Term 1 | Week 9 | 26 March 2021 From the Principal School Improvement The middle session provided staff with a range of The Department for Education has a 10-year strategic workshops delivered by our teaching staff. These plan to provide world-class public education by 2028. workshops provided opportunities for our teachers This is an ambitious vision but one that our children to share teaching strategies that cater for the range and young people truly deserve. The first three of learners in their classes. years of the Department’s improvement agenda has focused on embedding a new school improvement The afternoon session was a time for Curriculum model into practice. This model has greatly influenced Teams to reflect on and share the learnings from the our improvement agenda at Blackwood High School. day, to discuss implications for planning and teaching practice and to plan forward. On Thursday 18 March, I attended a state-wide Leaders’ Day where the Chief Executive (CE), Rick 2021 Governing Council Persse, spoke about the next stage of the Department’s The Governing Council AGM was held on Tuesday 2 improvement focus, which is to accelerate student March. The 2020 Annual Report was presented and achievement across the state from ‘good to great’. endorsed at the meeting. This report is now available The CE acknowledged the growth in student learning on the school website, along with the 2019 – 2021 outcomes over the last three years and spoke about School Improvement Plan which the Governing the importance of maintaining focus and ‘staying Council endorsed earlier this year. the course’ if we are to collectively achieve the Department’s vision. It was wonderful to have new parents/caregivers attend the AGM and nominate to join the Governing For Blackwood High School, this requires us to be Council. Congratulations to the following parents/ relentless in continuing our intentional, targeted caregivers elected to join the Governing Council for a approach to whole school improvement. This is not two-year tenure: about working harder or doing more but getting • Matthew Cheshire better at what we do. As a staff, we will continue to • Julia Barry collaborate and learn from each other, ensure our learning is informed by evidence-based best practice Thank you to the following parents/caregivers who and maintain momentum to embed agreed strategies will continue on the Governing Council for one more into practice so that we provide high quality teaching year: and learning at Blackwood High School. • Kate Bishop • Melissa Brown • Kerryn Page • Tim Peters Student Free Day - Friday 8 March • Selina Treloar • Gerald Westbrook Our second Student Free Day for this year focused on • Andrew Wright Goal 1 and 2 in our Improvement Plan: differentiated teaching strategies and the explicit teaching of Also, thank you to Matthew Cheshire who was elected subject specific vocabulary. as the new Chair of the Governing Council. During the morning session, a guest speaker from the On behalf of the Blackwood High School Community, Department for Education facilitated a whole staff thank you to retiring Governing Council members workshop on the explicit teaching of subject specific Dan Johnson, Jacinta Walton and Megan Resch for vocabulary. Teachers explored a number of key their service and support of our wonderful school. strategies and will now intentionally embed these into teaching programs and practice. Staffing Update I will be on leave for personal reasons for all of Term 2. Jason Loke, Deputy Principal, will be the Principal while I am on leave and we are currently working through a process to fill the Deputy Principal position. Facilities Update The refurbished Middle school space, formally the MSLC, is complete and has been handed over to the school. We will spend the next few weeks setting up classrooms ready for Middle School classes to move into this space next term, which is very exciting. Students will be very surprised to see how different it looks – so much lighter and brighter with a range of flexible spaces for students and teachers to work in. The new build, at the back of the school, is progressing quickly and is well on track for completion in Term 3. The redevelopment of the Senior School outdoor learning space has taken much longer than planned due to a number of unexpected issues. We hope that this will be finished early next term. The school has also made the decision to build a new Canteen as the current Canteen has a number of WHS issues and the current layout will not cope with increasing student enrolments. The Canteen will be demolished during the school holidays with building to occur throughout Term 2. We are hopeful to have the new Canteen operational in Term 3. The Canteen will continue to provide a recess and lunch service throughout Term 2. However students will need to order their recess and lunch using the Qkr app. There will not be food items for sale at recess and lunchtime. It will be important for students to ensure they order their lunch using the Qkr ordering process or bring enough food from home to get them through the day. As part of this building program, we will also have a new modern conference room attached to the Canteen facility. Finally, as we approach the Term 1 school holidays, I wish students a safe and restful break. To our families, keep well and I look forward to catching up again in Term 3. Sharon Goldman, Principal Blackwood High School High Achievers • Congratulations to Zac Washington, in Year 11, who competed in the State Track and Field Championships from 27 to 28 February 2021. He competed in six events and came first in U20 3000m steeplechase, U20 javelin and second in U20 discus, U20 pole vault and U20 400m hurdles. He also came fourth in the U20 long jump. 2 Inspiring Achievement and Respect Blackwood High School in 1961 As mentioned in the first newsletter for this year, Blackwood High School is 60 years old this year. Below is a summary of the school’s development for Term 1 in 1961. This was back when we had three longer school terms across the year. The extract is from the Blackwood High School 1962 school magazine. The School 1961 As this is the first magazine issued by the Blackwood High School, it is pertinent that we briefly review the history of the school during its first year of existence. February The school opened on the 7th; despite the fact that the buildings and surrounds were not nearly finished, we were able to start lessons as scheduled. The first day was noted for the train strike which necessitated emergency transport arrangements for those students who travelled from hills areas. Overnight, about a half an inch of rain turned the area into a sticky quagmire for the second day, an eventful opening. The first ten prefects of the school were elected from amongst the second year students. March The school took possession of a piano. Students were divided into four houses, which were later named after four local residents, Ashby, Madigan, Russell and Mills. A meeting of over eighty parents formed the first P and F Association for the school. April By now most of the surrounds were bitumenised, and the school was functioning normally. The School Council inaugurated a bold scheme to raise the necessary finance for the provision of sporting and other facilities for the school. Tennis and cricket teams began to represent the school in Inter-School competitions. Blackwood High School Main Building 1964 Learners Permit Letters Please note there is a 24 hour turnaround when requesting the letter required for proof of identity when sitting for your Learner’s Permit. Please advise the Student Wellbeing Centre when this letter is required, however please do so with enough notice. 3 Student Learning Progress Conversations Student Learning Progress Conversations present a significant opportunity for teachers to meet and discuss student learning progress with parents/caregivers and their child(ren). It also gives students an opportunity to display learner agency and take personal responsibility for their learning progress. In 2021, thankfully we can return to face-to-face meetings. These will be hosted across the afternoons of Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 April. To facilitate this process for 2021 and adhere to COVID regulations, we will split across two spaces: Senior Learning Centre and the Imagination Centre. Staff will be organised in alphabetical order, by surname, in these two areas. Parents/Caregivers will use Daymap to make bookings to see subject teachers. Information on how to do this has already been emailed to all families, including more details on how the conversations are structured. It is important for students to be part of these conversations so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to supporting students to achieve personal excellence. In the lead up to these conversations, encourage your child to reflect on their learning this term. Some suggested conversation starters are: • In what ways have you improved your learning in your subjects? • What expectations do you set for yourself in your subjects? Achievement? Behavioural? • What’s one thing you are happy with in your learning so far? • What’s one thing you know you still need to improve in your learning? • What has worked well so far that you should keep doing to achieve personal excellence? • What hasn’t worked well this term that you need to remember to change? • Is there something you wish your teachers knew about you and your approaches to learning? I look forward to meeting many of you across the two nights and hearing about the learning progress that your child(ren) are making.