Welcome back for Term 3.  The end of last term, and the start of this term, has certainly been much calmer than the end of Term 1.  This year has seen a change to the way we do, or don’t do, many things but we are pleased that large-scale gatherings such as assemblies, excursions, school sport and other important aspects of school life are able to return this term.  That said, the current situation interstate is a timely reminder for us to remain vigilant with our hygiene and health protocols.  If your child is unwell, we ask that they stay home until they have recovered.  Whilst COVID-19 has taken an emotional toll on many, there have also been some positives, such as: giving us a reason to stop our busy lifestyles and slow down at little, seeing a return to family activities and allowing our planet some time to heal and repair after years of human pollution.

Student Free Day and School Closure Day

We started this term with a Partnership-wide Student Free Day on Monday, during which we began our work with Connected Self on trauma informed practices including how we can best support our students if they’ve experienced trauma.  We learnt that trauma can be from a single event but that it can also be from ongoing or cumulative experience, which ultimately overwhelms a person’s capacity to cope.  We also learned about how the different parts of the brain work, what their functions are and how we can retrain our brains to change well-worn pathways (or ‘goat tracks’) to choose different, more appropriate responses.  We look forward to continuing this work this year and I encourage you to ask a staff member if you’d like more information on any of these concepts.

Our next Student Free Day will be a combined day with Riverton and District High School on Tuesday 18th August.  We have also had confirmation from the Department that, as our School Closure Day had been approved by the Governing Council before the Adelaide Show was cancelled, it will still go ahead as planned on Monday 7th September.

Student Led Conferences (formerly known as Parent Teacher Interviews)

Student Led Conferences will be held in Week 3 on Wednesday 5^th August at the school.  They provide an opportunity to drive student engagement and ownership of their learning as they set themselves achievable learning goals and review those set earlier in the year, in partnership with their teachers and parents/caregivers. Conferences can be held with both Homegroup and subject teachers. Bookings for Student Led Conferences are now open and instructions for how to book a conference have been sent to families both via email, on Daymap and later in this newsletter.  If you have any questions about the process or are having issues booking conference times, please contact the front office on 8862 0600.

Site Improvement Plan

Last year all South Australian schools adopted a new, common approach to school improvement planning through an agreed Site Improvement Plan (SIP).  At BHS, after analysing the data, we developed our SIP with two goals:

• Literacy - Improve students' ability to write effectively (structure, fluidity, formal language and concise expression of ideas)
• Numeracy - Improve students' ability to apply numeracy skills in all curriculum areas in Number and Multiplicative Thinking.

At the end of last year, we reviewed our actions and measured success, which led to the refinement of these goals.  I would like to acknowledge the work of David Szular in Numeracy and Joshua La Grutta in Literacy as they continue to lead the staff on these aspects of the improvement plan.  A full copy of the SIP can be found on our website or you can contact the front office if you would like a hard copy to be sent home.

Staffing News

We recently advertised two Coordinator positions to start next year for three year tenures.  These were advertised statewide and I am pleased to announce the successful applicants:

• VET Coordinator - Rosemary Goode - we were pleased to welcome Rosemary (and her wealth of VET knowledge and industry contacts) back this year and we are very happy to have her on board for the next 3 years
• Maths/Numeracy/STEM Coordinator - Alana Sharman from Craigmore High has won this position and will join us from next year. Alana has particular interests in both STEM and the middle school and we extend a very warm welcome to her and look forward to what she will bring to our school. I would like to acknowledge the work of David Szular in this position for the past two years and, in particular, his work on the SIP.

In other staffing news, Richard Thomas has been appointed to BHS in an ongoing capacity from 2021 and we have had a slight change this term in our Special Options Class with Sally McArdle joining us on Thursdays and Fridays (and Jess Daniel will still be there Monday to Wednesday).

We would like to congratulate two of our staff members on the arrival of their babies over the last few weeks.  Josh and Kasey Jenner welcomed William and Matilda at the end of last term and Jamie and Jenna Banwell, along with big brother Chase, welcomed baby Maya in the holidays.  Both fathers have had (or are having) time with their families before settling into their new routines.  We wish them all well and know they will have many happy times ahead.

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