Principal's Report
Reconciliation Week
Earlier this month we celebrated Reconciliation Week with activities such as making gumnut keyrings and creating class talking pieces by learning how to burn decorations onto wooden sticks. Students also had the opportunity to learn how to cook kangaroo tail and damper on the open fire and, of course, they could also then join in and try these foods as well. Whilst we all smelt like smoke from the wood fire for the rest of the day, we also had the chance to learn about the past and look forward to the future and further reconcilication. I would like to acknowledge the work of a number of staff members who were involved in making the day a success and I would particularly like to thank Josh Jenner for hours of organisation and preparation leading up to the day. Since joining us this year, Josh has taken on the role of Aboriginal Education Teacher and he is working hard to support our Aboriginal students and raise awareness of Aboriginal culture in our broader school community.
Student Free Day
Our student free day, held the Friday before the long weekend, gave staff an opportunity to work in their learning areas to plan units of work and look at existing practices in preparation for the Year 7s arriving in high schools in 2022. We also continued our ongoing work on our site improvement priorities of literacy and numeracy as well as learning design, assessment and moderation and wellbeing, before finishing the day with staff training on interoception. This is a growing area of work in education and a number of our students will be involved in some small activities that will help them regulate their bodies and emotions and learn to refocus in class.
Our next student free day will coincide with all of our Partnership schools on the first day of next term, Monday 20th July. On this day, we will work with staff from Connected Self to learn about trauma informed practice, which will help us support and effectively respond to children and young people with lived experience of trauma. This trauma comes in many forms and isn’t just physical as you may initially think. We believe all of our students can benefit from this approach and we know it will complement the work we started last year, and that we are continuing to develop this year, in restorative practices.
COVID Restrictions
Fortunately, a number of COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted recently and we are pleased to share that, from 29th June we will see a return to school sport, excursions, assemblies and a number of other activities that have been on hold for much of the school year. Based on Department for Education and SA Health advice, there will still be some considerations around these activities, but things are looking up! Senior students would have received a letter this week stating our intention to hold a Year 12 formal graduation dinner in November as the planned Senior School Formal was cancelled earlier this year due to COVID. Unfortunately, the Year 11 students will not be able to participate in this event but they will have much to look forward to next year as Year 12s.
Reports
This is often the busiest time of the year for teachers as we collect last pieces of work from our students to allow us to finalise our grades for Semester 1 and start planning for new subjects in Semester 2. As most of you would be aware, we make the change to subjects with two weeks to go of this term to allow for a more balanced number of weeks for each subject as Term 1 is longer than Term 4 and we finish formal subjects at the end of Week 8, Term 4. At the end of last term we made the shift to publishing reports electronically via Daymap. This allows parents and students to access reports instantly and makes sure they get home to parents promptly! Reports will be available on Daymap on the last day of this term and, if you'd like to request a hard copy as well, please contact the Front Office and your child can collect one from there.
School Uniform
Finally, a reminder about school uniform. Winter often brings out clothing that is not school uniform and we are quite flexible with some things such as allowing students to wear their school polo over a jumper, but it is not our preferred option. Students are expected to wear a navy or white school polo top, navy bomber or spray 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. If meeting the uniform expectations is a concern for families, please contact a member of the leadership team to discuss this.
We have also introduced a BHS beanie this winter, which is available from the bookroom for $15 (the first batch sold like hotcakes so we have ordered some more). These navy and white beanies, with a pom pom, look quite stylish and warm, however, the expectation is that, just like other hats/hoods, they are removed when students are indoors.
As always, I am available to speak to parents about any issues or concerns or to discuss any aspect of their child’s learning. I can 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