Telephone: 9488 1900 • Fax: 9481 6135 •
info@fitzroyhs.vic.edu.au • Falconer Street NORTH FITZROY 3068
Sapphire
Indigo Jet Scarlet (Post Compulsory) |
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Telephone: 9488 1900 • Fax: 9481 6135 •
info@fitzroyhs.vic.edu.au • Falconer Street NORTH FITZROY 3068
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Indigo Jet Scarlet (Post Compulsory) |
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School Email and Bulletin Board |
March 2008Principal’s Report -20 March 2008Extra curricula activitiesI took the opportunity to spend a delightful day with the Year 7 girls softball team yesterday at the inter school sports at Princes Park. At the same time students were competing in baseball, cricket, volleyball and tennis. The pleasure that the students had in representing the school was evident and the softballers had a memorable victory against University High and led all schools in the quality of their chants. I know the baseballers won all of their matches and the cricketers played off in the grand final. At the same time that this was happening the Year 10 and 11 students on the Outdoor Education bushwalk were finishing up and the Year 8’s were continuing the camp at Smith’s Beach on Phillip Island. With the Year 7 Camp and the numerous excursions taking place Term 1 has been packed with events occurring outside the school. Barry Dickens has been visiting us each Friday working with a group of around 20 students to develop a writing anthology. Some of the material produced has been stunning and will be published next term. The Schools4Schools program has also visited us twice and will be coming weekly for the remainder of the year. They will be working with students interested in establishing a relationship with a school in South Africa. This program requires students to develop skills across a range of areas including event management, promotion and communication. There is a strong curriculum component attached to the program as well. Students are also participating in Italian challenges, solar car challenges, Art Club, Computer Game Development, the SRC, writing and design of student newspapers, school bands amongst a range of other activities being run. Senior School ProgramThis is the first term that we have had a ‘full’ senior program running (including Units 1-4 and VET). I know that many students have been struck by the intellectual challenges presented to them and have responded in a positive manner to this. I have been impressed by the work ethic shown by my own Year 11 class and their willingness to engage in intellectual discussion. Anecdotally teachers tell me that this is a common theme across the whole range of subject areas. Parent teacher interviews will take place in early Term 2 for senior students. Friday incidentI wrote to all families earlier this week about the unfortunate incident in Edinburgh Gardens last Friday. The boy concerned in recovering and will return to school at the start of next term. I have passed onto the student and his families the numerous messages of concern I received concerning his welfare. I would also like to acknowledge the actions of the community in handling the situation, especially the support received from staff and parents at North Fitzroy Primary School. Tim Fitzgerald School AttendanceA reminder to all families about student attendance. If your child is not attending school for any reason, please call the office. If for any reason you are unable to do so on the day in question, please make sure you send a note to your child’s co-ordinator, phone the school on 9188 1900 or email dorisp@fitzroyhs.vic.edu.au as soon as you are able to. On a similar note, when a year level camp is in progress, students who are not attending the camp are still expected to attend classes unless you are otherwise informed. Doris Pearse Principal’s Report -14 March 2008School CouncilAt the council meeting held last night the following were elected to office bearer positions:
I would like to acknowledge the contribution to the school of two retiring councillors. Joe Burke is the outgoing President and has provided council with a clear direction and the benefit of his insights into the workings of government, data and processes. The value of his work on behalf of the school in obtaining approval for our new building cannot be underestimated and all members of the school community owe him a debt of gratitude. Megan Rouse was an inaugural council member and has worked tirelessly on behalf of the school over the last 4 years. From expos, whist and trivia nights, Sapphire lounge experiences, larks in the park through to end of year events and barbecues there has been no event at the school that hasn’t received her ‘organisers’ touch. Again, the value of the work she has done for the school cannot be effectively measured. I thank both of these councillors for their support and am confident that the new council will maintain the high standards they have set. Heat and activityYear 8 inter school Sport was cancelled today (Friday) due to the high temperature. This will now take place next term. The school monitors temperatures at all times to ensure student safety. Year 11 and 12 Study Skills sessionsOn Tuesday and Thursday of this week all Year 11 and 12 students have participated in study skill session with Russ Butler. Russ has represented Australia in diving at 2 Olympic Games and won a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal. He has since coached other Olympic athletes and is currently working with an AFL football team as a motivation and fitness advisor. Across the four sessions Russ worked with the students on goal setting, creating a positive learning environment at home, study for exams, memory, sleep and study timetables. The students benefited greatly from Russ’ knowledge and experience and these sessions will continue to be reinforced through the schools tutorial program. Interested parents can access the notes to the session on the school’s website. Instrumental Music ProgramThere are a number of places available in the instrumental program for the following instruments:
All other instrument programs are full. You can, however, put down your name on the waiting list and we will let you know when a place becomes available. Please contact Tom Hoyle if you have any questions regarding the Instrumental program. Enrolment forms can be obtained from Sue at the office. Immunizations – 2008, Year 7, 9 and 10The immunization program for 2008 includes Hep B, HPV (for girls only), Chickenpox and Boostrix (Diptheria, Tetanus and Whooping Cough). Details are listed below: Tuesday April 15
Tuesday May 20
Tuesday August 19
Many students still have not returned their permission forms. Please fill out the forms, which were sent home with students in early February, and return to the school office ASAP, even if your child is not to be vaccinated. Doris Pearse Free Parenting ProgramThe Parenting Research Centre is offering a free 6-week program for parents of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years. The ABCD program presents ideas and strategies shown to be helpful to families during the early teen years. It aims to help parents build strong relationships with their adolescent and teaches strategies designed to prevent adolescent risk taking in the future. The program delivered on a one-to-one basis and will be conducted in the parents’ home or the local community. Please see: http://www.parentingrc.org.au or call the Parenting Research Centre on 8660 3500 for more information about the ABCD Parenting Program. Principal’s Report - 7 March 2008We had a very successful whole school assembly on Tuesday. This was hosted by Indigo team with Ruadh O and Josh D being the MCs. The following items were covered:
Student TeachersYour child may be coming home and telling you that there are extra teachers in the classroom. In all likelihood these are student teachers from the University of Melbourne or Victoria University who will be spending two days a week with us for most of the remainder of the year. Students from other educational institutions also join us during the year. The school believes it is important that we support the future of the teaching profession by having a suitable number of these students each year. We see it as a fantastic opportunity to have more adults involved in the learning process for our children. The feedback we receive from student teachers and institutions is extremely positive. School Annual ReportThe education sub committee of school council is considering the data from last year whilst preparing the school’s annual report. Each family will receive a copy of this report late next term but I thought the following figures were of interest. AIM (Achievement Improvement Monitor) Year 7 and Year 9We use the results of the AIM to focus on individual targets for each child. We believe strongly that this individual focus will enable students to improve. We also seek to cognitively challenge students in ways that develop their creativity. The AIM results are a snapshot that tell us where a child is at a particular point in time. We use them to supplement teacher judgements. The school results, which we are required to report on, tell us the following:
The Year 7 AIM results generally indicate the level students have come to the school at whilst the Year 9 results give a reflection of what has occurred over their first 2½ years in the school. The Year 9 results indicated significant levels of improvement from where the same group of students were in Year 7: in Reading a 7% improvement, in Maths a 20% improvement. This is some of the data that we will be examining for both our annual report and school review. Last week of termA significant number of activities are taking place in the last week of term including the Year 8 camp, the Outdoor Education camp for Year 10 and 11 students, a Year 7 Sports day and Year 7 visit to Adventure Park. School finishes on Thursday March 20. Tim Fitzgerald
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Telephone:
9488 1900 • Fax: 9481 6135 • info@fitzroyhs.vic.edu.au •
Falconer Street NORTH FITZROY 3068 |