Principal's Report

The Festival of International Understanding has come and gone for another 12 months and I am proud that Cowra High once again took an active role in this community event. With 5 Youth ambassadors (Maisie Thompson, Samuel Long, Victoria King, Iesha Reed and Shiayn Newham-Gregg), our Year 11 students played key roles in the Festival. Our students represented a variety of organisation such as Rotary, Lions and of course Cowra High. All the students raised funds for Nepalese charities and of course promoting the understanding of Nepal as part of our world.

Although we move to the final week of Term 1, the pace at Cowra High does not slow down. Week 11, the final week of the term, will involve a number of important events for our school.

Monday our students will have the opportunity to experience a presentation by Nick Newling. Nick is an Australian advocate for positive Mental Health. With the support of Cowra Council, we are able to have Nick provide a presentation for students in Years 7 to 9, then Years 10 to 12, where he will discuss his journey to positive mental health and the resources that are available to students to help them have and maintain positive mental health. Nick will then provide an information session for parents at St Raphael’s church hall in the evening. Students will receive a note outlining details shortly.

Wednesday will be our annual Athletics Carnival. I encourage every student to come along and get involved in this whole school event. Even if not an elite athlete, the Athletics Carnival is an opportunity to get involved, do your best and test your personal achievement. There will of course be a number of straight fun activities, but if you can run 100m or jump, then you can compete and enjoy the spirit of sportsmanship.

Finally, we finish the term with our first parent/teacher interviews for the year. This is an ideal opportunity to come along and discuss your child’s progress. Bookings will again be via an online process. Students were issued with a note on Tuesday with a unique login key for you to book times to meet with your child’s teachers. This proved to be very successful last year and we hope it will be even more so this year with our new online platform.

Charles Gauci

Principal

PBL

Congratulations to our wonderful students who have been rewarded for their respectful and responsible behaviour.

We would like to thank our PBL sponsors: Mr Embroidery Cowra, Bushman's Boots and All Cowra, Subway Cowra, Domino's Pizza, Sportspower Cowra and McDonald's Cowra. Your ongoing support is fantastic and our students really appreciate it!

Meet the 2018 SRC

As SRC Coordinator, I am very pleased and excited to introduce our new Cowra High School Student Representative Council members for 2018.

This aspiring group are those students who on behalf of their peers act as the voice of the classmates, bringing forward ideas and initiatives that will benefit all involved in the Cowra High School community.

The hopes for 2018 are plenty. Firstly, students will be given the opportunity to collaborate with other SRC members from neighbouring schools to learn skills such as leadership, public speaking, problem-solving, teamwork, decision making, communication, relationship building, project management and planning.

The SRC aim to:

- Develop a student-led network that highlights to the Cowra community the positive activities and endeavours occurring within the school.

- Facilitate the introduction of a water bottle refill station.

- Improve the safety of student bicycles (bicycle rack).

- Implement school programs that will benefits students of CHS.

- Support local charities (Footy Colours Day, Genes 4 Jeans Day, Beanies for Brain Cancer).

- Attend SRC conferences to progress structure, meetings, school ideas.

Plus much more. Stay tuned!

Mental Health First Aid

A Mental Health First Aid Course was held over 2 days in Cowra on March 28 & 29.

As a course participant I learnt how to approach, assess and assist a person who may be experiencing a mental health problem, and how to encourage them to seek professional help and support. Information was provided on common mental health issues including Anxiety and Depression. The information provided in the course will hopefully allow me to have a better understanding of mental health and its impact on individuals, particularly in relation to adolescents in the school setting.

Thanks to Di Gill from the Rural Adversity Mental Health program (RAMHP) and Vanessa Kendall from CentaCare for conducting the course in Cowra.

Di St Clair

Year 10 Adviser