Term 4 Week 9 12th December, 2019 KELSO HIGH CAMPUS NEWSLETTER Telephone: 63314544 email: [email protected] PO Box 499 Fax: 6332 1678 web: www.kelso-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Bathurst 2795 www.facebook.com/KelsoHigh Presentation Night 2019 Principal’s Report Welcome to our last newsletter for the year! I’m going to confess that I’m cheating a little bit and using an abridged version of my presentation speech. Yes – I’m a little out of creativity and yes it does help with some time pressures – but more importantly it offers an overall summary of the highlights of 2019 – of which there are plenty! First of all congratulations to all the students who received awards at Presentation Night – we’re incredibly proud of you! It really was a fabulous night and an outstanding celebration of all the achievements and highlights of 2019. I’m not usually prone to tears – but I did feel a little bit emotional that night as I was just so proud of our wonderful campus! So here is an abridged version of some of the highlights I spoke about! Even if you heard it the first time round I think it’s well worth reading again! Teaching and Learning Our most important role is to deliver the very best teaching and learning to our students and we have some wonderful celebrations in this area. We have achieved some of the best growth we have seen in literacy – our improvement in writing and Aboriginal literacy has been particularly high. We have continued to show excellent growth in numeracy. This year has seen the introduction of Maths Pathways in Year 7 – an individualised program that has seen outstanding growth amongst our Year 7 students. Our English faculty introduced regular writing competitions – which has been embraced by many students. There are many celebrations with our 2018 HSC results –Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Senior Science, Maths Standard 2, Industrial Technology, Dance, English Standard, Modern and Ancient History and Business Studies - all had some of the best results we have seen. Just one example of excellent teaching - our current Year 12 Physics students are being taught by Miss Lauren Inwood who has been recognised at a national level as a leading expert in her field. I encourage you to read the specific details on Facebook In regards to our HSC results I think what we are really striving for is that every student is provided with the best post school opportunities for them. I’m delighted to be able to say that already for our 2019 Year 12 students we have had over 40 offers of early university entry. In addition many students have secured apprenticeships some of which have been a direct result of school work placements. Broad Range of Curriculum and Practical Learning Activities Students participated in activities that gave them invaluable real world experience such as retail world skills competition and commerce share market game. Our STEM program is extremely exciting providing students with important skills and opportunities for the future. We had a Spanish HSC class for the first time and have a current Year 12 class. We are the only school in the region to offer this subject! We also hosted many successful interschool Japanese visits and our students had the opportunity to visit Japan! Finally, very close to our hearts is the success of our Hospitality students in running a first rate CAFÉ for students and staff - with real barista coffee. Sport and Extra-Curricular Activities We know that for many students it’s the opportunity to get involved in sport and extra-curricular activities that is one of the biggest highlights and positives of school. Just a snapshot - Our Ag team again represented us proudly at many shows and competitions and continues to punch well above its weight with the results they achieve against much larger teams. Our stage 5 Debating team were the zone champions and got to the regional finals of Western Region. Michaela Doungmanee was chosen to go to state as part of the Western Region Team. TJ Henderson was successful in getting to the State Semi Finals of the UN Youth Voice Competition. 2 Our Cirkus Surreal team continues to go from strength to strength with not only their recent absolutely outstanding show but also their performances at many local events. Our CAPA night, Brandish performance, Western Region Dance Festival and Bathurst Eisteddfod gave students a wonderful opportunity to perform and showcase their talent. Of particular note is Mia Ryan who was selected as a featured artist for the school spectacular. In sport the athletic and swimming carnival days were both excellent events, we had a large number of students go on to represent the school at Region and Western at state level. We have recently participated in a Premier's Sporting Challenge event where students engage with developers from various sports and develop skills that they take to partnering primary schools. Next year the students will host a day with students from Raglan and Perthville. This now has been established as a stepping stone for students seeking roles as sport captains within the school and enhancing leadership qualities. Volleyball continues to achieve outstanding results – with the Open Girls coming third in the state knockout competition. We also had fantastic results and great participation in futsal, hockey, AFL, cricket and basketball. Just a few standout individual performances. Harriet Fitzsimmons in Volleyball – captained the U16s CHS Nationals and was selected in the honorary Australian team. Denzel Nicholson who went to Russia for Snooker U18s World Championship. Lachlan Howard - was named in the All Australian U16's Hockey Team which will go on to play in South Africa next year. Inclusive Education and Supporting Every Student To Be Their Best. I really can’t rave about our Support and Wellbeing Faculties enough. They support students not only with their learning but also help to build their independence, provide practical living skills and provide many community access and transition opportunities. Our dedicated Aboriginal Education team supports not just our indigenous students but also makes sure Aboriginal culture and identity is recognised and celebrated across the whole school. One growing area in the school that I am particularly proud of is the increase in student led community and school service activities – fundraising activities for bushfires, farmers, RUOK day. If we can raise students to be kind, help others and have empathy I think that is one of the most important things we can do. Overall taking over as Relieving Principal has been a lot of work and of course responsibility - it has also been a great honour and privilege to lead such a fantastic campus. I would like to particularly acknowledge our incredibly dedicated and capable staff who work tirelessly in their many varied roles to provide the very best opportunities and support for our students. There you have it! I could have spoken for double the time about our wonderful campus but I was under pressure not to speak for too long! Thank you everyone for your support throughout the year – I hope you have a safe and enjoyable Christmas. We look forward to working with you in 2020 to provide your child with the very best education and opportunities we can! Stephanie Scott Relieving Principal 3 Denison Decathlon Success Our High Potential and Gifted Education Program has provided a unique and exciting experience for the Year 7 Academically Capable classes for 2019 and 2020. Energy and enthusiasm was at an all-time high at Kelso High Campus as students vigorously navigated through academic challenges across their key learning areas in cross-campus teams and even had energy to spare for a dance with their pizza lunch! 4 Excellence in Teaching Ms Lauren Inwood's excellence in teaching has been recognised by being selected to present at the 2019 Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education Conference in Melbourne from 8th - 12th December. She has been asked to host two workshops for other teachers who are interested in running similar projects to the one that Ms Inwood developed for the Year 12 Physics Depth Study this year. Ms Inwood, working in collaboration with astronomers from Edith Cowan University, accessed real data from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network for the Year 12 students. The students were required to report their findings as an article suitable for a scientific journal. The Year 12 class requested data for 25 different open star clusters and determined each cluster's age, distance and chemical composition, as well as how much dust and gas was in the space between Earth and each cluster. The students were given a real experience of how scientists work in the field of Astronomy. Ms Inwood has also been asked to be the support speaker for the keynote speaker Mr Alan Duffy, professional astronomer and science communicator, at the conference dinner. Ms Inwood began her teaching career here at Kelso High Campus 2.5 years ago. In that short time she has had made a huge contribution to the Science Faculty and school in promoting Science to the school community, NSW Science Teachers and now teachers across Australia. We are honoured and proud to have her working with us at Kelso High Campus. Adrienne Beddis (Head Teacher of Science) 5 A Gift to the Science Faculty Mr Paul Martensz presented a gift to the Science Faculty on behalf of the ex-Science teachers of Kelso High Campus. These new ProjectLab Air sensors can be used to monitor air quality including carbon dioxide levels and particulates. Mr Paul Martensz is a retired science teacher who worked at Kelso High School from 1988-2003.