Governing Council AGM - Encouraging New Members

As we approach our school's Governing Council Annual General Meeting (AGM), we invite all interested parents and caregivers to join us. Nominations are open for new members who embody our values of respect, connect, and achieve. This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of our school and make a real difference in our students' lives. Please consider nominating yourself or encouraging others to do so.

Local, Interschool, and Adelaide Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all students who showcased our values of respect, connect, and achieve at the recent Swimming Carnival, Interschool, and Adelaide competitions. Your sportsmanship and teamwork were commendable. It was great to also have students step up to cover events at short notice. A heartfelt thanks to our staff, volunteers, and parents for their support in making these events successful.

Sports Day

We look forward to seeing our students embody our school values at Sports Day next Friday 15 March. Let's respect our competitors, connect through friendly competition, and strive to achieve our personal best! Parents and caregivers, your presence and support are invaluable in fostering a sense of community and sportsmanship.

Successful year 7 camp at Barmera

Our year 7 students recently embarked on a memorable camp at Barmera, where they participated in a range of exciting water activities. The camp was a great success, providing our students with valuable learning experiences, personal growth and opportunities to bond with their peers. A big thank you to the staff who helped make this camp such a success.

RAP Clinic Reminder

A friendly reminder to all families that the RAP Clinic is available for student medical needs every Friday on site at Renmark High School, or any afternoon at the Renmark Medical Clinic. This clinic provides a convenient way for students to see a doctor without having to miss school. We encourage families to take advantage of this bulk billed service to ensure the health and wellbeing of our students.

Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to build a school community that embodies our values of respect, connect, and achieve. Together, we continue to make our school a place of growth and excellence.

Mat Evans
Principal

Academic Coaching

Inorder to support our year 12 students, Renmark High School provide each student with a teacher they know and have worked closely with over the years to assist throughout the year as an academic coach. They meet with them throughout the year to support with time management, subject issues, wellbeing, SACE completion and career advice. This is then noted for other teachers to act upon.

Senior Study Space

Senior students have been provided with a spacious, upgraded study area and common room. Year 11 students are expected to be at school all of the time. Year 12 students can have home study if they have study lessons at the beginning or end of the day, and are to sign out at Student Services or Senior Study prior to leaving school grounds. Year 12 students can also access other areas in the school to be able to seek support from specialist teachers.

Flinders University Inspire Program

We had our first visit from Flinders University this term. They offer a mentor program to any student who aspires to go to university. They will meet face to face on four occasions during the first semester as a group. They will also organise mentors (university students) to meet with the students in small, like groups, or one to one, either online or in person. This program does not mean you have to apply for Flinders University, and they will also pay the SATAC application fee for any students who nominate for the program.

Elevate Program

Elevate Education will be hosting a free webinar series on Wednesday 13 March from 6.30pm for parents on technology and focus. Elevate Education works with 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.

They will cover:

• Reducing your child’s dependence on technology  

• Using apps to prevent your child procrastinating  

• Using technology to enhance your child’s learning 

Register your place in our parent support series (elevateeducation.com)

For more information about Elevate Education, visit: https://au.elevateeducation.com/home

University Camp

This trip will occur in week 11 from the Wednesday 10 April to Friday 12 April. Students who are interested in university and have made a progressive start to their studies will be invited. More information will be sent home via Edsmart forms.

There will be many other activities, presenters and information provided to students through out the year. This is why attending Care Group, Beyond Tomorrow sessions and keeping up with communications is imperative for your student. I will also advertise any current job opportunities for students via the student bulletin or newsletter.

I look forward to sharing more senior news and student success stories throughout 2024.

Marina Pater
Assistant Principal
Director of Operations

Congratulations to the newly elected SRC members who received certificates during assembly in week 4. Students have demonstrated to their peers the core values of Renmark High School in high esteem including; respect, connect and achieve.

Congratulations to Meegan G who has been selected as one of the Dame Roma Mitchell Scholarship recipients in 2024. The scholarship is named after the late Dame Roma Mitchell AC, QVE, CVO, QC who had a long association with reconciliation and Aboriginal communities. Meegan received her scholarship at an official presentation at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre at the end of May. 

Meegan was chosen for the scholarship because of her level of consistent achievement, her drive for learning and improvement, her career aspirations and statements from her referees.

Martine Turnbull
Aboriginal Education Teacher

School Sport SA Swimming Championships

Upcoming Sport Events

• 800m run - Wednesday 6 March (week 6)
• Sports Day - Friday 15 March (week 7)
• Interschool Athletics - Tuesday 26 March (week 9)
• Adelaide Athletics - Friday 5 April (week 10)

Aaron Camplin 
Leader of HPE and Sports

Hi students and families,

For those who don’t know me, my name is Alicia Thackray, and I am the Social Worker based here at Renmark High School. This is now my third year here at this wonderful school and I cannot wait to see what 2024 brings!

In my role, I can support students through both academic and personal challenges. I am able to provide both group and individual support to help students build resilience, address and support concerns relating to wellbeing and mental health and to navigate challenges that affect their day-to-day lives. I am involved in a variety of activities, some of which include interaction with students through groups, assessments, counselling, home visits, and school events. However, some of the activities will also involve consulting with staff and/or meeting with parents. I can also support families in accessing external supports such as headspace, CAHMS and Relationships Australia.  

Students receiving support are encouraged to inform their parents they have received support from me and, when appropriate, to discuss the interaction with me with their families. I communicate to students the limits to confidentiality and that certain information may need to be shared, especially when it involves risk to themselves or others.

Students can book appointments via Daymap or through the Student Service Office. Families can get in touch with me via Daymap, phoning the school or via email at alicia.thackray687@schools.sa.edu.au.

Alicia Thackray
Social Worker

It has been fantastic to see our students using the library and enjoying the books we have on offer. Our recommendations list of books from students is alive and well, with many students keen to read some new literature. Hopefully, our new books will arrive soon. We have had displays focusing on sport literature to coincide with swimming carnival, as well as novels which take students to another world, real or imagined. On Valentine’s Day, we offered a ‘blind date with a book’, where students had to choose a covered book based on a few key details. All books were chosen, which made for a very happy Valentine’s Day indeed. Our students have also begun the Premier’s Reading Challenge, with many students taking up this challenge. The goal is to read 12 books by early September; no doubt our determined readers will meet the mark (if not more). Mr Ward has also been busy, going into year 11 and 12 classes to help students use the online referencing generator and running sessions on finding academic and reliable sources. With such a busy start to the term, it is great to see the library alive and well.

Alistair Ward
Teacher Librarian

Our friendly library staff - Alistair, Sharen and Kerrie.

The Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy library is located next to Student Services and is versatile in many ways! Pop in and say hello to our friendly library staff. Open from 8.45am - 4pm Monday - Friday, closed at recess, with some activities happening at lunch time. 

Borrowing Information
Use your ID Card or the borrower barcode on your school diary to borrow resources or equipment from the library.

• Borrowing Items
  Junior school students (7-8) can borrow up to 8 items.
  Middle school students (9-10) can borrow up to 10 items.
  Senior school students (11-12) can borrow up to 20 items.

• • Books (Fiction) - 4 week loan
  • Books (Non Fiction) - 4 week loan
  • eBook Readers (Kindle) - 2 week loan
  • Equipment - Lesson loan
  • Class sets - either term, semester or year loan

You will receive a friendly reminder via Care Group when your items are overdue.

Renewals
If you still require an item for a longer time it can be renewed once unless someone else has reserved it. Please see the library staff if you wish to renew your item.

Returning Items
Books and equipment can be returned through the returns slot in the library circulation desk. If you are returning a text book we would prefer that you give it directly to library staff so that we can let you know that you have returned the text book borrowed in your name.

The Renmark High School library website (https://renmarkhs.sa.libguides.com/library)

Students can access a variety of library services and information from our website. These include our latest new books, Premier's Reading Challenge information, digital reading magazines SpineOut and Good Reading, links to book review sites and databases. The library catalogue (available from the quick links box) can also be searched from home using the student’s unique barcode beginning with B0794 (no password required). This barcode is on both the student’s school diary and/or ID card.

Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC)

The Premier Reading Challenge started on the first day back at school, and all students can participate. Student reading records can be picked up from the library or downloaded from the RHS library website at http://renmarkhs.sa.libguides.com/books/prc.

The Book Club

The Book Club meets twice a term to discuss books and reading and is available to any interested students.

Access to Technology

• Clickview (digital video collection)
• WiFi internet access
• Desktop computers for research and study
• Laptop computers (for use in the library only)
• eBook readers (Kindles)
• Digital video cameras
• Digital voice recorders
• Headphones loaned for learning needs only
• A variety of device cords for downloading
• Colour/black and white photocopying
• Scanning (you need your USB)
• Colour/black and white printing
• Reseting your curriculum email passwords

Newspaper and Magazine Access - eLibrary
Locate credible and reliable information for your research needs 24/7 in a variety of subjects. This online database includes fulltext national and international newspapers and journals. In addition, it contains information from reference books, journals, books, web-sites, pictures, maps, video and interactive simulations.
Click on the link from the Quick links box on the RHS library webpage. See our friendly library staff for the username and password. 

28 of our female students participated in the Supporting and Linking Tradeswomen (SALT) workshop last week. The workshop aims at supporting and linking students with trades women and promoting non traditional trades. The girls produced fantastic pieces of woodwork which they were able to take home.

Kelli Hersey
Design and Technology teacher

Students from Berri Regional Secondary College, Renmark High School, Loxton High School, Waikerie High School and Riverland Special School have been involved in Riverland SAASTA each Tuesday in Berri. We were fortunate to have a guest speaker at the marina - Lucy from RMMAC Rangers spoke to the students about Connection to Country and the important plants, animals and waterways in the area. Students have been learning from Aunty Sheryl Giles about Aboriginal art protocols and Erawirung Country, which is the theme for our designs this term. Year 10 students will design a piece of art related to Erawirung land and how connection to this Country can improve their identity, which will be used as our football guernsey at Aboriginal Power Cup in term 2. Our year 11/12s are co-designing the banner which will be paraded around Adelaide Oval.

We are proud of being part of this fantastic program hosted within the Riverland supporting our local students. 

Martine Turnbull
Aboriginal Education Teacher

Pizza Chefs

Our FLO students made pizza last week. Students learnt crucial skills about cooking on a budget and using leftovers to make other meals. We still did not settle the age old debate about whether pineapple belongs on pizza!

Our year 7 students had the opportunity to take part in the year 7 camp at Camp Kedron in Barmera in week 3. The year 7 camp is a positive way for students to begin secondary school, get to know their teachers and make new friends. During the camp students participated in aquatics activities at Lake Bonney Yacht Club, where they had the chance to experience a variety of water-based sports including wind surfing, canoeing and sailing.

To inject some passion and excitement in their entrepreneurial journeys, our Enterprise students had two different local business owners come in and talk to them about their journey of establishing and running a local business.

Week 4 - Zynski Bakes

Hayley of Zynski Bakes presented her journey from teaching to becoming the local macaron lady. She shared great knowledge of all aspects one needs to consider when establishing and running a business, placing emphasis on marketing, and knowing your customers. Hayley shared her passion for collaboration and her inspiring vision for Zynski Bakes future.

Week 6 – Invictus Barber Lounge

Vinnie and Tahlia from Invictus Barber Lounge spoke about their early vision of a local barber shop to becoming a reality only late last year. Vinnie, being a former student of our school, spoke about his ‘thinking outside the box’ mindset and how this drove him to identifying a need in Renmark for an innovative barber shop that caters to local customers. Vinnie and Tahlia’s constant market research and observant approaches to their customers and latest trends drives them to continue to evolve and provide services with an edge.

Students thoroughly enjoyed hearing from these inspiring local businesses and gathered feedback on their own business ideas.

Darija Atsaves
Enterprise teacher

If you have any further general enquiries or questions, please contact our front office administration. 

From 1 March 2024 new regulations will extend the smoke-free and vape-free areas to within 10 metres of site boundaries.

This includes:

• school drop-off and pick-up zones that are within 10 metres of the school fence, gate or boundary
• school ovals and sporting fields and within 10 metres of the boundary of the oval or sporting field
• footpaths, roads, public nature strips and public recreation areas that are within 10 metres of a school boundary.

Careers Counsellors make an invaluable contribution to helping secondary school students achieve their goals. In recognising the vital role you play, we feel we should make our organisation known to you, since our aim is in line with yours: helping students gain entry into the course of their choice.

As you may be aware, the UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) is required for entry into most medicine and dentistry courses across Australia and New Zealand. Students who wish to enter such courses in 2025 will need to sit UCAT in 2024.  

MedEntry is run by doctors and academics, and is the trusted leader in UCAT preparation. We provide resources for Careers Counsellors which can be accessed from MedEntry's teacher portal. Here you can find resources to pass onto your students (including a Medical Entry Handbook, 2 hour UCAT bootcamp and information sheets / posters), as well as resources to assist Careers Counsellors (including a recorded information seminar - a live event will be held on 6th March). As a Careers Counsellor, you can also nominate students for discounts and scholarships, as well as request free educational events. 

Many students mention in their evaluations that they wish they had known about MedEntry earlier. We therefore seek your assistance in making students aware of the services we provide by placing an article in your school newsletter or careers website along these lines:

Students interested in pursuing medicine and dentistry need to sit the UCAT test in July/August 2024. MedEntry is a government-accredited Registered Training Organisation specialising in UCAT preparation. MedEntry offers free resources, discounts of 40% for groups of two or more, and many other discounts including for those nominated by their teacher. For more information, please visit www.medentry.edu.au