First year of high school, done and dusted!

Dear Year 7, 

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WOW, WHAT A YEAR! YOU DID IT.  I can certainly say that 2020 didn't play out the way we had expected your first year of high school to go. You had to adapt to a brand new school, numerous teachers per day, a new classroom for each subject, brand new faces and the biggest change of all would have been adjusting to the fact that you were the eldest students at school in Year 6, to becoming the youngest students at CHHS in Year 7. 

We were hit with a worldwide pandemic that altered our 'normal' structure of teaching and learning which definitely made making new friends and connecting with teachers a little difficult. I could imagine how confusing all of this would have been for you but you continued to shine, even when it was simply through a computer screen. I remember receiving emails from all of your teachers, telling me how well you were working online and how proud of you they were. I was amazed at how quickly you accepted the 'new normal' and went on successfully with learning. Through all of these unforeseen circumstances you adjusted, adapted and continued being the best version of yourselves and for that I will forever be proud. 

I am honoured to call myself your Year Adviser and I look forward to whatever is coming. I can't wait to see all the amazing things you will achieve in 2021. Keep doing what you're doing! Have an awesome break, you all deserve it! Happy holidays.​

Miss Cupac 

Dear Year 7, 

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​2020… where do I even start?? 

This year has been stressful, to say the least. We started our first year of High School in a thick blanket of smoke as 47 million acres of land was destroyed by bushfire. While Australia was burning, a virus was quietly making its way from nation to nation, little did we know that it was about to change the way we lived and impact each and every person on the planet. The COVID-19 pandemic has been unimaginable. As you were just settling in to your new lives a high schoolers (trying to figure out timetables, locate strange new classrooms, create new and exciting friendship groups and getting to know all your new teachers) the world was put on hold and our country closed its borders and went into lockdown…school was closed and our lives were changed forever. All of a sudden, your teachers were now talking to you through a screen and you were learning from home! 

Throughout the unknown we stayed strong and you stayed resilient. We returned to school in Term 3 and Miss Cupac and I saw the excitement on everyone’s face as they re-entered the gates of Cecil Hills High School with a new appreciation of just how lucky we really are! The year 7 cohort of 2020 will forever remember their first year of high school for many different reasons and I would like to wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday break and look forward to continuing on this journey with you as Year 8 students in 2021! 

Happy Holidays, 

Mr Wilcox