It’s hard to believe that it’s Week 5 already but the term is flying by, filled with many events at BHS.  Our last Year 12 exam will be held this afternoon and we will celebrate our Year 12 students at their graduation dinner tonight, our Year 9 students have been to the Zoo, the Operation Flinders crew have been fundraising with a community carwash and our students are actively engaged with learning experiences every day.

Remembrance Day

On Saturday morning we were proud to host the town’s Remembrance Day service at the Balaklava Triangle.  We paused to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and to thank those who have served in the armed forces.  I would like to acknowledge the work of Suriya Umapathysivam in organising the service, which included soldiers from the 9^th Combat Service Support Battalion based at Edinburgh.  The BHS Vocal Ensemble led the singing for the service, whilst Alexander Evans took on the responsibility of playing ‘The Last Post’ with a spine-tingling performance and our 2024 Head Students, Janna Mojares and Joshua Michael laid a wreath on behalf of our school.

Staffing

As is often the case at this time of the year, there are some movements with teaching and support staff.  In the next newsletter I will farewell those who are leaving and also hope to be able to announce their replacements.  We are working through these vacancies and are excited for all that our new staff members will bring to the school.

As per the email sent to families last week, we welcome Derek Friedrichs to Balaklava High School as acting principal for Term 1 next year.  As a Balaklava local, Derek is well known to many and he has the community’s interests at heart.  During Term 1, the position will be advertised for a 5 year tenure and we will continue to keep families informed about this process as it unfolds next year.

World Teachers’ Day

At the end of October we celebrated World Teachers’ Day which gave us the opportunity to acknowledge our teaching staff; many of whom go above and beyond what might be expected to provide engaging learning programs, activities and experiences that set our students up for success in their lives beyond school.  I would like to say thank you to all of our teachers for the work they do each day.  To acknowledge this day for teachers, our ancillary staff members had organised a morning tea and a small gift as tokens of appreciation for our teaching staff.

Art Exhibition

On Wednesday 1^st November a large number of parents, students, staff and invited guests attended the opening of our annual Art Exhibition at the Balaklava Courthouse Gallery.  This event showcased our students’ work in the fields of Visual Art, Design and Creative Arts, curated by our Art and Design teacher, Mrs Amy Tilbrook.  I would like to acknowledge Amy’s passion for the Arts, her desire to see our students succeed and her hard work in bringing this exhibition to life.  Thanks also 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 and, if you have the chance, I encourage you to visit the Gallery and see the quality student work on display.

Student Free Day

Our final Student Free Day for 2023 is Friday 24^th November.  A number of our feeder schools, including Balaklava Primary School are also having a student free day on this date so no buses will run on this day.

I am excited for all of the opportunities the remainder of 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