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High Notes, Vol 25 No 36, November 15 2024

From the Principal

Roof Replacement Block B – Killip Wing

There will be disruptions from now until nearly the end of term as roofing contractors replace the Killip Wing roof. We have been waiting a long time for this repair. There is scaffolding in place that will restrict access to car parking and movement in and out of the building will be redirected at some entrances. The work should be completed by the end of term. We thank the DOE Assets Management Unit for prioritising this project and allocating funds to complete it.

School Governance Meetings

The final meetings of the year were held this week for the Parents & Citizens Association and the SBHS School Council. The two bodies are important in the life of our school by providing resources in the case of the P&C and policy advice, community liaison and financial oversight in the case of the School Council. The meetings were well attended, varied and informative. I want to thank the President of the P&C, Tania Kirkland, for leadership and recognise the service of outgoing Vice-President Andrew Hybler. The P&C made significant donations to the school this year. To our long-standing School Council President, Ron Trent, thanks again for your longevity of service, wisdom, conviviality and detailed minutes-keeping.

Interpreting Year 9 Reports – Semester 2

Students in Year 9 should have collected their yearly reports. There are often violent fluctuations in rank order as a few marks can determine the difference between a D and an HD. Many boys have really taken to their electives and have achieved well in semester 2. Parents should be aware that boys who have decided to discontinue an elective after Year 9 for any reason, may have reduced their effort, with a negative impact on their overall result. Also, those who will not continue core subjects (such as history or geography) may lose motivation and not perform to their potential in those two subjects. Such actions can also result in large movements in the rank order. Encourage your son to maintain a high standard in the core subjects, English, mathematics and science, as these are compulsory in Year 10. An honest effort ought to be applied to all subjects while students are enrolled in them. ‘N’ awards may be issued in Year 9 for history and geography students as these are stage 5 compressed curriculum courses. Failure to resolve stage 5 warning letters may result in denial of entry into stage 6 courses.

Many boys apply for entry into acceleration courses. The procedure for entry is published on our website at: / curriculum/subject-acceleration. Head Teachers consider applications and make recommend-ations to the Principal on the Individual Learning Plans signed off by parents and submitted by students.

As from this year, students need to be in the top 75 students to qualify for acceleration or philosophy, and in the top 100 for the ‘online learning elective’(OLE). Be aware that students seeking acceleration have two different rank orders. The rank order for the end of Year 9 is one used for dux calculations and is calculated using marks, not points as for the HD-D-credit-PM-P system (6-5-3-2-1). It also comprises Semester 1 and 2 results, not just semester 2.  Mr Dowdell uses Z-scores to track the contribution of the results of each subject to the overall rank. We expect to see the subject that a student wants to accelerate in close to the strongest that a student is undertaking in Year 9.

Students who are denied entry to an acceleration course have a right of appeal if they consider they have met the criteria for entry and they have the strong support of the teacher who is currently teaching them in the subject. We accept around 40 boys into acceleration each year. About 35 each year complete their HSC in their accelerated course. The dropout rate 2018-2023 was 16%. There is a safety net for those who for whatever reason do not go on to complete the stage 6 course. Students may be removed from the acceleration intervention if  they do not meet the required standard by the end of Year 10 or sometimes, Year 11.

Applicants and parents need to understand that acceleration is a differentiated intervention, managed by the Principal, to meet the learning needs of able, high achieving, autonomous and passionate students - it is NOT an elective.

Mr Kay is assigning Year 9 students to their Year 10 electives and to their acceleration and online courses, based upon their submitted preferences in rank order. If students fail to qualify in one elective, they will be assigned their next choice where possible. Parents should peruse the learning behaviours profile on their son’s report. We expect at least ‘usually’ if not ‘consistently’ for these behaviours. We aggregate these learning behaviours to produce a list of those judged by teachers as having too frequent ‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely’ ratings. Year Advisers are made aware of these students at our report meetings. There is a high correlation between the names on the monitoring register for Academic Support Group and those on the problematic learning behaviours list. We also have lists for the individual learning behaviours so we can target support more accurately. We have Study Samurai and ATOMI supplied free to targeted students who need and desire individualised support programs.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal