FROM THE PRINCIPAL
We recently welcomed Sharon Brown who is in Student Services/Front Office. Sharon's arrival has enabled us to release Sue Goodman to undertake the significant work associated with the year 7 and 8 students who will commence in our school at the beginning of 2022.
Delphine Cantin has taken on the role of Coordinator for Mathematics for the remainder of 2021.
Following our International Bacculaureate Organisation (IBO) authorisation process in late term 2, we have received confirmation that we are able to deliver the International Baccaleaurate Diploma Programme (IBDP) commencing in 2022. This program provides
our students with the opportunity to undertake the full IBDP two year course as well as SACE students undertaking one IBDP subject counting towards their SACE. The IBDP has a number of underpinnings common to all of the four IBO programmes. Of significance is the Learner Profile. The Profile identifies ten aspects that position people to be internationally minded, recognising our common humanity and a shared responsbility to care for our planet all in the interests of creating a better and more peaceful world. The Learner Profile will become a touch stone for our whole school as we strive for our students to be:
- Inquirers
- Knowledgeable
- Thinkers
- Communicators
- Principled
- Open Minded
- Caring
- Risk-Taskers
- Balanced
- Reflective
Further information about the Learner Profile can be found at here.
Aberfoyle Park High School is one of three schools that is involved in Occupational Therapy training. Our staff will be undertaking three 2-hour workshops. The first one occurred on 17 August. The focus of the professional learning is Supporting Student's Development of Regulation. Self-regulation is a key skill that everyone needs and it can be developed. As teachers, we explored some of the strategies we can use with students to assist us and them in recognising emotional escalation. In working with secondary age students we know that our students are at varying degrees in being able to recognise their emotions and responses as the part of the brain, prefrontal cortext, which is related to thinking, logic, decision making and evaluating is undergoing significant change through adolescents and continuing until young people reach their mid-20's.
We all have different levels of awareness of the signals our body sends us to indicate that we are moving into a time of heightened emotional escalation. What resonated for me was the need for having unconditional positive regard for all of our students and how to demonstrate this through empathy and listening. This means that as a school we need to create an environment where all of our students feel valued regardless of their behaviours. Positive connections and relationships underpin self-regulation strategies.
Following our first workshop, we held the second one on Friday 3 September starting our Student Free Day. The remainder of the Student Free Day saw staff undertake further work in developing and documentating the curriculum across years 7 to 10 to ensure we are well prepared when year 7 students join us in 2022.
As our country grapples COVID-19, we find ourselves in a position where there are only relatively few restrictions in South Australia. It is still a requirement that students and teachers wear facial masks inside teaching spaces and buildings. Our parent/teacher interviews will be conducted face-to-face on Tuesday 21 September, subject to no further restrictions. It is still a requirement that all visitors to the school log in with the QR code to support contact tracing. A reminder that if students are not well they should not be at school.