Student Welfare
The P&C has committed funding to assist with the Chatswood High School's student welfare programs.
Student Funding for National/International Events
The P&C provides financial support to students selected to participate in activities at a national or international level. These activities are generally of a sporting or academic nature but other types of activities will also be considered. In order to be considered for such funding:
- Students need to complete the application form.
- They require the support of the Principal and there is a place on the form for the Principal's endorsement.
- There is an expectation that the student will feedback to the P&C how they used the funds.
- Students can apply once in their life at Chatswood High School, a further application may be considered if the student progresses to international representation.
- Each application will be considered on its merit at a P&C Executive meeting. Students will be provided with constructive feedback and assistance if they need to re-submit their application.
- If an external grant is available the student may be directed to that agency.
- Financial support will be no more than $500 per student with a total pool of $5000 allocated per annum.
Chris Stirling Award
In memory of Chris Stirling, this Educational Scholarship is funded by the P&C and awarded at Presentation Day to
A student going from Year 10 into Year 11 at Chatswood High who has dealt with an adversity or challenge that may affect their schoolwork.
Any staff member can nominate any student, the final selection is made by the Year 10 Advisor in consultation with the Welfare Committee.
Mrs Chris Stirling was a parent who was actively involved with Chatswood High School from 1996 to 2003, when she died after a short terminal illness.
Chris joined the CHS community as a new parent in 1996 and was interested in supporting the School in whatever way she could. For the next six years she was an active member of the P&C and the school Publicity Committee. She also accepted the job of Uniform Shop coordinator and used this role as an opportunity to both welcome and encourage new families to participate in the school community. Chris was elected to School Council and in 2000 held the position of School Council President.
Chris loved helping people, especially children, and was a volunteer scribe in the School Certificate and HSC for children with literacy difficulties. She also worked in the canteen and was employed by CHS in the Food Technology area.
In 2001, the year her son Morgan completed the HSC, Chris and husband Kim were awarded lifetime membership of the P&C: an acknowledgment of the outstanding contributions they had made to the school.
Chris’ husband, Kim Stirling, or her son Morgan could be invited to present the scholarship. Otherwise it could be presented by the P&C president.
Local Sporting Champions Grant Program
The Local Sporting Champions Program is an Australian Government initiative designed to provide financial assistance for young people towards the cost of travel, accommodation, uniforms or equipment when competing, coaching or officiating at an official national sporting organisation endorsed state or national sporting championships or a School Sport Australia national championships. Grants of $500 will be available for successful individual applicants, and $3000 for successful team applications.
High Resolves
The P&C has committed funds to run the High Resolves program within Chatswood High School.
The objective of the program is to motivate high school students to view themselves as purposeful global citizens and to acquire the mindsets and skills they will need to lead their communities, and the world, to a brighter future.
The program provides students the opportunity to develop a range of social and leadership skills that will equip them to better manage themselves and lead other people. Some of the core skills expected to be developed from this program include
- Conflict resolution and negotiation - how to handle difficult situations
- Collective action - how to influence groups of people
- Project management - how to effectively and efficiently drive positive change
- Public speaking - how to present to groups of people
- Team dynamics - how to work effectively in a team
Year 8
In 2011, the High Resolves program was introduced to all students in year 8. The Global Citizenship Program involves participation in two full day sessions covering the concepts of
- Collective Identity - the students develop skills that allow them to recognise, critically evaluate and challenge divisive messages, and explore what it means to be a global citizen.
- Justice - the students develop skills that allow them to analyse social situations without bias of self-interest, apply principles of fairness to unjust situations and establish processes that will lead to justice.
Year 9
The Global Leadership Program will be made available to interested students in year 9. Two full day sessions and one half day module cover the concepts of
- Conflict Resolution
- Collective Action
- Project Leadership
In addition, students are involved in a School Action Project to drive some form of improvement within their school environment.
Year 10
Students participate in a half day Advanced Project Leadership module, and a Community Action Project to drive some change in the wider community. Year 10 leaders also assist facilitating the Year 8 Global Citizenship Program.
Christine Smith came to the June 2012 P&C Meeting to report on this program. She thanked the P&C for its support of this valuable program. Click here to see a summary.
Find out more about the program at the High Resolves website.
Sentral - a Student Welfare and Attendance System
The P&C is funding the purchase of a web based integrated welfare system to track and profile students to a cost of $43500. This program will allow the staff to link attendance, timetables, reports, commendations, disciplinary issues and medical alerts. The attendance module is a web based module and as such teachers can mark the rolls electronically and send the data back to the database in the central system. Each student appears on the laptop/ipad equivalent, which will significantly tighten up the monitoring of student whereabouts. Unauthorised absenteeism will be dealt with quickly and parents contacted when students are not where they should be.
Update from Justin Hong at the June 2012 P&C Meeting:
Student attendance is entered into the Sentral system by teaching staff both at roll call and during class lessons. Most teachers use an iPad to do this, which is a huge improvement on the old paper based system. 30 iPads have been purchased for use by the teaching staff for roll taking and to help enhance the teaching and learning experience. The accuracy of the rolls has improved dramatically since the introduction of the Sentral system, and the staff are very appreciative and thankful to the P&C for the new system.
An SMS is sent to the parent if a student is not at roll call. In future the intention is to send messages to parents when a student misses a class lesson. The Sentral system can also be used to indicate when students are out of school uniform. A policy on uniform is currently being developed.