Where did the holidays go? It only seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Speech Day and farewelling everyone and now we have already finished the first week of school for 2019! And what a fantastic first week it has been. I always love seeing the students return to school after the Christmas holidays with energy, excitement and enthusiasm; all eager to catch up with their friends after a long break.
Welcome back to all those returning families and a special welcome to all of those families who have joined us this week. I hope that the first week has been a happy one for you and your children.
Year 12 2018
Congratulations to our 2018 Year 12 students on their outstanding results. Our combined IB/HSC ATAR scores were very similar to our excellent results from the past few years with many students receiving first round offers to universities all over the world. We will share more detailed information about our results in the coming weeks once the IB results have been finalised.
Renovations
Our school campus has been a hive of activity over the holidays with many exciting projects being completed. Our cafeteria and tuckshop have both been renovated and both look fantastic. A huge thank you to our Parent’s Association and Chartwells for their financial contributions to the renovation of these two areas. Due to the very positive feedback we have received from our community about the cafeteria the PA has very generously offered to donate funds for replacing the existing furniture on the Sports Terrace with matching furniture to that in the Cafeteria.
By the end of our Chinese New Year break the renovation of the Art and Design and Technology area on the 7F will be completed and we look forward to showcasing this very exciting project to the community at the Secondary Cocktail party on 27th February. This area, the new facilities and equipment will be utilised by all sections of the school as we continue to focus on creativity, critical thinking and problem solving across all areas of the curriculum.
The first of the two new Chillers was replaced so that now we can ensure the air conditioners will work when we need them to. The second of the Chillers will be replaced during the April break.
Finally, the field and track were both replaced over the holidays and anyone who has been on campus will instantly appreciate this important upgrade. The new field looks amazing and has lifted the look of the whole school.
Professional Learning
Last week the staff returned to school to prepare for 2019. We were very fortunate to secure the services of Nicky Sloss from the Association of Independent Schools in NSW who worked will all staff over three days on importance of Student Wellbeing and the implementation of the new NSW PDHPE syllabus. In 2019 Health will be taught from Prep to Year 6 as an important part of the PDHPE syllabus. We continue to develop a very strong relationship with AISNSW who provide us with the highest quality Australian Professional Learning consultants for each of our Staff Professional Learning days.
New PDHPE Team
Apart from Lee Pilgrim we have a new PDHPE team this year. We have also combined the Primary and Secondary PE Co-ordinator positions into a new position, Head of PDHPE P-12 under the leadership of Kathleen Ellis. All PDHPE teachers will teach PDHPE and be the Sports Managers for our core sports. We are hoping that these changes will assist in providing our students with a very high quality PDHPE and Sport program.
Careers Education
In an attempt to improve the Careers advice and support we provide students and parents we have restructured Careers for 2019. Careers Education will now start in 2019 and the students in Years 9-12 will be allocated one of three Careers Advisors (Mr Anthony Murphy, Mr Ian Pomeroy or Mrs Kiely Murphy) who will support the students during their time in Upper Secondary. More information about this will be shared throughout the course of the year.
Wellbeing
As we continue to recognise Student Wellbeing as the greatest contributor to academic success Mrs Kiely Murphy has been appointed as Director of Student Wellbeing R-12. Kiely will be working on improving the wellbeing programmes across the school.
As a school we also will be emphasising the importance of finding balance in our lives. Each of us, irrespective of our age, needs to find balance to lead a healthy and successful life. This is particularly true for our students who need to balance their studies, involvement in sport and ECAs, time to relax and socialise with their friends and time to explore their interests. As parents we need to understand the importance of balance for our children and support them in leading a balanced life. To assist with this we have made a short video titled “At AISHK; it’s all about balance”. As the year begins and you start planning your children’s schedules think about creating some balance for them.
I hope that you have all had a great first week and I look forward to seeing you at the Welcome BBQ this evening. If there is ever any way that I can be of assistance to you or your children throughout this year then please let me know.
Mark Hemphill | Head of School
