Heard on the Hill Term 4, Week 9

From the Principal

Bonjour à tous, and Wanju

“Bunbury Senior High School is not an Education Department Music Specialist school. “

That sentence is hard to fathom. With over 10% of our total school population playing in one ensemble or another. But it is not just the participation rate - the quality of the music being made is outstanding. 

If you did not attend the Music Showcase on Thursday night – let me tell you it was outstanding. It was a lovely night in the amphitheatre. Great music, voices of angels, and the sun slowly setting. There were kids running around and laughing, the P&C were actively involved, cooking a sausage sizzle and selling raffle tickets, the sense of community was fabulous.

It is a real credit to the Performing Arts team (Billie Larkman, Geoff Ogden and Siobhan Maiden) and the culture that they have created.  The show was mostly produced by the students, in particular Erin Lever and Jonah Golds.

Students Who Take Music Classes Also Do Better Academically, Study Finds | Discover Magazine

However, it is not just the performing arts students that have been on show recently. Remember the national visual arts award that I spoke about last week. Today we heard that; a large number of our students have also medalled in this competition. They have just missed collecting the national gongs in other categories.

Last week Paul Reynolds took a small group of students to paint a mural in the Bunbury Regional Hospital. The artwork was designed by Year 11 student Kassidy and is fantastic. The Minister for Health was visiting and stopped by to talk with the students.

This week the Year 8s will be away on the Health and Wellbeing Camp.  This is a great culmination of the SEL program for Year 8s. Thank you to Kim for organising it and the team of staff that will avail themselves to assisting. If you haven’t filled in the reflection survey sent out by Tina, please do that to help shape that program to get the best outcome for our students.

En Avant

Mike Sinagra

Nuts and Bolts

Program Coordinator – Manager of Operations

As you know with Sue leaving, we have the task of finding a new Manager of Corporate Services. I would like to congratulate Kylie who will be moving into this role in 2023. This creates an opportunity for the school to review the previous structure and reprofile some roles. 

In 2023, the Manager of Education Services position will become an Education Act position, L.3 Program Coordinator – Manager of Operations, fixed term for 12 months, commencing 27 January 2023.

We will be looking for Expressions of Interest from staff for this role. Please see the below document for the roles and responsibilities. For further clarification, interested staff members can see Mike Sinagra. Expressions of interest should be;

• One A4 page (no more than two A4 pages) addressing the criteria in the context of the roles and responsibilities
• emailed to sinagra2@education.wa.edu.au
• will close Monday 12/12/2022

Student Wellbeing

At BSHS, we have put student wellbeing at the front of our vision for some time now. It has been a priority in our 2020-2022 business plan. It is the foundation for effective learning and enhances the chances of students reaching their full potential.

Student wellbeing will continue to be a priority in the new business plan, under the priority of Positive Learning Environment. This priority will be part of our continuing whole school efforts to increase students’ sense of belonging and their connectedness to the school.  

The latest research shows that student connectedness to school can prevent young people from suffering with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. The link below will take you to an article outlining research showing this clear correlation.

If you notice any changes in a student’s demeanour, behaviour, emotions, please let one of our Student Services’ team know.

Mindframe

If you casually look at The Best Teachers poster prominently displayed in your office, you’ll note the statement Growth Mindset. In addition, our DoE has pushed out their Teaching for Impact poster, which respects your efforts in identifying how teaching should occur here at Bunbury SHS. One element from the DoE poster is:

Effective teachers believe they have the responsibility to evaluate the impact of their practice and seek to improve it.

Hattie also identifies a teacher’s mindframe/mindset as paramount to student success. One of his opening statements is “…my job here is to evaluate my impact, then students are the major beneficiaries”. As we wind the year up, one job that teachers do is to start planning for the next year.

Use this time to reflect on your impact of student learning. Plan out your peer/classroom observation schedule for 2023 (don’t need a partner as yet). While most have a program from this year that requires a tweak here and there, look at strategies that enhance learning and insert that into the program.

Cornell Notes

The Instructional Leadership team has identified one strategy to be incorporated into classes for 2023 to assist students in improving their Reading skills. Reading scores in NAPLAN has declined over the years yet is one of the major indicators of successful students in an ATAR or Cert III plus pathway. Therefore, to lift students across all years there will be a push out for all teachers to use the Cornell Notes approach in their classes. The team acknowledges there are different methods of note taking but having a uniform approach is beneficial to students. And that is the answer itself to the why.

Country Week Coordinator EOI

Country Week is a major event on the school calendar each year and plays a significant role in contributing to the schools pursuit of excellence. Bunbury SHS has a proud history of success at Country Week and is looking to build on our positive culture of outstanding interschool performance.

Expressions of Interest are sought to identify the Country Week Coordinator for 2023.

Please see below for more information, or chat with Adam McGill.

Social Media Content

Please ensure you keep submitting content for the school's social media pages (Facebook and Instagram).

We love seeing students in action, whether in a classroom setting, in an incursion or off-site for an excursion or camp.

If you have taken photos on your phone/iPad and are unsure of how to transfer these to me, please send me an email or come and visit me and I can assist you.

Submit your Facebook post using the link below.

Schoolzine

Keep up to date with all the latest news for staff and parents via the schoolzine app. You can access Heard on the Hill, the school's website, Facebook page, calendar, Connect, and more via the homepage of the app.

This easy-to-use app also sends you notifications when newsletters have been published.

See below for how to download it.