Welcome Back!

I hope students had a great holiday break and are recharged ready for term 4. 

Teacher Recognition

We are incredibly proud to celebrate Jasmine Sotiroulis for her recent achievements, which reflect our core values of Respect, Connect, and Achieve. At the recent Educators SA awards, Jasmine was honoured with the World Education Forum award for her outstanding contributions to intellectual and global understandings in education, as well as the Modern Languages Association of SA award for community empowerment.

Through these accomplishments, Jasmine embodies our commitment to Respect by fostering deep, meaningful global connections; Connect by empowering and uplifting our community; and Achieve by reaching exemplary standards in education. Jasmine’s dedication is further recognised by her selection for two significant upcoming awards to be conferred in Perth in a few weeks: the 2024 South Australian French Teacher of the Year (Prof de l’Année 2024) and the prestigious national prize, Prof de l’Année 2024: Prix (Expert). Jasmine’s accomplishments are a testament to her passion, expertise, and dedication to her students, the craft of teaching and advancing educational excellence. Jasmine will also be interviewed by SBS French Radio, which will be broadcast during the week of 21 November, in celebration of her achievements. Congratulations, Jasmine!

Congratulations to Alistair Ward for his association award for ‘Service to Music Education’ that was presented last Friday night at the Educators SA annual World Teachers’ Day awards. Alistair is a proactive and active council member of ASME SA. He is a strong voice for regional music educators and has embraced many of the representative roles important to a high functioning professional association, including consulting on the SA Curriculum, workshops, and information sharing with EDSA.

In the last week of the recent school holidays, Athina Papametis was honoured for her remarkable 40 years of dedicated service at Renmark High School by being recognised at the Department of Education, South Australia's formal dinner, alongside the honourable Blair Boyer MP. This event recognised the outstanding contributions of South Australian teachers to their students, where Mrs Papametis accepted her '40 Years of Service' award. What an incredible milestone for an extraordinary teacher! Congratulations Mrs Papametis, Renmark High School is incredibly proud of you!

World Teachers’ Day

With World Teachers' Day last Friday, I would like to express our gratitude and admiration for the dedicated and inspiring educators who make Renmark High School a place of growth, learning, and opportunity. Our teachers play a vital role in shaping the future of our students and our community, and it's only fitting that we take a moment to celebrate their hard work and commitment.

The teachers at Renmark High School go above and beyond to create a nurturing and innovative environment for our students. They not only impart knowledge but also instil values, nurture creativity, and foster a love for learning. This tireless dedication is what sets Renmark High School apart, and we are proud to have a team of exceptional educators who truly care about the success and well-being of our students.

Our teachers consistently show resilience, adaptability, and continued support for our students. They continually embrace new teaching methods, technology, and curriculum changes to ensure that every student can reach their full potential.

To our incredible teaching staff at Renmark High School, thank you for your unwavering dedication, your passion for education, and your commitment to the success of our students. We are fortunate to have such a remarkable team of educators, and we look forward to many more years of learning and growth together.

In celebration of World Teachers' Day last Friday, SRC organised students to write a comment about their teacher, which they then stapled together and hung in the staff room. All staff enjoyed a lovely morning tea to celebrate. 

Year 12 Students

Congratulations to our year 12 students who are almost finished and some have already began their exams! As you embark on your journey of final assessments and exams, remember that you've already shown tremendous dedication and resilience. Farewell to this chapter, and best wishes for your exams. You've got this!

Year 7 Transition

We have enjoyed having the year 6 students visiting our school and participating in lessons as part of their transition program. It is always exciting to be part of a student’s introduction to school life in their secondary school journey. These visits are as much about our staff getting to know students as much as they are getting to know us and our school. 

We are looking forward to their next visit when they return for two whole days of high school!

Mat Evans
Principal

Year 12 Trial Exams

This will be the last formal week of lessons for most year 12 students as exams start next Monday and then continue for two weeks. We have already had Stage 2 Spanish and French oral exams as well as the written Spanish exam. Other students will continue to attend as they finish off final assessment tasks. They will finish this week with a farewell assembly followed by a staff and student lunch at the Renmark Club on Friday 1 November. Parents are welcome to attend the Friday assembly at 11.10am.

Throughout the year, students have been supported by teachers and support staff with their SATAC applications, scholarship information and many job opportunities. We have been advertising job opportunities each week in the student bulletin as well as informing students who are interested in particular fields of work. We would like every school leaver to have a pathway for 2025 even if it changes, as it will, over your lifetime. We are hoping that over the next few weeks students continue to balance their school life with healthy eating, exercise and sleeping and take the time to prepare for their exams so they can achieve their absolute best.

A copy of the official exams timetable is listed below: 

We wish all of our year 12 students our best over the coming weeks. If any student has any issues with illness or misadventure, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the school on 8586 6974 or email marina.pater396@schools.sa.edu.au.

Year 11 Students

The year 11 students will have their last day of school on Friday 1 December at the end of week 7. More information will follow about this week which will include exams, final assessment tasks and a practice year 12 day to prepare for 2025.

I look forward to sharing more information about our senior school in the upcoming newsletters. 

Marina Pater
Assistant Principal
Director of Operations

Well done to all students who received their term 3 academic certificates as part of our whole school assembly on Friday 18 October.

Renmark High School students competed against Loxton High School students in highly charged debates based on a variety of topics. Our year 7-12 students researched, rehearsed and prepared their formal speeches with their team mates hoping to convince their audience and adjudicators using high quality oratory skills. Our talented speakers won 3 out of the 4 debates on the day. We are very proud of their organisation, willingness to have a go and their dedication to the art of public debating and speaking.

Results:

• Junior Team - Year 7s- Charlotte, Avani and Jasmine won against  Loxton High School
• Junior Team - Year 8s - Sarsho, Maria and Emily won against  Loxton High School
• Senior  Team - Year 10s - Esti, Arlo and Gracie were defeated by Loxton High School
• Senior Team - Year 11/12 - Stephen, Hassan and Rachel won their round against Loxton High School

Renmark High School congratulates all students involved in this highly rigorous competition.

Biljana Elliott
Leader of Literacy and Global Perspectives

Félicitations! Congratulations!

Renmark High School students were acknowledged last Thursday night at St Peter's College, Adelaide at the South Australian French Teachers Association awards night, the 'Distribution des Prix'.

• In the year 7 and 8 Poetry Recital Competition, the team consisting of Sarsho E, Levi C, Jacob C and Tyler J received a 'Mention Très Bien' (Honorable Mention)
• Alexandra T won the 'Best Year 6/7 French Student'.
• Anja T performed in French to a packed audience who were moved to tears by her emotional tribute to Edith Piaf.

Bravo, Renmark High School!

Jasmine Sotiroulis
French and Spanish Teacher

In week 10 of last term, Ms Matulic's year 8 Performing Arts B students delivered a thrilling Halloween-themed play, filled with suspense, mystery, and a touch of humour to a year 7/8 audience. The performance was a testament to the dedication and enthusiasm of the entire class, both onstage and behind the scenes.

The play opened with a group of kids trick-or-treating and receiving candy from an eerie old woman, followed by several strange events.

Aside from the  magnificent acting, students took charge of all aspects of the production showing a high level of commitment and enthusiasm. The lighting and sound design added a chilling atmosphere where creative use of blackouts and eerie sound effects helped build suspense. The collaboration, positive encouragement and respect the class has shown for each other has been extraordinary. They had their classmates’ backs helping each other in different roles when it was needed as they all had the same goal.  

Congratulations to the Year 8 Performing Arts cast and crew for their outstanding performance!

Wendy Matulic
Performing Arts Teacher

On Tuesday 15 October, the year 8 Performing Arts class was invited to visit Riverland Musical Society's Evita set on the Chaffey Theatre stage. Adam Pedlar and Luke Meaney gave students a tour of the sets, props and costumes backstage as well as the orchestra in the pit. Students saw how the magic on stage was created. For some students this was their first time on the theatre's stage. We were very lucky and grateful to be given this opportunity.

Wendy Matulic
Performing Arts Teacher

During our Media Studies lesson, the year 11/12 class had the privilege to visit The Murray Pioneer, where we were shown around by Ben Taylor, the managing director of Taylor Group Media. He was able to outline the different processes the team at Murray Pioneer uses to ensure everything runs smoothly for the newspaper and online reporting. The class was shown the printing process and the different machinery that has been used over time as technology has advanced. We were lucky to witness the printing machine in use and observe how intricate the process can be. Students were able to gather further knowledge surrounding print media and how the Murray Pioneer stays prevalent in the Riverland amongst the growing use of technology. Furthermore, the class was able to learn about how the Murray Pioneer caters to a range of audiences, along with how they collaborate as a team and within the wider community, to produce a valuable local newspaper and online news platform.

Skyla Halliday, Charlotte Lucas, Emilia Valente and Emma Smith
Year 12 Media Studies students

Our Favourites

Our clever library SSO Kerrie has interviewed and gathered students' favourite books from the Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy Library. It is exciting to see so many different genres, we have a lot of book worms! 

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.