The best school in NSW

Term One

As you fly over town

It gets harder to frown

And we'll all hit the heights

If we never look down

Let the past take a bow

The forever is now

And there's nowhere to go but up!

‘Nowhere To Go But Up’ by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

from ‘Mary Poppins Returns’

Assessments

At this time of the year, for most courses, assessment tasks are just being issued and have not been completed yet. In relation to formal assessment tasks, this means that everyone is on ‘equal first’ and everyone has an equal chance to show their full potential this year. In terms of my introductory quote, it means that there is ‘nowhere to go but up’ as their current formal assessment mark is 0% and everyone is equal. When you child receives an assessment task, it is important for them to read it fully, understand what is expected of them and start to map out their plan to tackle the assessment task immediately. Students get into a pickle when they leave assessment tasks to the last minute and therefore leave no time to talk with their teacher about the task. All of our assessment booklets are available online by clicking here. Each assessment booklet contains a list of the formal assessment tasks and proposed dates for each year group. I have included an example for Year 10. As parents, it is important to track these and help your child stay on track by asking about the task a few weeks before it is due, the week it is due and then the night before it is due to ensure your child is completing it.

Pedestrian Crossing and Traffic

After a very busy start to the year, traffic movement around the area is still very busy but seems to have settled into a manageable amount for our two pedestrian crossings to deal with. I appreciate that the new pedestrian crossing has caused some traffic flow issues, however, it does provide our students with a safer way to cross Frederick Road. I would ask parents not to park in the immediate vicinity of the school as this can cause unnecessary traffic delays. In addition, consider whether your child needs to be picked up from school at all. A few years ago, I walked from the furthest end of our drawing area in Bonnyrigg Heights back to Cecil Hills High School and it took me 35 minutes wearing a suit and carrying my bag. I appreciate that the far flung parts of our drawing in Kemps Creek and Badgerys Greek and a long way away, however, some of our closer students could be using this afternoon opportunity to complete their recommended 30 minutes of exercise.

School Fees

Cecil Hills High School enjoys significant support from our parent community. We are able to offer innovative and enriching opportunities that help us develop the whole child. Our hardworking staff provide many activities to support your child as "we believe in success". We are able to provide such programs to students through a strong commitment by our parents to paying school fees. We are very fortunate to have very high levels of parental support in this regard and as a result we are a well-resourced school with excellent facilities and technology.

Student invoices are currently being processed and will be emailed to all families. We ask that school fees are finalised to help us provide the best possible learning experiences for your child and facilitate a faster sign-out process at the end of the year. If you have changed your email address, please update your family details using the form attached and return it to the school office as soon as possible.

update of family details.pdf

We have a school expectation that school fees are paid before other items such as excursions and camps, and for Year 12, the jersey and formal.

Our secure payment page hosted by Westpac and linked to the school's website to make it easier for you to pay for school-related payments. We also have the following payment facilities:

Cash in person at our school office
EFTPOS at the school office

NSW State Election BBQ

As you participate in representative democracy on Saturday, 23 March 2019, please cast your vote in the NSW state election at Cecil Hills High School, enjoy our BBQ and help the P&C raise funds. We would be keen to hear from parents who can help supervise the BBQ during the day. If you could even spare half an hour, this is still absolutely beneficial. Please contact the school if you are able to help out on the day and we will pass your details onto our P&C.

Our P&C

On Monday, 4 March 2019, a new P&C executive was elected for our school. Thanks to Nguyen Nguyen, our outgoing P&C Vice President, who has served in this role for a number of years. We all thank you for your service to our school and community. Congratulations to the following who were elected as the new P&C executive:

Alfred Grasso, President
Elizabeth Seacy, Vice-President
Vesna Jeromin, Vice-President
Andrea Marambio, Treasurer
Dianne Vella, Secretary

I look forward to working with our new P&C throughout the year.

Our next P&C meeting will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 1 April 2019. There will be a repeat session at 9:30am on Thursday, 4 April 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