Public Education Awards

There are many features of Balaklava High School that are outstanding points of difference between us and other sites across the state, not least of which are our quality teachers and supportive learning programs.  These aspects were acknowledged recently when three of our staff members were announced as state finalists in the 2021 Public Education Awards.  Please see below for exactly who was selected and part of the reasons why.

Sue Pratt – Secondary Teacher of the Year Award

Mrs Pratt is an inspirational teacher who is outstanding in her field of Agriculture. Her outcomes with students are consistently strong from the middle school through to the senior school with many high SACE grades.  She has genuine links to industry and invites experts in to the school to speak to students and give real world perspectives of people in various fields of the Agriculture industry as well as taking students to visit local farms to extend their knowledge and to see theoretical concepts in action.

Jess Daniel – Inclusive Teacher of the Year (Disability) Award

Mrs Daniel is genuinely passionate about inclusive education and consistently looks for ways to include our students with disabilities. She does this by not only working with these students, but also by working with the mainstream students in the school to educate them on inclusion and being accepting of those who might appear different to us. She champions our students with disabilities and takes them out of the school setting to engage with the community and provide them with learning experiences they would not be able to have in the classroom. All of the curriculum is modified and available to students at the appropriate entry level.

Lucy Thiel on behalf of the Enhanced Learning Hub – University of South Australia Team Teaching Award

The ELH is not only a physical space where students can go to get support, 'cool down' and know they will have a trusted adult to help them with whatever is going on, it is also an emotionally safe space that offers support for students with a Youth Worker. The ELH also offers both literacy and numeracy extension and intervention, cooking opportunities, goal setting and a multitude of other positive experiences for our students. It is important to all staff in the ELH that students are well set up for success on their individual paths. Lucy is an extraordinary leader of this group with a clear vision for improvement and an understanding of how to support our students.

Facilities Upgrade – Home Economics

If you have driven past our school recently, you will have noticed a stark change in the school landscape.  In much less than a decade, the school has gone through a massive grounds and facilities upgrade and there is hardly a transportable building to be seen!  With the contemporary Performing Arts suite, upgraded STEM facilities and the new modular buildings, there was only one building left on site that needed a facelift and that was Home Economics.

We were very pleased to take back the upgraded Home Ec facilities last week and, as you can see from the images below, it is very impressive.  We gutted the building, divided it into two separate rooms with a door between them and we now have stainless steel kitchens that can accommodate extra students and a new classroom that can be used for theory lessons and sewing classes.  We were able to engage the services of a large number of local businesses to complete this work and we must also acknowledge the work of our Business Manager, Ruth Stevens, who took on the massive task of project managing the upgrade.  There are still a few grounds projects to complete before the end of the year but the school is looking outstanding and we are all very proud to be able to learn and work here.

Baby News

We were very pleased to receive the news recently that Lucy and Shaun Thiel had welcomed their son, Tommy, to the world.  Both Mrs Thiel and Tommy are at home and doing well and we hear that Eddy is learning how to be a good big brother.

Mrs Sally McArdle has worked with us on a number of occasions over the past two years and we are very thankful for her ability to step in when and where we need her.  We are very appreciative of this flexibility and we will be sad to see her go at the end of this term as she prepares for the arrival of her third child.  We are currently working on a replacement for this position and we will share this information with families once the position is filled.

Student Free Day

Last Friday we had a student free day where we spent some time sharing aspects of the preliminary NAPLAN results and we started the final review of our School Improvement Plan (SIP) priorities of literacy and numeracy before we create a new 3 year SIP to commence next year.  We also spent some time looking at ways to differentiate learning for our students so we can engage everyone at an appropriate level and the afternoon was spent in learning areas to continue our preparation of units of work for the Year 7s who will join us next year.  It was a very productive day.

Upcoming Student Free Days

• Monday Week 3 Term 4, 25th October
• Friday Week 6 Term 4, 19th November

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