Cecil Hills High School Newsletter

What's going on!

Principals Report

And the proof is quite clear

Let us bring Jasper here

To be tried and then tied up and strung!

 

And from this limerick

Let him be hung!

 

“Out on a Limerick” by Rupert Holmes from

‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bar0Smze_TY

Online Payments

Our school has now successfully transitioned to the new finance system developed by the NSW Department of Education.  We appreciate the understanding and patience of parents as we have managed this move.  We are now accepting payments once again and by far the most convenient method for parents is through our school website, www.cecilhillshigh.nsw.edu.au, under the “make a payment” button.

Excursions

One aspect of this new finance system is that excursions organisation is much more automated with deadlines.  We will work with students to help them become more organised in paying for excursions as we sometimes have students who pay for events on the day.  Under this new finance system, we will close off the excursion a few days prior to the excursion and it is important for students to adhere to payment deadlines.

Subject Selection

It was amazing to see hundreds and hundreds of families attend our combined Year 8/10 into Year 9/11 subject selection evening a few weeks ago.  Our teachers enjoyed providing detailed information on subject choices and the event was well-received by parents.  We will be implementing a new step for Year 10 students to confirm their subject choices, which will be a parent and student interview on Tuesday, 5 December 2017.  Year 10 parents are asked to save the date for now and further details will be provided later in the year.

NAPLAN Results

It was very pleasing to see our NAPLAN results for 2017.  We will spend considerable time analysing our results, however, this provides an overview of the 2017 results:

  • The trend data is positive in almost all areas, meaning that our Year 7 and Year 9 students have performed better than in previous years.
  • Year 7 writing was one of our best areas, being above both the state and Department of Education average in 2017.
  • Year 7 spelling has improved sharply, being well above the Department of Education average and very close to the state average.
  • Year 9 writing has improved every year since 2014.
  • Year 9 grammar and punctuation has improved sharply when compared with the results in 2016.

Year 9 students who did not pre-qualify for the HSC minimum standard for literacy and numeracy through a Band 8 result will have additional opportunities to meet this standard in Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12 and beyond.  This will be through an online test conducted twice a year and we will provide further information in the future.  In terms of my introductory quote, please note that no student will be disadvantaged for not knowing a limerick, spelling list or punctuation rule.  We will be working proactively with students to ensure they are capable of meeting this standard and attain their HSC.

P&C Meetings

Our next P&C meeting for 2017 will be at 6:30pm on Monday, 4 September 2017 with a repeat session at 9:30am on Thursday, 7 September 2017.  We always welcome input and feedback from parents and community members to ensure we are considering your perspectives when making decisions.

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