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Students, Ella, Mia, Cara, Akira, Daniel, Blake and Noah were able to tour the new facilities this week (see article below)
This week, I would like to recognise the work of our Senior School teachers and students.
Over the past few weeks, students from the Society and Culture class visited front line services to acknowledge the work they do as part of their Social Action assessment. Food and Hospitality students catered for the Kapunda Rotary Dinner on Monday evening, and our Tourism class presented to the community for their Barossa Valley Tourism Seminar.
Behind the scenes, staff are finalising SACE modified assessments to support our students with learning needs, providing alternative learning options through Community Studies modified SACE alongside the traditional curriculum offered at the SACE level.
BYOD Planning for 2022
If you are thinking of purchasing a new device for your child for 2022, now is the time to begin getting organised – especially in the context of COVID-19 and worldwide supply chain issues. 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.
End of Term Reports
Friday, 24 September is the final day of the term. There will be lessons in the morning and after lunch we will have our customary end-of-term assembly prior to dismissal at 2:15pm. Buses (apart from the Gawler Link SA Service) will leave shortly after. At assembly, we present Personal Best Awards for students who have achieved ‘excellent’ effort in all or most of their subjects. Hard copy reports will be issued to students at the end of assembly. They will also be available on DayMap from the end of the day. The first day of Term 4 is Monday, 11 October.
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:
A | Excellent achievement of what is expected at this year level |
B | Good achievement of what is expected at this year level |
C | Satisfactory achievement of what is expected at this year level |
D | Partial achievement of what is expected at this year level |
E | Minimal achievement of what is expected at this year level |
The hard copy report going home is meant to be read in conjunction with the results and comments teachers have put on DayMap as the assessment tasks have been assessed.
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).
Student effort is an important aspect of the reporting process. 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!
COVID-19 Update – Vaccinations for School Students
During September, South Australian year 11 and 12 students aged 16 and over can get priority walk-in access for their COVID-19 vaccination at SA Health run vaccination clinics.
As the Department for Education works with SA Health to set up school COVID-19 immunisation options, this walk-in access will give year 11s and 12s the opportunity to be fully vaccinated before they finish the school year, which is typically a few weeks earlier than other year levels.
Year 11 and 12 students can receive a vaccination without an appointment at the following clinics:
- Wayville (before 3.30pm)
- Elizabeth
- Enfield
- Noarlunga
- Port Augusta
- Whyalla
- Port Lincoln
- Victor Harbor (call before attending 0468 576 150)
- Mt Barker (call before attending 0468 576 150)
- Gawler (call before attending 0468 576 150)
Students walking in at the above clinics will need to show their student ID card.
Those with an underlying medical condition can walk in at the above clinics, but will need a referral from their GP. Alternatively, they can book to get vaccinated at participating GPs.
Students completing SACE exams and assessments are encouraged to prioritise their COVID vaccination during September.
Vaccination arrangements for other secondary year levels are currently being finalised with SA Health.
Canteen Manager
I would like to welcome our new Canteen Manager, Maree Thompson, who will be starting with us at the beginning of term 4. Maree comes to us with a wealth of hospitality experience; she is a qualified Trade Chef with recent catering and canteen experience in the Barossa. I would like to extend a massive thank you to Sharon Coad, Tamara Hall, along with our parent and student volunteers who have kept the canteen running this term, while the selection process for a new manager was underway.Tim Jones
Principal
Mia, Blake and architect, Sarah Paddick
As the development of new buildings at KHS nears completion, some of our students were fortunate enough to tour the almost completed building B.
Totalspace Design architect, Sarah Paddick, also gave a presentation to the students interested in career opportunities relating to architecture and design.
Our year 12 Society and Culture classes' social action was a great success and the recipients were so grateful and overjoyed by the thought the year 12 students had put into this. Each of the six venues (Gawler vaccination centre, Gawler covid testing site, Gawler hospital, Nuriootpa police station and Kapunda Ambulance station) received a hamper filled with gifts designed to show gratitude and appreciation.
Our Stage 2 Food and Hospitality class hosted the annual Rotary Club dinner in the Kidman Room of Eringa this week. Congratulations to the team for a successful evening.
Design and Technologies teacher, Nathan Brady's 20 years of service to education was acknowledged last week at an assembly. Groundsperson, Stephen O'Donnell and SSO, Meagan Menzel were also acknowledged for 10 years of service.