Term 3 Week 5

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Student Achievement

In recent weeks, all year levels have held assemblies to recognise the achievement of students in Term 2.

At our school we particularly recognise students who are ‘sitting on’ a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.5 and above. [A GPA of 5.0 is straight A’s and a GPA of 4.0 is straight B’s].  101 of our Year 7 to 12 students finished Term 2 with a GPA of 4.5 or more with twenty students sitting on 5.0. 

We also recognise students who demonstrate their personal best by showing excellent attitude to learning in all of their subjects – regardless of their grades.  In Term 2, there were 54 recipients of these awards – up from 37 in Term 1.

Additionally, we celebrated the achievements of students who showed improvement from Term 1.  We commend those students who have put their ‘foot’ down and have been rewarded with an increased GPA.

Overall, our grades across the school are solid with our Year 12 students (89% A-C and 63% A/B grades) leading the way.

Thank you

For the last eight weeks of school, we have been focussing on improving two aspects of school life that contribute to school culture and cohesion -  school uniform and lesson truancy.

For our middle school students, the focus has been on ensuring that all students have been in uniform every day and supporting families to obtain uniform if there are issues.  This has involved initial conversations with students and then following up with families to find out what the barriers are.  Thank you to those families who have responded positively to these conversations and worked in partnership with teachers to bring about positive change.  Uniform is fundamentally about student safety and belonging – being part of a team.

For our senior school students, we have been working with the small proportion of students who are missing lessons.  Our goal must be to have every student in every class every day so that all students have the best possible chance of being successful with their learning. Again, our approach has been to start with a conversation to find out what the issues are and working to remedy them.  Thank you again to families who have been receptive to working with us to address these concerns.

Recognising the contribution of our Support Staff

Across South Australia this week, schools are recognising the contribution of support staff who work in a variety of ways with our staff, students and parents.

I often refer to them as the ‘glue’ that holds the school together.  Their work is often unseen and unheralded but incredibly important.

Support Staff undertake a diversity of roles at our school and overwhelmingly, they are committed and highly professional.

On behalf of the whole school community, I thank them for the work they do and the efforts they make every day for our school and students.

Clarifying suspension and exclusion

One of the least pleasant parts of being a leader is contacting parents to advise them of the school’s decision to suspend or exclude their child from school.  In an ideal world, all students would work within the school’s behaviour code all of the time.

However, there are times when suspension or exclusion are appropriate responses.  Our department policy identifies these as when the principal believes on reasonable grounds that:

• has threatened or perpetrated violence
• has acted in a way that threatens the safety or wellbeing of a student, member of staff or other person associated with the school (including by sexually harassing, racially vilifying, verbally abusing or bullying that person)
• has acted illegally
• has interfered with the ability of a teacher to teach or of a student to learn
• has acted in a way that threatens the good order of the school by persistently failing to comply with rules applying within the school about behaviour
• shows persistent and willful inattention or indifference to school work.

Suspension is from one to five days and involves a `’re-connection’ meeting with the student, parent/caregivers and school representatives.  A plan is collaboratively developed at that meeting and identifies goals, expectations and supports for the student going forward.

A number of factors are considered before determining the length of time of the suspension, including:

• The nature and severity of the incident
• Events leading up to the incident
• The student’s history – was this a ‘one off’ or has there been a pattern of similar behaviour?
• The age of the student

Exclusion is for a longer period of time and involves a pre-exclusion conference with key parties - often including our local Behaviour Coach from the Para Hills Education Office. Alternative learning programmes are explored and the duration of the exclusion is discussed.

Reminder:  School Closure Day and Staff Development Day

Our school will be closed on Monday, September 5 – Royal Adelaide Show Day

There will be a student free day on Tuesday, September 6 to enable all staff to participate in the second day of the Berry Street Trauma Informed training.

Aboriginal Secondary Education Transition Officer

Niina marni (Hello how are you?) 

My name is Chrystal Sumner and I am the new ASETO (Aboriginal Secondary Education Transition Officer) at Salisbury East High School. 

I am a proud Aboriginal woman with strong family and cultural connections to the Ngarrinderi, Narungga and Kaurna people. I have lived in Adelaide for majority of my life and enjoy being out in nature, spending quality time with my family, watching true crime documentaries and discovering new eateries. 

I am a mother to three wonderful children – Harlem (13), Aleiah (11) and Aurah (4) and have a very playful Staffy named Groot (5).  

I come to you with a background in Health, Mental Health, Community Services and Tertiary Education.

My most recent roles being as follows: 

• Aboriginal Community Development Coordinator at Watto Purruna Aboriginal Primary Health Care Service 
• Client Case Practitioner at Nunga Mi:Minar Aboriginal Family and Domestic Violence Health Services  
• Administration and Events at Wirltu Yarlu, the University of Adelaide. 
  
  

I am also a graduate of the University of Adelaide and hold a degree in Psychological Science. I have always found human behaviour and human thought processes extremely intriguing. I am planning to further my learning and undertake post graduate studies in the new year but am having trouble deciding between Organisation and Clinical Psychology as both are equally appealing to me.  

Although I am very new to secondary education my goal is to utilise my transferrable skills, networks, and knowledges to contribute to Salisbury East High’s inclusive and diverse learning environment.  

My aim is to ensure all Aboriginal students are provided with quality education and that I identify any barriers that may be impeding on their learning swiftly. I also aim to recognise and celebrate our students who are successfully engaged in their learning. I have a strong belief that parent and caregiver involvement is crucial, in assisting children, to be the best learners that they can be. In saying that, I hope to establish, maintain and build positive relationships with our current families.  

I am on-site Monday to Friday and am located in the back office of the STEM Building, so please feel free to pop by and say hello as I am always up for a chat 🙂. 

STEM ABORIGINAL LEARNERS CONGRESS

In Week 4, over two days, three SEHS students along with our ASETO Chrystal, attended the STEM Aboriginal Learners Congress.  At the congress the students heard from amazing Aboriginal guest speakers and Aboriginal entrepreneurs from within the STEM industry, who told their inspiring stories and how culture and STEM go hand in hand.

Thursday 18 August

• Space Technologies & The Wandering Stars

Students went to Lot Fourteen where they were able to listen and learn about Space Technologies and The Wandering Stars (the planets). Students learnt about Aboriginal Astronomy and were able to openly discuss how over 60,000 years ago Aboriginal people used Astronomy and Science in everyday life.

• Spotlight on STEM yarn: Pantju Nam

Pantju is currently studying his final year of Chemical Engineering at the University of Adelaide. He shared with students his school experiences and discussed with them how he faced and conquered adversity.

Friday 19 August

• Natural Fish Traps

Students created their own Natural fish traps and were able to test whether or not their designs worked to catch fish when executed. SEHS successfully designed and created a fish trap which caught all 5 fish!!

• Catching the Sun

Students actively participated in a number of science and technological experiments and were rewarded with prizes at the end of the session due to their amazing knowledge and great listening skills.

Emily Faulkner, Aboriginal Education Co-ordinator

PERSONAL LEARNING AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM (PLACE)

Students in the Supported Learning Class use public transport to access the community on a weekly basis to build independence and public safety skills. This term the senior students are linking their trips to the city of Adelaide with their “What to Wear” assessment task. They are researching what people wear to do different jobs.

Senior students are also visiting a number of businesses to investigate work experience options that will possibly begin later this term. On August 12^th they visited SA Group Enterprises, which offers a number of different job opportunities including graphic design, packaging and electrical dismantling.

Michelle Sboro, SLC Teacher

SEAL LIFE SKILLS

The SEAL Life Skills Plus class are working on a project to collect items for homeless youth.  The items (things like personal hygiene products, museli bars, hats, beanies, sunblock, etc) will be put into backpacks and donated to young people in our community via SYC.  If you are able to donate items, or have any backpacks that are in reasonable condition, please drop them into the collection box in the front office.

Adrienne Gorringe, Head of Alternative Learning

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

This term we have been lucky enough to have students from Japan join us. We have had 2 girls from Hokusei Girls' High School for four weeks and 2 boys from Gifuhigashi Senior High School for the term joining our Year 10 cohort.

They have joined into classes and been on 2 excursions, visiting the Gorge Wildlife Park, Melbas Chocolate Factory and Victor Harbor.

We also took our International Students who have been studying with us for the last few years.

STUDENT VOICE REPORT

Student Voice have been busy delivering lot of activities to student and planning for future projects. Recently Student voice put up a uniform survey to the school to ask for students’ opinion on what kind of jackets they want to see next year. There were two options given- a hoodie jumper or a puffer jacket. Over 80% of the students who did the survey chose the hoodie option. The hoodie option will now go through a process to be added as one of the jacket options for next year.

Positive cards designed by students in the school have been printed and the winners were chosen. The winners were notified through mail and during school assembly. Student Voice is planning to bring more bins into the school to encourage students to stop littering. Student Voice has also bought four wheelie bins in our four house colours – these bins will be used as an activity for students to pick rubbish from the yard and put it in their sports day team colour and the most rubbish picked up by each house will be given points.

The house challenges group won $5000 grant -$2500 will be going towards a computer screen, going infront of the stairs in wing 2, to be more noticeable. The screen will have update of photos of the activities that are occurring in the school. The screen will also have house points won during the school activities.

The Student Voice period group are currently investigating bringing in a feminine hygiene vending machine. Student Voice is currently waiting on follow up from Share the Dignity about getting a donated machine as well to make more products accessible to more students.

Coming up, Student Voice will be participating in public speaking training on Friday of week 6. Student voice will be running a stall and helping plan and deliver Wellbeing Day on Wednesday week 8. Students are encouraged to come and speak with their representatives.

Sharif, School Captain.

SENIOR SCHOOL COURSE COUNSELLING

Over recent weeks, our Year 10 and 11 students have been busy considering which courses they may wish to undertake in 2023 by investigating the SACE Stage 1 and 2 offerings at SEHS.

They have attended various presentations and had information provided to them about SACE completion requirements, how to obtain an ATAR for university entry, applying for a VET course and potential future career pathways. They have also been encouraged to discuss this with their mentor teachers, subject teachers, and their parents/caregivers to determine the most appropriate choices moving forward. 

Extensive information about all courses at SEHS is available in our digital ‘Senior School Subject Handbook’, which can be found on our website: https://sehs.sa.edu.au/curriculum/senior-subject-handbook/

You can navigate to the subjects by clicking on the hyperlinks contained on the index page (and easily return to the index by clicking on the button in the bottom right corner of every page). Furthermore, our ‘Stage 1&2 Course Counselling’ Google Classroom page contains subject information, presentations and videos, and students have been asked to show you this. 

These resources should inform student choices and be reflected in their ‘Planning for Year 11 or 12’ document and subject selection sheet. Students have also been asked to share the subject selection sheet with parents/caregivers, and have it signed.

On Wednesday, August 31^st (Week 6), and September 7^th (Week 7), Year 10 and 11 students respectively will then attend subject ‘expos’ at school, where they will have their subject selection sheets sighted by Curriculum Coordinators. Students can also gain further insight into the various subjects’ relevance and suitability at these expos.

All students will then attend a short course confirmation interview in Week 8, when parents/caregivers are welcome, and encouraged, to come along and be part of the process. During their appointment, students should bring their planning document and subject selection sheet. A staff member will review this, ensure all requirements have been met, answer any additional questions, and then confirm their course selections for 2023. 

More details about this whole process, including interview times, will be emailed to parent/caregivers in the coming week. However, if you require any further information in the interim, please feel free to contact your child’s mentor and/or subject teacher(s); Michele Malonagos (SACE, VET and Pathways Coordinator); Shaynanne Harrison (Senior Leader, Curriculum and Pedagogy); or me on 8258 2070. 

Jules Peck, Head of Senior School

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