Term 2 Week 10
Principal's Report
$4 MILLION SCHOOL UPGRADE ANNOUNCED
Exciting upgrades are on the way for our school, with an additional $4 million facility upgrade announced.
The upgrade will deliver:
· new modular buildings to support special options learning and additional learning areas to support our middle school
· refurbishment of existing learning spaces.
This is in addition to new modular buildings to accommodate extra Design and Technology and Home Economics and the refurbishment of three classrooms to create extra Science laboratories. This project was announced earlier in the term.
Our Governing Council has led from the ‘front’ in getting this project off the ground. On page 2, please read the article from our Governing Council Chair, Adam Duncan, about how this has all come about.
We will keep you updated as the project progresses.
CHANGES TO OUR MOBILE PHONE POLICY
All South Australian secondary schools were required to review their mobile phone policy before the end of this term.
At Salisbury East High School, we have:
· Surveyed students, staff and parent/caregivers
· Obtained feedback from our Governing Council and Student Voice
· Received some input from families after inviting it through the newsletter
Most parents and staff and many students who responded to the survey were concerned with a number of aspects of phone use at school. These included:
· Phones disrupting learning
· Students taking photos or videos of students or staff without their permission
· The potential to use phones at school to bully or harass
As a result, our Governing Council has recently ratified some changes to our mobile phone policy. These changes will come into effect from the beginning of Term 3. These are in line with the framework developed by the Department for Education.
We are in the process of conducting year level meetings with students to explain the changes.
MAIN CHANGES:
What remains the same? | What is different? |
Students are permitted to bring their mobile phones to school | During class time, students must have their phones stored in their bag or locker – not their pocket or on the desk |
Students are not permitted to use their phones in classes without teacher permission | Class time includes independent study |
Students are only permitted to use their phones in classes for educational activities | Increasingly there will be secure mobile phone lockers provided in practical classes. |
Safe, responsible and respectful use of phones is permitted at recess and lunch | Student will only be able to listen to music through their laptop and with teacher permission |
Students who are using their phones in class without permission will receive a warning | Parents will receive an SMS soon after a phone has been confiscated – rather than waiting until the end of the day |
Where a student continues to use their phone without permission, ON CALL is accessed and the phone is confiscated for the day | On the third and subsequent occasion a student’s phone is confiscated in a term, the student will be required to ‘check’ their phone in each morning at the Front Office for a week. Second phones will not be permitted. |
Families can apply for short-term or on-going exemptions – eg a diabetic student who uses phone to monitor blood sugar levels |
Please click on the link below to read the full policy.
Families can play a major role in assisting us with the implementation of this policy. These include:
· Encouraging students to always report to a school staff member in the first instance if they become unwell or experience an issue at school.
· Only phoning or SMS-ing students at recess, lunchtime or after school.
· Recognising the important role you play in supporting your child to use their mobile phone (or other personal device) in a safe, responsible and respectful way.
· Using our school’s formal communication channels in all instances to communicate with the school (including where a student requires early collection from school).
· Supporting the implementation of our school’s policy, including the consequences for non-compliance with the policy.
END OF TERM ARRANGEMENTS
The final day of term is Friday, July 2. Lessons will largely be as normal. There will be an early dismissal at 2.05pm.
End of semester reports will be available on Day Map on the last day of term.
The first day of Term 3 is Monday, July 19.
Governing Council Update
The Salisbury East High Governing Council welcomes the much needed investment required to safely educate Year 7s when they commence in 2022.
The major issues with capacity and traffic were identified by the Governing Council in 2019 where we then resolved to write to the Minister for Education outlining our serious concerns and requested funding.
Our request for capacity funding was knocked back by the Minister in January 2020 but we kept fighting to raise our concerns via the appropriate channels.
Several weeks ago, after strong advocacy by our Principal, Kristen Masters and our senior staff, the Government announced they will finally deliver the much-needed classroom space we had been asking for.
The work will occur in two stages with the first being ready in time for the start of the 2022 school year and the second stage will be delivered around Term 4, 2022.
As space will be very tight until then we ask for students’ patience as we now need to manage the Stage 2 construction after Year 7s commence, which is not ideal.
Stage 1:
· Two modular buildings which will house a design and technology workshop & Home Economics kitchen with serviced learning areas.
· Three classrooms converted to science labs.
Stage 2:
· Four modular classrooms.
· A dedicated Special Learning Options building
· Refurbishment of the existing SLO classes to general usage.
I want to thank Principal Kristen Masters and our schools’ leadership team for their hard work and excellent advocacy which secured the funding.
Our focus now turns to traffic management and with a lot more students around in 2022, their safety is our utmost priority.
Adam Duncan
SEHS Governing Council Chair
Transition to High School Update
While we are currently waiting for our enrolment list to come back from the department, there has been a lot of organising happening in the background. A key event for myself was the year 7 to high school forum, held at the start of week 6.
This was a fantastic learning opportunity for both Kristen and myself as we were able to hear from different high schools including Craigmore, Brighton, Loxton and Wirreanda about how they have, or plan to do transition to high school. The event gave us an opportunity to reflect on our transition processes and think about how we can strengthen them, given a double cohort.
One element we are working to strengthen is our transition for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait students. We are in the process of planning a meet and greet morning tea to assist in developing connections prior to transition days.
Additionally, we have had some robust conversations around the 1:1 student interview that all students have prior to starting high school with us. We are continuing to develop some ideas to make sure that the process is meaningful for students, parents and staff.
The final element which we considered, was the role of the first week for students. After talking with some year 8s, and looking at our survey data we collected from students at the start of the year, it was clear that more than one transition day at the start of the new year would be beneficial. This would allow us more time to work with students to set up devices, build a sense of community and belonging and transition students into a new space.
If you have any ideas or feedback about the transition process, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to email me or alternatively, you can complete the survey below. (Originally designed for primary school parents, but with lots of relevance to middle school students still)
Have a great break,
Kate Mckinna
Kate.Mckinna122@schools.sa.edu.au
Stage 1 Forensic Science
The Stage 1 Forensic Science class has been working hard on producing their own miniature scenes. Students have designed their own murder scenarios, and then created a miniature scene to show how the murder occurred. Students needed to include details about the victim and suspects, at least 4 pieces of evidence (fingerprints, DNA, shoe prints) and alibis for the suspects. Students presented their scenarios to the class who were tasked with solving the crime. Students have worked shown their enthusiasm for this task, and have prepared outstanding miniatures. They have used their detective skills to prepare and solve the crimes. Students have shown their collaborative skills as they have had to work in small groups to prepare the task, and communication skills to present the miniatures to the whole class.
What looks like a suicide is not always a suicide. The victim in this scenario suffered blunt force trauma to the head, the killer then staged the scene to try and avoid capture.
Sometimes your friends don’t like to lose the game! This victim was struck in the side of the head with his own PlayStation controller.
Multiple crime scenes have made this one difficult to solve. Murdered by the vice in the workshop, and then moved to the game. This crime is particularly disturbing as the murderer painted the victim with clown face paint to embarrass the victim.
Murder at SEHS. Sometimes staff don’t agree and this could lead to murder. Be mindful of eating the free cupcakes, and be on the lookout for those glittery shoes
A scorned lover and a birthday cupcake, what could go wrong! This victim thought her “friend” was just giving her a nice gift, turns out it was the cupcake that killed her.
Looking closely at this scene you may see the murder weapon. Hidden under the carpet is a knife that was used to stab this cheating scoundrel.
Mentoring - Gratitude
Over the course of term 2, middle school students, during wellbeing mentoring have focused on having a healthier mind. Students were reminded about the importance of having high wellbeing as we are more likely to have good feelings and are more resilient. It’s also important to remember that it is not normal to be in a positive mood 24/7 - having good mental health is about wellbeing!
Focusing too much on the negative can alter our perception of our lives and the world around us - the antidote to this is cultivating gratitude.
There are many kind things in life that other people do to help us grow up in a healthy and happy way. Sometimes you say “thank you” to them and sometimes you don’t. Saying “thank you” is showing gratitude. In week 8 Middle School students in mentoring wrote a gratitude letter to someone that they are grateful for.
They were asked about someone who has had a very positive impact on their life, but who they have never properly thanked. Their letters expressed their gratitude in detail, explaining why they are grateful and the benefits of that person’s positive influence on their life. Some students then delivered, sent, or read their letter to the person for whom it was written for. This was very impactful for our students and families.
Elizabeth Nkombera in year 8 said, “making a gratitude letter manifests joy, happiness and courage into people’s lives. Showing someone that you recognise them and acknowledge their existence will most definitely have a positive and beautifying impact on one's self. .I felt very connected to what I was writing and I wrote everything from the heart which helped me and inspired me to write more and more. Believe it or not, I've re-discovered, that I have a passion for writing. I used to write all the time in primary school, most of the time for curriculum purposes, but I grew to learn to embrace it and writing my Gratitude Letter helped me unbox it.”
“My son got home from school and read his gratitude letter to me. We both teared up. It was really nice to see how much he appreciated me." Parent of a year 8 student.
Forum for parents and carers of children with disability
Parents and carers of children with disability are invited to join a free information and networking forum in Adelaide hosted by the Department for Education. Theme: Navigating Together Forum topics will include: · transition to high school · the behaviour support toolkit · student support services – making connections. When: Thursday 1 July More information about the parent forum July 2021 Adelaide is on the SERU website. |
Year 10 Art & Design
This term, Year 10 Art and Design students have produced some stunning skateboards based on the styles and characteristics of Urban Art. Great job - they look fantastic!
Lunch Time Activites
Over the term we have been lucky enough to have Twelve25 running lunchtime workshops and performances at Salisbury East High School.
A Special thanks to My Cherie, Damon Sparks, Hannah Yates and Borteir Okoe from African Soul for sharing your gifts of music with the students .
Term 2 Sport
Throughout Term 2 our students have been involved in numerous sporting carnivals.
Some of our accolades are Northern Zone 5-a-side boys ending up top of the ladder with the girls coming in 2nd place in their division.
Year 8 boys 5-a-side soccer coming second in the state.
Year 9 girls 5-a-side winners in the SSSA Northern zone competition.
Boys team winners in the Open Girls & Boys Badminton competition.
Boys Team first place in the Year 8/9 9-a-side Northern Zone Football Carnival.
