There are many positive events for the students of Balaklava High School to participate in and this week has seen interschool swimming, a proactive road safety presentation by SAPOL and the Student Council camp.  Student Council members participated in team building activities as well as planning sessions to map out their work for the year.  Congratulations to all students who have been recognised by their peers and have then accepted the challenge of this leadership role.  The Student Council and House Captain Induction will occur next Friday, 3^rd March at 9am in our Gym.  

Governing Council AGM

On Tuesday we held our annual Governing Council AGM and I would like to thank the parents and caregivers who joined us at this meeting, especially those who nominated for, or continued on, Governing Council.  I would also like to acknowledge Andrew Parker, Sam Tiller, Tom Robinson and Gavin Branson for their contributions over many years and thank them for their service to the school community during this time.

The following people have accepted roles on this year’s Governing Council:

I thank the new Governing Council for taking this important opportunity to be more involved in their children’s education and for supporting the school community.  I look forward to another productive and successful year working with them.

We have one vacancy on Governing Council that can be filled a parent or a community member.  If you are interested in joining us, please contact the school.  There are 2 meetings per term and it is a genuine way to have a say in your child’s schooling and gain more information about how and why things occur.

At the AGM I presented the 2022 Annual Report, which details the achievement of our last academic year.  If you would like a copy of this report, please contact us at the school and we can organise for a hard copy to be sent home or you can access it via our website.

Student Free Days

At the AGM the Governing Council approved the following student free days:

Term 2 Week 7 Tuesday 13th June - Child Protection Curriculum

Term 3 Week 1 Monday 24th July - Partnership SFD

There are still two more student free dates still to come, as well as a school closure day and we are in communication with our feeder schools to try and align dates as best we can and I will inform families of these dates as soon as they are known.

Mobile Phones

As you would likely be aware, the state government introduced a ban on the use of mobile phones in high schools.  This is nothing new for us as we have had a phone ban in place since 2020. This means, between 8.30am and 3.15pm, students’ phones need to be switched off and left in their bag.

Senior students wanting to listen to music in study are able to access Spotify though their laptops (students can set up a free account to do this) and we ask that they have headphones with cords to connect to their laptops.  Air Pods should also not be used at all in the school and smart watches are only to be used for telling the time.

If parents need to get a message to their child, please contact the front office and we will make sure it is passed on.  We thank all students and their families for their support of this policy.  The full policy can be found on our website.

Vaping

Unfortunately the increasing use of vapes and e-cigarettes in society is also prevalent at school, which is an ongoing concern for us at BHS.  Young people might be choosing to vape thinking it is a safer option than cigarettes, however, they are not a safe choice as the attached fact sheets attest.  Further information can be found at SA Health by clicking on the following link.  https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/services/mental+health+and+drug+and+alcohol+services/drug+and+alcohol+services/drug+and+alcohol+information/vaping+information

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.

Sonia Pringle

Principal

We arrived at Willow Creek Adventure Camp at noon and wasted no time getting started. Upon arrival, we were promptly greeted and briefed, then divided into two groups to begin our activities. One group worked on raft building, while the other participated in a survival exercise. Both activities aimed to develop the students' leadership skills and test their ability to work effectively in groups.

Later that evening, we had an incredible dinner featuring unlimited servings of nachos, as well as ice cream and fruit salad for dessert. After dinner, the students gathered for a Student Council Workshop, which lasted about 90 minutes. During this time, they nominated and voted for a secretary, treasurer, and publicity officer. Then, the planning began, and the students formed working groups. We finished the night with a campfire where we played a game called Werewolf.

The following morning, the students enjoyed an enormous breakfast before cleaning their dorms. Afterward, Kashaya and Brooke led another planning workshop. Since we had to leave early, we made our own brunch, and then we all got on the bus to say our goodbyes to Willow Creek Camp. The general consensus was that everyone had a great time.

A big thank you goes out to Amy Tilbrook and Jamie Banwell for their exceptional leadership and guidance during our stay at the camp. Additionally, the students' behavior was exemplary throughout the entire trip, and they should be commended for their outstanding conduct.

Richard Thomas

After a two year hiatus from the Balaklava Swimming Pool due to COVID in 2022 and the pool being under-construction in 2021, the 2023 Balaklava High School Swimming Carnival returned to the newly opened Balaklava Swimming Pool on Tuesday the 7^th of February. With a slightly different format this year including 25m heats and finals and House Challenge Activities in the morning for non-swimmers, the day was a great success with high participation numbers.

Congratulation to Ross House who were crowned champions on the day and to Keith House who won the House Spirit Shield, The Plains Producer 50m Freestyle Handicap Race was won by Connor Willmer. Well done to the House Captains who worked hard to ensure events were filled, encouraged their team members to participate and decorated their house areas with plenty of house pride. It was great to see students of all abilities participate in races and novelty events to win points for their House as well as parents and ex-students swimming to compete in the House Relay. It was also fantastic to see many parents, caregivers, families and community members in attendance on the day to support our students.

No records were broken on the day, however, Tahlia Zerk has set the record for the 13 & Under Girls 25m Butterfly with the addition of this age group due to Year 7s in High School.

I would like to acknowledge the help and efforts of my colleagues who supported me with the set-up, pack-up and official duties of the carnival which contributed to the day being a success.

Results:

Age Group Winners

Championship Shield:                                                                     

House Spirit Shield:

Lower North Zone Interschool Swimming Carnival

On Monday the 20^th of March, 28 of our best swimmers travelled to Burra Swimming Pool to compete in the Lower North Zone Interschool Swimming Carnival. Schools in the Lower North Zone that we competed against on the day were Burra Community School, Clare High School, St Joseph’s School Clare, Riverton and District High School, Kapunda High School and Eudunda Area School.

All swimmers did an exceptional job representing our school, congratulations to Tahlia Zerk who won Runner-Up Champion in the 13 & Under Girls and to Kasey Battle who was Age Group Champion in the 16 & Under Girls. In the overall results, the girls placed third and the boys placed fourth with our school finishing third in the overall Championship Shield.

Thank you to all the parents and family members who were in attendance supporting the team and helping out with time keeping. Thanks to Kym Spartley, Dave Cmrlec and Ash Parsons for their support and work on the day. 

Students selected in the Interschool Team have the opportunity to compete in the School Sport SA Individual Swimming Championships on Friday the 3^rd March (Week 5). If your child is interested in competing and you would like more information please get in touch with Alison Parsons. 

We now turn our attention to our annual Athletics Carnival which will be held on Friday the 10^th of March (Week 6). Keep an eye on our Facebook page for more updates.

Alison Parsons

Sports Co-ordinator

Year 9 Drama

Students in Year 9 Drama have just finish working on using their Drama specific vocabulary by completing a Responding to Drama task. This started with students watching short films produced by Disney and trying to identify the different elements of Drama. Students engaged in class discussion about this and how to write using academic language in Drama. The next task students will be working on is planning, rehearsing and performing an interactive Drama experience ‘BHfest’ for our feeder primary schools.

Year 9 Music

Students have hit the ground running in Year 9 Music starting off by researching different music around the world. Students have started to apply this research to arranging different nursery rhymes using the software MuseScore 3. For the practical element this term, student are learning different instruments of a concert band and working on playing together as an ensemble. Students loudly began this process last week and have been having a lot of fun in Music!

Special Interest Music

Special Interest Music is in full swing, starting last week with the other ELH programs. The Choir focused on learning the work commissioned to celebrate 100 years of BHS ‘We See it All’ in the first week. The second week we broadened our repertoire by learning the song ‘Friend Like Me’ from ‘Aladdin”. Our Instrumental Group has doubled in size this year with 17 students signing up to participate. This ensemble is rebuilding its skills after losing some strong senior students over the past few years. We are focusing on basic ensemble skills and working as a team to support each other in our learning.

11/12 Drama

Senior Drama students have been working on analysis of written texts and how they can bring their directorial vision from inside their head to real life on the stage! They have also been looking towards starting their Senior Drama Production later in the term, ‘The Marvellous Mellow Melodrama of the Mislaid Minor’ which will be performed in Term 2 on 1^st and 2^nd of June, 6:30pm at The Balaklava High School Performing Arts Theatre.

‘Cats’ Information

Balaklava High School announced at the end of last year that the whole school musical for 2023 will be ‘Cats Young Actors Edition’. This will be performed in the Balaklava Town Hall in Term 4 on the 23rd and 24th of October. Rehearsals for this performance will be at lunchtime and during the Term 3 school holidays. Information for students will be given at the end of Week 4/early Week 5. If your child signs up for an onstage or offstage role, information will be sent home via EdSmart.

Suriya Umapathysivam

The Year 11 and 12 Chemistry students left BHS at 6am to attend the annual IUPAC Global Chemistry Breakfast. Combined with RACI's Women in Chemistry initiative, the breakfast is a chance for students to hear from leaders in chemistry. The main speaker was Professor Maria Makrides, SA Scientist of the Year 2022 who shared her research into an Omega 3 chemical that can help prevent premature births. She was followed by Dr Melanie Fuller and Ellen Swan. Merridy Manuel also spoke on chemical education and added some pizzazz with demos and audience volunteers. Students were then treated to a tour of UniSA, MOD - Museum of Design and finally the National Wine Centre. A great day of enjoying life in the city and learning about career pathways in chemistry. 

The Year 8 Food and Fibre class have put measurement in action this week by making scones. Each group applied their learning about how to accurately use measuring equipment to successful make a batch of scones. Each group did a fantastic job which resulted in fluffy scones served with jam and cream.

The Year 10 Food and Fibre class have been investigating the different methods of cookery and how each of the methods work in various recipes. While the weather was not conducive for cottage pie, each group fried, simmered, boiled and baked their ingredients to put together their recipe.

Louise O'Halloran

My highlight of camp was….

Watching the dolphins when we went kayaking. We just went onto the beach on the other side of the rock wall and we saw dolphins. There were quite a few of them and it was really cool watching them.  Erin Boobyer

Getting to spend time with my friends and having a better friendship with them.  Hailey Mattner

My highlight of camp was singing "I want it that way" as a whole group, even the teachers joined in.  Camden White

My highlight of camp was making some new friends and the stand-up comedy morning.  Ethan Hallett

My favourite activity on camp was…

When we went on the night walk, we got to explore Port Vincent but also stay safe on the road. It was a lot of fun, our friend group had a lot of fun spending time together.  Elissa Haley

Knee Boarding because it was really fun and relaxing for me and my least favourite is stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking.  Ebony Kapontis

Sailing because I really enjoyed the parts when my group controlled the boat and we smashed everyone as we were so good at driving the sail boat. Charley Wilbore

My advice for Year 7’s next year is…

To have fun and enjoy yourselves. It is so much fun and the whole experience was just amazing and a lot of fun getting to know each other. A tip is to not over pack, it is frustrating when you have to carry a heavy bag.  Erin Boobyer

Go on every night walk because the sky and scenery are really beautiful. Another piece of advice is to bring a camera.  Isabelle Poole

Always listen to the instructions from any instructor or teacher. Really good advice is be the quietest table for dinner and dessert because most likely you will be first to get your dinner and dessert.  Aliyse Lomman

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