23 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

We recognise the contribution of our support staff.
A few of our support staff: (back) Sarah Johnson, Sue Coppin, Steph Bishop, Kerry Brown and Steve O’Donnell (front) Simon Granfield, Ann Richardson, Peter Murphy, Alex Kitchen and Madonna Dolphin.

From Our Principal

Recognising the contribution of our Support Staff

When I was ten years old, my mother was successful in gaining a position as a ‘Teachers’ Aide’ in a local primary school and thus began over thirty years of service with the South Australian Education Department. From working in classes, with small groups to ultimately becoming an Administrative Officer, I saw at close hand the many extra hours she devoted to the students, staff and the schools. In many ways, she was a role model for me and my career choices.

But I also saw that working in a school as part of the support team was not a ‘walk in, walk out’ job. At home, Mum would be making literacy and numeracy games, writing out cheques, counting money, preparing lists for teachers of who had paid for excursions, etc. She was also involved in fundraising efforts for the school and was ‘called out’ in the middle of the night when there was a break-in at the school canteen, etc.

As I commenced my career as a teacher, I discovered that my mother was not a ‘one off’. Schools are littered with support staff who go the extra mile – supporting staff, students and parents with a myriad of tasks throughout the school day. And like my mother, many work ‘above and beyond’.

Across South Australia over this fortnight, schools are recognising the contribution of support staff who work in a variety of ways with our staff, students and parents.

Support Staff undertake a diversity of roles at Kapunda High School, including:

• Grounds maintenance and development
• Resource Centre support
• Co-ordination of special events such as Presentation Evening
• Mentoring of students
• Classroom support for students with special learning needs
• IT Network maintenance and development
• Day-to-day management of a $6m budget
• Co-ordination of building management

• Administrative support for our Flexible Learning Options (FLO) and VET programmes
• Managing the ‘front office’ – phones, absences, mail, re-directing emails, receipt of monies, first aid, uniform sales, making appointments, etc.
• Preparing publications including the newsletter and school magazine
• Preparation of Science experiments
• Canteen Management
• Pastoral support

At Kapunda High School we have a very dedicated, highly skilled and professional team. On behalf of the whole school community, I thank them for the work they do and the efforts they make every day for our school and students.

Over this fortnight, we are profiling our support staff on our Facebook page. We encourage you to show your appreciation by ‘liking’ the posts and writing a comment of appreciation.

Stage 2 Food and Hospitality – Rotary Club Dinner

It was a pleasure to attend the Rotary Club of Kapunda dinner earlier this week – catered by the SACE Stage 2 Food and Hospitality class.

This tradition goes back to at least 1983 and it was great to see this year’s class once more rise to the challenge of presenting a ‘restaurant standard’ meal that catered for a range of tastes. The table decoration recognised the fact that Kapunda Rotary is this year, celebrating its 60th birthday.

The local Rotary Club of Kapunda is a good friend to Kapunda High School, supporting us with a range of programs and also through their sponsorship of awards and individual students.

Progress with plan for re-development

As you are aware, the Department for Education has earmarked $15m to re-develop our school.

A large number of transportable buildings have been earmarked for demolition and will be replaced by a range of contemporary learning areas over a staged period.

We are currently in the design concept phase and are working very closely with the architects with fortnightly meetings and regular contact in the interim.

I look forward to sharing more finalised plans in the weeks and months to come.

The next two years, in particular, will be very busy as we work to have sufficient accommodation in readiness for Year 7’s commencing at our school in 2020.

Clarifying suspension and exclusion

One of the least pleasant parts of being a senior leader or year level manager is contacting parents to advise them of the school’s decision to suspend or exclude their child from school. In an ideal world, all students would work within the school’s behaviour code all of the time.

However, there are times when suspension or exclusion are appropriate responses. Our department policy identifies these as when the principal believes on reasonable grounds that:

• The student has threatened or perpetrated violence
• The student has acted in a manner which threatens the good order of the school by persistently refusing to follow the school’s behaviour code
• The student has acted in a manner which threatens the safety or wellbeing of a student, member of staff or other person through sexual or racist harassment, verbal abuse, bullying or other means
• The student has acted illegally
• The student is interfering with the rights of other students to learn and of teachers to teach.
• Students may also be suspended when the principal believes on reasonable grounds that:
• The student shows persistent and wilful inattention or indifference to school work.

Suspension is from one to five days and involves a ‘re-entry’ meeting with the student, parent/caregivers and school representatives. A plan is collaboratively developed at that meeting and identifies goals, expectations and supports for the student going forward.

A number of factors are considered before determining the length of time of the suspension, including:

• The nature and severity of the incident
• Events leading up to the incident
• The student’s history – was this a ‘one off’ or has there been a pattern of similar behaviour?
• The age of the student

Exclusion is for a longer period of time (depending on the age of the student) and involves a pre-exclusion conference with key parties - often including our local Behaviour Coach from the Gawler Regional Office. Alternative learning programmes are explored and the duration of the exclusion is discussed.

Reminder: School Closure

Our Governing Council has approved a school closure on Monday, September 2 due to the Royal Adelaide Show.

This is followed by a Staff Development Day (aka Pupil Free Day) on Tuesday, September 3.

Kristen Masters
Principal

Year 10 Work Experience

The majority of our year 10 students undertook work experience placements at numerous businesses and locations, last week. KHS thanks all employers who provide this valuable learning opportunity to our students.

William Gambling at TechMe, Gawler

City Escape

Well Being

Save the Date!

Thursday, 31 October and Thursday, 7 November

Coming up next term, we are hosting a workshop for parents of adolescents. The workshop titled ‘Living with Young People’ covers the following areas:

• Adolescent development
• Staying connected
• Building your relationship
• Managing conflict
• Positive approaches to guiding behaviour

Carol Toole, Senior Project Officer of the Parenting and Family Support Program in the Department of Human Services, will deliver the sessions in two parts, over two weeks (dates above). Each session goes for two hours and will run from 6:00pm – 8:00pm with dinner provided for those attending. If required, we can provide childcare arrangements here at the school.

This is a great opportunity to hear from experts about ways parents can support their adolescent children and help them successfully navigate the journey from teenager to adult.

More information to follow, but please save the dates! Please contact me at school if you have any questions.

Amazing opportunity for parents

Earlier this year, our year 8 students participated in the Healthy Minds program with psychologist, Dr Tom Nehmy. As part of this our year 8 parents received weekly hints and tips on how they could support their child to have a healthy mind and develop resilience. Many parents commented on how helpful they found the content.

I would like to offer an opportunity to any interested parents, across any year level, to access Tom’s online parent digital workshop. Titled ‘Parenting for resilience, mental health and wellbeing’, a series of short videos are presented by Tom and accompanied by a useful fact sheet. Usually access to this would cost $47, but we have been given 50 free vouchers that will allow parents to access this resource at no cost. It is a great, easy to follow learning opportunity that contains lots of valuable and helpful information.

If you would like to access one of the free vouchers please send me an email at leeanne.cummins452@schools.sa.edu.au and I will provide you with a coupon number and instructions on how to access the digital learning platform.

I encourage parents to take advantage of this great opportunity to learn more about how you can support your child to have improved resilience, mental health and wellbeing.

Lee-Anne Cummins
Wellbeing Leader

Youth Opportunities Scholarships

Youth Opportunities are now offering thousands of dollars in financial aid scholarships to graduates to support them in their future studies.

Thanks to a partnership with the Adam Scott Foundation, one Youth Opportunities graduate will also receive their full university tuition for free. Valued at $75,000 and offered annually, the University Scholarship allows them to pursue their undergraduate studies at the South Australian University of their choice.

Youth Opportunities graduates may also apply for a range of school based scholarships worth up to $1,500 in the form of career guidance, financial assistance, and academic support.

Thirty nine students across the state received scholarships last semester, which ranged from laptops and photography equipment, to acting courses and school supplies. Among these students were the following students from Kapunda High School.

• Chloe Dabrowski, who was awarded career consultation.
• Elijah Smith, who was awarded a laptop.

The next round of scholarships are now open. Any Youth Opportunities graduate is welcome to apply, with applications closing on Monday, 9 September. Visit the link below for more information and to apply.

Kapunda High School has a longstanding relationship with Youth Opportunities, as we are committed to our students’ welfare and development. The Personal Leadership Program run by Youth Opportunities is offered to our Year 10 students and aims to increase students’ resilience and wellbeing, as well as promoting career planning, achieving goals, leadership, and communication skills. Graduates receive SACE points upon completion, and are provided with ongoing support throughout high school.

Children’s Overdue Vaccinations - Information for Parents

The Australian Immunisation Register, Department of Human Services have begun sending additional overdue reminders letters in line with updates to the National Immunisation Program (NIP) schedule.

Letters sent to adolescents will indicate if an individual is overdue for any vaccine on the standard NIP schedule, not just those vaccines on the adolescent schedule.

Meningococcal Vaccination

Meningococcal ACWY

Since 1 April 2019, the Meningococcal ACWY vaccine has been added to the National Immunisation Program as a funded vaccine to students in Year 10 aged 14-16 years through a school-based vaccination program. Adolescents 15–19 years of age who have not received the vaccine at school can receive it from their GP or other immunisation provider through an ongoing catch-up program.

Meningococcal B Vaccination

Students in Years 10 and 11 will be offered vaccination during 2019 through the School Immunisation Program, with an ongoing school program to offer vaccination to Year 10 students. The Year 11 catch-up program will end 31 December, 2019.

A catch-up program will be available for those aged 17 to less than 21 years of age (at the commencement of the program – 1 February, 2019). Vaccines can be accessed from most immunisation providers. This catch-up program will end 31 December, 2019.

For further information email: nurse@haims.com.au

Flinders University Open Day Visit

The Flinders University Open Day was held on Friday, 16 August. This year, we took 45 students to look at the displays, engage in activities and listen to the seminars. Our students were very well organised with pre-developed schedules and made the most of the knowledge and features that were available.

In the Health Sciences Area, the Physiotherapy faculty were holding a keep balanced competition. Students had to stand on one foot, place their hands on their hips and with their eyes closed see how long they could remain balanced. Also being tested were knee reflex reaction times. By the end of the day, it was great to see that Jess Euing was leading the female balance test results with 2mins 38 secs.

The Criminology section had students solving a crime and in the Escape Room, problem solving challenges were very popular.

The Paramedic Science Faculty once again had their ambulance open for inspection as well as mock scenarios. Students were able to read vital signs from machines and a make-up artist provided mock bruises, cuts, injuries. The Student Services Unit had terrific mental health focus on student wellbeing, offering weekly meditation, mindful yoga, mental fitness, and mindfulness for academic success as well as a guide for students bouncing back after a mental health setback. For more information visit:

Students shared their experiences:

My experience today was really fun. Because I’m in year 9, I have a while to explore the opportunities in the big world. I’ve had the chance to find out some more things about myself.

Future foods – Crickets taste like almonds!

VR (virtual reality) was really interesting, it made me feel like I was in another world.

I learnt that Flinders Uni offers work experience placements overseas.

In the Science area, I programmed a robot to make it hand me a drink, do a little dance and then ask for the drink back – COOL!

For someone who isn’t set on a career, today provided many different opportunities to explore degrees, helping me to narrow down where my interests lie.

Knock Out Volleyball

The Open Boys competed in the Knockout Volleyball competition at Marden. The team played three games throughout the day with each game being the best of five sets. We were able to win two out of the three games, leaving us to finish in second position overall.

As the Year 12s focus on volleyball as one of their practical units throughout the year this was a good experience for students to test their skills in a competitive environment against other schools in the state.

All boys played well and rose to the competitive occasion. This opportunity leads them in good stead for their practical moderation in the coming weeks.

Dani Ryan
Volleyball coordinator

Mambray Creek Adventure

Community Notices

Disability Policy and Programs Parent Conference

The 2019 Disability Policy and Programs Parent Conference is coming up in term 3 for parents or carers of children/young people/students with a disability.

When: Wednesday 25 September 2019

Times:

• 8:45am to 9:30am – pre-conference session
• 9:45am to 2:15pm – conference and workshops
• 2:15pm to 3:00pm – post conference Q&A

Venue: Hilton Adelaide, Victoria Square, Adelaide
Opening: The Hon John Gardner MP, Minister for Education
Keynote: Positive Special Needs Parenting – Kirsty Russell

Workshop strands:

• Building capacity and knowledge to support parents
• Listening to experiences: Successful role models

Contact: Libby Brown, Manager SERU, phone 8235 2871

Andrew Fuller: Parent Conference

SA Association of School Parents Communities (SAASPC)
Annual Parent Conference
Shifting to Excellence: Connecting – Protecting – Respecting your Kids
Saturday 14 September
10:00am – 4:00pm
Australian Education Union Building
163a Greenhill Road, Parkside
Cost $50 per person
Morning tea and lunch provided
For further information phone: 1800 724 640, email: info@saaspc.org.au

Saver Plus

Year 12 students - 2020 Hawker Scholarship

Applications for the 2020 Charles Hawker Scholarships open on 9 December, 2019 and close on 8 January, 2020. An application form and further information about C.A.S. Hawker and the scholarship is available from the link below or by contacting the secretary to the Trustees in Adelaide on 08 8127 1654.

Hawker Scholarships are valued at up to $60,000.00 over three years and are amongst the most generous privately funded residential scholarships available to Australian undergraduate and postgraduate students.

There are a number of scholarships awarded each year. The Trustees offer them to capable students of principle and character, who have demonstrated a committed to the wider community. Selection is based on personal qualities, as well as academic ability.

Since 1990, the Hawker Scholarship Trustees have awarded $6 million dollars to 126 Australian students, including a significant number from regional areas.

The Young Writer's Award is now open!

Warm up your pens and start writing those amazing stories. Entries close on 16 December.

Young Writers - check out the resources available to you by visiting the Writers Toolbox on the Young Writers' Award website.

Be inspired - grab a copy of one of our prior year’s winners today - just click here