Stephanie then knew I had also applied for the Headstart program.

What was the application process like?

To be considered for the program you had to complete an expression of interest with Hunternet. Lots of people apply but they can only have a maximum of 16 students.

What is next?

Unfortunately there is no follow up course but it showed me I am capable and l liked doing the course.

Would you recommend this to anyone else?

Definitely recommend it to anyone that wants to get a headstart and try this type of industry

Anything else?

Hunternet staff talked to me about my future and what I would like to do, they gave me some suggestions and also helped arrange an interview for an apprenticeship in boilermaking. The interview was an hour and they showed me the workshop and explained what they do and it looked pretty good.

Student writing

Psychology - spotlight on Freud

Zephyr has penned a in-depth analysis of Freudian psychology and the life and death drives. Settle in for some brain food here.

Art We Made

A group of CHC students led by Alison, have created a beautiful mural for Ramjet on Darby St. Check out some of the progress photos below...

Impromptu CHC pavement art, representing a fish wedding...

Ev's 'Whack-A-Cat' cartoon art featured at Town Hall, and unpacking the creative process...

If you would like to see your creative works featured in TGIF, please email us at felicity.davis10@det.nsw.edu.au

Interview with Tessa : Recipient of the Ma Morley Scholarship

What is the scholarship?

So it's called the Ma Morley and it’s a weird scholarship because you get $50,000 for your studies and within the program they take you to China, galas and leadership opportunities. They want to create an assortment of young adults to help the world. Their beliefs are demilitarisation, sustainability and diversity.

Why did you choose to apply?

Well I liked all the getting to go to China for free and making contacts with all these people in the university and beyond. Also university is so expensive, so fifty grand is so helpful and such a large amount of money.

What was the application process like?

First you had to write an 800 word application outlining what you've done in the past to align with their views and ideals, a bit about yourself and how you would use the scholarship. They sort through around 300 applications, then they have it shortlisted to 100. Then a panel of 6 judges sit each applicant down for an interview, to choose 20 scholarship winners.

Was it difficult to win the scholarship?

I didn't think I was going to get it there were so many applicants. Another thing was I don’t have HSC marks so I had to get the marks through Open Foundation. But I think I was just overly nervous.

Why were you chosen?

They didn't specify, but i have an idea. I'm going to university a bit earlier than usual. I don't think any applicants were from Big Picture or took the same path as me. They love diversity, I'm very passionate about child psychology, I mentioned how I wanted to put in place a law against corporal punishment - parents can technically legally hit kids for punishment. I talked a lot about that.

What was your reaction when you found out that you got the scholarship?

It was a really weird story. I got an email from them saying to call, so I ran down to the office and called but they didn't pick up, so I ran back and forth about three times between the office and my advisory before they picked up. The woman on the phone told me I got the scholarship and I was so surprised because I didn’t think I’d get it. I was really happy so I called my parents they were very excited.

When does it start?

On the 31st January they have a welcome scholar event, free food and you can talk to the Ma Morley family and everyone who runs the program. You also get to know the new cohort. Other events like the galas happen across the year. Oh, and in March we’ll go to China, and I am trying to learn some Mandarin for the trip but it’s difficult, I can sort of read it but I sound so silly when I try to speak it.

Anything else?

I think a lot of people at this school don’t know about it. It happens every year - just apply. It's such a great a scholarship and they're always looking for diversity, I encourage everyone to give it a go.

Interview by Luisa

LTI Job Readiness Workshop

Words by Melody

On Tuesday 24th October, many students attended a job readiness workshop at CHC.

We heard from guest speakers and engaged in activities to help prepare us for the workforce, and let students know of all the opportunities available to them to chase the path they want to take in life. It was a great experience and very insightful. Thank you to all the speakers, organisers and attendees.

What We Saw!

Album Review

Words by Melody

This week, I’m putting you on to the young goat 'Xaviersobased.' Earlier this year he dropped his tape 'And 3', a short collection of psychedelic trap and dance songs. Pushing conventional sound to the limit, this music usually takes a while to click, but once it does it sounds crazy. The music on this album is short and doesn’t overstay its welcome, each song around 2 minutes or less. This album is full of random effects and unconventional song structure, the lyrics are vapid and meaningless, and it's not for everyone, but it's fun and careless which is what fans of Xavier like.

Track one “1c in tha cut 2” is an explosive wall of sound that catches your attention, before melting into a wave of reverb towards the outro.

Track 2 “ot” has a slowed droning Xavier rapping over a piano jerk beat, which suddenly speeds towards the end.

Track 3 “skippin class” has drowned out raw vocals and a beat that's all over the place.

Track 4 “in it now” has a weird, ambient beat with more slowed down vocals over the top.

Track 5 “u dk how to hoop”, which is easily one of my favourites, has a crazy distorted mix and vocals that randomly start echoing over each other, turning into another wall of sound. This song also features a random replay of the entire song but slowed down at the end.

Track 6 “47 w me”, my favourite track on the tape, samples “It’s Thanksgiving” by Nicole Westbrook and turns into a thumping psychedelic hoodtrap beat, while Xavier tiredly raps over it for less than 2 minutes. Not only is this sample insane but the track itself goes stupid.

The tape ends with the bonus track “royalty” a Lil B/Old Chief Keef glo beat, with somehow only the 3rd worst vocal mixing on the album.

Bug of the week

Aha ha (pictured)

Yes, that’s its scientific name! Aha ha is species of Western Australian wasp. It was named by the entomologist Arnold Menke in 1977 as a joke. Menke described, several years after its discovery, how when he received a package from a colleague containing insect specimens, he exclaimed "Aha, a new genus", with fellow entomologist Eric Grissell responding "ha" doubtfully. The name of the insect is commonly found in lists of bizarre scientific names. The name was also used as the vehicle registration plate of Menke's car, "AHA HA".)

Words by Marley

Info For You!

Town Hall Announcements & Outlearning Opportunities

Revolution Excursion (Week 9) - spots available
Debating intro session on Wednesday in Week 10 - see Finley for details
Last call for applications for OPAL Pathways to Nursing SBAT and Traineeship Opportunities
Applications are open for the Women in Auto program for 2024
SBAT hospitality traineeship opportunity for a Year 10 student at Event Cinemas Kotara
TAFE TVET courses for current Year 10s are still open for applications - many options including Animal Care, Hospitality, Baking ,Beauty & Salon, Early Childhood, Music Industry, Screen & Media, Design, Events & Tourism, Automotive, Aeroskills, Construction, Engineering, IT, Fitness, Electrotechnology, Plumbing, Real Estate, Maritime

Check out the LTI Canvas page for the latest LTI & Outlearning opportunities, or speak to Andy.

Survey Links For Student Projects

Self Care & Wellbeing

Created by Zander

Journal Prompts

Need some inspiration for your last few journals of the term? Dascha has you sorted, with plenty of ideas below...

Words of the Week

schlep

To schlep something around is to haul or drag it; more specifically, schlepping is the action of carrying something very heavy and awkward to hold a decent distance.

When your dad asks you to go to Aldi down the road, and expects you to bring three bags of groceries back up an annoyingly steep hill, and then down the even steeper driveway all by yourself, you aren’t just carrying the groceries, you’re schlepping them home… thanks a lot father-dearest.

hiányérzet (Hungarian) (Hiya-nier-zhet)

Hiányérzet describes a feeling of missing something that you can’t really name.

Imagine you just read a good book, but it wasn’t amazing. If someone asks you what you didn’t like about it, you can’t even tell – you missed something – maybe a better ending or better characters. That’s when you have “hiányérzet”.

I bet you know that feeling when you just packed your bags for a little getaway or for a trip to see family, but you have the feeling and you’re almost sure that you forgot something. That’s another kind of “hiányérzet”. It’s the intuition that something’s missing, but you are not sure what it is.

WOTW by Marley

Thank you for reading TGIF!

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