It’s an exciting time to be a student at Balaklava High School where the opportunities they have are many and varied.  In the last few weeks our students have been involved in events such as the World Challenge Trial, Interschool Athletics, a variety of excursions in Food and Hospitality, Drama, Art, Geography and French and the Street Smart presentation attended by all of our Year 10 students Wednesday.  Yesterday we also had the pleasure of hosting Professor Caroline McMillen, Chief Scientist of South Australia.  Students had the opportunity to listen to Professor McMillen and hear her life story as well as being able to ask questions about her work, including clarifying exactly what a Chief Scientist does!  This visit was an honour for our school that arose after Professor McMillen met some of our students who were at a Science event in Adelaide with our Chemistry teacher, Merridy Manuel.  These students obviously represented our school well and displayed all of the values and characteristics we expect of our students.

Staffing News

Cendall Cowan has won a position as the Senior Leader Learning Improvement Primary (SLLIP) for the Mid North Partnership and will start next term.  We are currently looking for her replacement as Coordinator: English/Literacy/LOTE/Performing Arts/Year 8 and plan to have it filled by the end of this term.  We thank Cendall for the work she has done at the school, particularly with the Year 8 cohort and we wish her well for her new position.

School Uniform

As the cooler weather is now arriving, I have noticed some of the uniforms in the schoolyard are not meeting our agreed school uniform expectations.  The question is often asked as to why we have a uniform and I offer the following as some of the reasons why a school uniform is important:

• Sense of belonging – a uniform allows all students to feel they belong at school and they are equal to everyone else. If students were able to wear clothing of their choice it may cause an uneven social distinction between those who can afford name brand clothing and those who can’t
• Sense of pride – we are proud of our students at Balaklava High School and we want to foster their pride in our school. Members of the public can instantly recognise which school a student is from by their clothing and it sends a positive message to the community if our students look smart and are all dressed the same
• Provide a safe learning environment – we can easily identify our students in the yard, on an excursion or in a crowd through their uniform. A staff member can scan our school yard or classroom and instantly see who belongs and who shouldn’t be there
• Saves arguments – when there’s a uniform in place it saves arguments in the morning about what a student is going to wear and parents don’t need to feel the pressure to provide a variety of outfits for their child for each day of the week.

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.  If meeting the uniform expectations is a concern for families, I ask them to contact the relevant year level coordinator to discuss this.

Governing Council

In our last newsletter I welcomed our new Governing Council members and thanked them for supporting the school community with these roles.  I also called for nominations for two additional Councillors and I am pleased to welcome Kimberley Brownlie and Tarnia Pratt to these positions.  As parents, I encourage you to speak to one of these councillors or any of those listed in the last newsletter if you would like any further information about the governance of the school or if you’d like them to bring something up at a meeting on your behalf.  Governing Council members offer you another voice in the school and are available for you to speak to at any time.

Student Free Days and School Closure Day

Governing Council recently approved a number of Student Free Days and one School Closure Day for 2019.  Please put the following dates in your diary:

Term 2 Week 1 Friday 3^rd May – Partnership Student Free Day – Visible Learning

Term 2 Week 6 Friday 7^th June – Site Improvement Plan

Term 3 Week 5 Friday 23^rd August –with Riverton DHS - Learning Design, Assessment and Moderation

Term 3 Week 7 Monday 2^nd September – Site Improvement Plan

Term 3 Week 10 Wednesday 25^th September – School Closure Day for Paskeville Field Days

Sammy D Foundation

On Monday 18^th March, all of our students were involved in presentations and workshops delivered by the Sammy D Foundation on the impact of violence in our community, especially relating to one-punch assaults.  Students heard from Sam’s father, Neil Davis, who shared the heart wrenching story of what happened to Sam but he also had the audience consider how this impacted on others involved including Sam’s extended family, friends, bystanders, the broader community and even the perpetrator.  Neil was an engaging and open speaker who used a mix of humour and honest reflection to share his message with the audience.  As a parent, it was a confronting message to hear and, talking to students after the sessions, many of them were also moved by his words.  If you haven’t already, I encourage you to ask your child about the session and the messages they took from it.

Finally, I would like to wish all of the students and their families a safe and relaxing time for the upcoming holidays.  This break provides an opportunity for families to spend some time together, for students to catch up on some rest and relaxation as well as allowing the chance for senior students to balance some study with these periods of rest.  Have a good break and I’ll see you back at school on the first day of Term 2 ready to go!

Sonia Pringle

Principal