It has been a fantastic start to the 2026 school year at ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ, with our community embracing the energy and optimism that comes with a new beginning. Our staggered start allowed our R–6 students, Year 7s and Year 12s to settle in smoothly, and there has been a wonderful sense of purpose across the school from the very first day. The Year 12 Summit in Week 1 set a strong tone for our senior students, challenging them to lead with integrity and make the most of every opportunity in their final year. By Week 2, Acquaintance Night and our Welcome Back & High Achievers Assembly brought families together, celebrating achievement while reinforcing our shared commitment to Empower our Community to Thrive.
Across the first three weeks, classrooms have been busy with learning routines being established, relationships strengthened and high expectations set. It has been particularly pleasing to see our students demonstrating our values of Respect, Resilience and Integrity in both the classroom and the yard. Our new Reception students have quickly found their feet, our Year 7 cohort has embraced the move into secondary learning spaces, and our Year 12s have already begun modelling leadership for our younger students.
Staffing
We are also delighted to officially welcome our new staff to the ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ community. Pictured are some of our new team members who have joined us across teaching and ancillary roles.
In our Junior School, we warmly welcome Ms Stacey Eichenberger, our Head of Junior School, Rachael Craig, our Assistant Principal – Junior School and our new Wellbeing Leader in the Junior School, Michelle Lee. We also welcome Mr Harry Garrard to our teaching team.
In the High School, with growing enrolments we’ve needed lot’s of new staff! We welcome Ms Lauren King (Technologies), Mr Will Morphett (Science/Maths), Mr Michael Kelly (Science/Maths), Ms Nicola Beyer (Dance/Psychology), Ms Casey Hole (HPE), Ms Kyla Strydom (HPE) and Ms Mikaela Wells-Sidler (English/HaSS).
We also welcome back Ms Gabrielle Rinaldi in her new role as Head of Middle School, Ms Zoe Finch in her new role as Head of Senior School, and we welcome back from maternity leave, Ms Jo Boots.
In our Ancillary team, we welcome Andy Rutherford (Grounds and Facilities), Bec Pascoe (Home Economics) and Alex Boers, Jack Ingoldby, Issy Vanstone, Jada Grant, Ben Lawrance, Caitlin McNamara, Dylan Chomel, Keyta Stassinopoulos, Megan Hussey, all joining our curriculum team .
We are thrilled to have such a talented and committed group of professionals joining our team, and I know our students will benefit greatly from their experience, enthusiasm and care.
As we head into the coming weeks, with Sports Day fast approaching and NAPLAN on the horizon later this term, we look forward to continuing the strong momentum of these first three weeks. Thank you to our staff, students and families for the positive way you have embraced the year so far. Together, we are building a school culture where every member of our community is supported to learn, grow and thrive.
Year 11 Yoga
Our Year 11’s were prepping for success on day 1 with a group yoga session in the sun.
Lead by Ms Vandyk and Mr Kenny, the session focused on exercises that release stress and tension and relax the mind as they start their Stage 1 subjects!
Receptions Storytime
As is tradition now, Mr Hall visited our newest students in Week 1 for an extra special story time!
Reading a favourite story of his, Mr Hall sat down with the little ones and shared his love of reading! He also delivered their all important library bags to fill with books on their visits to the Resource Centre.
2026 High Welcome Back Assembly
In Week 2 we gathered for the first time in 2026 as a whole school to celebrate our achievements in 2025, set our intentions for 2026 and welcome all the new faces to our community.
Hosted by our new School Captains Anne and Eve, it was a lovely opportunity to welcome all our new staff and students with already a few fan favourites with our teachers but we hope everyone has felt welcome to our community so far.
The Honourable Alex Dighton, Member for Black, joined us and shared some important words of wisdom for the year ahead. He reminded everyone to be kind our peers, be kind to our families and, most importantly, to be kind to ourselves in the challenges that lay ahead.
It was also a chance for us to congratulate our Class of 2025 high achievers and celebrate our 2025 DUX, Adam Greenwood, who shared wisdom from his Year 12 journey and advice for the Class of 2026.
Continuing the celebrations, we congratulated the Volleyball teams who travelled to the Gold Coast in December and brought home more than a few wins and we introduced our 2026 House Captains who will take our teams to Glory in our upcoming Sports Day!
It was lovely to see our community come together and have so much to celebrate form 2025 and so much to look forward to in 2026!
Aquatics
It’s hard to beat a day like today at the beach!
Surfing for our Year 10’s , snorkelling the reef for Year 11’s and amazing conditions, made for an unforgettable Outdoor Ed Aquatics session!
International
In January we excitedly welcomed the first of two groups of new International students to our school community!
Ms Wright led induction activities for 25 new students from Japan, helping them settle in and get to know the school and each other. At the same time, Mr Godoy and Ms Finch warmly welcomed back our Year 12 International students who stayed in Australia over the Christmas break.
We’re thrilled to welcome 65 students from ten different countries to our vibrant ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ community. Your adventure in South Australia starts now, and we can’t wait for you to experience everything this incredible school has to offer.
From splashing into aquatics, meeting new students at the welcome party, exploring the city on exciting excursions, hearing about the life journey of prominent Australians to diving into your brand new Australian subjects—there’s so much ahead for you to enjoy.
We hope you make unforgettable memories, form lifelong friendships, and feel right at home here. Here’s to an amazing journey and a fantastic year ahead!
Student Spotlight
Malika and Volleyball
Current Year 9 student, Malika wrapped up an outstanding year in volleyball with a major achievement, earning an invitation to the National Performance Program (NPP) Junior National Women’s Squad Camp in Toowoomba, QLD. Following the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup, Malika stayed on to attend the camp from 13–18 December 2025, training alongside the nation’s top young talent.
The camp included high-performance training and education with national age-group head coaches, squad coaches and senior national team coaches. As the first camp in the age-group cycle, this experience plays a key role in preparation for the U18 Asian Championships in 2026 and the U16 and U20 Asian Championships in 2027.
“The camp was an amazing experience. I learnt a lot from it and hope to use the knowledge acquired in future opportunities.”
We are incredibly proud of Malika and wish her every success as she continues her volleyball journey in 2026 and beyond!
Tobyand Lacrosse
Year 12 student Toby started playing lacrosse at 12 years old with Brighton Lacrosse Club after being introduced to the sport by his Canadian PE teacher. After only two years, he was selected for the U15 South Australian State Team and travelled to Perth
At 14, Toby was selected for the U18 State Team and travelled to Melbourne, winning the championship. He has since been part of multiple successful U15 and U18 State tournaments in Adelaide, going back-to-back in titles.
At 16, Toby was honoured to represent Australia as the youngest member of the U20 National Team at the World Championships across Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, finishing third overall, and was also selected for the Australian U16 team, representing his country for a second time in South Korea.
Now his head is turned to being a leader of the U18 state team that heads off to Perth in a few months time! Good luck Toby!
Notices
Premier’s Reading Challenge
The Reading Challenge is a literacy engagement program which was introduced by the Premier in 2004.Ìý ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ is again undertaking the Challenge which is a key curriculum strategy to improve literacy skills and promote reading.
Background
The Premier of South Australia is challenging all students from Reception to Year 12 to read 12 books beforeÌýSeptember 4, 2026.
ÌýThe Challenge
R-7 Students
The Challenge is to read, or share in reading, 12 books before September 4, 2026. 8 books need to be from PRC List. The other 4 books can be the student’s own choice.Ìý All 12 books can be chosen from the list and may be in a language other than English at your literacy level.Ìý
Year 8-9 Students
For Years 8-9, 4 books need to be from the PRC List, the other 8 books can be your own choice and can be written in a language other than English at your literacy level.Ìý You can choose all 12 books from the list if you would like to.
Year 10-12 Students
You may choose any 12 books of your own choice at your own literacy level.
The PRC List
The full list of books on the PRC List can be found
Our Resource Centre has a good number of the books on the PRC List but students are also encouraged to use their local public library to discover books they would like to read.
ÌýProcess
The student reading record is also available to download as a PDF from the .
Students from R – 12 can fill in their own forms and get a teacher, parent/caregiver, teacher librarian to initial their form on completion of a title.
Fourth term is a time for celebration when students receive their awards (in late November).
Students who have completed a Reading Challenge in another Australian state or territory can have their previous years’ records acknowledged.
All other information about the Challenge and a student record sheet can be accessed through the Premier’s Reading Challenge website at or Ph: 82262006.Ìý
All completed forms need to be returned to Di Allen Teacher Librarian no later than September 4 2026, forms cannot be accepted at school after this date.
2025 Yearbook
The 2025 Yearbook is still available through the Qkr! App!
You will receieve communication ealry Term 2, when the books arrive at school.
Phone Policy and Yondr Pouches
Thank you to all of our students and families for their support with implementing the South Australian Government ban on mobile phones in schools in 2023.
The use of Yondr pouches at ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ made an immediate impact on phone use and students are happily engaging in learning, during class and at break times.
Your ongoing support with encouraging your child to follow our phone policy is appreciated.
ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ aims to take advantage of the reach and instantaneous nature of social media to communicate with our families.
Social Media
We have long had a regularly updated Facebook page and last year we added Instagram to our media presence. Links to all our pages are included at the bottom of this page.
Along with our main page, we have also created two additional Facebook pages for particular audience members of our community:
- :ÌýTo keep parents and students informed of career information and opportunities through ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ.
- :ÌýTo keep parents, students and the wider community informed about education sessions and educational opportunities, to raise public awareness around the current trends in society and provide information about upcoming events and opportunities.
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Kiss and Drop Areas
When dropping off/picking up your child(ren), please remember that the middle lane (Gledsdale Road Kiss and Drop) and right lane (Sanderson Road Kiss and Drop) should not be used as a waiting/parking lane.
Local councils are often out and about at schools ensuring the community use these spaces safely.
Parents and Friends
​ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ values the contribution of our community and we encourage any of our parents and friend to consider joining the Parents and Friends Group (P&F) in 2024.
The P&F support key functions in the school. Recently, our P&F have held a Sports Day stall, Harmony Day stall, Fun Run and parents are assisting in managing our Street Libraries (outside the Vegetable Garden and Early Years Centre).
Please emailÌýinfo@hcs.sa.edu.auÌýif you are interested in joining P&F and the school will put you in contact with our P&F representative and our Volunteer Coordinator.​
SchoolTV
ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ is pleased to provide SchoolTV to our community. SchoolTV is an all-in-one resource for the community aimed to offer parents a fresh approach to the concerns and pressures faced by Australian children.
SchoolTV is a unique online resource delivering powerful and credible information to empower parents with the skills to address these concerns and raise happy, well and resilient children.
You can access the bank of SchoolTV resources via ourÌýwebsite
​Feedback and Suggestions
As always, should you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can continue to further the quality of experience we offer our community, I welcome your contact via email, phone or in person.
Yours Sincerely,
Tony Hall
Principal