We acknowledge that Renmark High School students, staff and community live, study and work on Erawirung Land. We acknowledge the First Peoples of the River Murray and Mallee as Traditional Custodians of the Riverland region and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We respect the deep connection Aboriginal people have with land, animals and waters. 

We honour the Lores and customs that cross this traditional Country, the Ancestors who taught and still teach the knowledge that is embedded forever with Aboriginal people today. 

Welcome to week 9 of term 3.

Select Harvests and our Farm Management Centre

A couple of weeks ago, Michael Ward, Regional Manager, Jubilee and Amaroo Farms, with the support of parent company, Select Harvests Limited, became involved in an industry partnership in our Farm Management Centre. Michael and his team held a very productive working bee at our farm, with over 20 staff replacing posts, repairing the irrigation system, weed control, other maintenance activities, and setting up our farm so that it operates effectively.

Select Farms involvement has been facilitated through our Riverland Secondary Schools Alliance Secondary Regional Connections Leader, Michael Pater. Having industry interest and involvement in our school is a significant advantage for our students. Not only has Michael Ward and the Select Harvests team helped to maintain our farm, we are also benefiting from their expertise as they position us to be an industry relevant, technology driven facility that will benefit the students now and into the future.  

Through Select Harvests, we have also been linked to Mark Heywood and Jos Kelly from Phytech Australia. Mark and Jos have now installed sensors at our farm that can be monitored by students back at school! More on this exciting technology will be shared in future newsletters. Michael Ward has facilitated another project that is developing with Ceres Imaging and the NRM board and we will also update you with more details on this soon!

Thank you also to GrowSmart Training as our long term ongoing partner in providing vocational training for students from across the Riverland Secondary Schools Alliance and who also assist in the ongoing demands of our farm.  

The Horticulture and Agriculture industries are strong, successful career pathways for our students and we thank Select Farms, Phytech, Growsmart, and Ceres Imaging for their support in ensuring we can offer students industry standard training using the latest technologies and best farm practices!

Renmark High School students Ethan E, Kaidee J and Rhianna P at launch of the Farm Management Centre

Parent Interview Reminders

Again, I would like to strongly encourage your attendance at the upcoming student, parent, teacher interviews. These interviews are a great chance 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 students who aren't 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. We offer these interviews in term 3 to give time for students to put new goals and actions in place to improve results during the remainder of semester two.  Use the online booking system www.schoolinterviews.com.au with the booking code: 'r2xq6' to reserve your preferred time slots.

Due to the public holiday on Thursday we will have parent teacher interviews for one day only next Tuesday 27^th September. If you are unable to make it Tuesday please contact teachers with any concerns about your child’s progress via contacting the front office or message in Daymap.

'R U OK?' day

'R U OK?' day is a good chance to remind us in the importance of checking-in.  Please don’t forget that we don’t just 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 Wellbeing Leader, Ben Files, our full time Social Worker, Alicia Thackray, Aboriginal Secondary Education Transition Officers - Daniel Giles and Chloe Shorrock, Pastoral Care Worker, Maria Dowzard, and Student Engagement Officer, Kyla Wade. Please refer to them for support as required.

Student Self Care

It is the end of term 3 and, with only about 9 weeks to go until the last exam, the next few weeks are an essential time for year 12 students.  It is important to set a good study plan, making the most of the time remaining, and taking the opportunity to work with teachers to assist in your preparations for final assessments.  However, having a balance between work and fun is extremely important so ensure that you also take time over these holidays to relax and enjoy yourself.

For all of our students, as you will not be at school for two weeks, your support structures may not be as readily available to you. With this in mind, here are some excellent resources you can utilise anytime- whether it be during school holidays or not:

Phone Counselling

• Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
• Headspace 1800 650 890
• Beyond Blue 1300 224 636

Online Counselling

• www.kidshelp.com.au
• www.headspace.org.au

Enjoy the break!

Regards,

Mat Evans
Principal

Year 12 Students

Year 12 students are busily finishing up major projects and assessments and preparing for exams that commence in early November. Students in examinable subjects will undertake a week of trail exams in week 1, term 4. The timetable for this week of exams will be posted out with reports on the last day of term. All subjects have their exam during their double lesson for the week and arrangements have been made to avoid 2 exams at once for the small number of students this would affect. Please check the timetable. For students of non-examinable subjects, the Week 1 timetable is as normal.

It has been a busy term for senior students with the Flinders Univeristy camp, applications with SATAC closing on September 30^th, participating in the Flinders Inspire Program and being part of Mentor Group every second week during Beyond Tomorrow lessons.

Now is not the time for year 12’s to start relaxing. It is quite the opposite. With so little time left in the year 12 school year, senior students need to be taking every opportunity they can with their learning, be at school every day, be in every lesson, make school and learning your priority for the next 2 months! All of the hard work and sacrificing of the past 13 years is worth too much to get distracted now!   

The school is continuing to advertise local career opportunities and we will also support students with their resumes, applications and job hunting over the coming weeks.

Year 11 Students

This semester year 11 students have been granted Home Study and every family should have received, signed and returned a permission letter to be entered onto Daymap. We will monitor individual students and inform families if we believe this is not working for their child. This Home Study is only allowed in the morning and at the end of the day. Students must not come and go during the day and they must attend care group at 11.00am each day. 

Students are asked to Daymap message 'Study Teacher' to inform on their whereabouts in the school if not in the Senior Study space. Otherwise they will be marked as unapproved absence. 

Year 11s also have a big few weeks ahead of them. A large number of year 11 students are currently completing at least one year 12 subject as well as Research Project. Due dates with Research Project will start to arrive very fast, on top of work normal school workload – so it is very important to stay organised and talk with your teachers if you start to struggle.

Any parents wishing to receive an update on their child’s progression, in addition to year 11 parents attending parent-teacher interviews next Tuesday, please feel free to email staff or ring the school on 8586 6974 for a learning conversation.

Ben Files
Director of Operations
and Leader of Wellbeing, Attendance and Engagement

Renmark High School recently participated in the Royal Adelaide Show School Merino Wether Competition (SMWC). This involved presenting Merino Wether in 'Pen of Three' category, where the three best Merino Wethers are selected based on their weight gain, overall meat and fleece value, etc. Participating students also took part in 'best handlers' category which involved showing their ability to lead and handle sheep at the show.

The Renmark High School team (students from year 9, 10 and 11) had a very successful show this year. Our Wethers were awarded 2^nd place for 'Most Valued Fleece” and also received 'Most Developed' team based on our improvement in the last 3 years of participation and received a gift voucher to the value of $500 from Elders for their efforts.

This year’s team involved year 9 students, Emily C, Logan F, Ethan E, Madison M, Zahlee S and Issac W, year 10 student Kayla T and Year 11 students Phoebe H and Hannah B.

I would like to congratulate participating students for their awesome effort.

Raj Singh
Agriculture Teacher

79 year 10 students used week 7 to venture out into the workforce for a week of Work Experience. The Work Experience program is an annual activity for year 10 Renmark High School students as part of the SACE Personal Learning Plan course. After planning for this experience in the first 6 weeks of the term, which involved seeking a place of employment, communicating with the selected business, undertaking induction programs and safety checks, the students were ready to go. A wide variety of employment opportunities were experienced including; administration, mechanics, office management, education, local council, health care, pet care, media, hair care, digital technologies, customer service, retail, child care and agriculture.

Students applied themselves very well during the week of Work Experience and staff reported back many positive stories when they met with employers during the week. As such, as massive congratulations needs to be extended to the year 10’s who have demonstrated to the local community their ability to play a meaningful role in the town’s future.

Also, Renmark High School would like to offer its sincere thanks to all businesses that accepted Work Experience students for the week. Reports coming back to school from students was very positive – particularly how far businesses went to make Renmark High students feel welcome, part of the team and ensured many good, useful skills were learned. Thank you very much to the Renmark community. 

Ben Files
Director of Operations
and Leader of Wellbeing, Attendance and Engagement

On Friday 16^th of September, the year 10 cohort braved the wet and windy conditions to visit the Riverland Field Days. Mr Watkinson, Mr Pick, Jo and Sharen met students at the bus bay after Care Group and made the trip over to the Barmera site. The group were given the opportunity to participate in the Career Discovery Trail, which exposed students to a wide variety of future career options and the opportunity to win a Samsung Tablet. Students undertook this trail in small groups and even accepted some of the other challenges and activities provided by the various sites on the day. Students and staff reported that they enjoyed discovering the different displays and making a number of fun and interesting purchases! A huge thank you to the Riverland Field Days for the invitation, the staff who supervised the day and to the students for their excellent behaviour, despite the challenging weather conditions!

Ben Files
Director of Operations
and Leader of Wellbeing, Attendance and Engagement

Muffin Design

Over the past few weeks students have been looking at low-fat ingredients and how to substitute these within recipes to make them healthier. Year 8 Food Tech students worked in pairs designing their own low in fat muffins, which were suitable for their age group. They then made their muffins during their practical lesson. They all looked delicious. Well done year 8s!

"Our muffins were a healthy snack because they were low in fat and low in sugar but were still sweet because of the blueberries." - Sienna

"Our muffins were quite creative as the two different flavours that came together in a muffin made it quite tasty. The white chocolate was quite milky and had a tangy flavour but the blueberries with it gave more flavour and texture. The muffins had ingredients that consisted of low fat like the plain yogurt and the mixture of fruits."  - Cooper

Wendy Matulic
Food Technology Teacher

Year 9 Drama students viewed Slingby’s play, ‘The Boy Who Talked To Dogs,’ at the Chaffey Theatre on Thursday 15^th September. The first 'wow' factor of this play was that there was no dividing line between audience and actors, as the story takes place in front of and amongst the audience, everyone was on the Chaffey Theatre stage and immersed in the action. The live Irish music, lighting, incredible set design and shadow puppetry along with Irish actor Bryan Burroughs, who played the role of Martin, made this play truly unique. Students thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wendy Matulic
Drama Teacher

Congratulations to Renmark High School who has been successful in their application and impressed the onsite visiting judges to win an iFarm unit! This unit is an amazing opportunity to run trials, introduce and use new technologies and stimulate student interest in Agriculture.

“The iFarm project attracted a large number of interested schools across Australia - almost three times the volume of schools that are able to be accommodated within the funding envelope provided by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. This made for an extremely competitive selection process. After careful consideration of all applications and in line with the policy intent of the project, to Educate Kids about Agriculture, we would like to congratulate Renmark High School on being selected as one of the participating schools to receive an iFarm” - Steve and Kate Mansur, Directors.

Great work, Renmark High School!

Raj Singh
Agriculture Teacher

Renmark High’s talented saxophonist Jorja K performed as part of the Riverland Festival Band for the Festival of Music at Renmark’s Chaffey Theatre. The festival consisted of three days, where Jorja performed as an ensemble in front of excited guests, wanting to hear the best music the Riverland had to offer.

To get to participate in the festival, Jorja auditioned and was successful in securing her spot in the band, playing three short pieces of given music, plus an original choice, as part of her audition. Jorja said about the audition: “(it) went well and was quite easy as I practised a lot”.

Rehearsals for the Festival of Music began in term 2, with Jorja committing to rehearsals every Thursday and Sunday over the next term and a half. She was lucky enough to play with five other students from Riverland high schools, plus other Riverland musicians.

“We played five songs, plus two songs chosen by the band conductor. The thing I loved about this experience was I learnt how to play well as an ensemble and thought participating in the band would be a good learning opportunity…I really enjoyed it.” Jorja also mentioned how she enjoyed “meeting and playing with people who had the same interests in music, plus performing in front of a crowd.”

“Performing on the first night was pretty scary” said Jorja, “but doing it once made the other two performances easier.” When I asked if Jorja would want to participate again in 2023, she said a wholehearted “yes!”

Renmark High School is proud of the amazing work and talent Jorja has shown in this achievement and cannot wait to see (and hear) what Jorja does next.

Alistair Ward
Music Teacher

Practice and Performance

Over the past few weeks, our year 7 music students have been practising a song of their choice on their chosen instrument. They participated in a variety of in-class lessons on how to be an effective performer, and how to choose an interesting piece of music to play. Students will then record their performance in a short video, explaining their instrument, how to play it, and what they have learnt this term. Some of the songs students have chosen include: 'Seven Nation Army', 'Hot Cross Buns', 'Mary Had a Little Lamb', 'Jingle Bells' and 'Happy Birthday'. We cannot wait to see their videos once they have finished.

Alistair Ward
Music Teacher

On Thursday and Friday of week 7, Sam Owens and Alicia Thackray took a group of 16, year 12 students to Adelaide to get a taste of ‘uni life’! Students visited Flinders University, Adelaide University, The University of South Australia (City East, West and Mawson Lakes Campuses) and St Mark’s College. The students also got to enjoy catching public transport to get a feel for the real Adelaide experience. We also enjoyed bowling and some shopping time at Marion Shopping Centre on Thursday night.

Some feedback from students is:

• "Flinders was really good. The tour was good, realistic about size and what they had to offer – freedom on campus." – Carah J
• "Enjoyed seeing the facilities." – Judd H
• "Pretty fun and I enjoyed it." – Darcy O
• "Well run, it was good that we got a lot packed into the days, it was good to see what life would be really like, smaller groups and better than Open Days." – Maddy L
• "It was more than just a school excursion, had a good purpose, more information than Open Days." – Steph S
• "Worthwhile and enjoyable experience." – Emma S

Stay tuned for more information regarding this camp for 2023 as we are hopeful it will become an annual event!

Alicia Thackray
Social Worker

As we come to the end of our winter sports there have been many students achieving both individual and/or team success for their efforts, while others missed out or just fell short in the last game. Congratulations on your efforts and continue to work hard for your next opportunity! 

Some of the individual highlights include:

Zoe S – At just 16 years of age, Zoe has experienced a few years of senior netball. Unfortunately her team lost the grand final to Loxton North a few weeks ago, which also consisted student – Matilda R and staff member – Sonja Modlinski. The premiership would have topped off a great year but as an individual she was awarded the A1 Best & Fairest for Renmark.

Judd H – Judd has had a very consistent year with the West Adelaide U18’s. Towards the end of the season the team put some solid games together and nearly snuck in to the finals. The competition is very competitive with plenty of players challenging for a spot in the team. Judd played his role each week as a pressure forward while also kicking over 30 goals for the season. At the recent RFL presentation night Judd was awarded the Corey Siemers Memorial Award and has been selected in the U17 SANFL Futures Squad, who will continue to train over the next few months, prior to the 2023 season.

Jay B – Had a very successful season the Riverland Hockey Association. Unfortunately, his team lost the grand final in extra time but he was awarded the U17 Hockey Riverland Best & Fairest. Jay said that he felt that his season was consistent and he was proud of his own and teams efforts but he was surprised to win the award. Jay was recently awarded the MVP at a Country Championship Event.

Taj S – After a successful run at the School Sport Cross Country event earlier in the year, Taj was selected to compete in the Multi-Class event at the Competed for South Australia at the School Sport Australia Championships. He utilised his time at football along with his own runs prior to the event and he gave it everything he could.

Congratulations and well done to everyone for your efforts! There has been plenty of other highlights throughout the year so far. Students will be able to collect a nomination form (early Term 4) to nominate for the 2022 RHS Sports Awards.

Aaron Camplin
Leader of HPE and Sports

The Stage 2 Outdoor Education class had their final expedition during week 8. Prior to and during the trip the students were required to utilise all of their experiences and skills to conduct the 3 day canoe expedition with minimal support or supervision. The class decided to paddle back from Customs House via the Murray River and surrounding creek systems. The group enjoyed the freedom and challenge but were also satisfied when they met up with the teacher in charge at certain locations.

The group was very fortunate as the river flow is currently very strong, making the paddle quiet easy although they were still required to paddle effectively to maneuver the canoe around any obstacles in the water. Other challenges included portaging around many structures (including the Chowilla regulator, bridges and weirs) which required the group to carry the loaded canoes around – up to 100m.

The Tuesday and Thursday were pleasant although Wednesday really tested the group. We were expecting a change in the weather and had to change our plans but when the rain, wind and thunder and lightning came through it wasn’t pleasant! We made it our destination for the night, found some shelter and sat it out.

Overall, it was a great experience and we highly suggest others to get involved and do Outdoor Education.

Aaron Camplin
Leader of HPE and Sports 

Students and families will receive a letter and deposit invoice in over the next few weeks. Students are to keep training during lunch times (and any other scheduled times by your coach).

Towels (any size) for damping down clay in the art space. Please drop off at the Front Office. Thanks in anticipation!

Heidi Stanojevic
Visual Arts Teacher

If any of these items belong to you, please visit Student Services to collect. If items are not collected by Friday 30th September (last day of term 3), they will be donated to the Renmark Opportunity Shop.

Stacey Lambert
Student Services Officer