Senior & STEM Learning Centre (SLC) update

In the last couple of weeks, staff members have been touring the SLC. All staff who have been inside the new building are very excited about teaching inside this amazing new learning space. In the next week or so student leaders will have the opportunity to look inside the SLC.
Please see some photos of the spaces.

We are completing lots of minor works to the school in the next year or two. This will include some outdoor sports and recreation spaces for Middle School students. A survey has gone out to Middle School students to hear their voice. By the end of the year we will have made some firm decisions and plan to build these sport and recreation spaces at a time in 2024 that will minimise the impact on learning and wellbeing.

2024 Student Dress Code

At the end of November, School Council will ratify the 2024 Dress Code. In early December I will distribute the Dress Code to the school community. School Council listened to all the school community’s feedback and comments and as a result some important changes will be made, which include:

• Students will be able to wear the school’s PE uniform on any school day.
• From 2024, students can only wear the school’s tracksuit pants (purchase from Buxwear) Other black tracksuits will not be permitted. If students do not wish to wear the school tracksuit pants they have several options and include wearing:
  • the school PE shorts
  • the regular school uniform (and changing to the PE uniform before PE)
• There will be subtle and important changes to hair colour.
• A school raincoat will be made available to purchase. More information will be available in early December.

There was some feedback about some students feeling cold. Coldness will vary from student to student and the School Council believes that students have a variety of different school options that they can wear. For example, if a student feels cold in the tracksuit during winter they could either wear the grey school pants or the winter skirt with stockings. Students are also welcome to wear thermals underneath the uniform as long as they cannot be seen.

2024 Contributions

Parent/carer contributions are critical to the development and enhancement of exciting and engaging opportunities for all students.

The School Council has carefully evaluated the existing contributions structure and made important changes after discussions with the school community. At the end of October, the School Council endorsed the changes to the contributions structure.

The 2024 contributions have now been published to parents/carers on Compass. This will ensure parents/carers understand where their contributions are going. I thank parents/carers in advance for making a contribution to your child’s education.

Parents/carers should reach out to the General Office for further clarification.

Ian Van Schie
Principal

KIOSC STEM Decathlon

Year 7/8 Technology – KIOSC

Year 7/8 PE

Year 7 -10 Food Technology

Year 9/10 Outdoor Ed – Surfing

VCAA Examinations

The VCAA examinations are now finished. It has been wonderful to witness all of our students arriving prepared for their examinations and ready to demonstrate their learning.

As students await their results, we encourage them to take the time to reflect on the lessons that they have learned throughout their schooling. Education is measured by more than an ATAR. At Fairhills we aim to nurture young people to be ready to take their place in the world, act responsibly, build relationships and show respect. We firmly believe that every student can experience success and go on to graduate as a responsible, resilient and confident young adult, well prepared to take charge of their future and to become a productive member of the community. This is the Fairhills way!

Year 10 & 11 November Examinations

Year 11 students completed their exams on Friday November. The exams gave our Year 11 VCE students the opportunity to practice their exam technique and ‘get a feel’ for what the VCAA exams will be like for them in 2024. We wish all our Year 11 VCE students the very best as they await their results.

Year 10 examinations take place on Monday 20 November and Tuesday 21 November for English, Maths, Science and Humanities. Regular classes will resume on Wednesday 22 November. Students are permitted to leave the school after their last examination for the day. Students and parents are advised to refer to the Exam Compass post for more detailed information regarding exams. We wish all of our students the best with their study and preparation.

2024 Year 12 Ready, Set Go program

On Thursday 23 and Friday 24 November, our current Year 11 students will attend the ‘Ready, Set, Go’ Program. School staff and guest speakers will be delivering a range of engaging wellbeing and study skills sessions over the two days. There will be a pizza lunch provided on Thursday 23 November.

2024 Headstart Program (Monday 27 November – Friday 8 December)

On Monday 27 November our whole school 2024 Headstart program commences. All students at the school will be following their Term 1 2024 timetable for two weeks. This program provides our current Year 10 students with the opportunity to get a ‘Headstart’ on either their Year 11 VCE subjects, or their Year 11 VCE VM course. Likewise, our current Year 11 students will attend either their Year 12 VCE subjects, or their Year 12 VCE VM classes. This program is a great opportunity for our senior students to gain a real sense of their classes for 2024. We wish all students the very best for their Headstart program and the remainder of 2023.

Bill Exton
Senior School Assistant Principal

School Tours

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

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

2023 Term Dates

General Office

The General Office hours are: 8.00am-4.00pm

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.

State Schools’ Relief

State Schools’ Relief provides support to any Victorian student attending a government school, on the advice of the school.

Schools are able to submit an application whenever they believe there is a need to support a student whose family/carers are facing difficulty in providing the appropriate uniform, footwear or educational items for attending school and a travel pass.

Situations include, but are not limited to:

• Unemployment
• Health issues/illness
• Financial difficulties
• Independent living and/or homelessness
• Natural disasters, house fires
• Bereavement
• Domestic violence

If you need assistance please email the school at fairhills.hs@education.vic.gov.au. Please outline your circumstance and what support is required (uniform/clothing educational items) and we will be in contact with you to advise what is available.

Please note that all requests are treated in confidence.

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.  Any students without consent/payment after this date will be removed from the event and will not be able 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.

Students 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 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.

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.

Parent Carpark – pick up and drop off

If you drop/pick up your children please ensure you:

• use the Parent Car Park – not the staff/guest car park, except for those with a disability parking permit
• pull into a parent parking spot to let your child out/pick them up
• when exiting turn left onto Scoresby road (as per the sign)

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 2023 Fairhills High School Student Dress Code

Sustainable School Shop

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

You can also find the following items:

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

2023 Bell Times

Two different bell times run during the week:

• Monday, Wednesday and Friday
• Tuesday and Thursday (includes House Group)

2023 Team Leaders

BookTok

BookTok is the corner of TikTok where book lovers share thoughts and reviews about the books they love — and the books they don’t. No matter what genres you enjoy reading, BookTok is always a place you can find your next read. Here are some of BookTok’s recommendations that we have in our School Library. Come and see!

Throne of Glass Series

In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not come to kill him. She has come to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King’s Champion.

Heartstopper Series

A happy, romantic, uplifting graphic novel series that focuses on Nick and Charlie who discover that their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love. The author Alice Oseman has a number of fiction titles that also feature on the BookTok ‘to read’ list

The Summer I Turned Pretty

A trilogy of young adult romance novels focusing on Isabel “Belly” Conklin and the summers she spends at Cousins Beach with her mother and older brother, along with her mother’s lifelong best friend and her sons. As the summer seasons pass, Belly has to choose between two brothers who love her…and she’ll have to break one of their hearts.

The Inheritance Games Series

Avery only has one plan- keep her head down, win a scholarship and work for a better future, that is until an eccentric billionaire dies, and leaves her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why. Suddenly she must move into the secret passage filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the billionaire’s love of puzzles, riddles and codes. On top of that, Avery must share the mansion with all his surviving relatives – a family hell-bent on discovering how she got ‘their’ money. Soon Avery finds herself embroiled in a game with four brothers, generations in the making and everyone in the Hawthorne family is playing.

Heather Kirby

Library Co-ordinator

Accessing support through Wellbeing – Students

• Individual short term counselling, psychoeducation and skills development
• group programs
• referrals to external support agencies.
• students may also be encouraged to access self-help strategies or resources.

What’s on in Wellbeing?

Accessing Support – Families

What’s on

Clothing Support – Thread Together

Breakfast Club

Food support for families in need

External food support options

Cybersecurity: Resources

• Setting up parental controls
• Digital technologies and mental health
• Cyberbullying and online drama
• Online sexual harassment and image-based abuse

Parentzone Eastern – Parenting Solo program

• Feel more supported as a sole parent?
• Learn strategies to help your child cope with change and stress in life?
• Set boundaries on challenging behaviors while still maintaining a positive relationship with your child?
• Connect with other sole parents living in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs?

• Each Thursday for 5 weeks (9 – 30 November 2023)
• Noon – 2pm
• Online via Zoom
• Free for sole parents living in Melbourne’s Eastern region.

Inter Boys SSV

The inter boys played in the SSV tournament at the end of term 3. The Fairhills B side played well all day and each student was able to grow as a player throughout the day. They all played their best and had some fun but, unfortunately missed out on playing the finals. The Fairhills A side played well all day and made it to the Grand Final. Despite the boys efforts they came up short and lost the grand final, however they all tried their best and they each improved as basketball players and had fun.

Year 8 Boys SSV

The year 8 boys played in the SSV tournament at the end of term 3. The Fairhills A and B sides played well all day and each student was able to improve and show growth as a player on the day. They all played their best and had some fun but unfortunately both teams missed out on playing the finals.

Year 7 Boys SSV

The Year 7 boys basketball played in the SSV tournament at the end of term 3. The team won all of their grading matches and advanced into the semi final. The semi final was a very close match and came down to a buzzer beating shot by Lucas Reaper to send the boys into the Grand Final. The boys then played the Grand Final and got off to a fast start and were able to hold on the lead for the rest of match and came out as Premiers!

Heritage College basketball exhibition match

On Wednesday 18 October the year 7/8 basketball boys and girls played against Heritage College in a couple of exhibition matches. Both the Fairhills boys and girls teams were victorious on the day, with all students having an opportunity to improve their basketball skills. We would like to thank Heritage College for the matches and look forward to many more like this in the future.

Australian School Championships

Sunday 26 November sees our two senior teams heading off to Gold Coast to compete in the Australian School Championships. Training has ramped up and players have been counting down the days until the competition begins and we wish both teams the best of luck in all of their games.

Thanks again to iD Signs for their generous Silver Sponsorship!

“Your support not only helps us financially but also motivates us to strive for excellence on and off the court. Thank you ID Signs

www.idsigns.com.au