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. 

Year 12s

Our year 12 students finished their final exams last week and with classwork being sent off to the moderators, their year 12 is completed. Congratulations to the students on completing their final year in difficult circumstances. Your resilience and ability to meet challenges have been recognised. All the very best for your results due out later this year!

Design and Technology teacher

We are looking for a Design and Technology teacher for next year. Please contact myself if you are interested or know someone who could be.

Floods

With the increased flows of the Murray River, please keep safe. If your ability to attend school is compromised please let us know. Please also let us know if your contact details change so that we can keep these up-to-date and keep you informed if anything impacts our school.

BYOD program

For 2023 we are expecting year 9-12 students to bring their own laptops or borrow one for school day use from the library.  Purchasing a device makes a student’s computer available for both school and at home use, which is a significant advantage in our digital age. Many of our students already have their own devices and bring them to school. For other families, security has been a concern and a barrier to bringing a laptop to school, however, we are now installing a locker for every student over the holidays so this is no longer an issue. You are able to purchase one yourself, however, we do have some recommended models currently on the school's Edunet portal. The options (including a Mac) are school student-use recommended and parents can buy outright computers or through a payment plan. All devices on Edunet have been approved for school use at Renmark High School. For further information, please follow the link: http://renmarkhs.sa.edu.au/.../11/RHS-SpecSheets-22-23.pdf. As more students who bring their own computer school funds are freed up to invest in the network itself and the other technological tools that can be used by students. If you have any further questions please let us know.

To assist with costs, we will offer the first 50 students requesting a coupon code a $150 discount. Families with students in year 7 and 8 are still eligible for a coupon code. You can request a coupon from dl.0794.finance@schools.sa.edu.au. Our second cut off date is 2nd January 2023, for start of school (Term 1, 2023).

Remembrance Day

Thank you to two of our student leaders, Madeline Long and Kierra Schumann, who represented our school at Remembrance Day last week. Well done also to Renmark High School students Desmond C, Jocelyn G, Imogen L, and Cooper S who were in the cadet contingent who provided the catafalque party for the ceremony. 

Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states. Remembrance Day has been observed since the end of the First World War to remember armed forces members who have died in the line of duty.  In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month", in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12am and 5:20am that morning. The First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. 

Remembrance Day is an opportunity to pay respect and honour those who lost their lives serving their country. It also gives us a chance to remember family and friends who lost their lives fighting in wars and for us to consider the cost of war. 

Regards,

Mat Evans
Principal

Year 12 News

The year 12 cohort have officially completed all of their final exams and assessment tasks and are now preparing for their end of year activities. They are to be congratulated on the way they prepared for and sat their final exams. We are expecting some excellent results.

We continue to receive information about job opportunities that may suit your child. Please feel free to contact the school if you want any more information about the opportunities advertised in this newsletter or on Facebook.

SACE results will be released on Monday 19 December.

It is important that students can access their 'students online' portal. They have been shown how to do this but may want to check they can still access it before this day.

Students may also change their SATAC University course preferences up until the 4 January 2023 with the main round offer occurring on the 12 January 2023.

The next major event will be the Prom, held on Thursday 1 December at the Renmark Club at 7.00pm. When students come to school to pay for their tickets they will receive their information packs. Arrivals will start at 5.45pm. Parents and friends are welcome to mingle outside the club on the lawns to take photographs.

The last main event for our school is the Renmark High School Presentation Night held at the Chaffey Theatre on Tuesday 6 December at 7.00pm. All year 12 students should attend in school uniform as they will all receive a certificate on stage. Award winners will also receive a personal invitation to attend. Parents and friends are invited and can collect tickets from the Chaffey Theatre at any time. They are free.

Year 11 News

Year 11 students are continuing to work hard as they lead up to their last day. They will have final exams, tests, and assessments during week 7. Their last day of school will be on Friday 2 December where they will attend as year 12 students and work though each of their selected subjects for next year. This will be a good chance for students to meet their teachers, learn about the expectations for next year and find out how to prepare in the holidays for their subject learning. For example, there may be a novel they need to read, a topic they need to consider, or a text book they need to order. All year 11 students will receive a letter in Care Group outlining this and other end of year details.

Students are also completing the final part of their Research Project subject; this will also need to be handed in by the Friday 2 December. If not finished by Friday week 7, students will be required to be at school in week 8 to be supported in finishing this compulsory SACE subject before they start year 12 in 2023.

Any support from parents in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Marina Pater
Assistant Principal
Director of Operations

Renmark High School House Captains

Congratulations to our new House Captains for 2023. 

The Super 8's cricket competition is between the five other Riverland High Schools at the Renmark Football Club No. 1 & 2 ovals. The event is for both boys and girls in years 7 to 10. The game will commence at 9:45am (approx) where teams will play four to five games throughout the day. The goal of the day is to expose the sport of cricket, get students active and have some fun.

Congratulations to Harrison Keynes (U14), Noah Martisnon (U15) and Lachlan Keynes (U16) who were recently selected in the 2023 Emerging Athlete Developing Program.

Aaron Camplin
Leader of HPE & Sports

Congratulations to Sakina Qambari for winning the Australian School-based Apprentice or Trainee of the Year Award. Sakina completed a Certificate III in Hospitality and gained valuable work experience hosted at the Renmark Club, while studying year 11.

A great achievement! Well done. 

For more information on Sakina's award, please visit the link:

www.australiantrainingawards.gov.au/finalist/sakina-qambari

On Tuesday 22 November, Renmark High School welcomed the Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Blair Boyer in reflection of the current flood levels. Our newly elected SRC representatives accompanied Minister Boyer, Principal Mat Evans, and Education Director Brenton Chapman on a tour of our school grounds before sitting down to discuss the potential impact the high waters will have on the school and our community.

Organised by the Aboriginal Health Council of SA, nine students in years 9-10 attended the Aboriginal Health Careers Expo held at the Berri Town Hall on Tuesday 15 November. The Aboriginal Health Careers Expo aims to support the capacity and sustainability of the workforce, and training up local community members to secure jobs in the Riverland. The Expo provided an opportunity to show students the wide range of health careers on offer, and to increase understanding of jobs in the health industry. Students engaged with stalls from businesses such as SA Police, headspace Berri, Flinders University, and the PuYu Blasters, and three Renmark High School students won amazing raffle prizes!

Kardinia Caputo
Aboriginal Education Teacher

On Friday 18 November, Renmark High School staff and students came together to celebrate AusMusic T-shirt Day. We had many students wear a music t-shirt on the day to fundraise for those doing it tough in the music industry. It was great to see everyone embracing the music they love by wearing a t-shirt and sharing this throughout our school community.

At lunch time our rock band put on their first ever live set, playing a variety of rock classics to an excited crowd. The music played was fantastic and celebrated all the amazing things live music can do. With a few weeks left of AusMusic Month, it has been great to see how Renmark High School has embraced Australian music and celebrated this throughout the school. We raised over $100 which will be donated to Support Act, the music industry charity delivering crisis relief services to musicians, managers, crew and music workers across all genres who are unable to work due to ill health, injury, a mental health problem or some other crisis, such as COVID-19. Let’s continue to rock RHS!

Alistair Ward
Music Teacher

During AusMusic Month we were lucky enough to have Sophie Landau, a local singer-songwriter come in a run a song writing session. Over two hours, Sophie taught us how to find inspiration for a song, and ways to begin putting a song together. She performed two of her own compositions: ‘The Party’ and ‘Norma’ and as a group we added in our own percussion, including spoons, drums, and shakers.

In the second half of the session, we worked together to write and compose our own original song titled ‘Sea Change’ and formed our own band: ‘The Seagulls’. We thank Sophie for all the amazing lessons she taught us and cannot wait to share more music with you all.

If you want to listen to any of Sophie’s music, you can find her music on bandcamp under the moniker STEPSISTER: STEPSISTER (bandcamp.com).

Alistair Ward
Music Teacher

Short plays

Year 7 Drama students have been building, creating and rehearsing short plays which include life lessons and morals. Students enjoyed using the drama props and costumes and performing for the first time together. They all did well.

"My group met all of the success criteria. We had a clear storyline with a resolution and a moral and we met the time limit." - Maddison

"Our life lesson in our play was not to be greedy and to always be kind." - Katerina

"Skills used during this topic were using the front of the stage, speaking loudly and clearly, creating a storyline, creativity, showing leadership, teamwork and having the confidence to get up in front of a crowd." - Bree

Wendy Matulic
Drama Teacher

Mock trial – Who will the children live with?

In week 4 of this term, the year 11 Legal Studies class participated in a mock trial. All of the students worked together to create a crime scene, roles, and a script. They spent time crafting questions to ask witnesses on trial day. The prosecution and defence team worked tirelessly to represent their client and the state of South Australia.

Our judge while court was in session was Justice Blake. He spent the entire court session taking notes, problem solving and ultimately making a decision about who in fact should have the custody of two minors. There most certainly was a significant amount of learning about the legal implications around this civil case.

‘It was so hard trying to make the right decision for the children involved’. - Blake

‘I had to think about the case in so many different ways’. - Cooper

Biljana Elliott
Senior Leader of Literacy & Global Perspectives

Congratulations to our year 9 French students who represented Renmark High School in the ‘South Australian Year 9 French Quiz Night’ in Adelaide this term. Competing against 13 other teams from metropolitan schools, the students were announced winners of the French Art and Culture section, judged by UniSA French Senior Lecturer, Dr Ibrahima Diallo. Special mention to talented artist, Holly T who lead her peers in this endeavour and also to Meegan G, who was invited to deliver the Acknowledgement of Country. A big thank you to our support crew which included parents, Stephen and Marian Kernich, and teacher, Wendy Matulic for accompanying our teams.

Jasmine Sotiroulis
French & Spanish Teacher

After a long hiatus caused by the pandemic, the annual French Camp took place at the end of last term. Students in years 9, 10 and 11 participated in an intensive two day program, which included being the first school invited to a pilot program for secondary French students at Flinders University. Students were able to hear from university students studying French as part of their degrees in a range of fields from Marine Biology to Medicine. They also learnt about the meeting between Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin at Encounter Bay, disovering how South Australia could have very easily become French territory.

Students also dined at French Creperie, ‘Paris Plage’ and learnt the skill of ‘boules’ at the Adelaide Pétanque Club. Experiencing the delights of the Adelaide Central Markets and the South Australian Museum were also highlights.

Instructors from the Adelaide Pétanque Club commented on the positive and enthusiastic disposition of our students and invited them to join the club in the future!

Bravo les étudiants de Renmark High School!

Jasmine Sotiroulis
French & Spanish Teacher

Imagination is intelligence having fun

The marketplace 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 alleyways that surround it. The alleyways 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 ran their own campaigns that included problem solving, original stories, and a lot of laughs. The club will be running this term again. If you are interested gaming, the fantasy genre, fiction, improvisation or just want to see what it is all about, then why not join in this term?

Keep an eye on the bulletins for more details!

Stuart Watkinson
Student Support and Teacher

Important car arrival information

Cars will enter Murray Avenue at the Westpac Bank, drive to the end of the red carpet where a staff member will be standing to collect the prom attendee's number. Students are to hand their car number and await further instruction. Prom attendees will exit the car and walk back past the spectators to the side entrance of the Renmark Club. Cars are instructed to continue along Murray Avenue.