Week 4 marked the occasion of Science Week and we celebrated it in a big way at BHS with daily quizzes, treats in the canteen, loads of decorations and a fair bit of learning too.  However, the most spectacular celebration of Science occurred when our Year 9 Science classes hosted a series of learning experiences for the students from Balaklava Primary School across the school day.  Our students represented us with pride and the feedback from BPS was very positive with rockets, sherbet and plenty of dancing proving to be highlights.  Congratulations and thanks to Mrs Manuel, Miss Schahinger and Mrs Kent and their classes for their efforts during the week.

Mobile Phone Policy

Did you know that the most typical addictions and problematic teenage behaviours of smoking, drinking, drug-taking and sex leading to teen pregnancy are on a steady decline?  Did you know that as these addictions have decreased, they have been replaced by another one, in the form of electronic devices?  Teens are now turning to electronic devices for the pleasure jolt that typically comes from playing online games (most commonly if you're a boy) and engaging with social media (most commonly if you're a girl).  As a result of these teenage addictions and problematic behaviours we believe we have a moral obligation to separate our teenagers from their devices and encourage them to interact in person with their peers when they are at school.

Therefore, the Governing Council have changed our existing electronic devices policy based on this information.  The main points of the new policy, which will be implemented in Term 4 this year, are that mobile phones are to be banned during the school day (including during breaks).  The consequence for breaching the policy will see the phone remaining at school until a parent can collect it.  Student refusal to hand their device to a staff member when requested will result in the student being sent to CTO and following the School’s behaviour procedures, which may include suspension.

Of course, if students need their phones after school, they are able to bring them to school, have them switched off during the day and then access their phones at the end of the day.  Parents can still contact their children via the front office if they urgently need a message to be passed on.  I am inviting parent feedback on the new policy.  There is a link on the left hand side of this newsletter or you can contact the office and we can send a copy home if you’d prefer.  

The Hunting

SBS have recently aired a short, 4 episode mini-series that addressed themes of misogyny (dislike of, or prejudice against, women), privacy, sexuality and sexualisation, as well as online exploitation, masculinity and gender. The series explores some of the most pressing issues of our time and offers a view of modern, multicultural Australia.  It is, at times, confronting but these are issues our children and young people are dealing with and this series provides a prompt for us, as parents, to have these discussions with our children.  The series is set and filmed in Adelaide and can be viewed online or streamed via SBS On Demand.

In partnership with the eSafety Commissioner, SBS has created discussion guides for teachers, families and carers around cyberbullying and image sharing, to promote safe and positive experiences online. They can be accessed via the following link: https://www.sbs.com.au/learn/the-hunting

Restorative Practices

A letter has been sent home inviting all parents and carers to attend an important information session at BHS on Thursday 5^th September at 5 pm as an introduction to Restorative Practices.  We are offering a free crèche on the night, a free sausage sizzle at the end of the session and an opportunity to win cash prizes just by attending this event.  Please return the reply slip or contact us at the school to register your attendance.  Community members are also welcome to attend.  If you would like more information about this session or the concepts behind restorative practices, please contact me at the school and I will be happy to discuss it.

Student Free Days

Last Tuesday we had a Student Free Day that started here at school with a session on Learning Assessment, Design and Moderation, which had a focus on planning and using formative assessment in the classroom.  This work was led by Carena Brookes, David Szular, Joshua La Grutta and Anthea Papagiannis and we look forward to embedding this ongoing assessment in our everyday practices.  We spent the remainder of the day in Riverton, working with our colleagues at the High School on the flexibilities of the SACE, quality teaching practices and collaborating in learning areas.

Other dates of note this term are:

Week 7 Monday 2^nd September – Student Free Day for work on our Site Improvement Plan

Week 10 Wednesday 25^th September – School Closure Day for Paskeville Field Days

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

SCIENCE WEEK’S “OUT OF THIS WORLD” CELEBRATION!

On the 14^th of August, we held a Science Bonanza for the Primary School! Our amazing Year 9 students danced, presented and demonstrated, giving every Primary School student a fun scientific experience. As the theme for Science Week this year was Destination Moon, activities included astronaut food tasting, astronaut fitness testing, rocket building and launching, alien gloop, moon measurements and gravity experiments. The day finished back in our wonderful Performing Arts Building where students joined in for a final dance off to NASA’s Gangham style. Students were all given stickers, chocolate and activities booklets to take with them. Many thanks to Year 9 Science teachers Sharon Kent, Alison Schahinger and Merridy Manuel. Thank you to other high school staff who shifted classrooms to accommodate our visitors. And lastly, a huge thank you to our hard working Year 9s. Bravo!

Merridy Manuel

On the evening of Tuesday the 27^th of August students from Years 8 to 11 presented a showcase of public speaking and art work. The public speaking was divided into Senior and Middle school categories, with Ira Pagadut (Year 11) winning the Senior Award and asked the audience “What is life without a dream?” The Encouragement Award was presented to Ashlee Allegretto (Year 10) who spoke about her personal experience of speaking up. Paige Bubner (Year 8) won the Middle School Award by sharing her dream for a better world and Maddison Poole (Year 8) won the Encouragement Award inspired by making the impossible possible.  Matt Mojares (Year 10) won both the Adjudicator’s choice and People’s Choice awards for his artwork of Uluru. I congratulate all students who were involved in this event for the effort and dedication they showed. We would like to thank the Balaklava Lion’s Club for their continued support and sponsorship of our Encouragement Awards.

 Cerys Harris-Howson

Congratulations to all our participants

Balaklava Lions Club Encouragement Award Winners Ashlee-Rose Allegretto and Emily Maxwell with Lions member Kathy Chegwyn

Senior School Adjudicators Tanya Kraft and Kym Spartley with winner Ira Pagadut and Encouragement Award Winner Ashlee-Rose Allegretto

During Pastoral Care on the 28^th of August, the Year 8 and 9students participated in the Amazing Literacy Race. Students showed great interest and dedication to the activity, racing around the school completing literacy tasks relating to various learning areas, including Art, Technical Studies, Science and Mathematics. Students wrote memes, stories, made words from letters, sorted verbs and completed vocabulary word searches. Winners from the event will be announced, and will receive their prize, at the end of term Middle School Assembly.

Cerys Harris-Howson

Meidei High School Visit  #20

This year our school community was once again fortunate to host 10 students from Japan.  The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves both at school and with their host families during their 14 day visit.  

At school they took part in an English program, joined in classes of Agriculture, Science, Physical Education and Music, had conversations in English classes, joined in Year 8 Pastoral Care, played HOOPS, cooked ANZAC biscuits, made and painted a boomerang, participated in our Reconciliation event and created a calendar to give their host families. They had afternoon tea with the Mayor, visited the Courthouse Gallery, enjoyed Eisteddfod events and spent time with children at the Balaklava Community Children’s Centre and Balaklava Primary School.  A day trip to the Adelaide Hills with their host buddies enabled them to see koalas before having lunch at Cleland, however, the cold, wet and stormy weather resulted in a quick escape from the Hills and a visit to the Adelaide Central Market which was also enjoyable.  Comments from the students included….

Ami “I enjoyed having a lot of fun classes. I was glad I could see the Aboriginal dance”

Ryu “It was very fantastic to do a lot of experiences. For example burning hands in science, making lemonade.”

Manaka “This is the first time I play netball and football but it was so fun”

Aimi “We could talk with Australian students in class.  I spent a wonderful time here”

Yuna “The class was a lot of activity, easy to understand and fun”

Honoka “At first, I was surprised of life in school… the lesson is hands on… there is also a recess time when we eat snacks”

Koumi “The most impressive lesson was making rockets.  I had a great time with my buddy… the sea and stars are beautiful”

Mahiro “I felt that Australia is a very good country. I was very happy while I stayed in Australia….. Balaklava High School students and teachers were very kind”

Hiroki “Australian people are very kind! I was very glad that they welcomed us.  All the classes were interesting, especially Agriculture class.

Masahiro “When I saw wild kangaroos I was surprised... they run fast.  I made a boomerang and it worked”

On weekends their experiences were many and varied. They visited the beach, enjoyed local football and netball games, went to a Crows match, experienced a bonfire, saw the stars and enjoyed many other experiences that they will never forget.

Our farewell dinner was held at the Balaklava Sports Club.  Each student gave a speech to thank their host family for their kindness and for the experiences they had given them.  The Japanese students performed the traditional dance ‘Soran Bushi’ which delighted the audience with their co-ordination and stamina.

The success of this program is mainly due to the families who take on the challenge of hosting.  This year, the buddy students at school did an amazing job in looking after their Japanese visitors and made them feel very welcome. We sincerely thank the host students and their families for their involvement in this wonderful program.

• Ashlee, Bella-Rose and the Allegretto family for hosting Koumi Katagiri
• Maddie and the Karklins family for hosting Aimi Ishino
• Brooke and the Michalanney family for hosting Ami Sahara
• Alex and the Bousfield family for hosting Yuna Toguchi
• Tylah and the Arthur family for hosting Manaka Abe
• Casey and the Pratt family for hosting Honoka Imasu
• Jack and the May family for hosting Masahiro Takano
• Jacob and the Battle family for hosting Mahiro Hirai
• Jack and the Heaslip family for hosting Ryu Ogasawara
• Tom and the Michael family for hosting Hiroki Sugita

Your efforts have given all students at this school the opportunity to interact with students from another culture.  Although the Japanese students have returned home, many of them have kept in contact with their Australian families which reflects how enjoyable and life changing this experience can be for everyone.   

This unique program has been going for 20 years at Balaklava High School and as a celebration of this valuable cultural exchange, we have created a Japanese garden in the school grounds – complete with bridge, Torii gate and plants.  Thank you to Ruth Stevens for her inspiration and effort (with help from the Owen’s Men’s Shed) in creating this beautiful space between Tech and Home Ec.  The Japanese teacher Mari Konishi, Hiroko our tour guide and all the Japanese students were delighted when they first saw it!

Mrs Pratt and the Year 9 Agriculture class also started a native garden with each of the Japanese students planting an Australian tree or shrub.  This will be added to in future years and will improve the appearance of the gym carpark entrance.

I would personally like to thank the Balaklava High School staff past and present, who for the last 20 years have embraced this exchange and created learning opportunities within their classes or used their NIT lessons to become involved.  Special mention must go to Cherie Cmrlec for completing the administrative tasks and especially for talking to families and convincing them that, “it is an amazing experience to host a Japanese student.” We encourage you to consider hosting an exchange student in future years.

Arigato gozaimasu

ありがとうございました

Karyn Von-Zieden

What’s your Secret Power?

Book Week 2019: Reading is my Secret Power was celebrated from 17th to the 23rd of August. This year the Library Sleuths went on a mission to investigate the secret powers of our library patrons and the staff and students of Balaklava High School (BHS). We uncovered some hidden talents such as tap dancing and some super powers such as flying and talking under water.

During the week we had a WANTED board set up, mysterious footprints around the library, Mystery Books to borrow, a special Book Week themed Books & Beats, and posters of the BHS Secret Agents secret powers for students of BHS to guess which staff member matched which secret power.

On Thursday 22nd August we held our annual Book Week Morning Tea for the staff of BHS. We also had a couple of Superheroes rock up to share in some cake and a coffee. We had a super week!

Science Week

Destination Moon

We love Science Week and were over the moon to celebrate it this year at the Library. This year Science Week was from the 10th to the 18th of August. We set up a display of the different stages of the moon, and hung a universe from our ceiling. We made it clear to our patrons that ‘reading is elemental’, we had a Science Week themed Books & Beats, and had science experiments set up all week for community and BHS students to enjoy. We also invited Balaklava Community Children’s Centre Kindy students to come along and try out the experiments. We had a BLAST!

ORDER NEW SUMMER UNIFORMS

As the weather starts to warm, we will again have a BHS Summer Dress available for students to pre-order. The cost of the dress is $80 and we are required to order a minimum of 10 to maintain this pricing. If you are interested in buying a dress for summer, please let us know, by phone 8862 0600 or email Elly.Rankin592@schools.sa.edu.au. If there is enough interest shown, we will have sample uniforms to ascertain the correct size. You will then be required to complete an order request form and make payment. No dresses will be ordered without prior payment.

Next Wednesday 4^th September (Week 7), all Year 10 students will be presenting their PLP folder to a panel consisting of home group teachers and staff members. The PLP allows students to achieve 10 credits towards their SACE Certificate and encompasses reflection, work experience, goal-setting and being proactive towards future employment and study ambitions. A grade of C or better is required to pass this compulsory SACE subject.

Students will provide evidence of the SACE Capabilities (Literacy, Numeracy, Information and Communication Technology, Creative and Critical Thinking, Personal and Social, Ethical Understanding and Intercultural) and discuss how these have developed over their schooling. They will be required to present their resume and cover letter and reflect on their work experience. Students must ensure they highlight learning and career plans as well as discussing the pathways to achieve these objectives.

A reminder that scheduled Year 10 lessons will not occur on this day. Students will be required to sign in at the front office and present during their allocated timeslot and location. If students are still unaware of their scheduled presentation time, they must see their home group teacher. If students are unable to leave school grounds after they presentation, there will be supervised in Study.

Life after BHS for Dean Haynes

Class of:  2012

Current job role: Personal Trainer and Crossfit Coach

Highlights of your current job/career: Helping people change their life. Clients losing over 20kg, having success in their recreational and competitive sport, clients regaining the opportunity to be active with their kids, it’s all inspiring to keep doing what I am doing, I couldn’t value one over the other.

Looking back on your time at BHS, did BHS help with your career pathway? BHS didn’t help with my career path in a traditional way of getting my certificates as such but it helped develop skills and communication skills which provided the foundation I’ve used to continually develop. This all came from the staff of BHS. There was an underlying passion and work ethic from each teacher that set a standard I looked up to.

Anything else you would like to add about your time at BHS?

I want to thank the BHS teachers for being so supportive throughout my schooling years. Being personal when it counted and being strict even if being the bad guy was hard, yet still needed to be done. Never lose that passion for what you do, your actions will always have such a positive affect on future generations.

Paving Update

The paving at the Balaklava Community Children's Centre carpark is almost complete, with the last few pavers ready to go. Students have started cementing the edges of the pavers for the sections of the path that is complete (see photos).

Jamie Banwell

Music Concert 23rd September

Abbey Bubner will be performing at this concert representing Balaklava High School.

BALAKLAVA TENNIS CLUB INC

Tennis players wanted for the upcoming 2019/2020 Season

All Junior, Senior & Social Players Welcome!

For all interested players wanting to learn and play Junior, Senior or Social Tennis Please Contact Kirsty 0428 853 220 Junior Co-ordinator or Carol 0474 310 831 Secretary. Please contact us by 14^th September 2019!

FREE COME & TRY TENNIS SESSION for Junior Players

Thursday 19^th September 2019, 3.30pm to 5pm at Ralli Park Courts.

Come and meet the coach!

Clare Interschool Gymkana

 Disability Policy & Programs Parent Conference

Does your child have a talent and need help to realise their dream?

Would you like up to $3,000 to help out?

Variety helps children with an existing talent, who are disadvantaged or living with a disability, to achieve their full potential and follow their dreams.

If this sounds like your child, or someone you know, the Variety Heart Scholarships

Program could be for you.

Applications are now open to children aged between 8 and 17.

Whether it’s a dream to compete at a higher level in sport, or wow a crowd on stage – Variety Scholarships can help with equipment, coaching, uniform, costumes, competition fees, accommodation and much more.

To find out more about the program and apply, go to our website

https://www.variety.org.au/sa/programs/scholarships/

Or if you have a question, send us an email at grants@varietysa.org.au.

Be quick - applications close 30 September!

Clare School Dental Service 

SA Association of School Parents Communities (SAASPC)

Parent Conference