At Renmark High School, our commitment to Respect, Connect, and Achieve is evident in everything we do. Recently, we had the privilege of welcoming visitors from two divisions within the Department for Education, who spent time in our classrooms, engaged with our students and staff, and provided valuable reflections on their experience at our school. Their insights reinforced the strong culture of growth, collaboration, and pride that defines Renmark High School as we approach our 100-year anniversary.

Both visiting teams highlighted the authenticity and leadership demonstrated by our Prefects, who spoke with confidence about their experiences at Renmark High School. Their words reflected not only their own aspirations but also the shared belief that our school is a place where everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed. It was inspiring to hear students express that they feel most engaged when they see their teachers’ passion for their subjects—an affirmation of the dedication and expertise of our staff.

In the classrooms, our visitors observed students actively involved in enterprise projects, problem-solving tasks, and hands-on learning experiences, all of which reflect our focus on high-quality, engaging education. Staff members were commended for their welcoming approach, their openness to collaboration, and their commitment to providing an engaging and supportive learning environment.

Beyond the classroom, Renmark High School was recognised for our connections with the wider community. Initiatives such as the Fire Pit family nights, Physical Education students delivering lessons to primary schools, local delivery of subjects to other schools, and university partnerships showcase how we extend learning beyond our campus and create meaningful opportunities for students. These initiatives also reflect our commitment to Respect, Connect, and Achieve, ensuring that our students develop the skills, knowledge, and values to contribute positively to their community.

The reflections from our visitors reinforced what we already know—Renmark High is a school that is always striving to be the best at getting better. Our staff and students are always seeking ways to innovate, connect, and achieve together. As we continue our journey towards our 100 year milestone, we remain focused on building on our strengths and ensuring that Renmark High School remains a place where every student can thrive.

A huge thank you to our staff, students, and leadership team for showcasing the best of our school. Your efforts, enthusiasm, and commitment do not go unnoticed!

Mat Evans
Principal

The senior classes have made an excellent start to the year. This year we have 70 year 12 and 90 year 11 students. I have adjusted a number of student timetables to ensure their subject choices meet their individual needs and supports their career aspirations.This should now have settled for the year.

There are a number of programs and events that will run throughout the year. Students are expected to attend Beyond Tomorrow and check their Daymap to find out what is available to them. Below are just a few of the ways we will be supporting students this year.

Academic Coaching

Teachers at the school volunteer to be an academic coach for the year 12 students. They meet with them throughout the year to support with time management, subject issues, well being, SACE completion and career advice. This is then noted for other teachers to act upon and support the student throughout their final year of school.

Studiosity

This year the school has again engaged with Studiosity. They provide one on one online help for the following subjects: Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English. They also provide a drafting and editing role for all subjects where a student will be able to upload any written assignment and seek feedback from an expert. They will receive this within 24 hours, often less. This will then allow for the student to receive two drafts, one initially from Studiosity and then one from their subject teacher. Students have been shown how this works and we hope they will make good use of this. 

University Camp

This year we will again provide a university camp to Adelaide for year 12 students. The program will include visits to most of the universities as well as boarding colleges. It will also include getting acquainted with the city of Adelaide. Students who are on a university pathway and have shown a strong academic start to the year will be considered. The year 12 camp will be in week 11 this term, from Monday 7 April to Wednesday 9 April. Expressions of interest were taken last year and more information will be coming soon.

There will be many more chances for students to plan for their post school pathway and parent support with that is always appreciated. Please contact me at the school, via Daymap or email if you would like to discuss any future options for your child.

Riverland Vocational Award Finalists

I would like to congratulate the following VET students who entered the 2024 Riverland Vocational Awards last year; Zahlee S, Mia D, Sophie S, Sophie T along with school based students, Saffron R and Callum L-H.

The above four students have been selected as a finalist, where they will attend the Riverland Vocational Awards dinner this Friday night at the Berri Hotel. We wish them all the best and look forward to celebrating their success!

We also proudly congratulate our 2024 HPE Trainee, Toby Johnson on being nominated as a finalist for the Trainee of the Year Awards. We are proud of his achievements as a student and staff member at Renmark High School and wish him all the best on his future endeavours as he begins University in Adelaide.

Supervised Study

Renmark High School provides supervised quiet spaces for senior students to use in their allocated study lines. At the end of semester one, students who have shown strong academic success will be able to take up the home study option with parent permission. Year 12 students may have home study if they have study lessons in the morning or at the end of the day. Students are not to leave school grounds in the lessons in between recess and lunch, and in break times. It is also not a time to be seen down the street. Year 12 students may also find these times useful to be at school where they can have access to their subject teachers, work in collaborative groups and also have access to spaces they may want to use eg. Tech Studies workshop, Art Room, Digital Media space, Music suite and the new Podcast room.

Once again, I welcome your student to the senior school. Please contact their subject teacher in the first instance or the Wellbeing Leader, Jacinta Coombe for any questions or concerns. or of course you may contact me as well either through a Daymap message, email marina.pater396@schools.sa.edu.au or phone call 8586 6974.

I look forward to sharing more senior news and student success stories throughout 2025.

Regards,

Marina Pater
Assistant Principal
Director of Operations

Swimming Carnival

After a few hot days leading up to our carnival, there were some anxious moments on whether we would push on or postpone the event. The other big question was, can Mrs Papametis and her beloved Chaffey team do it again? Who will be the 2025 Swimming Champions?

After the nomination assembly, the captains worked together and communicated with the PE staff to select their teams for the event. The overall feeling and attendance was positive with the captains and students working together to fill as many lanes as possible throughout the day.

We were very fortunate on the day, as the weather conditions were perfect and the decision to start as soon as we can and push through (to beat the heat) allowed us to have some extra free time for students to cool off. Once again the Renmark Swimming Centre was looking great along with plenty of red, green, blue and yellow around. A big thank you again to the Renmark Vitor Swimming Club families who assisted with the setup and pack up along with the usage of the equipment.

Even though there were a few lanes missing competitors (due to various reasons), the house captains remained positive and continued to work hard throughout the day. There were many highlights and great contests between the houses and students lifting the spirit of everyone involved. Whether it was your first as a year 7 student or last as a year 12, the students who attended had a great day competing, cheering, catching up with friends and ultimately supporting their captains in the swimming and splash events.

Many students - Nash T, Willow T, Emme L, Lily S, Noah M, Alex K, and Esti M, all scored maximum points or close to it for their age group. Congratulations to all the students who achieved a place on the day along with the age cup winners, but the most pleasing thing is the efforts from everyone who got involved as every point contributed to your team.

The swimming team is excited to represent Renmark High School at the Interschool Event - Loxton Swimming Pool on Monday 17 February and the School Sport SA Championships C grade at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre – Marion on Wednesday 26 February.

Thank you to the Renmark Vitor Swimming Club and our sponsors - Sportspower Renmark, Renmark Club, McDonalds Renmark, BusBiz, Hotel Renmark, Nutrien Water, Almondco, Priceline Pharmacy, Tristate Graphics, and Koch's Foodland Renmark for your continued support.

Year 12 Cohort - Final Swimming Carnival

Upcoming Sport Events

• Interschool Swimming Carnival hosted at Loxton Swimming Pool - Monday 17 February (week 4) 
• Sports Day event nominations Friday 21 February (week 4)
• Adelaide Swimming Competition - Wednesday 26 February (week 5)
• 1500m run (Year 7s and runners only) - Tuesday 4 March (week 6)
• 800m run (Runners only) - Wednesday 12 March (Week 7)
• Sports Day - Friday 14 March (week 7)
• Interschool Athletics - Tuesday 1 April (week 10)
• Adelaide Athletics - Wednesday 9 April (week 11)

All students are encouraged to come along and support their house! 

Ollie's Half Marathon Success

Regards,

Aaron Camplin 
Leader of HPE and Sports

Last Friday, Mr Camplin and Mr Clark's Year 9 Physical Education classes made their way to the Renmark Swimming Pool to help set up for the Renmark Open Swimming Carnival that took place over the weekend.

The H&PE faculty were excited to offer this hands-on learning opportunity after talking with staff and Matt Jarvis, President of the Vitor Renmark Swimming Club. In class, the students discussed the importance of volunteering, connecting with the community, and giving back—values that make events like this possible.

Students worked together in teams to set up marquees, arrange chairs, and organise the cool room, allowing other club members to rest and focus on different tasks in preparation for the event.

Well done everyone! We’re now excited to turn our focus to our own swimming carnival this Friday at Renmark Swimming Centre, we hope to see you there!

Ms Blanden's Year 7 science classes joined together to participate in a Lab Safety escape room. 

Ms Blanden's year 8 Science students are currently learning about cells. Students were able to take a look under the microscopes and view them up close. This was their first time using microscopes.

Throughout the first week of term 1, Ms Blanden's year 8 Mathematic students played Connect 3 adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers.

Ms Hersey's year 8 Technology classes have been excited to get a chance to try out some hand tools after a several lessons on intense safety learning. Students visited the workshop in week 2 and participated in some hands on activities as part of intergrating into Technology.

Mr Singh's year 9 Agriculture students celebrating First Nations involvement in Agriculture. Daniel Giles spoke to students about the origin of a 'Damper' and cooked his favourite modern version which is fried bread. Students also learned about the use of various plant species used as medicines etc. They also enjoyed salmon cakes cooked by their Agriculture teacher.

Mrs Farrelly's year 10 Science students had to solve clues by applying their knowledge about the structure of the atom. 

This term, Mrs Farrelly's year 11 Chemistry students are investigating rates of reactions. 

Miss Caputo’s Stage 2 Geography class are learning how biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors interact within an ecosystem. Students created their own mini ecosystems, balancing elements such as soil, plants, and moisture to simulate real-world environments. 

Discussion centred on nutrient cycles, energy flows, and sustainability - reinforcing student understanding of ecology and environmental balance.

Renmark High School will be hosting students from France, who are arriving mid-term 2 and departing mid-term 3.

Experience a unique cultural exchange by hosting an international student! Share your home, make lifelong connections, and provide a supportive environment while learning about another culture. Enrich your family's life today!

For more information, contact us at dl.0794.info@schools.sa.edu.au

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