Message from the Principal - 3 September 2021

Latest Updates

Week10 (16 September 2021) Principal's update - Term 4

Dear Parents / Carers,

The end of Term 3 has been a busy one for our school and others throughout the state. We’re happy to say that together we made it through what has been a constantly-changing and sometimes difficult Term. We could not have done it without the commitment from all of our families who supported learning from home, and from our fantastic teaching and school staff. I want to thank you all for your efforts to continue to keep our school community safe – I know everyone has faced different challenges at different times through the Term.

I hope everyone enjoys a break over the holidays and is looking forward to the COVID-safe return to school sites that we are planning for in Term 4. Please read through the following updates before the start of the school holidays and don’t hesitate to reach out for support or with any questions.

Return to school roadmap for Term 4

In Term 4, where stay-at-home rules are still in place but high community vaccination and low transmission conditions are met, students will return to school in a staggered approach for prioritised cohorts, with no mingling or on-site activities. Masks will be required on site for all staff and students Year 7 and above, indoors and outdoors.

Order of return under staggered approach where we remain under stay-at-home rules

Students will return to face-to-face learning with NSW Health-approved COVID-safe Level 3 plus settings on school sites in the following order:

From 25 October 2021 (week 4): Year 12

From 1 November 2021 (week 5): Year 11

From 8 November 2021 (week 6): Years 7, 8, 9 and 10.

The return to school roadmap is subject to change depending on new information expected through the Public Health Order and additional advice from NSW Health. You can stay up to date with the most recent advice on the Advice for families page.

HSC

Congratulations to our HSC and Year 12 students! You’ve nearly made it to the end of a unique and very tough year. Your resilience and work ethic through this time are to be admired.

The official last day for Year 12 is this Friday 17 September 2021, however students will be supported up until their exams. We’d like to remind our students and families that from 25 October, all Year 12 students will have access to school and their teachers and should have already received this organisation. This will support them in the lead up to their exams.

HSC exams will proceed for all students from 9 November 2021 in a COVID-safe way, in line with NSW Health advice.

Vaccinations for students aged 12 years and over

Young people aged 12 years and over are now also eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. You can book in your children for Pfizer now, or Moderna from Monday 20 September.

Vaccination appointments are available at more than 3,000 locations across NSW, including GPs and pharmacies. More appointments will become available as supply increases, so keep checking for new appointments in coming weeks.

Learning from Home

For families who are continuing to learn from home, the learning from home page has a wide range of curriculum-based activities to further support your child’s learning, if needed.

Thank you again for your understanding and support. We hope you and your family enjoy a safe and very well-deserved break over the holidays. Please take some time over the break to check out our wellbeing resources for students and families. You’ll find useful tools for mental health and Term 4 preparation. Please do not hesitate to reach out if we can do anything to help you and your children to prepare for Term 4 or if you have any concerns about the return to school. I will be in touch again after the holidays with further information and any updates for you and your children.

Keep well,

Denise James

Principal

Previous Update: Week 8

Dear Year 12 students and parents/carers,

Congratulations on a tremendous effort in such challenging circumstances this term. It has been tough in so many ways, but you have done it. We are so proud of you.

Graduation

As you know, your Graduation will be taking place in two weeks’ time on Friday 17^th September. Although this will not be the type of ceremony we all expected, we will make sure that it is unique and special as you truly deserve it. We encourage families to take the time to spend together.

The day before your graduation, you will receive a parcel (which will be delivered by some of your fabulous teachers!!) In it will be a few things, including your Graduation academic cap/mortarboard. We would like you to wear your school uniform, including your senior jacket and the cap for your Graduation ceremony at home.

We expect the ceremony to begin at around 9.30am. You will be sent a link to this in the morning. It will not be a zoom but will be some pre-recorded speeches and videos. We would like you all to watch this with your families and year group at the same time. You may want to zoom some of your friends or extended family members while you are watching. (Specific instructions will be provided in the parcel.) Your Graduation certificate will also be in your parcel and we ask that one of your family members hands this to you when your name is called.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, at around 11am, we ask that all Year 12 students go and stand on their driveways to celebrate and throw their caps in the air!! Please take some photos and send them to us! The community, including our local primary school students, will all be encouraged to be on their driveways at the same time to celebrate with you. We have also made this another Bulli Unplugged day to allow siblings, teachers, neighbours and friends to be part of this celebration.

As already mentioned, we will provide some more information and instructions closer to the date. We hope you are excited to graduate because we are excited for you!!

Term 4

As the HSC Exams have been pushed back, you will continue with your learning for the first three weeks of Term 4 which will include your usual online timetabled lessons to revise and prepare for the exams.

Year 12 students will be allowed back onto the school site in weeks 4 and 5. We will provide information as to how this will look after the holidays.

HSC Exams

The revised HSC Exam Timetable has not yet been released by NESA. We have been informed that it should be finalised in a couple of weeks and will keep you updated.

Vaccinations

The Department of Education has provided expectations to all school staff that they must be vaccinated by November. There has been no advice at this stage requiring Year 12 students to be vaccinated, but it is encouraged.

Formal/Celebration

As we are not sure what the remainder of this year will look like in terms of the Formal, we would like to let you know that whenever we are allowed, we will have some form of celebration and recognition of achievement. This may be more informal and may be next year, but we will ensure that you all have the opportunity to have a final moment with each other and your teachers.

Thank you

Thank you for all that you have given to your learning and to the school. With only two more weeks left before your graduation, please soak up every moment. Reflect and reach out to your friends, teachers and family. Graduation marks the completion of 13 years of schooling so take the time to celebrate and make sure you also spend some time relaxing over the school holidays, before school lessons and studying commences again in term 4.

We look forward to celebrating with you on Friday 17^th September.

Congratulations!

Mrs James

Principal

Bulli High School

Week 8 (30 August 2021) Principal's update

Dear students and parents/carers,

Thank you for your ongoing work and support over the past few challenging months.

Today, the NSW Government announced a COVID-safe return-to-school plan which states the staged and staggered return of:

• Year 11 – from 1 November.

• Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 – from 8 November.

From 25 October, Year 12 students will have access to school and their teachers. HSC exams will be delayed until 9 November with a revised timetable and guidelines for a COVID-safe HSC to be released by NESA in early September. All students sitting their HSC will receive priority vaccination if they are eligible (please check the NSW Government website for details).The updated start date means HSC results will be released in mid-January.

We will provide details on what this return to school will look like at Bulli High School soon. In the meantime, I encourage all students to continue to engage with their online lessons, except for this coming Wednesday which will see Bulli Unplugged 2.0. No new work will be issued on this day and we encourage all students to step away from their screens to look after their health and wellbeing.

Keep safe and well,

Denise James

Principal

Week 6 (August 18th) Principal update

Dear BHS students, parents and carers,

Thank you for your continued support of the school and each other. We are now over halfway through the term and students continue to display attributes of patience, kindness and a determination to get through their learning and circumstance together. I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with our most recent updates.

Teaching and Learning

· Students should continue to follow the compressed timetable which allows them to connect with their scheduled teachers during the first 40 minutes of the set class time. By reducing Breaks 1 & 2 and removing Break 3, the school day finishes at 2.10pm.

· The BHS Remote Learning Hub provides a single location for students and their parents to find instructions on how to access student work in each faculty. Student work is available in Google Classrooms managed by their own class teachers.

· Students are to use Google Classroom to complete their learning activities and communicate with their teachers about their learning, complete and upload work. Students can also contact teachers via their official DoE email.

· Staff will endeavour to respond to student and parent/carer communication in a timely manner and within the regular online school hours (9am-2:10pm). Parents are asked to be patient and understanding of the demands placed on teachers during this duration of remote learning.

· We have recommended junior students complete around 3-4 hours per day. Senior students will need to adjust their times according to their subject loads.

· The BHS Remote Learning Hub also has links to Careers information and BHS Principal updates.

Assessment Tasks / Assignments

• Students in Years 7 to 10 should continue to do their best in completing assigned classwork and assignments. Faculties are currently updating their assessments to ensure they can be completed remotely and will share this information with their classes and on our website.

• Final alternate assessment task schedules and updated remote learning assessment policies have already been sent to senior students.

Technology Support

· Parents should contact the school if their child or household does not have access to a computer/device or the internet in order to discuss the continuation of their child's learning.

Student Wellbeing

· Students should join their Year Group Google Classroom for regular updates and information from their Year Adviser.

· The BHS Wellbeing Hub has links to wellbeing support including how to access the Mindfulness activities in the school diary.

· If a parent/carer has concerns regarding their child, the first point of contact should be the Year Advisor or Deputy Principal. Contact can be made via the office or school email.

· The school counselling team remains available to students and families. Contact should be made via the office or school email. Students can also ask for assistance by completing the referral form on the Wellbeing Hub site.

Bulli Unplugged

The feedback from this screen-free day was overwhelmingly positive. We have decided to hold two more days like this which will occur on:

• Wednesday 1^st September (week 8)

• Friday 17^th September (week 10)

More details will be issued closer to the dates.

Special Religious Education

Special Religious Education (SRE) is not currently permitted while the school is operating under Level 4 restrictions. Approved providers have modified their authorised curriculum to enable students to learn from home. Parents/carers may wish to access the SRE resources through the portal entry points to lesson content provided here: https://www.christiansre.com.au/learningfromhome

Year Updates

Year 7

• Thanks to our newest and youngest BHS students who have adapted so well and demonstrate the most engagement with online learning than any other year group.

Year 8

• Information on Year 9 2022 Subject Selection is currently on our school website. Students are able to engage with this and will receive further information about the process soon.

Year 9

• Year 9 are demonstrating some great participation rates in their learning and in other activities on offer from the school, including the most recent competitions organised by the Creative and Performing Arts faculty.

Year 10

• Year 10 students overwhelmingly participated more than any other year group in the recent Student Survey. Their feedback on remote learning at BHS is extremely valuable and is helping to inform our future practice.

• Students have completed the Subject Selection process online. Staff will be looking at this in the coming weeks. Students will hear more about their subjects early next term.

Year 11

• Students have recently received their final assessment schedule for weeks 9 and 10 of this term, including an updated online assessment policy. Students will not have to attend their usual classes during this time so they have the opportunity to prepare and complete these assessments.

• Students will be receiving information shortly from Mr Pember about leadership opportunities, including the School Captains 2022 process.

Year 12

• BHS HSC Alternate Assessment Task Schedule

As Year 12 students have not been able to return to full time learning on the school site, school assessments are being completed at home following the schedule already issued to students. An updated online assessment policy has also been provided.

· NESA announcement regarding HSC practical and performance exams

The NESA COVID-19 Response Committee has decided to apply the COVID-19 Special Consideration Program to all HSC performance exams and most HSC major projects being completed by HSC students across the state. This means teachers will provide a mark or estimate for their HSC students’ performance exam components and major projects in:

• Music

• Drama

• Design and Technology

• Industrial Technology

• Visual Arts.

When providing a mark or estimate, teachers will take into consideration any impact of COVID-19 restrictions on students’ work. Students will need to submit their projects by the published due dates. To ensure equity across the state, teacher provided marks will be moderated by NESA. The decision was made to limit the movement of NESA markers within and beyond Greater Sydney and protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the HSC exams.

The following major projects (that are submitted online) will continue to be marked online by NESA markers (unless an application for special consideration is made):

Ø English Extension 2

Ø Music 1 (compositions)

Ø Music 2 and Extension (compositions and musicology)

Ø Society and Culture Personal Interest Project.

· HSC preparation for practical and performance exams

Students have been provided with a timetable beginning this week, enabling them to have some access to the school site and resources for essential work on their practical and performance pieces which cannot be completed at home. Students are not permitted to attend school for more than one session (2 hours) per day, and not 5 days a week. Students and staff must adhere to strict COVID-safe practices, including scanning the QR Code, physical distancing and wearing a mask.

· Wellbeing

Students wishing to speak with our School Support Officer or a School Counsellor, can refer themselves by following the link at the bottom right of the BHS Wellbeing Hub page, specifically for Year 12 students.

· Careers/University information

Students and parents can keep informed through the BHS Careers Page and should contact our Careers Adviser, Mr Harding, if they have any questions. Students are also encouraged to join the Careers Google Classroom.

· Final Reports

Due to the change in final assessments, Year 12 Final Reports will be issued to students and parents in week 2 of next term.

· HSC Exam Timetable

Planning continues by NESA for HSC exams to proceed from 19 October in a COVID-safe way, in line with Health advice. Refer to the NESA website for the HSC written exam timetable | NSW Education Standards which now provides students with an extra week of preparation.

• Occasions

We understand that Year 12 students and families are particularly concerned about their Graduation and Formal. We will be holding an online Graduation Ceremony on Friday 17^th September and will provide details about this in a few weeks. We also anticipate having another form of recognition towards the end of the year if we are able. As the HSC Exams have been pushed back a week, the Formal will now also be a week later and will be held on Wednesday 17^th November. Ms Chazarreta will continue to keep students updated with this information on the Year 12 Google Classroom.

Black Diamond Learning Centre

• Students are completing a range of learning activities. Information is provided directly from the Head Teacher, Mrs Kennedy, and the staff.

Events

We have a number of exciting online events coming up for the whole school, please keep an eye out on our Facebook page!!

Communication

Official school communication will continue via email, e-news, Facebook and the school website.

As always, we are thinking of all of our BHS families and missing you all. Reach out to us if there is anything we can do to support you.

Please stay strong and stay safe.

Kind regards,

Denise James

Principal

18/8/21

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