Celebrating our students

Principal's Report

It's ground-breaking

Earth-shaking

Life-affirming

Breath-taking

Gut-wrenching

Heart-aching

In two words it's history-making

'Changing Lives" by Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar from 'The Prom'.

Year 12

There are only four more weeks at school for our Year 12 students.  In terms of my introductory quote, the entire high school journey is certainly life-affirming, gut-wrenching and history-making and our wonderful Year 12 students are nearly there.  It is vitally important that Year 12 work with their teachers in the next four weeks to complete past papers, seek feedback and improve their syllabus understanding.  We look forward to celebrating the end of their time at school in Week 10, Term 3 with our graduation ceremony and formal, before we wish them the best for their exam preparation.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

As a BYOD school, we require all students to bring their devices every day.  This is an important part of our school plan and Strategic Direction #2: ‘flexible, future-focused and innovative teaching practices’.  You can find a copy of our school plan here and on our school website.   It is important that we teach students using technology so that our students have an edge when they enter the world of work. 

The last few weeks, our teachers have received training in the use of a number of new apps, websites and programs which are among 90+ digital tools in the NSW Department of Education’s new Digital Selector Toolkit which you can read about here.  We will continue to provide professional learning to teachers on digital tools but we require students to bring their devices to support their own learning.  We have Year 11 and Year 12 students using Edrolo for a number of courses to help their HSC progress and this is an example of how we are using technology to improve student outcomes.

Our online BYOD portal  is run by HP and offers an entry-level laptop for $415 which can be paid off over 24 months interest free.  This equates to less than $4 a week.  The device only weighs 1.27kg.  In the past, just as schools required students to bring a pencil case and book to class, we now add a device to the list as this is an essential 21st century learning tool.

SASS Recognition Week

This week is SASS Recognition Week where we celebrate and value our school administrative and support staff.  This includes our school learning support officers, front office staff, library, technology & applied studies, science and careers assistants, business manager, general assistant and school administrative managers.  On behalf of our teaching staff, I extend our warmest thanks to our amazing SASS staff who work tirelessly each and every day to make sure our school is successful.

Helping At Home

At our most recent CHAMP assembly, I challenged students to reflect on how they help at home.  It’s important for young people to contribute to the running of their family home.  In my discussions with parents, more responsibility can be given to young people including chores and helping with household routines.  I encourage parents to establish these expectations in the home.

Technology At Home

In further discussions with parents, a number of students routinely use their mobile phones as an alarm clock. 

Parents of my vintage may recognise a traditional alarm clock radio:

Children should always check their mobile phone in with their parents each night before bedtime, as having a mobile phone in the bedroom overnight can lead to distractions, interrupted sleep and unsafe behaviour.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Mr Andres Vargas, our wonderful Technical Support Officer, who was awarded with a T4L Award recently for developing our Connect app. 

The software supports teachers to track student data and deliver student learning sessions through our morning Connect program.  This is a prestigious award from the NSW Department of Education and I know you will join me in congratulating Mr Vargas on this significant achievement.

Parenting Resource

Access the schooltv.me website here. It contains a wealth of parenting information covering numerous topics and this month’s focus is positive parenting.  It is a very useful resource that is worth accessing.

Celebrating the talents of our Visual Arts and Music students

What an amazing evening as we celebrated the official opening of our exhibition last night at the Club Marconi, showcasing the development of student skills from the nascent and playful Year 7 works using colour theory which culminated to the more sophisticated portraiture works of senior students.

The exhibition is evidence of the skill and dedication of the CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) staff led by Antonella Verter.  The student art exhibition will be open to the public at the Club Marconi until Thursday, 5 September 2019.  It's certainly worth a visit.

Showcase Event

To our Year 12 students - Wow! what an amazing night of entertainment.  You were just fabulous. 

Congratulations to each and every one of you. There were many special moments.

To make any performance a reality takes passionate and committed people in every aspect of the show.  On this note,  I would like to especially acknowledge the dedication of Mr Darren Abbott. This Showcase event would not have been possible without his vision and drive to create the greatest performance possible, working tirelessly behind the scenes - teaching students not only how to perform, but how to have fun and be confident in doing it.

P&C Meetings

Our next P&C meeting will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 2 September 2019.  There will be a repeat session at 9:30am on Thursday, 5 September 2019.

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