Principals Report

Guyra Central School Vision - 2018 - 2020

'Guyra Central School provides a future focused and personalised Kindergarten to Year 12 learning environment that embraces a culture of high expectation, wellbeing and achievement for all.

In partnership with our broader community we equip students with the skills to be successful, confident and creative individuals.

Ultimately, our goal is to prepare our students for a rapidly changing world by fostering collaboration, critical thinking and flexibility.'

(as appears on Guyra Central School Plan 2018-2020 - This vision was constructed with support and assistance from our students, our staff and  our Guyra parents and community members)

I have the privilege to say that I work in education, every day.  I am the Principal of a fabulous school, I have an amazing team of people around me that work tirelessly to make great things happen for the children of this great community, however, education, within this community, is essentially everyone’s business.  It really does take a community to raise a child and as a community we do this well. It has been a tough year and yet the community have continued to be there and support us at the school. Our school would not grow and thrive as it has done during 2019, without the support of this community. Thank you.

Please make time over the school break to spend time with your child/ren. Explaining in depth to your child, using authentic language around what it is that you do every day and what you are passionate about. Take time to explain the processes you undertake to complete your day. Don't be fearful to use the big words around what you do and don't ever 'water it down'. If you are passionate about something help your child to share that passion. They are never 'too young' to understand. Allow your child to take a big step towards deep learning. Everyone has the opportunity to be a teacher. I learn many things from your children every day.

At Guyra Central School education is everyone's business. Our school is much more than a group of building where teachers teach and students learn. We strive to be passionate about educating our/your children, one students at a time, about evaluating students with multiple forms of assessment and about measuring students' progress against real-world standards. It is important that we demonstrate a valuing of students as individuals; valuing families as integral to each child's learning  and valuing our Guyra community and the wider school community as a resource.

In May 2018 the N.S.W Government announced a comprehensive review of the N.S.W school curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 12 and last week several of our Executive team travelled to a forum to consider and comment on some of the findings. Basically, at the heart of the review there is a commitment to, ‘ensure that the N.S.W education system is properly preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. The long term vision for a future school curriculum that supports teachers to nurture wonder, ignite passion and provide every young person with knowledge, skills and attributes that will help prepare them for a lifetime of learning, meaningful adult employment and effective future citizenship.

One Student at a Time in a Community of Learners. At Guyra Central School that means that we continue to strive to offer a personalised and relationship based approach to learning, and will continue to broaden our assessment practices during 2020, setting high expectations for ALL of our students and providing appropriate support and open access to meaningful learning experiences for our students, staff and for our parents and community members.

Into 2020 we will continue to create authentic learning experiences, where our children can engage in real life learning, present that learning to an audience using their preferred learning modes and understand how their learning can then transfer and be adjusted to a variety of learning experiences both in the school and beyond the school gate. We will be calling on our community experts, organisations, University and TAFE colleagues and a range of current and new partnerships to assist us. I would like to take the opportunity tonight to acknowledge and thank our current partnerships.

During 2020 we will continue to grow the Year 5 to Year 8 STEM program. This group, our middle school, will commence STEM lessons from the beginning of Term 1. Our students who attend the partnership primary school will again be invited to join us on a Wednesday during Semester 2. A further example, the Year 9-10 Commerce students will connect with an Entrepreneurial Mentor Program. This program will provide guidance and expertise through access to a business mentorship program.  In addition to this Guyra Central School is one of 20 schools state-wide to be accepted into this N.S.W Government program. We are also recent  recipients of a $20,000 Rural and Remote Careers grant that will see Guyra Central School lead a number of Career oriented programs/workshops and training opportunities for students and staff across K-12 at Guyra Centra School. This project will also include our Partnership Primary schools, Ben Lomond, Bald Blair and Black Mountain, students and staff. These programs will promote connection with real life experiences and mentors. By broadening assessment we create more variety and individualised learning. Our children will get to demonstrate and build confidence around their learning and present their evidence in a passionate way.

I would like to acknowledge the Parents and Citizens Association of Guyra Central School. We have a small and very hard working Parents and Citizens Association who are always looking for new energetic members. Please think about this opportunity to support your child.  The fundraising efforts of the P & C during 2019 has been quite unbelievable, providing support and funding for individual and collective programs.

We boast a very knowledgeable and creative team here at Guyra Central School. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Executive and teaching team, office and support staff for going beyond the contract every day. Thanks for the amazing team who have worked so hard to showcase our students through Presentation night and our two Celebration Days in the past week. Congratulations on the work of our staff during 2019. 

I would like to acknowledge the work of our Student Representative Council, Junior Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and our student leaders. We will continue to collaborate with our student leadership team to create the school that our students want. During the second half of 2020 we will be setting our new four year school plan and our students will be a driving force in the construction of this plan.

In the coming days we are looking forward to receiving notification of our Year 12 2019 HSC results. Good luck to all of our Year 12 students and good luck for the future.

A special mention must go to Mr Tim Lloyd, Tim works from the heart of the school and he has a very big heart. 

Thanks again to everyone for their support. We really do appreciate it. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year and if you are travelling stay safe. We look forward to welcoming you all back at the end of January. Buckle up, it is going to be a big year full of great things.

Proud Principal

Guyra Central School

Michelle Nicholson