Principal's Report

If no mistake you have made, but losing you are. A different game you should play.

Yoda, Jedi Master  896BBY-4ABY

Welcome to the Week 6 Term One newsletter.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

This week has seen our biannual Parent/Teacher conferences take place. I thank all the parents/carers who came along to speak with staff. I was asked a whole range of questions by individual parents and thought that everyone would benefit from my response. We quite deliberately separated the Parent/Teacher conferences and student reports this allows an open discussion to take place and for actions highlighted by staff to parents to be put in place by students to bring abut necessary improvements  and growth by the time reports are written. On the whole we want reports to be positive documents that give a clear picture to parents of where there child is at, what they can do and what they need to do to further develop their learning. Interestingly, I attended a meeting in Sydney last week where the Minister for Education posed some thought-provoking questions about school reports and their purpose. At executive we have been having an ongoing discussion around the same issues and so our school community can look forward to some surveys in the near future about our reports in general; but specifically what is liked, what is disliked, what you don't want to see, what you do want to see, layout etc.

School Uniform

I have had several discussions recently about uniform with parents and students. I think it is quite clear that I firmly believe in individual integrity and honesty and I find it difficult to separate those things from the concept of school uniform. The rules around our uniform are guided by the Department's policies - put simply there has to be a 3 year phase in period for more expensive items - given that no item costs more than $40.00 this point is a bit moot. Therefore, technically speaking we can make a decision at a local level when to end the transition period from the old to the new uniform. I'm fairly confident from my observations at this week's assembly that we are sitting at well above 90% take up with the new uniform and probably above 95% and as a consequence we aren't too far away from making the declaration that the transition is complete.

I have been asked several times about our 'formal uniform' and I would make the following point. There is only one uniform. I will ensure that we will have a pictorial representation in the next newsletter and also have it posted on our website. We will, however, continue to investigate the need/purpose of a more formal uniform for what might best be termed ceremonial occasions.

Staffing

We have almost completed our recruitment process for our Head of Wellbeing position, we only await final confirmation of the panels decision by the Department's Staffing Directorate. We will announce the successful candidate as soon as we are able. This will enable Bruce Nield to move into his new executive role around Curriculum development and Literacy/Numeracy. We will be fleshing out exactly what the role is over the next little while.

The new appointment will also allow us to list and fill substantively a number of other teaching positions that have been held in abeyance whilst we completed the executive recruitment process. 

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)

Curriculum

Our Academy students are rapidly approaching the end of the Preliminary HSC course with final course examinations only about three weeks away. I need to stress to students and their parents/carers that the key to success in the final years of high school is simply consistency and application. The only result from not completing assigned tasks or having days off from school is a poor one. 

Stage 5 students were issued with Semester Two Elective booklets this week and Middle School students will see their choices in the very near future as well. There have been ongoing discussions amongst staff on just how we can continue to keep our curriculum relevant and engaging to all students and still cover what is required by the Department and the NSW Education Standards Authority.

As always cherish your children and until the next newsletter we will continue to strive to be a school where students achieve at their personal best, where our school improvement projects continue and where all of us not only stand tall and walk proud but ASPIRE!

The capacity to learn is a gift;

The ability to learn is a skill;

The willingness to learn is a choice.

Frank Herbert (1920-1986) Author of Dune