I would like to welcome everyone back for Term 2 and I trust that students and families had a safe and relaxing holiday.  I would especially like to welcome students new to our school this term and hope they settle in well and actively participate in all of the outstanding learning and extra-curricular activities Balaklava High School has to offer.  An example of this is the recent Canberra Trip, you will read about in further detail later in this newsletter, where students had an action packed week in our nation’s capital learning about our history and participating in a variety of cultural activities.

During the holidays I had the pleasure of accompanying Blake Geurin and Karl Binka, two members of the Student Council Executive Team, to the ANZAC Day Dawn Service held at the Balaklava Triangle.  There were approximately 300 people who attended the service and these two young men represented our school with pride when they read the ANZAC Requiem and placed a wreath on behalf of our school community while the sun rose in the background.  Our school was also represented by students Mitchell McLean and Abbey Bubner and teacher Merridy Manuel who all performed in the band.  Next year I hope to have student representatives at more services around our local district as Balaklava High School is located in Balaklava but our students travel from many local areas and we need to acknowledge that more.

ANZAC Day is a time of reflection on the sacrifices of so many who went to war, many of whom paid the ultimate price by losing their lives.  In his address at the Dawn Service at the War Memorial in Canberra this year, Corporal Mark Donaldson VC commented on ‘the capacity of all ordinary humans to do extraordinary things when coupled with extreme circumstance’ and how we should ‘honour their sacrifice by living a good life in support of others; respecting the freedoms given us and inspiring others to build a better Australia.’  Whilst I am not comparing the sacrifice of our soldiers now and in the past to our actions every day, I am asking you to take the time to reflect on this and think about where you fit here.  How do you and your personal conduct compare?  What do your actions reflect?  I challenge you to lift from ordinary to extraordinary and to live a life you are proud of.

Staffing News

At the end of last term, we farewelled Cendall Cowan and wished her well on her new appointment.  I am now pleased to announce that, after a rigorous application process, Cerys Harris-Howson has been appointed as Coordinator: English/Literacy/LOTE/Performing Arts/Year 8 for the remainder of the year.  We have also appointed Jess Daniel to work in the Special Options class to release Cerys for her Coordinator duties and Kirsten Mooney to take Cendall’s English classes.  I would also like to thank Carena Brookes who has taken on Cendall’s Research Project class and we value the years of experience she brings to this subject.

Communication

Communication is one of the key pillars of success in schooling and it needs to be ongoing between students, families and teachers.  There are often times parents have questions about their student’s education or there’s a need to share information or contact us with a concern and I encourage parents to contact teachers directly via Daymap or phone the school on 8862 0600 and leave a message for them to call you back when this need arises.  For questions regarding individual subjects, parents should initially contact the subject teacher or the Homegroup teacher for broader concerns and parents should contact a member of the leadership team for more significant issues or if you need further follow up.  Another great form of communication is through social media and I remind all students and their families to like us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with school events and information.  FlexiBuzz is also an important communication tool to be used to stay up to date with bus information and I encourage families with students who catch a bus to download this app too.

Site Improvement Plan (SIP)

This year all South Australian schools adopted a new, common approach to school improvement planning based on the evidence of international best practice.  In planning for this last year, the staff and Governing Council were involved in reviewing the School’s data and deciding on the areas to focus on for improvement.  The goals of our 3 year school improvement plan are:

• Literacy - Improve students' ability to write effectively (structure, fluidity, formal language and concise expression of ideas) at Year 10 to maintain upper-band level achievement in SACE results
• Numeracy - Improve students' ability to apply number skills in all curriculum areas.

A range of strategies will be implemented across the whole school, both with teachers and with students to not only have an impact but to see improvement.  I would like to acknowledge the work of David Szular in Numeracy and Josh La Grutta in Literacy as they 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’d like a hard copy to be sent home.

School Uniform

Finally, a quick reminder about school uniform.  As the cooler weather has arrived, some of the uniform standards in the yard have slipped.  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, please contact the relevant year level coordinator to discuss this.

As always, I am available to speak to parents about any issues or concerns or 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