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.

_{As we saw last night, Renmark High School students have had another successful year, taking advantage of the fantastic opportunities available in a wide range academic and extra-curricular activities.  COVID has impacted this year however we have not let it get in the way of student learning and success.  Throughout the pandemic staff have had the best interests of students at heart and we appreciate that this has been recognised by families.  We certainly have appreciated the support of our Renmark High community as we have made plans, changed them, revised them in light of new information and changed them again.} 

_{Throughout the complexities this year has brought we have also continued to develop our school from strength to strength.  This year our whole school curriculum development has continued to focus on reading and numeracy, particularly in our middle school to build strong foundations for a student’s senior schooling.  We have been working on reading improvement through developing our teaching and learning of vocabulary skills in students across all learning areas.  In numeracy we have been focusing on teaching students the skills they need at the stage they require them.}

_{We are well underway with preparation for year 7 students being in high school in 2022.  Next year we will build on this work, collaborating with the primary school staff, students and parents to ensure we have a smooth transition.}

_{A huge thank you to all of our staff who put in an extraordinary amount of extra effort across the school, without which we would not enjoy the student successes we have today. Our staff have been extra-extraordinary this year in their continued pursuit of supporting students to be successful.  Thank you also to the parents and caregivers, the family members, and the volunteers who all have contributed significantly to the successes of our students.}

_{Thank you to the many others who have significantly supported the school this year, including the SRC whose efforts staff, students and families have appreciated their efforts throughout the year.  Thank you to our SRC leaders Dana Hansen, Aidan Prokopec, Rachel Humby and Noah Koumbarakos for their leadership and school representation.}

_{Thank you to Governing Council Chair John Gardner and our Governing Council members who continue to volunteer their time and support myself and our school in our journey of improvement.}

_{As for 2021, we are still finalising some staffing however, there are a few farewells I would like to mention:}

• _{Assistant Principal for Learning and Music teacher, Kirralee Baldock who has been working for our department's curriculum unit for the last 18months and has now won another department role as the Manager of Music Curriculum for the next 18 months.}
• _{Wellbeing Leader, Lucinda Yates, who has been a teacher here for 5 years and has also supported the wellbeing of students in our school over the last year and is now off to another site next year.}
• _{Design and Technology teacher, Stephen Cresp is also off to Adelaide after 9 years with us.}
• _{Student Case Manager, Rhett Colls, finishes up with us this year after supporting our students, first through MissionSA and then as a school staff member and Chris Blanden who has been working in our Learning Hub one day a week who returns to Renmark PS full time next year}

<sub>To our year 12s, the Renmark High School class of 2020, I wish you good luck on behalf of our Renmark HS community. This year you haven’t let the complexities of 2020 get in the way of the pursuits of your dreams and we look forward to hearing about your future endeavours.

I wish everyone happy and safe school holidays and look forward to working with you in 2021 with our continued school focus on Literacy, Numeracy and the Wellbeing of our students.
Mat Evans - Principal</sub>

Students researched and used their learning from and with Aboriginal peoples and/or communities to undertake their creative presentation. They chose an Australian animal that they personally connect to. They researched their chosen animal making links from a cultural, family or life experience perspective and explained their connection. They were able to present their evidence of learning in a creative way and produced a presenter’s statement explaining the intention of the creative presentation.

ON OUR WAY HOME

Turtle – The turtle is a family animal. Once the eggs hatch the turtles return to the sea. This has happened to our family but we always get back together.

6 turtles – representing our 6 family members

The circle – home

Water – Riverland (green/blue) sea colour

Stars – (light yellow)

Stars are something I’ve liked since I was young and they amaze me. I’m not sure about my mum but the moon always seems to make her smile.

Milky Way – (purple,white,yellow)

The Milky Way lights the way home and shows the passage to a safe place. This shows the journey me and my family have been on within the past few years.

Rain (white, light blue)

Rain is relaxing. I loved listening to storms when I was younger. I used to make fun of the thunder and lightning with my brother, underneath the kitchen table, banging pots and pans together.

Description

The turtles are a family animal. Each turtle represents one of my family members going from biggest to smallest, with Mum being the biggest turtle and Reid being the smallest. All of the turtles are following the Milky Way to the resting place at the top of the painting. To me this describes my family; all returning after something has happened and prevented us from being able to come home. The river represents the different places I have called home, either it has been being by the river or the sea. That is why it is the colour on the painting. The turtles are moving from the past to the future, towards the resting place.

Rivers and lakes, parks and people, our final stop, the Riverland.

Casey

BETWEEN

I painted a picture of a pelican swimming between night and day because I feel stuck between day and night, like days are passing and I haven’t had my chance to put my mark on it.  I have a lot of nights looking up at the moonlit sky wondering about my plans in life; what are my desires, my fails or my path, even if I haven’t figured it out yet.  A very special person told me once to find a shape to life, something to hold on to, a sign of hope. Looking at a beautiful bird gives me hope, something so free and innocent.

The pelican starts flying wherever they want, eating when they want something, something so pure.  Being able to do what is best for an animal comes so commonly to them and I sit here dwelling on stuff not even worth it. I mean, think about it, we have figured how to fly but we never get to really experience the actual thrill of being able to control life or death.  

I believe that we were put on this world to make something of ourselves, to be more than you thought you would ever be, to go out with a bang.  A true getaway would be sitting at the river with my very old music. Most of this generation would not know, but I grew up with my Nan and waking with “Little Devil” by Neil Sedaka, which makes me want to get up in the morning. My Nan supported me through everything.  When I was little my Nan would sing around the house “Trouble” by Connie Converse. My Nan always made me feel like I could tell her anything.

I would always have animals at my Nan’s farm so it would just be me and the animals most of the time. To be completely honest I would rather hang out with an animal than a person. I don’t know, I feel like they understand me better. I talk a lot so I guess the animals are good listeners.

At the end of the day, what I am really trying to get across is this world is crazy, and not having control or even a destined path leaves you feeling unsure of where life is leading. Right now, I feel confused and caged.

That's what the pelican and me have in common, we both need the feeling of being free.

Nikki

A WOMBAT'S JOURNEY

In Strong Futures we had to do a painting. I did a dot painting and drawing of a wombat and two people with spears. My story is about a wombat alone, but at the end of the day they like to be alone but always end up with their family and they end up all together.

When I was born, my sister and brother were not there but at the end of the day my brother and sister were at the house and they were happy to see me.

My sister Nikki left to go live with my nana for a while but she made her way home and so did my brother and sister Seth and Roie. I missed them. I once watched a documentary about wombats. They would leave the burrow and go their own way to mature and know how to survive but years after that they would return to the burrow so the story about the wombat journey is like my family's story.      

The person I thank most in Strong Futures is Uncle Barney for helping me with my artwork. He gave me out of the box ideas for how to do it and make my artwork better by adding little extra things like the river.

Stephen

VOLUNTEERING

This term FLO students have been engaging each Monday in a volunteering program at the Olivewood Museum and Homestead. The students have participated in many activities at Olivewood including digging trenches, citrus irrigation, paving, weeding/gardening, working on old tractors and cleaning/painting the Argo barge.

The FLO students have engaged with the older volunteers at Olivewood. It is fantastic to see the students being positively involved within the community.  A highlight of the volunteering program was when FLO student Cindy interviewed a 97 year old woman, who was a part of the Australian Women’s Land Army.  It was also a fantastic opportunity for Amelia, a year 11 Digital Media student, to come in and film the interview.  The interview is currently being edited by Amelia. We look forward to seeing it.

The students have grown in confidence during this program and are learning many valuable skills, which they can implement in the future.  We are very proud of the students for getting out of their comfort zone and giving this program a go. Volunteering will look great on their resumes and we believe the skills they’re learning will assist them gain employment in the near future.

Rhett Colls - Youth Worker

SALE DAY

All of our year 9 students participated in a significant event aimed at promoting and pitching an original product designed to extend and improve health and wellbeing for all ages during Renmark High School's Sale Day. This integrated unit of work saw HASS and English teachers plan and collaborate during a unit of work that informs money management, focusing on promotion, advertising and design with product placement being a significant factor for all students.

Several buyers attended Sale Day which consisted of each business launching their commercial coupled with a pitch. Following this, buyers perused trade displays while making financial deals to secure stock for their store. Students were expected to use their numerical skills and their ability to once again restate why their product was the best on the market.

A big thank you to all of our buyers who participated in the event and congratulations once again to all of the year 9 students and staff who were part of this high-quality learning experience.

Biljana Elliott - Leader of Literacy & Global Perspectives

CAMPING IN THE WOODS

Students performed their thriller Camping in the Woods to a year 8 audience last Tuesday. Students' roles included: set design and props, lighting, sound, costumes and acting on stage.

Costumes can explain what type of person they are - good or bad and props can make a plain space come to life and be fun. Casey

Lighting doesn’t just come from the roof on a fresnel  or profile light, it can come from the floor on an H stand, a fire place, a torch or a lantern during a performance. We were creative with lighting and it looked great. Chelsea.

Props are harder than everyone thinks as you have to put thought into the type of play it is and understand the plotline for the props to fit in. You have to be organised and show initiative to work with props. Sophie T.

Wendy Matulic - Performing Arts Teacher

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

In term 4, the year 9 Food Technology class completed two units of learning – Flavour Forecast Recipe Challenge and Cake Decoration. The Flavour Forecast Recipe Challenge involved exploring the two flavour trends identified by McCormick for 2020: Refresh, Replenish and Rehydrate AND Sauced & Spiced. The challenge was to choose one of these key trends and using the set ingredients, develop one flavoursome, contemporary dish that could be made in the Home Economics kitchen. The designed dish also had to promote a variety of fresh foods (in addition to the set ingredients) and reflect the current Australian Dietary Guidelines. Students took the challenge very positively and engaged well with the learning during lessons.

The dishes developed by the students were very creative, involving some complex cooking techniques and the presentations were quite impressive! Mr. Ward, Mr. Files and Mr. Young had the difficult job of judging the best dish from of a range of highly competitive work presented by the students.

Within a very close margin, Amina and Nicole took out this challenge with their contemporary and healthy Chicken Shawarma served with mint and yoghurt sauce. Marissa, Mikayla and Stephanie scored  second place with a difference of 3 points. Finally with a margin of 1 point, was a tie for 3^rd place between Sakina, Armandeep and Lachlan and Froso, Jorja and Alex.  Some of the comments provided by our judges were, “perfectly cooked moist chicken with a nice balance of flavours”, “will definitely buy this…”, “…would go for seconds…”.

In the cake decorating unit, students learnt about various techniques using buttercream, fondant and chocolate. For the assessment, students had to choose one of the given themes to make and decorate butter cupcakes which represented the current trends in cake decoration. Again, student engagement and the final work presented by all was outstanding.

Narinder Riar - Home Economics Teacher

On Friday, our RHS Band performed for staff and students at lunch time. The students attended band practice throughout the year, and played a variety of different songs. We even had some of our students do a vocal performance, which showed off their singing abilities. We thank Alan Geddie for running our band this year. Mr Geddie, Mr Ward and the RHS Band look forward to creating more music for you all in 2021.

Mr Ward - Director of Learning Improvement

From Pammy

Here we are at the end of term, the last week for our year 8, 9 and 10 students. As I write this I can hear lots of excited chatter as some of the students participate in one of the activities for this week's Mission to Mars. It sounds like they are having a challenging but great time on this “Mission.”

What a year it has been, very challenging for so many of us and also calling on our resilience to go with so much change and come out still smiling and being grateful for what we do have.

Our school continues to push through the last vestiges of this year with the hope of a wonderful new year next year. Nature can teach us so much about the mindset we can have to overcome adversity. Take winter for example, despite the cold and the rain there are signs of warmth in the plants and animals around us.  If we focus on the here and now it can be tempting to think it will never end, but things do pass and things do change.

For me seeing and hearing the birds every time I come to school lifts me up and fills me with a sense of joy and a reminder that the world goes on regardless of freezing cold, or extreme heat or a pandemic. So dear people, enjoy each day to the fullest and enjoy Christmas if you celebrate it. Enjoy the holidays and the break and I hope you are all filled with loads of love, joy and laughter. I love this quote: Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.  

Pammy Main - Pastoral Care Worker

YEAR 10 - OUTDOOR ADVENTURE PE

During week 7, the year 10 Outdoor Adventure students were very fortunate their overnight canoe expedition could go ahead as some covid restrictions were lifted. 30 students headed to Jim and Ruth Roberts' property (Canoe the Riverland) to utillise some of the skills developed during the course. The students were very keen and even though it was quite warm and uncomfortable, they remained positive and had a great learning experience.

Along with developing a variety of skills, it was great seeing the students having a fun time considering some of the challenges throughout 2020. Another positive is that the students' phones were collected at a designated time, encouraging student interactions, communication and games which everyone enjoyed.

Some quotes from the students include:

Maddy – It was a good experience. I particularly enjoyed the paddle through the creek.

Caleb – It was really fun, especially talking and hanging out with a different group of people.

Colby – The camp was fun! There was a good vibe.

Janis – I enjoyed being out in the environment and the views were nice.

Chloe – When Lara and I capsized it was refreshing and entertaining for everyone.

We hope everyone has a great and safe Christmas break and we look forward to conducting all of our expeditions in 2021.

Aaron Camplin - Health & PE Coordinator

YEAR 7 TRANSITION

Renmark High School staff enjoyed having all of our future students visit and immerse themselves in our school. Students are always nervous about this transition and the first steps into high school so it is great to build some familiarity between staff and students. A key part of the program was students meeting their Care Group teacher for 2021. At the end of the two days, each student was surveyed to see how they felt. Here are some of their comments:

• I couldn’t have enjoyed anything more.
• I got lost twice.
• I enjoyed the days, I wouldn’t change a thing.
• I want to start high school now!
• Can we stay? I would have liked a whole week.

Our staff are busy getting ready for next year. This has included all staff attending a professional learning session dedicated to getting to know our future students and their specific learning needs. During this session the Student Review Team and Care Group teachers shared information with other staff and created differentiated instruction plans. Staff are really enthusiastic about meeting all of our students next year, and due to the success of this professional learning session, staff have requested that we repeat this process once the students are here in 2021.

Amy Evans - Director of Inclusion