We have just finished one of the busiest weekends on the Balaklava calendar with the local Eisteddfod.  I was privileged to be able to see our Choir and Vocal Ensemble perform on Friday and I was impressed not only by their musical performance but the way they conducted themselves as excellent ambassadors of Balaklava High School.  The BHS Vocal Ensemble were also invited to perform at the finale concert on Sunday, as was Mitchell McLean in his ensemble ‘Wakefield Winds’ and a number of current and past BHS students again hit the stage with their performance in the High School Musical reprisal.  There is much for us to be proud of at BHS and these students and their performances were perfect examples of our outstanding work in the area of performing arts.  We also had a number of notable individual performances on Saturday, namely Abbey Bubner (vocal), Alex Bousfield (speech and drama), Leyla Jacobson (piano), Paige Bubner and Olivia Allen (vocal ensemble) and Blade Williams (speech and drama).  There is a report and some photos further in this newsletter and I encourage you to attend some of the performances at next year’s Balaklava Eisteddfod if at all possible as you won’t be disappointed.

Japanese Welcome

Balaklava and Meidei Schools have had a long standing arrangement where adventurous students from Japan join us at Balaklava High School for a two week cultural exchange, which has occurred for nearly 20 years now.  Last week we had a formal assembly to welcome our 10 visitors who will have the opportunity to experience many aspects of our daily lives and come to understand some parts of what it means to study and live in Australia.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the host students, Ashlee and Bella-Rose Allegretto, Maddie Karklins, Brooke Michalanney, Alex Bousfield, Tylah Arthur, Casey Pratt, Jack May, Jacob Battle, Jack Heaslip and Tom Michael and their families for inviting these students into their homes and providing care and Australian experiences for them.  These visits provide an opportunity to build lifelong friendships and the possibility of perhaps having a return visit to Japan in the future as a number of our former hosts have done.

STEM Building Opening

On Friday 26^th July we had the official opening of our STEM building with a number of dignitaries in attendance, including the Hon. Geoff Brock MP who did the official opening, Mayor Rodney Reid and Governing Council Chairperson Andrew Parker.  Before the formal speeches and official unveiling of the plaque, our school choir performed a high energy version of Aladdin’s Never Had a Friend Like Me, which had the audience feeling good and we were then impressed by Aboriginal student, Jasmine Barden’s delivery of the Welcome to Country in Kaurna.  Finally, a tour of the facilities provided the official party with a view of how these state-of-the-art facilities are being used to extend our students’ knowledge and understanding and skills in the areas of Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Restorative Practices

On Friday, our first groups of students undertook training in the Restorative Practices program, which will help them improve their skills in developing and maintaining relationships and build their ability to resolve conflict peacefully.  Please ask your child about the training session, what they learnt on the day and how it is being implemented in their classes.  We will have one further training session for students on Thursday 5^th September and we will also offer an evening session for parents at 5 pm on this night.  This will give parents an opportunity to learn how restorative practices uses questions which encourage self-reflection, create a space to be heard and challenge negative behaviour with regards to its impact on others. This process cultivates the capacity to build and maintain significant relationships in the home, at school and in the community.  A separate letter about this will go home to families in the next few weeks, however, if you would like more information about this program now, please contact me at the school and I will be happy to discuss it.

Staffing News

We have been very pleased to welcome Sarah Mayer to BHS for Semester 2.  Sarah has filled our Home Economics vacancy and has settled in well with her classes from Years 8-12.  We are also pleased to welcome a number of pre-service teachers this term and we are grateful to our experienced staff members who have agreed to mentor these student teachers and our students who are accepting of new teachers.

Change of Date for a Student Free Day

Last term I advertised a list of this year’s Student Free and School Closure Days, however there has now been a change to one of these dates.  To allow staff to undertake a joint moderation day with Riverton and District High School, we will now have a Student Free Day on Tuesday 20^th August, not Friday 23^rd August as previously stated.  Please make this change in your diaries.

Other dates of note this term are:

Week 7 Monday 2^nd September – Student Free Day for work on our Site Improvement Plan

Week 10 Wednesday 25^th September – School Closure Day for Paskeville Field Days

School Uniform

Yet another reminder about the importance of wearing uniform.  Now that it’s cooler, we are seeing lots of colours and items of clothing in the schoolyard which do not meet our agreed school uniform expectations.  If meeting these expectations is a concern for families, I ask them to contact the relevant year level coordinator to discuss this.

Students are expected to wear a navy or white school polo top, navy bomber jacket, navy rugby top or plain navy hoodie, all of which are available for purchase from TADS in Balaklava.  Shorts and trousers are to be navy or grey and trackpants are to be navy with no stripes or large logos.  Families are reminded that black pants and tops are not part of our uniform and leggings, jeggings and jeans are also not acceptable for school.

As always, I encourage parents to contact me at the school with any issues or concerns or if you would like to discuss any aspect of your child’s learning.  I can also be contacted at the school via Daymap, email Sonia.Pringle235@schools.sa.edu.au or phone 8862 0600 where you can speak to me directly or make a time to come and see me.

Sonia Pringle

Principal