Dear Parents and Caregivers.

After many years of service to the Department of Education and, most recently, as Principal of Clarkson Community High School, John Young has made the decision to retire.

As he will not return to the role of Principal prior to his official retirement date, I have been asked to continue in the role of Principal until the end of Term 3 allowing time for the position to be advertised and filled as a permanent placement.

We wish John well in his retirement.

Year 10 Parent Information Evening

There will be a Year 10 Parent Information evening held in the school library from 5:00pmon Thursday 24 June.

The purpose of this session is to provide information about the offerings available to our Year 11s in 2022, the course selection process, and about the Western Australian Certification of Education (WACE) requirements. Students are welcome to attend with their parents.

Reporting and Parent-Teacher Interviews

As we approach the end of Semester 1, it provides a good opportunity for our students to reflect on their successes in 2021 thus far and to identify areas for development during Semester 2.

Semester 1 student reports will be emailed out on Tuesday 29 June. Please take the time to read through these with your child and to celebrate their achievements and identify where they need to direct their energy moving forward.

The Parent-Teacher Interview evening is scheduled for Thursday 1 July from 3:30-6:30pm (information regarding booking appointments has been communicated). We encourage students to attend these interviews with parents so that they can be a part of the conversation. Student progress is most likely to be achieved when there is a strong relationship between parents, the school, and students.

Semester 2 Focus

Focus 1:

Our focus for Semester 2 will be on attendance and engagement. Attendance below 90% is shown to put students at significant educational risk. We are working with students and families to get students to school every day that they are well enough to attend, and in to class on time and learning when they are here.

We recognise that it can be difficult for parents to make students attend once they are teenagers. Please contact the relevant Deputy Principal (Louise Hall for Years 7, 9, 11 and Adam Inder for Years 8, 10, 12) if you are finding it difficult to get your child to attend school regularly. We are happy to work with you to develop an attendance plan to support student attendance.

Focus 2:

Our second focus is on having students turn their phones off and have them away all day – from siren to siren. Students are welcome to report to Student Services or Main Administration if they have an urgent need to call home. We ask that you support this by not responding to texts and calls from students during the day and reinforcing the expectations in conversations with your child at home.

Uniform

In response to feedback from students and parents, and with the approval of the School Council, a CCHS branded hoodie will be added to the school uniform for 2022. We are in the process of determining which supplier can offer the highest quality product that remains affordable for our community.

Student compliance with the school uniform remains an ongoing challenge and we believe that the addition of the CCHS hoodie will reduce the number of students who are out of uniform and will support the growth of the positive school culture and sense of pride and belonging.

Parents and caregivers play a critical role in supporting the wearing of school uniform. We very much appreciate the efforts of those parents who have ensured that their child has the uniform and that they leave the house wearing it each and every morning.

Languages 2022

All schools are required to offer Languages in Year 7 in 2022 and in Years 7 and 8 in 2023. We have recently appointed Ines Di Benedetto to develop an Italian language course for our incoming Year 7 students.

We have chosen to offer Italian as it is currently taught by the majority of our local intake schools and because it is one of the more accessible languages. Mrs Di Benedetto is looking forward to providing opportunities for students to engage with this rich and vibrant language and culture.

We are looking forward to working our parents, and the broader community, to ensure that our students have a fantastic Semester 2.

Warm regards

Kristy Watson, Principal