Balaklava High School eNewsletter

We were very pleased to be able to welcome back our entire student body on the school grounds at the beginning of last week. After two weeks with half of our students learning from home, the yard felt like it was bursting at the seams to have over 400 students back with us and it had a great feel to it with everyone reunited. I would like to thank students and their families for supporting us with mask wearing and keeping young people home from school if they are unwell in any way. If your child does test positive, please let us know at the school as soon as possible so we can follow the Department protocol to best keep everyone safe.

Today’s newsletter is brief compared to our regular publications which are full of activity; as our normal start of year events such as camps, Swimming Carnival, induction ceremonies and excursions have had to be cancelled. That said, we are still planning for our annual Athletics Day to proceed on Thursday 10^th March. Whilst we are still required to minimise visitors on school grounds, as this is an outdoor specific event, we are very pleased to be able to welcome parents to the school to spectate that day. The following day, Friday 11^th March is a student free day, which backs on to the Adelaide Cup long weekend, which we trust families will enjoy.

With COVID restrictions still in place to minimise visitors in schools (Athletics Day is an outdoor event so is an exception) we have decided to postpone Student Led Conferences this term. As is always the case, I encourage parents to contact teachers directly if you have a question, need to share information, if you have a concern or want to find out how your child is achieving in a subject. You can contact teachers via email (see the attached list of contact details), 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.

Governing Council AGM

A reminder that our Governing Council’s AGM will go ahead next Wednesday 2^nd March 2022 at 7.00 pm via WebEx. Department guidelines stipulate that we should minimise visitors on site and staff and other meetings are encouraged to remain online.

To join the meeting, please use this link: https://schoolssaeduau.webex.com/schoolssaeduau/j.php?MTID=m1416ead86548a12d4bb3f203b1a63a78

If prompted for a password use "BHS2022"

If you are unable to attend but would like a copy of the 2021 Annual Report, please contact us at the school and we will send you one and it will also be available on our website after it has been presented.

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.

Sonia Pringle

Principal

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We are very happy to confirm that our annual Athletics Carnival will go ahead on Thursday of Week 6 with the welcomed news of easing restrictions in schools. We will be implementing COVID safe practices such as mask wearing when not competing, sanitising and cleaning of equipment regularly throughout the day. As Sonia mentioned above, we welcome parents and family members to attend to watch and cheer on our students. In preparation for Athletics Carnival, the 1500m is being held on Friday afternoon Week 4 and the 800m event will be held on Friday afternoon of Week 5. In the lead up to Thursday’s Athletics Carnival in Week 6 we will be holding our Novelty Events at lunchtimes for students to compete in to win points for their House. The program of events is still being tweaked to accommodate the new age groups, keep an eye out on Facebook for the program closer to the date.

At the end of last year we voted in our Senior House Captains and Vice-Captains, congratulations to the following students who were elected by their peers. Voting for Junior House Captains and Vice-Captains will be occurring at school soon.

	James	Keith	Ross	Walter
Senior House Captains	Kashaya Carpenter	Sasha Branson	Jacob Battle	Charlotte Davey
	Beau Warner	Charli Griffiths	Macauley Smith	Kayleigh Parker
Senior House Vice Captains	Oska Rana	Miranda McLean	Mackenzie Hill	Casey Pratt
	Clair Allen	Biz Renton	Samantha Kea	Nicola Tiller

Nominations are now open for the School Sport SA Individual Tennis Championships for all year levels. If you are a keen singles player and would like further information, please let Miss Schahinger know. Nominations close on Monday the 28^th of February.

The School Sport SA Individual Golf State Championships will be held in May, if you are a keen golfer with a Golf Australia Handicap and would like to compete in the State Champs, please see Miss Schahinger for more information.

Alison Schahinger

Students in Mrs Manuel’s Year 7 class had a fabulous time testing their bubble mixtures in Science. They were trying to determine the best detergent to use and also compared glycerine and glucose syrup as additives.

The verdict: Palmolive and glycerine worked the best with bubbles lasting 30 seconds on average. Tyler is showing his attempts at making a mega bubble and students had fun running with bubble drenched netting to create a stream of bubbles. A great start to Science.

Merridy Manuel

Science Lead Teacher BHS

For the last few weeks, Mrs Lowe’s Year 8 Science classes have been working on their scientific skills. 8HGL4 were able to obtain their Bunsen burner licences by demonstrating safe and effective use of the Bunsen burner in the lab. Most students were also able to demonstrate advanced Bunsen burner skills by being able to light the burner without lighting a match, sitting safely inside the flame.

Colleen Lowe

Science/Math/Agriculture Teacher

Student Engagement Coordinator

Senior Music

In Senior Music, students Leyla Jacobson, Ella Taylor, Keira Baker and Montana Batten have been working together as an ensemble as well as individually on their Solo Performances. They have been making use of their Music lessons as rehearsals and working independently with support from Miss U. These students are working towards their Stage 2 Ensemble Performance and Solo Performance assessment. Keep your eyes out on our Facebook page and special school events for these students and their wonderful performances!

Year 7 Performing Arts

Year 7 students in their first term of Performing Arts in High School have been learning about the treble and bass clef notes and the different note values. Playing games to support their learning whilst having fun at the same time. This week students have started their unit on Rock Bands, learning about four chord songs and how to play those instruments. The Year 7s have worked hard so far this semester and are looking forward to forming their own rock bands later in the term.

Musical Announcement

'I have Confidence' that 'Something Good' will be happening in Term 3 at BHS. One of 'My Favourite Things' I get to do is announce our whole school musical. It has been a different past few years and we have had to 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain' that has come our way. Last year with 'Seussical JR' The Hills were alive with the Sound of Music at Balaklava High School.

'So Long Farewell'
Miss U

BHS will be staging their whole school musical in term 3 of this year and is proud to announce that it will be The Sound of Music:Youth Edition!

We would like to welcome you to our Open Night, which will be held on Wednesday the 30^th March 2022 at 4:30pm at Balaklava High School in our gymnasium, followed by guided tours. We would also encourage families to follow our school Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/balaklavahighschool/ , it is a great opportunity to stay in touch with our school as it celebrates the life and pulse of student learning throughout the year.

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Enrol in free Maths tutoring for Year 7 and 8 students

Year 7 and 8 students are invited to level up their maths skills with the help of a free online tutor.

The program provides students with one-to-one online tutoring for 30 minutes, twice a week for 10 weeks.

This opportunity is available as our school nominated to participate in the Department for Education’s Learning+ program. All costs are covered by the department.

To enrol your child for tutoring, complete the online form on the Learning+ website before 9 March 2022 www.education.sa.gov.au/learningplus