The Family

Newsletter

www.jamesfallon.nsw.edu.au

Fallon Street, Albury, NSW, 2640 02 6025 1688

Principal: Jenny Parrett Deputy Principal: Ross McGarvie Deputy Principal: David Johnson

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

A Message to Families

Well, what a term!

Our year has commenced with a growth in enrolments, an improvement in attendance, the

embedding of our new school plan, and the meeting around our new hall build. It is

wonderful to be leading such growth and development at our school.

As the news has presented, the work we have done together has been a significant

contribution to my receiving a successful scholarship to Harvard, through the Public

Education Foundation. As the only rural Principal selected, it is affirmation that the

leadership of our school is going well. I look forward to learning at the Harvard Graduate

School of Education, and to what I can bring back to JFHS.

Our 2018-2020 School Plan is on the school website. This has been a consultative process

involving a great deal of input from our school community. For those interested, it shows

what the school hopes to achieve over the next three years. There are some areas I am sure

people will have questions about– like Big Picture. This is an area I will focus on in the next

newsletter, in a community information session scheduled in Term 2.

In the holidays, three important events will occur.

Firstly, our school jackets will be available from Lowes for purchase. If your family is up to

date with contributions, a $20 voucher will be issued to support the introduction of the new

uniform. At $65, the jacket will be discounted to $45 - a bargain! We have been so very

lucky to have warm weather this term until the end, which has meant less stress over

ar er u ifor . Re e er that the girls’ se ior i ter skirt is for all girls fro o o – a

much better use of funds over a longer period of time.

Secondly, the project reference group (PRG – an acronym to get used to!) meetings will

commence for the Hall Build. I am so thankful to the P&C, who have continued to advocate

for this massive bonus for our school.

Thirdly, our ANZAC commemorative marches around the district will take place on April 25. I

proudly march with our school community in Dean Street. A letter has gone home to

families about the school involvement in the march, something JFHS began as the first

school to engage in the event a number of years ago.

The term will commence with school photos, NAPLAN assessments, and Stage 6 Parent

Teacher Night. There is never a quiet time in the year – no day is ever the same.

NAPLAN assessments are a snapshot of student skills, and are an important diagnostic tool

for schools. We pay a great deal of attention to our NAPLAN results, and our results show

growth for our students, so it is worth taking seriously.

Additionally, as families may have become aware, our assessment policies and procedures

are a source of scrutiny for our teachers, with explicit requirements, strong timelines, and a

commitment for students in that if there are incomplete tasks, there may be extracurricular

opportunities held off until the tasks are resolved. The assessment schedules are published

on the website, on Facebook, and on paper with your child. Each student has a student

planner – an opportunity to be organised, work on learning, so that we can provide

feedback for future growth.

I am so proud of our school, and the way our students are continually friendly, open,

honest, and giving. This behaviour is encouraged, and when negative behaviour occurs, a

great deal of support is provided for students to learn a better way to go. The JFHS way lives

up to our Motto – Together We Succeed.

Have a wonderful, safe holiday.

Jennifer Parrett

PRINCIPAL

FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Year 12 reports

Year 12 mid-course reports will be issued to students this Friday the 13th of April, the final

day of Term One. Any student who is absent on Friday will have their report mailed home.

In reading each of these reports, it was a pleasure to be reminded of how well so many

students are applying themselves in their most academically challenging year, working

constructively with their teachers and peers. The reports, most with class ranks, all with

grades and teacher comments, are a very good guide to our hild’s progress i ea h of their subjects at the mid-point in the 2018 HSC. Many of the detailed teacher comments contain

specific and detailed suggestions as to how your child might improve in particular subjects.

Supporting your child to implement those many practical suggestions will optimise their

results in the HSC.

Year 12 and the Term One break

Duri g the se e tee da s’ reak stude ts ha e fro lesso s, the s hool re o e ds that our HSC students do two things:

1. Refresh and recharge by having a rest of a week or so, away from the books and

obligations of school.

2. Use the other week or so to make written summaries of the learning completed in

each course in Term One. Of necessity, the HSC Trial Examinations during the final

two weeks of Term Two do not allow much time for revision. So, completing written

summaries during the next fortnight will place each student in the best position to

reap the maximum benefit from the Trial Examinations, as well as providing a sense

of control over study demands generally.

Years 11 and 12 – Saturday Senior Study in the JFHS library

Appro i atel 40% of JFHS’s se ior stude ts i di ated i a ritte Ter O e sur e that they would be likely to use the school library were it to open for Senior Study on a Saturday.

Consequently, the school has decided to expand Senior Study opportunities in Term Two as

follows, with at least one teacher in attendance to supervise and assist students:

1. Saturdays 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Library open to all Years 11 and 12, Visual Arts

classroom also open to Year 12 VA students who wish to develop their practical Body

of Work)

Starts 5th May – every Saturday during Term Two.

2. Mondays 3:27 – 5:30 p.m. (Library open to all Years 11 and 12 students)

Resumes 7th May – every Monday during Term Two.

3. Thursdays 3:05 – 5:05 p.m. (Library open to all Years 11 and 12 students)

Resumes 3rd May – every Thursday during Term Two.

Years 11 and 12 – Parent-Teacher evening

A reminder that the Year 11 and Year 12 parent-teacher evening takes place on Tuesday, 8th

May from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the school library. A letter with further information will be sent

home shortly.

Ross McGarvie

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

PEER SUPPORT AT JAMES FALLON HIGH SCHOOL

During Term 1, Year 7 students will be involved in the

Peer Support Program. Each week, groups of 8-10

students will meet with 2 Peer Leaders and work

through a range of activities that focus on resilience.

Meeting in small groups allows meaningful

connections to form, assisting students with the

transition to secondary school. Over a period of 8

weeks, students will acknowledge their strengths and

achievements, identify people who support them and

learn how to view challenges as opportunity for

growth.

Throughout the term, our groups have explored issues and ideas such as:

Explore the idea that the way we view ourselves and our challenges can affect the

outcomes of situations.

Understanding how influential our thoughts are in responding to challenges.

The need to enhance our wellbeing so we are mentally and emotionally fit to fact

obstacles and setbacks we may encounter.

Be able to respond to challenges and be optimistic about pursuing positive

outcomes.

Investigating the skills of critical and flexible thinking.

Maintaining connections, and celebrating the achievements of others without feeling

threatened.

Our Peer Support sessions for 2018 was conclude on Thursday April 12th with a BBQ at

Noreuil Park with their Year 7 students and their Year 10 Peer Support Leaders. This will be

followed by an afternoon of fun at the Albury Swim Centre.

We would like to thank all Year 7 students for actively participating in Peer Support this

term. We would also like to think our dedicated Year 10 Peer Support Leaders. Without our

leaders this program would not be possible.

Finally, a big thank you must go to all teaching staff who allowed us to use their lessons for

Peer Support Sessio s. We a ’t tha k ou e ough for this.

We look forward to improving Peer Support again and continuing the deliver this wonderful

program at James Fallon High School again in 2019 and in to the future.

Mr Heron & Mrs Morrison

PEER SUPPORT CO-ORDINATORS

SOCIAL SCIENCE

It has been an exciting and busy term in Social Science so far this year.

At the start of this year we welcomed new staff members Mrs Morey and Mrs Halliday into

our faculty.

New to our faculty as well this year is the Geography curriculum for Year 8 and 10. Our

revamped programming and assessment has led to greater focus on our local community.

Year 9 students explored the cultural diversity of Dean Street, and Year 10 investigated the

environmental impacts and

management of the Hume Dam. Year

7 are even about to find out just how

liveable the locals think Albury is!

Team teaching has continued to be a

central focus across our junior classes

and its success so far has meant we

now have a Year 11 Community and

Family Studies course that is also

team taught by Mrs Morey and Mrs

Robinson.

Aboriginal Studies is now being delivered at

James Fallon High School with students

from Albury High School and Murray High

School accessing the course. The students

have had a great start to the Preliminary

course in and outside of the classroom. In

fact, JFHS students held a barbecue to

commemorate the ten-year anniversary of

the National Apology to the Stolen

Generations by Kevin Rudd on behalf of the

Australian Government. All money raised

went to the Stolen Generations Project,

which is an excellent cause.

Aside from the rigorous learning in our faculty, our students have

also been involved in extracurricular activities such as Harmony Day.

Year 7 celebrated cultural diversity with the creation of Indonesian

Shadow Puppets (or Wayang Kulit!) Year 9 explored country facts,

flag designs and graffiti across nation states!

This term we unfortunately say goodbye to Ms Thurgood who has

secured full time work at Wewak Street School. Although we will

iss her i our fa ult , e’re sure she ill e a alua le asset at her new school!

Alison Papasavvas

SOCIAL SCIENCE FACULTY

THE BAT OF THE BALL: TABLE TENNIS REPORT

On Tuesday April 10th

three teams of players competed at the Riverina Knockout for table

tennis.

The first team of Ethan Wenzke, Jay Blanes, Sam Graham and Hayden Mitchell came up

against Albury High who proved to be too strong, so they were eliminated but they had

much more success against the teams from Junee High School and Tumbarumba High

School in the consolation games.

Our other players, Sean Maguire,

Luke Chambers, Bailey Charles,

Malachi Wighton and Blair

Maclean-Boyer, competed for

the Dainton Cup against 10 other

teams from Albury, Wagga,

Junee and Tumbarumba.

Although e did ’t i the shield this year all team

members played really well and

learnt a lot that will help them

next year.

Mrs Amanda Elder

TEAM MANAGER

WORLD’S GREATEST SHAVE

World’s Greatest Sha e 2018 saw Mr Pat Devaney, Liam Schofield and Joel Steele raising

fu ds for the Leuke ia Fou datio ha i g their hair sha ed off, a d i Mr De a e ’s case, his beard as well. Wonderful effort!

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.

30

1 May

2

3 4

5/6

1

Teachers back

for Term 2

Term 2

Commences for

students

Cross Country

whole school

WE

EK

7 School Photos

8 Year 11 & 12

Parent Teacher

Night 4.30-6.30

in library

9

10

11

12/13

2

WE

EK

14

15

16

17 18

19/20

3

NAPLAN Ho a ’s Gap Year 8 Excursion

NAPLAN

Ho a ’s Gap Year 8 Excursion

NAPLAN

Ho a ’s Gap Year 8 Excursion

NAPLAN

PLP Event

3.30pm in library

WE

EK

21

22

23

24 25

26/27

4

Zone Cross

Country Carnival

WE

EK

28

29

30

31 1 June

2/3

5

Riverina Dance

Festival

WE

EK

4

5

6

7 8

9/10

6

Year 10

Examinations Year 10

Examinations Year 10

Examinations Year 10

Examinations

Athletics

Carnival

HSC Business

Studies Study

Day

Year 10

Examinations

WE

EK