Chief Executive Visit

Last Tuesday we were visited by Rick Perrse, the Chief Executive of Department for Education, and Roy Page the Principal of Heathfield High School. They were here as part of a tour through some Riverland school and preschool sites.  Rick was impressed with our school, the layout and look of our learning spaces, and how we are prepared for the present and future needs of students. 

2021 South Australian Secondary Teacher of the Year Award Finalist

Congratulations to Digital Media teacher Jodi Long, who was recently named as one of three finalists for the prestigious “2021 South Australian Secondary Teacher of the Year Award”! This recognition is well deserved, our school community members are very proud of Jodi’s dedication to her students not only this year but every year. We look forward to the announcement of the Public Education Awards to be held in November, we wish you the best of luck Jodi!

Student Free Day - Awesome Learning Collaborations

Last week we had teachers and ancillary staff from across the five Riverland schools, Renmark, Glossop, Loxton, Waikerie and Swan Reach for a day of professional development. Teaching staff were involved in workshops with Dr Misty Andoniou, a literacy expert, who worked with staff in developing our skills in teaching the literacy and language of our individual subject areas. Ancillary staff were part of a range of workshops including records management / finance, our department's new software, Workplace Health and Safety, and marketing and promotions.  It was fantastic to have the five schools together as a networking opportunity to continue to build the collaborative strength of our five Riverland secondary sites.

R U OK Day

Last Thursday was R U OK Day, a good chance to remind us of the importance of checking-in, but please don’t forget we don’t need a “day” to check in on our families, friends, students, colleagues and ourselves. We can do this anytime!  You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener. Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:

1. Ask R U OK?
2. Listen
3. Encourage action
4. Check in

Don’t forget that we have many staff who can support student wellbeing at school, including our Wellbeing Leader Ben Files, full time Social Worker Alicia Thackrey, Aboriginal Secondary Transition and Education Officer Daniel Giles, Pastoral Worker Pammy Main, and Attendance and Engagement officer Tara Camilleri. Please refer to them for support as required.

Parent Teacher Interviews Rescheduling

Due to current COVID restrictions and DfE requirements limiting the number of community members we are allowed to have on site at the moment, we have decided to postpone parent teacher interviews until Thursday 14th October in week 1 of term 4. If you have concerns about your child’s progress you do not need to wait until next term. Please do not hesitate to contact teachers via telephone or message via DAYMAP. 

COVID

It is important that the school has the most up-to-date contact details (including phone number and email addresses) for all parents/carers so they can be quickly contacted in the event of a temporary closure or regional closure.   We also require students to stay home if they are unwell and if they have symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild – please get tested.  Please take some time this week to make sure that students can find their subject information in DAYMAP, that they can upload assessments, and can access Microsoft TEAMS and Learnlink emails.  If there are any troubles with this please have the students contact their teachers or please contact us on their behalf.  We are really appreciative of our students, families and staff who have been extraordinarily supportive throughout this pandemic to ensure continuity of learning for students, so thank you.

Mat Evans - Principal