We acknowledge that we are on the land of the First People of the Murray and Mallee.

We pay our respects to the Elders both past and present and honour the laws and customs that cross this traditional country, the ancestors who taught and still teach the knowledge that is embedded forever with the Aboriginal people today.

New works for RHS

We are excited to announce that local company Big River Developments has won the tender for our next major works project.  Murray Knowling and his team were the developers for our STEMworks build in the C block and Art space which was finished last year.  This next works project begins in a few days and will finish around the end of April.  It includes an exciting new front to the school (converting one end of the old TAFE building into a front office), landscaping, a new flexible learning space, and air conditioning replacement across the school.  We look forward to working with Murray and his team again!

Minister Gardner visit

Last week we were fortunate to have a visit by our Department for Education Minister, Hon John Gardner.  Minister Gardner was accompanied by Senior Education Advisor Garry Costello and our local MP, Tim Whetstone.  It was fantastic to have an opportunity to show Minister Gardner through our school and show him some of the many, wide ranging, learning opportunities we provide for our students.

Future Planning Expo

It was great to see so many students and their families at the RHS Family Expo Night last week.  Students and families had the opportunity to talk to the teachers about subject options for next year so students could make an informed choice.  If you missed the Expo, the subject information is available on the RHS website curriculum page. We also had some Year 5 and 6 students attend to hear about our school and have a look around to start familiarising themselves. We will run further information sessions in the future for Year 7 into high school so don’t worry if you missed the Expo Night last week.

This is the third year where we have also provided follow up subject selection interviews for Year 9, 10 and 11 students after Expo Night. These interviews are a valuable opportunity and we ask that parents or caregivers please attend with their student to support them and be involved in the process.

The next step will be for us to use this information to make subject and staffing decisions, so the more accurate the choices are in this time the better.  Students are more likely to get their choice of subjects next year if they make an informed choice this year.  We aim to accommodate student preferences but keep in mind that where necessary we will go to the reserve list if needed.  We are also working with the other Riverland high schools to make the most of opportunities for students.

Staffing

Welcome to Chris Blanden who is joining us for Term 3. Chris is currently employed at Renmark Primary School and will be at RHS for 0.2FTE in the Learning Hub on Mondays.  Chris brings a wealth of knowledge from a career of primary teaching and we look forward to working with her in the team.

Year 12 end of year

The SACE board has announced that the end of the year assessments will proceed as planned.  From the SACE board: “I’m pleased to confirm that exams, including oral exams, will go ahead as scheduled, with the same dates and arrangements in place. We have continued to work with the other curriculum and assessment authorities to ensure there is a nationally-consistent approach to the timing of exams.”

COVID-19

As we have watched the progression of COVID-19 in the Eastern states recently it makes you appreciative that we are in a very fortunate state at the moment.  The COVID-19 pandemic can be unpredictable however, and it is important that we remain well prepared. 

It is important that the school has the most up-to-date contact details (including phone number) 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 contact us on their behalf. We are 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.                                                                                        

YEAR 10 AGRICULTURE FOOD MARKET

In the Value Adding unit last term, students in Year 10 Agriculture had to pick an agriculture product within a strict budget constraints, value add to the product, and finally sell it to. By participating in the Value Adding unit, students had the opportunity to learn the following: what value adding means, picking the product available locally, creating a product with efective profit margins. Students developed marketing strategies, advertising skills and sought feedback from customers to further improve the product. Students had the opportunity to display and sell their products in Week 9 of Term 2, in an Agricultural Market set up in the STEM space. Some examples of the value added products included: Grape Jelly, Coke flavoured ice cream and Sugar Bites.

 YEAR 9 STEM

Students in Year 9 Science were given an opportunity to work on a STEM based project, in teams. They had two weeks to create an idea, seek approval from the teacher, collect and organize materials and then complete the intended project. Some of the ideas included: Checking the accuracy of Vitamin C information on different juices available in supermarkets, strategies that might have been used to build rocks on sites for the Pyramid Giza (with an inference that maybe rocks were built on site using raw materials rather than being transported), checking the efficiency of gear systems for bikes and making an efficient solar car.

 YEAR 9 AGRICULTURE FRUIT WINE

Students in Year 9 Agriculture have learned about the wine making process. To do so, they discovered the various steps of the production process including harvesting, crushing and pressing, fermentation, clarification, and the aging and bottling. To replicate this process they used seasonal fruit juices such as watermelon, apple and orange. They manipulated the sugars, stabilised the juices and used white wine making steps to complete the process. Students also designed wine logos with the intent to complete the process by bottling their wine. Completed wine will only be handled by the staff and any bottled wine will be accessible to parents or guardians only. We are hoping to complete the process by Week 4 of Term 3.

Science, Maths and Agriculture Teacher

YEAR 8 PERFORMING ARTS

A Play about ‘Bullying’

Year 8 Performing Arts students learnt about the signs and effects of bullying, and created four mini plays to show both the bully's point of view, as well as the victims. The play was separated into physical, verbal, emotional and cyber bullying. The play was performed to the Year 8 cohort who found them to be quite powerful and realistic. The students worked well together and were able to show the skills they had learnt throughout the term.

I played two roles, the bully and the mum of one of the bullies. I learnt about the four types of bullying and the bully's point of view. I also learnt about voice projection, staging and the importance of eye contact. I found keeping a straight face challenging and sometimes we were a bit loud during the scene changes. I had a good laugh at being Kaidee’s mum in the play. This scene showed the audience why Kaidee was bullying Matthew and what was going on in her life at the time - Charlotte

I was the lighting designer. I learnt that there are different ways to light up the stage to show moods and emotion. The changing of the lights went well. Turning off the lights and black outs were a problem which I solved. I really enjoyed the play and playing around with the lights - Alisha

I was one of the bullies in the play. I didn’t enjoy the scene where we threw Matthew’s school bag around so he couldn’t get it because we dropped it. The performance though was fun overall - Paityn

I was the main bully in the plays about physical and cyber bullying. The teamwork was astronomical and I think the costumes and props were good as well. I enjoyed making the plays, learning about bullying and all of the rehearsals where we did run throughs - Kaidee

I was the teacher in the performance. I improved on my confidence in performing in front of an audience. I also learned that using loud voices on stage and eye contact are really important. I think I needed to improve on how to stay focused on what was going on in the scene. I enjoyed the performance as it has helped with my confidence - Joe

I was one of the bullies in the play about emotional bullying. I have learnt how to improvise lines when needed and how to stop laughing in the middle of a scene. I have gained confidence. The scene changes were pretty good and most people were serious and focused. I enjoyed everything about putting on a performance for an audience - Sophie

YEAR 9 FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Food Presentation

Students have been learning about food presentation and tried out their designs during their practical.  Students cooked honey lemon chicken, fried rice and steamed date pudding with ice cream.

Students focused on texture, height, colour and symmetrical layouts, which are appealing to the eye.

Some of the tips that I learnt about presenting food include how to choose the right plate, using contrasting colours, the position of the ingredients, texture and height using big plates and keeping things clean, being creative with sauces, and using the right tools.  I presented my steamed date pudding with the pudding in the middle with caramel sauce underneath it and the toffee leaning off to the side. Some of the techniques I used included circulating the sauce around the main focus of the pudding. I used a large clean plate and considered texture and height.
I enjoyed decorating at the end of making the meal. I also enjoyed the toffee making - Colby

I have learnt many new things about food presentation which include: making the main focus of the plate taller for a height effect, and the different ways to style garnishes and sauces on a plate. I now know that it is good to wipe clean the edges of the plate and different ways to style or layer rice. I also learnt that texture is an important factor in food presentation - Stephanie

The different types of tips that I learnt from food presentation included: not adding so many other big pieces to the dish, so that it doesn’t take away the attention from the main meal. Our group presented the steamed date pudding by cooking it in a ramekin dish and then putting wafers, ice cream and strawberries (that were chopped and fanned out). The techniques we used were to present it with some other treats on top to make it less boring and more decorative - Lily

Wendy Matulic - Performing Arts and Food Technology Teacher

SAPSASA SOCCER

At last Friday's SAPASA Soccer carnival, held at the Steve Poutakidis Fields (Renmark), several Renmark High School students volunteered their time to assist in a variety of tasks. The roles included students rotating as a referee, scoring, entering the results on the computer and counting up the MVP votes as they came in. 

Peter Safralidis (Riverland School Sport Convenor) mentioned that 'the students were awesome' and 'they were all a credit to the school and the success of the day.'

Well done to everyone who assisted. We look forward to more school sport commencing over Term 3 and 4.

Aaron Camplin - Physical and Outdoor Education Teacher

STAGE 2 NUTRITION – SENSORY ANALYSIS

In Stage 2 Nutrition students have been learning about factors that influence food choices. One such factor is the psychological influence – this includes things such as peer pressure, cost, branding, packaging and marketing. They have also been looking at the sensory characteristics of food such as flavour, smell, texture and visual appearance. On Thursday 29^th July the class conducted a sensory evaluation as a major assignment. They had to design an investigation that blind-tested different brands/versions of the same products, to determine which had ‘Sensory Superiority’. Groups made a variety of comparisons, such as generic versus popular brands, low-fat compared to full fat and concentration of a particular ingredient. They then invited students and teachers to participate in their blind-tastings and complete surveys relating to the characteristics.

The students had to identify a number of factors to control so that they could standardize their testing and ensure their results were reliable. They also had to take in to consideration COVID-19 restrictions and completed risk assessments to make sure they followed protocol and avoided cross-contamination. Students now have to evaluate their data to form a conclusion based on their results. 

Lauren Schiller - Nutrition and Science Teacher

YEAR 9 ENGLISH

Making a Nation

In the last three weeks of Term 2, Year 9 English students had the opportunity to explore Aboriginal perspectives via a unit of work called Making a Nation. Students viewed a documentary based on the novel ‘Jundamarra’s War.’ During this time, they learned of Jandamarra’s fight against both cultural conflict and his search for his own identity in a new world coupled with his ultimate battle against the European invasion of the Kimberly region and the protection of his fellow Bunaba people. The class had the opportunity to engage in a task that had them consider how they might react if they were to be invaded today and the potential consequences of their actions. This aided in developing a sense of cultural understanding as well as a realization that Australian history dates back thousands of years before white settlement.

Students also participated in a class reading and analysis of the picture book ‘The Rabbits.’ During this time Daniel Giles explained the use of colour in Aboriginal artwork and how art is a profound way to share stories. This task developed the students’ understanding that language and communication is more complex than just writing, and the importance of non-verbal and written language in everyday life.

Students also participated in a ‘Tree of Self’ task exploring what was truly important to them and how it makes them the people that they are. This was achieved by drawing a tree before writing down what their roots are, including what keeps them grounded, such as their values. This learning activity proved to be a fascinating insight for students and allowed them a recognise how similar we all are despite our cultural differences.

The unit of work ended with a trip out to Bookmark Creek where students experienced authentic Aboriginal learning. They participated in activities such as starting a fire from scratch, making damper and writing poetry. All of these experiences developed a sense of leadership as well as the use of literacy skills, such as listening, writing and verbal communication.

A big to thanks to Marine Turnbull and Daniel Giles for taking the time to work with my class.

Wayne Elliott - English and History Teacher

YEAR 8 DEBATING - GRAND FINAL

Year 8 students from Mrs. Papametis’ and Mr. Clark’s English class went head to head in the debating grand final, debating ‘That corporal punishment should be reintroduced into schools’. It was highly evident that both teams researched, planned and rehearsed their speeches prior to the final. Facts, props and humour were used to engage the audience and to persuade adjudicators Mr. and Mrs. Evans into believing  that their arguments were true and accurate. Both adjudicators provided feedback to the students, and the audience, and followed up with winners of the debate, the affirmative team, supporting the argument that indeed corporal punishment should be reintroduced into schools.

 The winning team!

  Mrs Elliott - Leader of Literacy and Global Perspectives

YEAR 8 MUSIC

At the end of Term 2, Year 8 Music students successfully demonstrated their skills in both creating and playing music. In Week 9, our students performed as an ensemble in front of their peers, playing three songs they had learnt over the past seven weeks. Their performance skills have greately improved, and the whole ensemble was able to create a polished set for all the enjoy. Our Year 8/9 Band also played for the first time, tackling the White Stripes' ‘Seven Nation Army’ which they had been practising each Tuesday afternoon. The thumping baseline and brass ensured everyone was grooving in their seats. 

Students not only performed, but created their own music using digital technology. Using the Soundtrap program, students had to create an original piece of Program Music. Program Music is music which accompanies art or an image to tell a story. Students chose their own images, and used this to inspire the music they created. Below are a few examples, which our students are excited to share with the community.

Alistair Ward - Assistant Principal, Music and English Teacher

The four Year 10 Care Groups competed in the annual Year 10 Newspaper Fashion Parade during Beyond Tomorrow on the last day of Term 2. The highly sought after Newspaper Fashion trophy was up for grabs and each Care Group worked hard to produce two creatively dressed models based on the theme of ‘Prom’. However, 10.2 with the support of their Care Group teacher Mr Lindner claimed the prize. While it was a lot of fun, it was an opportunity for students to work together as a team in their Care Group to build relationships between themselves and their Care Group teachers.

Mandy Smith - Librarian and Year 10 Coordinator

WELCOME.....

As mentioned in the Principal's Address, this term we welcome Chris Blanden into our school as an addition to our Learning Hub staff. Chris is a current staff member at Renmark Primary School and will join us in the Learning Hub on Mondays. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge as well as many years of teaching experience. 

Chris is a familiar face to many of the students at RHS, many of whom she has taught previously and has settled in quickly. 

Welcome Chris!

INTRODUCING.......

Congratulations to all students who received a Merit, Academic or Effort award at our recent award ceremony!

2020 Materials and Services Charges – Final Notice

Outstanding Materials and Services Charges statements were posted home to applicable families explaining payment methods on the 29th of May 2020. If you are facing financial hardship due to COVID-19 please contact our Finance Officer Sonja Modlinski on 85866974 to discuss payment options.

Final statements will be sent home via mail by Friday the 7^th of August. All payments need to be finalised by Tuesday the 8^th of September, after which time the Governing Council will commence further debt recovery action on all outstanding Materials and Services Charges.

All debt recovery action is in accordance with section 106A of the Education Act which allows Governing Councils to legally recover outstanding Materials and Services Charges through Renmark High School’s debt collection policy. If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to phone the Business Manager, Karina Lambert, or Finance Officer on 85866974.

Karina Lambert - Business Manager

Welcome everyone to Term 3, and to some cold weather and some beautiful sunny days.  I do sincerely hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed whatever they were doing in spite of the current situation our world is in.

What a lovely lot of students we have here at Renmark High.  It is such a privilege to be  part of this wonderful school and to be involved in student wellbeing and learning.  I was thinking about Gratitude and was looking at things I should be grateful for.   When I think about it, there is so much and so many things to be grateful for including the family I have, the people I know and the life experiences that I have. Not to mention living in the Riverland and all that it has to offer.   I was reading about having a Gratitude Jar (which really helps in creating a positive mindset on days when things are just plain yukky!) to collect positive notes to yourself or to others.

Being grateful is a really important skill for us to practise.   It helps us focus on the good aspects in our lives rather than the hard or messy stuff.  We can do this by filling up a gratitude jar.  You can write a note anytime and pop it in the jar and revisit it whenever you are feeling “blue” or just not great.   I think I am going to do just that! So again, welcome back everyone and know that I am here to support you all in any way I can. Have a beautiful week and smile and make someone’s day.

Cheers, Pammy

Pammy Main - Pastoral Care Worker

Did you know we have a representative from MAS National who visits our school every Wednesday morning to meet with senior students to discuss job opportunities? If you have a senior student who is interested in attending a meeting, they can book an appointment in the H building. 

Congratulations to Janis Richter who placed third in the State Titles for Motocross held recently in Renmark. 

Janis works hard to reach her goals, and is very proud of her achievements, having finished first in the local race held in Morgan. 

At Renmark High we love to hear about the successes of past students. We were recently informed that three former students have been awarded pretigious scholarships or prizes for accommodation from St Ann's College in Adelaide. Congratulations to Mitchell Anderson and Vanessa Vu (2017 high school graduates) and Annie-Rose Marafioti (2018 high school graduate) on your achievements!

We also have a 2019 high school graduate making waves in the Arts industry. Penn O'Brien is writing for the State Theatre Company and ActNow Theatre in Adelaide. Congratulations to Penn on their fantastic success. 

We welcomed the Education Minister to our school!

Celebrating our students at the Award Ceremony.

Congratulating the students involved in our Language Perfect success with a Subway lunch!

Volleyball fun during lunch.

Our school band!