Term 2 continues to provide 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.

Here are some examples of support we are providing to year 12 students.

Academic Coaching

Senior teachers at the school volunteer to be an Academic Coach for your year 12 student. 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 at all times. Year 12 students are granted Home Study if they have study lessons at the beginning or end of the day. 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 have had our first visit from Flinders University. They offer a mentor program to any year 12 student who aspires to go to university. They will meet face to face on four occasions during the term as a group. They will also organise mentors, if required, 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, but they will pay the SATAC application fee for any students who nominate for the program.

Adelaide University Visit

Adelaide University will be here to see any year 11 and 12 students on Tuesday 6 June in lesson 6 in the library.

Flinders University Roadshow

Once again Renmark High School has volunteered to host the Flinders University Annual Roadshow on Wednesday 19June. We will be hosting approximately 160 students from all local regional high schools. On the day, students will move through a series of practical activities from a wide variety of faculties. Lecturers from the university will attend on the day. Students can ask questions about courses, have a look at their solar car and will be provided with a free lunch. Further information will be given out in Beyond Tomorrow sessions leading up to the day. Please see the flyer in this week’s newsletter.

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

Marina Pater
Assistant Principal
Director of Operations

Well done to all students who received their term 1 academic certificates as part of our whole school assembly on Friday 3 May. 

Congratulations to Tailah L who participated in the SA Sheep Expo during the recent school holidays, placing second in her class. Students took part in various sheep related presentations throughout the week presented by industry experts, where they were given the opportunity to work alongside the sheep and learn about showing skills. Well done Tailah!

Raj Singh
Agriculture teacher

A huge congratulations to all students who competed in the School Sport SA Mountain Bike Teams Championships at Sturt Gorge Recreation Park in Adelaide last Thursday. It was a fantastic day with our senior boys team placing 5th overall. Thank you to the staff, students and parents who assisted with transporting the bikes to and from the event, bike maintenance, and overall team spirit throughout the day!

Aaron Camplin
HPE and Sports Coordinator

Bienvenue! Welcome to Camille Chameret from France, who has begun her five month exchange program at Renmark High School. Camille comes to us from the region of Épernay, the birthplace of Champagne and is thrilled to be experiencing life in regional South Australia. Renmark High School has a long history of hosting exchange students and is proud to continue this tradition.

Jasmine Sotiroulis
French and Spanish Teacher

Open Scene Performances

During the last week of term 1, the year 8 performing arts class performed their open scene plays. The task was to create an interesting plotline and to perform this from simple scripts by adding tone, actions, pauses, set design, costumes and props. Students were creative with their ideas and performed with energy and confidence.

"I enjoyed the acting from my play and getting to pick my script." Bree

"The skills I learnt were how to use emotions, actions and pauses in a play." - Liam

"I thought we were amazing and we went well with our scene. I enjoyed finding a costume and getting to perform." - Elise

"I enjoyed coming to Drama and getting to rehearse." - Baxter

"I learnt how to memorise lines and use our voice. Our voice was very good and I didn’t look at our lines." - Luke

Wendy Matulic
Performing Arts Teacher

The year 8 HASS students have been learning about the local history of Renmark. Ms Matulic’s and Mrs Keynes' classes participated in a local walk looking at the significance of many buildings and monuments along the riverfront. They also enjoyed learning from different stations around the room about Aboriginal stories, artefacts, what these are, what they are made from and how they are used.

"I liked the station two with the artefacts because you could hold the boomerangs, coolamon, clapping sticks and see them up close and it was fun learning about them." - Bree

"One station was with photos. We had to explain how the Aboriginal tools worked, what they were made from and what they all had in common." - Jack

"My favourite station was the video one with the dreaming story." - Morgan

"My favourite station was number 2 as it was visual and we could pick up the items and use them." - Summer.

Wendy Matulic
HASS Teacher

World War I

Ms Matulic’s year 9 HASS class created their own trenches based on their knowledge of World War I. Students’ trench designs included duck boards, dug outs, soldiers, barb wire, sand bags, no man’s land and as well as some diseases and problems that soldiers faced.

Student's oral presentations were then based on their knowledge about their trenches, with reasoning behind their designs and ideas.

"I really enjoyed creating the communication tunnels that connected the trenches and adding the duck boards to the bottom of them. I also enjoyed making the artillery and the headquarters." - Logan

Wendy Matulic
HASS Teacher

At the end of term 1, year 10 Agriculture students visited Angoves Winery, located in Renmark. They were given a tour by Senior Winemaker Mr. Paul Kernich. Students looked at the various processes involved in wine making including crushing, fermentation, bottling and labelling of wine. Paul described the OHS requirements of the wine industry and shared his knowledge of the technological advances in wine making. He was greatly impressed by the enthusiasm shown by Renmark High School students and generously answered questions around wine making and work experience opportunities for students at the winery.

A huge thank you to Angoves Winery and Paul Kernich who give us unprecedented access to the processes involved in the making of wine.A great learning opportunity cherished by our students.

Raj Singh
Agriculture teacher

Miss Caputo's year 10 History class engaged in a Model United Nations simulation as part of their Rights and Freedoms unit. Throughout this simulation, students stepped into the shoes of global diplomats, representing various countries and debating international issues. From climate change to human rights, they engaged in thoughtful discussions with evidence-based presentations.

The UN simulation not only deepened our students' understanding of global affairs, but also fostered empathy, teamwork, and leadership. Great work from some of our future world leaders!

Kardinia Caputo
History Teacher

The year 10 Food Technology class are developing skills in pasta making. In week 1 of this term, students learnt to make a basic pasta dough, followed by trying a few variations in week 2. Stay tuned to see the amazing progress these talented students are making!

Narinder Riar
Food Technology Teacher

At the end of last term, our year 10 entrepreneurs presented the prototypes for their products to a group of interested students. Some of these prototypes include innovative swimwear, floating sunglasses, and sunproof ponchos. Students sought feedback to further improve their product solutions and are currently working on their branding and marketing strategy for this enterprise idea.

Darija Atsaves
Enterprise Teacher

At the end of term 1, year 12 senior students travelled to Adelaide to attend the University Pathways Camp. The camp engages students with the university lifestyle by allowing them to participate in activities and tours at a range of different campuses and college sites around Adelaide. Students were given the opportunity to use communication pods, trialed exercise physiology equipment, and participated in code breaking workshops.

During week 2, the Stage 2 Outdoor Education class travelled down to Corny Point on the Yorke Peninsula for their surf trip. After the long drive, the group set up their tents and prepared themselves for three days of waves. We were gifted with some perfect weather, although it was quite fresh in the water, but after catching some waves, everyone quickly warmed up and had a blast. Along with all students getting to their feet and catching some long rides, another highlight was a visit from some friendly local dolphins who joined us for a few rides in.

Students will now reflect on their experiences and complete a dune study before planning their self-reliant expedition and environmental study. 

Aaron Camplin
Outdoor Education Teacher 
Leader of HPE & Sports

On Wednesday of week 1, all Renmark High School students celebrated their PBL House Point success from term 1 with a barbeque. The free barbeque was held to recognise our students earning an impressive 10,000 house points throughout the term.

All students appreciated the BBQ, especially those who managed seconds. A special thank you to all the staff and volunteer students who supported us.

House Points are earned by students showing their commitment to our PBL focus each fortnight and our school values of Respect, Connect, Achieve.

Positive Behaviours for Learning, or PBL, is an important part of life at Remmark High School. Students are explicitly taught behaviours and expectations and are positively acknowledged for demonstrating these. This ensures we keep a focus on behaviour we wish to see in our students, rather than those we don’t. These behaviours are designed to support students learning in and out of school. Past PBL foci have been moving to class on hearing the music (previously a bell), coming to class prepared and ready to learn, and connecting and engaging in learning tasks. 

This term students will continue earning house points, which leaves us all wondering, what will the next reward be?

Great effort students, keep it up!

Kelli Hersey
PBL Committee Member

Renmark High School will be offering an Adelaide 36ers Academy and XVenture Schools Program as a subject next term. The schools program is an experiential learning program that focusses on emotional agility, resilience, leadership and aims to equip young people with important life skills to thrive in their life. The subject will be offered to students in year 10 and 11, where they can select at the end of this term in the subject selection process. Further information will be released later in the term. 

Congratulations to year 12 student, Callum L-H for obtaining a school-based apprenticeship with Michael Kregar Building. Callum has been completing his Cert III in Construction this year, with the hopes of pursuing carpentry. Well done Callum, we wish you all the best on your career pathway as you successfully complete year 12!

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.

E-cigarettes

E-cigarettes, or ‘vapes’, are not safe for young people. They come in many shapes and sizes and can be hard to spot as they can look like everyday items including highlighters, pens, USB memory sticks or watches.

Key vaping facts

• Many e-cigarettes contain nicotine despite being labelled as not. Nicotine can cause long-lasting negative effects on young people’s brain development, including impaired learning ability and altered mood, and can increase the risk of depression and anxiety.
• E-cigarettes can contain the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray, which can lead to serious lung diseases.
• Young people who vape are 3 times as likely to take up smoking cigarettes.
• E-cigarettes are harmful to the environment as they contain single-use plastics and lithium batteries, cause pollution and can start fires.

The laws around selling e-cigarettes

It’s illegal to sell or supply e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18 years. Young people often purchase vapes online, from retail stores, or from friends and contacts on social media. There are a number of retailers who sell e-cigarettes to young people. This is a crime.

Talk to your child about vaping

It’s important to take the time to talk to your child about the risks of vaping. Try to start the conversation in a relaxed easy-going way, and remember your goal is to have a conversation, not deliver a lecture. Parenting SA provides a Parent Easy Guide on talking with children and young people about drugs and alcohol – visit parenting.sa.gov.au.

Get the evidence and facts about vaping at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/vaping.

Find out more about how we manage alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in schools at www.education.sa.gov.au/vaping

Students and families who have inadequate or no access to internet at home are eligible to apply for a free internet connection to support learning.

There are 2 options available to eligible families:

• wireless internet access from the Department for Education through the student home internet program
• NBN broadband internet access until December 2025 from the Australian Government through the School Student Broadband Initiative.

You might be eligible if you:

• have a school aged child
• don’t have reliable home internet access or have no active NBN broadband connection.

Find out more about what options are available and how parents and carers can apply by visiting the department’s website.