Year 12 Students

We are delighted to announce that our year 12 students have successfully completed their final exams, marking the culmination of their journey at Renmark High School. With their final assessments having been sent off to the moderators at SACE, we take a moment to reflect on the incredible achievements and growth that each student has experienced throughout this significant year. We congratulate each one of you for reaching this important milestone. Your hard work, dedication, and resilience have not gone unnoticed.

To the parents, teachers, and support networks that have played a crucial role in shaping these remarkable individuals, we extend our gratitude. Your guidance and encouragement have contributed to their success and we thank you for being an integral part of their educational journey.

We wish our year 12 students all the very best in their future endeavours. May you continue to shine brightly, pursue your passions, and embrace the exciting adventures that awaits you.

Remembrance Day

Thank you to two of our student leaders, Sakina Q and Lachlan G, who represented our school and placed a wreath at Remembrance Day last week.

Congratulations to Stephen F who, as winner of the Premier’s 2023 ANZAC Award, spoke at the ceremony of Renmark’s significant contribution and sacrifice in past conflicts, the ANZAC spirit and how we can honour this today. 

Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states. It 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 5:12 and 5:20 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 to 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. 

BYOD Program

In 2024, year 7-12 students are expected to bring their own laptops or to borrow a laptop device daily from the Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy Library. Purchasing a laptop device makes a student’s learning available for both school and at home, which is a significant advantage in our digital age. Many of our students have their own laptop devices and bring them to school already. For other families, security has been a concern and a barrier to bringing a laptop device to school in the past, however now every student is issued a locker for the security of laptop devices and personal belongings.

You are able to purchase a laptop device yourself, however we do recommend models currently on the portal as this is covered by our IT services. The options are 'school student' use recommended and parents can buy outright or through a payment plan. The portal also provides options for accidental damage or theft of the laptop. These recommended devices answer the often asked question of "what would I buy as a parent for my student to use at school?". 

Cut off dates for Christmas: Order by 30 November 2023.

Cut off dates for first day of Term 1, 2024: Order by 3 January 2024.

BYOD spec sheet information: http://renmarkhs.sa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/RHS_EduNet-Program_Specsheet_2024.pdf

The more students that do bring their own laptop device, frees up school funds to invest in the network itself and the other technological tools that can be utilised by students. If you have any further general enquiries or questions, please contact our front office administration. 

Contact Details

Have you changed your address, phone number, email address? Please make sure that we have your correct details at school so we can contact you in the case of emergency, or to keep you updated with communications.

Planning for 2024

Planning for next year is well underway. Please let the us know if you are planning on enrolling your child for the first time at Renmark High School in 2024 (unless you are a year 6 parent who has already informed your Primary School as we would already have this information), or if your child is not planning on being at Renmark High School in 2024. This information is very important for the successful planning of classes, subject offerings, staffing and budgets.

Kind regards,

Mat Evans
Principal

Year 12 students

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 career opportunities advertised in this newsletter.

SACE results will be released on Monday 18 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. To access the SACE Board of SA Students Online portal, please follow the link:
https://apps.sace.sa.edu.au/students-online/login.do 

Students can change their SATAC University course preferences up until the 3 January with the main round offer occurring on the 11 January with subsequent offers after that.

Our next major event is Renmark High School Presentation Night held at the Chaffey Theatre on Tuesday 28 November at 7.00pm. All year 12 students are expected to attend in school uniform to accept their certificate. Award winners will also receive a personal invitation to attend. Parents and caregivers are invited, they can book their tickets via Chaffey Theatre (countryarts.org.au).

The final event will be the Renmark High School Prom held on Thursday 30 November at the Renmark Club for students to start arriving from 5.45pm. Students are expected to pay for their tickets at Student Services to receive their car number and further information for the night. Parents, caregivers, friends, and family are welcome to mingle outside the Renmark Club on the lawns to take photographs and see the students come in.

Year 11 students

Year 11 students are continuing to work hard as they lead up to their last day for the school year. They will have final exams, tests and assessments during week 7. Their last day of school will be on Friday 1 December. Students are also completing the final part of their Research Project subject and this will also need to be handed in by the Friday 1 December.

If this is not completed, students are required to attend school in week 8 to be supported in finishing this compulsory SACE subject before they start year 12 in 2024.

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

Kind regards,

Marina Pater
Assistant Principal
Director of Operations

We welcome year 11 students, Zac and Rachel as our Head Prefects, and Tenu and Penny as Deputy Prefects who will represent our Student Representative Council in 2024. 

Congratulations to Jack L and Maddison-Lee P who travelled to Bordertown last week to compete in the Australian National Dirt Kart Titles over 5 days.

It was a first National Titles for both students with over 500 nominations across 13 different classes. The event was opened by South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and Minister of Recreation Sport and Racing Katrine Hildyard.

Jack competed in the Junior Heavy class coming 7^th overall out of 40 competitors, whilst Maddison-Lee competed in 2 separate classes KT Light’s and KT Medium’s with over 100 competitors across the 2 classes.

Both Jack and Maddison-Lee are looking forward to competing in the South Australian Titles held in May next year at the Loxton Dirt Kart Club, which will bring great tourism to our Riverland Region.

Last Friday, Renmark High school sent 4 teams down to Lake Bonney to participate in the Riverland High School Triathlon. Teams were required to swim 200m, ride 10km and run 2.5 km. A special mention to Ollie L who participated in the team event as well as excelling in the individual event. 

All students who attended did a fantastic job representing the school and themselves. 

Daniel Clark
HPE Teacher

This term our year 9 HASS and English classes have been working through the unit 'Mind on Your Money'. This entails a study in finances, creating a business or product and advertising. As part of are advertising component students are to create logos, websites, business cards and more. To inspire students and promote understanding of what is involved in creating a brand, we sought the expertise of Ebony Forsyth, an experienced freelance graphic designer and ex Renmark High school student. Students took part in an insightful workshop tapping into the essences of where to begin in creating their business/ brands. 

Rebecca Ward
English Teacher

Flavour Forecast Recipe Challenge

The year 9 Food Technology students were challenged to choose a key trend, Full Flavoured Fats, Everyday French or Beyond Heat and develop one original flavoursome, contemporary dish with a set criteria of ingredients such as ancient grains, a variety of butters, crackers and/or bread or homemade pasta.

Students’ dishes were then judged by Mr Young and Mr Watkinson on flavour, texture, presentation and overall recipe of the dish. These dishes ranged from butter boards to fresh pasta dishes. All students’ dishes were prepared and created at a high standard, full of flavours with excellent plate presentation.

Well done to the year 9 Food Technology class.

Wendy Matulic
Food Technology Teacher

This term in Enterprise, students have become young entrepreneurs, creating their own business, and making a product with the aim of pitching this to a panel of judges. Some of the exciting business opportunities include a local café with a focus on healthy and local produce, an innovative shaker bottle, a streetwear brand, and LGBTQIA+ app.

Students are working hard to complete their pitch, which were judged by Ms Stanojevic, Mr Ward and Mr Watkinson in week 4. The top two teams who have the most innovative product or business will get to present their pitch to a panel of Shark Tank judges, with the opportunity to go win a place in the national final.

We look forward to seeing our year 10 entrepreneurs’ ideas come into fruition.

Darija Atsaves
Enterprise Teacher

Following on from our light painting workshop on the school oval, our young photographers further explored camera exposures and use of various props (some which students made themselves) to produce these highly creative photographs. These are currently being exhibited in our library.

Enjoy!

Darija Atsaves
Photography Teacher

In week 4 of this term, the year 11 Outdoor Education class headed to Port Elliot for 3 days of surfing. We arrived Monday lunchtime and headed out for 2 and a half hours of surf. Most students stood up straight away and were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

After a few hours in the water, we headed back to Port Elliot Caravan Park to set up our tents and organise tea. The class was split into two cooking groups, and we had some great nutritious food prepared by the students, exhibiting their organisational skills. After a long twilight walk along the beach, most students went to their tents early, ready for the next big day.

Tuesday was the biggest day of surfing, being out in the water for 6 hours. The waves started inconsistently, but after lunch the waves were cleaner and easier to ride. There was some huge improvement, with every student standing up and riding a wave, even if it was only for a few seconds.

With more time on Wednesday night, students were able to have an early dinner and then enjoy an ice cream in Victor Harbor. Students finished the night with some board games and UNO before going to bed early again.

On Wednesday morning, our final day, students hit the surf again for their last session. After stopping for a late lunch at the Port Elliott Bakery on the way home, the bus was very quiet after 3 days in the water. We were impressed with students’ persistence, organisation, and behaviour over the three days. It was a positive and memorable experience for all involved.

Mark Thiele
Outdoor Education Teacher

Congratulations to our new House Captains for 2024!