Dear Parents and Caregivers,
The end of the year always comes along so quickly while we are immersed in the ‘hurly burly’ of the end of the year. We have successfully negotiated the ‘awards season’ in which we acknowledge the contributions and achievements of the many, many outstanding students that we have the good fortune to connect with on a day to day basis.
The calibre of the Henley student was clearly evident when the year 9 students presented their Enterprise Project for judging on Thursday of week 8. The students showed themselves to be highly articulate, excellent team members and the ideas and concepts they generated for this project were unique and very well thought out. The members of the judging panel which included representatives from DECD and a business organisation were extremely impressed by all projects and in particular how well the students presented themselves.
Henley hosted the now traditional study tour for students from Ritsumeikan Junior & Senior High School who once again experienced a very successful and engaging two week cultural exchange. A big congratulations need to go to the “Team International” at Henley HS, led impeccably by Naomi Bond, for the development of programs and initiatives which promote intercultural understanding amongst both staff, students and the broader Henley HS community. It is also important to once again acknowledge the contributions of our loyal homestay families and the students who volunteer to be buddies for the programs we have throughout the year as they would not be a success without their support. Once again we call for families from our school community to consider the highly rewarding experience of hosting a student from one of the study tours we will be hosting in 2015.
At the end of each semester the Arts faculty at Henley present many outstanding events and performances. There have been highly successful Art exhibitions, Drama performances and Music Nights which have received rave reviews and have shown how skilled and committed our teachers and students are. The Specialist Sports exchanges culminated with the visit of Mount Gambier students in week 7 once again a highly successful tour with all 11 sports participating in the exchange with Mount Gambier over the two exchange events across the year. This program provides our students with excellent learning experiences and enables them to develop long lasting relationships with each other and students from the South East.
The Year 11s engaged in a highly successful transition program into their Stage 2 studies where they spent a full day in each of their Stage 2 subjects, starting their studies so they can hit the ground running in 2015. The students in years 8-10 have continued their learning programs until the end of week 8 with an alternate program of learning activities being offered to all students in week 9. All teaching staff need to be congratulated for their dedication and professionalism throughout the year as they endeavour to provide high quality learning activities that support students to achieve the best possible outcomes.
It is always important that we acknowledge the ‘silent partners’ that help the school leaders and teachers develop a learning environment and curriculum that is highly regarded and that provides excellent learning opportunities for all our 1300 students. We would like to thank
- Peter Evans and the Governing Council for their support and guidance throughout the year.
- Hon Paul Caica and Mr Matt Williams for their ongoing support of Henley High School in many different arenas.
- The team from Western Futures that support us in sustaining valuable industry partnerships.
- Chris Houltby who provides excellent support for our students as our Apprenticeship Broker.
- Sports SA and our other Sporting Association partners who provide great support for the SSP and VET programs.
- Our University partners for their contribution to enriching the learning experiences for our students.
- Numerous other businesses and business organisations that provide opportunities and support for our students and our school programs which we would otherwise be unable to provide.
- International Education Services for their support and the opportunities they provide our students and staff to develop their intercultural understandings.
We would like to welcome a group of new permanent staff members to Henley,
Laura Spagnuolo, Linda Emes and Sarah Spence to the English and HASS curriculum team,
Joanna Avetisian and Marina Bolic to the Maths and Science team,
Cat Callery joins the Languages team and
Chris Hamlyn the Arts team.
Many of these people have provided Henley with high quality teaching service as contract teachers over the past few years and have earned their permanent placement at Henley.
And finally we need to say some farewells. Jay Bennett, Ron Liddy and Barry Hank have all decided that this year will be their final year of service for DECD and we sincerely thank them for their years of service to educating students in the government education system.
Zara Anderson has won a leadership position at Glenunga High School for the next 5 years working in their Gifted and Talented program. We thank Zara for the energy and passion that she has brought to Henley and in particular in her work as Quality Teaching Coordinator in 2014. Graham Brooks has also won a teaching position at Brighton High School enabling him to continue to pursue his passion for teaching and learning once he returns from his exchange to Bear Creek in the US in 2015. We thank all these staff members for their outstanding contributions to Henley and wish them all well with their upcoming challenges in their new positions or as they move into retirement.
On behalf of the school community we would also like to thank our short term contract teachers and TRTs’ (relieving teachers) who have supported our students during 2014.
Our appreciation is also shown to the SSOs’ (School Services Officers) who will be leaving us for greener pastures, their support was invaluable.
We would like to wish you all a safe and enjoyable Festive Season and hope the New Year brings you happiness, good health, and the realisation of your goals and aspirations.
Anthony van Ruiten
Principal
