2022 Term 3 Week 10

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

FEEDBACK IS A GIFT…

As teachers, we provide students with a lot of feedback – both written and verbal.  But we also need to be open to feedback as individuals and as an organisation so that we can continue to improve and grow.

From our students:

Over the last month our students were asked to provide feedback to their teachers through an online platform, PIVOT.  Teachers surveyed between one and five of their classes and obtained feedback on a range of areas including the classroom environment, instruction, relationships and student voice.  Students were asked to give honest feedback with the knowledge that their own responses would be collated before their teachers saw the results.  Teachers have now received their own data which identify areas to celebrate and areas to explore further.

We have also received some whole school data.  The areas to celebrate as a school were:

• I know how I am expected to behave in class
• This teacher knows a lot about the topics in this class
• This teacher respects me for who I am

All of these scored over 5 on a six-point scale. 

The areas that scored least well were:

• This teacher connects their teaching to my life
• This teacher asks questions that make me think deeply
• This teacher helps me to set goals for my learning

These all scored over 4 on a six-point scale

While there will be differences between classes, subjects and teachers, the overall impression is that students believe teachers at our school are clear about behaviour expectations, know their ‘stuff’ and are respectful in their interactions with students.

However, it is also evident that students are looking for teachers to make more connections between their learning and life beyond school.

From our parents:

Thank you to the 168 parents who completed the parent survey recently.  There was a diversity of opinions shared.

Some parents believe that we are not doing enough to respond to poor behaviour (including bullying) whilst others believe that we are being too ‘heavy-handed and being too quick to put in place consequences such as suspension. 

Some parents would like to see more communication from the school while others find there is too much.

Some parents welcome our focus on improving uniform and attendance while others find receiving messages re this unnecessary.

There is no doubt that the challenges of 2022 have presented us with some unique circumstances this year.  The staggered start to the year, more frequent absences of students and staff due to COVID restrictions have meant that it has been difficult to settle into the consistent, predictable routines that support students at school.  All of these have been contributing factors in periodic behaviour spikes – not just here at SEHS but across the state.

Nevertheless, we are excited abut implementing some of the strategies from our recent Berry Street training with the knowledge that in other schools, it has significantly improved school tone.

COVID also impacted on some our normal communication strategies and events.  We were unable to proceed with the annual ‘Meet the Teacher’ event at the beginning of the year for Year 7 and 8 families and end of Term 1 interviews had to be conducted over the phone.  Without those we realise that families can feel a little disconnected from the school.  We are looking forward to face-to-face interviews on Thursday and also being able to resume normal school events going forward.

What about bullying?

Some parents raised concerns about bullying through the parent survey.  Bullying and harassment is never ok and one incident is one too many.

Earlier in the year all students were surveyed by the Education Department about a range of well-being issues.

As part of this, students were asked about how often they experienced physical (eg shoving), verbal, social (ie exclusion) or cyberbullying.

82% of students had not experienced any physical bullying this year; 70% had not experienced any verbal bullying, 67% had not experienced any social bullying and 77% had not experienced any cyberbullying.

At the other end, ‘social’ was the most frequently reported with 11% feeling excluded about once per week.  7% reported verbal bullying on a weekly basis and 5% reported cyberbullying or physical bullying on a weekly basis.

These results have remained largely constant in recent years with some minor improvements evident in verbal and cyberbullying.  However, we continue to work hard to respond to reports of bullying and also to educate our students about making positive choices that fit within our school values of respect, responsibility and resilience.

MATERIALS AND SERVICES CHARGE – 2023

Our Governing Council is recommending that there is no increase and the charge remain at $470.  We have been advised that the State Government $100 rebate will also be available – reducing the cost to families to $370.  Relevant schedules are attached.

All members of the school parent community are invited to attend the next Governing Council meeting on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 6.30pm to contribute to the discussion re this. Alternatively, you can share your views on this matter by writing to the Chairperson, Mr Adam Duncan (c/ Reception of SEHS).

TERM 3 REPORTS

Written reports for Term 3 are now available on Daymap.

This report is meant to be read in conjunction with the results and comments teachers have put on Day Map as the assessment tasks have been assessed.

When I read reports, I place a lot of emphasis on the ‘Attitude to Learning’ grade.  This is a judgement about how hard the student is working in that particular subject and is given independent of the final achievement grade.

Students inevitably have different abilities, skills and natural aptitudes but there is nothing to stop every one of our students giving of their best and gaining an ‘excellent’ for ‘Attitude to Learning’.

At our assemblies, we award certificates to those students who have gained Excellent ‘Attitude to Learning’ for all of their subjects as well as acknowledging high Grade Point Averages (GPAs).

PARENT/TEACHER/STUDENT PROGRESS INTERVIEW

Last week you were sent information about our forthcoming interviews – Thursday, September 29.

This is a great opportunity to discuss progress with your child’s teachers – whether they are doing really well or whether they are struggling.  Experience has shown that when schools and families work together in partnership, great things can happen.

We strongly encourage students to be involved in these conversations – not just as listeners but as active contributors to discussions about their progress and how teachers can work with them to help them to achieve their very best.

The online booking system is very simple but if you have any difficulties, please contact our reception staff.

SCHOOL DISMISSAL ON FINAL DAY

School will dismiss at 2.05pm on Friday, September 30. However, students who have not returned their forms granting permission to leave early, will be required to remain at school until 3.05pm.

There will be a casual day on Friday to raise funds to support the Year 12 Formal.

TERM IV

Term IV resumes on Monday, October 17

Kristen Masters, Principal

SEHS ROBOTICS - SYDNEY HERE WE COME!

This term has seen the start of the 22/23 robotics season and once again we have had teams competing in regional competitions. With our group growing to around 20 students, we have been able to enter 2 VEX IQ (Year 7/8), 2 VRC (Year 10/11) and 1 Lego league teams this year.

First up we had the South Australia VEX IQ Newbie competition at our school which allows new teams to compete in a friendly, yet competitive environment with a focus of learning more about the competition. Our two new IQ teams finished in 1st and 2nd place that day, earning them qualification to the National Championships in Sydney.

Eager from our initial success, the IQ teams next competed at the South Australian regional at Pedare Christian College. Our teams competed exceptionally against a field of mainly private schools and finished 2nd and 5th respectfully. Along with the robot game there are other awards on offer and one of our teams walked away with the Design award for their robot design and documentation of the process. This was also a qualifying award and therefore double qualified for nationals!

The senior teams in VRC started their season recently and competed in the regional qualifier at Pedare Christian College. With this being our first year in this competition we went with an expectation of learning from others and having some fun. In true style for the team who went to the world championships last year they exceeded all expectations and finished tournament champions meaning they will be joining our junior teams in Sydney later this year. Our second team went in with much less preparation time and learnt a lot from the day and are raring to go for the next competition in November!

A huge thank you to all of our sponsors and donors who have helped us get to this point by supporting our students and assisting us to be able to go to Sydney.

Solinnov

LAI Group

MAX Services & MAX Academy

Rob Sinclair Equipment Finance

Jamie Broadhurst, Coordinator - Innovative Pedagogies & STEM

E-SPORTS FIFA 22 KNOCKOUT COMPETITION

This year's instalment of Electronic-Sports brought together 54 students from years 7-12 to compete against one another for the ultimate prize, bragging rights. Each player had the opportunity to compete in a knockout competition which broadcast some of our best talent at Salisbury East High School. We were witness to a fascinating lead up to the final game with some surprising outcomes and amazing display of skill from all our participants.

The final game of the knockout competition was between two outstanding players Jordan Joseph (Year 12) and Cody Wood (Year 9). With an audience of 100 students, they dazzled and entertained those watching as they combined for 9 goals in the opening half with Jordan leading by 1. However, Jordan's experience and 'training' provided a strategic edge to overcome Cody in the second half with a final score of 9-5.

Congratulations Jordan Joseph on a wonderful display of FIFA skill; you are the FIFA 22 Champion of Salisbury East High School.

James Marshall, Coordinator - Senior School Learning & Engagement

YEAR 9 HASS EXCURSION

On Thursday of Week 8, four Year 9 Classes went on a HASS excursion into Adelaide to discover more information about biomes and food security. Students visited the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Rundle Mall and the Adelaide Central Markets to consider how food is produced, how our environment has been altered to produce this food, and how food gets from our farmers to our plates. All students enjoyed the experience of getting into the city for a hands-on learning experience.

Alicia Warnock, HASS Teacher

SEAL NEWS

SEAL Excursion

SEAL students recently went on an excursion to the Old Adelaide Gaol and Salisbury Twelve25 Youth Centre.  They learnt about life in gaol during that time and were surprised that the old gaol was still operational into the 1980s.  They then engaged in some drug and alcohol education, virtual reality workshops and 3D modelling at Twelve25, and learnt about what programs and services are on offer there.  The excursion will form part of their learning for Personal Project, Essential English and Life Skills.

SEAL Barista Course

Several students participated in a 5 Day intensive Barista Program at Salisbury Twelve25.  Congratulations to those who graduated with their certificates, and those who developed some work ready skills!

SEAL Horticulture Program

In term 4 some SEAL students will participate in a therapeutic horticulture program, creating garden beds for veggies and herbs to be used in the cooking program in Life Skills.  These are life long skills they can develop to help them grow their own produce in years to come.

SEAL Enrolment for 2023

If you think your student may be interested in joining the Salisbury East Alternative Learning program in 2023 please speak with the appropriate Sub-School Coordinator – Mr Peck for years 10-11 (year 11 or 12 in 2023) and Mr Dorian for year 9 (year 10 in 2023).  If you would like more information about the program please contact Adrienne Gorringe in SEAL.

Adrienne Gorringe, Senior Leader - Alternative Learning

STUDENT VOICE UPDATE

Our senior Student Voice members have been working hard to ensure that plans are in place for next year and that the end of the year is planned and organised. Vice-Captain, Charlie has worked with the PE crew and a small team of teachers to refine a house challenges competition. This will be in full swing from next year, where all students will be able to earn points for high GPA’s, strong attendance, and participating in events at school like sports day, and challenges at recess and lunch time. To support this, Charlie applied and won a grant of $5000 which will be used to support buying items to get this up and running.

Captain, Shairf and Vice-Captain, Nicole have also presented at governing council in the last week, to support the fundraising efforts for the formal. They have been approved to host a CASUAL DAY on the last day of term for a gold coin donation.

Younger Student Voice members have been busy running activities at recess and lunch. A massive thanks you to Nick and Jackson who ran a footy competition in the last week; Lachlan and Caellum who ran a memory game as well as Fatemeh and Adhil who ran a very successful Kahoot competition.

Moving forward, students are planning events for White Ribbon Day with our wellbeing team and are supporting plans for Remembrance Day making poppies for the war memorial.

Lastly, nominations for 2023 Student Voice will open early next term. We will start with senior school representatives and work backwards towards choosing our younger representatives. Please encourage your students to think about applying.

Kate Mckinna – Student Voice Mentor Teacher.