Newsletter

Web Site www.jamesruse.nsw.edu.au

Issue 5 of 2009 Friday 6th March, 2009

Planning is well underway for our spectacular 50th

Anniversary fete celebrations on Saturday 4th April. The program for the day will be finalised next week and published on the schools Fete homepage; you can find the link on our school website. There are so many wonderful activities planned and they include: musical items performed by solo vocals, multicultural groups, jazz and symphonic wind ensembles, pop and rock bands and the string orchestra. The farm has an array of activities planned including self guided tours, display and sale of farm produce at the BBQ hayshed, beehive opening demonstrations along with opportunities to observe demonstrations of the farm machinery, hay raking and hay baling. A magnificent collection of school memorabilia will be on display. Regular school tours will wind their way around a multitude of craft and food stalls, games and fun activities.

We need help in stocking our Gift Basket stall. We have asked students to donate a gift basket next Friday 13th

March (Mufti Day). Could you think about donating a basket of goods that you yourself would like to receive and you know someone else would appreciate. For those who wish not to contribute a basket, a donation of $5 or more will be appreciated. The Gift Baskets or cash donations will be collected on Mufti Day, next Friday 13th March

All parents are invited to attend the next COJR Parent Information Evening 17th

A gentle reminder about the Year 7 Information Night coming up on 19th March. All Year 7 parents welcome.

8 students have been invited to participate in the APMO 2009 from their performance in the recent AMO. A great effort by all. The students are: Chris Gu (9), Victor Khou (9), Wallace Chow (11), Raveen De Silva (11), Olivia Kim (11), Kevin Lam (11), Stacey Law (11) & Sampson Wong (11). It will be a 4-hour paper to be held on Tuesday 10th March. We wish them all the best. Some of these students will then be invited to attend the AMOC Mathematics Olympiad Selection School. This will be held in Sydney, in April 2009.

The faculty, through Mrs S Chan, is organising the Aust. Problem Solving Maths Olympiad (APSMO) competition. This competition will be for all Year 7 (similar to the Primary schools' competition but more challenging). A letter containing the detail is being given to all parents/guardians regarding this matter and the Cost is $5.00. Please pay the Accounts Office ASAP.

AMC 2009: This year the Australian Mathematics Competition will be held on the Thursday 6th August, 2009. This is a week before the Yr12 Trials. All year 11 & 12 will need to pay $4.50 to the Accounts Office ASAP. Only (2U) Mathematics students need to inform their teacher if they wish to enter.

Those students who had given their name to the Mathematics faculty have received a form to pay for their entry into Grahams' Maths club. It should be starting Week 7A on Friday 13th March at 7:50am. Please pay your money ASAP.

The 4th of March is World Maths Day. Visit www.worldmathsday.com for further information

DATE: Wednesday 13th May 2009 TIME: Registration at 8:30 am. Day closes at 3:15pm WHERE: UTS City Campus, Main Tower Building, Gallery Function Centre, Level 6 WHO: Female high school students in years 11 or 12 HOW: See Mr Deigan before Friday 13th March 2009. STUDENT REQUIREMENTS: * Check carefully to make sure you have no commitments in relation to school. Travel to and from UTS will be unsupervised and the cost will be born by students. A note will be required to be given to your Roll Call teacher on return to school (explaining your absence). * Students will be required to provide their own lunch, or spend money to purchase lunch from the cafeteria. Students should wear flat, fully enclosed shoes and long pants on the day (this is a safety requirement for any person entering UTS laboratories). School uniform is not required. For more information, visit www.eng.uts.edu.au/SchoolandCommunity/wie/

In support of International Women's Day Macquarie University will be hosting their new annual 'Women in Science Evening' on Tuesday 10th March, from 5:30pm - 8:00pm. It will be an evening of hearing about the great impact that women have had on science and the future of science. It will be a chance to meet and hear from some of Macquarie University's active scientists, researchers and teachers and hear about the amazing contributions they have made to science. Speakers include Dr Gail Whiteford the current Pro Vice Chancellor (Social Inclusion) of Macquarie University, Professor Lesley Hughes who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, and Dr Catherine McMahon who was awarded the 2008 Young Professional of the year for her work in audiology. Further information regarding the event can be found online at:

Year 11 and 12 students in NSW and the ACT are invited to take part in the annual UNSW Law Essay Competition. Essays are to be a maximum of 1,000 words. The winner will receive $500, the runner up $300, and the third place $200. The UNSW Law Essay Competition is proudly presented by the UNSW Faculty of Law, one of Australia’s premier institutions for legal education and research. Visit our website for competition guidelines and resources www.law.unsw.edu.au/essaycomp

2009 Future Events for 2009 are listed below and information will be available online shortly: March - Indigenous Study and Careers Expo, Penrith Campus 19 May - Mature Age Information Evening, Parramatta Campus 2 June - UWS Day, Campbelltown Campus 30 June - Parent Information Evening, Campbelltown Campus 9 July - Parent Information Evening, Parramatta Campus 30 August - Open Day, Parramatta Campus 22 September - Mature Age Information Evening, Parramatta Campus Late September - Science in the Suburbs, Hawkesbury Campus 7 October - Campus Tours, Bankstown Campus 9 October - Campus Tours, Penrith Campus 12 October - Campus Tours, Parramatta Campus 14 October - Campus Tours, Hawkesbury Campus 16 October - Campus Tours, Campbelltown Campus 3 November - UWS Day, Penrith Mid November - Indigenous Student Information Session, Penrith Campus http://future.uws.edu.au/events

“Dear Darrel, In the last three days I have learned that due to the worsening economic climate in Europe, two of the Program Companies are now not in a position to definitely place cadets under the 2009 Business Cadetships Program. This sudden change reverses the commitment that Program Companies made to Business Cadetships in December last year. Unfortunately it renders this year’s Business Cadetships Program unviable. Reluctantly I have had to take the decision to cancel the 2009 Program. This means that I will not be giving a presentation at your school and I would be grateful if you would let year 12 students know. Would you also let them know that the Program Launch on 27 March is also cancelled. In due course, I will be writing to all Careers Advisers in NSW and the ACT about the cancellation and the Business Cadetships website will be updated. To date, the Business Cadetships Program has been extremely successful, with over forty cadets placed with leading companies. Professional Cadetships Australia will remain afloat as a company so that when the global economic situation improves, we can relaunch the Business Cadetships Program. Thank you for your willingness to host a presentation and please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by its cancellation. Kind regards, Alister

• Thursday 7th May at Parramatta Riverside Theatre.

• Tuesday 12th May at UNSW Kensington Campus Science Theatre

• Wednesday 13th May at UNSW Kensington Campus Science Theatre

• Thursday 21st May at Abbotsleigh School, Wahroonga.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Monsoon Wedding, Bend it Like Beckham and the historical Nicholas & Alexandra.

Due to particular requests from year 12 we now have the complete Sandman series by Neil Gaiman and most of his books – so enjoy!! Another useful addition to our collection is Secrets of HSC Success Revealed: how to maximise your UAI and obtain entry into the university of your choice!

written by Rowan Kunz, the very successful son of our very own Mrs. Kunz in the Library!! It is very upsetting for students, parents and me, when people take advantage of the Library and its resources. We are entering week 6 and there are many senior students who still have resources outstanding from 2008 not to mention 2 to 5 weeks overdue in 2009. This is yet another request to students and their parents to check what overdue library resources they have at home. There have been complaints from some students and their parents about the constant non-availability of highly important resources, particularly in the areas of HSC English, Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Economics. It would appear that some students consider certain books as their own personal textbooks and hold onto them for many months thus preventing others from using them. We have a substantial collection in the library which should provide all students excellent support material in their studies, but only if “everyone plays the game fairly”. I have approached year 12 this week to encourage them to return overdue loans and many have responded immediately, even with apologies, however some continue to ignore requests. In an attempt at fairness and to facilitate good resource circulation – students who do not comply with Library borrowing rules will not be allowed to borrow any more resources – even if they are year 12.

A reminder, on April 4th, our 50th Year Fete will have, amongst many, a Second Hand Book stall and a Trash and Treasure (second hand nicknacks, games, toys etc.) stall. Both these stalls require donations – so please, use this great opportunity to off load all unwanted items. All offerings gladly accepted in the Library. Happy reading! N. Romanov HSIE EUROPEAN TOUR 2009

A pre-departure meeting will be held in the Lecture Theatre on Tuesday 10 March, at 7pm. At this meeting tickets will be distributed and details of the trip will be finalized. It is essential that all participants attend. For more information please email me at raymond.lees@det.nsw.edu.au or else phone the school on 98717126.

Myth #1: IPT is for nerds. There's no use in denying it. We Rusians are in some form or another a “nerd”, whether it be in the shape of transition lenses or fat Marbig folders full of differential calculus sheets. Instead of being ashamed of being branded as such, let’s embrace this label. Let’s all wack on our James Ruse hats, sit down in front of a computer, log on with our fool-proof passwords (the first 100 digits of pi), and do IPT. Besides, IPT isn’t as timeconsuming a subject as you would expect from a HSC subject, so don’t worry; it won't get in the way of other things you want to do. Assignments and exams are pretty straightforward, and they’ll be a breeze if you’re a relatively organised person.

Myth #2: IPT is only for boys. It’s old-fashioned to believe that computer based subjects or jobs are solely for men. While there are more men working in IT these days, there are a rising number of women who choose that career path. And it’s not that girls are bad at it; in our IPT HSC year (2008), all four girls who did the course received over 90 as their final HSC mark.

Myth #3: IPT requires you to know a lot about computers. You need hardly any computer knowledge before you start IPT. Using basic programs, such as Office, Internet, and graphics programs are all covered in the Prelim course. Plus, as Gen Y-ers, we’re all tech-savvy, and so majority of those functions are already common knowledge.

Myth #4: IPT is very hard because it's an HSC course. A common misconception. The abbreviation “HSC” is enough to scare away the masses, but it isn’t that daunting. Set your mind away from the 3 letters of doom, and focus more on the subject itself. It’s all in the mind – if you think it’s going to be hard, then it probably will be.

Myth #5: IPT is a theorybased, technical subject. Actually, a lot of the subject’s content relates to the importance of people in computer systems and social & ethical issues. No programming knowledge is taught (that’s SDD), and isn’t required in the course. HTML is taught in year 10, and there’s an opportunity to design and create your own website with those basic skills.

Now, the good things: Because IPT is an accelerated course, it's a great chance to familiarise yourself with Prelim and HSC procedures in the future. We found that we’re less frightened of the prospect of the HSC now because we’ve already done one subject through the process. Not only that, but 2 units are done and dusted before year 11, which will definitely come in handy later on.

Most of all though, there are wonderful teachers to help you along the way. If you take IPT, Mrs Chen and Mr Woo will provide you with all the resources you need, and push you towards the right path. Both were awesome when we were completing our HSCs, and we’re sure they’ll be the same to you if you end up sitting in an IPT class.

So, tick the box next to IPT on your subject selection forms later this year. In the case of mind-changing year 9s, change subjects fast, and sign onto IPT!

Trust us, you won’t regret it.

Raveen has achieved 5th place and Yi has achieved 10th place in the 2008 HSC IPT.

Hey! This week there’s been a bit going on with the Ag department because after all it is Ag month! First of all, last week the 2 classes in year 10 finished their chick trials and sadly the once small chicks have grown out of their adorable nature. Rural Youth will also be starting the charity garden this week. Some good news is that we had a guest speaker on assembly who talked about her goals in agriculture science and luckily we managed to interview her. Our guest speaker, Angela Dennet, attended Pennant Hills High School and she topped agriculture in the 2002 HSC. She went on to study Agricultural Science at USYD. She spent a year researching bush tomatoes, which are plants that grow in the middle of the Australian desert on almost no water. How unusual is that? She’s also currently studying the bread making quality of a new grain called triticale, they’ve developed which yields 10% more than wheat crops. This would be a great breakthrough in agriculture for society if it works out. It would also really help Angela with her career goal which is to feed as many hungry people as possible around the world through agricultural research. What a selfless and helpful individual will to change the world to be a better place!

This year’s musical will be “The Merry Widow”, previously staged by the school in 1991. With music by Franz Lehar, this is often called the “Queen of Operettas” and is one of the most celebrated and successful shows of its kind ever written. To say that choosing a musical and selecting principals has been difficult this year would be a major understatement. We needed a show with:

1. Sufficient roles for male and females,

2. Plenty of chorus work (for our usually large chorus), preferably with 4 part singing;

3. Scoring for full orchestra;

4. Themes and language that is suitable for school students and a family audience.

We have considered many shows. Following our audition process and armed with the knowledge that provided, we chose “The Merry Widow” and believe it will provide a suitable spectacle for the school’s 50th year.

MIXED (versing Baulkam Hills) Water Polo Open 5-0

Remember, the Cross Country Half Day Carnival is in week 8, and especially to Year 11 and 12, don’t just attend the carnival, PARTICIPATE!! Ruse does have a high reputation at the Zone Cross Country Carnival, particularly for coming first last year, so let’s keep that up!

Come on Ruse! What are you waiting for?? Grab a few friends and get training!!! Now, you can be fit and have fun at the same time!

5 more weeks to go! The whole school Community is getting excited. Our Publicity Team did such a wonderful job that we are expecting a big turn out. More cooks are desperately needed to help feed the thousands! Please put your name down and join in the fun. A big thank you to those who have already done so.

Indian Sri Lankan Meeting Indian/Sri Lankan Food Stall is having a meeting on Sunday 8 March at 4pm to discuss preparations for the day. Please call:

Sujata - 9484 0992 (AH) 9942 4280 (BH) or

Dharshini - 9620 5393(AH) 9354 3178 (BH) if you can come for the meeting.

Electrician license to help support our many food stalls’ electrical requirements. We also need a group of fathers who can help with setting up in the morning. If you can help please fill in the following page or call Andrew on 0439598890.

- Lindy Campbell

DECORATED CUPCAKES

50th Anniversary Committee (Enquiries: effie.lee@det.nsw.edu.au) 27/2/2009

We want absolutely EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that you can give for these stalls:

Trash & Treasure Stall Pre-loved or new items of ANYTHING big or small

Chocolate Wheel New items only

Gift Baskets Stall New items only

Craft Stall Knitting wool, ribbons, buttons, lace, craft materials etc

Books & DVDs Stall Old or new books & DVDs of any categories

Plants & Garden Stall NOT TOO LATE to start planting pot plants NOW

��__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name: _________________________________________ Phone: __________________________________________ Child’s Name & Class: _______________________________ Email: __________________________________________

[ ] Cakes [ ] Arts & Crafts [ ] Drinks [ ] Books & DVDs [ ] Ice Kacang/ Slushies [ ] Chocolate Wheel [ ] Indian/ Sri Lankan [ ] Gift Baskets [ ] Korean [ ] Plants & Garden [ ] Malaysian [ ] Trash & Treasure [ ] Tea / Coffee [ ] Electrical Work

[ ] Vietnamese [ ] Traffic & Marshalling (Fathers’ please) [ ] Cooking [ ] and [ ] or [ ] Selling from [ ] 12-2 pm or [ ] 2-4 pm or [ ] 4-6 pm AND / OR [ ] I am unable to help, but I would like to donate $_________________ towards the cost of running the Fete (send cheque payable to JRAHS or credit payment into a/c office with slip).

50th Anniversary Committee (Enquiries: effie.lee@det.nsw.edu.au) 27/2/2009