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. 

We are excited to launch our new school values that will guide our actions and shape our school culture. These values are crucial in creating a positive and supportive learning environment for each of us. They are the compass that will lead us on our journey towards excellence.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the selection of these core values. We have taken the time to gather input from various stakeholders, including our SRC, students, staff, the Governing Council, and through surveys that many of you participated in. Your voices have been heard, and together we have arrived at three core values that truly represent what we want our school community to be.

I am proud to announce that our new three core values are: Respect, Connect, and Achieve.

Respect

Respect lies at the heart of our interactions and sets the tone for our entire community. It is about recognising and appreciating the worth and dignity of every individual, including ourselves. We must respect ourselves by valuing our own well-being, talents, and potential. It means celebrating our diverse backgrounds and appreciating the unique qualities and perspectives that each of us brings. This also extends to respecting our school environment, the space that nurtures our growth and learning. By embracing respect in all its dimensions, we create a harmonious atmosphere where everyone feels valued, safe, and supported.

Connect

Connect is a value that emphasises the power of forging meaningful relationships and bonds. Connecting is more than just casual interaction; it is about actively engaging with one another, building bridges of friendship and understanding. It means reaching out to those around us, making new friends, and supporting each other through both the good times and the challenging times. When we connect, we form a network of shared experiences and support systems. It is through this web of connections that we find a sense of belonging, uplifting and inspiring one another. The value of Connect encapsulates our school motto, "not for ourselves alone." When we connect, we create a sense of belonging and unity that enhances our overall school experience. Together, we can achieve so much more through teamwork and collaboration.

Achieve

Our third value Achieve embodies our spirit of determination and the pursuit of excellence. It is about setting personal and academic goals and working hard to reach them. Achieve is about grit, about challenging ourselves and pushing beyond our limits. It is the unwavering commitment to continuous growth and improvement. Achieve is about setting ambitious targets, stepping out of our comfort zones, and persisting even when faced with obstacles. When we strive for achievement, we grow personally and academically. We become better versions of ourselves and lay the foundation for future success.

By making these values a part of our daily lives together we will continue to build a school environment where everyone feels empowered and inspired to be their best selves, a school where respect, connection, and achievement thrive.

Kind regards,

Mat Evans
Principal

Hi all,

Term 2 continues to ramp up opportunities for students to find out more about all types of post school options available to them. It is also a time when students should be working hard to meet all assessment deadlines and set some personal goals for themselves around what they want to achieve by the end of the year.

Our Flinders University Inspire Program has begun for year 12 students this term. Students who nominated have been linked with a University mentor where they will meet fortnightly either face to face or via Zoom to discuss all things about University. The Flinders University team then meet as whole student group four times throughout this term to provide further support. It doesn’t matter if students are looking at Flinders or not they will help students with course selection, scholarships, accommodation ideas and how to navigate university life as a rural student. We are very pleased to have Flinders on board again this year. This follows on from the successful university camp we held in week 1 this term.

Adelaide University will be here to see any year 11 and 12 students on Wednesday 7 June at 9.00am in the library. On Friday 23 June in Beyond Tomorrow, Rural Doctors Association will meet with any students interested in medicine or other allied health careers, allowing students to engage and discuss their future in health. 

SA Ambulance - Drug and Alcohol Presentation

Thankyou to Kieran and Demi Johnson who presented to our year 11 cohort in week 4. They touched base on the precautions of drugs and alcohol from their perspective as Ambulance Officers. 

Studiosity

Please see below an overview of Studiosity that we have been utilising this year. Students are able to upload their assessment task for their work to be assessed before submitting to their teacher. 

How Studiosity works: A walkthrough for school students (vimeo.com)

Career Opportunities

Other career opportunities were recently presented by Jess Linsell from MTE SA who met with a number of year 12 students during Beyond Tomorrow BT last week. She provided good advice around job searching, resume writing and interview techniques as well as letting students know what current jobs are available in the local area. She will continue to be a positive support for students who wish to seek traineeships, apprenticeships and other jobs in the Riverland. We will continue to advertise any jobs that are available through our student bulletin and newsletters.

Currently available:

• hairdressing apprenticeship,
• diesel mechanic apprenticeship,
• SSO position at a local child care centre.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me 8586 6974.

Kind regards,

Marina Pater
Assistant Principal
Director of Operations

Interschool Cross Country

On Friday of week 4, Renmark High School hosted the Riverland High Schools Cross Country Championships at Martins Bend in Berri. We were aiming to have the event at a location in Renmark but due to the recent floods it was difficult to find a space that could host both the Primary and High School students. I would like to thank the Renmark Paringa Council who assisted in the process and we look forward to having the event here in Renmark next year.

We were very fortunate to have beautiful weather on the day, given there were plenty of nerves regarding how the track would hold up with some heavy rain across the Riverland on the Thursday night.

Over 60 students travelled down to represent the school to achieve their personal best. Thanks again to those that supported the school and challenged themselves on the day. It was a successful day with plenty of great results with and the team winning 3 of the age group pennants (U14 girls, U15 boys sand U16 boys). Congratulations to Loxton High School who won the Championship Shield by 3 points over RHS. It was pleasing to see the pennants spread between the 4 schools.

Final Placings:

• 1^st Loxton High School – 33.5 points
• 2^nd Renmark High School – 29.5 points
• 3^rd Berri Regional Secondary College - 21 points
• 4^th Waikerie High School - 14 points

All the best to the students competing in Oakbank at the School Sport SA Championships on Thursday 8 June in week 6.

Upcoming Events

• Year 9 & 10 Knockout Cup Volleyball (Renmark Recreation Centre)
• Year 7-9  9 a-side Football (Renmark Football Ovals)

Basketball

Lachlan K – Congratulations to Lachlan who was recently selected in the School Sport SA U16 basketball team to compete in Perth in July. He has been a busy boy with many trips to Adelaide for trainings and games. This will be his 3^rd time competing in Perth over the past few years for various teams. Have fun Lachlan and all the best.  

Aaron Camplin
Leader of HPE & Sports 

Final outstanding materials and services charges statements were posted home last week. All payments need to be finalised by the 1July 2023 after which the Governing Council will commence further debt recovery action. 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 the Renmark High School debt collection policy.

If you have applied for school card but have not yet received notification of acceptance, or if you have paid for school fees but still have an outstanding amount on your statement please contact our Finance Officer, Sonja Modlinski by calling 8586 6974, select option 2.

For further clarification, or if you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact our Business Manager, Karina Lambert or Finance Officer, Sonja Modlinski by emailing dl.0794.finance@schools.sa.edu.au

Karina Lambert
Business Manager

Well done to Alan G, Matthew R and Isaac M who recently participated in the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup in Adelaide. Held during Reconciliation Week, the cup is an education-based strategy that engages First Nations secondary students in their education and career pathways with a competitive AFL carnival as its centrepiece. Students can enter a competition to design a guernsey with artwork representing aspects of their culture. Students included an explanation of the factors contributing to their design. The winning design becomes the team’s uniform. We are very proud to announce that Isaac's design was judged the best! Isaac included a moving explanation of the aspects of his design, paying tribute to his Nanna Faith and the significant impact she has had on him. Isaac has kindly given permission for us to share this. Congratulations Isaac!

Isaac's artwork explanation

"My guernsey design is revolved around my Nana Faith and the ways she influenced and guided me and taught me as I was growing up. She was special to so many people and an Elder. She used to tell me scary stories while we were sitting around the fire. It made me feel scared to do certain things like walk by myself at night and stay out too late and this was a way of her keeping me safe and guiding me. I remember all those stories today and it is her watching over me. My artwork shows a red brown design near the centre, that’s the people meeting in the middle by that fire. Nana Faith also told us the ways she used to live and told us to always be grateful for the things we have today but I didn’t really realise what she meant until I got older.

One main thing I remember is she was 1 of 7 kids and that’s why I put 7 stars in my design. I also put the river in all different shades of blue because of the way the river has changed and my Nan told me how clear it used to be. The shading shows the river going from a clear blue to darker and dirty. Nan was always by the river when she was younger then she grew up, and wasn’t really as much as she liked, but she told me she remembers when it went from clear to all black and they still went there with her pop and would collect mussels. I used a fire in my design because Nan always shared the most knowledge around the fire. I think having Elders around is important because they are a good resource for information but also can support guide and share their knowledge."

Danielle Weeks
Assistant Principal
Director of Inclusion

In week 3 and 4 I was fortunate enough to attend the Milparanga Established Leadership Program which is run by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

The program was a 10-day unique First Nations leadership experience honouring Indigenous knowledge systems, philosophies and cultural identity. This program took place in Western Australia, travelling through Albany, Bunbury and Perth with workshops, Elders panels and cultural tours.

Although it was initially uncomfortable going in to a program with no in-depth knowledge of what is was about with complete strangers, it was a truly eye-opening experience that gave me a deeper understanding around awareness of self and others, culture and inclusion to name a few; while making some really great friends and connections along the way.

I would like to thank Renmark High School for allowing me to participate in this program. I recommend the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation programs to everyone.

Daniel Giles
ASETO

National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and our nation. While this date carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is also commemorated by Australians right around the country. Kevin Rudd apologised on behalf of the government, for government actions in the removal of children from their families.

Non-Indigenous Australians say sorry because they feel empathy for the plight of the Stolen Generations, not because it was their fault, but because they acknowledge what happened and the pain it caused and still causes today.

Thank you to everyone that came to our Firepit Family Night in week 5. It was a happy, casual and relaxed evening, with the weather being perfect! Sausages, fruit and marshmallows were on the menu, with many friendly conversations and new relationships formed around the fire. 

Martine Turnbull
Aboriginal Education Teacher

A number of our students participated in the Education Perfect Mathematics Championship this year. Held over three days in May, students can select to compete in concepts of their choice, all of which are aligned with the Australian Curriculum. Congratulations to Year 8 student, Banjo R and year 7 student, Sarsho E, both of whom achieved Bronze Certification. As a result of their efforts, Renmark High School placed 2nd in South Australia in our category.

Jasmine Sotiroulis
Education Perfect Coordinator

Renmark High School competed in the annual Australian Computational and Linguistics Competition held early in the year. With the highest ever number of competitors, we entered 8 teams of students from Years 7 to 12, a total of 37 students.

Languages students needed to decode with in 2023 included;

• The ancient Umbrian language, which is closely related to Latin.
• The Permyak language which is spoken by around 60,000 people in the north-eastern part of European Russia. It belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, along with Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, and other languages, also mostly spoken in what is now Russia.
• The Mambiloid language, Nizaa with approximately 10,000 speakers in Cameroun.
• Tidore is a North Halmahera language of Indonesia, spoken by about 30,000 people. It is centred on the island of the same name, but it is also spoken in some neighbouring areas.
• The Australian language, Lardil, spoken on Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria off North Queensland

Once again, the only regional school competing, our top two teams missed out on making it to the national round by a score of 0.5%!

Jasmine Sotiroulis
OzCLO Coordinator

For the first time in history, Renmark High School entered teams in the annual South Australian Secondary Schools Pétanque Competition held in Unley Park, Adelaide. A long running event, a number of schools competing have been entering the competition for over 20 years! Of our four Renmark High School teams, two made it to the finals, beating St Peter’s Boys College, St Dominic’s Priory College and Seaview High School. Congratulations to Joshua V, Dallas W, Alex C and Charlotte H who not only made it to the grand finale, but defeated opponents, Trinity College, Gawler, in a thrilling match, cheered on by their Renmark High School peers. Despite the long return trip to Adelaide to participate in the competition, it was most certainly a rewarding one. Renmark High School has the championship shield back to our school to be on display in the front office until 2024.

Jasmine Sotiroulis
French Teacher

Renmark High School celebrated its 10-year anniversary of competing in the Education Perfect Languages World Championships this year. Competition was fierce as ever with students from Years 7 to 12 all vying for the accolade of top student at Renmark High School. Congratulations to Year 12 student Jorja K, who has competed in the championship every year since Year 8 and finally took our the prestigious title of top student. Jorja scored over 10 000 points, earning her ‘Elite’ Certification and was ranked 183^rd in the world out of thousands of entrants.

Top performers across other year levels:

• Top Year 7 Sarsho E
• Top Year 8 Eliza VD
• Top Year 10 Amber P
• Top Year 11 Temika M

Top students in languages:

• Arabic-Anja T
• French-Jorja K
• German-Madison M
• Greek- Ali U
• Hebrew-Mikayla M
• Italian-Jorja K
• Latin-Jorja K
• Russian-Tahlia P
• Spanish-Amber P

 Renmark High School placed;

• 125^th out of 2532 schools globally
• 5^th in all languages out of 110 schools in SA
• 1^st in Italian out of 42 schools in SA
• 1^st in Latin out of 23 schools in SA
• 3^rd in French out of 49 schools in SA
• 4^th in German out of 46 schools in SA
• 3^rd in Spanish out of 44 schools in SA
• 5^th in Greek out of 442 schools in Australia

Congratulations once again to our passionate and enthusiastic language learners whose curiosity and love of learning delivers global recognition to Renmark High School.

Jasmine Sotiroulis
French & Spanish Teacher

In week 3, we received two dairy cows as part of the Cows Create Careers Program from Dairy SA on a two week program. Dairy SA representative, Bray Toy came in week 5 to speak to Mr Singh's year 9 Agriculture students about the dairy industry including calf health, nutrition and careers. 

Raj Singh
Agriculture Teacher

Renmark High School has been able to successfully acquire an iFarm unit for their Agriculture block. The iFarm is a fully computerised interactive farm science research station designed specifically for Australian high schools. Its purpose is to improve student’s understanding of the resources required to produce food and fibre, and to stimulate interest in careers in agriculture and related fields.Students can do comparative trials, measuring and monitoring all variables such as water, fertiliser and plant growth.

Recently we had Jason Size (Grow Smart Training Services), Michael Pater (Berri Regional Secondary College) and Austin Zangari (Select Harvest) visit to discuss how iFarm can be implemented and benefit students learning.

Raj Singh
Agriculture Teacher

Why was Pavlov’s hair so soft? Classical Conditioning.

In week 5, Mrs Hooper’s Year 12 Psychology class developed their understanding of Classical Conditioning by using each other as test subjects. The class were randomly allocated to the ‘experimenter group’ or ‘test subject’ group. The experimenters repeatedly ‘administered’ Wizz Fizz at the sound of bell in a bid to classical condition the test subjects to salivate. The students said that participating in the fun and frivolous experiment helped them to better understand the process of classical conditioning.

Tamara Hooper
Psychology Teacher

“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments when you shouldn’t be?"

Students in Miss Caputo’s year 9 English class have been studying the text The Hate U Give (THUG) by Angie Thomas. Following the life of 16-year-old Starr Carter, the text delves into the themes of identity, loyalty, and the power of language. Students demonstrated their learning through completing a biography discussing character strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments, and sense of being.  

Kardinia Caputo
English Teacher

On Wednesday in week 5, the year 12 Essential English class visited 23^rd Street Distillery for lunch. Students were required to order a two course meal and as a result they will write a review that reflects the establishment, their meal, the décor and the service they experienced. 

Daniel Clark
English Teacher

Year 10 Food Technology classes have been developing knowledge and skills in Pasta making. They investigated the main ingredients for making the pasta dough. Students tried some variations to add colour and flavour which included spinach, beetroot, carrot, pumpkin, mixed herbs. etc. They then learnt to shape and cut the dough into a range of machine cut and handmade shapes. Students also explored the suitable sauces and garnishes for the types of pasta created.

Students then applied the knowledge and skills gained during formative lessons to design and create a pasta dish of choice. They all engaged well during the learning experiences and went above and beyond to prepare and present an impressive selection. Enjoy the photos of their creative work!

Narinder Riar
Food Technology Teacher

We’re excited to announce that Elevate Education will be hosting a free webinar for our parents on Wednesday 7 June.

Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:

How to Help Your Child Prepare for Exams

Click here to register for free

In this webinar, we will be discussing:

• High Priority Work: The kinds of work students should be focusing on in the build-up to exams to maximise marks
• Time Management: How to ensure your child has enough time to prepare for their exams
• Practice Papers: How to prepare effectively using past questions and practice papers