Newsletter Term 1 Week 4 2023

Principals Report

It is hard to believe that we have had students back at school for 3 weeks. It is good to see that students have settled in well and are looking forward to a productive year.

Our focus this year is on writing and assessment, calm classroom environments and ensuring all students are challenged. As well as this there are new syllabi for English, Maths, Languages and Computing that will be introduced in 2024, so we will certainly be keeping busy.

I would like to stress that black leather shoes are required for all students, as these keep students safe in practical subjects such as science, tech and art. White shoes and sports shoes are not uniform and should be kept for PE.  Sports uniform should not be worn to school except on Wednesdays, students should bring their PE uniform for practical PE lessons. Our new change rooms mean that students can use these to change for sport.

We welcome a number of new staff, although we are still looking for an engineering teacher, we feel fortunate that we have been able to get teachers in this very tight labour market. 

English – Julia Crompton
Languages – Madeleine Pho
Maths – Suri Peng
Science – Christina McLean, Danushka Gunawardena, Alina Ali
HSIE – Lucie Hobson
PE- Tamara O’Neil (term 1)
TAS- Koula Ace
CAPA – Claudia Bailey, Justine Legend

We look forward to seeing you at the information evenings next week.

Hayley Emmerton
Principal

Dates to Remember

Deputy Principals Report

Building a Strong and Harmonious School Community

At the heart of every successful school is a strong and supportive community. A community that fosters a sense of belonging and connection, where students, staff, and families feel valued and respected. Such a community can provide an enriching and fulfilling experience for everyone involved, and can positively impact academic achievement, mental health, and overall well-being.

A strong school community is built on a foundation of trust, mutual respect, and inclusivity. This foundation provides a supportive environment that fosters positive relationships and allows students to feel safe, heard, and seen. When students feel supported and accepted, they are more likely to engage in their learning and take ownership of their academic success. Moreover, when students develop positive relationships with their peers and teachers, they are less likely to experience feelings of loneliness, anxiety, or depression.

The benefits of a strong school community extend beyond the students. Teachers who work in a supportive environment are more likely to feel valued and respected, which can lead to increased job satisfaction and retention. In addition, families who are involved in the school community tend to have a more positive perception of the school and its staff, which can lead to greater trust and support for the school's programs and initiatives.

There are many ways to build a strong school community, such as promoting open communication and transparency, providing opportunities for student and parent involvement, fostering a sense of belonging through shared experiences and traditions, and recognizing and celebrating the diversity within the school community. By intentionally creating an inclusive and supportive environment, we can help students, staff, and families feel a sense of connection and pride in their school community.

By acknowledging, celebrating and promoting days of cultural and community significance, Killarney Heights High School increases the visibility of diversity and fosters an inclusive school culture. We mark the following annual occasions with a whole school assembly and/or other whole school activities. Care is taken to ensure minimal disruption to learning and parents are informed of all whole school celebrations in writing. In addition to the below whole school celebrations, we also encourage students to celebrate their own cultural and community days of significance at school.

Katie Rose
Deputy Principal 7, 9 & 11

Communication Procedure

As a school, we want to ensure that we are providing the best possible education and support for your child. One key aspect of this is ensuring that any concerns or issues are addressed promptly and effectively. To help with this, we ask that you make sure you are contacting the right member of staff for your issue. 

As different staff members have different areas of expertise and responsibility, by contacting the right person, you can ensure that your issue is addressed by someone who is best placed to help you. 

By contacting the right member of staff, you can also help to ensure that your issue is dealt with more efficiently. If you contact the wrong person, they may need to redirect your query to someone else, which can cause delays and frustration for all involved. The chart below provides an overview of the staff members best place to address particular issues related to your young person’s education here at Killarney.  

We are committed to working with you to provide the best possible education and support for your child. By contacting the right member of staff for your issue, you can help us to achieve this goal.  Please send to the school email and attention it to the member of staff, if they are on leave we can then pass it on to someone else.

Katie Rose
Deputy Principal Years 7, 9 & 11

New Mobile Phone Policy

As many of you are aware, our school has recently implemented a new mobile phone policy, the ‘Lock Up; Look Up’ policy. This policy is designed to create a more harmonious school community and a focused, distraction-free learning environment.

We are delighted to report that this new policy has been a great success so far. Students are more engaged in their learning, and we have noticed a significant reduction in classroom distractions. Our students have reported feeling more present and connected to their peers and their school community.

The benefits of this policy extend beyond the classroom. Students are more engaged in their extra-curricular activities and are having more face-to-face conversations with their peers. The absence of mobile phones during break times has also encouraged our students to be more active and social during their free time.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents and carers for their support in implementing this new policy. We recognize that this can be a difficult transition for some families, but we believe that the benefits far outweigh any inconvenience that this may cause.

While the vast majority of students have adapted to the new policy quickly, there are a small handful on students who are continuing to push the boundaries. We would like to encourage all parents and carers to work with their young person to ensure that they follow this policy. We believe that this policy is an important step in promoting a healthy and focused learning environment, and we need your support to make this happen.

We understand that there may be times when you need to communicate with your young person during school hours. In such cases, you can contact the school office, and we will ensure that your message is delivered to your young person in a timely manner.

Face-to-face connections are vital for a harmonious and strong school community and our ‘Lock Up; Look Up’ policy is one of many mechanisms through which we will continue to build this community.

New School Bytes Finance System

We are excited to announce our school will be transitioning to an 
upgraded School Bytes finance system on 21 February 2023!

In preparation for the transition to a simplified finance system for both you and the school, 
we will be required to implement a short payment lockout period where we will not be able 
to receive any online or EFTPOS payments.

What this means for you 
• No payments can be made online or via EFTPOS from 4pm, Wednesday 15th February 
2023.
• We will advise you when payments can resume closer to the above date
• Any existing payment links that have been sent to you previously in emails can still 
be used after the transition and will automatically redirect to the new system
• After the transition, a School Bytes portal will be available for you to register and 
begin using (Link: https://portal.schoolbytes.education) 
• All previous payments made will be migrated to the new School Bytes finance 
system and portal

What is the School Bytes portal 
The School Bytes portal provides flexibility for you to conveniently:
• Make school payments online (including paying for multiple siblings at once)
• Use a family credit to pay for an activity or school contributions
• Download a receipt for payments made
• View all historical payments in one place
• Complete and submit digital permission notes
• View the status of all permission notes
• Request a refund if required

This can be done where you want at any time: day or night. 

Through the portal, you will easily be able to download a receipt once a payment has been 
made and have access to view all historical payments when needed. Online payments are 
processed in real-time and can be viewed by school staff immediately.

While our preference is for payments to be made via the portal, we will still accept payment 
via cash, cheque, money order and EFTPOS.

You will be required to create a new account so that you can access the School Bytes Parent Payment Portal.  This is a finance parent portal and is completely separate to the existing parent portal you use to access your child's school reports.  You will need to create a new account for making all future payments, the following flyer provides you with both a QR code and URL link, both of which will link you to where you can set up your personal School Bytes Parent Payment Portal.

Year 12 News

Year 12s have started strong and are tackling their second term of HSC studies head on. In order to develop a calm, predictable learning environment we have implemented 4 routines for every class.

These include:

1. Seating plan for each class
2. Entry routine
3. Transition to learning activity (Do Now)
4. Exit routine

Year 12s as the leaders of KHHS have taken to these positively and there has been a noticeable difference in their approach and focus so far. Our focus for the year remains with healthy, regular study habits and stronger cohort connections.

Students this year will continue to focus on developing deep knowledge and understanding of their subjects and working on their extended writing structure and technique. Year 12s are encouraged to remember that the HSC is a marathon, not a sprint and that small, regular habits are more effective than cramming just before an exam.

All Year 12s were issued with a term calendar on Day 1 which will allow them to develop organisational skills and keep on top of their assessments. They are reminded to add their assessment dates to this and start their tasks early. Many subjects complete these assessments as part of regular classwork and Yr 12 are reminded to be on time, make the most of class time through regular drafting and seeking feedback from their teachers.

To support the skills we are teaching them, we have arranged a Parent Elevate session that will run on Wednesday 15th February at 7pm on zoom. The link for this session has been emailed to all Yr 12 parents.

KHHS teachers aim to keep Yr 12 students in class as much as possible, so there are few events planned for the year that will take them out of class. There is an Elevate session planned for the final day of Term 2 to help them in their preparations for Trial Examinations that will take place early in Term 3.  This session will aim to consolidate their previous sessions and assist them in the final push to Trials and HSC.

It was fantastic to see Yr 12 all enjoying their final Swimming Carnival on Friday with an entertaining Dive Competition and the Annual Staff vs Yr 12 Relay (Yr 12 won by a whisker). I look forward to similar participation in the Athletics and Cross Country Carnivals.

Emma Higgs
Year 12 Adviser
#AllforOneOneforAll

Vaccinations

CAPA

"S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G... Spelling?"
"Correct!"

Get excited KHHS, for our first school Musical since 2019! On March 29, 30, and 31, we will be performing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a hilarious show full of quirky characters and songs.

Keep your eyes out for more details including ticket information in the coming weeks, and keep practising your spelling!
  
Blade Fuller
Music | Stage Crew | SRC

PDHPE

Swimming Carnival

On February 10th, the Killarney High School swimming carnival was held. This year, 59 students have been chosen to participate in the zone carnival in March. Conaire Sports House won the carnival with a whopping 1349 points. Almost doubling Tara's (780), Ross' (703) and Kerry's (441).

This year, Emily and Anthony Ruff set new records. Emily broke the 100-metre fly, 100-metre free, and 50-metre free records, while her brother Anthony broke the 100-metre breaststroke record. The junior boys' and girls' relay records, as well as the senior boys' 50-metre relay, were all broken.

Our senior students dazzled the crowds with belly flops and unicorn jumping elegance during the year 12 dive competition. This year, the year 12 team won the teachers vs. the year 12 swimming relay.

Age champions 

Congratulations to the following age champions in swimming! 

• 12 Girls: Evie Rayner Harvey
• 12 Boys: Benjamin Holbrooke
• 13 Girls: Emily Ruff
• 13 Boys: Anthony Ruff
• 14 Girls: Jessia Yoshida
• 14 Boys: Luca Hoppe
• 15 Girls: Grace Kable
• 15 Boys: Harrison Hunziker
• 16 Girls: Elizabeth Solomon
• 16 Boys: Joseph Sheridan
• 17+ Girls: Brooke Frew
• 17+ Boys: Oscar Suter

A big thank you to our teachers and house captains who made the carnival run smoothly. 

Permission notes have been emailed to the parents of those students selected for Zone. 

Athletics Carnival

The athletics carnival will be held on the 1st of March; please make sure the permission notes are electronically signed before then. 

Knockout Sport

For our open teams, knockout sports are currently being organized. This is a state sports competition in which public schools enter teams in various sports. If Killarney Heights wins, we advance to the next round; if we do not, we are eliminated from the competition.

On February 16th, open cricket will be played against Narrabeen Sports High with our coach, Mr Parsons.  Touch football will be played on the Killarney oval on February 13th, with our coach, Mr Dempsy.  Boys' open basketball will be played in the school hall on February 16th with our coach, Mrs Yang, and girls' open basketball will be played in the school hall on February 14th with our coach, Mrs Killick.

Keep an eye out on Sentral for other teams being organized. 

• Softball girls
• Soccer opens and U 15 girls and boys
• Under 15s basketball girls and boys
• Netball opens and U15s
• Tennis
• Volleyball girls and boys
• Table tennis

Sydney North Team Trials

Throughout the year, Sydney North trial dates for various sports will appear on Sentral. These are for students to try out for our regional teams, which will compete against other teams throughout the state. If you would like to try out for these sports, please come to the PDHPE staff room and get a permission note when the dates appear on Sentral. These dates are also available at https://app.education.nsw.gov.au/sport/Events?a=8

The Run Beyond Project

The Run Beyond Project will be held again this year for Killarney Heights High School students. If you are interested in joining, please fill out the form linked below. 

What is it all about?

• Weekly training runs
• Goal race excursion to Gosford for the Bay to Bay (5k, 12k or 21k)
• Fundraising for other NSW students who can use a little extra assistance
• attendance at occasional weekend training runs

Why should you join? 

• Fording strong relationships with students across all year groups and teachers
• Giving back to the community and those less fortunate
• Get fit and happy
• Strengthen your skills of goal setting, community, social justice and resilience in a safe supportive environment. 

There is a $40 initial fee as well as payment for the goal race excursion. 

You do not have to be a good runner to join. 

https://forms.gle/s3y3BPENACpD5suD7

Wellbeing

SPECIAL REPORT: The Wellbeing Barometer 2023

Because parenting doesn’t come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource implemented at our school to help support you in the challenges of modern-day parenting. Parenting is a learning journey and it’s easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed when faced with raising happy, well and resilient young people today.

Every family has experienced some sort of difficulty or adversity in recent times, some more than others. As mental health concerns continue to rise, there have been some alarming statistics reported in relation to the mental health and wellbeing of young people. Unfortunately, the blueprint for parenting is often based on our own experiences, but this is no longer fit for purpose in raising children as citizens of tomorrow. Parents and caregivers play a vital role in providing the guidance needed to support children and adolescents as they reframe their worries and focus more on the things they can control in their life.

In this Special Report, we are seeking parent participation through a short survey. The survey is designed to provide a barometer to help gauge the state of student wellbeing within our community. We encourage you to take a few moments to complete the survey as this will help our school know the nature and extent of your concerns and determine how best we can support families in the months ahead. Responses remain anonymous and will only be reported on an aggregated basis. You are asked to base your responses on observations made in the last 12 months.

By working together we can continue to build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers as we navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for all students. Please reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback. If this raises any concerns for you or your child, please reach out to the school or seek professional medical advice.

Here is the link to your special report

https://killarney-h.schools.nsw.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-wellbeing-barometer-2023-au

The Library Lowdown

The library is proving to be the place to be in 2023!

Plenty of new books, new games and new carpet are drawing in the crowds at lunchtimes.

The 2023 Premier’s Reading Challenge opens for student entries on 27^th February.  However, those that have been reading throughout the summer holidays can include all books read this year on their 2023 reading records.  The Challenge is open to all students in Years 7 – 9 and aims to encourage reading for leisure and to enable students to experience quality literature.  Our students will be pleased to note a rule change that now allows up to 10 personal choice books out of the 20 required to be logged by the 18^th August. 

Students can login and record their books at:

PRC Student Site: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/

If help is required to use the website or for further information regarding Challenge rules students can visit me at the school library.

We had a number of students participate in PRC 2022 and I would like to acknowledge those that achieved special awards and have shown an ongoing love of literature and commitment to reading.

Gold Award (4 years completed)
Thomas Campbell
Charlotte Deane
Oscar Jiang

Platinum Award (7 years completed)
Noah Stentiford

Premier’s Reading Challenge Medal (Every year from Year 3 to Year 9 (inclusive) OR ten years completing the challenge).
Imogen Lodding
Emily Hoy
Chelsea Kick
Serena Hackney
Bryan Wu

A reminder to our school community that in addition to our physical collection at school, our digital and audio books can be accessed via: https://khhs.wheelers.com/

Find time to read Killarney!

Ms. Kate Thompson
Teacher Librarian

Administration Information

Pass Outs
Pass outs are provided when a student needs to leave school early for an appointment and should be submitted at the start of the school day. We require requests for pass outs to be in writing, this can be done either by sending your child to school with a note to be handed in at the office upon arrival, or by sending your request to the school via email. The request for a pass out should include the students name, year group, departure time and reason for leaving (required so we can code it correctly).

Sickness
Absences due to illness needs to be reported to the school by the parent/carer either by phone or email and preferably at the start of the school day. If the school has not been advised of the absence an SMS will be sent requesting an explanation. Please do not use the Sentral App to log absences or reply to an SMS sent on a previous day as this will not reach the school and therefore the absence will not be accurately covered.
If a student becomes sick during the day please ask them to let the teacher know who will send them to the office, we will then put them into sick bay and call a contact to come and pick them up.
If a student is sick for 3 or more days in a row the school requires a medical certificate.

Late Students
Students who are late to school need to sign in at the office.  If they have a reason such as a doctors appointment please send them in with a note or contact the school to explain this.  If no reason is given it is an unjustified late, students who are continually late with no reasonable explanation will be sent to their deputy.

Leave
Requests for leave of 4 or more days must be submitted to the Principal on an Extended Leave Form.  This form is available for download under the Forms & Documents heading in the left-hand panel at the top of the Newsletter or alternatively, they can be collected from the school office.

Misadventure
If a student misses an assessment or exam due to illness, they will be required to submit a Misadventure Form. These forms are available for download in the left-hand panel at the top of this Newsletter or from the school website under the relevant year group information.

Student Achievements

During the holidays, Patrick Charlton (year 8) represented NSW in Futsal at the National Championships down in Melbourne.   His team beat WA in the semi finals and went on to play the favourites QLD in the Grand Final.   After leading 4-1 early in the second half, QLD levelled the match at 4-4 sending the game into extra time!  In a thrilling finish NSW scored two in 10 minutes to claim victory and overall National Champions!  

Menstrual Hygiene Program

The NSW Department of Education has introduced a menstrual hygiene program in NSW public schools. This program aims to reduce any barriers that may prevent students from participating fully in school life.

As part of the program, our school has dispensers that provide free pads and tampons for students to access during school hours. The dispensers will be located in the female toilets.

Period underwear is also available

Our school can also order period underwear at no cost for students. 

Each pack of period undies contains 2 pairs that are the same size, colour and style. These are available upon request and there may be a short waiting period until the undies are delivered to our school. 

Careers News

Welcome to a wonderful new year full of exciting adventures ahead!!

I can help students and parents with information regarding future courses at university, TAFE colleges and Private providers. I can also provide you with scholarship applications and early entry applications.

There is a Year 12 Careers Google classroom group. Please ensure that all students are on Careers google classroom. There is also a google classroom for Careers News where I will upload the latest news about courses, scholarships, UAC applications and more.

Killarney Heights High School has a dedicated Careers website.  Please check http://www.killarneyheightshscareers.com

Killarney Heights High School also has a subscription with

STUDY WORK GROW – Australian Careers Resource please go to https://studyworkgrow.com.au/ All Students are encouraged to register and join up for the free membership.

KHHS also subscribes to The Careers Department. Please register on https://www.thecareersdepartment.com/

Remember that if you would like to have an interview please contact me via email Julie.McDermott@det.nsw.edu.au or book an appointment online

https://www.killarneyheightshscareers.com/for-parents/appointment-booking

UNSW ENGINEERING WORK EXPERIENCE OPPORTUNITY FOR YEAR 10 STUDENTS

The School of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CVEN) in conjunction with its Industry Advisory Committee will be holding a work experience program to promote engineering career options to high school students. The program will be run during Week 5 of Term 2: from Monday 22nd to Friday 26th May and will be available to Year 10 students across NSW

The program will allow students to experience engineering projects firsthand across all six areas of the civil and environmental engineering field, namely: Coastal and Port Infrastructure – Structures and Design – Construction and Project Management – Water, Wastewater and Environment – Road, Transport and Geotechnical Engineering – Surveying and Geospatial Engineering. Please see Ms McDermott for an application form. All applications will be considered and are due by Friday 25^th February.

UNSW Register for our Year 12 Medicine Information Evening

Tuesday, 14 March 6.30–7.30pm

Year 12 students are invited to join us online to hear from our academic experts, current students and advisers as they explore our Bachelor of Medical Studies/Doctor of Medicine program’s dynamic blend of hands-on clinical experiences and research-focussed learning, as well as the admissions process for 2024 entry.

Free UCAT Mock Exam for Year 11 and 12 students

Year 11 and 12 students may be interested in participating in the free UCAT Mock Exam Day (M.E.D.) coming up on 26 February 2023. It's the largest worldwide online UCAT mock exam, hosted by UCAT Masterclass.

It gives students the chance to:

• experience the unique exam in our UCAT exam simulator,
• receive their mock UCAT score,
• learn their percentile rank against other candidates, and
• view a detailed breakdown of how they performed in each section.

Students can access the exam by creating a free account, here:
https://www.ucatmasterclass.com/ucat-med/

See Ms McDermott if you need any more information.

DEFENCE FORCE RECRUITING 

At the HMAS Penguin and HMAS Kuttabul Open Days students can hear first-hand from Navy personnel about their careers in the Australian Defence Force and explore different areas of the base.

An Open Day is a great opportunity to learn more about the trade, communications, IT & intelligence or leadership roles available in the Navy. Your students will meet current Navy personnel to receive expert insights and gain a first-hand account of their lives both on base and on board. By attending an Open Day they’ll learn more about the training and ongoing opportunities for growth and development and see if a career in the Navy is for them. Even if they aren’t thinking about a career in Defence or are unsure of their next steps, the HMAS Penguin and HMAS Kuttabul Open Days may provide an exciting future they haven’t considered before.

HMAS Penguin Open Day
When: Saturday 25th February 2023
Where: HMAS Penguin - 7A Middle Head Road, Mosman NSW 2011
Registrations encouraged but not essential:

HMAS Kuttabul Open Day
When: Sunday 26th February 2023
Where: HMAS Kuttabul - 12 Wylde Street, Potts Point NSW 2011
Registrations encouraged but not essential:

Discover more about roles in the Navy ranging from engineering to communications or IT & intelligence by joining us at the HMAS Penguin and HMAS Kuttabul Open Days.

To register your interest, please visit www.defencejobs.gov.au/events

Julie McDermott
Careers Adviser

Canteen

The new canteen menu can be found below.

You can order lunches by downloading the Flexischools App from the App Store or Google Play.  Open the App and click 'Like to register?', enter your email address and click 'Register', then follow the instructions in the email which you are sent.

Band News

Instrumental Music Ensembles Program (IMEP) Band

For those of you who are just joining us, welcome to KHHS and to the Instrumental Music Ensemble Program! And for those of you who have returning students, thank you so much for continuing to support our program!

For all families current or newly starting at KHHS that have not considered the Band IMEP and would like to join this amazing extra-curricular program, please get in touch with our IMEP administrator samantha.eakin@det.nsw.edu.au with any queries you may have.

As most of you would know now, we’ve been planning an amazing trip to Tasmania for our Senior Ensemble students (Symphonic Winds and Big Band) as part of triennial “international” trip. To defray some of the cost for participants, we look to do various fundraising initiatives and one of our big ones this year is a Trivia Night at the Forestville RSL on Tuesday, 14 March. It will be held from 6pm to 9pm in the Flight Deck (upstairs).

Please look to attend this evening if you can, both to help support our program and this trip but to also hear all of our ensembles perform in front of an audience for the first time in 2023. The trivia should be pretty fun too! Also, we would encourage you to forward this information on to other members of the KHHS community who might not have children in the program but would like to help support it and the trip. They can either purchase tickets and come to the trivia or they can make a direct donation via the following website:

https://www.trybooking.com/CFTVR

Tickets are $25 per adult and children are free. Snacks / nibbles are being provided but they probably won't be sufficient for everyone to have "dinner" - supplementary food can be purchased on the main floor of the RSL if needed. There will be a dedicated bar upstairs for our group where you can purchase beverages.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Jay Drezner at jay.drezner@gmail.com

Bunnings BBQ and Cake Stall

Your time, effort and enthusiasm are appreciated in advance for this important fundraiser for our upcoming Tasmania trip - parents and students required - come and have a fun day fundraising for a great cause. All band students will be expected to donate some baked goods - and the students going to Tasmania are expected to assist on the day. Buskers also required - soloists, duo's etc.  Feel free to add your name to more than one spot

On Saturday March 11 from 8am the IMEP will be running a Bunnings BBQ and cake stall at Chatswood Bunnings.  IMEP students and families will be volunteering their time on the day as well as provided delicious home-made baked goods to sell to raise funds for the upcoming Tasmania tour. IMEP students will also be performing on the day.   Come along to purchase a sausage or some treats, hear our fabulous performers and raise money for this exciting trip. Your support our of this fabulous program is appreciated.

Community News

Sexual and Gender Diversity - Webinar for parents and carers
Thursday 2 March, 7 - 8.30pm

Being a parent, grandparent, or primary carer of a LGBTQIA+ young person can be wonderful and enriching but can also seem overwhelming and confusing at times. Join us as we provide information that can make a difference to the young person in your life.

Online, Free, Bookings Essential

Suitable for parents, carers of 10 - 24 year olds

Register here