Cecil Hills High School Newsletter

Another great term of teaching and learning

Soon you will be seeing

What you're all about

Living in the shadows

You'll never find out

 

‘Living in the Shadows’ by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse from ‘Victor/Victoria’

 

 

25th Anniversary – Save The Date

In 2021, Cecil Hills High School celebrates its 25th anniversary.  We will be holding our celebratory events on Friday, 13 August 2021.  We will run an anniversary assembly, create a time capsule, hold a number of celebratory activities and invite guest speakers. Students will be provided with more details in Term 3.

Year 12 and Assessments

Year 12 will complete trial HSC exams in Week 3 and Week 4 in Term 3.  In relation to my introductory quote, if a student is still “living in the shadows”, this is their time to shine. Most trial HSC exams are worth 30% of the course, which means students have an opportunity to score many marks in these assessment tasks.

 

For ATAR courses, 50% of marks come from the school-based assessment and 50% of marks come from the actual HSC exam in October/November.  As most trials are worth 30% of the school assessment, this means that for most courses, students have currently completed assessments which account for only 35% of their marks.  There is a massive 65% of marks still available.  In terms of my introductory quote, students still have the opportunity to emerge from the shadows, see what they are all about and find out how great they are.

 

The main feedback given to HSC students across all exams has stayed the same over the last 20 years:

  • attempt all questions
  • answer the question that is set, not the question you wanted
  • write in sufficient depth
  • provide examples
  • use syllabus terminology
  • use all of the available time in the exam
  • do not finish early and spend any spare time checking your work
  • use an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion for extended responses
  • understand the NESA Glossary of Key Words

Elevate Education

Our Year 12 group have benefited from sessions from Elevate Education on study techniques.  Parents are able to download a free resource entitled ‘Guiding Your Child To Excellence’ to help support their children in motivation, creating a study timetable, using technology, avoiding distractions and stress management.  These tips are effective for all students from Year 7 to Year 12.

 

 

 

 

 

New Deputy Principal

I am pleased to announce that Mrs Chris Lord will commence in the role of Deputy Principal on Day 1, Term 3.  She will have responsibility for Year 9.  I would like to thank Mrs Randall, Ms Wicks and Ms Sahid for all their efforts in relieving as Deputy Principal for Year 9 in Term 2.

 

 

 

 

School Upgrade

In 2018, a business case for a proposed school upgrade and expansion for Cecil Hills HS was funded.  It has recently been announced by School Infrastructure NSW that the Cecil Hills HS upgrade project has progressed to the next phase which is fantastic news for our school.  I will hopefully be able to provide more specific information in due course.  You will be able to track the progress of the project here in a similar way to the website for the Cecil Hills PS upgrade.

 

Holiday Homework

The best ‘homework’ for students to complete in the upcoming school holidays is to focus on sleep, diet and exercise, as research has shown these are essential for effective learning.

 

If you are fortunate to have additional family time these holidays, I encourage families to:

  • play board games together
  • read together
  • eat family dinners together
  • enjoy the great outdoors together

We have recently started a Scrabble group at school and board games are a great way for families to connect.  I will no doubt spend part of the holidays playing Monopoly, UNO, Ticket to Ride, Cluedo, Battleship, Chess and Guess Who with my family.

Parent Information Sessions

Our next online Parent Information Session will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 2 August 2021.  These sessions are typically 30 minutes.  This will be followed by a short P&C meeting for those who wish to stay online. Information on logging into the Zoom meeting will be emailed to parents.

 

I look forward to continuing to work with the staff, students and parents of Cecil Hills High School, the best school in NSW.

 

Mark Sutton

Principal