Principal's Report
P-TECH Program
Recognising the changing demands of the employment sector, and the challenge of preparing young people for the rapidly changing world they will enter into, educational partnerships beyond the school are now critical components of secondary education.
To this end Henry Kendall High School has formed a partnership with IMB International to engage with a program called P-TECH. P-TECH is a program initiated by IMB, and is now embedded in 200 schools across the globe, including 13 in Australia and 4 on the Central Coast.
This program signals an exciting opportunity to establish educational pathways in specific local industry growth areas. P-TECH in the Henry Kendall context will result in our school establishing industry partnerships with Central Coast Health District, IMB International and Central Coast Council.
As the Health Sector is the largest employer on the Central Coast region generating 17,170 FTE jobs in 2017/18 and growing rapidly with new hospitals and medical precinct in planning, Henry Kendall High School is ideally placed to form industry partnerships that will provide long term support to this development. The Henry Kendall P-TECH Partnership will give students real world relevance and connectivity in their educational development directly aligned with the growing demand for employability skills within the expanding Health Sector. It is an exciting and unique opportunity tailored specifically for the students of Henry Kendall High School.
Term 3 School Development Day
On the first day of Term 3, Henry Kendall High School will be combining with our partner schools for our annual Learning Community School Development Day. This day of high quality professional learning is highly anticipated on our annual calendar and provides access to renowned educational speakers, as well as sharing expertise from within our four schools. This year our development day is focused on staff well-being, and is being hosted by Gosford High School.
NSW SPC Conference
I recently attended the annual NSW Secondary Principal’s Council Conference in Manly. This important event provides extensive professional learning, as well as an important opportunity to share with colleagues and learn from the experiences and stories of fellow Principal’s. It brings together an extraordinary array of national and international speakers as well as the Minister for Education, the Secretary of the Department and various other professional associations.
The focus in this year’s conference was a close examination of the current future directions of education in NSW Australia and internationally.
Education policies and systems are in transition around the world, where burning questions are being asked as to the kind of education systems we need to meet the needs of future generations for a very different and rapidly changing world. Throughout the conference global issues were explored in depth and placed into context of what the educational policy and improvement landscape looks like for NSW.
Time was spent delving into key teaching and learning issues, including; how emotion affects the brains successful learning and what to do about it within schools; the importance of personalisation of learning design to ensure that instruction is focused on the needs of the learner; the importance of developing global competence and citizenship education in preparing young people for a future focused world; and philosophical goals about the purpose of education and what we are doing as Principal’s to reflect these in student learning.
This annual conference is a very important part of the professional learning I undertake. As teachers, and as a Principal, we are collectively striving to build the capacity for lifelong learning in our students. It is important that teachers model this concept and continually seek opportunities to extend our own learning; and as a community that you are given an insight into the learning we undertake.
Parents & Community Association
The P&C meets in the Nichols Meeting Room in the administration building at 7.00pm on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, with our next P&C meeting for 2019 being the Tuesday 20 August. I welcome all parents to join our P&C and take an active role in our school.
Mr Andrew Backhouse
Principal