High expectations, continued success

Oh, the thinks you can think

If you're willing to try

If you open your mind

Oh, the thinks you will find

Lining up to get loose

by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty from ‘Seussical’

Youth Worker

Welcome to Jonathan Brancati who has been appointed as our new Student Support Officer (Youth Worker). Jonathan comes to us with previous experience in a similar role at another school and has been working hard getting to know our students.  

This is part of an initiative from the NSW Department of Education to improve mental health and wellbeing in schools.  He is very much looking forward to supporting our students.  Welcome to Jonathan!

HSC Preparation

It is important for Year 12 students to focus on study and revision at this time.  We have created an online bank of multiple choice question and answer sheets to help students revise.  

Students can log into this resource with their DoE username and password.

Homework Every Day

Every student should complete some form of homework every day.  This encourages good learning habits.  One of the best ways to improve is to reflect on your learning.  There is a study notes template available on our school website.

 A simple way for students to write study notes is to answer this question for each lesson of the day:   “What three things did I learn in this lesson?”

Mnemonics

In terms of my introductory quote, the brain is an amazing part of the body and it is interesting to reflect on the “thinks you can think” when you “open your mind”.  A mnemonic is a way of encoding information and providing retrieval cues to help students recall information.  Examples are 'Never Eat Soggy Weetbix' for the compass points and 'Roy G. Biv' for the colours of the rainbow.  From an early age, we all learned to place 26 bits of information into a specific order and then remember that order the rest of our lives through the 'Alphabet Song', because music can also serve as a mnemonic.  Research shows that brain tricks such as mnemonics can have a significant impact on learning.

School Attendance

We now have staff members with additional responsibilities in terms of supporting attendance.  You may receive a telephone call to discuss your child’s attendance at school.  If a student has just one day off school, they miss 300 minutes of learning which can never be experienced ever again.  There is no substitute for face-to-face learning.  As a school, we are aiming for 100% attendance.

School Administrative and Support Staff Recognition Week

This week is SASS Recognition Week where we recognise our front office staff, library assistants, kitchen assistants, science assistants, support unit teacher aides, mainstream teacher aides, general assistants, cleaners, gardeners and SASS leaders. They make our school a fantastic place to work and learn every day. 

P&C Meetings

Our P&C meetings are run as information sessions for parents and we value your input to help us with our decision-making.  Our next meeting will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 

7 September 2020 and will occur online. 

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