School Value – Act Responsibly

On Tuesday November 8 students attended a whole school assembly that focused on our core value Act Responsibly.

At FHS this means that all members of the school community:

• develop high expectations
• follow school rules and expectations
• lead by example
• model positive behaviours
• be honest with yourself and others

I want to focus on the first two behaviours

1. Develop high expectations

There was a famous study that introduced the Pygmalion effect, which states that the expectations that teachers have of students has a significant impact on student outcomes.

Teachers were told that the students in their classes were intellectual bloomers which essentially means ‘gifted students.’. When these students were tested at the end of the year their growth was significantly higher than students from other classes. However, the teachers were surprised to hear that their students were not ‘gifted’ but randomly selected. As the teachers thought they were high ability students they were treated differently and judged as more interesting, curious, happier and more likely to be successful in future years.

Recent research has supported this experiment and found high expectations were an even more powerful influence on learning progress than relevant lessons, strong friendships and a positive attitude to homework. High expectations were particularly powerful for disadvantaged students.

It is the staff’s responsibility to have high expectations of all of our students.

2. Follow school rules and expectations

As a staff we developed professional expectations last year that are linked to our school vision, ‘Inspiring and empowering members of our school community to achieve their full potential in an inclusive and supportive environment.’

We have 40 professional expectations which include:

• Taking time to know each student
• Having high expectations
• Praising effort and determination
• Practicing kindness with all members of our community
• Embracing student-led learning
• Having a deliberate and consistent approach

Like staff (and adults in general) students have expectations that are required to be met and embraced as a member of the Fairhills community.

Act Responsibly expectations include:

• Attendance above 90%
• Wearing the uniform with pride every day
• Being prepared and ready to learn
• Moving, learning and interacting safely
• Following the rules and agreements of all spaces
• Seeking and giving help

Martin Luther King once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Seeking and giving help is not just learning based but also supporting people when they are in a difficult state or situation.

At Fairhills High School we are educating our students to Act Responsibly by becoming Upstanders, so when they ‘see something wrong they will act to make it right.’ It is tough to be an Upstander, but we want to empower the silent majority to not sit idly by when they see something wrong.

“Pride is holding your head up when everyone around you has theirs bowed. Courage is what makes you do it.”― Bryce Courtenay

At the assembly we recognised students who continually demonstrate our core value of Act Responsibly.

2023 Bell Times

At the moment we are examining our bell times for 2023. We have looked at a variety of data and researched other schools to determine the best times to enhance a supportive and orderly learning environment.

Last week a survey went out to parents/carers and students regarding options for bell times.
There were 154 respondents, with 86% being students and 14% parents.

Recess, lunch and finishing times

I would prefer:

The majority of students chose the blue option.

Some reasons stated were:

• It would be a lot easier for people that work after school and for people who catch buses
• I’d rather go home earlier and get more time to study and do school work before I have extracurricular activities
• I would rather have a short recess and lunch and go home early

Approximately 50% of parents chose the orange option.

Some reasons stated were:

• Longer lunch for lunch activities
• An early finishing time would be good but it shouldn’t come at the expense of breaks.
• It is also more restrictive on working parents as there is less hours for us to work and remain supervising our children and keeping them out of mischief and trouble.

Some other feedback included:

• Parent (option red)- I have other children to get from school and early finish will help with that.
• Parent x 3 (option yellow) – should have same finish time everyday
• Student – It would be a lot easier for people that work after school and for people who catch buses
• Student (option yellow) – Consistent finish time aides routines
• Student (option red)- I think the break times are a good length and the end time seems reasonable

I would prefer house groups (twice a week for 15 minutes) to run:

Some feedback included:

• After lunch – Get the hard learning out the way in the morning while students are more focused.
• After lunch – Less productive later in days. House groups great to reset and motivate.
• After lunch – House groups should be a place to debrief and update on coming events.
• After lunch (6) – don’t want it to run into break times/less grumpy/make lunch feel longer
• Before recess – It’s more convenient and I would probably forget if it was before or after lunch

Listen to the bells and choose your favourite option.

Our current bell was overwhelmingly the favourite.

Some feedback included:

• Maybe later but not at this stage
• Both the others are junk
• I will drop out if it isn’t option 2
• maybe louder bells, etc in music rooms is hard to hear.

Transition times
After careful consideration there will be no period transition times in 2023. Therefore, students will not be allowed to return to their lockers between periods 1&2, 3&4 and House group and period 5. Students will be expected to have their required materials (except for PE) for both classes.

Why are we making this change?

• Empower and support students to become more organised
• Minimise risk of negative behaviours occurring
• Due to the sub school set-up walk time to classrooms has been significantly reduced
• The majority of schools do not have transition times

I understand that this will be difficult for some students to begin with but it shouldn’t take long to change habits with support. More information on this will be supplied at the return to school meetings on January 30.

Return to School Interviews

Late November, 2023 Y8-12 parents/carers will be receiving a Return to School Interview email from the school. There will be a booking link in the email parents/carers. This link will be available for a few weeks. After this time parents/carers who have not booked a time will be allocated one.

The mandatory interviews will be held on 30 January 2023, from 11:00am-7:00pm

The key aims of the Return to School Interviews is to:

• Ensure a positive start to the year for students
• Build closer relationships between parents/carers, students and the school
• Provide important 2023 information to parent/carers and students

We look forward to meeting with parents/carers and students on the day.

Ian Van Schie
Principal

Exams have started

As the school is aware the external VCE exams run by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) began a week ago with English. Mr Stokes and I would like to pass on the comments from the team of supervisors running these exams. They would like to commend our students for being on time to exams, polite and cooperative, positive and focused on their work and using the exam time as effectively as possible. Hopefully this approach, along with the many hours of preparation they have put into their revision, will pay off with solid exam results and good study scores.

The Year 11 VCE students begin their exams next week (November 14 to 18) and these results will help to feed into their course selections for 2023. Please note because the Year 12 exams continue in the Performing Arts Centre (PAC) the Year 11 exams this year will be held in the Library. Year 9 and 10 will also have exams beginning on the November 21 until the November 25, and these will be held in the PAC. Students should be using homework time over the next few weeks and begin their preparation and revision.

2023 VCE Start Program

This year we will continue with the introductory program for students moving into their 2023 VCE subjects. Both Year 11 students moving into Year 12, and Year 10 students moving into Year 11 will be involved in these classes for two weeks after their exams are completed. They will be given a timetable of these classes next week.The aim of this program is to introduce students to the course material and requirements of the subject next year, as well as get to know their new teachers. The students will complete some initial assessment work and will be given homework that must be completed before the start of classes next year. Attendance at these classes will be checked at their promotion interviews in the week beginning December 5.

Paul Donaldson
Assistant Principal and Senior School Leader

Mullum VET Cluster Awards 2022

Vocational Education and Training or VET is designed to teach students knowledge and specific practical skills to help them transition into their chosen workplace. VET is applied learning, it’s about doing, and maintains strong links to specific industry areas. VET enables students to gain real experience and understanding of specific work environments. Vet enables students to start on their Industry training as part of the senior program. Delivered at alternative venues VET also builds confidence, independence and resilience. Fairhills is a member of the Mullum VET cluster. Across the cluster over 1200 students enrol in VET programs. Every year the cluster likes to recognise the efforts and talents of VET students. The Mullum VET Cluster awards recognised attitude and effort – Merit award and Excellence – attitude, effort and achieving top marks across their program.

Certificate of Achievement
Jacob Carey
BSB20120 Certificate II in Workplace Skills (With selected units from Certificate III in Business) Year 2

Certificate of Excellence
Bridget Corrochano
CUA20220 Certificate II in Creative Industries (Media) Year 1

Certificate of Excellence
Caitlyn Griffiths
CHC30113 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care(Partial completion) Year 1

Certificate of Excellence
Jack Morris
AUR20720 Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation Year 1

Certificate of Excellence
Felicity Anderson
MSL30118 Certificate III Laboratory Skills Year 2

Certificate of Excellence
Anabella Jaouhari
BSB20120 Certificate II in Workplace Skills (with selected units from Cert III) Year 2

Certificate of Excellence
Taylor-Anne
Misilele BSB20120 Certificate II in Workplace Skills Year 1

Certificate of Achievement
Brayden Kilgour
BSB20120 Certificate II in Workplace Skills Year 1

Certificate of Achievement
Hoang Ngoc Tri (Timmy) Nguyen
AUR20720 Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation Year 1

Year 11 Studio Art

The Year 11 Studio Arts students have put some new work on display for the school community to see. Come take a look at our talented students work both in front of the office and in the gallery space in the foyer on the left before the office area.

FHS Senior Cup

Congratulations to all the Grade 5 & 6 students from our local feeder primary schools who participated in the inaugural FHS Senior Basketball Cup.

In the Senior Boys and Mixed Team division, the winning honours went to Mountain Gate Primary School, 2nd place to Kent Park Primary School and 3rd place to Knox Park Primary School.

In the Senior Girls division, winning honours went to Kent Park Primary, 2nd place to Mountain Gate Primary and 3rd place to Fairhills Primary School.

It was a sensational day enjoyed by all. Special thanks to our Basketball Coach Jesse Harberger and the Fairhills High School students who coordinated the day. We cannot wait to see you all again next year !!

FHS Junior Cup

Yet again the Kent Park Primary school grade 3 and 4 students proved too strong and took out the 1st place honors in the inaugural Fairhills High School Junior Cup. Closely followed in 2nd place was Wattleview Primary school and equal 3rd was Fairhills Primary and Knox Central Primary. Students participated in a range of activities including jailbreak, basketball , team relays and STEM challenges. Congratulations to you all !!!

Silvana La Leggia
Middle School Leader

Year 9-10 Japanese to VCE and Beyond

As part of the listening and speaking assessment students have been writing about a robot they created. The below pieces of work describe the robots in terms of clothing and physical appearance.

Work by Audrey and Fiona.

Year 9 Maths – Trigonometry

The year 9 maths class was connecting mathematical concepts to real life applications. They were using trigonometry to find the height of the goal posts. Students were given measuring tapes and protractors, this challenged their team work and creative thinking skills. Everyone really enjoyed this activity as it highlighted the use of maths in engineering and sports.

School Tours

To book a School Tour go to: https://www.trybooking.com/COXXT

We look forward to welcoming you and showing you around our great school.

2022 Term Dates

2023 Term Dates

2023 School Captains

After an extensive interview process, a staff vote and a peer leader vote our 2023 School Captains have been chosen. Congratulations to Bailey and Felicity on their appointment.

We know they will both represent our school with pride and respect.

2023 Student Leaders

Congratulations also to our Year 11 students who were successful in their applications for student leadership positions next year. We have a great team of leaders and are looking forward to 2023 and seeing everything they are able to achieve together. Students will be focusing on the following portfolio areas. 

• Community Development Leaders – Felicity and Maahira

• Art Leaders – Charlie and Mimi

• Sports Leaders – Jamie and Nikita

• Senior School Leader – Ameisha

• Middle School Leader – Swastika

• STEM Leader – Bailey

• Wellbeing Leader – Brent

2023 Enrolment – Current Students

Details regarding 2023 Enrolment for our current students has been posted on Compass.  Please take the time to read this.

For your reference, please find below booklists for each year level and the 2023 Parent Payments:

Year 7 Booklist

Year 8 Booklist

Year 9 Booklist

Year 10 Booklist

Year 11 & 12 Booklist

Year 11 Calculator Order

Year 7 Parent Payment

Year 8-12 Parent Payment

2023 New Enrolments

Entry into Fairhills High School is available at the start of Semester 1 (February) and Semester 2 (July) and is subject to availability.  If you would like to be considered for entry please complete the online form: https://fairhillshs.vic.edu.au/enrolment/enrolment-enquiry/

2023 Secondary School Immunisation Program catch-ups

Secondary school immunisations are provided to students to reduce their risk of contracting preventable diseases and some cancers. Health advice regarding immunisations recommends students receive the following:

2023 Year 7 

• Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) (one dose)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) (2 doses 6 months apart)

2023 Year 10

• Meningococcal A,C,W,Y (one dose)

Due to COVID-19 related interruptions to school-based learning, there are a number of students in years 7 to 12 who may have missed these important vaccines. This puts students at an increased risk of illness.

If your child missed out on their school-based vaccinations, please speak to your GP or local council immunisation service about how they can catch up.

To check if your child is due for any vaccines, refer to their immunisation history statement on the Australian Immunisation Register, using your MyGov account.

If your child is aged over 14, they may need to access their immunisation history statement themselves, through their own MyGov account or the Medicare mobile app.

2023 Parent Payments

2023 student charges are now listed on Compass under Payment Centre.  Parent payment contributions can be made through this area at any time.

General Office

The General Office hours are: 8.15am-4.15pm

Telephone: 9758 5022
Email: fairhills.hs@education.vic.gov.au

Parents, contractors, visitors and volunteers should always make contact with the General Office first when visiting the school or requiring to make contact with their child.

Appointments with teachers must be made via telephone or email.

Compass

Compass is the communication portal for Fairhills – https://fairhillshs-vic.compass.education/

Parents/carers are provided with log in details. For any questions or trouble logging in please contact the office. Using Compass allows parents/carers to have access to up-to-date information and the following features:

• Monitor attendance, and enter an explanation for absence or lateness
• Communicate with teachers
• Update contact details
• View their child’s timetable and the school calendar
• Monitor homework and assessment tasks
• Download and view semester reports
• Book parent-teacher-student interviews each semester
• Pay and provide consent for events and school contributions

Compass Events / Payment Centre / Course Confirmation

Please check Events regularly as these need to be consented/paid by the due date for your child to attend.  Also check out the Payment Centre and Course Confirmation sections.

Click here for the Compass Parent Guide

Student Absences

If your child will be absent or late due to illness or for any other reason, parents/guardians are able to:

• Mark their absence on Compass / or
• Send an email to the school: fairhills.hs@education.vic.gov.au / or
• Phone the absence hotline on 9758 5022. Leave a message after the prompt. The absence hotline is operational 24hrs a day, 7 days a week for your convenience.

Student’s arriving to school late should report to the General Office to receive a late pass.

If a student is required to leave school early for any reason they should bring a note from their parent/guardian and record this on Compass. All students are required to sign out from the General Office.  If they need to call home, they should come to the office.  Students should not use their mobiles.

COVID

If your child or any family member has COVID, please ring or email the school so we can record their absence accordingly.

Students who are family close contacts, must wear a mask whilst indoors and onsite and test regularly.  If you require RAT tests, please contact the General Office.

Parent Carpark – pick up and drop off

Just a reminder for parents/carers to use the Parent Car Park at pick up and drop off times.  The staff/visitors car park should not be used.

Lunchtime Clubs and Groups

Students have the opportunity to join any of the Clubs and Groups offered during lunchtime.  Details are provided in the link below.  Any suggestions for other lunchtime activities can be forwarded to the wellbeing team.

Click here for Whats on at Lunchtime Club/Groups

Uniform Shop

The purchase of School Uniforms are now through Dandy Schoolwear in Dandenong.

Dandy Schoolwear

Factory 8, 169 Cheltenham Road, Dandenong
(03) 9792 0424

Monday to Friday – 9:00am to 5:00pm
Saturday – 9:30am to 2:00pm

Click here for the Uniform details and  Price List

Click here for the 2022 Fairhills High School Student Dress Code

Sustainable School Shop

Looking to buy or sell secondhand books or uniforms?  Visit: www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au 

You can also find the following items:

• Calculators
• Sporting items
• Musical items
• Electronics & DVD’s
• Stationery

2022 Bell Times

Team Leaders

Asthma / Diabetes / Anaphylaxis / Epilepsy

ASTHMA, DIABETES, ANAPHYLAXIS, EPILEPSY or an ALLERGY management plans are required to be updated and submitted to the school every 12 months. Please ensure you have provided this to the office in the best interest of your child.

If you require any assistance, do not hesitate to contact the office on 03 9758 5022.

Contact Details

If you have changed any of your personal details (phone numbers / address / place of employment) – please email your changes to: fairhills.hs@education.vic.gov.au or phone the office for assistance on 03 9758 5022.  It is important to ensure our records are current. Thank you for your cooperation.

Lunchtime Singing Concert

On Tuesday 18 October, singing students provided lunchtime entertainment outside the Music Centre.

Students thoroughly enjoyed the soiree and it was terrific performance experience for the vocalists – well done to all performers!

Flute Trio at Knox City Shopping Centre

Fairhills High School Flute Trio thoroughly enjoyed playing Christmas Carols in the community space at Knox City Shopping Centre on 26 October. The instrumental music students appreciated the opportunity to entertain the shoppers. It gave the students a sense of pride and privilege to perform carols for the community after a pause for a couple of years due to the pandemic. It was terrific to see the community enjoy the music, especially the younger children! The students entertained patrons, including family and friends who watched and applauded.

Performers – Abby, Aurora and Jack

Upcoming Event

2023 Enrolment

Instrumental Music Enrolment forms for 2023 are being distributed to students. Please return these to the general office to secure your child’s place in the program – especially if you are hiring a school instrument.

“Do whatever needs to be done, so that you can be everything you want to become.” – Unknown

Amal Saleh-Zada| Student Wellbeing Coordinator

Trivia Night

A trivia night for Fathers and Father-Figures with their student(s) in Years 7-12!  Book through trybooking today – https://www.trybooking.com/CDYPV

Elephant Ed

Elephant Ed will visit our Year 7-10 throughout Term 3 and 4 to discuss issues commonly faced by adolescents, including safety, identity, body image, social media, and other issues. They deliver age-appropriate workshops that are tried and tested across all relevant age groups and are mapped to State and National curriculum guidelines. They work towards empowering young people to make informed, positive and safe decisions about sexuality, relationships and growing up.

Lunch Time Groups

Explore, facilitated by Gail, our School Chaplain, is a group for Year 7/8 girls and students who identify as female to connect through games, crafts, activities and discussion. The group will explore themes of friendships, personal strengths, coping and lots more. It runs Tuesdays at lunchtime in the Wellbeing Centre. Interested students can speak to the Year Level Leader or pop in to see Gail on a Monday or Tuesday for more information.

? Squad – our LGBTQ+ group continues to run on Thursday lunchtimes in the Wellbeing Centre and is open to all students. Each term the students attending decide what they would like to do during the weekly lunchtime sessions. Over the year so far we have talked about self care and relaxation, made rainbow bead bracelets, decorated cookies, worked together to create a Pride Month Calendar to raise awareness about gender and sexual diversity, had a karaoke session, shared our favourite LGBTQIA+ friendly books and TV series and continued to build and support a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ students and allies. Curiosity welcome, respect required.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club is held in J2 – (entrance from the Canteen Courtyard) as follows:

• Monday – recess – basic breakfast
• Tuesday – recess – basic breakfast
• Wednesday – before school – basic breakfast
• Thursday – before school – pancakes
• Friday – before school – basic breakfast

Families in need – Internal Food Options

Each fortnight on a Tuesday from 3:10am-3:30am we have available food support for families who may be in need, for whatever reason. We have a selection of frozen meals and pantry items that families can collect from the former school canteen area without question or judgement. We know that access to food can be a real challenge for some families and we feel strongly about supporting the basic needs of our students and families. Watch out for compass posts each fortnight.

Families in need – External Food Options

For families in need please see the following services that support the community:

Student Wellbeing Team

Student Wellbeing Coordinator – Amal Saleh-Zada
Mental Health Practitioner – Peta Cartwright
Chaplain – Gail Ackroyd
University Placement Students: Elli, Kerrie, Sarah and Eliza

Accessing Support through Wellbeing

The Wellbeing Team can assist students in accessing the support they need to navigate challenges that may impact their ability to engage in learning or general feelings of Wellbeing. For example, the Wellbeing Team can engage the student or family in an initial assessment of need, short term counselling or skills development or referrals to external support agencies. Students may also be encouraged to access self-help strategies or resources. We will explore the best options for each student.

We encourage students and/or parents to contact the year level leaders for wellbeing referrals. You can also make an appointment with someone from the Wellbeing Team by attending the Wellbeing Centre or contacting us via email at wellbeing@fairhillshs.vic.edu.au

Teachers who have concerns about a student may also refer them to the Wellbeing Team through their Year Level Coordinator.

If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, please contact kidshelpline or lifeline on the numbers at the bottom of this page.

Support for Families

From time to time most families will need a little extra support to manage the normal challenges of life as well as the more difficult situations that arise. If you are experiencing hardship, stress or circumstances that are impacting on the well being of your family life or your ability to cope, the Wellbeing Team can help to connect you with community services that can provide support. Please contact the Wellbeing Team via the school phone number or via email at wellbeing@fairhillshs.vic.edu.au

Halloween

Q. Why did the Ghost keep coming back to the Library?
A. He went through his books too quickly.

Q. Why did Dracula go to the Library?
A. He wanted to sink his teeth into a good book.

Halloween saw a number of displays in the Library featuring Horror and Spooky stories.

A quicklink to these titles and other Halloween Reads was also made available on our Library OPAC.

Halloween lollypops were given out at recess and lunchtime whilst students played board games. It was wonderful seeing students in their costumes enjoying themselves.

Are you a former Fairhills student?

Sally, our Alumni Program Coordinator has been working hard this year developing a wonderful Alumni program for the school, including:

• Finding and connecting with Fairhills alumni by creating FHS alumni Facebook and LinkedIn groups, (links below).
• Inviting alumni back to school to inspire students about study and career pathways and encourage them to connect with them via the FHS alumni LinkedIn group.
• Creating opportunities for Year 10 students by asking FHS alumni if they can provide work experience placements.
• Inviting alumni to provide support for their old school via sponsoring the school Breakfast Club, Basketball Team or even setting up a student scholarship.

If you are a former student of Fairhills High School, Sally would love to hear from you – please send an email to: alumni@fairhillshs.vic.edu.au

Also, check out our Alumni Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FairhillsHighSchoolKnoxAlumni