Bayala - Term 1 Week 11 2022

'Bayala'

Welcome to our new Newsletter 'Bayala'. 

'Bayala' is a Darug word meaning yarning or conversation. 

Our Vision

Principal's Update

As we are about to enjoy our Easter break and observe ANZAC Day later this month, I would like to reflect on what has been a very challenging term for our school community. In fact, the last few years have been challenging for all of us, starting in 2019 with bushfires, the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020, and then floods in both 2021 and 2022. All of these events have had a significant impact on our community and we are one of the very few schools in the State that have been impacted so significantly, over such a long period of time. However, our school has continued to grow and we are very proud of our achievements. It is a mark of our community’s resilience that, despite significant challenges, we have continued to grow and achieve.

For example, Hawkesbury High School saw an uplift of over 15% from 2017-18 in 2021 and continued improvement from 2020 to 2021 in top three band results in the HSC. The school’s relentless focus on learning and student growth will continue yielding great results and ensuring that all our students are cared for and supported to achieve their learning and personal goals.

While this term has seen a return to some level of normality with easing of COVID restrictions, the growing number of cases have led to additional challenges, particularly related to student and staff absences from school. I would like to thank our parents for their support and understanding as we have navigated the ever-changing restrictions, and I thank you especially for complying with requests to keep children at home when they displayed COVID symptoms. I would like to thank our students for their hard work this term, and for the resilience they have shown with the various challenges that have come their way. This was particularly evident with the ever-increasing number of classes that were minimally supervised due to the lack of casual and replacement teachers and COVID isolation requirements. The teacher shortage in NSW is very real, and the school is frequently in a position when two or even three classes cannot be covered and are minimally supervised in the playground.

I recently spoke at assembly and reminded students of our school’s values and expectations. This includes being respectful to each other and the safe and appropriate use of mobile phones. Now, more than ever, we need to come together as a community and work together to support each other.

Mr Igor Maric

From the Deputies

On Tuesday 29 March an Information Night was held for prospective 2023 Year 7 students. Visiting parents and students were welcomed by Mr Maric and heard from both junior and senior students about their experiences of Hawkesbury High.     

Students from the SRC then conducted a walk through of the school, ably assisted by our Senior Leaders.

Although Information Night was a pared down version of our usual Open Evening, it was well attended by the local community, and it was wonderful to welcome so many families on site.

I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to Mr Brady, Senior Leaders and SRC. As always, I am grateful for the dedication and commitment with which our staff and students approach all school events.

A school prospectus was created to provide information about Hawkesbury High School and many of the opportunities we have to offer. 

With the onset of cooler weather, I encourage students and parents to ensure that they have their school uniform organised. 

Students should be wearing the correct polo shirt and HHS jacket with HHS tracksuit pants, HHS shorts or skirt each day.

Hoodies are not to be worn underneath the school jacket. If an extra layer is needed a plain navy or black crew neck fleece top can be worn underneath the school jacket.

Hawkesbury High School has an excellent rate of compliance with our school uniform policy, and it is wonderful to see the majority of our students take pride in their appearance and in their school.

If you have any queries about uniform or require assistance, please contact the school.

Mrs Kerrie Shortland

Assessment provides opportunities to gather evidence about student achievement in relation to syllabus outcomes. It enables students to demonstrate what they know and can do. At Hawkesbury High School the assessment of student learning is a continual process that occurs informally throughout every lesson.  At regular stages throughout a course a teacher will gather evidence of student learning, designed to demonstrate skills at that point in time.  Assessment information booklets for each year group can be found on the school’s website. The booklets provide information on what evidence of learning will be collected throughout the year.  The assessment booklets also contain information on the assessment policy, plagiarism, learning scaffolds, helpful ideas on organisation and a glossary of key terms.

Head teachers and the senior executive took part in a conference on Friday 18 March and Saturday 19 March. The conference provided an invaluable opportunity to plan and discuss teaching and learning at Hawkesbury High. The executive team collaborated on developing further process to enhance student learning in literacy and numeracy, using the Hawkesbury Learning Journey framework.

Mrs Nicole Martirena

School improvements are well underway at our school. These include air conditioning into every classroom through the Dept of Education cooler schools’ program. We also have the LED upgrade commencing to replace all the old fluorescent lighting to LEDS. This will be a great improvement for our school community to assist in creating a comfortable environment for learning.

Towards the end of 2021 we replaced fencing in the agricultural spaces to ensure our animals have a secure space to graze, also a construction area was established to fence off a secure space for the construction course to complete works like setting out a site and levelling exercises. This enables the school to provide a space for “real life” projects related to the construction industry.

Mr Benn McEvoy

Introducing Schoolzine & the SZapp App

We would like to introduce you to our new interactive Parent Communication Platform - Schoolzine. 

Schoolzine allows us to provide our school community with a multi-functional, interactive platform that can be accessed wherever you have internet. At home on your PC, via your mobile or perhaps on your iPad - completely at your convenience.

By installing the SZapp App, parents and carers can receive instant alerts and news feeds, as well as our school newsletter, submit absentee forms and more.

Skoolbag will be decommissioned from Wednesday 27 April and we request that all families download the SZapp app prior to this date. 

Please view the below 'SZapp Presentation for Parents' powerpoint for instructions on installing the app.

Temporary Front Office Changes

Unfortunately during our recent extreme weather events, our Front Administration Office was damaged by water and will be unavailable whilst repairs are undertaken.
Our Front Office has temporarily moved to the Library. We ask that all visitors, parents and carers, please proceed to the Library where our Office staff will be able to assist you.
Our Office hours are
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday- 8.15am - 3.15pm
Wednesday - 8.15am - 2.00pm

Student Attendance

Despite everything our community has faced over the past twelve months and beyond, our students should be commended on achieving an average percentage attendance of over 85%. We are certainly on track to improve on this average with our goal of having each student attending school at least 90% of the time. Well done Year 7 for Term 1, 2022. 

On Wednesday 6 April, we held our Term 1 attendance draw. Any student with an attandance rate of 90% or more for Term 1, went into a draw to receive 1 of 6 $50.00 JB HI FI vouchers.

Congratulations to our winners this term - Bella, Ethan, Aaron , Laura, William and Amelia. 

Student Absences

On occasion, your child may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include:

• being sick or having an infectious disease
• having an unavoidable medical appointment
• being required to attend a recognised religious holiday
• exceptional or urgent family circumstances e.g. attending a funeral.

If your child is absent from school you can inform us of the absence using one of the methods
below:

• Call the Administration Office during office hours with date of absence, child's name and reason for absence
• Responding to the absence SMS from the school
• Sending an email to the school with date of absence, child's name and reason for
  absence
• Sending a hand written note into the office on the day your child returns to school.
  Please include your name, you child's name, date of absence and reason for absence
• Completing an 'Absentee Form' in the SZapp App

If your child will be away for more than one day, you will receive an SMS each day unless you specify the days of their absence in your response.

If your child will be away for more than 5 school days, please complete an application for extended leave - travel and return the application to school. This form is located on our website under About our School - Notes

Parents must provide a verbal or written explanation for absences to the school within 7 days from the first day of any period of absence.

Where an explanation has not been received within the 7-day timeframe, the school will record the absence as unjustified on the student's record.

Student Achievements

During our whole school assembly on Wednesday 6 April, students were recognised for their achievements in TAS and PDHPE subjects. Year 12 student Jasmine Barlow and members of the school rock band also presented an amazing musical performance. Congratulations to all students on their achievements.

Regional Zone Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to Year 12 student Sam Bonus who recently represented Hawkesbury High School at the Regional Zone Swimming Carnival and will now compete at Nationals. Sam blitzed the competition in the pool and placed 1st in 100m freestyle, 3rd in 100m butterfly and 3rd in 50m freestyle. Goodluck in the next heat!

Anti-Racism Poster Competition

Congratulations to our 'ANTI-RACISM POSTER COMPETITION' Winners! All students involved in the task were able to identify how we can positively change our community to address and stamp out racism. 
Year 9: Hayley Asmussen
Year 9: Ava Turner
Year 11: Xara Wademan
Year 7: Brianna West
Winners will receive JB HI-FI and Dymocks Gift Vouchers.

Harmony Week 21-25 March 2022

Hawkesbury High School celebrated Harmony Week during 21 - 25 March 2022. Harmony Week celebrates Australia's cultural diversity and sends a strong message that we embrace the diverse cultures and customs of people from around the world.

Students and Staff at Hawkesbury were able to participate in a range of activities from pop up food stalls to games, activites and our orange photobooth.

Thank you to Benchmark Canteen and Catering for the lovely spread of food and to SRC Leaders and student helpers for making the pop-up event great.

Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation Presentation

On Tuesday 29 March, students and staff listened to a presentation about Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation. Uncle Michael and Uncle Willie shared their experiences with students about what it meant to be a part of an institution, their personal resilience and how their corporation is sharing information to enact change. Students also had an opportunity to ask the Uncles any questions and have real life feedback. Hawkesbury High School is extremely grateful for their time and willingness to share. Thank you - Didjurigura.

Sport Selections - Term 2

SPORT selections for Term 2 are now open for students to select their options. 
Students have received an email in their student email address with a link to select their SPORT on the student portal. The email also has a step by step guide to help with the selection process. If a student has not received an email, please contact Mr. Plummer or Mr. Ryman. 

The following sports will be up for selection:
School Sports (no cost involved):
• Basketball 
• Boardgames 
• Hall Sports/Indoor Games 
• Freemans Reach Tennis Court 
• Walking to Glossodia 
• Just Dance 
• RFS (Rural Fire Service) 
• School Gym 
• School Rugby (If you have spoken to Mr Vrinat and are in the team, please select this sport)!
Bus sports (cost involved):
• Aqua Golf 
• Rock Climbing 
• Flip Out 
• Ice Skating 
• Tenpin Bowling/Laser tag

NAPLAN Online 2022

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time
assessment of literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress
through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN
tests in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and
numeracy. Our school will be participating in NAPLAN Online between 10 and 20 May
2022.

In preparation for NAPLAN Online, our school will also be participating in practice tests
between 21 March and 8 April. The practice test is a trial-run and key preparation activity
for NAPLAN Online in May. It is not an assessment of student ability and the tests will not be
marked. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN Online is not recommended. Students can use
the public demonstration site to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and tools
available in the NAPLAN Online tests. If you have any questions about NAPLAN Online,
exemptions or withdrawals, please contact the school.

COVID-19 Updates

Further information can be found here:

COVID advice for families

https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families?deliveryName=DM25900

COVID-19 testing, managing COVID-19 at home & isolation

https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/management/advice-for-confirmed

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/self-isolation-and-testing.aspx

Learning From Home Online Packages for students

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-from-home/learning-at-home/2022-digital-learning-packs/secondary

Careers Corner

Our Future In Focus event was held by Inspiring The Future- Schools Industry Partnership.
On Tuesday 5 April, Year 10 had a wonderful opportunity to meet 10 industry volunteer guests from many different industries including hospitality, IT, construction-traffic control and banking. They worked in groups in Session 1 to establish team building and problem solving skills and in Session 2 had 10 minute table chats with the industry visitors. It was a positive experience for all involved. 
Thank you to our volunteers and Year 10.

Please visit out Careers webpage for any Careers information.

Letter from the DoE Secretary

Please see attached letter from the DoE Secretary.