FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Annual General Meeting

On 22 March the Annual General Meeting of the Governing Council occurred. For 2022 the Governing Council has the following membership of parents and caregivers:

• Wendy Looi-Penhall, Chairperson
• Matt Sarre, Deputy Chairperson
• Stephane Maurin, Treasurer
• Yvette Packer
• Andrew Otto
• Susi Tyler
• Kristy Chapman
• Vikki Thorton
• Amanda Ardill
• Gabby Rutherford

I would like to thank the parents and caregivers who have volunteered their time to attend meetings and provide their perspectives.

I take the opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of the following members who are no longer on the Council:

• Barbara Heaton
• Ché Burdon
• Steve Murray
• Sandy Hathaway
• Sandra Plowman

Welcome

As we start the second term of 2022 we have welcomed the following new staff:

• Mr Daniel Millburn teaching English and HASS
• Mr Ross Dempster teaching Health & Physical Education
• Ms Laurie Rowe in Learning Suport
• Mr Rob Wyllie teaching Design and Technology
• Ms Carolyn Nguyen in Learning Support
• Ms Gabbie Xanthopoulos in Learning Support

In addition we have welcomed back Ms Hayley Baker as the Year 12 Leader.

Student Free Day – Berry Street Education Model Training

Our second student free day was on Monday 2 May. All staff were involved in the first of four days of the professional learning about the Berry Street Education Model. Day one saw us focus on the Body. We explored the way the body signals our needs and the implications for us in how we interact with students. The ability to self-regulate is important to make informed decisions. The ability to self-regulate is impacted by decision fatigue as well as:

• resistance to persuasion
• lack of sleep
• temptation
• psychological contract breach

Decision fatigue results from too much choice. The more decisions we make the greater the impact on the quality of the decisions we make. Hence we need to establish routines and there are things we can do to assist.

For example in classes we can use ‘brain breaks’ which can be used to re-energise our students. We can also engage our students in recognising what their escalation signs are such as fidgeting, looking around and a raised voice. This then needs to be accompanied by them knowing some of the strategies to de-escalate themselves such as breathing routines, walking away, drinking some water, just to name a few.

As adults we can provide an environment where students are welcomed and monitor the sense of the individuals and groups we work with both in teaching and learning contexts and in our interactions.

Education is one of the protective factors to assist adolescents and young people along with:

• Health
• Optimism and Hope
• Emotional Intelligence
• Social Intelligence
• Ability to form durable relationships
• Spirituality
• Achievement
• Sense of belonging

Our second day of the Berry Street Education Model is on Friday 2 September when we explore Relationships.

Vaping and its impact on health

Following the communication to the school community on vaping sent on 6 April a report from the Cancer Council SA indicates:

• young non-smokers who vape are around three times more likely to take up smoking than non-vapers
• e-cigarettes cause multiple health harms including acute lung injury, poisoning, burns, seizures and increased nicotine addiction.

An Australian National University (ANU) report indicates the following key findings:

• e-cigarette use triples the risk of smoking uptake in never-smokers and non-smokers
• most e-cigarette users are young people
• most e-cigarette use is not for the purpose of quitting smoking
• e-cigarette use by non-smokers results in dependence on e-cigarettes
• flavour attracts adolescents to e-cigarettes.

Anyone interested in getting more information can click the link here.

Also on the school’s website is School TV. There is information about vaping designed to support parents and caregivers.