Principal's Report

Welcome back to students, staff and families for Term 2. It has been wonderful to see so many happy smiling faces during the ﬁrst week of term. At the end of Term 1, we said farewell and good luck to Mrs O’Connor who is on family leave, Mr James and Mr Poulier who are both on long service leave. We welcomed back Mr Wei Ma from his Term 1 long service leave as well as welcoming four new staff members - Mr Robert Russell (Math), Mr Lincoln James (English), Miss Amy Muratore (Arts) and Miss Mio Shimogaichi (Japanese Language Assistant).

We wish to thank the 274 families who attended the Parent/Teacher interviews during the last week of Term1 and hope that the feedback and discussions that took place were valuable and informative. This term, as in previous terms, we aim to expect only the best from our students. We believe that a very important element in helping children do well at school is to set our sights high. Just as our students’ belief in themselves can translate into either high or low performance, teacher and parent beliefs and behaviours can also affect how well they perform at school. Educational research tells us that highly effective teachers are tenacious in their high expectations for all of their students – no matter what the circumstances. This also applies to parents.

Term 2 will continue to be a busy term with numerous key dates and camps occurring. Our first ever Year 7 and 8 Social was held on 24th April and it was a great, fun night for all those who attended. Special thanks to Mr Potter and Ms Bishop for organising the event which also doubled as a fundraiser for the USA Basketball trip at the end of this year.

Unfortunately due to heavy rain and flooding, the Year 12 Outdoor Education High Country Camp had to be cancelled. We hope that the Year 9 Global Classroom Camp to Charnwood has better weather, although it appears from previous years’ photos that the students love the opportunity to slide around in the mud and rain.

DanceFair competitions begin on 5th May and will continue on most Friday and Saturday nights until 3rd June. The Fairhills High School Presentation Ball will be held on Saturday 20th May.

NAPLAN testing commences during Week 4. Year 7, Year 9 and Year 10 Accelerated students will undertake the 4 different tests. NAPLAN isn’t the only indicator of success, but it does provide us with information around the growth of each individual student and their cohort overall. We encourage all students to challenge themselves to perform at their best when attempting the NAPLAN across the three days.

As the cold weather approaches, we wish to remind all students and parents that “hoodies” are not to be worn as an alternative uniform item. If students have a genuine uniform emergency and are unable to wear their school jumper or jacket on any given day, we request that they wear a plain windcheater or jumper (without a hood) and provide a signed note from their parent or guardian explaining the reason. The school has a supply of spare jumpers and jackets for students to borrow if necessary. Our classrooms are heated. We understand that transition to and from school as well as recess and lunch breaks can be chilly. We advise that students consider wearing a plain white T-shirt under their school shirt for extra warmth. Students who wear trousers may wish to wear stockings or skins under their pants and students are encouraged to wear a plain back scarf for neck and head warmth. Once again, we thank the members of the Fairhills High School community who kindly donate second hand uniform items to the school. Families wishing to seek uniform assistance are asked to contact Ms. Kath Middleton on 9758 5022.

Ace Awards

Congratulations to the following Ace Award Winners for March/April

Ryan Bradley-Lawton, Year 8 - Responsibility

Meaghan Townsend, Year 9 - Responsibility

The 2017 Attitudes to Schools Survey

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. The Attitudes to School survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training. The survey assists schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school.

Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.

This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at our school between Monday 22nd May to Friday 23rd June. The survey only takes 20-30 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time.

For more information please see the attached document

Fairhills Survey.pdf

A Timely Reminder

“The National Medical and Health Research Council advises under 18s should not drink alcohol at all.”

Students and parents planning parties for children under 18 years of age are asked to please consider the following:

It is now against Victorian law to serve alcohol in a private home to anyone under the age of 18, unless their parents have given written permission in advance. Adults who break the law face fines over $7,000 - the same figure a licensee would be fined for selling alcohol to a minor. The law is part of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 (the LCRA), which also regulates the sale of alcohol to people under the age of 18 in all licensed premises such as bottle shops, pubs and clubs. The law governing the supply of alcohol to minors in private homes is designed to give parents greater control over when, where and whether their children drink alcohol. It also responds directly to community concerns about the substantial harm that alcohol causes to young Victorians and their families every year. In fact, a 2009 VicHealth survey revealed 87 per cent of Victorians support the new law, and parents were even more likely to agree with the law (91 per cent).

Kath Middleton

Assistant Principal