It’s hard to believe we are almost at the end of Term 3 already, it’ll be the end of the year before we know it!  We have had a term filled with learning opportunities both in the classroom and on multiple excursions as well as through concerts, public speaking, The Amazing Literacy Race, sporting activities and guest speakers at school.

Mobile Phone Policy

Thank you to the parents and students who have given feedback on our new mobile phone policy, which has been ratified by Governing Council and will take effect next term.  The main points of the new policy 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.

Staffing News

Congratulations to Anthea Papagiannis who has won the position of Coordinator English/Literacy/LOTE/Performing Arts/Year 8 for the remainder of the year. Thank you to Cerys Harris-Howson for her work in this role for the last two terms. 

Opinion Surveys

Each year we seek feedback from parents, students and staff regarding the operation of the school throughout the year as a way to guide our school improvement.  As has occurred in past years, randomly selected families will have received an emailed invitation to participate in this year’s opinion survey.  For those selected, please take the time to complete the online survey and, in so doing, provide us with valuable feedback that can help shape school improvement.  Survey completion normally takes about 10 minutes, although if you take up the opportunity to make more extensive written comments the process can take longer.  If you do not have reliable access to the internet and would prefer to do your survey on paper, please contact us as the school and we can provide a paper-based survey. I thank you in advance for taking the time to complete the survey and look forward to your contributions this year.  If you did not receive an invitation to complete the survey but would like to provide feedback, contact us at school and we can send you an invitation and link.

Supporting our Teens

As we head into holidays, it’s a good opportunity to remember to take time to look after our teenagers.  These teen years are a time of intense physical, emotional, mental and intellectual growth. It’s also a time when your child develops habits that can last a lifetime. You can help your teenager reach optimal growth and development by instilling lifestyle habits that support a healthy and happy body.  LiveStrong.com offer the following as healthy living tips for teenagers:

Eat Your Fruits and Veggies:  It is recommended that teens get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Most teens fall short of this goal though.  Fruits and vegetables provide important vitamins and minerals a teenage body needs to grow and function properly. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables also helps keep you full without providing excess calories that can lead to weight gain.

Get Your Body Moving:  Exercise does more than burn calories. Engaging in physical activity helps keep the heart and lungs strong and produces endorphins - chemicals that improve mood. A well-balanced exercise routine includes aerobic exercise, strength training and flexibility training, such as yoga or Pilates.  Teens should engage in at least 60 minutes of vigorous exercise every day.

Watch What You Drink:  Your body is almost two-thirds water, so staying hydrated is important. Teenagers should aim to drink six to eight glasses of water per day and this amount increases for teens who engage in sports or who are especially active. Other good sources of fluid include 100 percent fruit juice and low-fat milk. Sugary and caffeinated drinks should be limited or eliminated completely as they provide excess sugar and empty calories.

If You Don't Snooze, You Lose:  Teenagers need at least nine hours of sleep each night to function at their best during the day. It sounds easy enough, but with early school start times, late afternoon practices and hours of homework, getting enough sleep can be a challenge. Set a regular bedtime time that allows for nine hours of sleep before your teen has to get up for school. Your teen should also engage in at least an hour of “quiet time” prior to bedtime. The goal is for all electronics to be turned off for the night so the brain and body can relax.

The upcoming holiday provides the opportunity for teenagers to spend time with their families, catch up on some rest and relaxation as well as a chance for the senior students to balance some study with these periods of rest as they head into their final few weeks at school.  Have a good break and I’ll see you back at school on the first day of Term 4 ready to go!

Sonia Pringle

Principal

Lions Youth of the Year is designed to encourage, foster and develop leadership in conjunction with other citizenship qualities in young people. The qualities sought, apart from academic attainments, are those of leadership, personality, sportsmanship, public speaking and good citizenship.  Youth of the Year is designed to encourage student interest in leadership and the qualities required to take an active and constructive role in the community. A high level of academic, leadership, sporting, public speaking and citizenship achievement is sought in its potential winners. By emphasising these qualities it hopes to provide outstanding role models for the youth of Australia and an overall increase in the confidence of young men and women.

This year, Kara Binka (Year 12) and Ashlee Allegretto (Year 10) competed in this process, which included their involvement at school and the broader community, academic achievement, general knowledge, presentation and public speaking in the form of impromptu questions and a prepared speech.  Both girls represented the school admirably and they should be extremely proud of their achievements.  On the night of the public speaking section, Ashlee was awarded the Best Prepared Speech for sharing some of her life experiences to this point and how she has overcome obstacles with support of her family and internal strength, while Kara shared her six tips on making the most of your opportunites in life.

Congratulations to both girls and we encourage other students to become involved next year.

This term, the year 9 Home Economics class has been learning about all things dairy thanks to the Great Ocean Road – Careers Made Here – Cheese Your Own Creation Programme. This programme allows students to make important links between the dairy industry, schools and local community.

The programme involves students in a uniquely creative way: in teams of two, students design their own imaginative dairy creation to bring to life. The student chefs then develop and make the recipe, and submit a photo of the creation to be judged. Twelve lucky recipes will be selected for inclusion in the 2020 Great Ocean Road Calendar.

Cheese Your Own Creation is encouraging our students to use their imagination to bring amazing creations to life out of everyday dairy products. I am so impressed with the meals our students are creating with simple ingredients like milk and cheese.

At the conclusion of the Cheese Your Own Creation programme, each student will be awarded a certificate in recognition of their hard work and creativity. The 12 winning creations will receive $250 for their school. Results will be announced on 4th November 2019 with prizes presented to the winning schools and students.

Good Luck to the students at Balaklava High School.

Miss Mayer

Life after BHS for Abby Curnow

After graduating from BHS in 2010

I moved to Adelaide to study a Bachelor of Physiotherapy. After graduating, I moved to the Barossa to work for 2 and a half years, then moved over to Port Lincoln for the last 2 and a half years. So far I’ve spent my career within Private Practice. I’ve travelled overseas including Europe and Thailand, with many more destinations to tick off the list.  

Current job role:

Physio Supervisor at a Private Practice. This combines musculoskeletal caseload with supervising fellow physio colleagues, supervising students (Uni and work experience) and mentoring.

Highlights of your current job/career:

Physiotherapy allows a huge range of diversity. It allows me to work with a variety of age groups, conditions, capabilities and patient goals. My day can vary from working on developmental delays in children, to helping a grandparent lift their grand kids again, regaining function and independence post stroke, getting someone back into their workplace or even to play at their peak level of sporting performance. I love having the ability to work with people to empower them to achieve their goals.

Physiotherapy is also a field that strongly supports ongoing learning. I have the opportunity to work in a variety of fields from sports, paediatrics, rehabilitation, acute hospital care and many more. I can choose which areas I professionally develop myself in to follow my current interests. To date, I have completed courses relating to dry needling, sports, Pilates, tendon rehab and many more. I plan to continue this study and venture into Womens Health, another particular interest area of mine.

Looking back on your time at BHS, did BHS help with your career pathway?

I was thankful to have supportive teachers throughout my time at BHS. A number of them who, with knowing the direction I was heading, and the goals I needed to achieve to get there, gave the most valuable asset in giving their time to assist me in achieving this.

Even through with a smaller school which had the potential to limit subject selections, we found solutions through open access subjects. A format which helped me prepare for the University style of teaching and learning.

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

High school is a great time to achieve a number of things. Build the skills for your future, wherever it may take you. Follow a path that aligns with your passions and you are likely to find a fulfilling career doing what you love. Enjoy the friendships you form and the variety of things you can get involved in throughout high school.

Seasons of Love

Year 11 students have been involved in the AgXtra Crop Competition again this year. Kapunda, Rostrevor, Trinity and Urrbrae are also involved and we are looking to maintain our perfect record for winning the competition! In teams, the students had to select a wheat variety, seeding rate, fertiliser rate and in-season Nitrogen application regime. Commercial trial company AgXtra then sowed our entries at a site at Roseworthy. The results are judged on the most profitable crop after harvest, so students had to consider grain quality and value, expenses and suitability for the region and seasonal conditions when making their choices. We attended the Field Walk day to inspect our trials and work with agronomists to learn about crop monitoring, soil moisture, trial design and careers in Agriculture. The trials all look quite healthy but with a bit of moisture stress and frost damage so it will now be up to the season finish as to how their plans work out. Those who spent a lot on nitrogen applications are a little nervous but I can't wait to see how they go!

Sue Pratt

SACE, Year 12, Science and Agriculture Coordinator

BOYS - Macauley Smith, Jaden Brownlie, Jacob Battle, Oska Rana, Ryder Mead, Jack May, Joel Williamson, Cooper Wright, Tyler McBride.
GIRLS - Kashaya Carpenter, Casey Pratt, Mackenzie Hill, Abigail Futterleib, Kayleigh Parker, Charli Griffiths, Eliza Loy, Louise Reichelt, Alise McArdle, Nicola Tiller.

Coaches - Luke Clark, Jamie Banwell

8/9 Basketball Score Sheet

New BHS Spray Jacket

We have added a new spray jacket to the the school uniform. It is a zip up navy blue jacket with the school logo and words Balaklava High School on it and is available from TADS for $70.

Order Your New Summer Uniform

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.

Balaklava Community Library Celebrates Women’s Health Week

At the start of Spring, from 2^nd to the 6^th of September, Balaklava Community Library celebrated Women’s Health Week. We surprised our female borrowers by randomly handing out Gift Bags to 30 borrowers during that week. The aim of the bags was for women to stop and think about the many aspects which relate to their health. The contents of the bag explored mental and physical health, nutrition, self-care, and self-love.

We had so many generous donations, from near and far, for our gift bags. The gift bags were made up of items, vouchers and information. We cannot thank the businesses enough for their donations and contribution to celebrating this event. We had so much positive feedback from all who received a bag. Below you can see all our wonderful sponsors and what was in the bags.

Visit from Dr David David

Distinguished cranio-facial surgeon, Dr David David, will be speaking at the Community Library on Friday, October 11^th at 10am.

Dr David has a connection with Balaklava from childhood visits and he will be speaking about his achievements in his work.

This is a Friends of the Library function with morning tea supplied. Gold coin donation. All welcome.

 Saturday September 28th   

• Sideshows and rides                   
• Animal Nursery                                              
• Camel and Pony rides
• Horses in Action
• Amazing Drumming Monkeys - Live Show in marquee
• Balloon sculpture artist
• School Displays
• Dalkey Trail
• Train set display
• Local School choir performs
• Rural Show Challenge – get your teams of four together
• Junior Show challenge eg egg and spoon race, sack race and more
• Ute Competitions
• Upcycle Challenge
• Show Prince and Princess
• Show Person
• Rural Ambassador Competition
• Show bags
• Face Painting
• Official Show opening by Mr Rodney Reid Mayor of Wakefield Regional Council
• Memorial Perpetual Shield in memory of Nollene Grigg
• Grab a show book from the Post Office, newsagency or Landmark and see what you can enter.

 Come along and enjoy a great family day out!