Acknowledgment of Country & NAIDOC celebrations

We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land; the Awabakal people, and pay our respects to the elders both past, present and future for they hold the stories, the traditions and the culture.

In our final week of term, we had our NAIDOC celebrations. We would like to say a big thank you to Phelissitie and the Cooks Hill Campus (CHC) NAIDOC committee for organising such a wonderful event.

A big thank you to our special guests; Our Principal Dr Janene Rosser, Mr Paul Myers- for conducting the smoking ceremony, Aunty Belinda and the Yidaki boys for their performance, Clontarf for running a BBQ, Kate, Ella and Caelli from the Purai Indigenous History Centre for running workshops, Lizzy for running an art activity, Jacob for running Indigenous games (and for helping with all the set up and clean up), and our very own Choir group who performed 'Black Boy' by Coloured Stone.

It was an amazing way to celebate 50 Years Deadly!

Zaachariaha Fielding the artist of this years NAIDOC poster is from the remote Mimili community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. Zaachariaha is a multidisciplinary artist and musician. He is the lead vocalist of Electric Fields and represented Australia at the 2024 Eurovision.

Highlights of the term

First Aid/ Work Readiness Program

Lots of great things have happened this term. One being the First Aid/Work Readiness Program. The First Aid section of the program was led by Lauren from Advisory 7 and Will from Advisory 8, who are both St John's Ambulance volunteers.

Lauren believes that teaching first aid is so important. Having another person who can potentially save a life is beneficial for the community and builds confidence within those being taught.

Students also had the opportunity to gain their First Aid and CPR certificate!

Climate FRESK

This term six students went to Newcastle University for the chance to participate in Climate FRESK.

A FRESK is a collaborative group discussion that helps teach young people about the cause and effects of climate change. It is based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Within the FRESK the groups, usually consisting of 5-10 people, are given 42 cards in segments to arrange in an order that makes sense to them. Some cards are causes of climate change and others are effects of it. During the workshop you organise the cards from the causes to effects.

It is a great interactive way to get young students involved in the climate action in an informative and interactive way. The word FRESK comes from the french word 'fresque' meaning mural or work of art.

After the FRESK students often describe feeling sad or guilty about their planet. The conclusion of the day consists of a talk from one of the spokesmen about how to handle these feelings of worry and doubt.

This talk gives the students the confidence to talk to their peers and guardians about their worries and what the next steps could be on the way to helping our planet.

Blue Minds

This term, Sam from Advisory 5 interned with Blue Minds. Blue Minds is a fantastic organisation that was established by Kal Glanzig and Cooper Chapman. It is a youth ocean leadership program. As part of the program, they deliver talks and we were lucky to have Cooper come into Cooks Hill Campus during Week 10. Through this talk, students learnt about the 3 A's of Blue Minds, which are Appreciation, Awareness and Action. Students practiced gratitude and thought of ways they can be more sustainable.

A big thank you to Sam and Cate for organising this! It was an inspiring talk that has left students wanting to take action.

To find out more and or apply for their academy, head to:

https://blueminds.org.au/pages/about-us

Shoutouts

"Me, We & Us"

A huge shout out to Newcastle Grammar School for hosting such a wonderful Student Wellbeing Conference on Monday centred around the theme "Me, We and Us."

Students enjoyed a fantastic range of engaging workshops and activities, including creating Mindstone Maps, learning about nutritious snacks, planting seeds for growth, and sharing a delicious lunch together.

One of the highlights of the day was seeing students connect with others, build new friendships, and explore ways to support their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around them.

Thank you to everyone involved in creating such a meaningful and inspiring day for our young people.

National Art School

We are delighted for James from Advisory 7 and 2 other students from Newcastle High, who have won places in the National Art School's HSC Intensive Studio Practice program in July and October 2026. This is a fantastic achievement! Congratulations to James for his acceptance into printmaking!

Push Up Challenge

Over the term, Will from Advisory 6 and Tom from Advisory 2 led a group of 22 students and staff in completing the Push Up Challenge.

Collectively they banked 29,129 push ups in 24 days and raised $353 to support Headspace and Lifeline!

Tom comments he enjoyed the community feel of the team coming together to complete work outs! A few of the team have even gone on to sign up to gyms.

A big well done to everyone involved!!

Social Action Project Group: Bridging the Gap

Cate (Advisor of Advisory 5) who runs the Bridging the Gap Social Action Project Group (SAPG), describes her inspiration is that everyone can always learn from different generations. She wanted to provide an opportunity where teenagers could connect with elderly people who would otherwise tend to not speak to teens at all.

This opportunity allows teens to learn from older peoples experiences that might be similar or different to what a teenager is going through. In turn, the residents get a chance to learn about new technologies and how young people are seeing the world during this time.

What the SAPG enjoys, is knowing you can lighten up someones day by connecting through music and laughter. When two generations far apart connect it can be very interesting understanding each others perspectives and embracing different experiences.

Bridging the Gap refers to generational gap and connecting to one another. Cate says bringing a diverse group of people to a more closed off environment like a retirement home, can make an older resident feel more connected to todays society.

Badcoe House Draft 1.mp4

Video by Lucie.

Advice from the residents:

Max aged 88 says "If you get the opportunity to learn something new, participate!"
Joanie aged 96 says "Always try to be happy and keep smiling."
Elena age 74 says "Never isolate yourself."

This term the residents of Badcoe House and Andie who is the Leisure and Recreation Coordinator came in to speak to the whole school at Town Hall.

Andie highlighted how much the students visits have brightened the residents days. She also said they are open to more students to signing up to do work experience next term. Those curious, should know you can have fun through working in Aged Care and you can make a real difference in peoples lives.

-Ivy

Exhibitions and Reflections

Below you can find some of the great products students created over the term! As you can see, we have many creative students here at CHC. So it is no surprise that through interviews lots students said a highlight of the term and their Exhibition was spotlighting how they are proud of their creative works and their community involvement.

When it came to hearing about areas for improvement, majority of those we spoke to said time management is something they struggled with and would like to work on. Given that, our next issue will highlight some strategies to help!

Game - Guess The Song

In this game, you will have three clues to guess each of the 15 songs. The first clues are the hardest, and then they get easier and easier. If you guess them correctly from just the first clue, you get 3 points! If you use the second clue as well, you get 2 points, and the third clue; 1 point. If you don't guess them at all, then I'm sorry to say you won't get any points for that song. Check the answers at the end to tally up your points and see how you did!

1st Clues - Difficulty: Hard

Song 1 - This song is roughly 6 minutes long
Song 2 - This song is a known classic from the 70's
Song 3 - This song is used as a protest song
Song 4 - This song starts approximately 1 hour and 14 minutes into the movie that it is played in
Song 5 - This song went viral over a decade after it's release
Song 6 - In this song, the lyrics talk about a person feeling betrayed and hurt by a partner who has been unfaithful
Song 7 - This song was highly trending on social media in 2025 and 2026 even though it was initially released in 2014
Song 8 - This song's genre is soft rock, folk rock, folk-pop music
Song 9 - This song is a duet
Song 10 - This song was very popular on Social Media through 2025 to 2026
Song 11 - This song was released by a Scottish rock band in 1985
Song 12 - This song took the top spot on the UK Singles chart in it's 15th week
Song 13 - The artist of this song knew it was going to be a hit before he even released it in July 1987
Song 14 - This song was made by a Norwegian comedy duo
Song 15 - This song reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100

2nd Clues - Difficulty: Medium

Song 1 - This song has a live version which is also very popular at the moment
Song 2 - This song is played in the finale of Skins season 1
Song 3 - The twitch streamer and youtuber from the channel Bunch of Friends, Coypiso made a Tik Tok parody of this song
Song 4 - This song is from a very popular Disney movie
Song 5 - The artist of this song shares a name with a North American animal
Song 6 - The band's name could be described as "running after an oceanic division"
Song 7 - The band's name is similair to the sound you may make when you laugh too hard
Song 8 - This song is set at 9 o'clock on a Saturday
Song 9 - The woman this song was named after disappeared at sea at age 29
Song 10 - This song shares a name with another trending song popular in 2022 - 2024
Song 11 - This song was written for a famous coming-of-age comedy drama film
Song 12 - This song is about the singers desire to search for her life partner and beseeches the Lord to hurry her soulmate along
Song 13 - This song comes from an album called 'Whenever You Need Somebody'
Song 14 - This song is very popular in most GenZ childhoods
Song 15 - This song is made by the same artist who sung 'Heart of Glass'

3rd Clues - Difficulty: Easy

Song 1 - This song owns the “song of doom and despair” title
Song 2 - This song uses the cliche “lalalalala” lyrics
Song 3 - This song is from The Hunger Games franchise
Song 4 - This song was sung by the actress for Elphaba in the original Wicked musical
Song 5 - This song was made famous by internet creator 71Cent
Song 6 - The title of the song is the opposite of ‘enemies’
Song 7 - This song is in the perspective of a boy and a girl taking turns arguing their point in each verse and singing together in the chorus
Song 8 - This song was written from the point of view of a piano player at a bar
Song 9 - This song is from a popular biographical hip-hop musical
Song 10 - This song is about not being able to move on
Song 11 - This song was included in one of the classic Pitch Perfect acapella medleys
Song 12 - The singer of this song and her backup dancers all wear red dresses in the music video
Song 13 - This song was part of a popular video meme to prank your friends with originating in 2007
Song 14 - This song mentions a popular orange/red coloured animal in the title and chorus
Song 15 - This song was based off of a stalker’s note that the singer received

Answers

Song 1 - Lover You Should’ve Come Over by Jeff Buckley
Song 2 - Wild World by Yusuf/Cat Stevens
Song 3 - The Hanging Tree by James Newton Howard
Song 4 - Show Yourself by Evan Rachel Wood and Idina Menzel
Song 5 - Dirty Laundry by Blackbear
Song 6 - Friends by Chase Atlantic
Song 7 - Go Away by Weezer
Song 8 - Piano Man by Billy Joel
Song 9 - Dear Theodosia by Lin Manuel-Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr.
Song 10 - Babydoll by Dominic Fike
Song 11 - Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds
Song 12 - WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! by HYPATON and Raye
Song 13 - Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley
Song 14 - The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?) by Ylvis
Song 15 - One Way or Another by Blondie

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