Year 12 Farewell

Whilst each term is important, this one is especially significant for our Year 12 students as they embark on the exciting, and somewhat scary, adventures of finishing their secondary schooling and beginning the next stage of their lives.  Formal lessons for Year 12s will conclude next Thursday, with a formal farewell assembly being held at BHS at 9 am Friday 1^st November, however students may still be completing final assessment tasks after this date and some of them will have exams, which brings a new set of stressors.

The SACE Board offers the following advice to students for managing exam pressure:

• Develop good study habits – devise a study plan, set aside a quiet study space and take regular breaks
• Eat and sleep well – eat healthy food, drink plenty of water, get enough sleep and exercise daily
• Use friends – study together, discuss exam topics and test each other
• Speak to family and friends – tell them how you are going and let them know when you need quiet time
• Recognise stress signals – discuss concerns with family and friends, speak to teachers, take a break

Reach Out.com also offers advice for parents to support their teenagers through everyday issues and tough times.  They offer the following advice for your child while waiting for Year 12 results:

• Avoid discussing potential results before they are released as speculation about ‘good’ or ‘bad’ results isn’t helpful
• Stop worrying what other people might think of your child’s results and avoid comparing your child’s results with other family and friends and appreciate individual success
• Recognise signs of stress in your child and offer support if needed
• Most importantly, don’t panic if the results are not what you’d hoped for as there are many alternative options available for university degrees and employment.

More advice on supporting your child can be found at the following link:

https://parents.au.reachout.com/common-concerns/everyday-issues/6-things-parents-can-do-to-help-teenagers-handle-exam-results

As the Year 12s embark on their next great challenge, from the safety and routine of school to the uncertain expectations of Uni or work, I’d offer the following advice:  Change is a good thing; embrace it.  Accept offers as they arise.  Take safe risks.  Think things through and make the right decision for you.  Talk to others if you need it.  Step out of your comfort zone.  However, above all, stay true to yourself and what you believe in.  You are at a very exciting point in your lives.  Enjoy every minute of it.

Mobile Phone Policy

This term we have implemented our new mobile phone policy where phones are banned during the school day (including during breaks).  I am pleased to report the majority of students have easily adapted to this policy and it is refreshing to see students walking around the yard with their heads up, talking to each other and interacting positively in the yard and I also thank parents for their support with this.  Later this term I will ask for feedback on the policy from students, parents and staff and I encourage you to share your thoughts at that time.

External School Review

As part of our continuous school improvement process, we will be involved in an external school review with a Department for Education review panel.  The purpose of an external school review is to support us to raise achievement, sustain high performance and provide quality assurance to build public confidence in government schools.  The focus of the external school review is to evaluate our school’s performance. All government schools are externally reviewed every 3 years.  Our school review will occur on Monday 11^th and Tuesday 12^th November 2019.  The review panel will identify aspects of our school’s improvement that have been verified through the review processes, as well as the improvements that we need to make in the future.

During the external school review, some students, parents, governing council members and staff will be asked to provide information to the review panel in a number of ways. These include:

• individual interviews
• group discussions (with students or staff or parents)
• meetings (governing council, staff meeting)
• visits into classrooms.

If you would like more information or, if you do not want your child to participate in providing information to the review panel, please contact me at the school on 8862 0600.  We appreciate everyone’s support and time in helping us with this external school review process.

I am excited for all of the learning 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

In the holidays, Jacinta Cocks and Blake Guerin accepted an invitation from the South Australian Governor, His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC to visit Government House as student leader representatives of Balaklava High School.  The afternoon reception gave them an opportunity to meet leaders from other schools in South Australia, tour the grounds and the buildings and learn about the rich history of the buildings and its inhabitants. 

There were also a number of guest speakers who spoke to them about the importance of leadership and the roles they play in schools and the broader community.

Congratulations to all students involved in the Centre Stage Senior Music Concert at the end of last term.  Our audience were treated to a high quality program with all Specialist Music Ensembles performing as well as the Year 10 Music Class.  Soloists included Skye Blacket, Charlie Evans, Leyla Jacobson, Abbey Bubner and Jayden Hendry.  Mitchell McLean performed with his Wind Quintet, specially formed for his Year 12 Ensemble Performance Studies and Abbey Bubner performed with the Vocal Ensemble and as a soloist for her Year 12 Solo and Ensemble Performance final assessments.  We congratulate Abbey and Mitchell on their successful completion of Year 12 Performance Studies.

Olivia Rickard and Haylee Donselaar did a wonderful job as comperes, keeping the night flowing and the audience informed. Madeleine Karklins did an outstanding job setting and operating the sound and lighting for the whole concert.  We appreciate the many hours she puts into each show and the excellent job she does.  Thanks, Maddie.  Thanks also to Charlie Evans for his tech assistance and for designing the poster and program.

Many thanks to all the staff involved in preparing for the concert and supporting us on the night. Cherie Cmrlec helps out in countless ways, from organising uniforms to preparing the program and then Front of House on the night.  Cerys Harris-Howson assisted in the tech booth, Neil Richards was our videographer, Darryl Cott was our photographer, Trish Langdon and Sally Cowan were ushers.  We were so pleased to have Principal Sonia Pringle and Deputy Principal Carena Brookes attend as well as many other staff members and family and friends who came to support our students.

We were so proud of every student who performed.  It takes courage and preparation to perform and entertain others and it was exciting to see students stepping up to the challenge.

Well done and congratulations.

Melanie Evans and Suriya Umapathysivam (BHS Music Teachers)

PIG EDUCATION DAY

Abbie McArdle, Kaitlyn Hicks, Caitlin Arts and Riley Hayes-Revitt all recently attended the PorkSA Pig Education Day at Roseworthy. The day focused on the science and management behind the pork industry and included sessions on reproduction, AI, managing newborn piglets and nutrition. The students were involved in a dissection of the reproductive organs of sows and laboratory testing of piglet plasma to assess the amount of colostrum they had received. It was a very informative and interesting day, especially in the current context of heightened biosecurity alerts due to African Swine Fever.

AG PRODUCE FOR SALE

Turkeys - available late November, whole turkey $10/kg or turkey rolls $18/kg

Pork  - available early November, $9/kg (discounted to $8 if collected in Clare). Can order a whole (approx 50 kg) or side of pork (approx 25 kg)

Meatbirds - available now, $6/kg

Please contact Sue Pratt sue.pratt492@schools.sa.edu.au or via Daymap to place an order

Sue Pratt

Agriculture teacher

All Year 11 students have been given information this week about the option of ordering a special Year 12 t-shirt or jumper for next year. Please note it is NOT compulsory to purchase these items. All orders must be finalised by Friday November 15th. This timeline usually means the items are here early in Term One next year.
Please contact me if you have any questions.

Sue Pratt
Yr 12 Coordinator

On Tuesday 22^nd October Mrs Kent’s Year 9 and Year 10 Science classes went on an excursion to the Barossa Goldfields and Museum, The Mantina Quarries and the Kapunda Copper Mine. The Year 10 students just finished a unit of work on Mining and this excursion was a way of seeing for themselves the hardships that Miners would have experienced and to see the differences between an underground mine and an open-cut mine.

The volunteers at the Barossa Goldfields explained how the gold was mined in this area and showed our students how gold was panned, and they gave us samples of different types of gold to look at. The volunteers explained how the miners were given licences (they were given a 10 metre square plot in which to mine and live; and at one point in time there were over 4,000 miners at the goldfield), they estimated that over 100,000 ounces of gold was taken out of the goldfields; they are not entirely sure as the gold was often taken to Victoria to sell as they were offering more money for the gold than the South Australian Government. Our students were given a tour of the Museum and then went on a walking trail down to the mines, where our guide explained how the miners worked in the mines (usually in pairs; one down the shaft and one above ground).

After our tour we headed off to Kapunda to Mantina Quarries where Rino and Michael hopped on our bus and took us down to the pits, they managed our safety by keeping radio contact with truck drivers and equipment operators whilst we were there. They explained what they mined (wide range of aggregates, road base materials and ready-mix concrete), how they broke up the rocks from the quarry and how they did their ‘blasting.’ Rino says that at the current rate of production they plan to be around for the next 100 years. When we arrived Rino gave our class a box of goodies (a hat, note pad and pen).

We then headed for the Kapunda Copper Mine where we had something to eat before walking the 1.5 km trail around the mine. There were lots of signs up for our class to read and learn about different aspects of the mine (smelting, transport, treatment plant, underground mining, Pickers, Tommyknockers, the Engine House, and The Whim). Our class particularly liked The Whim, which is used to haul materials from the underground mine to the surface and is horse drawn. The horse walks around in one direction to drop the drum down the shaft and is turned around to walk in the opposite direction to bring the drum back up to the surface.

Sharon Kent

On Wednesday 16th October the Year 8s went to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to participate in the Maths Trail. We picked our groups and each group received a booklet and were told a station to begin. The booklets had clues to the location of the stations and a map and we had to try and find our way around, which is easier said than done. The stations took us all around the gardens. The trail helped us to relate the maths we’ve been learning to the real world. We looked at how fast a leaf flows through water, used compasses to find locations, the Fibonacci sequence and others. My favourite part was using the compasses as no one in my group had used one before. We messed it up a couple of times but eventually figured it out. The trail was a lot of fun especially when we had no idea where we were going. The views were amazing and it was probably the best place to get lost.
Brooke Michalanney

At our Presentation Night we like to acknowledge our students who are doing special things outside of school. In the past, this has included those who are playing sport at an elite level (eg State and National reps), those who are volunteering for community groups like CFS, and students who have been participating in elite level performing arts. Please let us know if your student has a special "out of school" involvement - they don't always tell us! Please send me a few brief details and a photo of them "in action" via Daymap or email Chelsea.McCormack107@schools.sa.edu.au.

Chelsea McCormack

Should you need further information, please contact the School Office on 88620600 in the new year and we will provide the updated information.

OPTIONS FOR PAYING M&S FEES & INVOICES

In 2020 we will continue to offer multiple ways to pay items which are associated with the school, i.e., school fees, camps etc.  Listed below are some of these options:

• Payment can be made in person with either cash, cheque or EFTPOS at the Bookroom.
• Payments can be made by filling out the credit card details at the bottom of your invoice along with the 3 digit CSV on the rear of the card and returning to the school for processing.
• Payments can be made over the phone using credit or debit card details.
• If you believe you are entitled to School Card, you MUST fill out a form EACH year (cut-off date will be 15th November 2019) and submit it to the school or to the School Card Section. Forms and details available at Front Office. If you have students at different schools ie High School and Primary Schools, a form must be submitted to BOTH schools.
• Payments can be made using the new QKR app which can be downloaded onto your mobile phone from Play Store (for Android) or App Store (I-Phone). Instructions are included with this newsletter.

** If more detailed instructions are required, please contact the school **

Ruth Stevens

School Administrator

Considered a career in Policing?

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has a register for people interested in a policing or protection career. You may be more suited than you think! To find out more visit our Entry level recruit career page to review:

• candidate information
• understand the recruitment process
• fitness and eligibility requirements
• training at the AFP College and;
• to gain a better understanding of Police and Protective Service Officer roles.

Register your interest today for programs commencing in 2020 or contact our helpful Recruitment team. 

Females are particularly encouraged to apply!

JENNIFER GREGORY
SA HUMAN RESOURCES
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & CULTURE

Tel +61(0) 2 51266013  Ext 266013
www.afp.gov.au

Interested in helping your local community during emergencies?

Australian Red Cross is offering free emergency services training sessions for new and existing volunteers. We are looking for people with good interpersonal skills, who can work well in teams and enjoy helping others. Previously, trained volunteers have been activated in recovery centres following the Pinery fire and also for outreach work in the Blyth area during the 2016 statewide storm and power blackout.

Training will be held at the Balaklava CWA rooms, at the corner of George and Scotland streets, Balaklava on Saturday, November 16 from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

For more information, or to register, contact Lower Mid North Emergency Services Zone Coordinator Lauren March on 0407 972 709. Attendees will be required to bring their own lunch.