From the Principal
From the Principal
Bonjour à tous, and Wanju
Well done everyone we have made it through to week 10. I believe that Term 3 is the most difficult time of the year with, the cold weather, sickness and consequently extra internal relief, reporting, senior school student preparation….. etc makes it a long slog. It is prudent that R U OK? Day is slotted in here because it really is worth doing a self check-in. Particularly if there are some things not going well. Sometimes, when we stand back, the heart of the problem is something entirely different to what we thought. I hope that you are all ok and will enjoy a refresh at the end of the week.
This time last year I spoke of VR technology in the classroom. While showing the Japanese visitors through classes last week I was really excited to see a group of year 7 students touring an art gallery and reviewing the work of Frida Kahlo. To my surprise, many of the other classes we visited were using their BYODs. I know that the management of this can be difficult, but it was fantastic to see that many of you have overcome this hurdle.
Last week I also showed people from the Creative Technologies Hub through the school. This team of people are situated on the ground floor of the City Library. They are a satellite of the ECU campus. They can provide an important link for us to technology and technological partners. During their tour through the school, they got to see some amazing students at work. A standout was the music class that was creating a soundtrack to an animation. They were also really excited about our spaces and the opportunity to create a VR studio. We are currently working on getting a project up and running.
Last week was also very busy in the senior school space. My Principal colleagues and I spent time with DoE officials to provide a voice on the reshaping of senior school. I was proud to see how far ahead of the curve Bunbury SHS is with the adoption of recommendations from the Shergold Report. Some schools are only just hearing about this now. We are certainly on the right track and you all should be congratulated on that. Also in the meeting was a discussion about the staffing crisis. I am fearful of how much worse it can possibly get. So far, our school's reputation and strategies to over staff the school have protected us. But listening to some of our neighbouring school principals talk about cancelling Design and Technologies from their timetable, or how all their staff are currently doing 2 internal relief classes a week, certainly painted a bleak picture.
It was great to see some of you down at the P&C sausage sizzle at Bunnings over the weekend. It was the first time in a long time that the P&C has gathered the momentum of our parent community. I’m really looking forward to them building on this.
Once again, thank you everyone for a great term. If you are heading off on a holiday, I hope that it is adventurous, if you are spending some time wrapped in a blanket finishing off the latest instalment of your favourite Netflix serial, I hope that it is enjoyable. Regardless of your plans, I hope that everyone takes time to look after themselves, revitalise and stays safe. Have a great week and a wonderful holiday.
En Avant
Nuts and Bolts
Leave
I must remind you all that leave without pay is not an automatic entitlement. While I am sympathetic to approve this type of leave, it must also suit the needs of the school. As you can imagine during the worst staffing shortage that the Department of Education has ever seen it is a difficult proposition. If you have a circumstance, please see me as soon as possible, as leaving things until after you have made arrangements may lead to disappointment.
Kelly LSL
Kelly Anderson will be on LSL next term. I would like to thank Kelly for all the great work that she has done this year. Her efforts in Aboriginal Education and student services have resulted in significant progress in those areas. I particularly would like to thank her for keeping me on track with the progress of the business plan. We wish her well and to have a wonderful rest. We will see you next year Kelly. Congratulations to Adam McGill who will be filling in for her across the next term.
Classroom Visits
From Term 4, I am planning to visit every student once a week. The way that I will be doing this is by using the gridline that includes Monday period 1. I have been doing some testing and I can get to about 12 classes per period. There are 48 periods on this grid line, without the year 12 classes. I’m sorry if you do not teach on this gridline. I will “tune” this process as we go based on feedback and review from the students and teachers.
The Voice
As a public institution, we must maintain a neutral position on political issues. As an educational institution, we are also bound to ensure that people are as informed as they can possibly be. I am waiting on some wording for the newsletter to ensure that our messaging is within the guidelines of the public sector yet still provides our community with education to make an informed decision. Here are some links for staff
It can be helpful to step away from noise, unfollow or block some of the content that you are seeing on social media and stick to reputable factual information. (like the links above).
Please be respectful to each other during this time. Support is available for students with our school support services, the Chaplain, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Officer or by ringing 139276 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Crisis line.