December 16, 2022 | updates

Term 4: Update 3

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

December 16, 2022

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EMBRACING YOUNG PEOPLE’S CURIOSITY

Update from the Principal

2022 began with our first cohort of Year 7 students and concluded with the graduation of our very first Year 12 students. Adelaide Botanic High School reached a significant milestone in its development to become a complete school featuring all year levels. This achievement and the exceptional achievement of so many of our students, in such a varied range of pursuits, has exceeded even the wild dreams of the team who planned for the opening of a brand-new school.

Success can bring with it significant challenges but in this case ones we are happy to embrace. As a new school, ABHS has already cemented its place in the educational landscape as a significant school of choice with enrolments exceeding places. The need to increase school capacity has come far earlier than anticipated and the construction of our new school extension is now well underway with completion due in January 2024. I will share more about the exciting spaces and opportunities for our students early in the new year.

We are also excited to share that the huge number of students achieving success this year has really challenged us to find a space large enough to celebrate these achievements, which is a good thing. The University of Adelaide Braggs Theatre was packed to capacity at our recent ‘Learning Awards Ceremony’ as families joined the students being presented with Excellence in Learning and High Achievement in Learning Awards, along with a number of special awards. We are already on the hunt for a much larger venue for next year!

With just under 200 students receiving high level awards, it highlights that the excellence aspect of our DNA is thriving at Adelaide Botanic. The recipients of these awards can be found further down in this Update.

I’d like to share with you data that highlights excellence is a reality at our school with 90% of our student grades being A’s, B’s, and C’s, along with 63% of our students achieving A and B grades overall for the year. These percentages continue to be reflective of our goal to support every student to achieve success.

Last year 5,587 positive recognitions were issued to students, which we thought was impressive and as I stated at the end of last year, it would it be amazing if we could double that in 2022; an ambitious goal that I am happy to report we have got so close to achieving with 9,185 positive recognitions this year.

I would like to thank and acknowledge the whole staff team who go above and beyond every day for our young people. Their care, dedication, and willingness to always explore better ways of supporting our students’ learning and wellbeing is so very special. It’s hard and exhausting work but seeing the impact on our students makes it totally worthwhile – but the holiday break just can’t arrive soon enough!

Thank you to all parents and school partners for your support throughout the year; it is very much appreciated. We have loved being able to have you in for a variety of events and at last we can enjoy some of that community feel. Let’s hope 2023 allows us to do more of it!

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas, enjoy the holidays and stay safe.

We look forward to having you back with us soon in 2023.

Alistair on behalf of our whole team

2022 Learning Award Recipients

EXCELLENCE IN LEARNING	HIGH ACHIEVEMENT IN LEARNING
Year 7	Year 9
Lily-Rose E Shaya I Daisy K Senuli K N Sean L Abby M Zara N Surali S Saike S Abigail S	Bahar A M Claude B Amritha C Addison C Sarah C Kieley C Athena D Kavindu D Mia F Arabella G Aiden H Shanza I Eugene K Aaidah M Lila N Lachlan Q Liana R Bastien S Imogen S Andrew T Irfan T Riley W
Year 8	Year 10
Edith A-K Linh B Isaac C Sidney D Kelsey D Samaira G Tilda K Diya M D Alastair M Jasmine P Shana R Soputhyda S Peter W Cate Z	Juan Pablo B Rhoda B Garry B Zac C Tiffany D Lukia G Teleah H Keita H Aivi H Ziggy J Prabul K Jack L Samuel M Mitchell M George P Dinithi R L Chanel S Karndeep S Delta T Wendy T Quang T Samuel W Kieran W
Year 9	Year 11
Isabelle B Lily J Yuvraj M Sandro P Donald T Sucre W Andrew W	Phoebe C Zoe D Mungo F Jason H Mackenzie H Aieshewarrya K Svetlana L Francesca M Grace M Kelly N Blythe S Dorthy S Ren S
Year 10
Finn A Basil B Elliot B Charlotte E Nimratpreet K Mika L Bruce L Andie M Zaid O Ashton R Sharon R Raina R D Bella T
Year 11
Nhi A Torin B Victor Panha C Jasmine C Amelia D Lara D Sofia D Jasmine G Dat H Jay H Jai M Leyla N Mitchell P Ronnie R Olivia T Bill V Tehya W Amy Z
YEAR 12 SUBJECT EXCELLENCE
Amelie B Lily C Kasia C Gautam D Kriti K Paul K Bella L Chloe M Kim M	Jadyn M Elke M Sasha S Isabella S Haralambos S Lily S Jools T Aiko T
MAJOR AWARDS
Flexible Industry Pathway Student of the Year Award William G, Year 12	Australian Defence Force (ADF) Future Innovators Awards Zaid O, Year 10 Jadyn M, Year 12
Lucy Hood MP Kindness Award Sharon R, Year 10	ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership and Teamwork Awards Sharon R, Year 10 Felicity B, Year 12
Olympic Change-Maker Awards Jet J, Year 10 Alyssa O, Year 12	Governor of South Australia – Excellence Award (ABHS 2022 Nominee) Sasha S, Year 12
Rotary Club of Adelaide Parks Community Award Cherie H, Year 12	ABHS All Rounder Award 2022 Kriti K, Year 12
Award for Innovation in Environmental Sustainability, Technology and the Arts Lara D, Year 11

Upcoming Dates - Term 4

Friday 16 December WEEK 9 (Term 4) Years 7-9 last day of school (3pm dismissal)	Monday 30 January 2023 WEEK 1 (Term 1) First day of school for Years 7, 11 and 12
Monday 19 December 2022 - Friday 27 January 2023 School holidays	Tuesday 31 January 2023 WEEK 1 (Term 1) First day of school for Years 8, 9 and 10

Adelaide Botanic High School 2023 Start of Year Times

Recently schools were provided with information regarding a common process for achieving staggered starts for students on their first two days of the 2023 school year.

The benefits of the staggered approach experienced this year were that individual or multiple year level groups could be supported in a targeted way, along with students being able to use a greater range of spaces in the school.

The Plan for Adelaide Botanic High School 2023 Start of Year

The plan for Adelaide Botanic High School 2023 Start of Year has been endorsed and approved by the Governing Council and Education Director.

A reminder will be sent prior to Week 1 of Term 1, 2023.

The school will make arrangements on Monday, 30 January and/or Tuesday, 31 January for students who are not required to attend school on those days, but who may attend as they are at-risk or vulnerable/or their parents are unable to provide care.

Year 10 STEM: Mission to Mars

On November 9th and 16th, students from the Rocket Science and Space classes visited Hamilton Secondary College with teachers, Lauren and Irene, to explore the Mission to Mars program.

At the event students were split up into two teams; “mission control” and “astronauts”. In mission control, students worked together to monitor Mars for any suspicious activity such as dust storms and dangerous radiation levels, while solving some diagnostic problems. This was all happening at the same time as the astronauts were collecting and identifying rock samples. However, due to unexpected events and faulty equipment some crew could not escape an electrical storm in time, causing “the mortality rate [to become] 50%”. After a quick break the teams swapped over and continued their work in mission control and the Mars surface. Fortunately, the next crew narrowly escaped a solar flare, surviving their mission.

After lunch the rock samples that were collected during the simulation were explored in closer detail to try to find out more about them, such as what elements they were made of and how they formed. This was done using spectroscopy, microscopes and counting the rock’s radioactive decay traces before finally summarizing that many rocks and minerals found on Mars can be used to help construction and habitation. For example, opals can be used to make water as they contain the chemical elements required to make water. Many people also learnt that “there are no metamorphic rocks found on Mars”. This is due to Mars’ inactive geological state. After that it was time to hop back on the bus and return to school.

Many people found the experience “really fun and interesting” and also enjoyed mission control. It is recommended that anyone interested in doing the Mission to Mars experience sign up for Year 10 Rocket Science and Space.

– Kieran (Year 10) on behalf of the class

Quotes

“Mass solar ejection incoming, we better get outta here.” – Callum

“It was really fun and interesting to bring the game of Among Us to life.” – Adelyn

“I thought the Mission to Mars was one of the best examples of how geology can provide answers to complex and ancient problems.” – Irene

Year 7 Civics Leadership Day

In 2022, planning started on a Year 7 Canberra trip to develop student knowledge and skills in civics and citizenship, teamwork and leadership. Unfortunately, this trip was cancelled due to COVID-19 cases and isolation requirements. ABHS worked with the Parliament of Australia to create an alternative local experience for all students who applied for the Canberra trip. Students spent the morning at school participating in a virtual tour and workshop from the Parliament of Australia. Students also engaged in a mock parliament, debating issues including working week hours and banning live exports.

The development of the students’ confidence, leadership and public speaking skills was very impressive. In the afternoon, students worked in teams to complete fun team building activities at Bounce. It was a great day and all students made an excellent impression. It is hoped that the Year 7 Canberra experience will be run in the future and information will be available for families once this is confirmed.

Jenny Hanks and Amy Waters
Global Perspectives Teachers

Daymap and Frog Information

Daymap and Frog will be down for maintenance and, therefore, inaccessible over the December-January break. Early in the new year, the school will advise when Frog and Daymap can be accessed again.

Both Frog and Daymap will have new web addresses (URLs) in the new year. In the short term, website visitors will be redirected to the new sites. It is recommended that you save the new URLs to your favourites when the change becomes active.

After the change

Daymap – Parents

Existing users will be able to use exiting passwords and user names.
App users will need to log of and then log in again.
New users will need o use the forgot password function.

Daymap – Students

Students will be prompted to use their learn link credentials (user name and password used for laptop).
New students will be shown during Week 1.

Frog – Parents

Existing users and new user will be prompted to reset password.

Frog – Students

Students will be promoted to use their LearnLink credentials (user name and password used for laptop).
New students will be shown during Week 1.

If you have any questions please contact the school.

Improving sensory descriptions in narrative writing with VR and Music

This term the Year 8C cohort has been exploring Medieval European History in Global Perspectives.

For one task, students needed to write a narrative that demonstrated their descriptive writing ability and their knowledge of the historical period. To help the students improve their descriptions of the setting we had a session in the VR studio where they used the VR headsets to virtually tour Guilford Castle.

In another lesson, the class was joined by the ABHS Recorder Consort who have been learning some medieval pieces of music. While the students typed their drafts the class listened to the style of music that people would have heard in Europe over a thousand years ago.

Kate Searson and Heath McCallum
Global Perspectives Teachers

Student Free Day: Sharing Practice and Inspiring Learning Design

Term 4 is always a time of reflection on student learning and growth and our own experiences and growth, both as individuals and teams.

This year’s student free day began with Alistair welcoming the staff team and reflecting on the notion of ‘belonging’, and staff were provided an opportunity to reflect on their own ‘wellbeing’.

Throughout the day, teachers presented a variety of workshops for staff to choose from with the goal of sharing practice and inspire learning design for 2023. In between workshops, the day was framed by amazing spotlight sessions on ‘purpose’ and ‘fulfillment’ by special guests Tom Barrett of Dialogic Learning and Dr Anne Knock and Louka Parry of Learning Futures.

Global Perspectives: Water in the World

This term in Global Perspectives, students across Year 7 studied 'Water in the World'.

Learning included developing knowledge and understanding of the way in which water connects and changes places as it moves through environments, strategies to manage the sustainability of water, the economic, cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic value of water for people, including First Nations Australians, and the causes and impacts of hydrological hazards and water scarcity.

Students developed a range of skills such as questioning and researching, using geographical methods to write an information report. To apply their learning, students took action by participating in an excursion to Carrickalinga to be involved in The Forktree Project, a registered charity whose goal is to return a degraded 133-acre former pastoral property back to nature.

As part of this experience, students engaged in design solutions for sustainable water use and management at the property. Activities included planting seedlings in the orchard, painting and restoring nursery tables and weeding the nursery. SA Water also visited the ABHS classrooms to discuss how they look after the state’s water and engaged students in a hands-on water treatment exercise.

Bec Weber
Global Perspectives Teacher, on behalf of the Year 7 teaching team

Chinese Language Award

The annual Chinese Language Teacher’s Association of South Australia (CLTASA) Awards were presented on 2 December at a ceremony which took place at Seymour College.

The ABHS winner for 2022 was Oliver M (Year 9). Oliver was chosen for his efforts in his study and his passion for the Chinese language. He was presented with a certificate and a small prize at the awards ceremony on the evening amongst other winners from schools from across the state.

The school congratulates Oliver on his award and wishes him, and all other learners of Chinese, the best in their continued studies!

Sally Ziniak
Global Perspectives/Chinese Teacher

Year 9 STEM: A Botanical Future

This term in Year 9 STEM, students explored plant science (botany) in the unit, ‘A Botanical Future’.

Students looked at how modern design and infrastructure incorporates botanical spaces, developing their own plant propagation station. Students sampled light intensity and temperature data around the school to decide on the best location for a propagation station to be placed, using both their science and mathematical understanding.

Part of this unit also explored the carbon and water cycles and applied this to the science of how a terrarium works. ABHS was fortunate enough to have Helen and Thomas from Helen’s Mini Worlds come in and run a terrarium workshop with the Year 9s. Each student brought a glass jar and made their own terrarium.

Sylvia Charalambous
STEM Teacher

Year 9 French

In Week 8, Year 9 French students put their French baking skills to the test and made French Sablé Breton cookies. Not only was this a fun way to end the term, but students also learnt about traditional French recipes, which hopefully they can share with their families during the holiday season.

Bon appétit!

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

Big Days Out at Marion Outdoor Pool

In Weeks 8 and 9, students in Years 7-10 went on a Big Day Out to Marion Outdoor Pool to celebrate the end of a successful year.

This provided students with an opportunity to spend some time with their Connect class and teachers. There were excellent examples of team work, respect and kindness which demonstrated the ABHS DNA of Excellence, Community and Curiosity.

“The day provided us with opportunities to talk to different people and spend time with friends. My favourite activity was the speed waterslide. It was also really funny to watch everyone attempting the obstacle course. We had a great day!” – Claire H, Year 8

Jenny Hanks
On behalf of the Student Achievement and Success Team

Maddie W selected to compete for SA at the Australian Junior Track Cycling Competition

Maddie W (pictured far left) at the Triathlon Championships in March

Maddie W (Year 9) has been selected to compete in the SA team at the Australian Junior Track Cycling competition in Brisbane in April.

It caps off a stellar year for Maddie who, in September, took out silver in the women’s Under 17 category at the Australian Cyclocross Championships in Wollongong.

A big congratulations to Maddie on her outstanding achievement!

Find out more here.

Lifestyle Choices: Annual Staff vs Student Sport Tournament

Over the last three weeks of the school year, ABHS has been running its annual Staff versus Students sport tournament.

Students in Years 7-11 have had the opportunity to compete against staff in basketball, volleyball, European handball, futsal, netball, and dodgeball. The atmosphere within the gym has been fantastic and it’s been amazing seeing so many students come out to show their support for their favourite team… The staff, of course!

Well done to everyone in the ABHS community for both competing and spectating the Staff versus Student tournament.

Peter Bouzalas
On behalf of the Lifestyle Choices Team