Wednesday 18th December 2019 Newsletter No.19

NEW DATES FOR STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL. (PLEASE SEE DIARY NEXT PAGE)

Principal’s Chat:

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Members of the Kyneton High School Community,

This final newsletter report is written on the morning of the Presentation Night. This is an occasion to

which we look forward with great excitement, for the students who will be receiving awards

tonight have much to celebrate and we are very proud of them. Our teachers and education

support staff get so much pleasure from seeing their personal growth and we thank you, as

parents and carers, for entrusting the education of your young ones to us. I want to acknowledge

our Year Level Leaders for their special role in supporting students to stay connected to learning

and achieve their best. Thank you to the following for their outstanding care: Cassi Gunter - Year

7, Ben Hill - Year 8, Anwyn Chapman - Year 9, Geoff Comben - Year 10, Kate Sims - Year 11, and

Lizzie Trembath and Mark Spencer - Year 12.

Recently, Mary-Anne Thomas MP visited us to celebrate the announcement of the Mental Health

Practitioners Funding, which will enable us to enhance our Wellbeing Team; we will have the

addition of a Psychologist employed by the school for 2 days next year.

While she was here, Mary-Anne went to the Training and Innovation Hub to find out what the

students have been doing in the Creative Technologies Robotics class. The students have made

huge gains in their knowledge and skills, including problem solving, and enjoyed describing their

learning progress to Mary-Anne.

These last few days of the term have coincided with some very hot weather, so in wishing all our

students and their families a relaxing holiday break, I do hope that we take care and look after

ourselves. Thank you to everyone in our school community for your contribution to the growth and

ongoing improvement at Kyneton High School this year. In particular, thank you to all the

community volunteers who have supported our students learning, including the team who have

supported our Turning Pages reading programme.

All the best for a happy Christmas and New Year.

Best wishes,

Ana Rees

UPCOMING EVENTS

December 2019

Wednesday 18th Presentation Night at

Kyneton Town Hall

Thur 19th – Fri 20th General Office Closed

Friday 20th School Closed

January 2020

Tuesday 28th General Office Open

Thursday 30th Years 7, 10, 11 & 12

Begin

Friday 31st Years 8 & 9 Begin

February 2020

Monday 3rd School Assembly P2

Friday 7th Year 7-10 Buddy Day

Tuesday 11th

Xuno PD for parents

5.45pm

Mindsets-for Parents and

their Year 7 students.

6.15pm

followed by

Year 7 BBQ

Below: Mary Anne Thomas MP visited KHS last week and was impressed to see what students have been doing at the

School.

Above: Changes will be noticed at the back of the

school with the removal of the portables this week.

Wishing our school community a

very Merry Christmas and a

Safe, Happy New Year.

From the staff at Kyneton High

School

Kyneton High School

REVISED - Important Dates – December & January 2020

Please be aware of the following events for the end of the year and the start of next year.

Wednesday 18th December

Activities/rehearsal for students during the day for those notified.

Presentation Night Kyneton Shire Hall 7.00 - 9.00pm

Thursday 19th December

&

Friday 20th December

No classes or activities. Course counselling for selected students at school

request/appointment.

General Office closed. End of school year.

2020

Tuesday 28th January Book collection day 9.00am – 3.30pm

New uniform collection for Noone’s orders.

General Office will be open

Staff Resume

Wednesday 29th January Staff Professional learning and planning

Thursday 30th January First day Year 7 and 10, 11 & 12 students.

Friday 31st January All students at school. First day year 8 & 9 students.

Important Message

Our Animal Paintings

As part of the biology unit, 7H students researched a native animal found in the region and drew

its food web (the organisms that it eats and the animals that eat it) and painted its form onto the

concrete border outside the science room. The final result was educational and visually

appealing. Thanks to the students for their time and efforts. Thanks very much to Haymes Paint for

supplying the paint for this project.

Cindy Bradford-Science teacher

Science Update

Years 9/10 Creative Cooking

L-R Top: (Principal) Ana Rees & Trade Teacher, Anthony Van Emmerik:

L-R Bottom: Bernie Mylon with Trade Teachers, Jonathon Swan, Richard Rotgans, Andrew Azzopardi and

Craig Dudley

Last week we took possession of a York kit car, kindly donated by Bernie Mylon (father of staff

member, Cas Tardif) for our students to use in our new Trades Hub. The kit includes fibreglass

moulds and panels as well as other various pieces that will allow our students to work on building

the different parts of the car before pulling it all together to create a 1930s Alpha Romeo replica.

Bernie wanted to donate the car as he felt it was a great opportunity for the students to immerse

themselves in a complete car build. He remembers how much he enjoyed and learned from

having hands-on experience while completing his apprenticeship to become a mechanic at

tech. Bernie also remembers ‘When I was at secondary school there was nothing, no trade

training at all. It’s great what the students get to experience at this school – they get to try out a

wide variety of trades to decide which one they like. When Cas told me about the new trades

hub and the great things the teachers were doing, I thought this school would be a great home

for the car. When I saw the enthusiasm of the teachers, I knew I’d done the right thing.’

KHS would like to take this opportunity to thank Bernie for his generosity. Over time the kit car will

become an exciting part of our school curriculum.

Cas Tardif- English Domain Leader

Heartfelt Thanks From KHS

Last Tuesday a large

group of talented and

enthusiastic students

travelled to RM Begg

Nursing Home to put on a

lunchtime performance

of Christmas songs.

The piano students

played a variety of

Christmas carols, the

Singing Sessions students

sang some traditional

and not so traditional

songs and Poppy

Goodman hosted the

performance.

The audience showed their appreciation by singing along delightfully during several items. It was

also noted by the residents at the conclusion of the performance, how much the students had

improved in their playing since last year, and how nice it was to hear young voices singing.

I want to thank all the students who so willingly gave up their lunchtime to provide some smiles for

the residents at RM Begg, and also Andrew Price, our Singing Sessions leader, who gave up his

time to help at the event.

Ms Juli Robinson-KHS Music Coordinator

A huge congratulations to

ALL of our beautiful Year 12

students on completion of

their final year of school!!

There have been

some wonderful ATAR results

received by VCE students,

and many of our VCAL and

VCE students are already on

apprenticeship pathways or

have full time/part-time

jobs!!

You have been such a

wonderful cohort and we

wish you all the very best for

the future.

From the Senior Years Team

Students Spreading Christmas Cheer!

Farewell to Year 12 2019

Student Led Conference Feedback

Presentation Evening Thankyou

Don’t get mad, get generous – Michael Grose

Christmas in Australia is a full on time of the year. It’s busy, intense, hectic, but also fun.

It’s very different to a northern hemisphere Christmas, which is a lot slower and laid back. The

colder climate over there promotes a slower pace as families tend to spend more time indoors. It also helps that the

school year doesn’t end at Christmas like it does in Australia, where the festive season becomes a multi-purpose finish

line as end of school concerts, work festivities, home improvement projects and other end of year activities all vie for

your attention.

It’s little wonder most of us feel worn out, even on edge at this time of year. It doesn’t help that we live in an age of high

consumption, which adds a financial pressure that you can do without.

Here are some ideas to help you focus on what really matters – you and your family. Your kids will benefit too from a

slightly different approach.

Develop a sufficiency mindset

Whenever you think that you haven’t bought enough presents for someone, remember that most people (kids and

adults) have too much stuff already. “That’s enough!” is a handy mantra at any time, but particularly appropriate for

the festive season. There’s a tendency for appreciation to diminish in direct proportion to the amount of gifts received.

Sometimes the less they receive the more kids appreciate what they get so set aside any feelings of guilt if you think you

your (Santa’s) present list is a little down this year.

Spend time with people who matter most

There is a big expectation to mingle, gather and party at this time of year, which can make the lead up to Christmas

exhausting. Consider politely declining some invitations to Christmas catch-ups (such as drinks with your second cousin

whose name you can’t even remember) so you can save your best self for the important people in your life, the family

and friends with whom share the closest connections.

Balance ‘me’ time and ‘you’ time with ‘them’ time

The holiday season is a great opportunity for families to spend some time together away from the egg timer conditions

of work, school and other activities. The opportunity to reconnect is invaluable however that doesn’t mean you must

spend all the time with the gang. Take time out for yourself and also carve out some space to reconnect with your

partner, if applicable. This may require you to avoid feelings of guilt when kids tell you they are bored. Resist the

temptation to fill the activity void with endless adult-organised outings, trips and treats and instead, give them the

chance to self-occupy, which is a supreme life skill.

Develop a holiday routine for you and your kids

I’ve heard many people say that the best thing about holidays is that there’s no routine. I’m a little sceptical as most

kids just can’t cope without a routine at all. Adapt your usual routine to suit your family circumstances during the

holidays. For instance, if your children are below school aged (and even those at school), they will benefit from a

bedtime routine, albeit a little later than usual, rather than an anything goes approach.

Practise a spirit of generosity

Study after study demonstrates the importance of the development of generosity to personal happiness. Jonathon

Rauch author of The Happiness Curve says most eloquently, “Those people who give freely of their time and of

themselves have unlocked one of the central keys to lasting human happiness.”

There are many ways to be generous at the this time of the year – open

up your home to that lonely neighbour you haven’t seen for a while;

encourage children to donate a regular portion of their pocket money

to a worthy cause such as The Smith Family; RSPCA Guardian Angel, or –

my personal favourite – substitute a real gift in your kids’ Christmas

stocking with a gift of a chicken, goat or water donated to a village in a

developing country through an organisation such as Oxfam. This is a

good reminder that we live in a land of plenty and we have plenty to be

grateful for.

Christmas and the festive seasons are to be treasured, yet it’s easy to

become so overwhelmed that we don’t experience the joy and sense of

renewal that should come our way. Fortunately, it only takes a few tweaks to bring our focus back to what really

matters. Enjoy and savour this special time of the year

Positive Parenting