Principal's Report

Welcome to Term 4

A very warm welcome back to school for Term 4.  We have a busy term ahead: welcoming our students back to face-to-face learning on our Roadmap to Return, the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations, Year 7 2022 Transition events, yearly reports and hopefully a variety of end of year celebrations including Year 12 Graduation, Formal and our yearly Presentation Assembly.  Year 11 students have also commenced their HSC this term and we are focused on ensuring all students re-connect with school this term, re-establish routines and feel safe returning to school following the completion of our lockdown period.

Term 4 – Our Roadmap to Return (Version 3)

We have commenced Term 4 on Level 4 school operations, Learning from Home and with Year 12 and those completing their HSC having on-going, limited access to school for necessary curriculum, scheduled revision sessions and for wellbeing purposes. Version 3 of our Roadmap to Return to face-to-face schooling has all cohorts returning to normal lessons, in their usual classes from Monday 25 October (Week 4). 

We are all aware of how challenging this lockdown has been and we are greatly looking forward to welcoming students back to school. The visual summary of our Roadmap is included for your reference. 

The dates and events we are working from to prepare this roadmap are:

·   Week 1-3 - students in Year 12 and those completing their HSC will continue to be able to access the school in a limited way.  Student email is being used to liaise with these students about HSC revision, planning and support.

·   Weeks 1-3 - all students and families will continue to be supported with Newcastle High School’s Learning from Home resources on Canvas, accessed via the NHS Website.  We also offer hard copy material for collection and the loan of technology as requested via our REQUEST FOR HELP LINK.  Wellbeing and personal learning support are also available by request, to be provided remotely until Week 4.

·   Week 2 - Information Events – A parent information evening for the Roadmap to Return was held on 12 October and all cohorts had Year Meetings during PB4L in Week 2, Thursday 14 October on Zoom.  The purpose was to inform parents and students of our Roadmap to Return plans and respond to any Q&A items.

·   Week 3 – A whole school student assembly will be held via Zoom on Thursday 21 October at 10:30am.  This assembly will provide students with details about the NHS COVID Safety protocols and have our student leadership speeches presented by candidates for the 2022 Year 12 senior leadership roles.

·   Week 4 - All students in Years 7-12 will return to face-to-face learning on Monday 25 October under Level 3 or Level 3 plus settings.  Students in Year 12 and those completing their HSC will have full-time access to school, following their normal timetable, in normal classes.  Students will be required to follow the safety protocols within our COVID Safety Plan.

Students, teachers, staff and families of NHS are all looking forward to returning to life at school, with it being imperative that this return is done so COVID safely.  The health, safety and wellbeing of our community is paramount and your cooperation in supporting the COVID Safety Plan and protocols of our school is greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions about our Roadmap or a year group, please contact our Deputy Principals – Quinn Robertson (Cooks Hill Campus), Craig Maher (Years 7 & 11), Michelle Fraser (Years 9 & 12) and Joel Anderson (Years 8 & 10) or our Head Teacher Wellbeing, Shannon Sager.

Mask Wearing

Our Roadmap to Return to school will require students, parents and staff to understand all parts of our COVID Safety Plan, including mask wearing.

For Levels 4, 3 plus and 3, all staff and students at Newcastle High School are required to wear masks indoors and outdoors, unless eating or exercising.

Please ensure your child understands these rules and respectfully complies, supplying their own mask daily.  If a student is not wearing a mask, one will be provided and the student directed to wear this to comply with Department of Education requirements.

Year 12, Class of 2021

Newcastle High School will be supporting Year 12 to access teachers and our school all the way through Term 4, with signing out of school to commence in Week 5, from Monday 1 November.

Year 12 are following a revision timetable for Term 4 Weeks 1-3, from Tuesday 6 October until Friday 22 October, with scheduled 2-hour sessions planned, blending online and face-to-face teaching for all courses using our timetable lines.  All students are welcome to attend these sessions across their timetabled classes, delivered COVID-Safely and from Week 2, Study Bubbles have been available for students to access the school for revision and study purposes.  Mrs Parrott and Mrs Fraser are coordinating all Study Bubble access at the school throughout Term 4 and students have been emailed about this access.

In Week 4, Year 12 can return to school for two weeks, including accessing their teachers in normal lessons from Monday 25 October until Thursday 11 November.  Friday 29 October is planned to be a Fun Day, organised by the Senior Student Leaders and our school, including dressing up, activities and celebrations.  We recognise the incredibly significant aspect of this social event for Year 12 and will be planning for this to occur safely, pending COVID guidelines being met in the lead up to this time.

The Year 12 Graduation and Formal have also been tentatively booked for Week 10, with Tuesday 7 December scheduled for the graduation assembly and Thursday 9 December for the formal at Merewether Surf House.  Students can now pay for the Year 12 Formal, with the school guaranteeing that no money will be lost for any student should we need to cancel this event due to COVID-19 guidelines prohibiting it continuing. 

NESA released the revised HSC 2021 Examination Timetable in early September, and all COVID-19 Updates on the HSC 2021 can be found HERE.  Year 12 and those completing the HSC will meet face-to-face on Tuesday 2 November at 10am in the NHS Hall for a HSC Examination preparation meeting.  The purpose of this meeting is to discuss HSC examination protocols, organisation and our COVID Safety Plan.  Students will be emailed a reminder about this event and given written information as we get closer to this date.

All information for Year 12 university entrance and support for post-school pathways can be found on the NHS Careers Facebook and any student needing support about post school issues should see our Careers Advisors, Amanda Hine and Gareth Lewis.

Any student who requires additional or personalised support throughout this period is asked to speak to their Year Advisor, Head Teacher Senior School or Deputy Principal.  Alternatively, please log an enquiry or request for support at our REQUEST FOR HELP LINK.

Year 12, Class of 2022

Year 11 have commenced their Higher School Certificate (HSC) studies this term, learning from home.  We are very aware of the challenges that the remote delivery of teaching and learning poses for senior students, and will be working very hard in partnership to support Year 11 transition to Year 12 as smoothly as possible.

A Year 12 Class of 2022 Parent Information Evening will be held via Zoom on Wednesday 27 October at 5:30pm coordinated by our Head Teacher Senior School, Mrs Suzanne Parrott.  The purpose of this meeting is to provide information and support about Year 12 2022, including HSC information, assessment, support and wellbeing.  Our newly appointed Deputy Principal for Year 12, Mr Craig Maher, will be introduced at this event.

We look forward to welcoming you all to this event.

Meeting Details –

Join Zoom Meeting Here

Meeting ID: 613 2242 1215

Passcode: 006654

Senior Leadership 2022

We postponed our senior leadership selection processes for 2022 positions into Term 4, due to COVID-19, in the hope we could continue face-to-face.  As this did not occur, Mr. Sam Crichton (Senior Leadership Coordinator) has now adjusted the processes to be delivered remotely and online.  The 2022 candidates for school captain, vice-captain, prefects and SRC leaders will be supported though these processes this term and we look forward to announcing the outcome to our learning community shortly.

Reports

End of year reports are being prepared this term and will be following our original timelines planned prior to the disruption of COVID-19.  The Department of Education has given principals the authority to vary Semester 2 reporting, if required, as a result of COVID-19 disruption.  Members of the Newcastle High School Executive have discussed reports extensively to determine their format and style, ensuring we can accurately report on the teaching, learning and assessment implemented throughout this semester.

As a result, it has been decided that our end of year reports will be proceeding unaltered by COVID-19 for Years 10, 11 and 12.

Reports for Years 7-9 for the core curriculum areas of English, Mathematics, Science, HSIE and PDHPE will also be developed unaltered from traditional reports, with the addition of information regarding student engagement with remote teaching and learning during lockdown.

Reports for practical and semester-based subjects in Years 7-9, such as those in TAS and CAPA will have a modified report, as many teachers of these courses have not been able to meet their students in Semester 2.  Accurate reporting against the syllabus performance descriptors is not deemed valid and reliable in some of these courses at this time due to COVID-19.

All reports will describe student progress and achievement on the learning covered during the reporting period, including the time we have been learning from home.  Reports will provide teacher comments to describe student learning and identify the next steps in learning to give parents and students an understanding of progress at the end of 2021.  Reports are published digitally and will be available via Sentral.

Janene Rosser - Principal