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Kirrawee High School

Kirrawee High School

Telephone02 9521 2099

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

Student Engagement Update Term 3

At Kirrawee High School, student engagement refers not only to the extent to which students value their learning and are active participants in their classrooms, but also students’ willingness to work with others, contribute to their school environment and work on improving their own wellbeing.

Student engagement at KHS is supported by wellbeing and learning programs that featured prominently in our school this term. Below is an overview of progress made and future planning for these programs.

Student Leadership

This term saw the SRC, SJC and SEC actively provide opportunities for our school community to come together and celebrate successes as well as raise awareness for important social causes in our community.

Student Leadership structures will undergo a transformation from Term 4 of this year as the Social Justice Council and Student Environmental Council merge as one Student Representative Council (SRC) body. The SRC will now operate as a singular group with three focused divisions established to direct student leadership processes into 2023. The Social Justice, Environment and Wellbeing teams established within the SRC will now be run by our Year 12 Prefects and offers a chance for closer and more sustained collaboration. We congratulate all new members of the SRC and look forward to the exciting contributions to our school community.

Aboriginal Education

Term 3 has seen many exciting projects undertaken by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students under the guidance of Mr Sassine and Karen Armstrong, our Aboriginal Education Officer.

Students have had the exciting opportunity to participate in the Deadly Choices Program over the course of five weeks and our regular Yarning Circles have seen parents and community members join our students in sharing and learning through culture.

 

High Potential and Gifted Education

The High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) program has facilitated a multitude of opportunities for students to extend and develop themselves in their areas of personal interest and talent. This term, students have participated in a range of co-curricular learning opportunities such as the DOVES Council, Debating and Public Speaking, the Bebras and BRAGG Science Competitions and countless Sydney East and CHS sporting events.

KHS’s mentoring program for high potential and gifted students will be expanded in 2023 with plans for mentoring opportunities across the domains of potential being developed. Further details about what this will look like for KHS will be provided in Term 4 of this year. In the meantime, more information about the Department of Education’s policy visit their website

Pulse

At KHS the Pulse App offers a chance for students to actively and frequently reflect on their wellbeing. Each week, students check into the app to identify on how they are feeling, measure their experience of school, seek support from Welfare staff if they need it and take time to give gratitude to their peers or teachers.

Data for Term 3 showed that Year 7 had the most positive experience overall with 8 out of 10 answers reflecting positive feeling at school. Across the school, the greatest positive impact shown was in the area of peer belonging, with over 8 out of 10 answers reflecting a positive sense of identity and culture in terms of social interaction and connectedness at school.

An identified area for improvement reflected in the data, is in relation to students’ ability to manage challenging emotions. Developing student skill in emotional self-regulation has been a central focus for the welfare team this year and will continue to be targeted through planned workshops and year meetings in Term 4 and beyond.

While this data has allowed Year Advisers to plan for the specific needs of their year groups, Term 3, student participation in the Pulse App has been significantly down. Over the course of the next term, a student focus group will be run to garner student perspective and opinion regarding KHS’s use of the Pulse App and consultation with students and staff will be used to determine whether Pulse will be implemented in 2023 and beyond.

 

On behalf of the Student Engagement and Welfare teams, we wish all students and families a safe and happy holiday. We look forward to the promise of an engaging, invigorating, and insightful Term 4!