Principal's Report

School Rebuild

We are extremely excited that the NSW Government is committed to delivering an upgrade to Newcastle High School.

Funding announced as part of the 2021-22 State Budget underpins this commitment and enables the commencement of the project planning and design process and the Department of Education to start engaging with the school community about the project in 2022.

Start and completion dates will be provided once a delivery programme has been agreed, subject to completion of further design and planning work in the next few months.

School Infrastructure NSW will continue to share information with the school community as the project progresses through the planning, design and delivery stages.  It is hoped that early next year, we will be announcing ways for parents, carers and the community to enage in this consultation.  Details about our school re-build will be shared through the P&C next year.

Library Refurbishment

The school Library is undergoing a refurbishment this term, in readiness for launching Term 1, 2022.  We have appointed our new Teacher Librarian, Elisabeth Porreca-Dubois who will commence in Term 1.  Elisabeth has been working collaboratively this term to develop our plans to refurbish the space and consulting with the school regarding our future plans.

Our refurbishment includes new future-focused furniture, a dedicated senior study relocated to downstairs and seminar rooms, a senior cafeteria, new books, curated resources and technology infrastructure improvements.

This investment honours our belief that the Library is a pivotal part of the learning culture and fundamental to supporting our achievement of teaching and learning excellence.  In our future school re-build plans, we will have one of the most innovative libraries in NSW schools, with this current refurbishment being a step in the right direction for developing this culture in our school as we go through our re-build phase.  More details about this project will be shared through the P&C early next year.

HSC 2021 Review

As a school, we are constantly striving to enhance our educational provision through processes of self-evaluation, reporting and development to ultimately achieve positive student outcomes.  Achieving Higher School Certificate (HSC) Excellence is a significant strategic direction for our school and to achieve this goal, we are annually reviewing the HSC as part of our school development processes.  This year, all key learning area Executive and HSC 2021 teachers have been engaged in the HSC 2021 Review, as well as students and parents being invited to participate through student focus groups and parent interviews via phone.  The findings and recommendations from our HSC 2021 Review will be implemented into 2022, to ensure all assessment, programs, teaching and learning strategies, and support is in place to maximise teaching and learning outcomes.  I look forward to reporting on our HSC Review in the Annual School Report for 2021.

Graduation and Presentation Day

As we draw closer to the conclusion of 2021, we are making plans to celebrate the year of learning achievements at Newcastle High School; a year which has passed under the most unusual circumstances.  To congratulate and highlight our students' academic, cultural and sporting successes, we will be holding our annual Presentation Days and Year 12 Graduation as formal assemblies.

To ensure the safety of our students and community, we will be complying with COVID-19 safety protocols which unfortunately restrict the number of guests we can cater for.  We have now determined that we are unable to invite parents and carers on site for these occasions due to the limited capacity of our Cultural Centre to hold this number of people in a COVID Safe manner.  We will have a limited student audience and our P&C representatives will attend on behalf of our parent body.  We will also have the events presented digitally for sharing with our parents, carers and community.

The following events are planned in Week 10:

· Year 12 Graduation - Tuesday 7 December at 10:00 am. 

A recording of the ceremony will be provided to parents/carers. 

Students are required on site 40 minutes prior the commencement of the Graduation in full school uniform. Graduation portfolios and reports will be presented to all students and formal Graduation photographs taken.

· Year Group Formal Assemblies - Thursday 9 and Friday 10 December 

Year 11            Thursday 9 December - Period 2

Year 9             Thursday 9 December - Period 3 ^{(Revised 2/12/21)}

Year 7             Friday 10 December - Period 2

Year 8             Friday 10 December - Period 3 ^{(Revised 2/12/21)}

Year 10           Friday 10 December - Period 4 

Principal - Janene Rosser