Principal Report

What a Term!!

As we near the end of term one I can certainly say that the school year is well underway, and for Henry Kendall High it has been a very hectic but really positive term. The past weeks have been characterised by numerous excursions, excellence on sporting fields, strong achievements in the Lions Youth of the Year, student leadership initiatives, demanding assessment tasks in the senior years, fantastic selection into the Central Vision art exhibition, recognition and celebration of our cultural diversity in our harmony day event, intensive evaluation of teaching strategies and curriculum development by staff, our school and zone swimming carnival’s, Study Skills Days, Wellbeing Days, Year 7 camp, many parent information evenings, Year 12 examinations, and projects with our partner schools – WOW!

Central Vision Achievements

Friday 24 March saw the opening of the prestigious Central Coast Public Education Art Exhibition, ‘A Central Vison’. This exhibition is now into its 16th year and showcases work from 18 secondary schools across the coast. Selection into A Central Vision is highly sought after and a genuine achievement. This year Emelia Gibson from Year 12 2016, as well as Year 10 students Jessey Ritchie, Matthew Mott, Jack Josephs, Karl Suczynski and Corbin Watman, all gained selection – a fantastic achievement and a highlight for Henry Kendall. To make this achievement even more special, Emelia won the prestigious Photographic, Digital Imaging and Film Prize for her HSC work titled ‘Or a vision in a dream’ – well done Emelia!

New P&C Committee

At the P&C Annual General Meeting on 21 March it was fantastic to welcome a number of new members. It was also an occasion where we farewelled our President, David Booth. David has been a member of the Henry Kendall P&C for 7 years, 2 of which have been as President. In that time David has made a substantial contribution to our school community, representing the parent community with his thoughtful, positive perspective and always ensuring the best outcomes for our school. I take this opportunity to thank David for his contribution and wish the Booth family well for the future.

With David moving on a new committee was elected at the AGM. It is with great pleasure that I welcome Helena Murphy as President, Philip Harland as Vice President, Melissa Jensen as Minute Secretary and Julie Bull as Correspondence Secretary. We are thrilled that Lisa Byrne is continuing as Treasurer. The schools senior executive look forward to working with the new leadership team of the P&C, and the continued support that our P&C provide Henry Kendall High. Many thanks to our new members, and any additional parents keen to join the P&C would be very welcome.

Change of Date - May P&C Meeting

The scheduled P&C meeting for May (Tuesday 16 May) clashes with the schools inaugural Music Performance Night at Gosford Racecourse, called ‘On Track’. As such the May meeting will now be held onTuesday 9 May, starting at 7.00pm in our meeting room in the Administration Building.

HSC Analysis

An important process that teachers undertake at the start of the year is a thorough analysis of our 2016 HSC results. Much of this data doesn’t become available until February, and it is an important reflective practice that utilises and analyses all available information. Every HSC teacher is asked to complete an in-depth analysis of data, as well as a reflection of the anecdotal and observational knowledge they have that informs the overall picture of student performance. Each teacher completes a detailed report, which is then presented and spoken to by the relevant Head Teacher. This is a thorough process and what is most important is not the written report, but the deep reflection and analysis undertaken, and the professional conversations that then inform changes and improvements to teaching strategies for the following year. I commend our staff on the quality and genuine engagement with this process. It is important and is an indicator of the continual growth of our staff as educators.

Vietnam Student Cultural Visit

Henry Kendall High School will be hosting a cultural visit by a group of students from Vietnam from 13 - 24 June 2017 for a total of 11 nights. The main aim is to assist them with their study of English as a language, although the experience of staying with Australian families for this time will be a valuable cultural experience as well as greatly assisting with language expertise. It is equally an exciting opportunity and experience for local families.

There will be approximately 18 students and 1 adult in the group. We are offering families from our school community the chance to host one or more student or staff member for this time. A payment is made for each person hosted to assist with any meal costs etc.

Throughout much of the stay the group will be either at our school or involved in excursions. However, they will be staying with the host family each evening and during the weekend. Travel to and from the school each day and 3 meals a day would be expected.

If you would like to be involved in this experience and can host a person with suitable accommodation, would you please complete the section below and ask your son or daughter to return it to the school office. Please contact Ms Laffan (Languages Teacher and Visit Coordinator) or Mr Macdonald (Head Teacher HSIE, Languages and Middle School) if you need any further information.

Term Four School Development Days

On each of our terms 1-3 School Development Days the staff will be completing additional hours of professional learning. This will be in lieu of the two Development Days at the end of term 4, when the school will be non-operational.

Celebrating Gonski

In our last newsletter I foreshadowed that throughout the year I will be sharing the ways in which Gonski funding is making a difference in our school in 2017. This edition I will be outlining our Universal Design for Learning Program, which provides a framework and scaffold in teaching across all subject areas ensuring personalised learning approaches for students.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) program was introduced into the school in late 2015, with Henry Kendall being the only secondary school in NSW implementing the framework. This program is a framework to improve and optimise teaching and learning for all students based on scientific insights into how humans learn. UDL guides the planning and design of instructional goals, assessments, methods and materials that have been customised and adjusted to meet individual needs. Essentially, it means that our staff have redesigned the teaching and learning programs and assessment tasks in Years 7 and 8 to ensure access points to learning for all students – it is about personalising learning and improving the outcomes for all students.

In 2016 Gonski funding supported significant teacher training in UDL principles and provided the time in which to redevelop all Year 7 & 8 teaching programs and assessment tasks based on these concepts. In 2017 Gonski funding will allow us to further expand the training program and provide the time for teachers to expand UDL into Year 9 teaching, learning and assessment. This program has the capacity to ensure that the individual needs of all students are met in all classrooms, however would not be possible without the essential injection of funds provided through the Gonski funding.

Mr Andrew Backhouse - Principal