Here we are at the the end of Term 1 and I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new staff to Tumut High School and to acknowledge all non-teaching and teaching staff who are back again for 2022.
We are again confronted with a large turnover of staff as the school and department deal with staff retirements, staff shortages and staff seeking alternative pathways in their life journeys. The list below attempts to collate the new teaching staff joining us in 2022.
Our new staff have not only expressed their excitement about joining the THS Staff team but have been glowing in their appreciation for the support they have received from staff at the school and from others within our community.
So it is my pleasure to welcome, in no particular order the following staff;
- In Maths we have Mathew Zuzek and Chelsea Jacobson (Chelsea also did spend Term 4 of 2021 with us)
- In CAPA we have, Michael Mitchell (Drama), Maddie Sing (Visual Arts) and Oden Britt (Music)
- In TAS we have India Burden (Agriculture and Mandatory Technology)
- In PDHPE we have Melissa Weston and Christian Lotter
- In HSIE we have Keira Hayden
- In English we have Sally Cox
- In Wellbeing we have Alex Tobin taking on the Student Support Officer (SSO) full time position as well as Jenna Broadfoot and Gemma Pearce involved as Part Time Temporary SSO’s. We also have Maddie Hibbert and Molly Manns joining up with our other amazing Student Mentors.
It would seem 2022 is throwing as many ‘curve balls’ at us that occurred in 2020 and 2021. So what do we learn from the last 2 years that we can take into another year of uncertainty?
In 2020 the bushfires raised wellbeing concerns for many within our community. We learnt quickly how significant community wide events can be on the mental health and wellbeing of our students and staff. Wellbeing of staff and students was a priority then and continues to be at the centre of decision making from the beginning of the pandemic up until where we are now in 2022.
Educationally our system has needed to adapt to lockdowns and remote learning. It’s so important to acknowledge how ALL teaching and non-teaching staff have been innovative and progressive in how they have contributed to dealing with issues we have needed to confront. Our students have benefited from this in how they cope with building resilience.
Term 1 has had its disruptions with high rates of staff and student absences, however, the lessons learnt from the previous two years has allowed the school to provide a certain level of continuity of learning.
A reminder to our community that we have a school plan which focuses on student achievement, tracking student growth, continuity of learning, teacher professional learning and wellbeing of students and community. This plan was progressed last year and will continue to give us a focus on how we continue to impact on student outcomes. We will continue to analysis our data with an acceptance of its problematic nature. We will continue to focus on our School Plan but acknowledge that uncertainty will continue to plague our system and is likely to affect our ability to achieve everything we want for our students.
Finally, just as we have done over the last two years, we will be here for our students. Ultimately, our year will be judged on how well we understood and keep true to the school’s visions statements of;
- Fostering independent, creative and critical thinkers for lifelong learning
- Supporting the social and emotional development of resilient and responsible individuals
- Equipping students to be informed, active and responsible community members
- Providing an inclusive learning environment that caters for the needs of all students
Don Dixon, Principal
