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Restorative Practices
I am very pleased to announce that we have been accepted into a program funded by the Department for Human Services and supported by the Department for Education to bring Kerrie Sellen from Restorative Journeys to Balaklava High School to teach our school community about Restorative Practices and resolving conflict peacefully. Restorative Practices recognises that the ability to manage relationships is central to lifelong learning and success and this is at the heart of most of what we do in education. All staff and students will be trained in this program and we will also offer training for parents and community groups to learn this process. The program uses questions which encourage self-reflection, create the space to be heard and challenge negative behaviour with regards to its impact on others. This process cultivates the capacity to build and maintain significant relationships in the home, at school and in the community for the betterment of society. More information will follow regarding this program.
Change of Date for a Student Free Day
Last term I advertised a list of this year’s Student Free and School Closure Days, however there has now been a change to one of these dates as a result of our involvement in the Restorative Practices program. To allow staff to undertake training in this, we will now have a Student Free Day on Friday 21st June, not Friday 7th June as previously stated. Please make this change in your diaries.
Open Night
In the last three weeks we have had a variety of learning opportunities that occur each day at school but we have also had a couple of annual events. I refer to Open Night, which we held in Week 4 and NAPLAN testing, which the majority of our Year 9 students undertook in Week 3.
Open Night was a great success and well attended by future Year 8 students and their families and other interested and invited guests. As you can see from the images included, many of the displays were interactive and highly engaging for our visitors. Open Night provided an opportunity for people to see many of the quality programs and learning opportunities available here and to get a taste of exactly what makes BHS so special. I would like to acknowledge the work of staff on the night and the many students who volunteered their time to talk to visitors, conduct experiments, sing, cook and interact in a variety of other ways. I would like to particularly acknowledge the work of Deputy Principal, Ms Carena Brookes, who led the organisation for both Open Night and NAPLAN online.
NAPLAN Online
As the NAPLAN tests moved online this year for the first time, there was much attention drawn to the testing by the media. Whilst we had a couple of slight technical hiccoughs early on, all of our students sitting the tests managed to complete them in the allocated time to a standard they were happy with. We know that these tests are just a snapshot of a child’s ability in literacy and numeracy but they do provide data to look at individual growth and achievement by students and areas for us to focus on as a school. One of the advantages of the new online format is that results should be back with the school much earlier than in the past and this information will be passed onto parents as soon as we receive it.
Cold and Flu Season
Unfortunately, it’s the time of year where sickness is all too common and we have included a brochure from the Department of Health on how to prevent the spread of influenza. The tips below will help prevent the spread of not only the flu but also colds and gastroenteritis which is also unfortunately doing the rounds at the moment. Vaccination against the flu is also an extremely effective way of reducing your risk of illness. Whilst attendance at school is always important, in the case of sickness it is more important that you keep your children home until they are no longer contagious. Please read the brochure for full details, however the tips include:
- Covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough
- Regularly washing your hands
- Don’t share personal items
- Clean surfaces regularly and
- Avoid close contact with others.
Another reminder about the importance of wearing uniform. Now that it’s cooler, we are seeing lots of colours and items of clothing in the schoolyard which do not meet our agreed school uniform expectations. If meeting these expectations is a concern for families, I ask you to contact the relevant year level coordinator to discuss this.
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 in Balaklava. Shorts and trousers are to be navy or grey and trackpants are to be navy with no stripes or large logos. Families are reminded that black pants and tops are not part of our uniform and leggings, jeggings and jeans are also not acceptable for school.
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
Knockout sports is here!
During Week 3 Balaklava High School entered teams into Girls and Boys Year 8/9 Touch Football and Boys Open Football. This year we saw a massive improvement in our Touch Football with the Year 8/9 boys winning two games out of five and the girls scoring a total of 13 tries across the day which is up from zero the year before. Unfortunately the girls were unable to snatch a win but the huge improvement they made has really set Balaklava up for a great run at success next year. Our players of the day were Nicola Tiller and Charli Griffiths for the girls and in the boys Jack May and Jacob Battle.
In the Open Boys Football we were lucky enough to win against Kapunda High School by four points but unfortunately suffered a 50 point loss to Kadina. The boys battled hard all day and if it wasn’t for a small five minute lapse we may have come a lot closer to beating Kadina. The player of the day went to Jerry Logan who was outstanding in both games and really displayed some class and football nouse. Lachlan Mosler was dominant in the ruck and was able to kick a few snags for the day. Honourable mentions also go to Callum Gaze, Ethan Brownlie, Jack Heaslip and Karl Binka who all displayed the values of the school throughout the games.
Thank you to Dave Cmrlec for driving the bus and assisting with coaching and thank you to all who participated and represented Balaklava High in such a fantastic manner. The school can be very proud and we certainly have a moved into this new era with a great bunch of students who are no doubt going to achieve great things in the coming years in school sport. Well done.
Ash Parsons
| Girls Touch Football Team | Boys Touch Football Team |
| Charlie Griffiths (Captain) |
Jacob Battle (Captain) |
| Charlotte Davey |
Jack May |
| Miranda McLean |
Macauley Smith |
| Eliza Loy |
Tyler Harbrow |
| Mackenzie Hill |
Billy Aston |
| Samantha Kea |
Hunter Lamond |
| Ella Standley | Mitch Barker |
| Nicola Tiller | Oska Rana |
| Tylah Arthur | Ryder Mead |
| Abbey Bigg | Tyler McBride |
| Matthew Oliver |
| Open Boys Football | |
| Callum Gaze (Captain) |
Ryen Michalanney |
| Ethan Brownlie (Captain) |
Cameron Curnow |
| Lachlan Tregeagle |
Karl Binka |
| Mitchell Taylor | Lachlan Mosler |
| Korey Michalanney | Blake Guerin |
| Liam Bigg | Kirk Davis |
| Cooper Allen | Lachlan Groth |
| Jack Heaslip | Logan Olsen |
| Matthew Freebairn | Lachlan Hendry |
| Jerry Logan | Jaidyn Bowley |
| Cody Redpath | Jake Stacey |
| Lachlan Wright |
Year 10 students Emily Lemon and Tyler Durdin sat for Grade 5 AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) piano exams on Saturday May 18 at the Adelaide University. A lot of extra practise and preparation goes into preparing for a piano exam. We wish them both well as they await their results. Well done, Emily and Tyler!
In Week 3, Year 9 students completed NAPLAN testing online. Overall, it was a success and it is always great to see our students trying their best. As a reward for their efforts, on Wednesday afternoon in Pastoral Care, Year 9 students were treated to a pizza lunch at the Balaklava Sports Club. It was a great afternoon; playing on the playground, courts and oval. A special congratulations to students from 9BH2 whose perfect attendance and outstanding effort during NAPLAN won them extra pizza and garlic bread.
From the 15th to the 17th May, the Stage 2 PE class (and Eddie) travelled to Port Vincent to complete their non-moderated Kayaking practical assessment (worth 16.7% of their overall grade). In gorgeous conditions, the students completed a variety of criteria, including paddling, sweep strokes, support strokes, draw strokes, emergency stops, distance paddle, eskimo and deep water rescue and capsize. The independence, leadership and general contribution of the group was outstanding and was reflected in their results. Well done to Callum Gaze on achieving an A- and to Haylee Studham, Catelyn Harkness, Taylah Pratt and Alex Howard for their B+ grades.
I would like to thank Lucy Thiel and Eddie for coming along to support and to Alfie’s for letting us crash there. Good fun and memories for all involved!
Michael Brooks
Balaklava High School entered ten drawings from our Years 9 and 10 Art classes in the Rotary Club of Clare Art Show this year with not just one, but two Youth category prize winners! Paige Lamond and Lloyd Spurling won two of the three prizes awarded in the Youth category. It was a major event with hundreds of artworks entered from around the state. Both Paige and Lloyd were awarded their cash prizes during the Opening Night on Friday, May 17. The award winning works will be on display again, along with many other artworks from our students, at our school’s exhibition in October.
Thomas Fregona
Stronger, more effective and transparent screening laws for people working or volunteering with children have been introduced in South Australia. The new screening laws were recommended as part of federal and South Australian royal commissions, to help keep children safe in our communities. The new laws mean that from 1 July 2019 everyone working or volunteering with children must have a valid child-related check.
Also changing from 1 July 2019 is the state’s current system for child-related employment screenings, which will be replaced with a working with children check (WWCC). This new check is coming in to better protect your children and make sure that people working or volunteering with children are suitable. It does this through a monitored and more robust assessment of a person’s eligibility to work or volunteer with children. Because the check is monitored, immediate action can be taken if a person is charged with a concerning offence. The new check covers off on a person’s national criminal history including all spent convictions, pending and non-conviction charges, and other disciplinary and child protection information.
A WWCC is valid for five years and is portable across roles and organisations throughout South Australia.
Current, valid child-related employment screening checks done by DHS/DCSI will be recognised as a WWCC until they expire. There is also a 12 month transition period for anyone with a National Police Certificate assessed by their organisation, with the certificate valid till 1 July 2020.
For most people, this means they don’t need to do anything to be ready for the new law starting on 1 July 2019.
For more information about the new check visit the DHS website.
Students interested in pursuing medicine need to sit the UCAT in July 2019. MedEntry is a government accredited Registered Training Organisation specialising in UCAT preparation. MedEntry offers discounts of 30% for groups, numerous scholarships and bursaries. For more information, please visit www.MedEntry.edu.au