Important Dates - Kaleen High School
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Important Dates
Dear UCHSK Community
Friday 18th September All Semester 2 Unit outlines are now available on our school website here. These
documents outline Essential Learnings from all subjects and assessment items and
Cultural Integrity
due dates for this semester. Assessment items are also listed by year group on our
Community Afternoon Tea Semester 2, 2020 Assessment Calendars. These are best used when placed
somewhere visible in your home, where they can inform a regular conversation
Wednesday 23rd between parents/carers and your children. Google Guardian Summaries are another
September good way to keep up to date with what your child is working on in their classes.
Attached to this newsletter is some additional information on how you can receive
End Of Term Reports Google Guardian Summaries. Should you be having difficulties receiving these please
contact our IT Coordinator, Colin Montgomery, to discuss.
Tuesday 15th September
Many families will have already received some valuable feedback on how their child’s
Year 7 Immunisations semester has begun through our week 6 Parent Teacher Interviews. We are currently
trialling new dates for these interviews, bringing them forward to an earlier date each
Friday 25th September term. This decision was made in consultation with the P&C and, we believe, provides
the greatest opportunity to positively impact on all students’ achievements. If you
Year 10 MUFTI Day
were unable to participate in our week 6 interviews (which were held online), please
keep an eye out for information on our next Parent Teacher Night, in term 4, week 4.
Alternatively, all teachers can be contacted via email at any point in the semester. All
Important Dates to email addresses can be found on our school website here.
Remember Despite COVID-19 impacting heavily on many school excursions and events, we have
still been able to celebrate a number of important days on the calendar this term. On
Friday 25th September August 28th we celebrated Wear it Purple Day. UCHSK is very proud of our inclusive
culture and Wear it Purple Day is a celebration of the spirit of LGBTIQ+ youth, as
Last Day Of Term purple symbolises “spirit” on the rainbow pride flag. It is a day of acceptance and to
raise awareness that, while we have made progress, young LGBTIQ+ people still
Monday 12th October experience discrimination, prejudice and harassment in the broader Australian
First Day Of Term community. Thank you to the UCHSK Rainbow Connection group, which organised
the celebrations here at school.
SEPTEMBER 2020
PRINCIPAL’S DESK (Continued) In Week 7 UCHSK celebrated Health & PE Week. On Wednesday September 2nd staff and students stepped away from normal classes to participate in a range of healthy activities including a whole school walk, house relays, indigenous games, Zumba, yoga and a soccer clinic. In the absence of some of our major carnivals in 2020, which play such a large role in promoting a positive school culture, Health & PE Day enabled all students to be active in a positive environment. Such a day also strongly supports the building of positive relationships between all members of the UCHSK community, outside of the traditional classroom setting. As you will be aware there continues to be much happening in 2020 to improve facilities at UCHSK. I am very pleased to announce that the waiting area at the front of the school is now complete. The two waiting areas were developed to provide more safe spaces for students to wait in the afternoon for parents/carers and busses. Please encourage your children to make use of these spaces if they are awaiting pick up. We are moving students away from the front entrance of the school in an effort to improve safety for students using our zebra crossing and improve visibility for drivers moving through our carpark. If you are waiting to pick up your child in the afternoon, please do so in the overflow carpark (as identified in a diagram later in this newsletter) to support the safe traffic flow through our carpark. I recently emailed all Year 10 families, updating them on how COID-19 restrictions may impact end of year celebrations, including the Year 10 Graduation and Formal. The Education Directorate recently updated its advice on these events, in line with the advice of the Chief Health Officer. The UCHSK team charged with organising our end of year events will work through this advice carefully in the coming days and consider the options available to us. However, it is important that our community understand, whatever the restrictions, we (the UCHSK staff) are committed to giving our Year 10 students a fitting send off from high school, after what has been a very challenging final year for them all. I would like to say a big thank you to our P&C who have not only volunteered to support the organisation of these events, but also made a significant financial contribution to reduce the cost of the formal for our students. Kind regards Daniel Mowbray Principal, UCHSK
UC HIGH SCHOOL KALEEN CARPARK UCHSK Carpark can be very congested and often dangerous each morning and afternoon. We are requesting the support of parents and carers to ensure our carpark is as safe as possible for all students and community members. Planning for improvements to our carpark continue, however in the meantime, all parents / carers dropping off or waiting to pick up their child are asked to use the overflow carpark at the south eastern end of the school driveway, at the rear of the storage sheds Cars should not be double parked while waiting for students. This increases congestion and reduces the safety for all carpark users, in particular those students crossing the pedestrian crossing to access the Baldwin Drive bus stop. Thank you for your anticipated support on this issue.
GOOGLE GUARDIAN SUMMARY INFORMATION
Dear Parent / Carer,
As you would be aware UCHSK use Google Classroom as an online platform for students to engage with
their curriculum. Google Classroom offers Guardian Summaries and we use this feature to help increase
parent communication. This feature enables parents and carers to access content related to their child
from each of their child’s Google Classrooms.
The following information is drawn from the Google Classroom Help webpage:
When guardians join Classroom, they receive regular email summaries for each of their students.
Guardians choose the frequency of the emails—daily or weekly—and can unsubscribe at any time.
Guardian email summaries include:
Missing work—Work that’s late at the time the email was sent
Upcoming work—Work that’s due today and tomorrow (for daily emails) or work that’s due in the
upcoming week (for weekly emails)
Class activity—Announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers
Further information on Google Guardian Summaries can be found at: https://support.google.com/edu/
classroom/answer/6388136?hl=en
Information available includes:
How to accept an invitation
How to manage your summary settings
Why you might not receive an email summary
In order to receive Guardian Summaries parents/carers must have a Google account. This can be created
with any email address. If you would like to receive Guardian Summaries please provide your Google
account email in the section below and return this note to the school front office. On the second page
you will find a quick guide to setting up a Google account.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: ___________________________ Parent/Carer of:
_____________________________ Year: ____________
I wish to receive Google Guardian Summaries for my child’s Google Classrooms.
Google account email:
__________________________________________________________________________
How to create a Google Account
Go to the Create your Google Account page (https://accounts.google.com/signup)
You can use any existing email address, just make sure you click the I prefer to use my current email
address.
Then follow through the prompts.
Let us know the email address you have used on the prior page.
Done - we can now add your account to Google Guardian Summary!
PARENT/CARER The Education Directorate, through its partnership with the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and the Australian Federal Police, will be hosting a live webinar for families on Wednesday 16 September 2020 from 7.00pm to 8.15pm. This webinar is suitable for adults and will provide an overview of the role and function of the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and the AFP. It will cover prevention tips and resources, difficult conversations, how to help your child be a responsible digital citizen and how to report inappropriate and harmful content. Participants will be able to ask questions throughout the webinar through a secure link. Register for the best experience and full functionality. We encourage you to use a personal PC/laptop or mobile device. For further information please contact Nicole Agius Ph: 02 620 59469
FAMILY PAYMENTS 2020 Dear Parents and Carers, The Board of UCHSK asks that families and carers make payments of voluntary contributions to help support and enrich the learning opportunities of your child and all students at the school. The funding provided by the Government is limited; every contribution you make is appreciated by the whole school community. On the Contributions Graph below, the blue bar outlines the amount the school would benefit from if every parent paid the voluntary amount for General and Subject Contributions. The orange bar indicates the amount received in 2020 from parent contributions. The Library Fund is also included in the above format. Contributions to this fund are used only in the library or faculties to support students with reading books, texts and IT student participation programs such as Mathspace. The Library Fund is a tax deductible contribution. The payment of the above contributions is voluntary but goes a long way to ensuring our students have the best learning environment possible. The Education Act 2004 states that your child will not be refused benefits or services if you choose not to contribute. Individual records of contributions are confidential. Library Fund in 2020 has supported learning opportunities by the purchase of: • Mathspace, Stile and Education Perfect programs for students • English textbooks • Both fiction and non-fiction books for the library General Contributions in 2020 will increase learning opportunities by: • Updating classroom IT equipment. We have commenced seeking quotes for projectors, whiteboards and sound equipment to the value of contributions paid by parents this far. Subject Contributions in 2020 will provide students with: • Classroom consumables for Art, Wood and Metal Technology, Cooking and Textiles.
VISUAL ART SEPTEMBER NEWS Students have shared insight into their learning programs, and I have included some images from our busy Visual Art classes this semester. Thank you to Willoughby, Trevor, Tyson, Toby, Sophie and Anne for sharing their beautiful water colour drawings in Fantasy Art. Anita Briedis Visual Art Teacher SCULPTURE & 3D MEDIA In Sculpture we are making terracotta vessels using the coiling method. We have spent the past weeks building our designs in clay, smoothing and decorating the surface of our vessels. Our large vessels are being decorated with images inspired from chosen song lyrics, poems and our own stories. It’s been really satisfying watching our vessels being built, then smoothing and decorating and seeing them come to life. Sam (Year 9 Sculpture student)
FANTASY ART In Fantasy Art we have been drawing fantasy creatures which have been enlarged onto card then painted with watercolours. I chose Medusa as she is one of my favourite mythological characters. The setting background is from the book Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief because it was the first book I read that included Greek mythology. I am happy with my painting. The next task in Art is to choose a topic of interest to us. I have chosen to focus on drawing a series of school settings for my friend’s comic book. She has written the story and I will be illustrating the background settings. A J-V D (Year 7 Art student)
RATIONS CHALLENGE 14TH-18TH SEPTEMBER 2020
This year we have 20 students and five teachers taking part in the Rations Challenge. In this challenge,
we will eat the same rations as a Syrian refugee for five days: chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, rice,
flour, vegetable oil and one can of sardines. While this is a fundraising event, it is also about us
learning about current global issues and developing empathy for others. We will be having lunch
together and participating in some fundraising at school. If you would like to sponsor our team or
individual students, you can go to this link:
https://schools.rationchallenge.org.au/t/uchsk-rations-challenge-2020 or to
https://schools.rationchallenge.org.au/ and search for UCHSK!
Ms Lovell
ASX SHAREMARKET GAME 27 OF AUG—4TH OF NOV 2020
It’s been a blistering start to the ASX Sharemarket Game this year! Students in Year 10 Economics and
Extension SOSE have formed syndicates, and began trading only one week ago. And what a
rollercoaster it has been already! After hitting some early highs, and having five teams in the top ten
for the ACT, things went awry on Friday, and thousands of dollars (not real, of course!) were lost by
our teams. One team slipped from first to 33rd in one day! Each syndicate is given $50 000 with which
to buy and sell shares on the ASX. The game only operates during the same hours as the sharemarket,
but the conversations have been taking place at all hours. Mr Pressley, Mr Byrne and I have been
incredibly impressed with the level of discussion many students are engaging in, and the questions
they are asking about how to trade successfully. Let’s hope there is some upturn in the market and we
have better results next newsletter!
SPORTS REPORT Term 3 has seen the return of ACT School Sport in a reduced capacity due to Covid-19 restrictions. We had the 9/10 Boys Football (Soccer) team go out on Thursday 27th August. They had a great day of competition, coming home with second place! Congratulations to the team and coach, Mr Pressley. The 7/8 boys Football (Soccer) went on out Wednesday 2nd September and had a great day of competition. A big thanks to Mr Govan for taking the team out to participate in the day. Weeks 8 & 9 saw our two netball teams going out. The 9/10 boys’ netball team played at Calwell Netball Courts on Monday 7th September. The 9/10 girls’ netball team goes out on Wednesday 16th September (after being postponed from the 9th September), playing at Lyneham Netball Courts. Thank you to all parents and carers for supporting the Covid-19 rules and restrictions around watching school sport. Health and PE Day Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Health and Physical Education (HPE) Day is a nationwide initiative that highlights the importance of HPE in the Australian Curriculum, and its influence on the learning and development of children. HPE is essential for developing great long-lasting attitudes to the physical, mental and social wellbeing of our young people (and us who are ‘young at heart’!). Mother nature turned on a great sunny day for us to hold our Health and PE Day. We had a fun-filled day of activities. We began the day with a walk in year groups around our wonderful Kaleen community, and it was great to see so many happy faces conversing with their peers and staff as they got their heart rates up and enjoyed the fresh air. Students then rotated through four activities during the day. These activities included Indigenous Games (Edor and Buriojin), Zumba, House Relays and games, and Sport Star Academy (Soccer) took our students through a range of soccer activities. We finished the day with a fantastic game of staff vs students touch football, Frisbee and safe and active games on the courts. Mr O’Sullivan’s refereeing endeavoured to help the staff team as much as possible, but alas, the students were victorious. After much banter from the staff team, we had better ensure that our talk matches our walk next time – congratulations students!! A big thank you to all who supported the Year 10 fundraising BBQ, and to Mr Major and the Year 10 helpers who organised it and kept many bellies full. Well done also to Mr Gilding and the IMP Band for some great tunes bellowing out over our ovals and keeping both staff and students entertained. Overall, it was a hugely successful day and a massive thank you to all staff and students for creating such a supportive and inclusive environment for our Kaleen community to be able to share together, whilst getting out and about being healthy and active. Thanks to you all!
OUTDOOR RECREATION BUSHWALKING TRIPS Both the Line 4 (Thursday 4th September) and the Line 6 (Friday 5th September) classes undertook a Bushwalking Day Trip out to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. We have been studying bushwalking and minimal impact on the environment in class, so we were greeted by a gorgeous sunrise on both days as we arrived at school at 6.15am ready to begin the journey on to country, down in Namadgi National Park. Aboriginal people have had a continuous association with the Tidbinbilla area for at least 21,000 years. It is the traditional Country of the Ngunnawal people. Neighbouring clans travelled through or stayed in this region, trading artefacts and knowledge, celebrating marriages and undertaking important ceremonies. The name ‘Tidbinbilla’ comes from ‘Jedbinbilla’, meaning ‘where boys become men’, referring to initiation ceremonies on the mountain tops. The views that our students and staff appreciated from reaching the summit of ‘Camel’s Back’, were truly amazing. As we looked out to the west across the Brindabella Ranges and easterly to Gibraltar Rocks, then panning northerly across Tuggeranong and back towards Canberra City, we could see all the way into Mt Ainslie and Mt Majura. This was the culmination of almost 600m in vertical elevation over a 12km return trip. It was so pleasing for our staff to see our students working hard to get up the steep sections and working together for hours to lead the group, encourage each other, overcome some fears and reservations, to enjoy the best nature has to offer – all right on our doorstep here in the ACT. There was an overwhelming feeling from all once we reached the summit of achievement and gratitude to be able to be on such magnificent country, steeped in great history. We enjoyed a great lunch at the top, before beginning the journey back down the mountains to reach the bus, where we headed back into Canberra and finished the day off at Mitchell Indoor Rock Climbing. It was also great to see so many students work closely with their climbing / belaying buddies to support each other to overcome some difficult climbs and challenges. Seeing our students push their comfort zones and realise that they can undertake safe risk-taking with the support of their peers and teachers, was fantastic to witness. Well done to all students on both trips and a special mention to Mr O’Sullivan and Adam Belin for supporting the students through these challenges!
REDUCE THE RISK
COMMUNITY NEWS
STUDENT INJURY INFORMATION
Insurance and Ambulance Transport
The Education and Training Directorate does not provide any insurance cover for injury, disease or
illness to students resulting from school activities or school-organised excursions. Claims for
compensation are met where there is a legal liability to do so. Liability is not automatic and depends
on the circumstances in which any injury, disease or illness was sustained.
As there is no automatic insurance cover for personal injury if your child is injured at school or during a
school organised activity/excursion you should therefore consider whether taking out personal
insurance cover for your child is warranted.
CONTACTING STUDENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Occasionally parents/carers need to contact young Newsletter
people at school. The school will make every effort to
UCHS Kaleen
facilitate immediate contact in an emergency or
newsletters are completed in weeks 4
otherwise urgent situation.
and 7 every term. They are sent home
However, we ask that parents/carers be patient with the via email and displayed on our
school in the case of non-urgent situations. School staff
webpage each month for viewing by
will endeavour to get messages to students in a way
our school community.
that minimises disruption to student learning.
Parents are often advised of school
The school minimises the use of the PA system for this
activities and events in the
reason. The PA system will generally not be used to
contact individual students. In non-urgent situations
newsletters so it is very important
students will be asked to make contact with parents that you advise us of any changes to
during recess or lunch breaks. your email address.
STUDENT ABSENCES
Please note the number to call if your child is going to be absent from school is
6142 0484
We would appreciate contact with the school before 9.15am. A message can be left on the
school answering machine prior to 8.30am or email to: UCHSKaleen.Rolls@ed.act.edu.au
A reminder to all students that Chromebooks must be
brought to school fully charged and labelled for
identification.
We do not have spare devices available for studentsYou can also read
