Since our last newsletter we have had the senior Drama students’ production of The Marvellous Mellow Melodrama of the Marriage of the Mislaid Minor.  This proved to be a highly engaging, entertaining and enjoyable performance that had the audience laughing with the quality pacing and delivery of our talented students.  Congratulations to Miss Umapathysivam and the cast and crew on this excellent performance.  The spotlight now turns to our Year 7 Performing Arts production this Friday, which will showcase the work of these young students under the guidance of Mr Jenner.  These two examples are indicative of the quality work and experiences the students at Balaklava High School are involved in.

Mobile Phone Policy - AirPods/other wireless Headphones and Canteen Purchases

A reminder, further to the information sent home in a Term 1 newsletter, that Air Pods and other wireless headphones are not be used at BHS.  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 they are required to have headphones with cords to connect to their laptops to ensure they are not linked to their mobile phones.  As per the Department for Education and BHS policy, phones need to be ‘off and away’ during the school day.  On rare occasions, Middle School students may also be allowed to use headphones and the same rules apply; however, if a class are required to use headphones for a particular activity they will be provided by the school for use in that lesson.  Students will be reminded about this over the next couple of weeks and from the start of Term 3, they will be asked to remove wireless earphones and our Behaviour Support Policy will be followed for refusing to follow a reasonable instruction.

Phone use in the canteen – currently, some students are using their mobile phones in the canteen to pay for purchases.  Further to our Mobile Phone Policy, and the need for phones to be ‘off and away’ during the school day, from the beginning of next term, students will not be able to pay with their phone and they will need to have a physical debit card to use in the canteen.  Cash is always an option as are orders and payment via Qkr! which parents and students can do from home.  Using Qkr! also reduces the need for students to line up and risk the canteen running out of food.  Pre-orders ensure students get the food they are hoping for.  From the start of Term 3, students will be refused service if using their phone for payments in the canteen.

Staffing Update

Tomorrow marks the end of Semester 1 and students will start a new timetable on Monday.  For Year 12 students their subjects will not change, however for all other students this point marks the end of many subjects and the start of new subjects and potentially new teachers.  It also marks the return of Mr James Mussared as he had completed his Master’s degree studies and returns to us as a full time teacher.  We will also welcome back Mrs Karyn Von-Zieden after 6 months of Long Service Leave.  We look forward to having these teachers return to BHS with all of the skills and knowledge they have to offer.

We also need to farewell Jamie Banwell at the end of this term, who has worked at BHS for the past seven years.  During his time here Jamie has worked in the Special Options class, in the Enhanced Learning Hub and has run a number of small group programs such as Car Care.  We wish him all the very best for his new job and we will miss his bright personality (and Christmas outfits!) and know that his new school will benefit from all he brings.

Student Free Days

Last Tuesday we had a student free day where all teaching and classroom based support staff completed the Keeping Them Safe: Child Protection Curriculum training/update.  This is a mandated child safety and respectful relationships curriculum providing age and developmentally appropriate activities for children and young people from 3 years of age to Year 12 (age 17+).  At BHS it is predominantly delivered through the Empower program but also occurs in other learning areas at times.  After completing this training, we will review our Empower program and make any necessary updates.

Also, as this is our last newsletter for the term, a reminder that we have a student free day on Monday 24^th July.  Balaklava Primary School also has a student free day on this date and, as such, buses will not run that day.  Term 3 will start on Tuesday 25^th July 2023 and we look forward to welcoming your young people back then.

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

Yr 7-9 Mixed Hockey 

On Wednesday the 24th of May, Annie Cay played in the first Mid North Combined Schools 7-9 Mixed Hockey side with students from Horizon Christian School, Balaklava High School, Riverton District High School, Clare High School and St Josephs School. 

The team consisted of: 

Clare High School: 

Alyssa Toms, Denby Munchenberg, Rayne Munchenberg, Jasper Mason, Ned Smyth, Bryce Toms and Nathaniel Van Eyk 

Riverton District High School: 

HP and Mia Muller 

St Joseph’s School: 

Hamish Driscoll and Lachlan Laws 

Horizon Christian School: 

Teleah Bridger 

Balaklava High School: 

Annabelle Cay 

It was a fun and challenging day for the students playing against Trinity College and Nuriootpa High School. Both teams are highly skilled and experienced astro-turf players. Whilst they were unable to nail a goal, to the team’s credit they fought hard and dug deep to stay competitive in defence and mid field with some smooth passages of play throughout both games.  

Thanks to Lea Hooper from Clare High School for inviting us to join the team and organising the logistics of the day. 

Golf 

On Monday the 22nd of May, Angus Lemon competed in the School Sport SA Secondary Individual Golf Championship at The Vines Golf Club. With over 100 students participating, Angus was placed in C grade according to his Golf Australia Handicap where he played 18 holes stableford. Against some very strong competition, Angus finished 13th out of 23 competitions in his grade. Well done, Angus! 

Cross Country 

On Monday the 15th of May, Jai Kennison competed in the Lower North Zone Cross Country competition at Burra. He was required to run 3km through undulating terrain. He finished 8th in his age group and said that it was very hard because some of the sections were very steep. Congratulations Jai for taking on such a challenging run! 

Boys Football

Year 7/8 Basketball 

On Friday the 2nd June, selected Year 7 and 8 students competed at the Balaklava Town Courts in Round 1 of the Statewide School Sport Basketball Competition.  The girls’ team was coached by Laura Hadley and the boys by Beau Warner. 

The girls took on their toughest competitors first, St Josephs.  They played hard and worked well as a team, but St Josephs were just too strong.  Their next game was against Eudunda and the team started to develop their confidence and attack of the ball.  Great shooting by all saw them take the win, 22-6.  Their final game saw them compete against Burra and this was well contested.  It was close through the first half with both teams scoring consistently, but Burra ran away with it in the second and we lost 14-30.  Although they didn’t gain the success on the court, the girls certainly showed determination and great teamwork.  They played well as a team and always supported each other.   

The boys’ teams, had a very successful day on the court.  Beau had prepared them well for their games and they worked hard to develop a strong team spirit.  Everyone had a role and knew their job in the game.  They won each match convincingly; Kapunda 20-8, St Josephs 20-12 and Burra 45-2.  This saw them progress to the final and take on Riverton who had also been successful.  This game was to decide who would progress to the next round of the competition. It was fierce and competitive.  Both teams wanted the win.  The Balak boys had developed well as a team over the day and their consistent pressure and team plays allowed them to take the win.  They came out winners for the day along with Clare High.  The team will now go on to play Round 2 in Week 9. 

A great day was had by all and everyone played with BHS PRIDE. Thank you to Beau for coaching and Georgia Renton for umpiring all games. 

Girls Netball 

On Wednesday the 21st of June the 7/8, 9/10 and 11/12 Girls Netball Teams made the trek to Nuriootpa to play off in Round 1 of the Statewide Schools Competition in very cold and wet conditions. 

The 7/8 Team, coached by Laura Hadley, had the two morning matches against Nuriootpa High School and St Josephs. The Nuriootpa Team were too strong, and the girls lost the first game as they took time to get to know each other as a team. In the second game, the girls played more confidently and came out strong.  This game was much closer with the lead changing several times throughout the match before the final whistle blew with the girls going down by one goal. The 7/8 Team consisted of: Emily Kirkland, Tori McMillan, Alexa Young, Ruby Lemon, Tahlia Zerk, Isabella Hammond, Charlotte Branson and Brianna Young. 

The 9/10 Team coached by Alison Parsons played three matches and were unlucky to get the worst of the weather playing their final game in very cold conditions with consistent rain. This didn’t dampen the girls' spirits too much and they played excellent netball all day, only losing one quarter across all games. Nuriootpa took advantage of this lapse and went on to win this match by seven goals and were undefeated on the day. In their other two matches, the girls had two strong wins against Eudunda and St Josephs. The 9/10 Team consisted of: Mia Arthur, Kasey Battle, Maylea Carpenter, Gemma Cook, Lucy Pym, Tess Rana, Jorja Schutt, Lily Tiller and Matilda Williamson. Thanks to Adelaide Plains Netball Association and Tracy Starr for lending the APNA dresses for the girls to wear on the day. 

The 11/12 Team also coached by Mrs Parsons played one match against Nuriootpa High School which they won by nine goals. The girls played a fantastic team game where all eight players contributed in an excellent display of athleticism and skill. They capitalised on gained ball in the first quarter to go up by two at quarter time, an even second quarter saw them remain up by two at half time. The third quarter was their strongest where they pushed the lead out by nine goals which they maintained in the final quarter. The girls progress to the next round against Faith Lutheran in the coming weeks. The 11/12 Team consisted of: Janna Mojares, Madison Litzow, Brooke McArdle, Alice McArdle, Kashaya Carpenter, Casey Pratt, Nicola Tiller and Sasha Branson.  

Thank you to Josh Michael and Brooke Michalanney who umpired on the day and to Dave Cmrlec our bus driver. 

In Term 2 our Year 9 Math Enrichment group was presented with an amazing opportunity from Miss Schubert and the crew at Parafield Airport to investigate the mathematics, engineering and mechanics involved in maintaining aircraft. We were lucky enough to be given the chance to see the planes land and take off as well as being shown around the workshop, flight school and engine shop. Here they showed us all the parts that they mend and we were able to look inside a ‘working’ cut-away engine. 

Several students said their favorite part was the Flight Simulator which uses a Virtual Reality head set to show you what it’s like to fly one of the planes from the safety of the ground. We were taught about the safety in repairing, maintaining and running various aircraft and the types of things engineers need to consider when they fix them. They talked about the different types of roles in the shop and the qualifications you need to get a job in one of those fields. They encouraged us to look deeper into the field and consider them as an option for work experience. It was an incredible experience and we are so thankful to Reece Lightning at Aero Service who organised the tours! 

Isabella Minard, Year 9 

Students in Mr La Grutta’s Year 10 Geography class put on their environmental manager hats this week to save their coastlines from wave erosion. Students had to balance between putting in place man-made barriers while also keeping the natural beauty of their coastline intact.

Groups were first given a specific scenario to construct their coastline, for example, some groups had cliffs while another group had a beach with housing on the foreshore. After creating these coastlines using natural resources at their disposal we then created a wave simulation to see how much of their coastline was destroyed by small, medium and storm sized wave patterns. Witnessing this destruction and their pristine coastlines being destroyed, students then had to plan a range of strategies to stop coastal erosion. To help with this we watched a video about the types of preventative measures councils use to restrict the impacts of coastal erosion such as bluffs, rewilding projects and more drastic measures such as rock walls.

The images you see here are the end products of each group’s erosion management strategies. There were a wonderful range of different approaches - with students finding it challenging to balance between more drastic measures that while effective, destroyed much of the natural beauty, in comparison to more natural rewilding projects that, whilst resistant to small waves, struggled to survive the larger storm level wave surges.

A bit of friendly competition in the group presentations led to a highly enjoyable afternoon, where I found it far too challenging to judge the best design and recruited Ms Pringle to be the judge. The winning group - Molly McArdle, Lily Tiller, Emily Gibson, Chloe Bull, Lucy Pym and Chloe Bull - created a coastal management program that found the perfect balance between keeping the natural aesthetics of the beach, while making sure that their strategies would stop stronger storm surges.

A big thank you to my Year 10 Geography class for what has been a productive and enjoyable experience for my first time teaching Geography. They were always willing to give my crazy project ideas a go, whether that was going through bins to measure the amount of plastic rubbish or carting around tubs of sand to recreate coastal erosion.

Mr La Grutta

The Gideons International is an Association of Christian business that is dedicated to telling people about Jesus. Each year Gideons representatives visit BHS to briefly tell our newest students what they do and offer them a copy of their Bible. Over the next 2 weeks, starting Wednesday 28/06, they will be speaking with Year 7s, 8s and 9s. If you would like to know more or if you would like us to arrange an alternate activity for your child then please contact the school.

Lucy Thiel

Assistant Principal

Head of Middle Years

BALAKLAVA COMMUNITY GARDEN

Would you, or anyone you know, welcome fresh, cheap fruit and veggies? The Community Garden on Virgo Tce in Balaklava welcomes anyone willing to help potter around the garden to provide themselves and the community with fresh produce. Adults and children benefit from the social, physical and mental health benefits. Call in at the Garden first Saturday morning of the month or phone 0438621761. We’d love to see you.

BALCO ART PRIZE - BALAKLAVA COURTHOUSE GALLERY

ADELAIDE 36ers CLINIC

The Adelaide 36ers July School Holiday Clinics supported by HomeStart Finance are back. Facilitated by our Community Coaches, 36ers legends and current players, our 2-day School Holiday Training Camps provide the perfect environment for tomorrow's NBL stars to hone their skills and to learn from stars of our game. Available 36ers players will be in attendance.