Setting high standards
Whistle down the wind
Let your voices carry
Drown out all the rain
Light a patch of darkness
So whistle down the wind
For I have always been right there
‘Whistle Down The Wind’ by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman from ‘Whistle Down The Wind’
Farewells
In very exciting news for Mrs Denise James but very sad news for Cecil Hills High School, I can announce that Mrs James has been appointed via merit selection to the position of Principal at Bulli High School. Mrs James has been an extremely effective leader in our school since 2015 and has contributed so positively to our school in so many different areas. We both started at Cecil Hills High School within a short period of time and she has been my longest serving deputy principal, providing extensive support to me and the senior executive team. This is an incredibly well-deserved promotion and Mrs James is excited to take on this new role but is of course very sad to leave our school. I know that Bulli High School will benefit from her wisdom, strong leadership, extensive knowledge and commitment to student learning. In terms of my introductory quote, Mrs James has always been there for all of our students and has been a true source of light in our school. As she whistles down the wind all the way to the beach at Bulli, we wish Mrs James all the best for her principalship. Mrs James will start on Day 1, Term 2. We all know she will do an amazing job at Bulli High School and she leaves a legacy at Cecil Hills High School which will be remembered for a long time.
Mrs Julia Cremin will be the Deputy Principal for Year 12 for the remainder of their HSC journey. Mrs Cremin has led a number of Year 12 groups as Deputy Principal at her previous school and our HSC cohort will benefit from her leadership. We will make decisions in relation to the Deputy Principal for Year 9 in due course.
Mr Andres Vargas has been our Technical Support Officer (TSO) for a significant amount of time and has performed exceptionally in this role. Mr Vargas has made an extraordinary mark on Cecil Hills High School. He spent his first years here as a student himself and then even longer as the World's Best TSO. Mr Vargas has been our resident Mr Fix It, computer programming, website designer, app designer, software engineer and social media expert. He has been responsible for our world-famous Christmas videos. We are very fortunate that Mr Vargas has done a wonderful job inducting our new TSOs. Mr Vargas will be sorely missed and we wish him all the best in the next chapter of his career.
Strategic Improvement Plan
The school executive has been busy creating our 2021-2024 Strategic Improvement Plan. All NSW public schools are currently undertaking this process. We have three strategic directions with two major initiatives in each:
These initiatives will drive our work over the next few years.
World Sleep Day
Australia celebrated World Sleep Day on 19 March 2021. It is essential for young people to have quality sleep each night to ensure they can reach their academic potential. 40% of Australians report having inadequate sleep and for half of these people, the reason is not prioritising sleep. I recently read this article on ways to fall and stay asleep.
CHAMP Points
A massive 28,607 CHAMP points have already been issued to students so far this year. Using the Sentral portal, parents and students are able to view information on:
- number CHAMPS points received
- teachers who have issued CHAMP points
- reasons for receiving CHAMP points
We will provide parents with an overview of the Sentral portal at our next Parent Information Session at 6:30pm on Monday, 3 May 2021.
Recognition letters
In Term 1 and Term 3, our teachers nominate students for recognition letters. Parents should receive these letters soon. It is always wonderful to recognise students who demonstrate our FOCUS values of being respectful, responsible and successful in class.
Reading
Home reading is essential for academic success. These are some tips for including reading in the family home:
- Always have books around the home.
- Visit your local library.
- Read about something you are interested in.
- All reading is good – reading can include fiction, magazines or comics.
- Set up a comfortable place in your home for reading.
- Talk about the book you are reading – the characters, the storyline, the setting.
- Increase reading, decrease screening.
- Have a book with you when you know you will have spare time – waiting at a medical centre, waiting at soccer training, catching public transport.
- Read with your children before they go to bed.
- Model the importance of reading by regularly reading yourself in front of your children.
Parent Information sessions
Our first online Parent Information Session for 2021 was an enormous success with over 60 parents logging in. Our next Parent Information Session will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 3 May 2021. These sessions are typically 30 minutes. This will be followed by a short P&C meeting for those who wish to stay 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