SECONDARY NEWS 

From the Assistant Principal 

Family Conferences

Family Conferences will be held on the following nights for students in Years 7 - 10.

• Year 7 - Monday 10 August
• Year 8 - Tuesday 11 August
• Year 9 -  Monday 17 August
• Year 10 - Tuesday 18 August

As in past years, parents are strongly encouraged to bring their child with them to take part in the conversation. The conferences will allow you to discuss your child’s progress with each of his/her subject teachers. Each meeting will be restricted to a five minute maximum per subject; this should allow all conferences to take place in the allotted time. Should there be a need for an extended discussion, arrangements can be made with the teacher concerned or with the Assistant Principal, Miss Bailey. 

The Family Conferences offer an opportunity for you to find out how your child is getting on with classmates, if there are areas in which they excel, any aspects which are causing difficulties, and what they can do at home to build on their strengths or to overcome any weaknesses. Teachers are helped considerably by getting to know parents and by gaining information from them that can enhance their child’s educational and social experiences. 

CHANGES DUE TO COVID-19

The health and safety of our school community are paramount and as such there are some notable changes to the procedures for attending our Family Conferences this semester. We have put measures in place to ensure that we remain vigilant in relation to physical distancing and hygiene.

The protocols are as follows:

• Interview times must be booked prior to attending the conferences – there can be no bookings made on the day.
  • Students will have a booking sheet and they will need to take this to their individual subject teachers prior to the day of the conference, book a time and record this for your reference.
  • Please bring the booking sheet with you so you can be punctual to all meetings.
• If you need to meet with a teacher for more than one subject you may need to book two time slots.
• The five minute time limit per subject will need to be strictly adhered to – a timer will be used to indicate when the allotted time has ended.
• Only the designated year group can attend each evening – we cannot have conferences with siblings in other year groups.
• Hand sanitiser will be available and seating will be spaced out according to COVID-19 regulations.
• If you feel uncomfortable about attending due to COVID-19 concerns please indicate this on the slip below. In this instance, your child’s Pastoral Care teacher will make contact with you to organise a time for a phone interview.

Notes have been sent home with students today. Please complete the attendance slip and discuss times with your child so they can book in with their subject teachers. Booking is essential so that we can ensure COVID-19 protocols are met. We look forward to seeing you at the conferences.

Please ensure that the attendance slip is returned, and bookings are made, by the due dates below.

• Years 7 & 8 - Wednesday 5 August
• Years 9 & 10 - Wednesday 12 August

Kids' Lit Quiz

Kids’ Lit Quiz is a major international literature competition that celebrates and rewards reading and literary knowledge. Teams of four students collaboratively answer 100 wide-ranging literary questions arranged in ten categories. Categories are unknown to students prior to the event.

Congratulations to Maggie Newton, Thomas Pearse, Caleb Squire and Lucy Wellard who acquitted themselves very well in the Kids' Lit Quiz Virtual Heats held last week via Zoom. Thanks to Mr Baz for organising the day and supervising the students.

Uniform

It is pleasing to note that most students are wearing the correct school uniform. It would be appreciated if these positive efforts were maintained. 

Students are reminded to check the lost property bin. There are a number of jackets and other pieces of clothing unclaimed from last term. Please clearly label all clothing with student’s names – this would enable items to be returned promptly. 

If students are not correctly attired they are required to present a note to their Pastoral Care teacher and to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

Practical Classes and Appropriate Footwear

It is essential that students have the correct footwear at all times for practical classes in specialist rooms. This includes classes held in the Industrial Technology Workshop, the Food Technology Room and the Science Labs. The school uniform policy states that students are required to wear enclosed black leather or strong vinyl school shoes.

Acceptable Black School Shoes

 Shoes should have substantial soles (a substantial sole should be able to tread on a thumb tack and not cause injury to the wearer). Shoes should have laces or a buckle or similar mechanism. Slip on shoes are not permitted and ballet style shoes and black volleys are not acceptable. 

 It is imperative that, as per WH&S regulations, students adhere to this rule.

If a Technology class is on a Thursday the students are expected to bring their black leather school shoes to change into for that lesson. Students will not be permitted to enter the workshop if they have incorrect footwear.

Year 10 Transition

Holy Trinity students commenced their transition activities last Friday with a visit by Mr Ryan from Macintyre High School and Mr Dal Santo from Inverell High School.

Holy Trinity School offers a transition to senior school/work program over the coming months. Students receive visits from representatives of both local high schools, followed up with visits to both Inverell High and Macintyre High. 

Year 10 students will attend Macintyre High School on Tuesday 4 August from 9.00 am till 1.00 pm and Inverell High School on Thursday 6 August from 9.00 am till 12.15 pm.

Students will be addressed by the staff from the schools, as well as a variety of guest speakers from TAFE, University and employers. Among other topics, students have the opportunity to discuss subject selections, school-based traineeships and apprenticeships, career choices, work opportunities and tertiary study options. 

SUBJECT SPECIFIC ADVICE

If you are finding a particular subject difficult, the first place you should seek help should be your classroom teacher.  Firstly ask questions in class as problems arise. If you find you have too many questions to ask in class (as you’d end up disturbing the class) then ask your teacher if you can make a time to see them before or after class or during lunch or after school. Teachers are happy to help students who do their best and are keen to improve. Other places you might be able to find help are: books or extra textbooks in the school or local library, other students in the class, students in older years, other teachers at the school, family members, family friends. If you try all of these options and are still having problems, then you might consider looking for a tutor. Often ex-students from your school who in Years 11 or 12 might be interested in doing some tutoring or even teachers at other schools. 

SKILLS AND THRILLS DIGITAL PARENTS SHOWCASE

The Skills and Thrills Digital Parents Showcase is an engaging and informative 20 minute video created to highlight Vocational Education and Training (VET) and the success stories that emanate from VET pathways.  The Digital Parents Showcase will help parents better understand vocational pathways, including apprenticeships/traineeships and school-based apprenticeships/traineeships, and gives parents the knowledge they need to help their children make informed career choices post-high school. 

SkillsOne has created a free video that parents can access to learn about the following;

• Apprenticeships and Traineeships
• TAFE/ Private Training Providers
• Industry trends
• Covid-19 impacts on industry
• Funding options available (Smart and Skilled)
• Vocational Education and Training (VET) Options: School -delivered VET, SBATs and EVET
• Where to find information
• Resources and support services

Supporting this video, SkillsOne will be holding a live-streamed Q&A panel discussion on the SkillsOne Facebook page on August 26 2020. Industry and education professionals will be available to answer parents’ pre-submitted questions. 

HOW PARENTS CAN ACCESS THE CONTENT:

• Content will only be available for a four week period from August 10 to September 4 2020. Content cannot be downloaded or saved, so must be watched during this time.
• To participate, parents need to pre-register their interest to receive viewing information and updates at https://www.skillsone.com.au/
• Content will be free for parents
• Live Q&A Panel discussion on August 26 (evening) on SkillsOne Facebook
• Parents can pre-submit any questions to do with careers/ industry to info@skillsone.com.au

Pastoral Care and Wellbeing 

COVID -19 

Students are reminded to follow the directions of staff with regard to COVID-19 protocols. The support from parents in ensuring that students remain vigilant and do not become complacent is greatly appreciated.

The protocols in place are as follows:

• Wash your hands with soap before eating
• Use sanitiser when entering the classroom
• Use a tissue when sneezing/coughing followed by washing your hands or use sanitiser
• Refill your water bottle only at the bubblers
• Do not touch the belongings of others or share food
• Keep your distance from others; hands off
• Obey the social distance markings
• Stay home if you are unwell.

STUDY SKILLS HANDBOOK NEWSLETTER ITEM FOR JULY

HELPING OUT A STRESSED CHILD

Many parents feel powerless to help when their child is stressed and overwhelmed about their schoolwork. It is not just senior students who experience this level of stress, research indicates that for some students this starts as early as Year 7.

If your child is experiencing stress and anxiety related to their schoolwork, here are some strategies you can try.

1. FIND OUT MORE: Try and discover what it is that is causing the most anxiety. Does your student feel anxious about tests or assignments? Are they struggling to plan and manage their workload? Are they finding a particular subject difficult? It is very difficult to address the issue until you really uncover what the issue is. If they do not want to discuss with mum and dad, you may find asking a teacher who they like and respect to talk to them may lead to a better outcome.
2. LET THE SCHOOL KNOW: Next talk to your child’s tutor or a teacher that is responsible for your child’s year group. You can either ask the school to investigate further and even take action to address the issue, or you can ask them to keep it confidential as you are just wanting to make them aware of the issue.
3. DECIDE STRATEGIES: Once the problem is clear, the next step is to decide what strategies to try (and you may need to try multiple strategies over time). You may have some ideas of things your child could try, you may find some ideas on the Study Skills Handbook site, or you may need to talk to teachers to learn from their expertise.
4. DON’T GIVE UP: If a strategy doesn’t work, then try something different.      Different people will have different suggestions so google or talk to lots of teachers or other parents about the issue and see if they have other ideas you could try.
5. CONSIDER EXTRA SUPPORT: Your child may need additional support. For example from a school counsellor, or a psychologist or a tutor. Make sure you are clear about the issue so you can find the right person to provide the additional support your child needs.   

Staff Email Addresses

The email addresses for Secondary staff members are listed should you need to make contact.