Dear ADHS Community,
Staffing Update
For the commencement of semester 2 we welcome a number of new staff to ADHS. Jennifer Nott will be commencing in the permanent role of Executive Teacher of Humanities from Monday 5th August. I would like to publicly acknowledge the dedication and leadership Luke Williams has provided while acting in the role over the past 18 months. Charles McIntosh has also transferred into our Maths Faculty following a recruitment process late last term. We are also very pleased to secure further contracts for Kerrie Trott (English), Jiasheng Jin (Maths) and Jordan McGillivray (Science) for semester 2. All bring significant skill and expertise to our staff line-up.
We are excited to welcome some additional resources to our team in term 3, including experienced Youth Worker Jayson Perrin, as well as a Nurse from the School Youth Health Nurse Program. It is anticipated our Health Nurse will commence mid term 3. I look forward to sharing with our community the benefits of these two initiatives.
We also welcome back Todd Brazier (Student Wellbeing), George Bulbrook (Science Assistant) and
Fiona Dempsey (Business Manager) from long service leave. Kate Waite, Lara Weston and Pam Edwards filled the respective roles more than capably during this time.
On the other side of the equation we farewelled Tanya Young to promotion, Phil Webb
and Emma Kelly who have taken up opportunities interstate. We wish them well and thank them for their contribution to the school.
Recent Highlights in Learning
It is fantastic to see the renewed enthusiasm and focus occurring in classes following the break. I have been impressed, in moving around the school, by the work habits which have been on show. This week was my first experience with the Pastoral Care Hour of Wellbeing (PCHOW), where students select a wellbeing activity to participate in for the Pastoral Care session, and it was hard not to be impressed. It was amazing to see every student doing their thing whether it be bird watching, cycling, ultimate frisbee or board games, to name a few. The annual Dance program in PE is well underway, which provides students with the opportunity to enjoy activity, as well as each other’s company in a completely different way. I really commend our students on the respectful way they were interacting with each other in the dance sessions. We have had a number of indigenous artists and instructors from Kulture Break sharing their expertise with our students also. Further highlights since our last edition have included the stirring piece created and performed by Theatre Production students late last term. Equally impressive was the quality of participation by our year 10 students in the Road Ready and Work Experience programs. I want to acknowledge the huge amount of work by Jo Hopman in coordinating the delivery of Road Ready at the school and Sarah Baker, who delivered the highest participation rate in the work experience program for some time. The range and diversity of placements was also a feature. The end of term Award Ceremonies are always a highlight at Deakin and it was great to see so many parents in attendance.
Satisfaction Surveys
This term sees the rollout of the annual School Satisfaction Surveys. You will be receiving information from the school requesting the participation of your child/ren and yourself in an important survey. The survey results contribute to our school improvement processes and will also be used in public interest research projects and longitudinal studies aimed at improving the quality of services in the ACT. The Australian National University and the Education Directorate will handle all personal information in accordance with the Territory Privacy Principles set out in the Information Privacy Act 2014. Details about how personal information is stored and used are available in our Privacy Policy (available at http://education.act.gov.au). The participation of all students and parents will be extremely useful and valuable in finding out what we do well and where we can improve. The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete.
Transition
We are approaching a busy time in terms of student transitions. This week we commenced the process of welcoming Year 6 students and families to our school community. To assist with the transition process, we are pleased to introduce the Year 6 Transition Coordinator Elizabeth Lorenz.
Elizabeth has commenced meeting with year 6 classes and teachers from our network of schools and is busily preparing a number of transition events and activities. We look forward to meeting all new students and their families in the coming months. At the other end of the process is the beginning of preparations for Year 10 to transition to college. Our network colleges will be working with Year 10 Coordinator Dave Reeson on upcoming information sessions on course counselling and course selection.
Best regards,
David Briggs
Principal
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