Today we gathered as a group to acknowledge Remembrance Day and commemorate the servicemen and women who suffered or died in the line of duty. We had three active service personnel attend the ceremony and we would like to thank Squadron Leader Maurice Hall, Executive Officer at No 1 Remote Sensor Unit (RSU), LACW Louise Millers, Air Surveillance Operator at 1RSU, ACW Alex Taylor, Personnel Capability Support Aviator 1RSU for attending and particularly Squadron Leader Maurice Hall for speaking to the students during the service. We also had performances by Miss Umapathysivam and the vocal ensemble as well a very moving performance of the Last Post by Alexander Evans on the trumpet.  We were pleased to be able to send a small group of students and the school band to the RSL service at the Balaklava Triangle as well to perform and lay a wreath on behalf of our school.  A huge thank you to Alison Schahinger for the work she put in to prepare for the day and have it be a respectful commemoration of this important day. Thanks also to Clair Allen for filming and editing the videos and Mr Clark's Year 9 History class for planting the poppies this morning.

Public Education Awards

Last Friday night a large contingent from Balaklava High School attended the Public Education Awards ceremony at the Adelaide Convention Centre.  We were the only school in the state to have more than one finalist and the fact that we had three was extraordinary.  There are tens of thousands of Public Education employees across the state, so to be named as one of the top three performers in three different categories cannot be understated.  I would like to congratulate finalists Sue Pratt – Secondary Teacher of the Year Award and Lucy Thiel on behalf of the Enhanced Learning Hub – University of South Australia Team Teaching Award for their success.  As finalists in these award, they receive $2,000 towards their professional development.

The big winner on the night though was Jessica Daniel who was announced as the Inclusive Teacher of the Year (Disability).  As the winner of this category, Jess is awarded $10,000 towards her professional development.  Jess is passionate about working with our students with disabilities, but, perhaps even more importantly, she is passionate about working with our mainstream students as well, to educate them about how we can be inclusive of others.  The genuine care and concern Jess has for her students is equaled by her determination to provide learning opportunities for them to achieve success.  She provides real world learning opportunities for our students with a focus on community engagement.  Congratulations, Jess!

Art Exhibition

Last week a large number of parents, staff, students and invited guests had the pleasure of attending the opening of our annual Art Exhibition at the Balaklava Courthouse Gallery.  This event showcased our students’ Visual Art and Design skills in a collection of works curated by our Art and Design teacher, Amy Tilbrook.  I would like to acknowledge Amy’s passion for the Arts, for her desire to see our students succeed and her hard work in bringing this exhibition to life.  Thanks must also go 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.  It runs from the 4th to the 21st November and I encourage you to go to the Gallery and see the quality student work on display.

Presentation Night

For some time now we have been considering what we might do for our annual Presentation Night to ensure it’s an adequate celebration for our graduates and award winners that also meets COVID requirements.  We were originally planning to hold a modified event at the Balaklava Town Hall with restricted numbers of audience members present but we are pleased to announce that we now have a COVID plan in place and we will hold the event in its entirety in our school gym on Wednesday 1^st December.  Attendees will be required to sign in and wear a mask but we are pleased to be able to meet as a large group.  As with all events in SA at present, the event will, of course, be subject to last minute change if SA Health guidelines dictate.

Student Free Days

Since our last newsletter, we had a student free day where we had our final 2 hour session on refining our Trauma Informed Practices with Connected Self.  This complements the work we have been doing for a number of years now on embedding restorative practices in the school.  The rest of the day was spent in learning areas preparing units of work for our Year 7 cohort and revamping existing units for other year levels.

Our final SFD for the year will be on Friday 19th November (Week 6) when we will spend time creating our new School Improvement Plan for the next three year cycle.  We currently have a Literacy (Writing) and Numeracy (Number) goal and we are likely to retain these as we have made progress towards them but still have work to do.  The balance of that day will also be spent on curriculum preparation for 2022 and we look forward to having some of our new teachers who will join us next year to be with us that day too.  Balaklava Primary School are also having a student free day on the 19^th Nov, therefore, the school buses will not run this day.

I am excited for all of the 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

Due to the unseasonal weather, in consultation with the Cancer Council and on their advise, we have made the regretful decision to postpone this Saturday’s Relay for Life event at the school.  We are hopeful of running a modified event later this term but we will inform families of this as we work out details.  We thank everyone for their donations and you are still able to purchase raffle tickets from the school to support this worthwhile cause.

During Week 4 students at BHS were given the amazing opportunity to use a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The SEM arrived on Friday of Week 3, the Science faculty was trained in its use on Monday morning of Week 4, and it has been in use every lesson and even some lunchtimes since!

Usually students use Light Microscopes which use backlighting and convex glass lenses to observe samples up close. These microscopes can only magnify up to 40x and require the sample to be very thin so the light can be seen from above. The SEM uses an electron beam to create an image of the sample by collecting information about how many electrons bounce off the surface. This means that scientists can magnify up to 100,000x to see the smallest details without having to slice the sample incredibly thin.

Over the week Science students from all year levels procured their own samples, prepared observation stages, loaded the SEM, and finessed settings in order to see ordinary items at up to 2500x magnification. Students sampled things like grass, seeds, flower petals, and sand. A few brave students found some more interesting samples including ants, beetles, a bee and even a huntsman spider! (Disclaimer: Specimens were found already dead).

A MACRO thank you to Amber Buick for all the hard work she has put in to organise this opportunity. The students have had an amazing time, some even brought in samples from home that they were excited to scan! The Science faculty have also really enjoyed this experience, often fighting for time after school to scan their own samples.

Have a look at these super close ups of a variety of samples and of students using the Microscope!

Kelly Schubert

Can you pick an ant, ant's eye, rye grass, daddylonglegs leg, pollen, prickle or pollen on a bee leg?

At Balaklava High School, we understand that when students feel connected, confident and respected, all within an inclusive environment, students are able to engage and be successful with their learning.  

Mrs Daniel and Mrs Pudney collaborated and planned a unit together which saw the combination of their literacy classes. Before the students joined classes, there were many questions from the Year 9 students who had not had the previous opportunity to work closely with other students with complex needs. Mrs Daniel shared her knowledge and upskilled the Year 9 students on how they could work together, learn from one another and build new friendships.  

Our first lesson began with nervous smiles but soon saw the students making connections with one another and realising how much they all had in common. The lesson ended with lots of laughs, high fives and friendships formed. At this moment, Mrs Daniel’s and my hearts were filled with admiration for our students and the values reflected by every single one of them. We were excited to see how this unit would then unfold. 

For the next 6 weeks, the class continued to meet regularly to work on the ‘Pieces of Us’ unit. Students were explicitly taught about character strengths and the positive parts of your personality that make you unique. In teams of three or four students they shared their own character strengths and discussed what they saw in their peers and what they valued in people they admired. As a group they took photos which reflected each of their top three character strengths. It was fantastic to see how creative our students were. 

Mrs Tilbrook kindly provided us with some black art frames to display the students’ favourite photos and she suggested that their ‘Pieces of Us’ creations be put on display at the BHS Art Exhibition. The students were very keen on this idea and we hope many parents and community members can visit the Gallery to see this display between the 4th November until the 21st November at The Balaklava Courthouse Gallery.

Michelle Pudney

On Thursday the 4^th of November, Balaklava High School opened our student exhibition at the Balaklava Courthouse Gallery. The exhibition boasts over 120 artworks from students in Years 8-12. These artworks covered many areas of art and design including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and digital mediums. The works exhibited were largely produced during Visual Art lessons at the school. However, this year the exhibition opened up to students who choose to make art outside the classroom to celebrate the many talents and interests of our young artists. While the main purpose of the exhibition is to celebrate the achievements of the graduating Year 12 students, the senior students make up for a small part of the exhibition, and their works prove to be an inspiration for younger students. This year students were acknowledged for their efforts with prizes of art materials.

The prize winners were:

• Encouragement Winner (Year 8 student): “Horses at Sunset” by Sophie Tiller
• Junior Runner Up (Student Years 8-9): “Cat” By Joseph Futterleib
• Junior Winner (Student Years 8-9): “Untitled Landscape” by Bligh Wilson
• Senior Runner Up (Student Years 10-12): “Self Portrait” by Keira Baker
• Senior Winner (Student Years 10-12): “Nyx” “Midnight” and “Erik” series by Sophie Wade

And announcing the People’s Choice Award (Voted by guests on the night): “The Process” by Lachlan Gaze.

The night was a massive success with over 50 guests in attendance throughout the evening, including Mayor Rodney Reid. Catering was provided by Home Economics teacher Sarah Mayer and her Food and Hospitality students. A huge thank you to all students who entered their work. It takes time and passion to develop creative ideas and develop skills, but more importantly, it shows courage to put work on display.

The exhibition is open until Sunday 21st November at the Balaklava Courthouse Gallery.

Opening hours are:

• Thursdays 2pm - 4pm
• Fridays 10am - 4pm
• Sundays 2pm - 4pm

Amy Tilbrook

The Stage 1 Biology class stepped out of the lab to conduct some practical sampling techniques at Burra Gorge. Several sites were selected through the Worlds End Reserve, which included running streams and billabongs connecting the Burra Creek. Students tested abiotic factors to determine water quality (pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and temperature) and carried out transect studies to survey the different species inhabiting the ecosystem.

Carena Brookes

On the 26^th and 27^th of October Mrs Von-Zieden’s Stage 1 Tourism class along with Mr Clark and Mrs Stevens went on a camp to Monarto Safari Park. The purpose of the camp was for the students to complete their final assessment task. The students were able to develop and demonstrate their practical tourism skills. They also gathered primary sources and information through observation that related to the tourism industry. The students and teachers took part in a variety of educational activities such as meet the keeper talks, matching footprints, weight, height, body parts and faeces to the correct animal.

Upon arrival to Monarto a zookeeper took us on a private zoo loop tour. Seeing and visiting animals such as meerkats, Przewalski horses, black rhinoceros, giraffes, ostriches, zebras, white rhinoceros, cheetah, lions, hyenas, African wild dogs and the bison. After the Zoo loop tour concluded we met John who was the Education Officer at Monarto. He showed us parts of the zoo that generic tourists are not able to access which enabled us to start gathering sources for our assessment.

During our time at Monarto we stayed at the Indaba Camp Site. We then met Ruth who stayed with us at Indaba. She arranged numerous bonding and educational activities for the evening. All of the students participated with enthusiasm and had lots of fun. Later in the evening once we had finished dinner Ruth took us on a night walk around the camp site. She taught us lots about the history of the nature and wildlife that was at Monarto. After a long day students were exhausted and went to bed ready for an early start the next morning.

Early Wednesday morning Ruth woke us up by beating an African drum (which students did not appreciate!). Once everyone was awake and ready Ruth took us on a sunrise walk to explore the nature in daylight. We got to see a mother emu with her five little chicks which was a highlight of the morning. At 9am, John came to take us on a "once in a lifetime experience". Students were excited until we went into the rhino enclosure and pulled up next to a big pile of rhino poo. Of course we all knew what this meant… we had to shovel rhino poo. After this very enjoyable "once in a lifetime experience" we took the poo to the hyena/African wild dog enclosure. John then took us on a more enjoyable experience, visiting the chimpanzees. Students thoroughly enjoyed this as they were about to be fed once we arrived at their enclosure. This was the last activity John would show us for the day.

For the rest of the day students got to explore the park in small groups and join the public on the Zoo loop tours. We heard the Meet the Keeper African Wild Dog Talk as well as the Meet the Keeper Chimpanzee Talk. By the end of the trip students were worn out from all the activities and exploring. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves over the two days at Monarto Safari Park. A massive thanks to Mrs Von-Zieden for organsing the trip for the Year 11 students as well as Mr Clark for supervising and Mrs Stevens for driving the bus.

Charlotte Davey & Eliza Loy

For all appointments please book at  https://healthengine.com.au/book-covid-19-vaccination/87461

Remember to take your consent form with you.

The HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) Faculty is hoping to run a Senior School Canberra Trip and we have a tentative booking for Week 1 of Term 2.  This 6 day trip will depart on Sunday 1^st May and return on Friday 6^th May 2022.

Cost is estimated to be around $800 based on 40 students attending.  On completion of the trip students will be eligible for the PACER rebate which is a $60 Commonwealth Government initiative paid to students who visit Canberra.

As this is an extra curricula activity, students will need to be achieving the required grades, attendance and behavioural expectations of the BHS policy.  Students will also have the opportunity to achieve a Stage 1 SACE Integrated Learning unit worth 10 credits. 

Please send me a daymap message or email (Karyn.vonzieden37@schools.sa.edu.au) to register the interest of your son or daughter.

Thankyou to the many parents and students that have indicated an interest so far. There has been enough interest for the trip to run so hopefully COVID-19 and restrictions will be a thing of the past. Early next year we will confirm details and request a deposit be paid to confirm interest.

Karyn Von-Zieden  (HASS faculty)