What’s happening at Findon High School?

Term 4 is an opportunity to come together with our new Year 7 families, to welcome them to Findon High School.

A parent information evening was held to find out more about what transition to secondary school looks like at our school and to unpack the supports that are in place to ensure that every new student is able to be successful as they take this exciting leap!

We were also thrilled to update new members of our school community on the transformational facilities upgrades that are well underway, as well share news of the brand new Technical College which will open up a world of opportunity for this new cohort!

It was fantastic to meet the class of 2028 and we can’t wait for the upcoming Learning Profile Interview evening which will enable us to connect with students and their parents one-on-one to plan for a successful and smooth transition!

We celebrated the Class of 2022 who are nearing the end of their education journey at Findon High School!

A special whole school assembly was held in their honour, an opportunity for our younger students to farewell the Graduates and begin to ponder who they will be as they complete their final year.

Staff and Graduate 2s then enjoyed a pizza lunch, where funny mock-certificates were awarded. The certificates highlight that the relationships built between staff and students at Findon High School are underpinned by respect, but foster a sense of fun. We know our students and they know us – success blossoms from this.

Our Valedictory evening was a chance for the entire school community to come together to celebrate the achievements of our Graduate 2 students. The support provided to students by families plays such a pivotal role in senior-school success, ensuring a nurturing support network that students draw on during their challenging final year.  Congratulations Class of 2022. You’ve made it!

Mr Dissanayake and our year 7 Findon High School Robotics Team participated in the South Australian VEX Robotics IQ Tournament at Pedare Christian College for the very first time this Term. The Team has been working tirelessly at lunchtime to develop their skills in this highly technical and future focused area. Their efforts paid off, coming top 10 out of 34 teams from across the state; they even made the finals!

Our nature play-space has been buzzing with life, laughter and movement since its opening earlier in the year!

Designed and created by play-space experts, Climbing Tree, the play space aims to grow both body and mind by providing a safe space for our students to challenge themselves and step outside their comfort zones. There’s plenty of break-out spaces perfect for a quiet chat as well, ensuring the space encourages the pro-social behaviours that are imperative in establishing positive conditions for learning.

A sustainable approach through the use of re-purposed timber was taken in the design and construction, and the beautiful native garden beds, planted out with species suited to Adelaide’s wester, will flourish for years to come.

Our staff are so proud of it that we couldn’t resist having a turn ourselves!

Created in 2021, this space has evolved to facilitate the integration of First Nation’s history, culture and perspectives into the educational experience of all students and our teachers at Findon High School, and our enthusiastic, determined and cohesive Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) team have led the development. Central to the design of the learning spaces was the creation of a Kaurna shield by First Nations Elder and artist, Jack Buckskin, in the traditional way, cutting the shield shape from the significant native tree encompassed by the circle. Circular seating, utilising re-purposed wood from trees native to the local area was constructed around the tree, with students involved in both the design and construction of this yarning circle.

Use of the outdoor learning space around the scar tree has been ongoing, with students from all learning areas engaging with it as they access the curriculum, with intentionally planned learning about Indigenous perspectives, reinforced by their presence in such a significant space. In 2022, a beautiful mural entitled, ‘Belonging’, and communicating this theme was designed and created in collaboration with was First Nations visual artist, Scott Rathman. The mural forms an important part of our yarning circle space, and is a reminder of the importance we place on celebrating First Nations cultures and histories and creating a school where First Nations, and all students, feel like they belong.

The final stage of the yarning circle space is already underway, with an edible and usable native garden established. The garden will serve as an education hub which will facilitate the integration of First Nation’s history, culture and perspectives into the educational experiences of students in the Western area, and serve as a space for community and school groups to learn about, and celebrate, Indigenous histories and cultures, first hand. Produce from the garden will be used in a range of ways, both within Findon High School and in the community, ensuring its longevity and sustainability

The space enables our school community to understand the importance of the spiritual connection with country that is central to Indigenous culture and to begin to embody the respect for the land that comes with this connection.

Our students have an environmental conscience, and recognise the importance of growing the green canopy within our local area. To take action, students Jack, Sarah and Angela led the #Tree Stories campaign, in collaboration with the City of Charles Sturt Council.

#TreeStories aimed to engage a broad audience in the message that trees are important. The students developed an online competition, asking the school and broader community to share their own #TreeStories via Instagram, capturing a tree important to them in an image, and using a caption to share its significance.

The campaign was launched to the whole school with a tree planting, and an opportunity to create some colourful chalk art, and ran in the lead up to National Trees in Schools Day. Findon High School student, Lachlan’s #TreeStory was the winning entry and he was awarded a special prize for his efforts, as were the members of the student organising team.

The initiative culminated in a major tree planting, with the City of Charles Sturt contributing $2000 of semi-mature trees for students to plant around our school. This activity, held on National Trees in Schools Day on 29^th July, was an opportunity to learn how to plant a healthy tree from the Horticulture experts at council. The team were also on-site to provide assistance with hole digging, and shared their own career stories, inspiring the next generation of Horticulture experts.

You can see the newly planted trees along Drummond Avenue, all the way back to the Athletics shed. We are all excited to watch them grow.

A visit to Tutti, a multi-arts hub for people with a disability marked the end of the year-long ‘Youth Music Night’ Changemaker initiative, led by Intermediate students Rachel Vawser, Karlie Delmenico and Charlotte Corcoran. The girls worked alongside the City of Charles Sturt Council’s Community Youth Development Lead, Cathy O’Loughlin to turn their vision of connecting the young people of The City of Charles Sturt through music, to life. In doing so, they raised money to support the important work of Tutti.

Late in 2019, the trio saw an opportunity to do something unique in partnership with Council; they knew that their love and passion for music was shared by many young people of the west, yet a platform to come together to create and share music just wasn’t available. They wanted to create a night of live music, created by young people, for young people and that’s exactly what they did, overcoming enormous challenge in the process with COVID striking not once, but twice.

As they say in the music industry, the show must go on! Karlie, Rachel and Charlotte worked tirelessly to engage local talent and support their preparation, and to promote the event to the local community. The opportunity to perform and be live-streamed in such a unique and professional space with industry quality sound equipment was inspiring for all involved. The experience offered insight into potential careers in the arts and entertainment industries, event planning and management and publicity and marketing. Most important was the learning that grew from an opportunity to work as an interdependent team led by experts; Council and Findon High School united successfully to harness the enthusiasm of the young people of the west to seize an opportunity to come together through music and make change.

If your child has an innovative idea that will make change for the young people of Findon High School and the City of Charles Sturt, contact Karla Huffa at Karla.Huffa847@schools.sa.edu.au

On September 15^th 2021, our school launched into SA space history as Graduate 1 students Amira and Evelina represented the entire Findon High School community as the winners of the SASAT1 Space Services Mission satellite naming competition. The winning name – Kanyini – was submitted by our Reconciliation Action Plan group. Kanyini is a Pitjantjatjara word that describes the principle of responsibility and unconditional love for all of creation.

The satellite will provide vital data for every-day South Australians, such as assisting farmers to monitor water levels and more accurately predict future crop yields, or offering emergency services personnel greater oversight to monitor, manage and even mitigate emergencies like bushfires.

Findon High School Principal Steve Atsalas said the school was thrilled to have their submission chosen for the SASAT1 Space Services Mission. “The decision to submit this name was one that included all members of our school community and it is a reflection of our school’s commitment to celebrating First Nations cultures and taking active steps towards reconciliation,” Mr Atsalas said. “This new SA satellite named Kanyini can be a symbol that acknowledges how vital the principle of Kanyini is for all humans living on Earth to ensure we care for and take responsibility for our natural resources, as the new satellite will enable us to do, more effectively.”

Our students also had the opportunity to work together with Toolbox Graphic design and APY Lands representatives to create the logo for Kanyini.

Students learnt more about the satellite and what it will do first hand from Mission Director and Aerospace Engineer, Peter Nikoloff. Next there was the opportunity to hear about the word’s significance from the traditional custodians of the word selected by our school in the SASAT1 Satellite Naming Competition, earlier in the year.

Using this information the Toolbox team guided our students in a brainstorm of possible colours, shapes and symbols that captured everything Kanyini represents: the word, and the satellite itself. It wasn’t a simple task, but our students contributed some unique ideas which were reflected in the final logo design.

The face of Findon High School was transformed this year, through the creation of ‘Unity’, a mural that represents a coming together of the City of Charles Sturt Council, artist Nicky Create and the students of Findon High School. As a result of our school’s strong partnership with The Brocas, The City of Charles Sturt Council’s Youth Space, our school received support to create a vibrant example of street art, reflective of the school’s values and identity.

The process was truly collaborative with opportunities for students to reflect upon the advantages of potential design options, their voice central to the decision-making process as they engaged in robust discussion with their peers.

Opportunity for student-led community consultation was offered, with members of the school and broader community voting on the vision for the final design. Through this dialogue, the students learnt that listening is at the heart of the creation of public art as it reflects everyone. The students were engaged to prepare the boards for painting, learning invaluable practical skills and deepening their understanding of art design on a large scale as they worked interdependently, to get the job done. The students contributed to the final design, working with Nicky across the school holidays to bring an idea to life. As the mural took shape the young people of Findon High School’s connection to their school and community grew, as did their understanding of the high level of skill, grit and commitment a mural artist must employ in the creation of their work. 

Students worked closely with professional mural artist Nicky Create throughout the project. Over several weeks, students had the opportunity to reflect upon what was central to their own identities, creating vision boards reflective of the ways their individuality is represented in school culture; how they are an important part of a whole. Two ideas dominated: diversity and unity and these over-arching concepts drove the design that the students, led by Nicky, decided upon.

The mural was officially unveiled at a formal ceremony held on Tuesday 13^th November where all participants were acknowledged for their contribution, including CEO of The City of Charles Sturt Council, Paul Sutton and Mayor, Angela Evans. Martina Rossello and Amira Estefan, both involved in the project, spoke on behalf of the students. Their words reflected their deep personal connection to the mural and a sense of pride stemming from their involvement in the project.

“Being involved in the creation of ‘Unity’ has meant a lot to me. ‘Unity’ means being united; joined as a whole, and I feel more united with my school because I have been a part of it. When I had the chance to create my own vision board and work with Nicky I felt empowered to express what was important to me, in a beautiful way. Seeing the lily that connects me to my Italian heritage on the wall behind me makes me feel like I am truly a part of Findon High School and that who I am matters.” Martina

Learning alongside someone like Nicky has taught me so much about what it means to be creative. She inspired me to take risks, have a go and believe in myself as an artist.  Working with Nicky was an incredible opportunity and one that I will never forget. I hope that this mural unites everyone in our school community and that the people of Findon enjoy it and the story it tells for many years to come.” Amira