Renmark High School eNewsletter

Renmark High School Swimming Carnival

Well done to the students who participated in our recent Renmark High School swimming carnival, and thankyou to the staff and parents who supported the day. Congratulations to the swimmers who gave a terrific effort for their teams and those who were then selected to represent our school in the interschool event. Congratulations also the following students: Abbey P (Chaffey), Callem G (Murray), Cody L (Sturt) and Harrison C (Tintra), who won The Most Dedicated Award for their respective teams. For The Most Dedicated Award each team nominates a student who goes above and beyond to support their team. This commendable attitude and effort is an embodiment of our school motto “non nobis solum”, “not for ourselves alone." Well done!

Interschool Swimming Carnival

Thank you to the families and friends who attended the Interschool Swimming Carnival to support our Renmark High School team. Thanks to Aaron Camplin and the HPE staff for their preparations and then for the staff who attended to assist with the event and to support the students on the night. Congratulations most importantly to the students for your fantastic efforts, it was a close contest throughout the night with us coming second only by 23 points!

School building improvements

It is an exciting time for our school with stage one of the $5million of capital works already completed and more works planned. Our most recent stage of building works has been completed and this week we have been able move back into the rest of D block with its new air-conditioning and new ceilings. Planning for the next stages is being finalised and gone out to tender for construction from June 2020 to March 2021. These plans include more air conditioning (this was overwhelmingly requested by students, parents/caregivers, and staff), moving the front office into the old Tafe building, moving Student Services into the library, and landscaping across the front of the school. When you are at the school you can see the latest drawings on the wall in the Front Office.

Parent Student Teacher interviews

We strongly encourage your attendance at the upcoming student, parent, teacher interviews in Week 10 and 11 of this term. It is easier than ever to book your preferred time slots via our online booking system by following the instructions on page 6 in this newsletter, and on our Facebook page. If you require any assistance at all to book, please contact Stacey at our Front Office on 85866974.

These meetings are an important opportunity for teachers, students and their parents/caregivers to discuss student achievement, progress and goal setting for the remainder of the year. Interviews are not only for those students who are not progressing as well as expected, they are just as valuable to discuss the learning and skill development of students who are already performing to a high standard.

Some reminders:

The standard of the uniform has been fantastic on our return to the school, please keep this up.
Attendance by students is an important factor in their success at school. The beginning of the year is a great time to set in place the habit of being at school on time each and every school day.
Students are not permitted to leave the school to go down the street at lunchtime. This is in the interests of the safety and wellbeing of our students. Students who truant from school (or from school off-site activities) put at risk their ability to participate in opportunities such as excursions and camps.
DAYMAP is an important method of communication with families and we encourage all parents and guardians to make use of this service. Instructions on accessing the DAYMAP program have been sent home with this newsletter, are available on our Facebook page and can be collected from the Front Office.
School newsletters will be issued every 3 weeks and we encourage you to access them electronically from the SZAPP application, email, DAYMAP or on our Facebook page. Please let us know if you would like a printed version sent home with your student.

Renmark High is currently offering Open Access for two groups of students.

Stage 2 Legal Studies students Casey, Kiran, Courtney, Samuel and Laaina meet every week for a one hour online lesson using google classroom and an online video/audio class with other students around the state. They then catch up at another time as a group to support each other in this online learning. Mrs Elliott is also making herself available to support these students.

Darcy and Shamsher, both in year 11 have enrolled in the new Stage 2 subject called “Industry and Entrepreneurial Solutions” with a focus on CAD CAM drafting and design. They are both enjoying the course and are currently completing their first house design skills and applications task.

These are just two more examples of Renmark High School being flexible and innovative in its delivery of Senior School curriculum where students have shown a passion for a certain subject or pathway.

On Tuesday 19^th of February, the three Year 8 Care Groups headed off to Lake Bonney for an Aquatics camp. We all first went to the Lake Bonney Aquatic Centre to hear about the safety procedures from our instructors.

Later my Care Group (8.2) started our aquatic activities. We participated in canoeing, knee boarding and wind surfing. Due to some unfortunate weather conditions on the first day, our group was not able to take part in wind surfing.

At camp, 8.1 and 8.3 participated in many fun activities including a walk, volleyball, 8-ball, table tennis, ball games and many more. Once 8.2 had finished their aquatics, we headed back to camp to have a lunch, filled with sandwiches and fruit. The teachers had a brilliant idea to have a quiz, with topics that included general knowledge, sport, labelling flags for countries, naming famous celebrities and more. With the topics very much in our favour, my group were the victors and were presented with a Freddo Frog.

After a busy and fun-filled day for all, we returned and sat down to have popcorn and watch The Lion King. Lights Out was at 10:00pm however, we did hear Mrs Papametis banging on people’s doors throughout the night for all those who would not go to sleep! Luckily, the next day conditions were perfect, and classes were able to do more water activities or stay at camp and practise volleyball and ball games for a sports day.

The camp was lots of fun and we made many new memories. However, after so much fun, many of us were eager to get home and sleep in our beds!

Penny B (Year 8 student)

Independent Reading

In years 8-12 English students are expected to read at the beginning of each lesson for 10 minutes. At Renmark High School we understand that reading is important and that it is a powerful skill to have. Reading is a transferrable skill and is used in every aspect of our life. To improve the speed and accuracy of reading, practise needs to occur, in this way reading stamina is built. It is an expectation that your child brings all of their learning materials to class including their independent reading novel. This book can come from our school library or from home.

To build reading stamina we encourage that reading takes place in and out of the classroom. I encourage you to have a conversation with your child about what they are reading. You could ask them questions such as;

What is happening in the current book you are reading?
Are you enjoying it?
Have you read any other books by this author?
Can you make some predictions about what might happen next?
Is this book challenging you?
Are there any words you don’t understand?

As in all aspects of life, taking an interest in what your child is reading, modelling reading at home, taking a trip to the library or local bookshop will reinforce the importance of life-long reading.

Biljana Elliott - Literacy and Global Perspectives Leader

From the Music Room

Creating Compositions

Over the past three weeks, our Year 8 Music students have begun to play with beats, rhythms, and sounds with the goal of creating their own composition. Using a variety of skills learnt in their Music class, students had to create a composition consisting of: body percussion, percussion instrument, and at least one everyday object. This resulted in our students experimenting with a variety of rhythms and pitches to produce the right composition. They then graphically notated their composition, using images and symbols to represent the sound, sound length, and tone. The work the students have produced clearly shows their approach to learning music, and how they have incorporated a variety of new musical knowledge into something they can play themselves and with their fellow peers. Have a look at some of the examples of student work; do you think you’d be able to play some of these compositions yourself?

Alistair Ward - Music teacher

Agriculture News

During Week 3, a group of senior Agriculture students attended a community forum at the Renmark Council Chambers. The forum aimed to inform the community about practical applications of artificial intelligence (AI). Students were able to hear from a range of experts who discussed both career and local industry opportunities associated with the use and development of AI. A big focus for the session was how AI and sensors can be used to collect large quantities of data and turn it into useful information that can inform and improve practices within our local region.

“The session was really good because we learnt about current and future technologies and how it can provide new opportunities for young people within our region” Jamie D, Year 11 Agriculture Student

Jess Farrelly - Science Coordinator

Agriculture students probe into a Local Business

The year 11 Agricultural class recently visited a local business to look at the installation of moisture probes. The purpose was to understand how moisture probes work including the capturing and reading of data that these probes generate. Students were able to look at how different irrigation systems i.e drip and sprinkler irrigation, work for different soils and crop production systems. They were also able to analyse the overall efficiency of the different irrigation systems. Students will be working on a moisture probe assignment and will be able to apply knowledge gained during their visit. This will have a positive impact on the quality of their work. On behalf of the Renmark High Agricultural students we thank Atwal family for letting us visit their property and Mr. Sam Atwal for sharing his valuable knowledge with the students.

Raj Singh - Agriculture Teacher

Stage 1 Metal Tech

Mr Mat Gove our new Tech Studies teacher was busy with the Stage 1 metal class where they were designing and engineering their own metal scroll signs.

YEAR 9 WOODWORK

Over the past five weeks, the year 9 students have been working on making a tissue box holder. This has involved the initial creation of the product on Inventor and then a projection onto Orthogonal Drawings. These drawings have aided the students when accurately marking out their timber joints, and machining their material. The machining process has involved a demonstration of the correct use of each tool and machine within the workshop, while also reminding students on the safety practices in the space. Currently students are fixing the sides of their box together with glue and various clamps. Once dry, the students utilise an orbital sander to ensure their sides are smooth. The base of the student’s tissue box holder would require students to router out a section for it to be placed. The weeks that follow will involve students machining their lid with the CNC router and applying an overall finish to their product.

Mat Gove - Tech Teacher

Mmmmm.......What's Cooking?

The Year 11 Food and Hospitality class have been learning about Street Foods. The task involved designing, preparing and presenting a street food dish providing an opportunity to experience authentic food of new and diverse cultures. Students engaged well with this task. They investigated street foods from various cultures/countries, authentic ingredients and flavours used. On Thursday of week 5 they had an opportunity to prepare and present their planned dishes. The final products were impressive and some of the popular dishes included Pav Bhaji , Arancini balls, Steamed Pork Buns, Kasespatzle, Yiros, Tacos and Kimchi Fried Rice.

The Year 12 Food and Hospitality class has also been involved in learning about Safe Food Handling practices. They have done this through investigating high risk foods and gaining knowledge about safe handling of these foods during preparation and storage. The assessment for this task included designing, preparing and presenting a signature dish using two high risk ingredients. Students engaged extremely well with this task and produced dishes they identified with. Examples include Pork Pot-stickers with Spicy Peanut Salad, Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola, Chicken Enchiladas with fresh Tomato Salsa and Teriyaki Chicken Sushi.

‘Strong Futures’, is a class designed to strengthen the bond between culture and education. The class will embrace students’ identity and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and build stronger futures.

At Renmark High School, we see the need for students to walk in two worlds if they are to be successful in both education and employment, and happy and mentally healthy in life. Those thoughts were echoed in comments by Aboriginal elders of our community. Students recognize this but are unsure of what to do about it. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at Renmark High School have asked for a class where they can learn together with their peers, where traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and learning styles are upheld and valued.

Many other students wish for a chance to learn about the culture and traditions of Australia’s first people and this class will be a mixture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and some who are not.

A traditional way of learning will be our focus. Uncle Barney Lindsay and Daniel Giles will be running the program with help from Martine Turnbull and Pammy Main.

This class will be held in ‘Namawi Pulgi’ and will run for a double lesson. A different topic will be covered each week, inviting successful Aboriginal people to come in and talk to the students about their stories. Aboriginal community members involved will:

Share their stories and hopes for the young people of this community, give ideas for strategies to get through the tough times
Provide information for support, develop greater respect for Elders and community
Share traditional knowledge and language and their beliefs in the importance of education and navigating through the system.

The class will offer rich curriculum in the areas of Literacy, Numeracy, STEM and the Arts, differentiated for Years 8 to 11. Field trips to Calperum Station, Ngaut Ngaut walking trail and Bookmark Creek may be included over the year.

Martine Turnbull and Daniel Giles

The ‘Strong Futures’ program offered at Renmark High School aims to provide a vast curriculum in Literacy, Numeracy, the Arts and STEM. The class will embrace students’ identity and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and a traditional learning approach will be the focus. The lessons will be held once a week and will take place in ‘Namawi Pulgi’, with a brand new topic discussed each week. The class will be run by Uncle Barney Lindsay and Daniel Giles, while Renmark High staff members Martine Turnbull and Pammy Main will also be involved. Successful Aboriginal community members will also have the opportunity to participate within the program, being invited to share their stories with the students and provide inspiration in their own lives. These community members will also be able to provide students with traditional knowledge and language based from their own personal beliefs, while also explaining the importance of navigating the education system.

The class is open to any student between Years 8 and 11 who are looking to learn more about the culture and traditions of the first people of Australia.

Written by Joshua G (Year 11)

Here we are in week 6 nearly half way through Term 1. Time is just flying by and the Year 8 students have settled in really well and from what I hear they are enjoying high school.

Earlier in the term I went on the Yr. 8 Aquatics camp. It was an excellent camp and each year I am amazed at how these young people push themselves through their comfort zone and have a go at things they have never done before. I was the observer on the ski boat and when I asked the students "Have you ever been skiing before?" and some of them said "No" I was stunned. So many of them literally got up and skied. They were thrilled that they had achieved the goal and it was a privilege to share that excitement. So good!

The weather, unfortunately was not great on the first day but we worked our way around that. What a wonderful bunch of students we had, polite, inclusive of each other, willing to help and willing to try new things. These traits will stand them in good stead for their forthcoming years at high school.

Thank you to the teachers who did a wonderful job at the camp. I look at you in awe of what you do and how often you go the extra mile to ensure that your students are achieving all they can to reach their personal potential. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of it all.

So with that said I really do celebrate life with a grateful heart.

Cheers, Pammy

2019 Year Books are now available!

If you have pre-ordered and paid for your year book, and haven’t collected it, please visit the Student Services Office.

2019 Year 12 students who ordered a year book should have received theirs in the mail (unless brought home by a RHS sibling)

Mobile Phone Use

As we settle into the school year we are seeing more and more students using their mobile devices for personal use during the school lesson. Students are not permitted to use their mobile phones during lesson time unless given specific approval by their teacher. Unauthorised use of mobile devices in class will result in confiscation for the remainder of the day when it can be collected at Student Services.

If a phone is taken three times from the same student during the term, parents will be contacted and requested to collect the phone as it will not be returned to the student.

More than three confiscations a term will result in detention.

Parents/Guardians can contact the front office team to relay any urgent messages to students.

Imagination is Intelligence Having Fun

“The market place is bustling with people, exotic animals, wares, and aromas. As you pick your way through the stalls you feel, light as feather, someone swipes your coin purse from your belt. You turn and see a hooded figure in dark robes take off, out of the market, and into the network of alley ways that surround it. Alley ways that you know to be a hive of scum and villainy. What do you do?”

Roll a dice, anything could happen! Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), a fantasy tabletop role playing game, gives students the opportunity to engage in imaginative, compelling, and hysterical gaming scenarios. It challenges their creative thinking through interactive storytelling, where anything can happen; dragons are real, cunning keeps you alive, and only the bravest will succeed… not to mention the hilarity that ensues. The D&D club continues to be a huge success. Students have put their creative minds to work and run their own campaigns that included problem solving, original stories, and a lot of laughs. The club again will be running this term. If you are interested in gaming, the fantasy genre, fiction, improvisation or just want to see what it is all about, then why not join in? The next session will be in the library Wednesdays (Weeks 2, 4, 8, 10), 3:30 to 5:30pm. You can get a form from the library or speak to Mr. Watkinson!

The Life Choices Foundation is a registered charity that aims to reach, engage and impact teenagers, prisoners and detainees, and to provide them with a framework from which they can make positive choices around some of life’s important decisions. All too often in today’s society, we see a young person’s life destroyed, or ended too soon, simply because of one poor decision.

The year 10’s of Renmark High School attended a presentation by professional Racing Car Driver, Andrew "Fishtail" Fisher on Tuesday the 25^th of February. The Life Choices High School Program challenged our teenagers to STOP and THINK through the consequences of some of life’s significant choices. It encouraged them to choose the path that is ‘right’ for them through evidence-based information and real-life stories that inspire young people to stand firm in the face of difficulties and negative influences. It covered important issues such as self-control, self-image, safe driving, social comparison, community awareness, values and beliefs. Here’s what some of our students thought after the presentation:

“It was great, I learnt a lot and it really spoke to things that are important to us.”

“I really enjoyed the presentation, the topics were relevant and the car was really cool.”

“It made me think about the choices I make in my life, about friendships, decisions and what impacts the other people around me too”

Lucinda Yates, Wellbeing Leader.

Parent/Teacher/Student interviews for Term 1 will be held in April and we would love to see all families attend. Follow the instructions below to secure your preferred time slot. If you require assistance, our admin team will be happy to help.

School Interviews Parents Letter T1 2020.pdf

School Interviews Parents Letter T1 2020 _pdf 159.11 KB

Reading ideas

SpineOut is a bi-monthly interactive digital magazine for secondary school students. It includes book reviews, artworks, photography and short stories. The current Feb-March issue includes two of our own Year 11 students, Ashlee and Krystal. In term 4 last year they were sent a then unpublished novel (Havenfall by Sara Holland) and after reading it they came up with and submitted 10 questions they wished to ask the author. Check out the author’s responses from the Renmark High School Library webpage @ http://renmarkhs.sa.libguides.com/library, and click on SpineOut from the ‘Reading Ideas’ box. It’s that easy. In upcoming issues, RHS students will also be featured in the book reviews section. The monthly Hub for Book Lovers digital magazine is also available from the ‘Reading Ideas’ box, and it is aimed at book lovers of all ages. Please free to check it out.

Mandy Smith

Teacher Librarian

School Sport

The busy start to the year in sport has continued with many students taking part in the Riverland High Schools Swimming Carnival and the School Sport SA Triathlon Championships, held at West Lakes. It has been pleasing to see so many students get involved and support the school in these great opportunities and we look forward to seeing it continue throughout the remainder of the year, as we strive for more success.

Swimming - On Monday February 17th the RHS team had another successful night in the pool at the Interschool Swimming Event. Unfortunately we were unable to go ‘back to back’ but had a strong team and the efforts by all were appreciated. Congratulations goes to Loxton High School who took out the event (23 points ahead of us) and also congratulations to the Waikerie High School for winning the 2020 Most Improved Shield.

As mentioned above it was a great team effort and we would like to thank the students for their commitment and dedication. There were many PB’s and strong efforts throughout the night, all contributing to points for the RHS team. As a result we claimed 3 Age Group Pennants: U16 Boys, U20 Boys and U16 Girls.

Some highlights mentioned at a recent assembly include:

The team sticking to their events (no changes)
The determination by each and every member
The support from the swimmers, families and friends (providing a great atmosphere)

Those present on the night witnessed some huge efforts by the team but it is hard not to recognise Dylan White. Records are very rarely broken but on Monday evening Dylan not only broke 1 or 2 records, he broke 3 RSSSA Swimming records, including:

U20 50m Butterfly 27.62 (set in 2018 28.59)
U20 50m Freestyle 25.11 (set in 2013 25.84)
U20 100m Freestyle 56.84 (set in 2013 57.57)

Congratulations on this huge achievement Dylan and all the best at the Nationals being held later this year.

Thank you to Mrs Pater and Mrs Long who selected the team and all the best to the team heading to Adelaide to compete in the School Sport SA Swimming Championships (B grade).

Triathlon - At the Triathlon event students had the opportunity to compete as an individual and/or in a team. RHS had 15 students (5 teams) with one student, Bailey White competing in both the individual and team events. Individuals were required to swim 300m, ride 8.5km and run 2.25km while the team events required students to swim 400m, ride 17km and run 5km (junior boys slightly less).

It was a challenging day with the weather making the strenuous swim, ride and run that little bit harder. The day started off really well with Bailey White improving on his 4^th in 2019 to take out the U15 State Championship, earning him a spot on the School Sport SA Triathlon Team. Unfortunately other commitments mean that Bailey will not attend the Nationals but he looks forward to the 2021 event.

The other students had a great time and competed in the team events, with the best result being the Intermediate Boys (U17) who finished 6^th. The team include Bailey White, Jordan White and Angelo Otero.

Thank you and well done to the students who got involved on the day and we looked forward to having more students involved in 2021.

HSP225-Sleep-Fact-Sheet-DP3.pdf

HSP225-Sleep-Fact-Sheet-DP3 _pdf 189.77 KB

Daymap_Connect_Full_Guide.pdf

Daymap_Connect_Full_Guide _pdf 450.00 KB

4 Jun	White Card Training (Years 10-12) All day

5 Jun	Adelaide Cross Country All day

6 Jun	Student Free Day All day

9 Jun	King's Birthday All day

11 Jun	Governing Council Meeting All day

27 Jun	9-a-side Football All day

30 Jun	Year 9 Advanced PE Camp 30 Jun 2025 - 01 Jul 2025

30 Jun	Australian Business Week (ABW) 30 Jun 2025 - 04 Jul 2025

2 Jul	Year 10 Advanced PE Camp 02 Jul 2025 - 03 Jul 2025