Welcome back to all students and families returning to Balaklava High School for another year and an especially warm welcome to our Year 7s and other new students and their families joining us at BHS for the first time.  We started our school year on Monday morning with a brief whole school assembly; with nearly 450 students enrolled this year the gym was quite full and it was great to see many happy faces and a sea of navy and white school uniforms.

As always, Term 1 is action packed with many events starting with the Year 7 Meet and Greet this evening from 5.30-6.30pm, closely followed by the Swimming Carnival next Tuesday, Year 7 Camp, the Student Council Camp, the Athletics Carnival and the list goes on!  Information for all of these events will be sent out throughout the term.

Staffing

As always at this time of year, we have some new staff members to welcome:  Louise O’Halloran (Home Ec, Food and Hospitality), Sally McArdle (English, HASS, LGP), Holly Crighton (Ag), Pahul Modi (Science), Leona He (Maths, Science), Jerry Elder (English, LGP) and Clayton Tilbrook (SSO).  At the end of last year I farewelled Joshua La Grutta and Hudson Noack, however, I am very pleased to announce that they have both decided to stay at Balaklava High School so they are still here this year.  We wish all new and returning staff the best for their time here and we look forward to benefitting from the knowledge, skills and experiences they bring with them.

Communication

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 always 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.

There have also been some changes to the Leadership team this year and I encourage you to contact the relevant person when a need arises:

Sonia Pringle - Principal

Carena Brookes - Assistant Principal, Head of Senior School

Lucy Thiel - Assistant Principal, Head of Middle School

Kimberly Walker - Senior Leader, Wellbeing and Inclusion

Amber Buick - Coordinator, Mathematics/Numeracy

Hannah Hoepner - Coordinator, English/Literacy

Rosemary Goode - Coordinator, VET

Ash Parsons - Coordinator, Wellbeing and Engagement

Peta Solomon - Business Manager

Class of 2022

Congratulations to the Class of 2022 and the successes they achieved when results were released in December and again in January for those who applied for university.  Our Dux was Riley Hayes-Revitt who achieved an ATAR of 93.6 (without bonus points), she also had 4 grades in the A band and has been accepted into her first preference university course, a Bachelor of Science (Animal Behaviour) at Adelaide University.  Our proxime accessit (second highest score) was Steven Wade and I would also like to acknowledge students who achieved A+ grades in various subjects:  Abigail Futterleib (Creative Arts), Olivia Allen (Research Project) and Cody Jamieson (Research Project).  A few statistics from the 2022 results:  100% of eligible students achieved their SACE, 58% of all grades in Stage 2 were in the A and B bands and 99.55% of all grades in Stage 2 were passing grades.

100% of our students who received an ATAR and applied for university received offers in the first round of preferences in courses such as Aviation, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, International Relations and Political Science, Criminology, Engineering, Exercise and Sport Science and Secondary Teaching degrees.  A number of our graduates have also accepted apprenticeships and gained employment and we anticipate hearing success stories from all of our old scholars as they continue with the next step of their lives.

The positive impact of the school's vocational pathways program was again evident last year with 51.16% of all students who completed their SACE using a VET component to do so. This figure is more than double the state average of 22.54%, which shows that Vocational Education and Training remains an important feature at Balaklava High School, strongly supporting both student retention and senior secondary achievement.

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 Tuesday 21^st February 2023 at 7.00 pm in the Balaklava 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.  We have a number of current Council members who are finishing their time on Governing Council and I thank Sam Tiller, Gavin Branson and Tom Robinson for their work and a special thank you to Andrew Parker for his work as Chairperson for the past four years, finishing his time at BHS now that all four of his daughters have completed their education here.  If you are not considering nominating for Governing Council, you are very welcome to come along to the AGM, where we will present the Annual Report on the 2022 school year.

As always, I invite parents to contact me at the school 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 2023 and I hope to speak with many of you throughout the year.

Sonia Pringle

Principal

Year 7 Meet & Greet is Tonight!

Who: Year 7 parents. Students are also welcome!

When: Tonight (2/2/23) from 5.30 to 6.30 pm.

Where: Balaklava High School in your child's homeroom. Staff will be floating around to show you the way.

Why: put a face to a name. Come and meet your child's teachers and hear about what your young person will be learning this semester. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions and meet staff.

2023 Port Vincent Year 7 Aquatics Camp 

Camp is next week! If you have not returned your child's forms then please do so ASAP. Contact the school with any finance related questions or issues. It would be great to have the whole cohort there.

Each year Balaklava High School gives students in their first year of high school the opportunity to participate in an aquatics camp, run out of Port Vincent.  The camp is great for building new peer relationships and for staff to also create strong connections with students.  It is a 3-day camp (8^th, 9^th and 10^th of February) that includes activities such as; paddle boarding, knee boarding, sailing and kayaking.  For many students these are new for them, and they gain so much from trying different experiences. 

Term 1 is our busiest time of the year for School Sport carnivals and tournaments with the first event being our annual School Swimming Carnival held on Tuesday the 7^th of February (Week 2) at the newly opened Balaklava Swimming Pool. We can’t wait to get back in the pool after our 2022 carnival was cancelled due to COVID restrictions and we are even more excited to be back at the new Balaklava Swimming Pool.

House Captains

Yesterday we held our first House Meetings for the year to elect our Junior and Senior House Captains and Vice-Captains and to begin preparations for Swimming Carnival. Walter House showed that they are a strong contender to keep their grasp on the House Spirit Shield with a well-polished and choreographed House chant, check out our Facebook page for the video!

It is my pleasure to announce our 2023 House Captains:

Well done to all students who nominated for a House Captain position and congratulations to all of our successful candidates. 

Swimming Carnival Changes and Information

This year we have changed the structure of our Swimming Carnival slightly to encourage greater participation from all students. The day will begin with the running of the 25m Freestyle, 25m Backstroke and 25m Breaststroke heats for all age groups. We have made the decision to revert back to 25m races for some events based on feedback from students to enhance participation numbers and with the intention of returning to 50m races in the future as students become stronger and more confident swimmers. The 25m Butterfly final and 100m Freestyle final events will remain unchanged and take place before the recess break. New to our carnival this year will be ‘House Challenge’ Activities for non-swimmers to participate in at school while the morning heats are taking place to earn House Spirit points. After recess all staff and students will join the morning swimmers at the pool to compete in novelty events and cheer on the top 8 fastest swimmers who will compete in the 25m Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke finals in each age group. The afternoon will include Relays and the Plains Producer 50m Freestyle Handicap event. A new novelty event this year will be the House Relay, each House can submit 2 relay teams which are made up of 1 student, 1 House Captain, 1 teacher and 1 parent/family member/ex-student. You can find a copy of the program in this edition of the newsletter.

The school canteen will be available for students to order their lunch by QKR, food will also be available to purchase from the pool canteen and Student Council will be running a BBQ. Entry into the pool for students is $2 and will be collected in morning Homegroup.

Top performers from our Swimming Carnival will be selected in the Interschool Swimming Team which will be held on Monday the 20^th of February at Burra, time TBC. These students will also be offered the opportunity to compete in the School Sport SA Secondary Swimming Championship at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre as an individual entry. The Individual Day will be held on Friday the 3^rd of March, please contact Alison Parsons for further information if your child is interested in competing.

House Shirts

House coloured polo shirts are available to purchase from Tads Embroidery for students to wear for House Carnivals as well as making an excellent top to be worn for practical PE lessons. Tops are $25 each and can be personalized with your child’s name or nickname for an extra $10. Shirts are ordered directly through Tads Embroidery Balaklava, please contact Alison Parsons if you have any questions or require further information.

Important Sports Dates

• Tuesday Week 2, 7^th February: BHS Swimming Carnival, 8:50 am – 3:15 pm @ Balaklava Swimming Pool
• Monday Week 4, 20^th February: Lower North Interschool Swimming Carnival, time TBC @ Burra
• Friday Week 5, 3^rd March: School Sport SA Secondary Swimming Championship, 9 am – 2:30 pm @ SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre
• Friday Week 6, 10^th March: BHS Athletics Carnival, 8:45 am – 3:15 pm @ Balaklava High School
• Thursday Week 8, 23^rd March: Lower North Interschool Athletics Carnival, 9 am – 2:30 pm @ Riverton
• Monday Week 10, 3^rd April: School Sport SA Secondary Athletics Championship, 9 am – 2:30 pm @ SA Athletics Stadium

School Mental Health Service Wellbeing Practitioner 

We would like to introduce Kellie van Elk as our new School Mental Health Practitioner. Kellie has extensive experience in supporting young adults and we are very excited to have her with us three and a half days a week. The service is designed to support our students who may be experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems and intervene early in the development of more serious mental health concerns. Kellie will be able to support in the following ways:

• assessing student mental health needs and concerns 
• supporting students to develop strategies to manage distress and maintain their mental health 
• contributing to referral and case management processes for students with more complex mental health presentations 
• supporting referrals and linking to external support services as required 
• developing the mental health literacy of their school communities. 

Mental Health Care Nurse

Tracey our Accredited Mental Health Care Social Work worker is also available for consultation on Tuesdays. Tracey is another support for students who may be experiencing low to mild mental health concerns. Tracey completes assessment, conducts psychotherapy and works closely services and psychologists to construct the right support for your child.  

If parents or carers would like their child to receive support from either of the below 

- Accredited Health Care Social Worker (Tracey) 

- School Mental Health Service Wellbeing Practitioner (Kellie) 

please feel free to contact Wellbeing and Inclusion Senior leader Kimberly Walker on 88620600. 

Connected Self 

Steven has just joined us this Term from Connected Self. Steven will continue the work of previous practitioner Jack and has already started to make some positive connections with student on his visit Wednesday. Steven will be on site Tuesday and supporting young people in the form of Group Work, intensive one to one and capacity building in young socially and emotionally.   

Kimberly Walker

Wellbeing and Inclusion Senior Leader 

It is important that we have accurate medical information about our students.  Please ensure that you 

• Keep the school informed of any medical conditions, treatments and medical contact details.
• Provide the school with appropriate information and training/instruction where medical conditions require specialised treatment.
• Update the school with any changes in medical conditions and/or required treatments. Students who have a medical care plan (Asthma, Medication, Diabetes, Seizures etc) are required to update them annually. These plans and new plans are in the envelope sent out at the beginning of each year.  Please follow the instructions on the front page of the plans, and return them to the front office. Medication Agreements must be filled out for all medications that need to be taken at school or on school camp.

Please contact the school if your student has a new health issue or you have not received any plans in your envelope and need new plans so that we can provide you with the accurate forms to fill out.  Please give the school a brief description of what you need staff to do until you have the forms filled out and returned.

You should have received in the post by now your welcome back to school pack for this year which includes your M&S Charges invoice.

I would like to thank all the families who have either made a part or full payment, have completed their school card form or have spoken to us about an instalment plan.

On Monday an email was sent out with a letter attached from the Education Minister detailing the M&S Charges rebate all families are entitled to once their school fees were paid in full, school card holders do not qualify for the rebate. This rebate has been applied to all student accounts.

School card applications are now open and the income limits have increased by 6.4%, so if you just missed out last year, please try applying for it this year.

Paper copies of the school card form can be given to the printery for entering, alternatively you can submit your application online with the link below.

sa.gov.au/education/schoolcard

If you have any questions or need assistance submitting your application to discuss your accounts further, please contact the finance team at the school, or on 88620600. Alternately send us an email to dl.0769.finance@schools.sa.edu.au

Thank you.

Peta Solomon and Elly Swift

Year 10 Art student, Miabella Koenig, has been busy over the holiday period. She was tasked with upcycling an old pair of shoes and giving them a ‘Bluey’ theme. After working hard Miabella absolutely blew it out the park and presented me with this amazing pair of custom painted shoes. I have had so many comments about how amazing they look and so many people have asked where I bought them. Keep up the hard work Miabella!

Jamie Banwell