Maitland High School Newsletter

Term 4 is nearly half way through and teachers are starting to finalise and collate student assessments to commence Student End of Year Reports!  These reports will be published in Sentral in Week 9, on the day of each Year group's Presentation Assembly.

Instead of our traditional aka pre-COVID Presentation Day, based on current guidelines, we need to follow COVID-Safe practice and observe physical distancing and 4sq. m per person rule for external visitors, so these Presentation days will be an hour long for each Year group only (no parents or guests, unfortunately)  and will combine Academic, Merit and Sports Awards. We will, however, film the Presentation Assemblies for families, friends and carers. 

Year 11 Presentation Assembly and Reports - Monday, December 7

Year 10 Presentation Assembly and Reports- Tuesday, December 8

Year 9 Presentation Assembly and Reports- Wednesday, December 9

Year 8 Presentation Assembly and Reports- Thursday, December 10

Year 7 Presentation Assembly and Reports Friday, December 11

Remember, you can always find step-by-step information on how to access the Sentral Parent Portal for your child's Report, on our website, and I include the links at the bottom of this newsletter.

Additionally, many  families will be aware that all public schools have entered into an intensive period of self-assessment data analysis and consultation with the learning community in order to develop the 2021-2024 School Improvement Plan.  All staff have engaged intensively in analysing student learning needs for every cohort; all students have been surveyed about their learning experiences in class and; all families of the school have been sent a parent survey, seeking frank and fulsome feedback to guide our improvement. Thank you so much to all who have taken the time to provide us with your thoughtful responses! This data is part of what we are working through on Friday as we analyse our impact and areas for further focus.

Later in this newsletter, you will also find some helpful information about supporting young people through tricky periods and where  you can access further support. 

Additionally, we have included some very simple but powerful ways you can reinforce and develop your child's literacy skills.

Kind regards,

Paula Graham
Principal

At last, we can welcome our parents and carers back on site to meet!  Our P&C Meetings usually occur on the first Wednesday of every month.  Our meeting next Monday will look at the results of our Situational Analysis and start the consultation process around planning our actions  to in the next 4 year School Improvement Plan.

I really am extremely proud of the industry and attitude demonstrated by our Year 12 students during the HSC Exams!  The HSC concludes this week on 11th November, before Year 12 return a final time in their formal school uniform for the long awaited Graduation Ceremony. The Presiding Officer and his team of supervisors  have especially commented on the cohort's superb application, politeness and dedication during their exams. Well done, Year 12! 

Just some dates to remember from Ms Schatz and Mr Bower, who are doing an amazing job designing and co-ordinating all things HSC, Graduation and Formal!  Don't forget, your young person has all the details of these events in their extensive Information Pack issued by Ms Schatz at the end of Term 3.

Thursday November 12 Graduation Ceremony, 4:30pm - 6pm.  Full School Uniform, arrival via Pierce St.  Due to COVID-Safer requirements, two visitors from each student's immediate family or household, only.

Monday November 16,  Year 12 final 'sign out' and textbook return, including Post-School Survey, in the Library.

Wednesday November 18, Year 12 Formal at Ben Ean, Polkolbin, 6pm-9pm.

Wednesday 18 December, HSC results released.

Maitland High School’s Year 12 Graduation Ceremony on Thursday 12 November, 2020. Year 12 students and their guests (*) are to arrive and sign-in from 4.00pm via Pierce Street, with the Formal Ceremony commencing at 4.30pm and expected to finish at approximately 6.00pm.

*Our rationale for delaying the graduation until after the Exams  and making this a Year 12 only event is to allow  students to invite 2 members from their immediate family or household, with the view that families could then organise their own celebration dinner after the ceremony.

Unfortunately, the current restrictions mean we will not be able to serve refreshments at the conclusion of the event.

(*) As per current Health guidelines, external visitors attending will still be limited to 2 members from their immediate family or household and all attendees must sign in using the QR code provided at the entry of the venue. Please ensure you download the Service NSW App before the day.

 If you have not returned an RSVP slip to the Front Office, please do so as a matter of urgency. Seating this year will be in family groups.

If you are unwell or have been asked to self-isolate, please do not attend. Students and guests will not be allowed to congregate or crowd in groups including arriving or leaving the event.

UPDATE:  as outlined in Week 1, we have postponed our Year 7 2021 information Evening, due to current COVID-19 restrictions. Our new Term 4 Guidelines enable us to run this event after 12 November 2020, subject to changes in health advice at that time.

However, MHS has a change of date to better fit our burgeoning calendar. Our Information Evening will be on Wednesday December 2, a day after Year 7 Orientation day Tuesday, 1 December. Further details will be sent to all MHS Year 7 2021 students  and partner primary schools in the coming weeks and announced on facebook.

Please click on the QR code to find out about Alinta Uniform purchase processes.

It is a critical safety and wellbeing feature that students all wear the correct uniform, every day.  This ensures that any intruder on our grounds can be easily and quickly identified and that all students feel a sense of belonging, equality and acceptance regardless of parent income.

Parents are critical partners in ensuring that all students wear the correct uniform. Tights worn as pants are not acceptable, nor are short shorts.  Students wearing these items will have parents contacted to bring correct uniform to school.  Any family experiencing hardship will be provided with a Student Assistance Form for the purchase a uniform.

Additionally, we have changed our shorts and now have NEW BLACK PULL-ON SHORTS in the latest style and on trend stretch material! They are mid thigh length, so shorter than the old shorts, but still appropriate as uniform. Please come in and try them! They have been hugely popular with our girls.  If you buy black shorts elsewhere, please ensure they are mid thigh length, which means the end of the short leg lines up with the tips of the fingers.

Our uniform is supplied by  Alinta.

To purchase uniform items, you can:

• phone our Uniform Shop on 0423 326 648
• come into our Uniform Shop
• order online

Our Uniform Shop is located inside A block, near our library. 

If you come to our front office, we will be happy to guide you there. 

• Mondays: 2–6pm
• Wednesdays: 8.00-10am
• Fridays: 8.00-10am

You can order and pay online.

Visit Alinta to create an account and pay online.

When your child misses just 20 minutes a day that equals 1 hour and 40 minutes of learning each week which is nearly 2  and half weeks per year and therefore, from Kindy to Year 12, that is nearly a year of school - and so it goes on.

Your child's best learning time is at the beginning of the day. Classes start at 9:05am.  The principal is now conducting interviews with students each day who are arriving late to school on a regular basis., without good explanation. Some students with habitual, unexplained lateness have received Formal Caution to improve their poor pattern of attendance. These missing minutes of instruction not only impact the student who is habitually 15-20 minutes late, they also interrupt learning in the classroom they then enter.  I know many parents organise their children to leave home to arrive to school on time, however, a number are detouring via East Maitland shops, or are delayed by calling in to a friend's place to collect them on the way.  Please remind your child that s/he must go straight to school and that students are not permitted to go to the shops before school. 

Students are required to bring a note from their parent or carer if, in rare circumstances, they are required to leave before the conclusion of the school day at 3:10pm.  These notes must be handed in to The Front Office before school or during lunch break at the latest. 

The Front Office is noticing an increase in parents who phone from the car at the front of the school, or buzz at the gate to collect their child prior to the conclusion of the school day - often only between 10-30 minutes early. While parking and pick up space around the school can be difficult, please designate a side street close by in preference to arriving early to collect your child. Again, the missed instruction adds up and the disruption to learning in the classroom and the additional workload on Office Staff who then need to send a Student Service student  with a note to collect your child from class is difficult. Similarly, phoning your child on their mobile during school time and have them present to the Front Office asking to be given an Early Leaver's Pass does not alleviate the problem. The Office Staff have to phone a confirmed number of a parent or carer on our system themselves to ensure that the parent has provided permission and that the request is for a valid reason. as per  the Education Act (1990)

Our recent parent survey, sent to all families, outlined strong parent support for our mobile phone policy, which is, 'Phones must be turned off and away in bags during class time'. Phone use is only ever permitted in class under explicit teacher direction to use it for educational purposes such as conducting an Exit ticket.  Unfortunately, phones come with negatives as well as the positives of safety and convenience. A minority of students persistently engage in mobile phone use - usually a social media habit that appears hard to break - in class. 

Our mobile phone procedure is clear and understood across the school:

Phones are off and away in bags during class time.

Students who do not follow this rule are given an envelope and asked  to take the phone to the principal via the Front Office.

No phones to be taken to toilet, TLC, Wellbeing or during 'time out'. They are to be left in the student's bag.

All teachers document mobile phone misuse in Sentral as a Negative Behaviour Referral recorded and sent to the deputy principal of the Year group. 

5 x  Negative Behaviour Referrals = Formal Caution of suspension AND the student's phone must be handed into the DP the next day, to be collected at the end of the day.

Any further referrals will result in phone kept with DP for 5 X school days.

If it continues, Principal may suspend the student and will impose a ban on the individual student bringing their phone to school for a month.

Please continue to check for homework and assessment tasks on CANVAS. The instructions on how parents and carers can access it are included below. It is critical that students develop the discipline of handing in tasks by their due dates as Year 10, 11, and 12 in particular are governed strictly by NESA requirements and late or non-submission of tasks can mean students are then ineligible for the award of a ROSA or HSC.

As a general rule, Year 7 students should be engaging in  an hour of homework and revision of the day's school work and at least 1/2 hour of reading for pleasure every evening. In Year 8, this will increase to 1 - 1 1/2 hours. In Years 9 & 10, students can expect to cover 1 1/2 - 2 hours additional home learning and by senior years, it increases to 2-3 hours additional study a day.

Ensuring your child is up to date with homework and assessment tasks can be managed by logging on to our CANVAS Parent Portal. 

CANVAS for Parents log on link:

https://maitland.instructure.com/login/canvas

School work provided via CANVAS can be accessed by following these step-by-step instructions:

Parent ‘How-To’ Instructions

https://maitland-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/m/maitland-h/Parent_Access_for_Canvas.pdf

Student ‘How-To’ Instructions

https://maitland-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/m/maitland-h/Student_Access_for_Canvas.pdf

I'd like to acknowledge the challenging time we are all moving through together and recognise the strength and resilience demonstrated by our students and our community in pushing ahead while continuing to think of others, even when stresses and worries have greatly impacted our sense of security.  Mental health researchers have found that human beings are generally equipped to manage approximately 6 months of sustained stress and  therefore that it  is normal to feel we have exhausted all of our  physical, mental and emotional reserves after that time.  The holidays will have provided some valuable rest and relaxation time for our young people but it is important to look for opportunities to do some simple but effective things together at home to maintain balance and support your young person's sense of wellbeing. Spending time together, talking, engaging in physical activities, playing games and enjoying other's company is really important. Too much time alone in one's room is not healthy. Next newsletter, some important information on how to  'check-in' on the  wellbeing of our young people, including how to inquire and ask supportive questions of your young one, will be a feature of  our newsletter. 

Care and Connect resources

Please check out the new Care and Connect resources with  your child and continue to check-in with them about their mental health and wellbeing.

As always, if you are concerned about the mental health and wellbeing of your child or young person, please reach out to us and let us know about your concerns. We're here to help.

Our Wellbeing staff; Mr Eaton and Mrs Gambrill (HTs Wellbeing); and Ms Amanda Morgan, Student Support Officer; continue to case-manage students who have regularly accessed the Wellbeing Centre. These staff also liaise with our school counsellors, who are also available to support students. Log on to our Wellbeing Portal to access support through CANVAS, or call the school to speak with someone in the Wellbeing Team.