Winmalee High School News

This Year our Subject Selection for Year 8 into 9 and 10 into 11, 2021 will be run in a different format due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

During school in weeks 7, 8 and 9, students in Year 8 and year 10 will have access to information sessions about the subjects and courses  being offered for 2021. This will occur during class for students. On Wednesday evening 24 June, there will be an optional Zoom session for parents to join, which is in place of our regular information session in the school hall.

Attached in this newsletter are subject booklets and information about TVET courses, to support student conversations with their families, teachers and peers before making an informed decision about subjects for 2021. 

If there are any questions about subjects/courses or patterns of study, please contact the relevant staff member - a contact name is included in the subject selection information booklets. Mrs Ruskin, Careers Adviser, is also available to answer questions relating to TVET and TAFE. We will share the Subject Selection Form and Zoom invite closer to the event.

Our Semester Academic Reports will be following the same timeline as previous years and all students will be issued their reports by the end of Term 2. For Year 7-10 students, there  may be a reduction in the number of outcomes assessed this semester, due to COVID-19. Included in your child's report will be a letter outlining any adjustments to assessment and reporting and the report template.

As we are unable to run our regular ROSE Breakfast events and invite families to the school, we will be enclosing in the report, the Award Certificate and a school canteen voucher for all students receiving a High Academic Achievement and/or Growth Mindset Award.

Earlier this week, Year 12 Parent Teacher meetings were held via phone and Zoom. Year 11 Parent Teacher meetings are scheduled for Week 10. We will share booking information with the reports, which will be issued next week.  

Our Year 7-10 Parent Teacher Interviews will go ahead as planned for early in Term 3. The format of the event will likely be via phone calls or Zoom video conferencing, as the most recent  health advice does not permit face to face meetings on a large scale. We will share booking information when reports are issued.

Year 12 Trial exams will be held in Term 3, Week 3 and 4. At the end of this term, students will receive a Timetable to help them to plan their time and develop their own individual timetable. 

During the examination period there will be no scheduled classes. Students only need to attend for their scheduled examinations. Students are welcome to access the Library for study over the 2 week period.

Any students who have concerns about their individual timetable should speak with Mr Pendergast or Mr Galbraith.

Last week, NESA launched the #StayHealthyHSC campaign, in partnership with ReachOut Australia.

 The partnership aims to build an even greater support network around HSC students this year, as they work towards their HSC during COVID-19. 

The campaign will provide further advice about the changes that have been made to this year’s exams to keep everyone safe, as well as resources for managing stress and tips for keeping active while preparing for exams.

Check out the fantastic resources available for Year 12 students and their families at ReachOut Australia. It is well worth an explore.

https://au.reachout.com/collections/stressed-about-study-during-coronavirus

In late March, the school received Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards for the following students: Josephine Prior - Year 12 2019; Saxon Penberthy - Year 10; Kayley O'Reilly - Year 10; and Luke Schaffler - Year 10.

Congratulations to all of these students who have achieved their Bronze certificates.

We look forward to restrictions being lifted so our students can continue to participate in and achieve in the Duke of Edinburgh program. Connecting to nature and our beautiful surrounds has never been so important!

Year 7 Adviser, Mr Jon Kingston has been working with a small team of passionate students on a school based sustainability project. The team includes Oscar Stone, Joshua Goodman, Caelan Crisp and Tom Iskov. Thank you to these students for their commitment and the time they have dedicated so far to this great initiative.

A few notes from Mr Kingston on the project....

There is a little nook in the grounds of Winmalee High where you will find four raised vegetable gardens that were constructed by staff and students in the not so distant past. These garden beds have been lying fallow for a little while now and as all good gardeners know, this is not such a bad thing. Green thumbs may be interested to know that a small group of Year Seven students have fired up the garden tools once again. Undaunted by the slow onset of winter and the threat of rampaging possums, the beds have been planted optimistically with seedlings such as broad beans and bok choy, spinach and snow peas. Vegetable gardening activities are set to continue and expand into the year as we look forward with hope, to uninterrupted attendance for students and staff.  The students who are involved in this sustainability initiative, are already benefiting from demonstrating knowledge which their families have lovingly passed on to them, as well as learning new skills. Just as importantly, getting our hands dirty has been fun. Mr Kingston.

The office has now resumed accepting payments for course fees. Any families that require any assistance with fees or school equipment are encouraged to contact the school. We understand that the past few months have been challenging for many families and we are ready to support students in any way we can. 

Like many events scheduled for 2020, there have been several activities that have not gone ahead. As a result, the school will reimburse families for any payments made for these cancelled activities. These include: Encore, Meet the Keeper, Year 10 Ski camp, Year 11/12 Ski weekend, Solo Vocal camp, Dance Ensembles, Dance Apparel and Sport for Term 1.

Families have the option to have monies transferred to school fees or other expenses, to fees in advance or the school can arrange a refund. Please complete the survey below to request reimbursement for the relevant activities.

https://forms.gle/ZTzT38qUPNLBczMZ6

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or if we can assist you.

Vaccination dates in place of missed days due to remote learning have now been confirmed.

On Friday 24 July, Week 1 Term 3, Year 10 students will receive their next scheduled vaccination. Also, any Year 8 students who were absent on their last vaccination date will be able to receive their vaccination on this day. Please contact Ms Hinchey-Holley if you have any questions.

We don't often get complaints from the community about our students, but when we do, we act upon any concerns raised. Over the past couple of weeks we have had a few concerns raised about some students riding dangerously to and from school. In particular, there was concern raised for elderly members of the community feeling unsafe as students have been riding at speed past driveways and past pedestrians. This is something we will raise with students at our next assembly. If your child does ride their bike to school, we would appreciate it if you could have a conversation with them about riding to and from school safely.

Also, if any students experience any aggression or verbal abuse from passing vehicles whilst riding to and from school, we encourage students to report this to us and if possible, make a note of the license plate number.

As the colder weather is with us, it is important that students dress for warmth whilst still meeting the school uniform dress code. On our website is information about uniform choices available for students. Students are reminded that tracksuit pants, jumpers with different logos and incorrect coloured jumpers are not appropriate uniform. A reminder that different representative jumpers, such as sport, dance, AIME, Ski Racing etc, can be worn on Fridays only.

The uniform shop continues to operate and we will let you know when the next delivery of the microfibre sport style jackets arrive. The maroon junior girls shorts have been popular with students and we look forward to the delivery of the girls maroon long pants soon. 

If we can support the purchase of uniform, please contact us so we can assist your child to be in the correct uniform at school.

Not even a pandemic has stopped the P&C team from meeting and supporting the school. Monthly meetings have continued via Zoom and changes to the P&C Constitution means that voting online can now occur.  Any parents and carers who wish to join our monthly meetings are welcome to do so. Please contact the school if you would like to attend our meetings. 

The past few months have been challenging for our school community. We would like to acknowledge and thank all of the teachers and staff at Winmalee High School for the tremendous work they have done to make sure that learning was continuous for our students as we were all thrown into a remote learning situation. Thank you!

Last year, the P&C applied for a grant to upgrade a Multi-Purpose Sporting Field. The team would like to acknowledge the work of Ms Belinda Sell in putting this application together. This joint funding grant was successful and will see $15,000 to help upgrade our volleyball court area for students. Thank you, Belinda!