The school year begins

The atmosphere as thrilling here as always

Feel the early morning madness

Feel the magic in the making

Why, everything's as if we never said goodbye

'As If We Never Said Goodbye'

by Christopher Hampton and Don Black from ‘Sunset Boulevard'

Welcome back

Welcome back to the new school year. This promises to be an exciting year at Cecil Hills High School as we start our third decade as a school. This is a short list of events that will make this a busy year:

transitioning to the new Learning Management Business Reform (LMBR) finance system
working with our school administrative and support staff through the Performance and Development Plan process
writing new school-based electives for Year 8 (2018)
developing our new 2018-2020 school plan in collaboration with students and parents
transitioning to a Positive Behaviour for Learning school as we develop a schoolwide consistent approach to establishing a quality learning environment
appointing a new deputy principal to replace Mr Steve Flew
moving to an online testing platform for NAPLAN (some schools only)
assisting the Year 9 cohort as the first to be required to meet a national minimum standard in literacy and numeracy in order to receive their HSC in 2020
reviewing both our canteen contract and uniform contract
continued planning for the anticipated enrolment growth at our school
continued emphasis on our Bring Your Own Device program
developing a culture within the school where teachers observe each other’s lessons through the Quality Teaching Rounds initiative

And the list goes on!

Since my arrival as principal, we have now seen a complete turnover in the senior executive. Although our three deputy principals are still relatively new to their positions, they have developed an excellent understanding of their roles and the grades they manage and our new senior executive team is working well to deliver our school plan. These are the grade responsibilities for our three deputy principals in 2017:

Ms Mel Scott – Year 7 and Year 10

Ms Denise James – Year 8 and Year 11

Ms Jo Tyson – Year 6, Year 9 and Year 12

Sources of Advice

Teachers work in partnership with parents. Our teachers have the knowledge of teaching and parents have the knowledge of their child. I encourage parents who have any questions or concerns to contact the school so that issues can be resolved quickly and fairly. As a large school, there are many sources of advice for parents who have questions:

Head Teachers and Year Advisers

Head Teacher – English, Mitchell Comans

Head Teacher – Mathematics, Tom Cordin

Head Teacher – Science, Jason Brame

Head Teacher – Social Sciences, Kim Foo

Head Teacher – History, Stephanie Haskett

Head Teacher – PD/H/PE, Michael Lane

Head Teacher – Home Economics, Carolina Marin

Head Teacher – Industrial Arts, Lee Miller

Head Teacher – Creative and Performing Arts,

Antonella Verter

Head Teacher – Welfare, Alison Randall

Head Teacher – Support Unit, Mary Lukose

Year 7 Advisers - Marija Miletic, Josh Dunn

Year 8 Advisers - Jenny Green, Christina Marks

Year 9 Advisers - Laura Cossetto, Katherine O’Malley

Year 10 Advisers - James Chandler, Lisa Saliba

Year 11 Advisers - Fleur Farah, Paul Hickey

Year 12 Adviser - Leighton Wren, Jane Carter

In the first instance, it is preferable to speak with the classroom teacher or subject-specific head teacher for classroom matters. For other issues, parents should contact the relevant year adviser who will be able to assist. We also have school counsellors and coordinators of other support programs including our diary program. It is always best to contact the school early if you have any questions or concerns.

I thank Ms Christine Charlton for her hard work as year adviser of the cohort in Year 10 this year. Ms Charlton has decided to step down from this role to focus on other responsibilities. The school will choose a new year adviser very soon.

I welcome Ms Laura Cossetto to her new role as Year 9 Adviser as she replaces Mr Daniel Dawkins. I know she will do a sensational job with Ms Katherine O’Malley in guiding, supporting and nurturing this year group.

HSC Results

I congratulate all of our teaching staff on another set of excellent HSC results. We are all very proud of the achievements of our most recent Year 12 group. In 2017, students at Cecil Hills HS received 42 x Band 6 results (a mark over 90%). In addition, our students received 185 x Band 5 results (a mark between 80% and 89%). The school’s HSC ranking in 2016 was 304th which positioned us higher than all other mainstream public schools in the Liverpool area. Our highest performing courses were both in the PD/H/PE faculty with Community and Family Studies and PD/H/PE receiving results significantly above the state average.

A special congratulations to Nathan Walker who received an ATAR of 98.40, the highest ATAR in the graduating class of 2016.

It has been a pleasure to hear from most of our HSC students and learn of the courses they received entry into and it is a testament to their collective hard work as a grade. In term of my introductory quote, it will be “as if we never said goodbye” when we celebrate the achievements of Year 12 (2016) at our Year 12 Recognition Evening which commences at 7pm on Wednesday, 15 February 2017.

New staff

There are a number of new teachers joining or returning to the Cecil Hills HS teaching staff in 2017. I would like to welcome the following teachers to our school:

PD/H/PE – Karina Fagan, Amy Preston
English – Elizabeth Baldacchino, Dragana Cekic, Mark Rakecki
Music – Tom Joannides
Technology and Applied Studies – Nicole Portelli, Shannon Flexman, Andrew Barned
Science – Pedro Recinos, Annie Ha, Darshi Amarasekera

I am pleased to announce that Mr Lee Miller has been appointed by merit selection as our new Head Teacher – Industrial Arts.

His appointment is subject to an appeal period in accordance with NSW Department of Education procedures and his exact starting date is yet to be confirmed. He will be responsible for leadership of the industrial arts faculty. Mr Miller comes to our school with a wealth of experience as a relieving head teacher and coordinator of a number of student leadership initiatives as Head Teacher – Leadership at Ashcroft High School. We are very excited to welcome Mr Miller to the Cecil Hills High School team.

Save the Date

Save the Date – Year 7 (2017) BBQ and Year 7 (2018) Information Evening.

An information evening for Year 7 (2018) will be held on

Monday, 20 February 2017. This will provide an opportunity for prospective parents and community members to learn more about our school and enjoy a guided tour of our state-of-the-art facilities. Ms Renee Havas and Mr Morgan Howard, our year advisers for this year group, will be coordinating the event in conjunction with Ms Jo Tyson, Deputy Principal. This will also coincide with our normal Year 7 BBQ. As a result, we invite both Year 6 (2017) and Year 7 (2017) students, parents and families to this double event!

P&C Meetings

Our first P&C meeting for 2017 will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 6 February 2017. There will be a repeat session at 9:30am on Thursday, 9 February 2016.

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

Supporting Anxious children