Students at NSW Parliament HouseThe students in High School visited the NSW Parliament House this week. They travelled to Sydney by bus and walked through some of the historic buildings in the northern end of Macquarie Street, including some of the earliest buildings in NSW. After lunch the students had a tour through Parliament House, including the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The students were able to engage in a role play exercise which demonstrated how a draft bill is put before Parliament on its journey to become law. The students debated the draft bill, which proposed that students should be paid to go to school. The students were acting as either government members or opposition members. It was a very educational and enjoyable exercise and we appreciate the energy of the staff at Parliament House for making the learning process so engaging. The students even got to see and hold the mace which represents governmental power. This mace was donated to the NSW Parliament some years ago by the Jewish Community of NSW.

Crazy Hair dayToday was Crazy Hair Day. Students were invited to come along to school with a crazy hairdo, all in a good cause. The money raised through gold coin donations will go to the Leukaemia Foundation, which is in need of funds to help children who suffer from that disease.

We have had students in this school who have suffered from leukaemia and we are very mindful of the sadness that families feel when their child is suffering from such a disease.

Thank you to the students, teachers and parents who helped make the day a success. Thank you to the SRC for organising the day.

Winners from each class group were awarded a certificate, presented by the School Captains.

Cricket TeamThis week our school played a 20-20 cricket match against Heritage College Sydney. This has become a much-anticipated combined sports day and it is always a lot of fun for the students involved. The past few years have seen Cooranbong victorious in the cricket, but this year it was Sydney's turn to take away the honours.

Congratulations to Heritage Sydney, and to all the competitors who participated in such a sportsmanlike way. The Cooranbong team is pictured here. We look forward to the rematch next year.

Thank you to the teachers from both schools who were involved in the preparation of the day and supervised and umpired.

Swimming

 This Heritage College Swimming Carnival was held last Friday and it was a great day. We were pleased to see such enthusiasm in the students for their teams and they all participated with sportsmanship and energy. It was a pleasure to host so many visitors - parents, grandparents and friends - many of whom had travelled some distance to attend. There was a sausage sizzle kindly provided by the P&F committee. The winning team was Masada and they are to be congratulated for their achievement. Well done, also, to the students who won the "Champion Swimmer" trophies. The best swimmers now look forward to representing the school at the HRIS swimming carnivals. Keep up the good work!

 Thank you to the two generous volunteers who have been whipper-snipping the school grounds.

 The High School students are going on an exciting excursion to Sydney today to view the Emperor of China exhibit at the NSW Art Gallery. It is a fascinating exhibit of Terracotta Warriors discovered in the tomb of the first Emperor of China.

A special assembly was held on Monday to award David Lynch the DUX of SCHOOL for 2010. David achieved excellent marks and is heading off to Newcastle University to study sports science. All the best, David.

 Congratulations to Asher Carroll and Jordan Ryan for being elected School Captains for 2011. We hope you have a positive experience as School Captains at Heritage College.