Principal's Report

Book Week

In Week 6, Newcastle High School and Cooks Hill Campus launched our Book Week celebrations, further developing our learning culture focused on a love of reading.  Students and staff engaged in a week of activities, fun, competitions, and dress up.  Thank you to Mrs Elisabeth Porreca-Dubois, our Teacher Librarian, for her enthusiasm, hard work and creativity in bringing Book Week to life in 2022.

Wear It Purple

On 26 August, we celebrated and acknowledged Wear it Purple Day in support and solidarity with our rainbow youth.   Newcastle High School strives to foster supportive, safe, empowering and inclusive environments for rainbow young people and is proud of our culture of inclusivity, diversity and tolerance.  Wear it Purple Day is about showing LGBTQIA+ young people that they have the right to be proud of who they are, with the theme this year as “Still Me, Still Human” representing messages of humanity, honesty, integrity, and authenticity when discussing all diverse identities within the LGBTQIA+ community.

Literacy Launch

The annual Year 8 Literacy Launch day was held in the Cultural Centre on Tuesday 30 August.  The purpose of this day is to actively launch our whole school literacy approach and support our students as they transition into Year 9 with critical literacy skills, in a fun and engaging way.  Students travelled around to assigned stations with an activity at each station, completing a fun and engaging workbook. Well done Year 8!

NAPLAN Results 2022

2022 NAPLAN assessment results are due home to families of students in Year 7 and Year 9 later this term, once released and provided to the school by ACARA.  NAPLAN test results provide information on how students are performing in literacy and numeracy and support improvements in teaching and learning at our school. The data from NAPLAN test results gives our school and the Department of Education the ability to measure our students’ achievements against national minimum standards and student performance in other states and territories.

NAPLAN assessments are reported on scales which show how students have performed compared to established standards. Assessment scales also allow achievement to be mapped as a student progresses through schooling. See more on the scales and standards at How to interpret.  Results of the tests for the National Assessment Program are reported in a number of ways, including national reports, individual student reports, and school-level reporting on the My School website.  NAPLAN assessments are not pass/fail tests.   More on the individual student report is found HERE.

When your child’s NAPLAN results come home, please contact the school if you have concerns or would like to discuss the results further.  Our Learning and Support Teachers (LaSTs) or your relevant Deputy Principal can assist you directly about NAPLAN support.