an amazing celebration

Wow!

It’s a difficult transition

So we hope you’ll understand

If we’re not absolutely grand

But we will do our best

To see that you’re impressed

We hope we’ll pass the test

Now the rest is up to you.

 

A Difficult Transition’ by Dan Goggins from ‘Nunsense’

20th Anniversary

Wow!  What a success!  An estimated 4000 to 5000 people attended our 20th anniversary spring fair.  This was the biggest event ever held at Cecil Hills High School and it made me incredibly proud to be the Principal, along with our other 20th anniversary celebratory events.  The Performance Space has been renamed The McGregor Centre in honour of Mr John McGregor, our founding principal and students and staff are already using this new name.  Our formal assemblies included insights from Mr John McGregor and Mr Sean Bowen, our second principal.  Our gala dinner was another success and served as a great reunion for our relatively young school.  Thanks to everyone involved in organising our 20th anniversary events.

Farewells

In terms of my introductory quote, a difficult transition indeed!  The end of 2016 sees the end of an era at Cecil Hills High School.

We farewell Ms Stephanie Malnar who has been an

important asset to our school as our transition officer. She is taking up a fulltime careers position at Nepean Creative and Performing Arts HS and we thank her for her efforts in working with students seeking employment and post-school options.

 

Ms Kritika Sharma is a well-respected and innovative science teacher who is leaving for a tree-change to West Wallsend HS.  Ms Sharma is co-chair of our technology team and co-coordinator of our Quality Teaching Rounds initiative and we will miss her expertise but wish her all the best in her new role.

 

Mr Daniel Dawkins has been promoted to Head Teacher – Technology and Applied Studies at West Wallsend HS.  He has been an inspirational educator, supportive year adviser and excellent relieving head teacher in Industrial Arts.  Mr Dawkins has been the driving force behind a number of school initiatives including our Bring Your Own Device program and the new Turnitin program.  We are so fortunate to have had Mr Dawkins work with us at Cecil Hills HS and we wish him all the best for the future.

 

In our 20th anniversary year, we celebrated the achievements of our three remaining ‘originals’. 

Mr George Giugni, Head Teacher – Administration, is almost an original having commenced at our school in 1999.  In very sad news for Cecil Hills HS, Mr Giugni will retire at the end of this year.  He is our resident Mr Fix-It and he does so much behind-the-scenes work to make our school look amazing.  He is the first to school to organise our casual staff.  He is responsible for the grounds, flowers, bushes and gardens and everyone who visits our school comments on the tone, 

ambience and inviting surrounds.  All of this is because of his passion and interest in making the school aesthetically beautiful. 

In addition, Mr Giugni has the thankless job of looking after our buildings, maintenance, assets and cleaning.  In terms of my introductory quote, this is a very ‘difficult transition’ for our school and we don’t really know what we will do without Mr Giugni!   Anyone who knows Mr Giugni knows that he hates the limelight.  However, I do need to publicly recognise that the NSW Department of Education, in calculating his finale leave balances, has reported that he has not taken any sick leave since 1996, not even one day!  

The staff at Cecil Hills HS have never known Mr Giugni to take a sick day and this shows his enormous dedication, passion and commitment to his work at our school.  He has a lasting legacy at this school in the wonderful school grounds he created and maintained.  We wish Mr Giugni all the best for his retirement but we hope to see him back in 2017 in a different role.

 

And to our last ‘difficult transition’, Mr Steve Flew.  In a career in public education spanning decades, Mr Flew has spent half of his career at Cecil Hills High School.  During that time, as Head Teacher – Mathematics and Deputy Principal, he has done it all.  Faculty management, timetabling, leading the school, student welfare, whole school administration, professional learning and the list goes on.  When I commenced as Principal, I knew I had eighteen months to learn everything I could from Mr Flew and there is still so much every teacher in our school can learn from him.  When Mr Flew retires at the end of this week, the entire senior executive team will have changed since I commenced, which is a significant challenge for any school to face.  Mr Flew is universally respected by staff, students and parents due to his cool, calm, collected nature and the productive relationships he has forged in our school community.  He leaves incredibly large shoes to fill, so large that Mr Flew will be working with us on and off in 2017 on a range of projects.  I am sure you will join me in wishing Mr Flew a happy and well-deserved retirement.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Mr Paul Hickey and Mrs Kim Gianni who were both recognised by our local Director, Public Schools NSW at the annual Principals' Celebration event held recently. Both of these teachers have shown great commitment to our school and work tirelessly across a range of programs to support our students. Thanks to both of these amazing teachers and congratulations on this important recognition.

Save the date

An information evening for Year 7 (2018) will be held on Monday, 20 February 2017.  This will provide an opportunity for prospective parents and community members to learn more about our school and enjoy a guided tour of our state-of-the-art facilities.  Ms Renee Havas and Mr Morgan Howard, our year advisers for this year group, will be coordinating the event in conjunction with Ms Jo Tyson, Deputy Principal.  This will also coincide with our normal Year 7 BBQ.  As a result, we invite both Year 6 (2017) and Year 7 (2017) students, parents and families to this double event!  Please save the date and further information will be provided early next year.

Return to school dates

Years 7, 11 & 12 return  on Monday, 30th January 2017

Years 8, 9 & 10 return on Tuesday, 31st January

P&C meetings

Our first P&C meeting for 2017 will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 6 February 2017.  There will be a repeat session at 9:30am on Thursday, 9 February 2016.

 

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

Headspace