Principals Report

Lots to celebrate this term!

Henry Kendall High School has been one busy place throughout Term 2, as this newsletter will demonstrate. Along with a mountain of events there has been significant student achievement to be celebrated. I won’t detail these as they are outlined further on, however can I congratulate our student body and the staff that make these achievements possible – well done and I am, as always, extremely proud of this wonderful school.

Resilience In Our Teens Program

Our school is one of five schools in Australia that are investing in and are looking to implement a new initiative which has a focus on anxiety in schools called ‘Resilience In Our Teens’ (RIOT). As a school we have drawn on key information from Parent Shop, Psychologists, Principals and other schools within the Central Coast and Hunter region. 

The emphasis on this program is to provide dialogue and scaffolds that assist every staff member in supporting and addressing the issues of anxiety and resilience.

• The National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing conducted in 2007 found that an estimated 1 in 5 (20%) of Australians aged 16-85 experienced mental disorder in the previous 12 months.
• A quarter of all Australian girls aged 14-15 have had thoughts about self-harm in the past 12 months.
• The average age of anxiety disorder diagnosis is 11 years old.
• Two-thirds of anxiety derives from learnt behaviour.

Earlier this year initial research was conducted through staff surveys across the four schools involved in the program. Henry Kendall is the only school on the Central Coast. The information collated was revealing.

As teachers, we have seen a rise in anxiety levels in our kids and a reduction for many, in coping mechanisms. The aggregated baseline data in the graph above gives an indication as to the extent that student anxiety is affecting students ability to learn. The Resilience in Our Team initiative aims to support students in challenging anxious thoughts by providing them with the skills and resources they need. In time – and with more knowledge and understanding – it is expected that the extent that learning is being impacted will decrease.

In recent months, our core implementation team have been undertaking training to facilitate whole school implementation. On our Term 3 Staff Development Day all staff within the school will undertake a whole day training session with psychologists to equip us to better address an ever-growing concern in our young people. Later this year opportunities will be provided for parents to link into online sessions developed to raise parental understanding and ensure that our approaches in addressing anxiety are shared and holistic.

Subject Selection

Our preparations for our 2023 curriculum are now well underway with the subject selection process occurring for year 8 into 9 and year 10 into 11. These are important processes and I encourage students and parents to engage with as much information as possible.

Our two subject information evenings were well attended on the 2nd and 16th of June, and I hope that students and parents found these informative and useful in making decisions about the HSC years. Year 10 students need to ensure that they are aware of the different categories that HSC courses fall into and the implications these have on future pathways, including ATAR eligibility.

Year 10 students are reminded that the subject selection portal will close after your interview on Tuesday 19 July 2022.

Our Stage 5 Subject Information Evening was also extremely well attended, with the opportunity to choose subjects for the first time an exciting chance for our students to have some ownership. The process for Stage 5 is also online through the subject selection portal, which will close early next term.

Mr Andrew Backhouse

Principal