The Family Newsletterwww.jamesfallon.nsw.edu.au

Fallon Street, Albury, NSW, 264002 6025 1688

Principal: Jenny ParrettDeputy Principal: Ross McGarvieDeputy Principal: David Johnson

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Some very exciting news….it looks like we will be funded for some improvements for James Fallon High School in the HALL department!

For those who have had anything to do with the recent history of this school, you will know that the school community, championed by the P&C, has put to the government on numerous occasions the need for a facility that seats our entire school population. At this time of the year, our students sit (with a great deal of courtesy and respect to others) on freezing concrete for a period of time while the assembly proceeds. As assemblies in our school are about celebrating student achievement, it has never been ideal to have an indoor hall that seats only 400 students – not quite our school population. My thanks go to our P&C and Mr Aplin, who have never stopped for this improvement in our school.

The benefits will be enormous, but at this point, I know very little about the scope of works. As more comes to light, I will share with our school community, as I also believe that its voice is needed in what improvements are to be made here at James Fallon High School. It is very exciting to have this on the table to discuss for our school’s future.

As the term draws to a close, I am always reminded of the incredibly positive community in which I work. There have been a myriad of learning experiences and achievements this term, supported by our staff and families. The academic reports have now gone out to families, and I look forward to meeting with parents at parent teacher nights early in Term 3 for Years 8, 9 and 10. Year 7 will have a different type of parent teacher evening in November this year; however, if there are any pressing concerns or questions from families of Year 7, do not hesitate to contact me at the school.

Not least this term is the achievement of the financial transition to LMBR, a huge but much needed change in the business operations of the school. We are all still trying to learn about this new system, and I thank the office staff particularly for their work on this new business system.

Change is now the constant in all manner of areas in our world, but especially in education, where young people grow, learn and adapt to our world. We are now 17% into the 21st Century. Last century, the 17th year saw our world embroiled in a war that changed the social fabric of the western world. While war is always localised and something to be feared, the changes in technology are making huge changes to our society and the way our world works. There is no fix, only adaptation, and our young people will face challenges in their lifetime that we in the parent category will have difficulty understanding, because we have never experienced them.

Our school plan for 2018-2020 will focus on learning for the future. Over the next term, I will take the time to explore your views on what you believe students need for the future in learning, and importantly, the views of your young people, whose futures we support. I hope that our school community will voice their views to help shape our next three year school plan, as increasingly, I would like to find out the thoughts of our community so that we work together to improve our school.

Have a restful break over the winter holidays. I look forward to Term 3, where we celebrate all manner of events, including NAIDOC week, and Education Week, which occur in the first month back. Thanks for trusting our school with the education of your children.

Jennifer Parrett

PRINCIPAL

FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Year 12

The Trial HSC examinations come to a close at the end of this week. Our students have generally risen to the challenge posed by these tests if their behaviour and application throughout the final two weeks of the term is any guide. Examination papers and results will be returned to students by their teachers in all courses early in Term 3. Students should use the feedback gained at that time to learn how they might improve their responses when the final examinations come around in October.

In the meantime, the Term Two break should be a mixture of some time away from the books to decompress as well as some time spent continuing to build summaries of units and topics which have been taught in the various courses. The home straight – the final term of high school for our Class of 2017 - begins in little more than two short weeks and it will fly.

Years 7- 10 reports

These will be distributed to all junior students on Wednesday, 28 th June. A significant proportion of students of each year – 7, 8, 9 and 10 – each earned themselves a Deputy Principal’s Award for outstanding first semester reports. These awards are a formal way of recognising the many students who have brought their best effort and attitude to class in each and every subject across the first two terms.

The report envelopes also contain notices about the formal assemblies scheduled early in Term 3 AND notifications of Parent-Teacher nights.

Years 8, 9 and 10 Parent-Teacher nights

All students are due back at school to begin Term 3 on Tuesday, 18th July. Very shortly after that, the parent-teacher nights take place as follows:

- Years 9 on Wednesday, 19th July from 4.30 to 6.30 p.m.- Years 8 and 10 on Tuesday, 25th July from 4.30 to 6.30 p.m.

These sessions will take place in the school hall and our wonderful Café J students will be catering. An explanatory letter spelling out the process for the booking of interviews is in each envelope with your child’s report. Bookings open for parents at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, 28th June and will close at midday on the day of the interviews. Parents and carers should go to their web browser, type in http://sobs.com.au/ and then click the link for 'Parent-Teacher-Interviews'.

Year 7 Exhibition Night – save the date

Consistent with our innovative approach to the timetabling and teaching of Year 7 in 2017, there will not be a traditional parent-teacher evening in Term 3. After consulting with the P&C and staff, we will instead trial an Exhibition Night in Term 4 – on Thursday, 9th November from 4:30-7:30 p.m. On that night, each of the Year 7 classes will be allocated a 30 minute time slot. During that time, individual students from those classes will exhibit their work and explain their learning to parents/carers. Teachers will be on hand for private discussions as required. More information will follow later in the second semester

In the meantime, any parent/carer of a Year 7 student who has questions arising from the mid-year report should contact the school to speak to Mrs Parrett, Mr Donnelly or me.

Mobile Phone Policy

The renewed focus on having electronic devices switched off and in bags during lessons has been embraced by the vast majority of students during recent weeks. Support from home to make sure every student is fully focused on the learning in each lesson, rather than being distracted by a mobile phone or other device is both expected and greatly appreciated.

The policy which students need to respect each day at school is as follows:

Mobile Phone Policy

Your Responsibilities / Our Expectations

1. Mobile phones, iPods and electronic devices remain turned off and in your bag.2. With permission , devices can be used for educational purposes.3. The use of any electronic device is not permitted during exam conditions.4. Ear phones must be removed and phones put away when being addressed by a

member of staff.5. You are responsible for the security of your mobile phone / electronic device.

Actions and Consequences

1. Teachers are permitted to and will confiscate all mobile phones and electronic devices if they are being used inappropriately.

2. Disciplinary procedures will follow if you do not comply with basic expectations. Refusal to adhere to this policy will result in Head Teacher or Deputy Principal intervention.

3. The use of mobile phones and electronic devices during exam conditions will result in an automatic zero.

Ross McGarvieDEPUTY PRINCIPAL

EAL/D NEWS

For those of you who don’t know EAL/D refers to English as an Additional Language or Dialect. It replaces the acronym ESL which was used prior to 2016.

Currently James Fallon High School has 29 EAL/D students who are still learning English and have come to us from 14 different countries. 20 of these students have arrived in Australia as refugees. It is likely that this number will continue to grow as more migrants move to rural and regional areas.

Recently we celebrated Refugee Week which gave us an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution refugees make within our school and also in the wider community.

This term we have had 4 new arrivals. Patrick Bandolelwa, Gilene Mkosa and John Matendo are Congolese students who have arrived from Mozambique and My Nguyen has arrived from Vietnam. All of these students are struggling with the winter cold having come from much warmer countries. It has been wonderful to see the support these students have been given from other members of the JFHS community.

Mrs ElderEAL/D Coordinator

INTERSCHOOL EQUESTRIAN CHALLENGE

This year we only had one competitor in this annual event so we are hoping next year to restore our team to its normal numbers and I would encourage anyone who rides to put this event on your calendar.

This event is for Primary and Secondary schools from throughout Victoria and Southern NSW so it is a great opportunity to meet other riders and compete at a high standard.

This year Coriah Keatings competed on her beautiful horse Edward and she competed in a number of events including dressage and show jumping.

Coriah competes every year for the school and always finishes with great results which is a testament to the work she puts in to this sport.

Coriah and Edward

Mrs EldierEquestrian Coordinator

NATIONALLY CONSISTENT COLLECTION OF DATA

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data is compulsory in 2017 and is one way that the government calculates funding for our school. This will assist us to continue to provide as much support as possible for our students.

Our school has made some adjustments to help various students with their learning. These may include extra time to do tasks, extra support, use of a computer, scaffolded instruction, explaining tasks or concepts in a variety of ways, being seated in a specific area etc. If your son or daughter has had any adjustments made in order to support their learning, they will be included in our school’s data for collection. Having your child included in this data collection does NOT mean he/she has a debilitating disability, but just that they require some extra support or assistance at school.

The data collection will have no direct impact on your child at school and they will not be involved in any testing process. It includes information that is already available in the school and will not be used for any purpose other than the compulsory data collection statistics. All information is protected by privacy laws which regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. Information about the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy can be found here: http://education.gov.au/condensed-privacy-policy

Information about the NSW Government’s privacy policies can be found here: http://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/

Further information about the data collection can be found on the Australian Government Department of Education website: http://education.gov.au/nationally-consistent-collection-data-school-students-disability

S.C.A.B.

What does S.C.A.B. mean? This is the

James Fallon School Cleanliness and

Beautification program. Do the right thing and put your rubbish in the

bin.

2017 SCHOOL DIARY

Every student at James Fallon HS has been given their own student diary for 2017.

The aim of the diaries is to help students improve their organisation and achievement.

Never lose your timetable again! Keep your PBL awards safe!

Always know when your homework and assessments are due! Always know what week it is!

Earn PBL awards for consistent use of your diary!

Ms. Williams will be visiting guidance lessons over the next few weeks to share some tips and tricks for getting organised and getting the most out of your student diary.

Please bring your diary to school and use it every day!

IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR ATTENDANCE

HIGH ATTENDANCE = MORE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES = MORE QUALIFICATIONS = MORE CHOICE

Ways for parents to encourage attendance:

Regularly check your child’s attendance record at the school to see if it matches with your own record.

Talk regularly with your child about school and how they feel about it. They are more likely to attend if they feel supported and their anxieties are acknowledged.

Only grant days at home for genuine illness.

Avoid taking holidays in school time.

Praise and reward good attendance and punctuality in the mornings.

If you have concerns, ring the school and ask to talk to your child’s Year Adviser.

MonthWee

k Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat/Sun

Jul2017

1A

17Staff Development Day

18Students Return form Term 3

19Year 9 Parent/Teacher Evening

20 21Formal Assemblies – Year 9/10 P1-2, Year 11/12 P3-4, Year 8 P5-6State Cross Country

22/23

2B

24NAIDOC WeekFormal Assembly Year 7 P3-4

25NAIDOC WeekYear 8/10 Parent/Teacher Evening

26NAIDOC Week

27NAIDOC Week

28NAIDOC WeekRiverina AthleticsNAIDOC Assembly and Community BBQ

29/30

3A

31 1 2 3NAIDOC Public Speaking Competition

4 5/6

Aug2017

4B

7 8 9 10 11 12/13

5A

14HSC Dance Practical Examination

15HSC Dance Practical Examination

16 17 18 19/20

6B

21Book Week

22Book Week

23Book Week

24Book Week

25Book WeekWear It Purple Day

26/27

7A

28 29 30 31 1 2/3Father's Day

Sep2017

8B

4 5 6State Athletics

7State Athletics

8State Athletics

9/10

9A

11Year 11 Preliminary Final ExaminationsState Dance Festival

12Year 11 Preliminary Final ExaminationsState Dance Festival

13Year 11 Preliminary Final ExaminationsState Dance Festival

14Year 11 Preliminary Final Examinations

15Year 11 Preliminary Final Examinations

16/17

10B

18Year 11 Crossroads Excursion

19Year 11 Crossroads ExcursionYear 7 Immunisations

20Year 11 Crossroads Excursion

21 22Presentation Ball

23/24