Newsletter

From time to time students need to borrow clothing from the school office. If your child has come home with some items of clothing, like shirts, shorts or pants that belong to the school, please wash and return them to the office as soon as possible as our supplies are running very low.

As we near the end of term, we remind families to check the lost property items located in the library. All unlabelled items will either be donated to the second-hand uniform shop or charity on the last day of term. All labeled items will be returned to students. 

In September, the school hosted a barbeque breakfast for Father's Day to raise money for Menslink who provide many services and programs for young men including coming out to schools across Canberra, Queanbeyan and Yass to talk to young guys of all ages about the hassles of life.

Today our Executive Principal Andy Mison and some representatives from Year 4 presented the funds raised to David Parkes from Menslink.

Left to right below- Andy Mison, Xavier Pyakurel, David Parkes, Connor Trevascus, Jamie Baleato-Aalders.

School Board nominations are sought for one parent representative commencing in 2023. The School Board is tasked with providing strategic leadership and more information about the functions of a School Board can be found here. Terms for Board membership are generally two years and the Board normally meets four times per year. Nominations will open on Monday 30 January 2023 with voting (if needed) to follow. For more information or to nominate, please contact the front office on 6142 2200.

This year the senior school started a new program called ‘Food For U’. The aim of the program was to teach a small group of students about life skills and social awareness by teaching them basic cooking skills and then giving the food they cooked to students in need.

Each fortnight we alternated between making savoury and sweet food that could easily be frozen and utilised for students’ breakfast, lunch, and/or morning tea. Some examples included: butter chicken and rice and blueberry muffins. The program was a huge success but was only possible with the financial support from Supabarn.  

So that students could thank Supabarn and our sponsor could see the program in action we invited the manager of Casey Supabarn; Kev, to our join our class. He was even brave enough to try one of the orange and poppy seed cakes that the students had made!

Thank you Supabarn for your generous contribution. We are hoping to continue the program in 2023.

On Monday 14 November, our year 5-10 students combined to play a concert together in the school hall. Our teachers from the Instrumental Music Program, David Mahon and Shoshanna Erlandson came and joined us. The concert was a great success and we had a number of parents attend. It was lovely to combine our bands so we were able to cover all sections of the band including woodwind, brass and percussion. Year 6 and Year 10 students were presented with graduation certificates. We are very proud of our band students and look forward to more music next year.

At the beginning of the term our year 5 and 6 bands performed at Floraide. The weather was lovely and it was so nice to be able to share our music and gain valuable experience at such a signifcant event.

After lunch on Friday, 25 November, 25 members of the K-4 Djembe Drumming Club performed for two preschool classes.  This club has grown by word of mouth from about five members in term 3.  It was very exciting to see our young percussionists showing off their skills and to see the audience enjoying themselves. 

Lots of thanks to the preschool team for putting up with a roomful of drums and our wonderful BSOs for helping to move them all.  If your child is interested in Djembe Drumming next year, the drumming club will be advertised early in term 1. 

On Monday the 31st of October our year 7/8 boys competed in the North side boy's basketball competition at Belconnen basketball complex. The boys started off their first of two pool matches with a close win against Gold Creek High. Coming into the second match, the boys got off to a slow start allowing University of Canberra High School Kaleen to shoot out to a commanding lead.

With minutes to go, the boys pulled off one of the all-time great comebacks to finish top of their pool and see themselves through to the quarterfinals. They carried their confidence from their 2-0 status to post a convincing win against Melba Copeland Secondary School and lock themselves into a semi-final against Canberra High.

The last match was close, as both teams went shot for shot before Canberra High eventually pushed the lead out too far and came away with the win. Our boys displayed a tremendous amount of effort, courage, and sportsmanship to finish equal third overall.  

Narrowly winning Game 1 against GoldCreek, the boys pulled together as a team to dominate in the next two games securing their spot in the quarter-finals. With defensive duo Ryan and Rohan shutting down the opposing team's offence, James was in the perfect position to intercept and feed the ball to Anton whose layup game rivalled Dwight Howards. Leading the team, Antony played with experience of seasoned veteran while Will and Juan worked the boards grabbing rebound after rebound.

With a shot that rival’s Curry’s Elliot dropped three after three while Austin and Jake worked the three point line relentlessly until the opposing team’s defence broke down. Their hard work saw them face off against GoldCreek once more and while the game was close, their rivals pulled away in the second half leaving the boys to finish third place. Following the tournament, coaches and organisers alike commended the boys on their teamwork, humbleness, and ability.

On Tuesday the 15^th of November, we had 3 wonderful teams of Year 3/4 students attending the North Gungahlin Soccer Gala Day. It was a great day with students putting our school values into action! There were three pools and we had a team in each pool.

Congratulations to the Harrison Sharks for coming 4th and to the Harrison Bulls and Harrison Foxes who both finished 2^nd! The day would not have been possible without the support from some wonderful Year 9/10 sports leaders who coach and refereed for the day. Thank you for helping us out!

Losing their first game against Canberra High, the girls came together as a team to dominate in the next four games. Securing their spot in the Semi-Final, the girls used each game to build momentum and demonstrate their sportsmanship. Leading 40 to 6, the girls continued to compete while supporting and cheering on the opposing team for their continued efforts. High flyers, Ava, Lauren and Isabel worked hard under the net banking rebound after rebound.

Defensive legends Chloe, Florence, Cami and Jess worked relentlessly stripping the ball and intercepting passes that Amity fed to Elle whose layup game was unrivalled. The Semi-Final saw the girls face-off against Belconnen High. The game was neck and neck, with neither team able to pull away. With one minute to spare, Belconnen High had a breakaway that would secure them the win. Following the game the girls came together to lead the post game chat where they immediately began to bring each other up and express how proud they were of each other. Walking away from this day all the girls expressed how grateful they were to Sofia who undoubtedly is the best and most knowledgeable coach a team could ask for.

We would like to give a shout out to one of our students, Jasmin Funnell.

Jasmin is currently representing Australia in Brisbane, playing in the Oceania Asia Games 2022 for 3x3 basketball. Her team, the Australian Pearls, are competing against international teams and so far holding their own in the week long tournament. We know Jasmin is very proud to be a member of the team.

Their progress and more photos can be found on this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AustralianPearls/

The Australian Federal Police through the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is seeing a concerning global trend of teenage males being targeted to send explicit images of themselves and then blackmailed. This is called sexual extortion, or sextortion.
 
The AFP is urging families to have important safety conversations ahead of the school holidays to prevent young people from becoming victim. This crime can have serious wellbeing and psychological impacts.
 
How does sextortion start?

• Unsolicited friend and follow requests on social media
• Direct messages on one app and then being asked to keep chatting on a secondary app
• Conversations suddenly and quickly becoming sexualised
• Requests for sexualised images or content.

 
What can families do?

• Have open and regular conversations about your child’s online activities and interactions
• Know what platforms, apps and games they are using and who they are interacting with
• Remain open and approachable, victims will be reluctant to come forward if they feel they will be punished or blamed
• Ensure your child knows that it is okay to leave conversations if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe
• Support your child and know how to respond. The Online blackmail and sexual extortion response kit has been created to recognise sextortion and get help.

 
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is here to keep young people safe from online sexual exploitation and abuse.
 
You can make a report via accce.gov.au/report
 
For further information, resources and advice visit thinkuknow.org.au

Harrison Public School
20 Wimmera Street 
Harrison ACT 2914
info@harrison.act.edu.au | (02) 6142 2200
www.harrison.act.edu.au