6 September 2019

Newsletter Articles

Leader of Well Being, Lee-Anne Cummins with well being information leaflets, available in our foyer

From Our Principal

GREAT OPPORTUNITY COMING UP – SAVE THE DATE

The business of parenting teenagers is not straightforward with many of us learning through ‘trial and error’. When things aren’t going so well, it is not unusual to turn to others for advice and here at school, we are often asked by parents, ‘what would you do in my situation’?

The reality is that while we have experience in working with young people on a daily basis, being an educator is very different to being a parent.

From my experience, it is as much about what we do as parents when things are going ‘right’ as when things are a bit ‘bumpy’ that makes the difference.

In that context, a two session workshop is being offered at our school on Thursday, October 31 and Thursday, November 7 entitled, ‘Living with Young People’. Both sessions will run from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.

The presenter, Carol Toole, is the Senior Project Officer of the Parenting and Family Support Program in the Department of Human Services.

In the past when we have offering similar sessions, the ‘uptake’ has been limited. Perhaps people think that their child needs to be having problems to make it worthwhile. Perhaps people are concerned that they will be judged or their confidentiality will be breached. Perhaps they think that ‘parenting’ courses are only for primary school parents.

It seems to me that all of us who are parents of secondary school students could benefit from some extra insight on the following workshop topics:

• Adolescent Development
• Staying Connected
• Building your Relationship
• Managing Conflict
• Positive Approaches to Guiding Behaviour

Please consider putting these dates in your diary.

For further information, please contact our Leader of Well-Being, Lee-Anne Cummins.

RE-DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

We are now five weeks into a three month ‘Concept Design’ period for the re-development of our school. This means regular meetings with the appointed architects, other consultants and representatives from the Department for Education.

A plan for demolition and the positioning of new buildings has been developed and last week, staff representatives, Governing Council representatives, SRC representatives provided initial feedback at a workshop led by the architects from Total Space Design.

While $15m sounds like a lot of money, one of the next steps will be to get advice from ‘cost experts’ to see whether the plans are affordable or whether changes need to be made to bring the project within budget.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY

Earlier this week, staff were engaged in a full-day of professional learning, led primarily by teachers at our school.

The initial session on Formative Assessment focused on the work of world-renowned educator, Dylan Wiliam and staff watched a series of videos, engaged in discussion with their colleagues and reflected on how they could embed some of the suggested approaches to support student success. This session was led by Liz Gary-Smith, Gordon Lehmann, Bruce Hall and Shani Robinson.

Penny Chancellor led staff in a session that focussed on the capability of ethical understanding with a particular focus on supporting students to consider the implications of some of the technological advances that are on the horizon. This work connected with our Career Strategy.

We also had the opportunity to reflect on where we are up to with embedding the 6 Step Approach to teaching Subject Specific Vocabulary this semester. This is a key literacy improvement strategy and teachers were able share successes and provide feedback to support further work in this area.

In the afternoon, we had a session on TV4Education which is the biggest educational video library available to schools. Teachers learnt how to develop digital lessons which combine video and formative assessment as well as simply source relevant content.

Kristen Masters
Principal

Social Action

Year 12 Society and Culture students participate in a social action as a part of their course. This involves students deciding on an issue, researching it and then organising, conducting and reflecting on a social action. Students are assessed on how well they plan and organise their social action with a particular emphasis on how they work collaboratively; the ways they solve problems; and their ability to construct a social action which can positively impact others.

Our group hoped to connect with the traditional land owners of this area, the Ngadjuri, through their language, as well as promote the indigenous youth culture. As part of our social action, we have entered the Marrin Gamu Song competition offered by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The aim of the competition is to get school-aged students involved and knowledgeable about their lands, culture and language. "The Marrin Gamu song was created to introduce Australians to the diversity and beauty of our first languages. Australia is home to hundreds of Indigenous languages. This project will gather versions of Marrin Gamu in beautiful languages from across the country", Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Our video involves a collaboration with Kapunda Primary School. We taught primary school students in years 1 and 2 as well as some KHS 8 students, the Marrin Gamu song about body parts, such as eyes, ears, arms, legs and belly in the Ngadjuri language. In addition, year 10 KHS students, Thomas Daff and Jaylen Rigney accompanied our performers with guitar and digeridoo respectively. Our video was filmed at Kapunda town square last week and was an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Elijah Smith, Chloe Jones, Mackenzie Arbon, Tyler Ellery, Jess Euing, Georgia Flavel, Madison Marslen, Emily Stewart, Ava Teasdale, Kelsi Toet and Holly Van den Broek
Year 12 Society and Culture students

Social – Retro!

Science News

New Laboratory Coats

Year 10 Science and Year 11 Physics students, wearing student lab coats for Science practicals.

Rockets Launch

Year 10 Science students have researched and developed water rockets, launching their prototypes on the oval, last week.

Thomas, Aidan and Emil’s rocket launch

Owen, Nick & Pat’s rocket launch

Hayley, Monica & Mieka’s rocket launch

Grace, Shania, Anna and Nyree’s rocket launch

Cayse, Angus, Finn & Cameron’s rocket launch

Youth Opportunities Scholarships

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

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

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.

On Stage

30 September – 4 October

For ages 8–16

Looking to get your child out of the house and away from screens these school holidays?

Our popular school holiday workshops bring together the best arts instructors to develop confidence, communication and leadership skills in a fun and friendly environment.

These holidays we have more programs than ever before, with workshops available in musical theatre, song writing, dance, drama and technical theatre including sound and lighting, spanning from short two-hour sessions to three-day masterclasses.

Whether your child loves to perform, create, learn about other cultures or get hands on behind the scenes, we’ve got something to inspire them this spring.

YMCA South Australian Junior Parliament program

Applications for the YMCA South Australian Junior Parliament program for 2019 have officially opened.

The YMCA South Australian Junior Parliament is a non-partisan program that gives young people aged 12-15 an opportunity to learn about democracy, parliament, team building, public speaking and leadership skills in a fun and supportive environment. The program is based on the successful and nationally recognised Youth Parliament program.