June 6, 2022 | updates

Term 2: Update 2

Adelaide Botanic High School students engage in learning tasks which are about connecting, creating, communicating, co-ordinating and collaborating.

June 6, 2022

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EMBRACING YOUNG PEOPLE’S CURIOSITY

Update from the Principal

To say 2021 was a very challenging year would be an understatement but despite the challenges, Adelaide Botanic High School experienced many wonderful highlights, successes, and joys. The inaugural Yearbook for 2021 is a fantastic way to share these times and experiences with you, along with it being a keepsake for the future. I commend it to you and hope you enjoy it.

A huge thank you to the students who worked hard on bringing together all the content for the Yearbook – their efforts are very much appreciated.

Alistair on behalf of our whole team

If you wish to purchase a copy of the 2021 ABHS Yearbook it is now available to pre-order via the Qkr! app for $22. Pre-orders will close on Thursday 16 June with expected delivery at the end of Term 2.

Upcoming Dates - Semester 1

Monday 6 June WEEK 6 Year 7 (7A + 7B) DNA Action Day	Wednesday 29 June WEEK 9 Year 10 Drama Performances
Tuesday 7 June WEEK 6 Year 7 (7C + 7D) DNA Action Day	Thursday 30 June WEEK 9 Year 10 Immunisations
Monday 13 June WEEK 7 Queen's Birthday public holiday	Saturday 2 July WEEK 9 Quiz Night Fundraiser for Operation Flinders
Saturday 18 June WEEK 7 Year 11 Drama Performances	Friday 8 July WEEK 10 Last day of term (normal dismissal time)

Upcoming Dates - Semester 2

Thursday 11 August WEEK 3 (Term 3) Student Free Day	Wednesday 30 November WEEK 7 (Term 4) Year 11s finish
Friday 16 September WEEK 8 (Term 3) School Closure Day	Thursday 1 December WEEK 7 (Term 4) Year 10 last day of lessons
Wednesday 2 November WEEK 3 (Term 4) Year 12 Good Luck Breakfast	Friday 2 December WEEK 7 (Term 4) Student Free Day
7-17 November WEEKS 4-5 (Term 4) Stage 2 Exams	5-7 December WEEK 8 (Term 4) Year 10 into Year 11 2023 Transition
16-23 November WEEKS 5-6 (Term 4) Stage 1 Exams	Wednesday 7 December WEEK 8 (Term 4) Year 10s finish
Thursday 24 November WEEK 6 (Term 4) Year 12 Graduation Celebration	Wednesday 7 December WEEK 8 (Term 4) Student Achievement Awards
Friday 25 November WEEK 6 (Term 4) Year 11 last day of lessons	8-9 December WEEK 8 (Term 4) Year 6 into Year 7 2023 Transition
28-30 November WEEK 7 (Term 4) Year 11 into Year 12 2023 Transition	Friday 16 December WEEK 9 (Term 4) Years 7-9 last day of school (3pm dismissal)

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is book-ended by two significant dates – 27th May and 3rd June – the anniversaries of the successful 1967 Referendum and the Mabo High Court land rights decision. It is a significant time where we learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and explore how we can contribute to achieving reconciliation.

To celebrate NRW 2022, Adelaide Botanic High School lit up its LED cube with this year’s NRW’s theme “Be Brave. Make Change” and invited the Aboriginal dance group Dusty Feet Mob from Port Augusta to share an Acknowledgement of Kaurna Country followed by song and dance performances of storytelling, care of Country and celebration of belonging. In addition, we were fortunate to hear from an Aboriginal Elder, his perspectives on reconciliation and what it meant for him personally and for his extended family. He encouraged us to open our hearts and minds to the oldest continuing living culture in the world and learn from First Nations peoples who hold the knowledge to manage and protect Country.

To wrap up the totally engaging event the Dusty Feet Mob performed ‘We are Australian’ where all students and staff learnt a new dance which celebrated the joy of coming together as a diverse but united Australia.

The ABHS warmly thanks the Dusty Feet Mob for supporting our school community to understand and appreciate our shared history and for nurturing the hope for a tomorrow where we can bravely come together to make the vision for reconciliation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples a reality.

Barbara Gillis
Aboriginal Education Leader

Aboriginal Education: Go Scholar Mentoring Day

This year’s Go Scholar Mentoring Day at the University of South Australia, City West, was attended by Year 9 and 10 students, Samuel, Tatum and Ulani.

After a warm welcome, Adam and Michael Goodes yarned with the students about the Reconciliation Week theme, “Be Brave. Make Change.” and what this meant and ‘looked like’ for them. They recalled the challenges they faced as teenagers, uprooted from their family in Adelaide and having to survive in the big city of Sydney. Mobile phones were not around at that time and Michael described his tearful phone calls home to him Mum pleading to return home; in the end she just had to hang up on him! It was tough love.

A delicious morning tea of fruit and scones were provided before students ventured into the Art workshops: Aboriginal dance, boomerang making and creating a raffia skirt. These were fun, interactive, and collaborative workshops facilitated by UniSA’s Wirringka Student Services, who promote a culture of leadership and community responsibility.

After a lunch of healthy sandwiches and hot rolls, Mark Hess, the Head of Scholarships for the Go Foundation, introduced students to Career Market guest speakers who talked about work and training opportunities and the commitment and passion needed to succeed. Students were able to ask questions and draw on the panels’ collective experience to clarify issues of mental health, work/life balance and how to nurture self-determination.

A wonderful day was had by all.

When leaving, students were gifted the book ‘Somebody’s Land’, written by Adam Goodes, to take home with them as a reminder to be proud and strong in their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to “be brave and make change”.

Barbara Gillis
Aboriginal Education Teacher

Student-Free Day - Staff Professional Learning

Some students asked, “why a Tuesday?”. The answer is to balance the days of the week missed due to public holidays, often on Mondays or Fridays, so that students don’t miss more of certain classes over the year than others.

For staff it was a nice way to break up the week and stop and think. The day’s theme for professional learning was Challenge of Practice. Part of Our Charter is for staff, teachers and SSOs to set goals that challenge themselves to reflect, seek harder and collaborate with others.

Alistair set the scene in the morning by challenging staff to set goals that are aspirational, inspirational, or transformational, for themselves, others, or wider school practices. Teachers chose a workshop to develop skills in high impact teaching strategies to inspire new challenges of practice based on Wellbeing, Learning Design or Pedagogical Practices.

An interesting workshop was run on Learner Agency and Metacognition, sparking conversations between teachers about what this looks like at ABHS, in class and as a common understanding across the school. The value of these days for professional conversation, learning and improvement is immense and rewarding.

Quiz Night Fundraiser for Operation Flinders

Adelaide Botanic High School are excited to host a QUIZ NIGHT with Rachel Sanderson on Saturday 2 July.
The event will raise funds to sponsor ABHS students to participate in Operation Flinders.

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE!

Any donations from families that can be used as prizes will be gratefully accepted. These can include business vouchers, wine, experiences, products for gift baskets etc. We look forward to working with donors to promote their businesses at the event. If you are able to assist, please email ABHS.General310@schools.sa.edu.au or drop off any items directly to the school.

Get a table together and enjoy a fun-filled Quiz Night!

Please note, as this is a licensed event U18s are not permitted.

Tickets and event info

Winter Uniform

Thank you to all families who have planned for the inevitable cool and wet weather that is fast approaching by purchasing winter uniform items. If you have not already done so, please organise to have appropriate items such as the school jumper, jacket and puffer jacket ready so that all students are in full uniform travelling to and from school, as well as at school. Students will be reminded of the uniform expectations in Connect Class. These reminders will include reiteration that all outerwear must be official school uniform and that students are not to wear visible long sleeve tops underneath short sleeved uniform items.

Year 12 student, Max, shares his hopes for equal opportunity

ABHS student Max P has been selected as a member of the South Australian 2022 Student Representative Council for the South Australian Government.

On Friday 13 May, Max attended the first statewide SRC summit initiated by the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly. The SRC summit is an opportunity for student members to have a voice in policy and decision making – led by young people themselves. This event was held at the Adelaide Festival Centre and was attended by local MPs and 166 students who were eager to share their ideas, hopes for the future and challenges faced by today’s youth. The student members that attended the event were between Years 10-12 from across the state.

Max shared his hopes for the future which were based around equal opportunity for all.

Georgina Funes and Ali McLarty
Inclusive Education Teachers

STEM Academy River Revival Workshop

This term in Year 9 STEM, students are exploring the unit, "River Revival: How can we restore the River Torrens?".

In Week 3, ABHS students went to the University of Adelaide to participate in a STEM Academy where students were told about how waterways are impacted by environmental disasters and the importance of water filtration during this time. Their challenge was to design their own water filtration system that could be used in an environmental disaster.

In science, students investigated the chemistry of water and why water is really, really weird. For example, water shouldn’t be a liquid at room temperature and it also expands when it freezes, becoming less dense as a solid than in liquid state. Students conducted a polar water experiment where they generated static electric charge using a cloth and rod. They put this near a water stream and watched the water bend. This observation was connected to the polar properties of individual water molecules and their ability to interact with an electric field. This work will lead on to a more detailed study of chemistry, including atomic theory and chemical reactions.

In the technology classes, students have worked in teams to apply their science and mathematics understanding to design, build and test a water filter system. Their filter was used to clean contaminated water. Some of the materials used included sand, charcoal and coconut fibre. Students are currently building prototypes and testing their water samples with microscopes to see how well their water filters have worked. Upon completion of their filter, students will work on redesigning the river system from King William Road to the weir in response to a complete removal of the weir structure. They will landscape and select living and non-living components to include in their design based on fluid dynamics and recreational needs, all while restoring this area to promote native flora and fauna species.

In mathematics, students explored the dissolved and suspended impurities contained in water. They applied their understanding of scientific notation to commonly found particulates and bacteria found in water to order them in ascending order. Students will also be exploring how efficient their water filters are by applying their understanding of linear equations and rate.

Sylvia Saad, Craig Perkins and Soraia Alfred
STEM Teachers

The Arts: Year 10 and Year 11 Drama

The end of Term 2 will provide a range of performance opportunities for students to take part in. The Year 10 Drama class has been working with the text Alice in Wonderland to create a reimagining that explores the pressures to perform and be “perfect” and if there is another way to go through life in this mad world.

The Year 11s have been exploring the unfortunate tale of an event that occurred in a school lavatory. The group have been expertly led through what could be a simple and traditional script to innovate and utilise technology to enhance the telling of the tale.

Performances

Year 11
Saturday 18 June
4pm and 8pm

Tickets will be available via Qkr!
Run time 45 mins-1 hour

Year 10
Wednesday 29 June
4:30pm and 7pm

Tickets will be available via Qkr!
Run time 45 mins-1 hour

Jayan Mace and Blair Breeding
The Arts Teachers

Year 11 Visual Arts: An Artist Today

Year 11 students were exceptionally lucky to experience a portraiture workshop at the Adelaide Central School of Arts with renowned Adelaide artist, Ruby Chew.

The morning was filled with scaffolded skills tasks such as facets of the face and mixing skin tones with oil paints. This prepared the students for their afternoon session where they created a portraiture study in full colour from a live model. The students did extremely well and created some very successful outcomes. Opportunities such as this will continue being provided for Year 10-12 classes as they are valuable experiences for students to place themselves as authentic contemporary artists.

You can learn more about Ruby Chew here.

Exploring the study options for extra curricular experiences at the Adelaide Central School of Arts is highly recommended if your child is looking to extend and develop their skills in addition to their school curriculum.

Trish Larkin
The Arts Leader

Study Options

Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition

On Saturday 14 May, Year 11 student Olivia competed in the Rostrum Voice of Youth competition at Immanuel College. She had to present an eight-minute prepared speech on the topic of “Error of Judgment”. She spoke about the government ignoring the voice of young people on environmental action.

For the three-minute short notice speech that Olivia also had to present she chose the topic, “A Step too Far”, with a focus on recent allegations of rape and bullying in parliament.

Olivia won her heat and is now in the semi finals for the SA/NT region.

Jean Rogers
Global Perspectives Leader

Year 9 French

2022 Alliance Française French Film Festival ~ Screening of 'Le Tresor du Petit Nicolas'

As part of Year 9 French, students visited Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas on Thursday 19 May and participated in the 2022 Alliance Française French Film Festival. Students attended a private screening of ‘Le Tresor du Petit Nicolas’ (Little Nicholas’ Treasure), which captures the magic of childhood and the values of both family and true friendship.

Prior to the film, Alliance Française provided a booklet with French activities that correspond with the film which assisted students with French listening and reading comprehension.

The students were asked to share their thoughts about the film and two testimonials have been included below.

I thought that the Alliance Française Film Festival was an amazing learning opportunity for the Year 9 French classes. I found that watching the film in French was a great way to pick up on vocabulary that I did not know prior to the movie, such as “Les Betises” meaning “Monkey Business”, or “Le Révillon” meaning “Christmas Eve Dinner”. The movie was full of loveable characters and it had a fun plot, full of treasure hunts and exciting cosmic occurrences. I found that it really highlighted the beauty of friendships that last a lifetime. I know that myself and all of my classmates enjoyed the film and, if given the chance, I would love to experience it again. C’était fantastique! – Lily J

We went to see ‘Le Trésor du Petit Nicolas’. I loved the movie, in the end the movie was heart-warming, sentimental and funny. I really enjoyed it. J’ai vraiment aimé ça! In the end all of Nicolas’ friends gathered and watched the solar eclipse. It was so sweet to see all of them doing something together and then in the end, when they were all grown up, they brought their sons to the same place to watch the solar eclipse again. I loved that part of the movie and hope I get to do something like that. – Sally G

Cordialement,

Amy Gray, Matilde Wiese and Tania Zebian
Year 9 French Team

School Sport SA Swimming Championship

On Friday 27 May, Adelaide Botanic High School participated in the E grade School Sport Swimming Championships held at the SA Aquatic Centre, Marion.

A slightly smaller team than previous years took to the pool to see if the results of 2021 could be bettered. Throughout the day students participated to the best of their ability, being amazing representatives for ABHS.

Performances of note include the following students who finished in first place for their events:

Phoenix T – U13 Backstroke
Nixon E – U16 Backstroke
Induith J – U14 Breaststroke
Eugene K – U15 Breaststroke
Bardia S – Open Breaststroke
Mack D – Open Freestyle
Eugene K – U15 Freestyle
Bardia, Ethan, Nixon and Mack – Boys Open Medley Relay
Eugene, Ethan, Bardia and Nixon – Boys Open 4x50m Relay

Overall, ABHS finished 6th in the combined section with the boys’ team finishing 4th and the girls’ team finishing 8th. A special mention must go to volunteers, Ashton and Chloe, for their invaluable support with timing duties on the day.

Congratulations to the swimming team for their impressive efforts – they made the school proud. The team members were: Ethan S, Alyssa O, Bardia S, Mack D, Eugene K, Nixon E, Ella W, Emma H, Induith J, Sean M, Deniz S, Emma C, Ollie B, Saanvi M and Phoenix T.

Everyone is looking forward to seeing how much more ABHS can improve in 2023!

Kylie Trenorden
Lifestyle Choices Leader

Knockout Futsal

On Thursday 19 May, Year 11 and 12 boys and girls (together with some Year 9 and 10 girls) attended the ARC Campbelltown to compete in the first round of Knockout Futsal.

Although the boys’ team played with intensity throughout the day, they didn’t get over the line this time. However, they displayed excellent sportsmanship.

The girls’ team had a successful day and worked as a collective unit leading to four wins and a draw. This, in turn, led them to finish in first place, seeing them through to the finals in Week 7.

Well done to both teams with a special mention to the Year 9 and 10 girls – Piper, Chanel and Issey – who played in the Year 11 and 12 age group. Go Botanic!

Sophia Ialeggio
Lifestyle Choices Teacher