Bordertown High School

Issue 1 4 February, 2020

In this issue

Principal’s report Student news Community news Term Planner

Important Dates

February

13th School Photos 14th SEZ Swimming 21st Standards Day 25th Burge & Maddern 26th SSSSA Swimming 28th Sports Day 7.30am

30 South Terrace

Bordertown SA 5268

8752 1455

8752 1091

dl.0894.info@schools.sa.edu.au

borderhs.sa.edu.au

Newsletter

Respect Integrity Excellence

Hats are compulsory in Term 1

Welcome to the 2020 school year, particularly our new Year 8 students and their parents. We certainly look forward to providing quality education programs over the next five years to equip students with the knowledge and skills they will require to make a successful life. Enrolments for 2020 total 227, much the same as last year. Congratulations to the Year 12 students of 2019, who produced outstanding SACE results due to their hard work and commitment, not only in Year 12, but across previous years as well. The highest ATAR achieved was 95.55 by Lachlan Makin, with Hannah Dinning and Thomas Halliday also achieving in the 90’s. Well done to those students and to all who achieved the score required to secure their first preference at university. All students received terrific support from their dedicated band of teachers. Earlier this week I spoke to the 2020. Year 12 students about the amazing support they can expect to get from our staff to help them achieve their learning goals for this year. From our end we expect that they will work as hard as they can to match the expectations they, and others, have of them. Welcome to Renae Bower from Berri (English, HASS and Drama) and to Heather Warncken (Maths and HASS) who have contracts with us this year. Both are experienced teachers who will complement our staff. Sue Walter is on leave this term and Debra Clarke and Naomi Excell are sharing the Deputy role as well as maintaining their usual responsibilities. Late last year we received the final report from our External School Review. It highlighted that we “…. effectively use improvement planning and monitoring processes …and provide effective conditions for student learning.” In order to further improve our work, we will strengthen all teachers’ knowledge and classroom differentiation practices where the learning requirements of each student are identified and classroom learning designed to cater for all. Over the course of the year we will reach whole school agreements of high impact, evidence based instruction practices that will guide teachers’ work. The full report is available on our website. Parents and students are reminded that Bordertown High School has a well-developed mobile phone policy which states that should students choose to bring a phone to lessons, it must be turned off. It is recognised that phones are a major distraction to student learning and our experience is that, in the main, students often use them to surreptitiously communicate with other students via apps such as Snapchat, when they should be engaging in the lesson content and tasks. Phones in classrooms will be confiscated by the teacher in line with the policy, with parents required to retrieve them from the front office. Our mobile devices policy will be reviewed over the next few months. The 2019-2021 School Improvement Plan has undergone some minor revisions, but the essence of it remains. We will continue to be relentless in our work to build student literacy and numeracy across all year levels and to increase the number of students in the higher grade bands. The Department has mandated two extra Student Free Days this year to increase staff capacity to achieve the Plan goals. Our first one will be on Tuesday, March 10. Markus Trnovsky Principal

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Student News

New Staff

My name is Gabriela Castello and I have been at Bordertown High School since term 2 of 2019. I previously worked at Millicent High School as a LOTE teacher (Italian), as well as various other subjects, and Newbery Park Primary School as the LOTE teacher. I love challenging myself and learning is one way that I do this, especially as I will be studying the Diploma of TESOL as well as working full time. I am a massive Harry Potter fan, but I also love many other genres. My partner and I have a puppy and I am looking forward to building our lives here in Bordertown.

I am Renae Bower and I have moved to Bordertown after spending the last 4 years in the Riverland. I teach English, Drama and HASS. I am looking forward to exploring the area and getting to know my students.

I am Heather Warncken and I became a teacher after studying at UNISA as a mature aged student. I have taught a range of subjects in my seven years of teaching including Home Ec, Textiles, Food and Hospitality, Maths and HASS as well as other subjects at Cleve Area school. I returned home three years ago and have worked as a relief teacher at Bordertown High School, as a contract teacher at Keith Area school last year.

In the holidays, I attended Session B of the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) in Brisbane with 200 likeminded students. The NYSF is a Rotary supported, eleven-day camp, focused on preparing students interested in STEM for Year 12 and beyond. While in Brisbane I visited Bayer, a robotics lab and a hypersonic lab, and attended lectures from the Queensland Chief Scientist, and the Australian Antarctic Division. These, as well as many others challenged us to think outside of the square, question things around us, and placed us outside of our comfort zone. On top of this the camp was filled with many surprises, social events and time to talk to other students which encouraged us to form close friendships. I applied for the NYSF hoping to extend my scientific knowledge and figure out what I wanted to do in the future. However, the camp also saw me grow as a person, become more confident in myself and allowed me to network with scientists and students, many who will be life-long friends. This experience was life changing and I would recommend students to make the most of opportunities like. Kahli Lock Year 12 Student

National Youth Science Forum

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Student News

World Challenge 2019

On the 1st of December 2019, our World Challenge team, consisting of 10 students, and our teachers, Mrs. Clarke and Mr. Orrock, departed from Adelaide Airport, and prepared ourselves for next 3 weeks to come overseas. Upon arrival in Laos, after four long flights, we met up with our expedition leader Ali, and did lots of organising, including accommodation, and planning our activities for the day ahead. A student within the group was also elected each day to find a place to eat and guide our team through the planned recreation activities and tourist attractions. We did lots of sight-seeing and visiting of cultural sites, such as the Buddha Park in Vientiane, and exploring the markets which was a highlight.

We completed a four day trek within the jungles of Laos, which was challenging, yet such a rewarding experience as we pushed our bodies to the limit. We stayed in hammocks and had local guides preparing our meals. Successfully running away from a cobra was also an interesting experience for Mr. Orrock, to say the least. After the trek, we stayed within a small village in people’s homes, and got to see how they live and what they did during the day. We had a meal with the village chiefs before getting ready to head off to the islands of Dohne Khon. We stayed here for a few days, saw beautiful scenery and visited to the waterfalls where some swam with a water buffalo! Some students also got a bit of sickness during this time so were happy to relax!

We crossed the Laos border in to Cambodia which was quite a nerve racking experience when they take your finger prints! We bussed it to Phnom Pehn where it was hussle and bustle, go go go!

We journeyed to Pursat, and went to a local school within a community for the Community Project phase of our trip. There, we helped paint the classrooms, repair school desks, level some dirt outside the classrooms, and help establish some garden areas. On the last day of visiting the school, we played against some of the students in a volleyball tournament, in which we lost both games. We knew we were in trouble when they first walked out with matching volleyball uniforms!

We then travelled to Siem Reap and for the last few days of the expedition, we stayed in a nice hotel with a pool, visiting tourist attractions, such as the Trick-Art Museum and an acrobatic performance, as well as a tour around the temples of Angkor Wot and a few days of relaxation before we came home again.

Thanks to Mrs Clarke and Mr Orrock for helping to organize the trip and for accompanying us on our amazing overseas experience.

Teighan Brown

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Student News

Italy student exchange

My name is Anna Will and I was lucky enough to spend two months in the North of Italy on exchange with a program called Students of the World. I travelled over to Italy with a number of students from Australia and a chaperone. I lived in a small village which was 40 minutes from Venice. I stayed with an Italian family and attended school for the entirety of my trip, apart from the two week Christmas break. School was very different as their school year finishes in June when they have their summer holidays, their school week goes from Monday to Saturday, and their lessons start at 7:50 and finish at 1pm. This meant that every day we would go home for lunch. I also spent Christmas in Italy which was very different because it was winter. Unfortunately where I was staying it did not snow much. On Sundays when we didn’t have school, my host family took me to many places including Venice, the Mountains, Rome and Verona. Going on exchange was an amazing experience and I learnt a lot about a different culture and language. I have also made many life long friends with the other Australians I went to Italy with and made many connections in Italy. I now have a family and friends in Italy who will welcome me when I return one day. I would highly recommend going on exchange as it has made me more independent, taught me many life skills and has opened my eyes to many new possibilities.

My Italian exchange was the best 8 weeks of my life! After 12 months of planning I was so excited to finally leave for my trip. After a few nervous moments at the airport with overweight baggage and numerous flight delays due to bad weather, we only just managed to catch our Melbourne connecting flight by a few minutes, and with an air hostess priority run through Melbourne airport which was very stressful. After two long flights and a train trip I finally arrived to my host family in the city of Bergamo which is around 60 km North East of Milan. My host family consisted of my host mum Claudia, my host Dad Fabio, my host sisters Anna and Silvia and my host brothers Gabriele and Georgio. Only Anna and Gabriele lived at home though. It was quite different to have so many siblings! My host family was amazing and made my exchange that much better, they were so welcoming and nice and made me feel like part of their family. While on my exchange I was lucky enough to visit four Italian cities being Naples, Venice, Milan and Rome, with my favorite being Naples. Naples is known as the home of pizza and it certainly lived up to its reputation. You have not experienced pizza until you have had pizza in Naples! You could say I ate my fair share of pizza while in Italy and especially while in Naples! School in Italy is so different, they have different high schools for everything. For example, I went to a human science high school but there are some high schools that focus on music, design or language. The school hours in Italy are from 8am to 12pm or 1pm, the time that you finish everyday depended on the days of the week. In Italy I also had to go to school Monday to Saturday. Going to school on a Saturday morning is not so much fun! At my school we studied 10 subjects; Science, Maths, PE, Psychology, History, Latin, Italian, English, Religion and Democracy. I must admit though that given the language barrier I can’t say I learnt much in many lessons, but I did try. My school was very good and tried to help me with additional Italian lessons. I did start to understand a lot more Italian but I was still not very confident to actually speak. One of the other favourite things I did was to spend a weekend with Alessia and her family in San Donato. This was a very special thing for me to be able to do. It was so nice to see Alessia again and to get to meet her beautiful family. As Alessia lives so close to Milan I was able to visit Milan and go shopping. Overall, my exchange was absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend anyone thinking about it to give it a go. It can be a bit daunting in the beginning but once you settle in it is truly an amazing experience. Abbie Croser

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Student News

HOUSE SHIELD

Pinjali - 1220 points Canara - 1216 points Walamba - 1151 points Glenora - 1029 points KIRBY CUP WINNERS

Harry Schwarz (1:02.90) with Harry Kuchel runner-up

Lily Kennett (1:29.76) with Lauren Rowett runner-up. AGE GROUP RESULTS

Under 14 Girls

Winner ............. Lily Kennett 62pts Runner-Up ....... Eliza Orrock 54pts

Under 14 Boys

Winner ………...Harry Schwarz 64pts Runner-Up ....... Harry Meakins 56pts

Under 15 Girls

Winner ............. Mia Dowling 58pts Runner-Up ....... Claire Belluzzo 57pts

Under 15 Boys

Winner ............. Austin Davies 61pts Runner-Up ....... Flynn Rogers 57pts

Under 16 Boys

Winner ............. Will Krop 62pts Runner-Up.. ..... Jack Staude 43pts

Over 16 Girls

Winnner ........... Abbie Croser 45pts Runner-Up ....... Emilie Dowling 35pts

Over 16 Boys

Winner…. ........ Harry Kuchel 63pts Runner-Up ....... Jayce Dimitriadis 58pts

Records

Harry Schwarz U14 50m Backstroke 35.65 (Nathan Clark 37.59 2008) Harry Schwarz U14 50m Freestyle 27.97 (Nathan Clark 30.89 2008)

58th Annual Swimming Carnival

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Student News

58th Annual Swimming Carnival-cont.

The 2020 swimming carnival was held Friday of week 1 with perfect weather conditions in the morning, however, an intense wind storm came through as the final relay events were getting underway. All events were completed, but unfortunately we had to postpone the official presentations until Monday morning due to the weather. Pinjali were the victorious team, winning by a very narrow margin of just four points. With the scores being so close it really highlights the fact that each swimmer can earn at least one point for completing a race or participating in an event on our heats day. The level of support shown by all was excellent with many students swimming in older age groups or events to ensure that lanes were filled and points could be scored for their respective teams. It was also pleasing to see the encouragement given to the swimmers in the water by those who were on the sidelines. We have waited a long ten years to see any broken records at our carnivals so it was fantastic to watch Harry Schwarz smash two of Nathan Clark’s old records. Congratulations, Harry, that is an amazing achievement. Thank you to the pool and school staff for their assistance at both the heats day and the carnival, and thanks also to Aaron Schneider who took a day off work to referee for us, walking up and down the length of the pool all day in the heat. Well done to the many parents, grandparents, friends and family who braved the weather and came to the carnival to support the swimmers. A school swimming squad has been announced and we now look forward to our involvement in the interschool competitions. HPE Faculty

2020 House Captains

Pinjali

Captains Vice Captains

Tahlia O’Sullivan Lara McLellan Karl Dahlitz Billy Whittlesea

Canara

Captains Vice Captains

Hayley Weatherald Anna Will Connor Langdon Jio Plasabas

Glenora

Captains Vice Captains

Emilie Dowling Alyssa Conlon Ethan Dinning Jed Hutchinson

Walamba

Captains Vice Captains

Eliza Staude Teighan Brown Kraig Fuentes Bryson Hinge

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Parent News

Governing Council

Bordertown High School Governing Council Nomination for Election Form 2020

I………………….……………………………(full name) of………………...………….……..…….………………………...

(address )

Nominate

…………………………………………….. (full name) of ……………………………………………….…………………….

(address)

To be elected as a member of Bordertown High School Governing Council

I ………………………………………………(full name) of ……………………………………………………………...……

(address )

Accept the nomination and hereby declare that :

I have not been declared bankrupt and do not receive a benefit of a law for the relief of insolvent debtors

I have not been convicted of any offence of dishonesty, or of a sexual nature involving a minor, or of violence

against a person

I understand that should I be declared bankrupt, receive a benefit of law for the relief of insolvent debtors or be convicted of any of the offences listed my membership of Bordertown High School Governing Council will cease.

Signed:………………………...……………………….…….Date: ……….…..../…………..../……………....

Bordertown High School

Governing Council AGM

Tuesday 25th February 2019

at 7:00pm in the High School Study Hub

Apologies to the High School on 8752 1455 or email briony.nitschke613@schools.sa.edu.au

The Governing Council represents the parent body of the school and sets the general direction of the school, and supports staff to get the best outcomes for students. A

nomination form has been included in this newsletter. Vacancies available

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2019 MAGAZINE

Orders are being taken for 2019 Bordertown High School Magazine.

Cost: $25.00

NAME:—————————————————— Year Level —————

To secure your copy please make your payment to the Front Office before 2nd March. Thank you.

School photographs will be taken on Thursday 13th February. All students have an order envelope which they need to bring to school on the scheduled day. There are 2 options for payment: either on-line by midnight Feb 12th, or correct cash on 13th February. Students having family photographs with siblings

from the Primary School need to have contacted Mrs Excell to coordinate this prior to the day.

Please notify us of your current email address

FAMILY NAME:…………………………………………………………………………………………. STUDENT NAME:……………………………………………………………………………………….

EMAIL ADDRESS:……………………………………………………………………………………...

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Parent News

Athletics Carnival Help Can you assist at our Interhouse Athletics Day on Friday 28 Feburary? If so, please indicate below

and return this slip to the High School Front Office as soon as possible.

I am able to assist with : Shotput Discus Javelin Long/triple jump High jump Track—judging/timing Canteen Parent Name_________________________

SPORTS DAY FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 7:30AM START