2020 has been a year like no other as it has simultaneously felt like it has gone in the blink of an eye yet also like it has taken a decade to pass.  I would like to thank families for their support this year as we have navigated changes to how we deliver our learning programs, managed student absences early in the pandemic and then the recent statewide hard lockdown.  I also appreciate the patience shown by students and families when we have been forced to cancel or postpone events as a result of government COVID restrictions.

Our annual Presentation Evening is normally held at the Balaklava Town Hall each year but it has sadly succumbed to the restrictions surrounding COVID.  We attempted to split the event, move location and change the date, however we finally had to make the very difficult decision to have it at school on the last day of term without family and friends in the audience.  We absolutely acknowledge the distress this has caused for families and it is important that you know the decision was not made lightly.  We will film the event and send families a link so they can view it at their leisure and we will also ensure that we take many photos to document the occasion.

The Year 12 Formal has been moved two or three times this year in terms of date and venue and we have now decided to hold it on the school grounds next Wednesday 9th December.  Students will still have a sit down, fully catered meal with Event Photographers in attendance to capture the celebrations and we expect it to be a night to remember.

I would like to thank the organising committees of each of these events who have dedicated a significant number of hours in preparation only to have to then deal with a number of new stressors this year due to ever-changing COVID restrictions.

Year 8 and 9 students are currently working on their Reflection of Learning presentations (formerly known as Authentic Assessment) ready to deliver them next week.  These presentations allow students an opportunity to reflect on their learning across the year and to share these achievements with others.  We wish them well with their preparations and panel members look forward to hearing about successes and challenges they’ve encountered this year.

Bushfire Procedure

BHS is considered a low/medium bushfire risk site, therefore, on days deemed catastrophic, the school will remain open as closures based on the predicted forecast do not apply to us.  However, our bus runs are located in both the Mid North and Yorke Peninsula Fire Ban Districts, which means if a Catastrophic Day is declared in either district, all buses that travel through these areas will be cancelled.  We will inform parents of this information as soon as practicable after it is declared on the CFS website at 4pm the day before.  We will do this via a text message to parents/carers, Daymap and Facebook whilst Balaklava Primary School will inform bus families via SkoolBag (please download the app if you haven’t already done so).  As we may need to contact you urgently, it is vital that we have your most current details on our system.  Please keep us informed immediately if any of your contact details change throughout the year.

Please see the attached brochure for further information.  Parents can also call a parent hotline number (1800 000 279) to gain further advice when a catastrophic bushfire day is forecast.

Staffing for 2021

Our staffing for 2021 is quite settled but we do have a couple of new appointments joining us.  As mentioned earlier in the year, Mrs Alana Sharman (Coordinator:  Maths/Numeracy/STEM) will join our staff in a leadership role and we are also very pleased to welcome Miss Kym Spartley to our team from Riverton and District High School.  Kym has a wealth of experience in both teaching English and counselling students.  Mr James Mussared will also return to BHS in a part time capacity as he continues the study that he started whilst on leave this year.  I am very confident that we have a strong teaching team with dedicated leaders to continue to move our school forward in 2021 and beyond.

Farewells

At this time of the year we also have a number people to farewell, although this year, the number is small and there are some that I won’t say goodbye to now as we are hoping they will be reappointed for next year.  We know for certain that the following staff members are leaving:  Rebecca Crowe joined us earlier this year and she has offered much to our site through her work as an English teacher and with her Year 8 homegroup.  Rebecca has accepted a position for next year at Playford Collegeand they will benefit from her joining them.  Melissa Cloney has been with us for the past two years both as a TRT and a teacher in our Special Class and in English.  We know she will enjoy being home with her new son Devin and we hope to see her back as a TRT in the future.  Ryan Bernhardt has been our Pastoral Care Worker for a number of years and has supported students and a number of families during this time.  He has provided a valuable link between our school and the local churches, which we have appreciated.  To all staff members leaving we thank them for their time here and wish them well for whatever the future holds.

For the past two years that I’ve been at Balaklava High School I have appreciated the work of our Governing Council, ably led by Chairperson, Andrew Parker and I acknowledge the work they do regarding the governance of the school and I value their questioning to clarify how or why we do things at BHS.  I thank the broader school community for their support this year and I look forward to continuing these positive relationships next year.  I wish you all an enjoyable, relaxing and safe break with your families and friends and I look forward to seeing many of you back at school on Wednesday 27^th January 2021 ready for another year of learning.

Sonia Pringle

Principal

Over the last two days, we have welcomed the Year 7s from the four feeder schools to take part in our Transition program. Students were greeted with a pancake breakfast on their first day as they eagerly jumped off the bus, found their friends and headed into the quadrangle. Our future Year 8s began their day in pastoral care with their home group teacher/s Mrs Pratt/Mrs Niblett, Miss Buick or Mr Thomas. Following pastoral care the students had the opportunity to complete a range of subjects. In Geography students used VR googles; in French many accomplished building an Eiffel Tower with spaghetti and marshmallows; History saw them digging for primary resources (choc chips in cookies) and many more engaging lessons were held. On Friday students continued to meet their teachers for next year and participate in all the subjects offered at Balaklava High School. Jack from Connected Self facilitated the Rock and Water program, which teaches students about being centered and grounded, whilst building self-respect and respect for others. These social and life skills will help our students be successful through this next transition from primary to high school.

We would also like to congratulate Tess Rana and Maylea Carpenter on becoming our 2021 Middle School Transition Scholarship recipients.

It has been a wonderful two days, we hope the students have enjoyed their time at high school and we would like to wish them a safe and happy holidays. We look forward to seeing you all in Week 1 Term 1 in 2021.

Some examples from Mr Thomas’ English Transition Lesson

The Sounds of K4

The rustling of the air-conditioner                                        

The taps of hammers                                                             

Mr Thomas clapping

Pencils rubbing as they write                                                

The sound of other students breathing                                 

Harry Dall                                                                                           

I hear the birds flapping their wings

Talking to each other             

The kids playing outside

The door opening and shutting.        

Malcolm Rudd

Air-conditioner blowing

Paper moving

Keys shaking

People clapping

Pencils tapping

Heavy breathing

Door shutting

Grinder grinding.

Troy Kenyon

Thanks to fundraising efforts throughout the year, $300 was recently donated to the South Australian Bushfire Appeal and $300 donated to WWF Koala appeal. We have also purchased some giant games which have been available for students to use at lunchtimes. We replaced the old BBQ with a new one for general school use and we cooked up a a pancake breakfast and played some Giant Jenga and Connect 4 to celebrate our new purchases.

Congratulations to Tiarhn Carpenter and Lachlan Gaze who have been elected as our Head Students for 2021!

Colleen Lowe

This year has been a unique year, particularly in the COVID-19 context. I would like to thank you all for your flexibility and willingness to adapt to ensure there has been positive educational and wellbeing outcomes for our young people this year. Despite the challenges we’ve faced we achieved many things as a school community: 

• Successful Year 8 Camp, Meet and Greet and many firsts for our Year 8s 
• Swimming and Athletics Carnivals 
• RUOK Day celebrations 
• Operation Flinders participation 
• Reconciliation and NAIDOC events with food, awareness and celebration  
• Continual successes and relationship building through restorative practices 
• SAASTA involvement 
• Enhanced Learning Hub activities such as HOOPS 4 Life 
• Volunteering with a working bee and joining the opening of ‘Sounds from the Ground’ Playground
• Wellbeing dog, Eddy’s transition into classes and ongoing support  
• Wellbeing classes with the Pastoral Care Worker  
• Continued mental health support through our Wellbeing Team and the Doctors on Campus program
• Performing Arts performances  
• Opportunities to recognise our past on Remembrance Day  

I would also like to use this as an opportunity to thank Ryan Bernhardt for all his work as our Pastoral Care Worker over the years. 

While Christmas and the upcoming Summer holidays can be a fun and enjoyable time for many, it can also be a tough time of year for some. If you do find yourself or others struggling over the holiday period I would strongly encourage you to seek some support and ensure your young people have a trusted adult to talk to. I have included some services to remind you of some of the supports that are available when times are tough. 

Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800 

Lifeline - 13 11 14 

Headspace – 1800 650 890 or eheadspace.org.au  

CAMHS Connect - 1300 222 647 (1300 2 CAMHS)  

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a fantastic holiday and hope that you come back refreshed and enthusiastic for the New Year. 

Lucy Thiel 

Health and Wellbeing Coordinator  

On the 21^st of October the Year 8s of Balaklava High School went on an exciting excursion to the Botanical Gardens to participate in a math trail around the whole garden (organised by Miss Schubert).

There were lots of activities for students to do in their booklets that had riddles, area, perimeter and circumference maths problems to solve. 

Some of the activities involved compasses, maps and trundle wheels, there were even fun activities that involved leaf racing! And other fun things like that.

On the way to other activities some of the Year 8s got to see some turtles that surfaced to the top of the water to say hello to the students.

All students had a good time because there were lots of activities to do and lots of land to explore. It was also good to learn about some new plants and get to know what those plants can do to help people and make medicines.  

Trae Barter

Mrs Manuel’s Year 9 Science class has finished the year off investigating Electricity. Students have built circuits and researched renewable energy options. They also looked into static electricity.

Did you know, lightning and thunder are a result of static electricity? Pictured here is Kaye Arevalo demonstrating the impact of static electricity on her hair using the van der Graff generator.

Merridy Manuel

Mrs Lowe's Year 8 Ag class visited the Donava Dairy at Blyth on Monday. There, they were reunited with calves Canada and Gracie who stayed at the school for 2 weeks earlier this year. The students helped with the morning feeding and then learnt about the workings of a dairy farm and some of the amazing technology utilised. Massive thank you to Ros Zweck for taking time out of her busy day to show us around. 

Carolling

Christmas might look a bit different this year but, what we can rely upon are the carols that we know and love. This week the Balaklava High School choir, spread a little Christmas cheer throughout our community by carolling around the town.  Students visited the Balaklava Community Children’s Centre, Ira Parker nursing home, Wendy’s Café N Cake and the rotunda at the Triangle, as well as a few residential addresses, where neighbours came across the street to listen. It was a day full of smiles and Christmas cheer, especially brought about by our bus driver Jamie Banwell who came dressed for the part!

Merry Christmas!

Suriya Umapathysivam

On Wednesday the 18^th of November the Year 8s of Balaklava High School bravely got on stage to present their Year 8 Production. This year was very different with no parents/caregivers in attendance, but we still had a small audience of teachers present. For the first time, families were able to watch the performance at home through live streaming and recording. Despite all of this, the Year 8s managed to put on a high energy production of songs from the musical Hairspray, with featured performances from Alexander Evans as Link and Spencer Gaze as Corny Collins. The Years 8 had spent the previous 6 weeks rehearsing and all their hard work paid off with a flawless performance.

Well done all the Year 8s and senior students involved!

Suriya Umapathysivam

This year, Year 9 student Seth Pascoe has been working on improving the school’s PE facilities, which started when he was initially asked to repair a broken window that was allowing dirt into the shed. Not satisfied with his first repairs, Seth reached out to leadership to get approval on redesigning and changing the entire shed, which has led to a completely renovated room.  Seth has repainted, rearranged and reorganised the shed, making it more accessible, functional and improving the whole look of the room.

I am so proud of the hard work and dedication Seth has put in. He shows up every Wednesday ready to work and with new ways to improve the space and he has massive pride in his work. He already has plans to create a mural, paint a basketball court on the floor and to complete the gyprock. Keep up the great work, Seth.

Jamie Banwell

Summer Uniform

We currently have a supply of Balaklava High summer dresses available for purchase via the Book Room. Cost is $80ea and sizes are limited.

Hats & Caps

Hats and caps are also available for purchase for $15ea.

In Term 4 Spec Ops has been looking at the concepts of gratitude, acts of kindness and ‘paying it forward’ as part of Life Skills, which culminated in the class organising a staff car wash to raise money for Backpacks 4 SA Kids. Backpacks 4 SA Kids provide resources for children and young people who are dislocated from their homes, often with little more than the clothes on their backs.

On Wednesday 2^nd December the class held the fundraiser, working hard as a team to make sure their customers’ cars were sparkling clean and providing them with a service often overlooked as the end of the year draws near. They also had fun, with the use of the pressure hose a clear winner! By the end of the day their efforts paid off: not only was every customer satisfied with the cleanliness of their vehicles but they raised $165 in total.

Congratulations to the Spec Ops team for a great effort!

Melissa Cloney

Spec Ops Teacher

Earlier this year, I was asked if our Art students could design and paint a mural for the Sounds from the Ground Playground in Balaklava opposite our school. The brief was for a playful, child friendly image of dinosaurs. So, I gave the design challenge to our Year 8, 9 and 10 Art classes late in Term 2 to see what they could come up with. When all designs were submitted, Barbara Rodgers chose the winning design created by the very talented Year 8 student, Jackson McArdle. Unfortunately, because a large mural is such a time consuming piece of artwork to create, we had to wait until our Year 11 cohort had finished for the year before our volunteers, Matt Mojares, Paige Lamond and Makayla Litzow, had the time to actually paint it. At this point in time, the mural is 95% complete and will hopefully be hung up at the park during these summer holidays. We will be able to reveal the completed mural early next year when school returns.

Thomas Fregona

Buy and Entertainment Membership with us and help raise funds for our goal post pads.

 20% from every membership goes towards our fundraising!

 Membership starts from when you sign up.

Go to the link https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/1s61485  and start saving.

I'm looking for the donation of old bike parts, so that we can fix them and then donate them to people within the community. Please contact me via email at

samuel.wakefield900@.schools.sa.edu.au.

Thank you 

Samuel Wakefield

We have 5 in-wall or window Midea air conditioners that are available which were removed from the old classrooms.  There are four 2.5hp capacity and one is 3.5hp capacity.  All are in good condition (just need a little dusting etc.) and have been removed correctly by a qualified air-conditioning firm.  If you are interested in any of these units, please contact the school on 8862 0600.  A donation to the school for these units would be appreciated.

Ruth Stevens

Do you want your daughter to build skills in confidence, self-love and independence? During the January school holidays Girl Guides SA is hosting a Girls Wellness Activity Day aimed at helping young women develop confidence, resilience and independence. The event is open to all girls aged 8 - 12 years old.

During this fun, uplifting and action-packed day, your daughter will:

• Build her confidence, gratitude and self-love
• Learn about the importance of protecting the environment
• Learn to cook healthy and delicious snacks
• Relax with yoga and meditation on the beach
• Make DIY face masks and lip scrubs using natural ingredients
• Create vision boards, affirmation boards and mindfulness jars to help her relieve anxiety and develop mindfulness strategies 
• Contribute to the community through community engagement initiatives

Date: 12 January 2021

Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm

Location: Dolphin Campsite

Flight Training Adelaide (FTA) is the flight training provider to a number of the world’s leading airlines.  Based in Parafield airport we can cater for a number of courses or programs depending on the student age. 

For those students 15 or above, we can offer a 10 hour program that will give them a very good insight into flight training and the type of instruction they would receive when training towards a professional license.  These 10 hours are instructional hours and are not joy flights as such.

For those students that are 17 years or older we can offer training towards professional licenses such a Recreational Pilot License (RPL), Private Pilot License (PPL) or a Commercial Pilot License.

The 10 hour program, RPL  and PPL programs can be offered either on a part time or full time basis. Additionally, we can fly outside school hours or weekends.  Some of these programs, especially the 10 hour program can be a great experience that students may want to undertake during the Christmas holidays.

Karen Jamieson

Business Development Officer

Flight Training Adelaide

Hangar 54, Kittyhawk Lane

Parafield Airport SA 5106

AUSTRALIA

Ph: +61 (0)8 8209 4309

Fax: +61 (0)8 8209 4367

kjamieson@flyfta.com

www.flyfta.com