Nurturing learning at Alstonville High School – a welcome to year 7 2015

Our Goals - ValuesWe value and support:

A positive, healthy and safe learning environmentRespectful attitudes and actionsDiversityPursuit of personal excellenceService to communityTeam workQuality learning and teachingInitiative, leadership and self discipline

Our Goals - LearningWe value and support students who are:

Life-long learnersCreative and critical thinkersEffective communicatorsSkilled in literacy and numeracyIndependent and organisedCompetent and innovative with technologyEnvironmentally, socially and culturally informedCaring and compassionate

Positive expectations

We nurture a love of learning by focusing on:Developing supportive transition programsInvesting in quality professional learning for all staffStriving to meet the individual needs of all studentsPromoting and modelling high expectationsEncouraging innovation, creativity and higher order thinkingEngaging with communityIntegrating technology effectively

Year 7 at Alstonville HighOur year 7 students will experience:

A comprehensive transition programA broad and challenging curriculumClasses arranged in bands according to abilityAn opportunity to participate in our ACE programA peer support program (including a camp) delivered by trained peer support leadersThe challenge of big ideasTargeted literacy and numeracy programs

Key PeopleKey people who can support you and your child are:

Ken Sharp – Year Adviser for year 7 2015A Deputy Principal will be designated to support the year for year 7 to year 12. Paul Grebert currently has this rolePrincipal – David SilcockSchool Counsellors – Steve Rollinson and Helen NewtonGirls and boys supervisor – Kerri Crethar and Jack LarrescyAdministration staff including Wendy Tolland and Janet FernieLearning Support teacher – Debra ByronHead Teacher Equity – Stephanie O’BrienThe rest of our experienced Executive team

How do we form classes?We look closely at a range of information:

We form classes in bands. Students are in the same core classes. We often have more classes for practical subjects due to smaller class sizes so students can be in different classes for practical subjectsThe number of classes per band can vary year by year depending on the profile of the year groupWe use NAPLAN data, a literacy and numeracy moderating task administered at the end of 2014, and information provided by Primary Schools. We consult closely with Primary schools throughout the process. For students with particular learning or transition needs we also consult with familiesOur year adviser, Head Teacher Equity and Learning Support Teacher, and Deputy Principal coordinate this process.

Enrolment proceduresThere are two basic enrolment processes:

In zone enrolment – if you live in the Alstonville High School enrolment zone and attend a NSW Public Primary school you will be provided with a form by the Primary School which you complete and return to the Primary School. We will contact you during term 2.If you do not live in the Alstonville High School Enrolment zone but you do attend a NSW Public Primary School you will be given the same form as in zone students but you will have to complete and extra section indicating why you want to attend Alstonville High School. When completing this section we would advise you to address the criteria contained in our out of zone enrolment policy (outlined later)If your child attends a private Primary school we would ask you to complete one of the expression of interest forms we have here tonight (and which are on our website) and return them to us. If you live outside of our enrolment zone then you are advised to address our out of zone criteria in your application. We will contact you during term 2 (or possibly term 3 depending on the number of enrolment enquiries)http://www.alstonvill-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/our-school/enrolment

Useful Links and resourcesThere are many useful resources to help you enroll your child in high school:

Contact us by phone or by email and we will answer your queries personallyVisit a P&C meeting and meet with other parentsMake use of the information provided on our school website http://www.alstonvill-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/our-school/enrolment School A to Z contains lots of useful information http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/ Follow us on Twitter @AlstonvilleHSFollow our SRC Facebook pageFollow our Library blog http://alstonvillehslibrary.edublogs.org/

We would love to see you join with us as we nurture a love of learning!

We are a school committed to a process of continuous improvement

We have an experienced, professional, dedicated and compassionate teamWe have high expectationsWe challenge ourselves and our studentsWe have close links with community and familiesWe embrace change when we believe it will benefit our students, we embrace tradition for the same reasonWe have a lovely site, quality resources and a positive school cultureWe are proud of our school and our students – we are proud pf our strong tradition of academic, sporting and cultural achievementWe would love for your family to join with the Alstonville High School family on our journey to nurture a love of learning!