Year 12 Tourism students recently gave an excellent presentation, representing outstanding business locations within the Barossa Valley.

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE (BYOD) OPTIONS

If you are thinking of purchasing a new device for your child for 2021, now is the time to begin getting organised – especially in the context of COVID-19 and worldwide supply chain issues.  I purchased a new laptop for my mother a few months ago from one of the major retailers and found that the options were somewhat diminished.

Beyond getting organised early, a most important consideration is ensuring that you are purchasing a device capable of running the software required for school.

At Kapunda High School we strongly encourage you to look carefully at the recommended devices that are available with our partner supplier, Learning with Technologies (LWT).  Go to the BYOD portal on our website and check out the options.  The bonus about buying a recommended device is the three-year warranty.  If there are repairs that need to occur then they are organised through our IT Help Desk – a huge convenience for busy families.

If you decide to shop around and look for alternatives through the major retailers, it is very important that your purchase meets minimum specifications.  What may seem like a great deal can turn out to be a major disappointment when the device does not have the processing power to be able to run the software required.

We have our External School Review coming up in the first week of Term 4.  A number of students will be involved in meetings with the review team – providing students’ perspectives on our school’s strengths and areas for improvement.  Please read the attached to learn more about the process.

All students will be issued with written reports following the end of term assembly on Friday, September 25.  Due to our tight timelines, we will not be able to issue these any earlier. 

For students undertaking South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) studies (usually in Year 11 and 12), grades are assigned according to the performance standards that are stipulated for each individual subject.  Copies of these performance standards can be found on the SACE Board website.

For Year 8-10 students, the Australia wide common definitions apply:

Teachers are required to:

• Report the achievement level on DayMap for each summative assessment task across the term.
• Ensure that there is at least one substantial comment provided throughout the term identifying strengths and areas for improvement
• Ensure that results are published within three weeks of submission
• Provide a checkpoint comment for large assessment tasks that go over a term (eg making a cabinet in Design and Technology).

When I read reports I place a lot of emphasis on the effort grade.  This is a judgement about how hard the student is working on their learning in that particular subject and is given independent of the final achievement grade.

Students inevitably have different abilities, skills and natural aptitudes but there is nothing to stop every one of our students giving of their best and gaining an ‘excellent’ for effort.

At our end of term assembly, we award ‘Personal Best’ Certificates to those students who have gained ‘Excellent’ effort for all or most of their subjects (can have a maximum of two ‘goods’)

UNIFORM REMINDERS

As we move into the warmer weather, please ensure that your children have adequate numbers of school uniform items.  The holidays are a great time to do a check and see that everything still fits!

STAFFING NEWS:

Welcome to Ms Nikki Schutz who has commenced as our Pastoral Care Worker over the last week.  We welcome Nikki to our support team and look forward to her connecting and supporting our students in the years to come.

An enormous thank you to Mr John Hegarty who has been teaching Design and Technology this term while Mr Nathan Brady has been on long service leave.

In Mr Brady’s absence, Mr Shaun Hausler has stepped in as Year 9 Year Level Manager and has done an outstanding job – demonstrating excellent leadership and organisational skills as well as being responsive to issues as they have arisen.

We have two teachers taking leave for the full duration of Term 4. Mr Grigor Fahlbusch will be replaced by Mrs Pam Mace who has worked at Kapunda High School previously while Mr Ben Dibb will be replaced by Mr Michael Raschella.

SCHOOL DISMISSAL ON FINAL DAY

School will dismiss at 2:15pm on Friday, September 25.  Buses, with the exception of the Link SA Gawler one, will leave shortly after.

TERM IV

Term IV resumes on Monday, October 14.

Kristen Masters

Principal

This year was the 10^th Anniversary of the School Merino Wethers competition. It was a very different competition to previous years, due to COVID-19 distancing requirements. Despite this year having the biggest number of teams competing, there were no extra visitors allowed, other than the required people to run the competition. Everyone had to adhere to the 1.5 metres between schools and the usual merino line up at the commencement and completion of the competition was not able to take place. Instead students had to come out in their teams in different groups, which meant there were seven groups in total with ten teams from different schools in each group. Judges moved around and chose the best teams for the final line up.

Out of 70 teams, we made it into the top 22 for Best Pen of Three. The students were fantastic on the day, handling the COVID-19 restrictions really well and conducting themselves in a professional manner.

Karen Bromley

Agriculture teacher

Year 9 students from Kapunda and Nuriootpa High schools as well as Eudunda Area School participated in a Taster Day for Doorways 2 Construction at KHS Trade Training Centre, last week. Information was shared and then students enjoyed the opportunity to do some paving.

Year 9 students, Joshua Lindsay, Riley Norfolk, Jett Hutchinson and Jack Bibby (Chad Clough absent) were joined by Nuriootpa High School students and their Operation Flinders mentors for a presentation by Operation Flinders staff, Mr Jonathon Robran, Business Development Manager, Ms Sarah-Jane Joerin, Team Leader and Mr Clinton Wilson, Assistant Team Leader. 

Sarah-Jane have an overview of the gruelling 8-day trek in the Flinders Ranges, with students, team leaders and school staff reminiscing about their experiences. A video of the trip was then presented and enjoyed by all. Jonathon shared the further opportunities offered to participating students.

Ms Sue Graetz, Rotary Club of Barossa Valley presented Jonathon Robran with a donation for $1640 in support of Operation Flinders and encouraged the boys to take advantage of the follow-on opportunities offered by the organisation. Mr Don Fareley, The Great Revival Shop, Tanunda was also present and spoke to the boys about the sense of mateship that will remain with them into the future. 

This year marks the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. This was a military campaign during World War ll in which the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. The battle occured over months and thwarted Hitler's invasion of the United Kingdom. A pivotal event in the war, this success enabled the American's preparation to invade Normandy on D-Day in 1944.

During the history of Kapunda High School, there have certainly been some notable scholars. At this time, we remember Petty Officer Clarence Charles Bennet and in particular, his contribution as an airman during World War ll. CC Bennet was born in Mallala and was educated at Kapunda High School. Following secondary school, he was employed as a junior clerk with the railways. With an interest in flying, he learned how to fly in 1937 and later joined the RAF in 1938. For further information, please click on the link below.

http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/BennettCC.htm

The use of spray deodorants in our school environment poses a significant danger to people who have asthma and other allergies.

Strong smelling colognes and perfumes can also trigger a similar response, particularly when applied in confined places such as classrooms and hallways.

Unfortunately, some members of our community are still bringing them to school - perhaps under-estimating the impact that they can have on the health and well-being of others.

Spraying them in rooms or the vicinity of others is very dangerous as across Australia, on average, one person dies each day as a consequence of asthma.

During the summer months, the UV rating consistently hovers around level 12 for most of the day. The UV rays come through the cloud layers therefore even on a cloudy day, we need to be wearing broad-brimmed or bucket style hats and sunscreen to safeguard damage against these rays. Students and staff are required to wear hats in terms 1, and 4 and whenever the UV level is 3 and above in terms 2 and 3.The predicted UV level appears in the school's daily bulletin.

Staff and students follow the policy and are independently responsible for their future health by wearing the described hats or sitting in solid shaded areas when learning or being active in the outdoors.

Hats may be brought from home and be any colour. The hats may include logos, providing they do not promote alcohol, drugs make other illegal or inappropriate references. Alternatively, the school has a range of hats at affordable prices that are available from the Reception office.

• Reversible sports hats    $9
• Bucket Hats $12   
• Broad-brimmed  $15