Principal 

 Welcome to Term 3 

I am very excited to return to the Relieving Principal role for the next 18 months, while Ben Higginbottom relieves as the Director Educational Leadership (DEL) - Hunter Network.

Education Week Awards 2024

It was my pleasure to be able to attend the 2024 Education Week Awards for our local Gateway Learning Community (GLC), Wednesday August 7. Once again FGHS hosted the event, and it was a wonderful tribute and celebration of Public Education. A huge thanks to Lynn Young and her team for her organisation of the event and collaborating with our GLC schools. The community of schools worked together to showcase our aboriginal dancers and combined choir. I was very proud to see our school leaders; Michael Jenkins and Matilda Higginbottom officiating the ceremony with their primary school peers. Award recipients for FGHS were:

Trial HSC Examinations

Year 12 students will sit their Trial HSC Examinations from August 20 to August 30. During this time students are not required to attend school. Students have been provided with an examination schedule. All examinations are held off-site at the Hexham Bowling Club and supervised by external NESA supervisors. This is to ensure that students are familiar with the expectations and the environment that they will experience when sitting the HSC Examinations in October. For most students this examination is the culmination of formal assessments for their course and is also the first time that they will participate in an examination with such rigor.

This can be a time of significant stress and anxiety for students and parents. Reach Out offers some great advice to support both students and parents during the time of the Trial HSC Exams and the HSC Exams. Information can be found through this link.

Areas of support include:

• Understanding exam stress
• Practical strategies for managing exam stress
• How to make a study schedule with your teenager
• Surviving Year 12: a parent’s guide to self-care
• How to help your teenager avoid distractions while studying

P & C Meeting for Term 3

I would encourage anyone interested to attend the Parents and Citizens Association Meeting. The P&C are an integral part of our school, controlling the school canteen and being a part of the decision-making process in whole school change and planning. We hold one meeting per term in the school library on a Monday from 6pm. This terms meeting will be held Monday September 9.

What's on in Term 3?

Many activities are on the school calendar for students, including:

• The Unisteps Program - involves various year groups, continuing our partnership with The University of Newcastle
• VALID Science Examinations for year 10 students in weeks 7 and 8. This is mandatory for students to engage in
• Aboriginal cultural programs - developing and maintaining strong connections to culture
• Impact Academy of Rugby League - nurturing the HPG physical domain in students
• Community BBQ - this event has become a termly one where our wellbeing team, the local Rotary Club and Police provide a BBQ breakfast for students and staff, to develop the relationship in our school and local community. This term the breakfast will be held on Friday September 20 before school.

e-Scooters

In NSW, it is illegal to ride a privately owned e-scooter on roads or road-related areas, including footpaths, shared paths, cycle ways and cycle paths. Privately owned e-scooters can only be ridden on private property.

Damien Brownsmith

Relieving Principal