Welcome to another great term of learning

We've got magic to do

Just for you

We've got miracle plays to play

We've got parts to perform

Hearts to warm

Kings and things to take by storm

As we go along our way

Farewells

At the end of last term, we farewelled Ms Christina Kennedy who has taken up a newly created Student Support Officer role at Canley Vale High School. We thank Ms Kennedy for her service to Cecil Hills in the CAPA faculty over a number of years and in particular, for all her hard work as Year 11 Adviser. 

In addition, Mr Miguel Hollero, one of our school counsellors, has taken up a similar position in another system.  I would like to thank Mr Hollero for his expertise in supporting our students and their wellbeing.

New Staff

We welcome two new staff members who have joined us in Term 4.  Welcome to Mr Jimmy Bellavia who was successful at merit selection in being appointed as our new Head Teacher – Administration.  Mr Bellavia comes to us from Chester Hill High School where he held the same position.  

We also welcome Ms Natasha Palumbo who is a senior Science teacher who comes to us from Bossley Park High School.  I look forward to working with our new staff.

As Ms Christina Kennedy has moved to her new position, we welcome Ms Carol Campbell who has been appointed as our new Year 11 Adviser, and joins Mrs Jenny Green in supporting this year group.

At Cecil Hills High School, we choose our year advisers very early to support the transition process from primary to high school.  As previously announced, Ms Karina Fagan and Ms Amy Preston are the year advisers for Year 7 in 2021.  

After an internal selection process, I am pleased to announce that Mr Josh Banks and Ms Rania Zaidan will be the year advisers for Year 7 in 2022.  I am very proud of our wonderful team of year advisers who do everything they can to make sure our students have the best possible high school experience. 

Pedestrian Crossing and Traffic

I would be interested in gaining feedback from parents and community members about their experiences of traffic in the local area before and after school and the pedestrian crossings near the school.  In particular, I am interested in any issues involving safety, as this will assist me in raising your concerns with various bodies.  Your feedback can be emailed to cecilhills-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au.

Higher School Certificate

Best wishes to our HSC students who started their examinations this week.  In order to maximise success, HSC students should:

• answer all questions
• write in as much detail as possible
• check their answers
• use all the time available for the exam and not finish early

In terms of my introductory quote, Year 12 always produce a bit of “magic” for us and we are always impressed with their HSC results.  We look forward to seeing their performance at the end of the year.

School Attendance

We have seen a marked improvement in school attendance which is wonderful.  If a student has just one day off school, they miss 300 minutes of learning which can never be experienced ever again.  As a school, we are aiming for 100% attendance.

Reading Every Day

Students should always have a novel to read to help improve their literacy skills.  I recently finished reading The Lord of The Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring and enjoyed the opportunity to engage with the characters, visualise the setting and think deeply about the storyline.  I plan on watching the movie (again) as a reward for finishing this very long novel.  As parents, encourage your children to read by reading yourself and modelling the importance of this activity. 

Most of these have stood the test of time.

I personally plan on making my way through this list of books, some of which I have already read (and even taught as an English teacher) and others I have not.

2021-2024 Strategic Improvement Plan

In Term 3, our staff worked on a situational analysis which will be the basis for writing our 2021-2024 Strategic Improvement Plan.  We expect to focus on the following important themes:

1. student growth and attainment
2. quality teaching
3. wellbeing

We will be incorporating recent feedback from the staff, student and parent versions of the Tell Them From Me survey in our planning.  I would like to thank the significant number of parents who completed this survey and provided feedback.

Congratulations Jarrod!

Another feat by Jarrod Carluccio - ex-student and member of staff on securing a one year scholarship with the Western Sydney Wanderes A-league team. 

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, 2 November 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