Principal's News "Together We Soar"

School Leaving Age

As many of you are aware the leaving age for students is being raised from 15 to 17 years from January 2010. The following as a link to the DET site which contains a host of information regarding this change including a vodcast whic is worth looking at.

Leave

As on Monday the 2nd of November I will be on long service leave for the next six weeks. Mr John Melville will be relieving as Principal while Mr Dion Cafe will be relieving as Deputy Principal and Mr Dan Effraemson as relieving HT PHP/Music/Art. Mrs Pam Walpole will be taking leave as well and Mrs Diane Reid will be acting as relieving HT Teaching & Learning. Mr Paddy Penton will be acting as relieving HT Social Science while Mrs Robyn Hariede is on leave.

Newsletter - Week 2 Term 4

Digital Education Revolution (Year 9 Laptops)

Our Parent Information Evening was extremely well attended and the information around the care, use and expectations relating to the laptops was discussed. The “Charter of Use” was distributed and this must be returned before a student can be issued with a machine. As well as the DET policies relating to the laptops, there will be some school specific policies which will apply to the use of the laptops.

Parents who were unable to attend on the night will need to make alternative arrangements to meet with Nicole Swadling, the school’s Technical Support Officer, to receive the information and the “Charter of Use” forms.

Pink Day

Last Monday was “Pink Day” at school and students and staff were seen wearing something pink as part of the awareness of Breast Cancer Research. Ms Jennifer Hales deserves a special mention for her outstanding effort in coordinating her outfit, it was something to behold. Congratulations to Georgina Facchetti for being behind the initiative as part of the SRC.

Year 10 School Certificate Exams

Our Year 10 students are rapidly heading towards their School Certificate exams which will be held in Week 4 on the Monday 9th to Friday 13th of November. Following the exams they have two weeks of work experience and they should have, by now, received forms to complete from Mr Kenna. Work experience is part of the school curriculum and, as such, attendance is mandatory. Any student who hasn’t organised a work experience placement must attend school.

Promotional DVD

Thank you to all the students who took part in the making of a promotional DVD/video and Mr Effraemson for all his effort in putting it together. The DVD will be shown to our Year 6 students at local primary schools as part of the transition program. It can be viewed on the school website too and I recommend you take a look at it.

Year 6 Transition

Our Year 6 students will take part in a transition program during week 4. Students from each of the primary schools will attend the school and participate in a program of activities aimed at introducing them to high school life. They will attend lessons and get to know some of their future teachers, as well as senior students who will act as peer support persons. They will also start to build some of those important relationships with key staff such as their Year Adviser (Mrs Maher) and HT Welfare (Mr Glyde).

A. R. FAHEY ~ Principal

“Together We Soar”

Caffeine Drinks

Caffeine Drinks not Suitable for Students.

Recently there has been a lot of publicity around caffeine/energy drinks, such as "Mother", "Red Bull", etc, and their increased consumption by adolescents. The effects of excessive levels of caffeine have been highlighted with recent hospitalisations and even deaths. I have noticed that there have been a number of students bringing such drinks to school,

I would like to remind parents that any forms of drinks which contain caffiene should not be brought to school. Students who bring cola drinks to school will have them confiscated and only returned with a parent present.

Caffeine intoxication is a recognized clinical syndrome. It is described as nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, rapid heartbeat, restlessness and pacing. In rare cases, caffeine intoxication can cause death.

The following is a link to an extract from a recent newspaper article:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/09/energy-drinks-c.html