At the end of Week 6 we held a Student Free Day which had a focus on Cultural Awareness.  The day gave staff the opportunity to hear from experts in this area including our own Mr Josh Jenner who put in a considerable amount of effort to plan the agenda as well as presenting a session on the day.  We also had time in the afternoon for teachers to work on embedding Aboriginal perspectives in their teaching programs.  We trust families enjoyed the extra long weekend when it combined with the School Closure Day on Monday.

Our Show team headed off to the Royal Adelaide Show last Tuesday where they had a great time showing our Merino sheep and experiencing all the Show has to offer.  Thanks to Mrs Colleen Lowe for her work with this group of students and to Mr Geoff Cavanagh and Mr David Pratt for their work behind the scenes and at the Show respectively.  Please see Colleen’s article later in the newsletter for more information about this.

Staffing

As this is our last newsletter for the term, I would like to take the opportunity to wish Mrs Alana Sharman all the best as she leaves us to start her 12 months of maternity leave.  We are currently working through a process to replace Alana’s leadership and teaching commitments and will announce this as soon as we are able to.

Centenary Celebrations

This year we are very excited to be celebrating 100 years of public education at Balaklava High School.  The centenary committee have been working all year to organise a weekend of festivities in October to acknowledge and celebrate this milestone.  Our program of events are:

Friday 21st October – Art Exhibition at the Balaklava Courthouse Gallery 6pm

An exhibition of current and past staff and student artwork will be showing at the Gallery from 4^th-30^th October, however, we will celebrate the formal opening of the exhibition on this night.  Nibbles are provided and drinks will be available for purchase.  A tour of the school, by appointment, is available at 4pm before the exhibition opening.

Saturday 22nd October – Gala Dinner at the Town Hall 6pm – SOLD OUT

Tickets for this event went on sale at 9am and were sold out by lunchtime.  The evening will have musical items by past and present students and feature an interview panel of old scholars and past teachers.  A tour of the school, by appointment, is available at 4pm before the dinner.

The Balaklava Courthouse Gallery and the Balaklava Museum will also be open on this day from 2-4pm.

Sunday 23rd October – Open Day at the school from 10am – 2pm

Tour our state of the art facilities, view memorabilia displays, speak to current staff and students and have the opportunity to reminisce about school years gone by.  Governing Council will be running a BBQ and both Lisa's Latte coffee van and the Lions Donut Van will be on the grounds to provide some sustenance during the day and merchandise will also be on sale.  There will be an official welcome at 12 noon on the steps of the new building looking out to the oval.

The Balaklava Courthouse Gallery will be open on this day from 2-4pm, as will the Balaklava Museum from 2:30-4pm.

To register your interest for any of these events, please contact us at the school or via this link https://forms.office.com/r/UxAQ8AUwkw

Office365

Did you know that students are able to download Office365 for free if they sign in with their LearnLink account?  They can install this full suite on up to five devices so it can be shared with their immediate family if needed.  Part of Office 365 includes access to OneDrive, with 1TB of free cloud storage for each student.  This form of cloud storage allows students to access files from any computer, in any location, when they sign in to Office365, whereas if they only save work to a USB it can be forgotten or lost or if work is saved to their H drive at school they need to be on site to access it.  This cloud storage has proven particularly useful in the last couple of years when we have had to move to online learning and students could still access all of their school files.  To access this free resource, go to https://portal.office.com/account

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