Friday 30 August | Wear it Purple Day
Friday 6 September | School Closure
Friday 27 September | Term 3 concludes
For more Term 3 Calendar dates: download the pdf version here
Dear Parents /Caregivers
The commencement of Term 3 has been positive, with students and educators swiftly resuming their established learning routines.
Student Free Day
The third Student Free Day occurred on the first day of the term and was divided into two distinct sessions. The initial session was facilitated by our Behavior Coach, Ben Kha, along with two of his colleagues, who led a workshop on behaviour management and strategies for engaging with students who present challenging behaviours. In the subsequent session, teachers conducted audits within their respective learning areas, with a focus on task design. This audit aimed to ensure that the tasks offered provide ample opportunities for all students to excel and showcase their learning.
Balaklava Eisteddfod
On Friday, the 2nd of August, our music students travelled to Balaklava to compete at the Balaklava Eisteddfod. Not only did they enjoy themselves, but they also returned with outstanding results. The Concert Band secured first place, and the Stage Band, Choir, and Brass Ensemble received honourable mentions. Congratulations to all the students and Mr. Budd for their exceptional work.
Japanese Study Tour
On Sunday, the 3rd of August, a group of enthusiastic Japanese students from Osaka arrived at our school. The students were warmly welcomed by Ms. Amanda Kampes, the International Students Coordinator, along with their host families. The students spent a week at our school, participating in lessons alongside their designated buddies. On Wednesday, they had the opportunity to visit Adelaide University and the Adelaide Zoo. Although their stay was brief, the students thoroughly enjoyed their experience at our school. We extend our sincere gratitude to the host families for their hospitality and care.
Subject Selection and Student-Led Conferences
This is a friendly reminder that our subject selection and student-led conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, the 20th of August. All students are expected to meet with their homegroup teachers and parents to select their subjects for 2025 and discuss their academic progress and achievements thus far. If you have not yet scheduled a booking, we urge you to do so promptly. This presents a valuable opportunity for parents to engage in their children's educational journey.
Snow Trip
A contingent of 16 students is presently enjoying the snowfields of Mount Hoffman. Reports from Mr. Karl Read, who is accompanying the group, describe the experience as amazing and one that will be remembered for a long time.
Modbury High School’s Careers Day
Ms. Angela Stamati, supported by Dr. Swati Phatak and Mr. David Atterton, has invested considerable effort in planning and organizing the annual Careers Day event, which took place today, Friday the 16th of August. Students had the opportunity to engage with presenters from universities, various industries, and career pathway providers for students with disabilities. It was a highly successful day, with significant student participation.
Ms Costa
Principal
WEAR IT PURPLE DAY is just around the corner so dig out your purple accessories and dress to impress on Friday 30th August!
What is WEAR IT PURPLE DAY?
An opportunity to show support for and celebrate LGBTQIA+ young people and diversity in our community.
Students are invited to wear a splash of purple with their uniform – not a casual day. Socks and other purple accessories are welcome. No need to bring a donation, just show your support with a splash if purple.
More info at - www.wearitpurple.org
On Wednesday 19 June, students from Golden Grove, Highbury and Ardtornish Primary Schools joined Modbury High School participants and mentors in the Modbury Auditorium for the first IM Beginner Band Workshop of 2024.
This workshop was a great success and featured the pieces "Cango Caves” and "Tyrannosaurus Rocks”. Feedback included:
“It was definitely an eye-opener for my students and hopefully will encourage them to challenge themselves a bit harder from now on.”
“... great turn out from parents for the concert - the kids performed well”
Thanks to the following students that mentored on the day:
Rebekah Woolford, Liam, Crystal Hurcombe, Ariah Merrett, Shiraz Berhan, Emily Zhang, Jacob Richter, Scarlett Sachse, Rei Cook, Jack Rose, Luke Haskard, Louie San Gabriel, Ryan Williams, Elsie Zhang, Alex Brandon, Eli Carter, Hamish Hanlin, Liam Horn, Evan Lewis, Hudson Mentha, Joshua Merrett, Connor Montana, Kayla Murphy, Skye Parrish, Riley Parsons, Nicole Shinkfield, Angaddeep Singh, Jayden Taylor
Mrs Moeller
Arts Coordinator
The first training session for the Special Operations Car Wash Program was a great success! The students in Room 8 Special Options class were so enthusiastic and did such a stellar job with washing both a hatchback and sedan. It’s clear that this hands-on experience is not only helping them develop practical skills but also fostering teamwork and individual strengths, and some business acumen.
Their Teacher, Mr Peter, along with SSOs Jeff and Chez, are seeing positive results and are grateful for the support from Modbury High School staff. This collaborative effort is a great example of how community involvement can enhance educational experiences and teach valuable life skills.
Here’s to many more successful car washes and the continued growth of these students’ skills and confidence!
Arved (German Exchange)
The MHS school community is great and one of the reasons why I enjoyed my time in Adelaide so much. Music was the subject I liked the most because we had time to practice our instruments and have fun, which, in Germany, rarely happens in the scheduled lessons. For the last half-year, I have been part of the Concert Band and the Woodwind Ensemble, which I really enjoyed, not only because of the fun when playing my instrument, but also because of the amazing people that I met when being in band and music lessons. While here, I also learned to use a whole new clarinet system, which was hard, but I had lots of help from my peers, my instrumental teachers, and from Mr. Budd. In my opinion, the music program at MHS is great, and I am not really looking forward to going back to my music lessons in Germany because they are mostly theory-based and boring. I hope that they will change it to be like Modbury's soon.
- Arved Grotmaack
It was a pleasure and honour to have Arved join us not only at school, but for music. He showed extensive dedication and passion for band and for his solo practice, which is extremely admirable. He was an amazing addition to our band family, and we wish him well on his way home to Germany. Hopefully our time together will hold wondrous memories forever. We miss him already and hope to see him again soon!
Mia Ly – Year 11 Music Captain
Week 8
Instrumental Music Beginner Band Workshops provide an opportunity for students from adjacent schools to join musical peers in a large ensemble and perform fun and attainable repertoire within a short rehearsal time. Our Music Focus School Brass teacher, Mark Heinjus, lead the organisation of this years’ IM Beginner Band Workshop, held in the MHS during week 8. Approximately 115 students from Golden Grove, Highbury, and Ardtornish Primary Schools, including Modbury HS participants and mentors, were in attendance at the first workshop for 2024 to form a huge beginner band. Parents were entertained by a short performance displaying the Music they managed to learn in such a short time.
Thank you to all staff involved in making the day a success.
IM Staff: Lynn Sheridan, Sharon Burgess, Tom Hart, Robyn Paul, Mark Heinjus.
School Staff: Anne O'Dea (Ardtornish PS), Kirrabelle Lovell (Highbury PS), Michael McConnochie (G. Grove PS), Gareth Budd (MHS).
We are taking almost 50 MHS musicians to the Balaklava Eisteddfod at the end of week 2 as our students debut as first-time competitors in the event. The ABODA contest is coming up in week 4 and our Concert Band and Big Band will be representing the school, with the Concert Band entering the ‘advanced’ section for the first time. Happy practicing!
Mr Budd
Music Teacher
Over two sessions our Year 10 students engaged with presenters from Port Power; Brett Ebert, Ash Saint, Dylan Errington, Amelie Borg, Tim Tuikaba and Goy Lok, to hear Empowered presentations on domestic violence and respectful relationships. Students hear strategies on how to keep themselves safe in a relationship, how to determine if a relationship is respectful or not and, the biggest challenge of all, how to stand up to our friends if we see them being disrespectful to others. As young people it is important to challenge stereotypes that lead to a power imbalance and stop true equality in our world. If we are going to live in a world that is equal and safe for all, we need to pave the way now to develop the people who can make that change so we are truly grateful for Port Power and their presentation on such an important conversation. We invite all parents and caregivers to continue to conversation at home on this topic.
On Thursday, 8th of August, our Year 10 English class had the privilege of hosting four wonderful Japanese exchange students for a lesson. To make their visit both special and memorable, we organised an iconic Australian food ranking activity. Among the foods ranked were Tim Tams, Lamingtons, Twisties, Caramel Koalas, and Milo. Tim Tams came out on top as a favourite amongst our exchange students! With the assistance of our Modbury High students, we then created a small persuasive piece on why their chosen food was the best!
Ms Hoppo
English
Earlier this year when the year 12’s were on retreat, we had the honour of having Ms Freeth and Mrs Botten come talk to us about ideas that centre around wellbeing, with the main focus being “What is your WHY”. This saying allowed the students to look into why they are doing certain things in our life, this can be from the students personal life to school life. After this talk the students had the opportunity to draw on some hexagons, using images, symbols and words to represent who they are. Our hexagons, like the hexagons in honeycomb produced by bees, is a network that creates strength through unity.
Caitlin Fraser, Year 12 student
We believe in a culture of achievement in a respectful and rigorous learning environment
