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Smith's Hill High School

Smith's Hill High School

Promoting excellence in a spirit of trust and cooperation

Telephone02 4229 4266

Emailsmithshill-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Principal's final message for 2020

principalsmessage

There has never been a time, that I can remember, when students, parents and staff reached the end of the school year and indicated that it had been an easy year. Generally, we are all exhausted at this time of the year and 2020 has been no different in that regard. I recognise that this year there have been significant COVID-19 related challenges that we have all had to face, however, I also acknowledge that, year in and year out, the students, parents and staff of Smith’s Hill High School work extremely hard and collaboratively to achieve positive outcomes for our students. That in itself has resulted in our school community successfully navigating periods of uncertainty and providing students with continuity in their learning. As Principal, I am extremely proud of our school community and the way in which everyone has provided support, encouragement, care and thanks in these difficult times.

There were several events during the second half of 2020 that clearly demonstrated our School Values (endeavour, respect, integrity, compassion and harmony) including the Year 12 graduation, R U OK week and NAIDOC week activities. Our Year 9/10 Film and TV class did an outstanding job working with students and staff to produce our first live-streamed event that allowed our Year 12 parents, families and friends to be part of our modified Year 12 graduation event. Student-led initiatives, supported by both students and staff for R U OK and NAIDOC week provided the school community with a range of opportunities to connect, share and support each other that were meaningful and timely. Experiencing these events myself, observing interactions between students, staff and community members was an acute reminder for me of the wonderful school community that we have here at Smith’s Hill High School.

The end of the school year is also a time of change; a time when we begin to prepare for the year ahead and say farewell to some members of staff. We would like to express our gratitude to Miss Hashimoto (Japanese and Italian), Mr Berwick (PDHPE), Ms Unity (Mathematics) and Mrs Jones (Art) for their valuable contributions to our school and wish them all the very best in their new schools.

At the end of every school year, we change the composition of core classes (Years 7 to 10). The purpose of this re-organisation is to develop connections between students across each Year group. All classes 7 to 10 remain intentionally ungraded. We recognise that within the range of student abilities, students demonstrate their potential at unpredictable times and in different ways. As in previous years, students will be informed of their 2021 core classes via the SENTRAL student portal the day before school resumes in 2021 (Thursday 28 January).

With ongoing changes to COVID-19 regulations and the lack of certainty around future activities, we have made the decision to live-stream both our Semester 2 Awards Presentation (Tuesday 15 December) and our Annual School Excellence Presentation Day (Wednesday 10 February 2021). It is our strong preference to have parents, family and friends present to celebrate the wonderful achievements of students and hope to see a return to our regular practices in the near future.

As we come to the end of the school year, I would like to again thank our students, parents and staff for their support of our school. 2020 has been a challenging year and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being felt by many of our families; students and staff alike. I would like to wish you all a happy Christmas and all the very best for the New Year. Stay safe, be kind to each other, remember the positives in life and don’t forget to smile.

David Deitz

Principal