Principal Message 

Welcome to our Term 3 Mid Term Newsletter. Already this term we have had a variety of student and staff successes which we share regularly on our Facebook page. As the blossom trees start to show their beauty and things slowly warm up, we have plenty of great news to share with our community.

MPC

The beginning of week 6 sees the installation of the tiered retractable seating for the MPC. This is the final phase of fit out before delivery of the building. Last week several staff undertook training in the safety, security and operations of the new building and sound and lighting was being installed. Our first major event in the MPC will be Year 12 Valedictory Assembly on Thursday 22nd September and in October we will host New England sings in the new venue.

Congratulations Mrs Cameron

Congratulations to Mrs Cameron, our Stage 4 Deputy Principal. Tamara has been successful in gaining, through merit selection, the Principal position at Dorrigo High School.  She will take up the position at the start of Term 4. Mrs Cameron has been a part of our school community since 1996 when she moved to the area and worked at Armidale High as a Languages and HSIE teacher. Tamara later became the Head Teacher of HSIE at Armidale High and has been instrumental in supporting staff and students as a Deputy Principal at Armidale Secondary College for the last two years. We wish her all the very best in her new role and know that she will continue to lead with courage and compassion.

Request for Panel Representatives

This term and next we will see a lot of staff changes and recruitment at ASC. Currently the recruitment process is underway for the permanent HT PDHPE, a classroom teacher for mathematics and the permanent principal position. In the near future we will be seeking recruitment panel members for 2 permanent deputy principal positions and a variety of permanent head teacher and classroom teacher positions. We will also be seeking a business manager and grounds person.

On Monday 22nd August, our Director of Educational Leadership will be running a training session on the rules and responsibilities of being a part of a teacher or executive recruitment panel. This will take place in the staff common room, Level 2 A block at ASC.

Book Week

Week 6 is book week. We are hosting some events tied with the Byron Bay Writer’s festival on the road. On Monday we will have several visiting authors running workshops with our students and Year 7 will take part in a slam poetry performance with Huda the Goddess. Dress up day for book week will be on Wednesday 24th and we are looking forward to seeing what our very creative staff and students come up with this year.

Trial HSC Exams 

To better prepare our year 12 students for their HSC, this year we have employed the invigilation team who run the HSC exams for NESA at ASC to run and supervise the trial written exams. This allows our students to get used to the procedures and conventions of examinations and to get to feel more comfortable with the team. It also releases our teachers time to give them the opportunity to provide marking and feedback to students on their examinations and prepare for the final countdown towards exams.

Science Week

Last week was National Science week and of science faculty did a great job in drawing attention to the benefits of science in our lives. There were quizzes, Kahoots and competitions throughout the week and visits from current STEM students from Sydney University to inspire our students to consider a career in STEM.

ICAS

This year our students identified as High Potential and Gifted will be participating in the ICAS Assessment competitions in Maths and Science with costs covered by the school. We are looking forward to seeing how they rise to the challenge and to sharing their results with you very soon.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN results have not yet been released in full. We are expecting these before the end of term 3. At the moment, schools have had some preliminary results released but the full package available to parents is still with ACARA and not with schools yet. Next year, NAPLAN will move to March. This will help our school to better target areas for growth for our students.

I would like to give a very special shout out to all our families of HSC students. The HSC is a huge undertaking for people in their late teens. As well as the ongoing assessments, study, and exams there are the decisions to be made about where to next. Our fantastic careers adviser, Lana Hardman is a huge support to our year 12 students as they make their applications for university or plan to undertake further study or employment. We are also very aware that having an HSC in the house can really impact on the family dynamic. We are close Year 12, so close you can see the end of the high school journey. By the end of week 6 you will move from trying to build on your individual assessment to the part of the HSC where ‘The better we do, the better we all do.’ Remember to reach out to the stage 6 team if you need support and keep those study buddy sessions going.