Today we gathered as a group to acknowledge Remembrance Day and commemorate the servicemen and women who suffered or died in the line of duty. We had three active service personnel attend the ceremony and we would like to thank Squadron Leader Maurice Hall, Executive Officer at No 1 Remote Sensor Unit (RSU), LACW Louise Millers, Air Surveillance Operator at 1RSU, ACW Alex Taylor, Personnel Capability Support Aviator 1RSU for attending and particularly Squadron Leader Maurice Hall for speaking to the students during the service. We also had performances by Miss Umapathysivam and the vocal ensemble as well a very moving performance of the Last Post by Alexander Evans on the trumpet.  We were pleased to be able to send a small group of students and the school band to the RSL service at the Balaklava Triangle as well to perform and lay a wreath on behalf of our school.  A huge thank you to Alison Schahinger for the work she put in to prepare for the day and have it be a respectful commemoration of this important day. Thanks also to Clair Allen for filming and editing the videos and Mr Clark's Year 9 History class for planting the poppies this morning.

Public Education Awards

Last Friday night a large contingent from Balaklava High School attended the Public Education Awards ceremony at the Adelaide Convention Centre.  We were the only school in the state to have more than one finalist and the fact that we had three was extraordinary.  There are tens of thousands of Public Education employees across the state, so to be named as one of the top three performers in three different categories cannot be understated.  I would like to congratulate finalists Sue Pratt – Secondary Teacher of the Year Award and Lucy Thiel on behalf of the Enhanced Learning Hub – University of South Australia Team Teaching Award for their success.  As finalists in these award, they receive $2,000 towards their professional development.

The big winner on the night though was Jessica Daniel who was announced as the Inclusive Teacher of the Year (Disability).  As the winner of this category, Jess is awarded $10,000 towards her professional development.  Jess is passionate about working with our students with disabilities, but, perhaps even more importantly, she is passionate about working with our mainstream students as well, to educate them about how we can be inclusive of others.  The genuine care and concern Jess has for her students is equaled by her determination to provide learning opportunities for them to achieve success.  She provides real world learning opportunities for our students with a focus on community engagement.  Congratulations, Jess!

Art Exhibition

Last week a large number of parents, staff, students and invited guests had the pleasure of attending the opening of our annual Art Exhibition at the Balaklava Courthouse Gallery.  This event showcased our students’ Visual Art and Design skills in a collection of works curated by our Art and Design teacher, Amy Tilbrook.  I would like to acknowledge Amy’s passion for the Arts, for her desire to see our students succeed and her hard work in bringing this exhibition to life.  Thanks must also go to Cherie Cmrlec for her behind the scenes efforts to organise the opening night.  You can read more about the exhibition later in this newsletter.  It runs from the 4th to the 21st November and I encourage you to go to the Gallery and see the quality student work on display.

Presentation Night

For some time now we have been considering what we might do for our annual Presentation Night to ensure it’s an adequate celebration for our graduates and award winners that also meets COVID requirements.  We were originally planning to hold a modified event at the Balaklava Town Hall with restricted numbers of audience members present but we are pleased to announce that we now have a COVID plan in place and we will hold the event in its entirety in our school gym on Wednesday 1^st December.  Attendees will be required to sign in and wear a mask but we are pleased to be able to meet as a large group.  As with all events in SA at present, the event will, of course, be subject to last minute change if SA Health guidelines dictate.

Student Free Days

Since our last newsletter, we had a student free day where we had our final 2 hour session on refining our Trauma Informed Practices with Connected Self.  This complements the work we have been doing for a number of years now on embedding restorative practices in the school.  The rest of the day was spent in learning areas preparing units of work for our Year 7 cohort and revamping existing units for other year levels.

Our final SFD for the year will be on Friday 19th November (Week 6) when we will spend time creating our new School Improvement Plan for the next three year cycle.  We currently have a Literacy (Writing) and Numeracy (Number) goal and we are likely to retain these as we have made progress towards them but still have work to do.  The balance of that day will also be spent on curriculum preparation for 2022 and we look forward to having some of our new teachers who will join us next year to be with us that day too.  Balaklava Primary School are also having a student free day on the 19^th Nov, therefore, the school buses will not run this day.

I am excited for all of the opportunities this term holds for students as we continue with our learning program until the very end of the year.  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 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