Issue No. 7 belmont.hs@edumail.vic.gov.au Friday 17th May, 2019

UPCOMING EXCURSIONS:

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2019

Monday 20 May WEEK A

House Assemblies VCAL Melbourne Industry visit

Tuesday 21 May

Year 8 Skate Project, 9-11am School Council meeting, 6.00pm

Wednesday 22 May

VET Sport & Rec, Great Ocean Road Camp, 8am-5pm Yr 11 Theatre Studies—COSi, Melb Theatre Co.

Thursday 23 May

Indonesian Study Tour Parent Night, 5.30pm, LC18 Yr 7 Football, Netball, Badminton Yr 8 Soccer

Friday 24 May

Yr 9&10 Drama, GPAC, 9am-1.30pm

Monday 27 May WEEK B

Geelong Cross Country Geelong Assembly

Tuesday 28 May

Combined Bands Day Year 8 Skate Project, 9-11am

Wednesday 29 May

VCE Parent Support Seminar (Study skills), 7.00pm Canteen Committee meeting, 3.15pm Year 12 VCE students—Elevate Education Session, 1.30pm Yr 9 Drama, Malthouse Theatre, Southbank Melb, 7.45am-5.00pm

Thursday 30 May

Friday 31 May

Year 7 Readers Cup, periods 3&4, Library

_____________________________________________________________________________Rotherham St Belmont Vic 3216 Ph: (03) 5243 5355 Fax: (03) 52432420 www.bhs.vic.edu.au

IMPORTANT DATES: Queens Birthday Public Holiday—10th June Curriculum Day– 12th June General Achievement Test (students studying Unit 3/4) - 12th June, 10.00am-1.15pm, at BHS Report Writing Day (Student free day) - 18th June

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT NAPLAN testing The year 7 and 9 students have completed their NAPLAN testing this week. It was impressive to see the students using the time very productively. We are looking forward to the results that will by used to support further improvement of our practices, as well as have additional data to support the learning of each individual student. The testing takes a good deal of organisation. Thank you to Meagan McAlpine and Kirsty Zahra for their work.

Opportunities for our students. We offer a range of opportunities for our students with the deliberate intention of enriching their experiences and skills. This term we have had the students and staff return from the Italy trip. The feedback from staff and students has been overwhelmingly positive. The families and students are now preparing for our visitors from Padova later in the year. Our students have a number of trips to look forward to including the trip to Indonesia, our Year 9 Strive Camp and the preparation of the next World Challenges to Borneo and Swaziland and Mozambique for 2020.

House Leaders Announcements Congratulations to Christopher Pugh who has been successful in obtaining an Assistant Principal role at Truganina Prep to Nine College. Erin McKenzie will be the new Mango House Leader for the rest of this year. Erin Prendergast will be the new Ebony House leader taking the place of Emily Gaito who is on maternity leave and due to have her baby in the coming weeks. We wish both Christopher and Emily every success in the future.

Practice Lock Down Last Thursday we had our annual practice lockdown. We had implemented the feedback received from parents, students and staff.

Sporting Achievements Recently, our Athletics team represented our school proudly at the Geelong District Interschool competition. We won most of the pennants, demonstrating our very strong group of students and the overwhelming support from our school community. These pennants were presented to me at our School Assembly by our School Sports Captain Olivia Hobbs. Well done to all the students that represented our school and to the many teachers and support staff that attended the event, organised the teams, coached and encouraged our students in sport this year. Special congratulations to Bavreet Ubhi (8E) who recently represented Belmont High School in the Interschool and Regional Diving competitions, achieving second place and first place respectively. Well done Bavreet!

Cont...

Year/Group

Excursion Date Cost Consent/payment Due

Year 11 Theatre Studies

Cosi 22nd May NIL 17Th May

Year 9 & 10 Drama

TakeOver 24th May NIL 19Th May

Year 11 PE

Winning Edge

31st May $8.00 26th May

Year 9

Strive Camp

5th- 7th June

$330 21st May

Year 10 Legal

Studies

Parliament Question

Time Tour

6th June $18 27th May

Year 10 Forensic Science

Forensic Detective

13th June $15 6th June

Year 12 Systems

Deakin Visit

31 July $28 26th July

Attitude to School Survey The students have been completing the Attitude to School Surveys. This feedback is very important as we use it to further improve our school. See report below.

Sandra Eglezos, Principal

ATTITUDES TO SCHOOL SURVEY Our school is conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. The Attitudes to School survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience. Your child will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool. It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion of the survey. Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used by the Department to combine data for research purposes only. Your child’s privacy and the confidentiality of your child’s survey responses will be protected at all times. No identifiable personal data is included in the survey response file. The survey results will be reported back to the school in term 3. No student can be identified in the results reported to schools or in any other report of the data. Last year we used the survey results to begin implementing Growth Mindset initiatives, our Lesson Framework and continue work on High Impact Teaching Strategies. This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at our school over the period May 9th to June 7 th. The survey only takes 20 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time. Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information or visit the Department of Education and Training website: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/management/Pages/performsurveyat.aspx.

Student and Parent Study Skills Sessions – Wednesday May 29 Belmont High School has engaged Elevate Education, one of Australia’s leading study skills providers to deliver “Ace Your Assessments” and “Memory Mnemonics” sessions with all Year 12 VCE students (and 11 Purple – SEAL class), Period 5 & 6 on Wednesday May 29. This is a compulsory school event. The same night Elevate will deliver a parent information evening at 7pm in the Performing Arts Centre. This session will hone in on how you can support your children in study skills development throughout their VCE. It is open to and recommended for all parents of both Year 11 and 12 VCE students. Attendance Letters A reminder that attendance in all VCE classes is closely monitored to ensure students are meeting the minimum VCAA class time requirements. Students must provide adequate documentation for an absence to be ‘VCE Approved’, for example a medical certificate or approval on compassionate grounds from the VCE Leader. Absence notifications are being sent out for VCE students who have missed 3+ classes in any one subject this semester to ensure they do not become at risk of not meeting these requirements. Ms Jess Watson VCE Leader

SRC REPORT Earlier this year the SRC was approached by Andrew Jones (Belmont Rotary Vice President) and Peter McKenzie (Belmont Rotary Youth Director) about the SRC joining as their Interact club (Interact is a youth branch of Rotary). The Interact program is designed to connect young people with the wider community, using the Rotary Club as a base. There are many different ways that Interact can help us out, such as supplying fundraising opportunities like barbecues down at Aldi. On Monday the 6th, Emily Hibble (SRC President), Ella Morris (SRC Secretary) and I attended and spoke at a Rotary meeting and were greeted warmly. The attendees came from all around the Geelong community. We all got the opportunity to speak to the group about how our SRC runs and about what we hoped to get out of Interact. We would like to thank Andrew and Peter (who is an ex BHS teacher) for presenting BHS SRC with this amazing opportunity to further aid both Belmont High and the wider community. We would also like to thank the Rotarians who donated items for the Show Case silent auction. Emily Davidson SRC Vice President

WOOLWORTHS EARN AND LEARN Belmont High School is again participating in the Woolworths Earn and Learn promotion. Between 1 May and 25 June, collect stickers (1 sticker for every $10 spent at Woolworths) and drop them into the collection box in the School office. The school will then redeem these stickers for science, technology, maths, art and sports equipment. Thank you for your support.

AUTHOR-LED WRITING WORKSHOP On Wednesday the 8th of May, author Shivaun Plozza came to Belmont High School to present a workshop about ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, for some of the year 10 students. Shivaun Plozza has published two Young Adult novels, ‘Frankie’ and ‘Tin Heart’, and the latter was short listed for the Children’s Book Awards. Over two periods Shivaun presented a workshop detailing the ins and outs of character voice, per-spective and dialogue in fiction writing. Through-out the workshop Shivaun showed us what char-acteristics affect a character’s point of view, what authors need to focus on when forming a charac-ter and while writing from their character’s view. The workshop related back to what we are doing in class with samples from our text, To Kill A Mockingbird, and a strong focus on our upcoming C.A.T, in which the year 10 English students will write a scene from the novel in another charac-ter’s point of view. After writing notes throughout the session we grouped with the others in our class, who were involved in the workshop, to create a lesson of our own which we would present to our classes. Emily Davidson and I reported back to our class with our findings from the workshop and gave the other students a short writing task to better their under-standing for the upcoming C.A.T. Overall the writing workshop gave me a really good understanding of writing in different character’s point of views and I think all the year 10 students will benefit from learning these key skills. Mia Thomson, 10 Blue

BLUE HOUSE BROADCAST TERM 2 2019 As we finish off week 4 of Term 2, it is a timely reminder to think about the change in seasons and thus change in uni-form. Please ensure correct uniform is worn including white collared shirts under jumpers, with collars visible. Also, please take the time to check attendance records for your child. If you have any concerns or queries, please email Mr O’Callaghan. Thanks to parents who are already using Compass to explain absences and identify anomalies in the attendance. Form teachers have been instructed to be vigilant and discuss uniform and attendance with students. Please communi-cate with form teachers via email or signed note with respect to this process. It was terrific to see Year 9 Blue giving their best effort in the NAPLAN this week. Students arrived in correct uniform, looking great. They behaved exceptionally and Mr O’Callaghan provided a hot chip lunch to celebrate their ‘Strive for the Highest’. Well Done. Blue House would like to celebrate the success of the following students: FUN RUN: Junior Boys (Year 7 and 8) winning their aggregate. The team included: Shae Bentley (8), Jack McTaggart (9), Thomas Boyd (12), Salinger Lornie (14), Thomas Andrews (15), Tayne Hewson (16), Mason Jolly (18). Junior Girls: Jaida Hendrickson (5) Intermediate Boys: Daniel Harland (1st in Under 15) Senior Boys: Noah Houtsma (3), Jack Oakley (4) ATHLETICS: Thomas Andrews (5th in U/13 Age group) Janelle Moss (1st in U/14 Age group) Maya Steinwedel (5th in U/14 Age group) Lucy Camm (5th in U/15 Age group) Daniel Harland (1st in U/15 Age group) Jacob Ives ( 2nd in U/15 Age group) Jessica Betts (3rd in U/16 Age group) Jade Merry (4th in U/20 Age group) Noah Houtsma (1st in U/20 Age group) Well done to all participants, particularly those who put their hands up for events on the day. There will be more awards announced at House Assembly. GO BLUE Mr Rowan O’Callaghan Blue House Leader

LOCKDOWN PRACTICE There was an “In Class Lockdown” Practice on Thursday 9th May 2019. The school Lockdown Officers observed and monitored the students and staff responding promptly to the Lockdown announcement and siren. Feedback was gathered and this will be used by our OHS staff to generate improvement in our processes and practices. We will continue to regularly practice our emergency procedures to ensure that our staff and students are aware of how to respond in the event of an emergency. Jo Treble and Michael Caccamo OH&S

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT REPORT At the first of May, many of the international and some local international students went to the Uni Open Day in Melbourne. We got the chance to speak with the representative of universities in Australia. In this program, many students ’ questions of their wanted courses has been solved. Our nervous from getting in uni has been reduced. Most students got little gifts from the activity. It was a meaningful day. Rain Wu International Student Leader UPSTART CHALLENGE Please see Mrs Rosetta Pugh in staff room P8 if interested.

24 hr STUDENT ABSENCE LINE 5241 0090

Parents only to call to report student ’s name, house/form, reason for absence, and date.

Parents can also report absences on Compass.

PARENT INFORMATION SESSION – ALL WELCOME We have many conversations with parents who are having difficulty navigating their child’s use of technology. Screen time can impact on relationships in the home and you are not alone in this experience! Please join us for an informative session for parents in our Performing Arts Centre, where you will hear form a panel of experts that might just broaden your understanding and give you strategies to deal with the ‘Age of Technology.’ See the flyer below for details. Meagan McAlpine Assistant Principal

SECONDHAND BOOK AND UNIFORM SHOP The Secondhand book and uniform shop and Lost Property, which is run by volunteers from the Parents’ Association, has been re-located to the portable (old canteen) near the Digby Avenue entrance to the school. It will be open from 8.15-9.00am on the following dates: 24th May, 7th June, 21st June.

SCHOOL ZONES As you may be aware the FindMySchool website has been launched (findmyschool.vic.gov.au). The website displays the current zones for Oberon High, Belmont High and Grovedale College and not the future zones. I would like to assure you that Year 7 enrolment options for 2020 are the same as 2019 and students will be able to either:

enrol in Year 7 at Oberon High School and remain at the school when it relocates to the new Armstrong Creek site; or

enrol in Year 7 at either Belmont High School or Grovedale College if that school will become their future zoned school when the new secondary school at Armstrong Creek opens.

Maps for future zones can be located at- https://www.schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au/schools/Pages/ArmstrongCreekSecondaryCollege.aspx

The find my school website will be updated at the commencement of 2020 to reflect the future zones for 2021 If you would like further information please contact the South Western Victoria Region on 1300 333 232 or email: swvr@edumail.vic.gov.au