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- Principal's Report
- Energy Drinks
- Health & PE
- Food and Hospitality
- English Master Class
- Year 8 History
- Year 8 Art
- Year 9 Tourism
- Year 9 Science
- Library Lesson - How to create a Bibliography using Microsoft Word
- Tax File Numbers
- Parent Forum - Transition in 2020 and Beyond for Parents of Students with Disabilities
- Get your Entertainment Membership Now! 2 MONTHS BONUS, FREE WISH EGift Card!!
- Apprentice Opportunity
- SPELD WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS
- Foster Carers Wanted
Reconciliation Week
Earlier this month we celebrated Reconciliation Week with activities such as making gumnut keyrings and creating class talking pieces by learning how to burn decorations onto wooden sticks. Students also had the opportunity to learn how to cook kangaroo tail and damper on the open fire and, of course, they could also then join in and try these foods as well. Whilst we all smelt like smoke from the wood fire for the rest of the day, we also had the chance to learn about the past and look forward to the future and further reconcilication. I would like to acknowledge the work of a number of staff members who were involved in making the day a success and I would particularly like to thank Josh Jenner for hours of organisation and preparation leading up to the day. Since joining us this year, Josh has taken on the role of Aboriginal Education Teacher and he is working hard to support our Aboriginal students and raise awareness of Aboriginal culture in our broader school community.
Student Free Day
Our student free day, held the Friday before the long weekend, gave staff an opportunity to work in their learning areas to plan units of work and look at existing practices in preparation for the Year 7s arriving in high schools in 2022. We also continued our ongoing work on our site improvement priorities of literacy and numeracy as well as learning design, assessment and moderation and wellbeing, before finishing the day with staff training on interoception. This is a growing area of work in education and a number of our students will be involved in some small activities that will help them regulate their bodies and emotions and learn to refocus in class.
Our next student free day will coincide with all of our Partnership schools on the first day of next term, Monday 20th July. On this day, we will work with staff from Connected Self to learn about trauma informed practice, which will help us support and effectively respond to children and young people with lived experience of trauma. This trauma comes in many forms and isn’t just physical as you may initially think. We believe all of our students can benefit from this approach and we know it will complement the work we started last year, and that we are continuing to develop this year, in restorative practices.
COVID Restrictions
Fortunately, a number of COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted recently and we are pleased to share that, from 29th June we will see a return to school sport, excursions, assemblies and a number of other activities that have been on hold for much of the school year. Based on Department for Education and SA Health advice, there will still be some considerations around these activities, but things are looking up! Senior students would have received a letter this week stating our intention to hold a Year 12 formal graduation dinner in November as the planned Senior School Formal was cancelled earlier this year due to COVID. Unfortunately, the Year 11 students will not be able to participate in this event but they will have much to look forward to next year as Year 12s.
Reports
This is often the busiest time of the year for teachers as we collect last pieces of work from our students to allow us to finalise our grades for Semester 1 and start planning for new subjects in Semester 2. As most of you would be aware, we make the change to subjects with two weeks to go of this term to allow for a more balanced number of weeks for each subject as Term 1 is longer than Term 4 and we finish formal subjects at the end of Week 8, Term 4. At the end of last term we made the shift to publishing reports electronically via Daymap. This allows parents and students to access reports instantly and makes sure they get home to parents promptly! Reports will be available on Daymap on the last day of this term and, if you'd like to request a hard copy as well, please contact the Front Office and your child can collect one from there.
School Uniform
Finally, a reminder about school uniform. Winter often brings out clothing that is not school uniform and we are quite flexible with some things such as allowing students to wear their school polo over a jumper, but it is not our preferred option. Students are expected to wear a navy or white school polo top, navy bomber or spray jacket, navy rugby top or plain navy hoodie, all of which are available for purchase from TADS in Balaklava. Shorts and trousers are to be navy or grey and trackpants are to be navy with no stripes or large logos. Families are reminded that black pants and tops are not part of our uniform and leggings, jeggings and jeans are also not acceptable for school. If meeting the uniform expectations is a concern for families, please contact a member of the leadership team to discuss this.
We have also introduced a BHS beanie this winter, which is available from the bookroom for $15 (the first batch sold like hotcakes so we have ordered some more). These navy and white beanies, with a pom pom, look quite stylish and warm, however, the expectation is that, just like other hats/hoods, they are removed when students are indoors.
As always, I am available to speak to parents about any issues or concerns or to discuss any aspect of their 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
Principal
As a school community, we are concerned about the increasing consumption of energy drinks and the effects they can have on children and adolescent health. Much like soft drinks; energy drinks are not to be consumed at school. Energy drinks are loaded with caffeine and can deprive children of much needed sleep. Without sufficient sleep, learning becomes harder and self-regulating emotions is also much harder to do. The Sleep Health Foundation suggest teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep, more than an adult, because their bodies and cognition are growing rapidly. Sleep is vital for teenagers' mental health. Lack of sleep can contribute to acne, aggressive behaviour, weight gain and unhealthy eating habits.
Did you know? The standard energy drink bottle is 500ml compared to 375ml for soft drinks and this means double the amount of sugar – 21 teaspoons in some energy drinks compared to 10 teaspoons in a smaller bottle of soft drink. This is three times the recommended daily limit for added sugar in the diet.
Energy drinks contain 160mg of caffeine, more than twice as much as a cup of coffee or a 500ml bottle of cola.
Please have a conversation with your child around the consumption of energy drinks as they might not know the short and long term effects they can have on their bodies
Michelle Pudney
Year 11 PE
The Year 11 PE class have been putting their communication and collaboration skills to the test over the last few weeks in our Ultimate Frisbee competition. The class was split into four teams where they had to establish their team identity including their team name, chant and uniform as well as their team rules and expectations. Each team member chose to either be their team's Technical, Tactical or Motivational Coach where they had to give feedback based on their coaching focus with the aim to improve the performance or participation of their teammates. The ‘Green Beams’, ‘McQueens’, ‘Zooper Doopas’ and ‘The Roaming Brians’ battled it out for three weeks of round robin competition and one week of finals where the Zooper Doopas came out on top, coming from 2-0 down in the first half to win by 1 point. This task exposed the Year 11 students to similar experiences of Year 12 PE and started to develop the necessary skills needed to be successful in PE next year.
Year 12 Health
Over the past few weeks, the Year 12 Health class have been investigating health issues of interest to them for their External Investigation. Part of their assessment has included completing a social action to raise awareness and/or funds for their chosen health issue or organisation. Last week Chloe Hean arranged for So Brave Ambassador Tracy Starr to speak to the Year 12 girls about Breast Cancer and Breast Self-Awareness.
Cameron Curnow decided to wax his legs as part of the World’s Greatest Shave and got Jaidyn Bowley, Brodie Marshall, Kynan Davis, Mitchell Couley, Darius Necemer and Jack Collins to get involved as well. If you would like to donate money towards this cause or in support of the pain the boys endured you can do so by following this link: https://secure.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?RegistrationID=791995#&panel1-2
In May, Brodie Marshall assembled a team made-up of Jaidyn Bowley, Jerry Logan, Cameron Curnow and Kynan Davis to complete the Push-Up Challenge. The boys had to complete 3,046 push-ups in 21 days to raise awareness for mental health. Why 3,046? This number represents the total number of lives lost to suicide in Australia in 2018. The boys also raised $235 for Headspace. Donations are still being accepted until the 29th of June, if you wish, you can donate to the cause here: https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/donate-to-14654-spuds-101
Alicia Weston has decided to collect female sanitary and hygiene products to donate to the organization Share the Dignity who distribute the products to various charities for homeless women living in South Australia. In the last two weeks of school she will set-up donation points where students and community members can contribute to her social action and donate products. More details will be available on Daymap, Facebook and around school soon.
In the last week of school this term Jaidyn Bowley is planning on holding his own ‘Big Freeze’ to raise awareness and money for Fight MND. Keep an eye out on Daymap, Facebook and around school for more details.
School Sport Update
School Sport is back! With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, School Sport SA has announced a number of Statewide School Carnivals will be held in Term 3. As a school we have nominated for 8/9 and Open Boys Football, 8/9 and Open Girls Netball and Open Boys and Girls Basketball. Stay tuned for further details and possible School Sports for Term 4 in coming newsletters.
Over the past 4 weeks, Miss Mayer’s Stage 2 Food and Hospitality students have been learning about Australia's Native Foods (Bush Tucker). Today their skills and knowledge were put to the test to create a Bush Tucker Dish suitable for a Cafè. With the use of Kangaroo, Finger Limes, Desert Limes, Wattle Seed, Native Rosemary, Saltbush and Davidson Plums, these students truly knew how to utilise Bush Foods to create delicious meals bursting with flavour.
Mrs Pudney’s Year 8 English class participated in a Balaklava High School first in Week 6. A Master Class run by our very knowledgeable Year 12 English teacher and Literacy Coordinator, Mr La Grutta. This special lesson showed the Year 8s skills they will be able to use now all the way through to Year 12. Mr La Grutta provided a very engaging lesson, teaching our students how to effectively break down an essay questions in order to help us understand what the question is asking. Thank you so much Mr La Grutta, we will now be able to write some pretty amazing essays.
Mr Clark’s Year 8 History class are learning about Medieval Japan, which has also led to students writing their own Haikus. Haikus are a type of poem, consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. The Haiku first emerged in Japanese literature during the 17th century.
Inspired by our new visitors over in the Ag block, the Haikus below are a few examples written by our very talented Year 8s.
Scream
There is a baby cow
It chased Miss Pudney around
And made her scream loud
Michael Myers
Cattle
Majestic cattle
Essential for milk and beef
Praised in India
Danwel Urmenita
Calves
They munch on grass
Their little wet noses twitch,
So sweet and little.
Madison Litzow
Cows
Brand new baby calves,
Moo-ing ever so loudly.
Yearning for some milk.
Janna Mojares
In Year 8 Art this semester, our students experienced a wide range of art making skills, forms and techniques, from Aboriginal dot painting and perspective drawing, to Fauvism and sculpture. Check out some of the outstanding work from our very talented Year 8 classes.
Year 9 Tourism students from 9PG1 and 9PG2 classes completed tourism brochures promoting Australian Tourist destinations. They created a brochure promoting each attraction or area, encouraging Australians to holiday at home! Hopefully over the coming school holidays families will get the opportunity to go away and enjoy our great state and country.
Mr Parsons’ Year 9 Science class dissected sheep brains and discovered all of the parts of the brain and what they control. Some students (and staff members...) had stronger stomachs than others!
This year the Entertainment Book is going completely digital. For those who have always had a hard copy book we know it will take a bit to convince you to change, however, here are some good reasons –
- You’ve always got the Entertainment Book with you, no carting around a heavy book or hanging on to vouchers in your purse/wallet.
- It’s very easy to upload onto your android/iphone device.
- Up to 4 family members can access your membership on their own device, they just need to use the same email and password.
- The Entertainment membership app is very easy to use – you only need to search an area that you will be in to get all the offers for that area and you can then refine the search for dining, retail etc.
- The membership is constantly being updated with new offers.
- Environmentally friendly.
- It is valid for 12 months from when you activate your app.
- There are some amazing offers at the moment, including 2 months bonus and a free $10 or $20 WISH eGift Card!
Apart from all of this any dollars raised will be going towards protective pads for our new goal posts here at Balaklava High School!
Win! Win! For you and the school!!
Go to the link https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/1s61485
This year there are other options to purchase include Multi City (21 cities) and Multi Plus (21 cities, 2 year) memberships.
For more information please call Cherie on 8862 0600.
A painting apprenticeship with a reputable Balaklava-based Painter and Decorator is available. Potential applicants that meet the following critiera is preferable:
- minimum of 17 years of age
- drivers license and own transport
- based in Balaklava or the surrounding area
- has an genuine interest in painting and enthusiasm for learning the many aspects of the trade.
For more information please call Terry on 0407077992 or email your resume to taredden@internode.on.net
