WHAT'S ON WEEK 6 10 - Wednesday 3 March Friday 5 March Monday 8 March - Friday 26 March Wednesday 24 March - Sylvania High School

WHAT'S ON WEEK 6 - 10

Wednesday 3 March

Friday 5 March

Monday 8 March - Friday 26 March

Wednesday 24 March

Principal's Message
 Mrs Renée Holz - Principal

Welcome back to all of our families, especially our new Year 7 families, to what has been a whirlwind start to
2021. We continue to have much to celebrate at our thriving school, and this issue of the newsletter is
testament to the hive of activity across the school.

We finished Term 4 2020 with outstanding HSC results for our Year 12 students: 256 Band 5 and 6 results and
28 Distinguished Achievers placed us as the third highest performing comprehensive public high school in
our local area; an impressive achievement after an incredibly challenging year. We are confident we will
continue to add value to students’ growth in 2021 to maintain this high standard of performance.

Staff, students and the P&C members have all contributed to our draft strategic directions for the 2021-2024
Strategic Improvement Plan. At this stage, our three directions are focused on Student Growth and
Attainment; Teacher Growth and Leadership; Thriving Culture. The school executive and teachers have been
collaboratively unpacking the improvement measures and success criteria within each direction, and
determining whole school initiatives that will see us achieve our set targets over the next four years.

Staff began the year with professional learning on future-focused teaching and learning that enhances the
attributes, capabilities and skills of our students to enable them to successfully transition into our complex
and changed world. We delved into our core set of beliefs about learning that underpin the teaching
practices across the school; beliefs that resonate with high expectations, inclusive learning cultures, quality
teaching and student-centred learning.

We have recently been informed that our local intake area for enrolment is expanding due to demographic
changes across the area. For 2023, students living in the Sans Souci and some students in South Ramsgate
areas will be considered as local to Sylvania High School. It will also see students living in Taren Point Public
School as being local to Endeavour Sports High School in 2023.

As a final note, this year we are unable to hold our traditional Open Night with all the pomp and prestige we
usually unveil. We are a school of choice in our local and broader community and draw in families to our
school from a wide range of areas. As such, the overwhelming number of potential attendees to our school
has meant that it is untenable to conduct bespoke tours throughout the grounds. This decision has been
made in the spirit of holding the health and wellbeing of the community as the highest priority.

Instead, prospective families can engage in virtual tours of our learning spaces to bear witness to the breadth
of opportunities and excellence in education available to young our people via the school website
http://sylvaniahigh.nsw.edu.au. We look forward to meeting our new families in 2022 and sharing in the
achievements of our impressive students who are at the heart of our dynamic school.

Deputy Principal's Message
 Mrs V. Turansky - Deputy Principal

Welcome back to our Sylvania High community including all of our new students, parents and teachers, we
are excited to have you all on board. It has been a great start to the year with students engaged in their
learning as well as signing up to the many extracurricular activities on offer this year including our ensembles
across dance, drama and music, leadership and social justice initiatives, and the many sporting opportunities.

2021 Student Learning and Wellbeing Contacts

Throughout the year you may need to contact the school to discuss your child’s learning and/or wellbeing
needs and the best place to start is often with their year adviser as outlined below:

      Year 7            Year 8            Year 9            Year 10            Year 11            Year 12

   Ms A.Czoch         Ms L.Lewis        Ms P.Lorenz         Mr T.Kelly        Ms A.Morris         Ms L.Gill

Relieving Deputy Principal, Mr T.Porter and myself also play an integral role in supporting our students’
learning and wellbeing needs, as outlined below:

Years 7, 9 and 11 – Mrs V.Turansky
Years 8, 10 and 12 – Mr T.Porter.

2021 COVID intensive learning support program

As we all know, 2020 was a tough year. This was particularly so for our students and teachers who rose to the
challenge in a year disrupted with seven weeks of remote learning due to COVID-19. For our students, it was
an unsettling time. The government and department have recognised this, with the announcement of a
$337 million program aimed at ensuring that schools can identify students who would benefit the most from
intensive support. This will be tailored to individual requirements to ensure that students’ educational
outcomes continue to improve in 2021.

The 2021 COVID intensive learning support program will provide small group tuition for students who need it
most across NSW primary, secondary and specialist schools. All public schools across the state will benefit
with an allocation to employ additional teachers and educators to support student learning.

We are currently finalising our planning for the implementation of a small group tuition program in our
school. The groups might be conducted during school hours, after school or remotely and, maybe, a
combination of all three. Although we will be focusing on literacy and numeracy, we are considering a
number of subject areas. The COVID intensive learning support team (CILST), led by our Head Teacher
Teaching and Learning, Ms Upham and our CILSP coordinator, Ms Robinson, will be in contact with families
involved in the program.

Student Voice
 Mrs N. Robinson - SRC Coordinator

 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & LEADERSHIP DAY

Early week 3, Sylvania High Schools Student Representative Council came together for their Annual General
Meeting (AGM) and leadership day. In line with our constitution, this meeting reflected on our previous years
successes before electing our Executive positions for the 2021 year. These positions not only create an
organised system in which the SRC can voice their views, but develops its members leadership capacity
through differing roles.

Teamwork is an important component of any cohesive group, and essential to the success of a Student
Representative Council. In addition to our AGM, we participated in activities and workshops throughout the
day, which focused on creating and strengthening the bonds within our team while examining leadership
qualities, self awareness, social justice and project planning. In one activity, we had the task of combining
puzzle pieces together that disclosed a quality of leadership, and then in small groups, collectively formed an
agreed upon opinion on the importance of that quality to a student leader.

Reflecting on our previous experiences, we determined our strengths as a group and also our areas that
require further development. This has increased our ability to set goals, and plan for further development - all
with the intent of becoming the best representatives for our student body. The SRC has a great responsibility
in the school community and we take our role seriously. We are determined to uphold Sylvania’s high
standards and create opportunities, initiatives and plans to take further action on school, community and
global issues that impact our students.

We would like to congratulate the following students for their successful induction into the 2021 Executive
Roles.

SRC President - Elizabeth J.
SRC Vice President - Rachelle E.
SRC Treasurer - Cinta J.
J.SRC Correspondance Secretary - Mia B.
SRC Secretary - Amelie P.
SRC Publicity Officers - Marrisa A., Bronte L., Dimi P

Our Staff
  Ms R. Stanton - Rel HT Administrator

  WELCOME TO 2021

A big welcome back to our staff for 2021. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our new staff
members to Sylvania High School.

During Term 1, Mr Porter will be relieving Deputy Principal with Mr G Koletti filling in as PDHPE teacher. Ms K
Bishop has joined the Teaching and Learning Faculty as one of our highly valued Learning and Support
Teachers, and Ms B Keating has joined the English faculty. In the Mathematics faculty, Ms M Kindis is on leave
and in her stead is Ms A Kumar.

  Learning Support
  Mrs S. Upham- HT Teaching and Learning

  OUR TEAM

We would like to introduce the Teaching and Learning Faculty
for 2021!    The recently married Susannah Upham (nee
Williams) is our Head Teacher of Teaching and Learning (T &
L). Cathy Kalgovas is our experienced Learning and Support
Teacher (LaST) and and she is joined by Katrina Bishop, an
experienced English as Additional Language or Dialect
(EAL/D) and LaST. Anne Flevaris is our Languages (French and
Greek) and EAL/D Teacher. Mechelle Brunton and Elena
Psarros are our experienced Student Learning and Support
Officers (SLSO) and we have welcomed Mitchell Atkinson to
our team of SLSOs; Mitchell is studying to be teacher.

Our dedicated Teaching and Learning Faculty believe in
inclusive education where every student has access to
engaging, high challenge and high support curriculum
content providing opportunities for academic success at
Sylvania High School. Our role is to support student learning
and cognitive wellbeing from wherever their personal starting
point may be; this includes additional support for students
with learning difficulties, as well as extension and challenge
for our high potential, gifted and highly gifted students.

You may wish to contact us if you have questions about High
Potential, Gifted and Highly Gifted learning, additional
learning needs, disability provisions or support for EAL/D
students.

Careers
  Ms R. Stanton - HT Careers

  UOW DISCOVERY DAY

Year 12 students embraced the opportunity to attend the University of Wollongong Discovery Day. Discovery
Day is a great experience for our Year 12 students to experience life as a university student. Students were
able to choose from a range of interesting lectures to attend during the day as well as experiencing the
campus life. The students returned to school full of enthusiasm and eager to start researching options and
opportunities for their future pathways.

   Technologies
   Ms R. Stanton - Rel. HT Admin

  SENTRAL STUDENT PORTAL

This year we have rolled out to all students the Student Portal
via Sentral. Sentral's Student Portal is a one-stop shop to link
students with the school community and enhance our ability
to communicate information with students. Students use
their current individual username and password for the
school network to log in to the portal.

Similar to that of the parent portal, students can access their
timetable, attendance history and reports from anywhere at
any time.

Should you or your child experience difficulties with accessing
either the student or parent portal, please do not hesitate to
contact Miss Stanton, relieving HT Administration.

Beyond the Classroom
  Ms A. Czoch - Year 7 Advisor

  YEAR 7 CAMP

Year 7 Adventure camp was a blast! New friends were made, old friendships were deepened, students built
relationships with their teachers and that’s not even mentioning the adventures! Year 7 braved the fearsome giant
swing (and survived!!), they learnt how to work as a team in Survivor activities and raced each other in Go Karting.

Year 7 showed how kind-hearted, brave and responsible they were throughout the camp and all the teachers were
incredibly impressed with their behaviour, their values and genuine care for each other.

Thank you to Mr Parker, Miss Manolaros, Mr Killey, Ms Chalvatzis and Ms Brunton who attended the camp!

Beyond the Classroom
  Mrs J. Henderson - HT Technology and Applied Studies
  - Supervisor of Uniform

   UNIFORM

It has been a busy start to the new school year and it has been
great to see our students return looking smart in their full
school uniform. There has been much research about the value
of wearing school uniforms and the benefits for students. We
place importance and significance on our uniform and
encourage all students to wear the correct uniform on a daily
basis because:

   Uniform gives students a sense of belonging to our school
   and creates an identity for the school in the community.

   Wearing a school uniform creates a sense of pride in the
   school and in their personal appearance.

   It helps students to prepare for the workforce where there
   are often requirements surrounding appropriate clothing
   pertinent to their job or career.

   Uniforms reduce peer pressure and bullying.

We have refined our uniform policy in 2021. Roll call teachers will be monitoring uniform every morning. There will
be particular emphasis on students wearing the correct footwear. Shoes must be black, fully enclosed and leather.
They mustn’t have any logos, colour, mesh or fabric components. Socks should be white, no logos or colour and
must be on or above the ankle.

We understand that there may be circumstances where your child is unable to wear the correct uniform. If this is
the case, please ensure you provide your child with a note to give to their roll call teacher. The teacher will then
issue them with a uniform pass for the day.

If you have any questions about uniform please contact me at school or see the school’s website.

Beyond the Classroom
  Mr J. Killey - Swimming Carnival Coordinator

  SWIMMING CARNIVAL

Our annual swimming carnival was held on Friday 12 February at
Sans Souci Leisure Centre. It was a fantastic day with lots of
school spirit shown. The carnival was well attended with
pleasing participation from all students, whether it was through
competing in races, earning house points in novelty events or
cheering for friends from the sideline.

Congratulations to all participants, to the Age Champions and to
those selected to represent the school at the Port Hacking Zone
Swimming Carnival. A special congratulations to Quibray house
for their clean sweep, winning the overall and the Spirit Stick.

12 years – Hana P. & Byron H.
13 years – Zahara N. & Kalan C.
14 years – Jackson M. & Alexis M.
15 years – Marcus R. & Indie S.
16 years – Ashton M. & Bronte L.
17 years + – Kaitlyn M. & Luke M.

   Beyond the Classroom
   Ms H. Morrison - Teacher Librarian

   PREMIERS READING CHALLENGE

Premier's Reading Challenge 2021 has begun! This year Students
from Year 10 are also invited to participate in the Challenge along
with all students from Years 7-9. Students are encourage to read
20 books (15 PRC books and 5 Personal Choice books) and log
these on their Student Reading Record online at
 www.premiersreadingchallenge.nsw.edu.au.

Our Library has a large selection of PRC books in both our physical
collection and via our eLibrary at
 https://sylvaniahigh.eplatform.co

The closing date for the challenge is the 20th August 2021, so take
up the challenge and get reading!

Beyond the Classroom
  Mrs V. Turansky - Deputy Principal

  MATHEMATICS PEER TUTORING PROGRAM

All Year 8 students have the opportunity to participate in our 'Mathematics Peer Tutoring Program’ led by
targeted Year 10 Mathematics students and supervised by teachers. The program will run each Tuesday
afternoon, in the Library, from 2.08pm – 3.00pm. Year 8 students have been issued with a permission note
that needs to be signed and returned to their Math teacher if they would like to participate. Thank you to our
wonderful Yr. 10 tutors who are supporting this invaluable initiative.

  Beyond the Classroom
  Mrs V. Turansky - Deputy Principal

  YEAR 6 INTO 7 TRANSITION - HIGH SCHOOL FOR A DAY

This term we have welcomed our local primary school Year 6 students to our school to experience high school
life and support their transition into secondary education. This transition program serves to enhance students'
understanding of the expectations of learning in Year 7, and safeguard their wellbeing.

Throughout the day students participate in engaging learning activities across a range of key learning areas
including HSIE, Mathematics, English, Technology and Applied Studies, Dance, PDHPE, Visual Arts and
Science. The breadth of curriculum offered to students provides them with insights into the nature of learning
in high school and the opportunities available to them. Our wonderful student leaders in Year 10 guide their
younger peers around the school, providing tips and tricks into managing workload and making friendships,

In March, we will launch our 2021 Enrichment program where students from our local community of schools
across the waters (CoSAW) are invited to express their interest to participate in a year long enrichment
program.

Wellbeing
   Mrs D. Garioch - HT Welfare

  SUPERVISORS OF GIRLS & THE SHS FAB CHICKS CLUB

This year Sylvania have continued and enhanced our program of support for female students; there are now three
Supervisors of Girls - Ms Harty, Mrs Ryan and Mrs Kranidiotis who together plan on empowering, supporting and
lifting our girls in preparation for the world beyond High School. To do this we have engaged in a number of
initiatives, including seminars on women's issues, safety and female positivity, as well as our Fab Chicks Google
Classroom where girls can access a variety of information on women's issues, as well as opportunities for leadership
and growth. All female students have been emailed the GC code to enable them access. To help facilitate
discussion for girls in a healthy and productive way, Room 22 is open every Monday and Friday lunchtime to all
female students. This is a safe space where girls can talk about issues that are important to them, or put forward
ideas for future projects. We welcome the input of our female students and look forward to continuing building our
relationship with them.

It is International Women's Day on March the 8th where we plan on celebrating the achievements of women as
well as promote the #choosetochallenge theme where we will challenge all our students to support equality and
acknowledge the successes of women around them.

  Our Site
  Mr T. Porter - Rel Deputy Principal

  EXCITING CHANGES

Welcome back to Sylvania High School for 2021. Our
School continues to undergo exciting changes in its
physical environment, creating a modern, fresh and
exciting place to learn. At the forefront is the first port of
call for many people, the administration block now with
increased space and functionality for our hardworking
SASS staff.

Free Graduated Licensing Scheme Workshops for Learner Driver Parents in the Sutherland Shire

Young drivers are three times more likely to be involved in casualty crashes. That's why the Roads and Maritime Services has
               introduced a new licensing scheme, with more supervised driving practice for learner drivers.

   To help parents in supervising learner drivers, the Roads and Maritime Services has set up a FREE 2 hour workshop for
                  parents offering practical advice on how to help learner drivers become safer drivers.

A FREE parents' workshop will be conducted by David Riches and hosted by Sutherland Shire Council on Wednesday March
                     17th at Sutherland Shire Council Offices in Eton Street from 7.00 pm – 9.00 pm.

                                   Early bookings are essential, by phoning Council on
                           9710 0341 now to reserve your place, or email mstuart@ssc.nsw.gov.au