Welcome back to all students and families returning to Balaklava High School for another year and an especially warm welcome to our Year 8s and other new students and their families joining us at BHS for the first time.  We started our school year yesterday with a brief whole school assembly and it was a delight to see so many happy faces and a sea of navy and white school uniforms.  We looked like a cohesive, proud school community and I look forward to that continuing throughout the year.  In the past week and a bit, we were very excited to see our new modular buildings arrive at school.  These units were delivered over 5 days and the result is amazing, with our 10 new classrooms here to greet students as they arrived at school yesterday morning.  There is still much work to do before we are able to take ownership of the buildings but we look forward to being able to use them from the start of next term.

As always, Term 1 is action packed with many events starting with the Swimming Carnival (which will be held at the Riverton Pool this year as the Balaklava Pool is currently out of action.  More details later in this newsletter), the Year 8 Meet and Greet evening, the Student Council Camp, Year 8 Camp and the Student Council and House Captain Induction Ceremony all in the first five weeks!

Staffing

For the second year in a row, we have a very small number of new staff joining us, which is excellent for consistency and shows a desire for staff to stay at BHS and continue the work we have started in strengthening relationships and working towards individual success for all students.  We welcome the following new staff members:  Alana Sharman (Maths/Numeracy/STEM Coordinator), Kym Spartley (English/FLO), Amy Tilbrook (Art/Design) and Hannah Hoepner (Ag/Research Project).  We wish them well for their time here and we look forward to benefitting from the knowledge, skills and experiences they bring with them.

I am also very pleased to welcome back James Mussared (English), who has returned to us in a part time capacity this year, which will allow him to continue the studies he started whilst on leave last year.  In the last week of Term 4 last year, Sue Pratt was successful in her application to participate in curriculum writing for the Department for Education.  This means Sue won’t be at BHS for Term 1 this year as she has the exciting task of writing units of work for Ag teachers across the state.  This is further testament to Sue’s outstanding knowledge and experience in the field of Agriculture.  Rest assured, she’ll be back with us at the start of Term 2.

Melanie Evans has been teaching music at BHS for over 20 years and, for the latter part of that time she has been successfully running our Special Interest Music program that has allowed our Music students to shine not only in our school but also in the broader community.  In the holidays Mel was diagnosed with breast cancer and she has already begun treatment for this.  For those of you who know Mel, you would know that she has an amazingly positive attitude, a great faith and a supportive family.  All of these aspects, combined with expert medical advice, means we are expecting a good outcome from her treatment program.  This does mean, however, that the Special Interest Music program will look a little different this year, whilst Mel has at least Semester 1 off to focus on her health.  Students involved in this program were informed of changes this morning and Suri Umapathysivam will extend her work in the Music department to ensure these students get the support they need.  I know you’ll join us in sending Mel and her family our best wishes as she continues her treatment and we look forward to her re-joining us at BHS later in the year.

Class of 2020

Congratulations to the Class of 2020 and the success they achieved when results were released in December and again in January for those who applied for university.  Our Dux was Abbey Bubner who achieved an ATAR of 83.4 (without bonus points) and has been accepted into her first preference university course, a Bachelor of Music at Adelaide University.  I would also like to acknowledge Maddie Karklins who, as a Year 11, achieved an A+ with her work in Research Project.  Other highlights include 21 grades in the A Band (up considerably from last year) and 100% of eligible students achieved their PLP.  96% of eligible students achieved their SACE with a number of students working on SACE completion this year through VET studies.  90% of our students who applied for university received offers in the first round of preferences in courses such as Engineering, Exercise and Sport Science, Early Childhood Education and a variety of Business degrees.  A number of our graduates have also accepted apprenticeships and employment and we anticipate hearing success stories from all of our old scholars as they continue with the next step of their lives.

Communication

I have many beliefs about education and one of the most fundamental is my belief in the importance of the relationship between teacher, parent and young person for student success.  As a parent, I know that no one cares for our children like we do so it is vital that we are active participants in our children’s education.  Communication is one of the key pillars of success in schooling and I encourage parents to contact teachers directly if you have a question, need to share information or if you have a concern.  You can contact teachers via Daymap or phone the school on 8862 0600 and leave a message for them to call you back.  The first point of contact should always be the subject teacher for class related matters, the Homegroup teacher for broader concerns or a member of the Leadership Team for more significant issues.  Daymap is a place for parents to access crucial information including feedback on student work, absences, homework and other school related tasks and I encourage you to access the Parent Portal regularly.  There are instructions on how to do this later in the newsletter and you can contact the Front Office if you have any issues with access.  Another form of communication is through social media and I invite all students and their families to like us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with school events and information.

Student Free Day

Governing Council has approved a student free day on Monday 15^th February (Week 4).  Whilst we recognise it’s very early in the year to have a day without students, it was the date available to us to have literacy expert Misty Adoniou join us to continue to advance our site improvement work in literacy.  The staff from Riverton and District High School will also join us on this day.  We have a second day with Misty booked for Tuesday 24^th August and our remaining student free days for this year will focus on preparation for Year 7s joining us at high school next year.  We had little choice in dates for these literacy days as we had to work in with Misty’s busy diary but we will aim to align our other days with our local primary schools as best we can.  As always, we value your support in these days to ensure our staff have continued access to current professional development.

Governing Council AGM

The Governing Council is an important component of the school’s decision-making and consultative processes and it provides an opportunity for parents to be more strongly involved in school operations and to gain a deeper understanding of how the school functions.  Our Governing Council’s AGM will take place on Wednesday 17^th February 2021 at 7.00 pm in the Community Library.  Please consider nominating, or renominating, for the Governing Council, which has a crucial role in ensuring that the school is meeting the educational needs of the community.  There is a nomination slip for Governing Council in this newsletter or you can access one by contacting the Front Office.  Even if you are not considering nominating for Council, I encourage you to come along to the AGM, where we will present the Annual Report on the 2020 school year.

As always, I invite 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 via Daymap or email Sonia.Pringle235@schools.sa.edu.au or you can phone the School on 8862 0600 to speak to me directly or to make a time to come and see me.  I’m looking forward to a great 2021 and I hope to catch up with as many of you as possible throughout the year.

Sonia Pringle

Principal