"the latest"

THANK YOU!

We have to start this update with a big thank you to all the staff that worked tirelessly during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Your efforts to in terms of learning and wellbeing of the the younger members of the THS community was noticed and greatly appreciated.

We also recognise that the efforts did not stop when the lockdown stopped, as adjusting back to face-to-face learning and the impact of the lockdown on wellbeing.

On behalf of the parents of the THS community, thank you!

As part of the thank you, a morning tea was organised for all the teachers and staff, and a coffee truck for an twilight staff develpment session - thes were well recieved with a big thank you back to the P&C!

Observations during COVID-19 Lockdown

In response to the COVID-19 lockdown earlier in the year we assisted in setting up the observations survey @ observations.ths.community

215 Families contributed their unique perspectives which is of great value to the THS community planning processes currently underway.

Welcome / Orientation for New Parents & Students

We are running two welcome days in late January - including uniform fittings, how to use the canteen and stduent opportunites to work inthe canteen - carried out in small group training sessions.

To help with this we have produced an orientation handbook, covering the canteen and the uniform.

together Fund

We continue to support staff development and student well-being via the together fund.

This year $17,500 was invested in the THS community to support teacher professional development in regards to 4Cs expertise, and $13,500 to support a youth worker.

improve.ths

A managed process for community improvement and access to P&C program funding.

We have now consolidated all requests for P&C support into a single process, starting with an online form submission. The process is supported by our General Manager and is forming part of the transformation of the Student Leadership Group - as they get more deeply involved in self-managing their learning environment.

Anyone within the THS community who wants to drive an improvement in regards to one of our programs can submit an application.

It starts @ improve.ths.community...

Example of improve.ths process; The Vacuum Forming Equipment

Graduation Support

Again this year we helped with catering and decorations for the year 12 graduation lunch. All food, including the Graduation Cake and Cupcakes, was produced in the canteen, and our canteen team also organised and set up the spectacular decorations. Well done to our canteen manager Oksun Seo and her wonderful team!!

Our own thankyou's!

We would also like to take this opportunity to everyone that has contributed to the P&C.

And in particular Nahid Kabir in her role as Social Events coodinator and VP and Leigh Hudson as a key contributor to the BSG and he role within the Social Events group -- we had some great trivia nights and hopefully we can again one day soon!

We also thank Jane Alfred & Jenni Hallett for their contributions, particular this year as members of the P&C Exec.

And we thank Simon De Rosa (P&C General Manager) and his team for their work in this challenging year.

2020 got off to a flying start, with record numbers of Year 7s joining the canteen team. Following the lockdown and associated disruptions, we were quite concerned that one of the many impacts of COVID-19 would be a loss of momentum amongst the student team, so it was really pleasing that the team swung straight back into action as if there had never been a break, contributing more to their school community than ever before – a great example of the resilience these students are capable of. We have ended the year with our largest team yet (75 student team members), and have also been focusing on further improving the induction and ongoing training for student team members. As in previous years, authentic learning, and the opportunity for students to develop vocational, leadership and life skills, remains at the core of everything we do at the canteen.

2020 also required some significant changes to operating procedures to ensure we operated in a COVID-Safe manner. There were no changes required to the way we prepare our food, as our standard Food Safety practices cover all the required protocols. However we needed to completely transform the service model, converting from a walk through self service format, to a counter format where students could no longer enter the canteen. Large commercial sliding windowsfitted with safety glass were installed during the holidays at the end of Term 2. Additional procedures such as regular disinfecting throughout the day of all high touch surfaces such as registers and EFTPOS machines, and all student volunteers thoroughly washing their hands prior to staffing the registers, have ensured we have continued uninterrupted service with the highest levels of hygiene. The Canteen has a registered COVID-Safe Plan, and has the formal designation of being a COVID-Safe business.

The change in service format also allowed us an opportunity to conduct a broader review of service processes, with a view to improve service outcomes. The result has been that queueing times have been reduced by 40% from the previous walk through model. This is largely down to a fantastic effort by the student volunteers in the canteen, under the guidance of the canteen manager, Oksun Seo. On day 1 of Term 3, students arrived to find an entirely new method of serving, from the increased focus on hygiene, to having to learn where all food items were and be able to serve 250 students in each service period in as short a time as possible! The Monday of Week 1 was fairly stressful, but by Wednesday they were clearing lines as quickly as the previous term, and by Week 2, queueing times began to steadily reduce.

Term 4 has seen us refocus back to menu additions and improvements. With summer almost here, the focus has been on improving the range of healthy canteen compliant cold treats and drinks, with items such as milkshakes and smoothies on the agenda. Stay tuned for more in 2021!

canteen@ths.community

As a refresher, in 2019 the THS Community carried out a survey and subsequent review process by the Clothing Framework Review Team (CFRT). The CFRT includes students, school staff and parent representatives. Further information on this process can be found here:

clothingframework.ths.community

A number of recommendations came out of the CFRT, with extensive testing of these recommendations being conducted with a selection of students across different genders and year groups. We are pleased that all of these recommendations have now been implemented, including:

1/ The addition of a skirt, girls' shorts and girls' trousers, in addition to the existing kilt

2/ The ability to wear tracksuit jackets on any day, not just when attending sport.

3/ The addition of a black Soft Shell Jacket, as another option for those who don't like the bomber jacket. Some of the reasons this is a popular option are its warmth, as well as the fact it can be easily rolled up and stored in a school bag.

4/ The addition of a V-neck black fleecy jumper/sloppy joe

The implementation of recommendations from the survey are now complete, and provide a much more flexible, modern, practical and comfortable uniform. We are preparing communications collateral for the school to share with all students and parents, which will be based on an extract from the Year 7 welcome pack we have put together for the first time this year. This is expected to be distributed before the end of this year, and will make it easy for all members of our community to quickly and easily understand the range of options available.

Below is a representative email received from a parent providing feedback on the new uniform options:

Hi

I just wanted to say a big congratulations on the new black sweatshirt and track pants WOW - very impressive.

Great to see kids excited and happy to wear so just thought would pass on the praise as fab to see this.

Moving forward, the intention is to survey the school community on a much more regular basis than the current 5 year cycle. We anticipate the next survey and review process will occur in late 2021/early 2022. This will be an opportunity to evaluate the impact of this round of changes, and seek suggestions for further improvements.

uniformshop@ths.community

Library Collaboration Space

The design for the refresh of this collaboration space has been completed; it will enable the specialist content areas within the THS community come together and discuss.

Next steps for construction are underway.

more ...

2020, what a ride!

The year began with an intake of 30 year 7’s, 3 balanced concert bands and 2 stage bands. An international tour was to take place in September, a regional tour in December. We were to take part in the North Shore High Schools Spectacular, defending our title, the City of Sydney Eistedfod, and the Australian School Band and Orchestra Festival. Instead, band camp was abruptly ended midway through March, and by the end of term 1, we were rehearsing online.

The year has been challenging. The uncertainties around health advice has seen the bands allowed back to face to face rehearsals, and then bounced back to being online. This has not suited everyone, and we saw a drop off of students attending rehearsals. The rehearsals, however, did serve to keep everyone connected, to keep in everyone’s mind that band was still on, and our recent return to rehearsals, has seen enthusiastic attendance from all bands.

We have been able to hold our Solo night, or solo afternoon, as it became. A number of students participated in this and it was lovely to see them have a chance to perform. We will also be holding our end of year concert and playing at the Year 7 Orientation.

Mark Barnsley, our conductor for 10 years, has formally resigned after being on extended leave. Mark was responsible for growing the membership of the band program, the instigation of the improvisation class, solo night and the masterclass program. We would like to thank him and wish him well for the future.

There are many people to thank. Jeff Barnsley stepped ably into the breach at short notice when Mark took extended leave. Under Jeff’s leadership, Turramurra High School won the North Shore Schools spectacular, our stage bands have placed in various competitions, as have all of our concert bands. Jeff encourages a lifelong love of playing music, leads by example and has continued to try and foster a feeling of community amongst band members even while face-to-face rehearsals and ensemble playing have not been allowed.

Rose Foster has done an excellent job in running our improvisation classes. This year, as you can imagine, has been challenging, but every week, she has emailed the students a backing track, a recording and a chart for them to improvise and return to her. Her dedication is much appreciated, and we look forward to her continuing involvement in the program in 2021.

We would also like to thank all the members of the committee for their tireless support over this tumultuous year. We would like particularly to thank Juliette Hackett and Wendela Flokstra. Both these wonderful women will leave us this year as their children move on. Their enthusiasm for the helping the band program will be missed. We wish you all the best for the future.

Finally, we would like to thank David Arblaster and Doug Sham for their unfailing support for the band program, and patience as we all try to negotiate the various health and department rulings, and get our bands back playing. Doug ‘s enthusiasm has enabled us to run the solo afternoon and has also provided some performance opportunities for some of our students.

Onwards and upwards towards 2021!

Louise & Jane, bsgpresident@ths.community

We are still very keen to work on building up the social events within the THS Community, but obviously the impact of COVID-19 has put a hold on it.

We will start to refocus on it in 2021... so if you want to get involved in building the framework and structures for social events in the future, please let us know.

Financials & Operation

2020 is all about continuing the investment in the THS learning community, guided by the environment natural/built spaces Master Plans.

Generally we continue with a healthy financial position, with funds in the bank, parent contributions and funds from our community run businesses (Canteen and Uniform Shop) and some tax-payer funded contributions from our state government.

With the new General Manager role now responsible for the operations of the community run businesses (including compliance and HR), the support groups are re-shaping to be advisory/mentoring focused; leveraging the parent expertise within the THS community to best support an authentic student-lead community

Budget for 2021

Most Likely to Succeed movie

If you have not watched this yet... add it to your summer watch list! To aid with transformative learning initiatives at THS, we have purchased the Most Likely To Succeed film using the THS P&C together fund.

More about the film