Principals Report 

 Guyra Central School - One Student at a Time

A big congratulations to all of our Year 12 students. The wait is over! I am very happy to report that students at Guyra Central School continue to have success in the HSC (Higher School Certificate) Examinations.  During 2018 12 Students successfully completed their HSC at Guyra Central School 2018 and in the areas of Chemistry, Industrial Technology, PDHPE, Metals and Engineering subjects our students performed better than the state average.

A significant number of our students achieved Band 5 results in a range of subjects : Biology, Business Studies, Dance, English Advanced Mathematics Extension 2, Modern History, Music, Visual Arts.

We have also had a number of students who have received early entry to University across N.S.W for  2019. Good luck to those students who are eagerly awaiting University offers.

We continue to offer a variety of subjects and during 2018 20 HSC Subjects were offered at Guyra Central School.

I am pleased to be able to announce the new Deputy Principal of Guyra Central School. Timothy Lloyd, currently Head Teacher HSIE at Lithgow High School.

Please welcome Tim, his wife Melinda and their three children to our school. Tim has had experience at Executive level across several Central Schools as well as in a Secondary setting. He has also had significant experience as a relieving Deputy Principal.

Principal's Address - Presentation Night 2018

We gather here again this evening to celebrate equity and excellence. Now I know that this can mean different things to different people. So just to give some clarity, at Guyra Central School this means providing every student with the right amount of support and encouragement and human and physical resource to maximise their chances to thrive and achieve. At Guyra Central School we strive to offer a personalised and relationship based approach to learning, and intend to continue to broaden our assessment practices during 2019, to ensure that no student is ever ‘locked out’ of their learning. What do I mean by this? Our aim is to create authentic learning experiences where our children engage in real life learning, present that learning to an audience using their preferred learning modes, and understand how their learning can transfer and adjust to a variety of learning experiences, both in the school and beyond the school gate, and across time. By broadening assessment we create more variety and individualised learning. Children get to demonstrate and build confidence around their learning and present their evidence in a passionate way. As a staff we will be undertaking a range of professional learning to support these changes. I would like to take the time to thank our Executive for their work during 2018 and congratulate them on the planning that has already be done to lead the professional understanding around Assessment for Learning during 2019. 

We have forged many great partnerships during 2018. Our newest is with The University of Sydney and includes a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Program. Our Year 5-8 students will be engaging in a range of activities, during 2019. These activities are purpose built to stretch their brains, increase their appreciation for creative thought and strengthen their confidence in pursuing design processes as a blueprint for life. Congratulations to our STEM team for the enormous amount of preparation that has already been completed, to provide these opportunities for our kids. We will provide a parent STEM engagement timeline during 2019 so that you can come into the school and play alongside your child. We have on loan from the NSW Department of Education Tablet based Robotics Kits for use across our K-12 setting during Term 1. An evaluative process will be student led towards the end of Term 1 and the school will purchase our own equipment based on student feedback. We will continue to provide updates through the online newsletter and school Facebook page.

The school’s partnership with the COSTA group continues into 2019. Our project based learning program that revolves around the primary quad is now back on track and I look forward to updating you all around the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program 2019 for our junior students. Our plans for this program have bubbled and grown during 2018 and now link with our Positive Behaviour for Learning programs around the school. That is Pride, Respect and Responsibility.

We are proud to have partnered with many organisations and businesses during 2018 from within Guyra and from across NSW. We thank our local organisations for their ongoing support. To all of our businesses who have provided support for our work experience students and School Based Traineeships, we thank you. We could, also, not have run the school effectively without the support from our Regional Council, the Guyra Police and our Ambulance service. We have built solid relationships with these essential services over the years and it is important that their commitment to our kids is acknowledged. Our school would not grow and thrive, as it has done during 2018, without the support of this amazing community. Please join with me also to acknowledge the great work of our P & C and our Canteen Committee. We have a small and very hard working Parents and Citizens Association who are always looking for new energetic members.

Thank you.

During 2019 we have responded to the need to create two Year 7 classes and two Year 8 classes. We continue to have healthy growth in student numbers across the K-12 setting and have welcomed several new families into our school for 2019.

I would like to acknowledge the work of our Student Representative Council and in particular our Student Leaders. Please hear it from me first, these guys are really keeping us on our toes, Bronte Stanley and BJ Cameron meet with me at 10.00 am each Monday morning. They bring with them, usually three pages of feedback from the K-12 student leaders. The meeting goes a little like this, Okay now this is what we agreed on last Monday, Where are we up to with this, have you ordered these things, what did the P & C say about this idea Oh! And here is a comprehensive audit of every classroom. What needs fixing, what new furniture we need, and the list goes on; I can’t tell you how proud I am of this leadership team. They are organised and switched on, student Voice is an extremely powerful tool and I celebrate every day the confidence of our student leadership team. It would be pertinent to celebrate everything that is Sarah Steele at this point, Ms Sarah Steele, our Year 12 Advisor 2018 and has lead the SRC with Mr Terry Curran and Ms Jessica Davidson. Ms Sarah Steele is leaving us to take up a new position in Narramine, something about wanting to live in the same place as her husband. Not good enough Sarah, you will be greatly missed.

Thank you to our outgoing Junior Captains, Jada Alefosio and Oscar Atkin for their outstanding leadership,  we welcome our new Junior Captains Sophie Mitchell and Aukustino Alefosio.

I am extremely proud to have the opportunity to lead this great learning team and embrace being in a setting that is small enough to offer personalised learning opportunities and big enough to offer an impressive range of professionally led, well resourced, face-to-face delivered subjects. We boast a very knowledgeable and creative team. We have the ultimate privilege to educate and interact with your whole family which I think this is perhaps our greatest strength, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our teaching team and support staff.

As most of you would know Ms. Davis has been appointed as the new Principal at Emmaville Central School 2019. Gill, thank you from all of us. You work tirelessly to ensure that all students get a fair go. You are so clever and have so many skills and possess a disposition that all leaders aspire too. Your loyalty and commitment to this school is mammoth, you leave a great legacy and you will be very missed at the school. 

Have a great Christmas everyone and I hope that your New Year is happy and prosperous. Stay safe everyone and we will catch up again soon.

Mrs Michelle Nicholson

Prinicipal