Performing Arts

During the past week, our Performing Arts have been on display to the community on more than one occasion.  Yesterday our Year 9 Drama students hosted Year 5 and 6 students from Balaklava and Mallala Primary schools for three short plays with some drama activities in between each one and last week, our senior Drama students delivered two performances of the thought provoking play ‘Selfie’.  The play covered a number of themes relevant to adolescents today and provided an opportunity for both the cast and crew to shine with professional performances.  Speaking to some audience members at the end of one night, one of them told me they even had tears at some of the poignant moments.  Well done to all students involved in these productions and to Miss Umapathysivam for the work to showcase BHS talent.

COVID-19 and other sickness

COVID remains a consideration in schools, however, as you would have seen from the regular emails home, we have had a low number of positive student cases this term, as well as some staff cases.  We have had some very tricky days to timetable due to staff absences and I’d like to thank Carena Brookes and Cherie Cmrlec who manage this daily process and also thank the teachers who have had to pick up extra relief lessons when our colleagues have been away.  As you would have seen through the media and in the letter that went home last week, masks are no longer mandatory in schools, however they are strongly recommended for all students in Years 3-12 and adults - including visitors and parents - while indoors.

It is important that students stay home if they are at all unwell and that they have a RAT or PCR test if they are symptomatic.  If your child does test positive to COVID at any time, please report it to the school so we can keep families informed of positive cases.  We know there are many forms of illness other than COVID that are still highly contagious such as the influenza, common colds and gastro, so we ask that students stay home if they are unwell until all symptoms are gone.

School Uniform

The cold and wet weather has definitely arrived and it has sent us all searching for warmer clothes.  In response to a request from Student Council last year, Governing Council added grey tracksuit pants to our existing uniform policy, which students are required to follow.  Students are expected to wear a navy or white school polo top, navy bomber jacket, navy rugby top or plain navy hoodie, all of which are available for purchase from TADS as are the navy spray jackets that are very popular with students.  Shorts and trousers are to be navy or grey and trackpants are to be navy or grey with no stripes or large logos.  School beanies are available from the school bookroom.  A final reminder that black tops and pants, jeans, leggings and jeggings are not part of our uniform and, therefore, are not appropriate to wear to school.  If meeting our uniform expectations is a concern for families, I ask you to contact a member of the Leadership team to discuss this as we want to support you to show school pride.

Staffing

I will be away for the last five weeks of this term, during which time, Middle School Assistant Principal, Michelle Pudney will be acting Principal.  I know the school is in safe hands with her and the rest of the leadership team.  Mrs Pudney’s AP position will be backfilled by Lucy Thiel for those five weeks.  Mrs Thiel has been away from the school for nearly a year but she will return early from her maternity leave to work full time for these five weeks and she will then return to her Wellbeing Senior Leader role three days a week for Terms 3 and 4.  Kimberly Walker has been backfilling this Wellbeing role for the past 12 months and she will remain here to job share with Mrs Thiel for the rest of the year and she will also pick up a teaching load in Semester 2 to make her full time.  Also returning from maternity leave for Semester 2 is Kym Spartley who will be back 2 days a week to do some student counselling and literacy support.

As this is my last newsletter for the term, I would like to wish you all well for the last 5 weeks and I very much look forward to returning next term and hearing about all of the excellent things that have happened at BHS during that time.

Sonia Pringle

Principal

On Monday and Tuesday of Week 4, a small group of Year 11 students travelled to Monarto Safari Park for an overnight educational experience.  The weather was perfect and we thank Mr Noack and Mrs Stevens (who came “out of retirement” to drive the bus) for joining us. The new visitor information centre was open and a highlight of the trip was seeing the three lion cubs enjoying time with the other lions.  Students and staff went to work cleaning up manure in the buffalo enclosure which help develop an understanding of the importance of volunteer work within the Safari Park. We also presented the Chimpanzee keeper with a box of over 80 mobile phones which were collected by Biz Renton as part of her 2021 Stage 1 Tourism assignment. The Safari Park get money for each phone and these become part of a recycling and conservation program to help save the habit of endangered chimpanzees. The following comments reflect how much the students enjoy their visit to Monarto.

Karyn Von-Zieden

"Being a part of a schools group going to Monarto Safari park was an unreal experience. Not only were we able to be a part of the public touring the park learning about different animals but we also got to see behind the scenes and take part in opportunities that aren’t offered to the wider community. As a student group we were able to stay at a bush camp situated off track from a normal tour of the park. At the camp students and teachers participated in a range of teamwork and trust activities as well as problem solving. We were also lucky to have a night walk to find different animals and look at star constellations followed by a small campfire where marshmallows and some Tim Tams were roasted. The next day was when the real behind the scenes happened when we were told we would be a keeper of the Bisen. This meant cleaning up their poo which many people weren’t happy about. This experience as a student to learn these skills and really what it takes is unbelievable and a once in a lifetime opportunity."  Abbey

"The Monarto experience was something that someone can experience multiple times and it still be special every time you go through. It was fun getting to talk and know people I would’ve never even considered talking to before this excursion. And I’m glad I had the opportunity to go to this beautiful park with many species of animals I’ve never seen before or heard of before. The lion cubs were cute especially when one of them decided to sit in the middle of the road blocking another bus for about 25 minutes. Seeing one of my favourite animals was awesome too, I never have seen a cheetah in person before so seeing it and being pretty close to them was an awesome experience." Codey

"Monarto was definitely once-in-a-life time experience for some of us, and I'm very happy I got to participate in such an experience. It was great to learn about the different species of animals there, and to know how many different types of antelopes. I was very happy to see the different predators, some favourites being the cheetahs and hyenas. I especially enjoyed one of the lion cubs sitting in the middle of the road and stopping a bus in the process. A lot of the activities were very interactive and tested your animal knowledge, while others tested your teamwork and ability to not walk into a tree! I would recommend the experience for other schools for the overnight stays, and I would recommend tourists to go to Monarto too. It's definitely worth the 2 hour drive."  Maddison

"My Monarto experience was very enjoyable. This Monarto trip offers more than a regular day out at Monarto, you stay overnight at Monarto and engage in fun group bonding activities. This trip gave me a good opportunity to interact with people I normally wouldn't at school. Along with the extra stuff you do on the overnight excursion, you also experience everything you would experience the average Monarto experience which is also cool."  Hayden

Year 8 students were inspired by Pop Expressionist artist Keith Haring to convey social issues within their artworks. 

Together we looked at how we can use different lines to create movement or emphasis. We analysed how we can use different colour schemes to symbolise mood, and we were challenged to use large, organic shapes to take up the A3 page.

While learning about Haring, we learnt how to mix secondary colours, how we can communicate meaning into our work, and we strengthened our written responses when analysing art elements (such as describing line, colour and shape). Students developed their own message and practical ideas to create their final artwork. Painting large areas helps students to generate more control over painting media, builds up hand-eye coordination, and simplifies the overall composition so students can create works that they are proud of.

Mel Cavanagh of 8HGL4 wrote: 

"I incorporated the fact that so-called 'gamers' are often separated from the rest of the world. I show this in my painting by portraying the main character in a glass box, devoid of colour, and the outside world vibrant and full of colour. I symbolised the outside world by painting greenery, houses and blue skies. My colour scheme is inside the box; grey, black and white. Outside the box is; colourful, blues, greens, pinks,  I chose this to show how these colours represent the mood of inside and outside. The inside mood is gloomy, in stark contrast to the mood outside, which is happy and joyful.

My artwork is in the style of Keith Haring because I used line, shape and colour. I used small lines to represent the sound coming from the device, and other lines to show the movement in the outside world. My one human character is in the style of Keith Haring, and it has no facial features. I also used solid colours, which are flat. Everything in my painting is outlined in black, like in the style of Keith Haring".

The Year 8s have worked very hard this term to create these masterpieces and they will conclude the term by learning observational drawing techniques to develop how they perceive objects around them. 

Many of these works will be on display in the Student Exhibition later this year. 

Amy Tilbrook

‘Selfie’

Senior Drama students have been working for the last 12 weeks on their Group Production ‘Selfie’ by Bradley Hayward. On Thursday and Friday of Week 4, students performed this play to a live audience in the Balaklava High School Performing Arts Theatre. This play explored the different issues faced by young people in our society. It had a number of difficult topics including; Social Media, Friendship Issues, Health Issues and Eating Disorders to name a few. As a result, the Senior Drama classes decided they wanted to incorporate fundraising elements to their performance raising a total of $171.45 for The Butterfly Foundation, who support young people living with an eating disorder. Students raised the money by organising a bake sale for the State Election and a raffle on the night.

A huge thank you to Mrs Cowan who supported both the students and myself in production week.

‘BHfest’

Year 9 Drama students have been learning about all the roles that are involved in making a theatre company. As a part of this, the Year 9 Drama students formed their own production company called ‘BHS Star Production’ with their own logo. They then worked towards creating a festival aimed at our feeder schools. We had students from Balaklava Primary School and Mallala Primary School attended BHfest, which was on Tuesday of Week 5.  Despite losing some actors to COVID, this was a very successful morning.

A special thank you to the Senior Drama students who stepped in on the day to support and read in different parts.

Suriya Umapathysivam

This year’s Senior School Formal was held at the end of last term at the Balaklava Golf Club.  COVID disrupted some of the plans and we’d like to thank Alicia and Charlotte Davey for stepping in at the last minute and doing the set up for the event when key staff weren’t available to do so.  Students had a great night dancing the night away and, as you can see from the photo gallery below, they looked spectacular.  Thanks need to go to Miss Reusch for all of her planning and preparation and to the staff who attended on the night to provide supervision for the event.

After a week delay the Spec Ops car wash was finally able to make some staff cars shine! The class worked tirelessly and was able to wash a total of 11 cars. The weather was perfect sunshine and it was great to get outside and raise some money. The money raised will go to the MATES program which we hope to establish some time in Term 2. A huge thank you to the students for their hard work and effort and to all the staff who supported.

Please contact Colleen Lowe 0408 812 850 if you would like to purchase any produce

Meidai High School first visited Balaklava High School in 1999 and for over 20 years students from our school have enjoyed hosting Japanese students in their homes and around the school.  Many of our students have kept in contact with their Japanese buddies and there are stories of our students going over to Japan to catch up, go skiing or stay with the families of students they hosted years ago.

COVID-19 has interrupted international travel for the past two years, however, Meidai High School and it's students are very keen to resume these visits in 2023.

Students arrive in Australia around the start of Term 3 (July/August) and spend 14 days living with an Australian family and attending Balaklava High School where they participate in our special cultural program.  They visits local farms, Wakefield Regional Council Chambers, The Rocks Reserve, Balaklava Primary School, Balaklava Community Children’s Centre and Balaklava Courthouse Gallery.   A school excursion to the Adelaide Hills and Central Market is a highlight with their host buddies and then a final celebration at the Sports Club with an enjoyable dinner for all the host families.

Hosting a Japanese student is a very enjoyable experience, and you don’t need to make special arrangements or plans.  They participate in everything your family does – including the local football and netball competitions, training nights during the week, catching the bus to school, shopping down the street or just hanging around at home.  Families do receive some monetary funds to assist with additional costs during their visit. 

Planning is underway to facilitate a visit in 2023 – currently international arrivals to Australia need to be double vaccinated and the visit will only occur if conditions around COVID-19 make this possible.

We are eager to hear from families that might consider hosting a student or are keen to know more.  Cherie Cmrlec, Trish Langdon and myself have a wealth of information about the Meidai visit and I encourage you to call the school or send messages via email or Daymap.