Principal 

There Is No Place Like Home

As regular readers know, I spent Term 1 working for the Department as a Director, Educational Leadership. While I enjoyed the role, I am very happy to be back at school working alongside our amazing staff and students.

What excites me about working at Francis Greenway High School is the opportunities that our staff provide for students, both in structured learning and extra curricula activities. For example:

• Year 10 students travelled to see a live performance of Romeo & Juliet in Sydney.
• Senior biology students are visiting the Museum of Human Disease in Sydney.
• Aboriginal students have engaged in 'Rising of the Embers' cultural festival, attended a leadership camp at Murrook and the Write it Right cultural learning program.
• We had a fantastic attendance rate for our athletics carnival, despite the wet weather.
• English and Mathematics staff have commenced implementation of the next phase of our explicit teaching strategies.
• HSIE staff are busy planning for our enterprise days, where students get to plan and test their business ideas with whole school lunchtime market stalls.
• Winning the NSW School Sport Unit Boccia Competition Maitland - Secondary Division - we wish the team all the best at the state titles.
• In the first three weeks of the term, there were 37 different excursions provided for students. These include sporting competitions or participation, industry visits, university visits, and other off-site 'real world' learning experiences.

Thank you to all staff who work beyond their classroom in support of students. I must also congratulate our students on the way they represent themselves and their school. I receive regular feedback from staff and community members about the exemplary conduct and cooperation of our students.

Budget

It has been widely reported in the media that public schools have had their funding allocation reduced this year. While we started the year with a reduction in funding allocation for operations, an additional reduction has been applied to all schools, announced in April 2024. We will review our planned spending and staffing model for the year. We do take this opportunity to inform you of just a small sample of the spending choices we have made to support your children:

• we have funded a brand new school hoodie for every student - we expect students to wear full school uniform every day.
• we fund all curriculum based and Departmental sporting events for students.
• the school provides free transport to events when possible through our school funded vehicles - the 25 seat bus, 12 seat bus, and 5 seat vehicle.
• we have provided for every classroom in the school to have access to 'smart' boards and every teacher to have access to the computing devices they need.
• the school has purchased laptops to loan to students.
• we employ additional staff above our department funded allocation to support students wellbeing, student learning support, administration and technology support.

Parents and Citizens Group

The Annual General Meeting for our Parent and Citizens Group is on Monday 24 June, 2024 - 6:00pm in the Learning Hub (library). This is your opportunity to contribute to the planning and decision making processes of the school. For further information, please contact our Community Liaison Officer, Lynn Young, at the school.

Parental Support

Are the adults in charge? Much has been written and spoken about recently across the nation, and indeed the world, about the mental health and behaviour crisis gripping our young people. Governments are suggesting changes to legislation, for example, banning social media for young people under certain ages. We know that physical activity involvement is reducing in younger age groups compared to when parents were children. We encourage parents to act now, not wait for legislative support, in making sound and supportive decisions for their children. Use the information and evidence already available.

Australian Physical activity guidelines provide recommendations for physical activity, recreation and screen time and sleep; including:

• At least 1 hour of moderate to vigorous activity involving mainly aerobic activities per day.
• Vigorous activities should be incorporated at least 3 days per week.
• Strength based activities at least 3 times per week.
• Several hours of light activities per day.
• No more than 2 hours a day of sedentary screen time.
• 14 to 17 years: 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night.

Noting, the screen time recommendation includes use of a mobile phone. While mobile phone use during school hours is banned, parents must take control of their child's mobile phone use outside of school hours. We have long recommended parents take mobile phones and devices off children up to age 17 at approximately 8:00pm every night - including weekends. This will provide students the best opportunity for quality sleep. In almost every conflict we have assisted students with at school, inappropriate use of mobile phone and/or social media is involved.

Thankfully, we have had a growing number of parents telling us they are taking control of their child's mobile phone and social media use, examples have included:

• some parents have not allowed their child to have a phone at all (this is increasing).
• some parents have held the phone for all but 2 hours of an afternoon.
• some parents are providing 'dumb' phones only that have no internet access, just SMS and call services.
• many parents are taking their child's phone during night hours, to allow their children to sleep without disruption.
• many parents are checking their child's social media and camera roll to ensure appropriate use.

If you would like further advice and support, we have a range of staff who regularly engage in the current research and literature around supporting adolescence health. Please contact the school and we will refer your enquiry to the most suitable staff member or external agency.

Ben Higginbottom

Principal