What's On?

A gentle reminder to all families regarding school uniform

School jumpers and hoodies are available for purchase from the uniform shop. Please note that from now on, black jumpers are no longer accepted as part of the uniform for Years 7 to 11. Year 12 students may continue to wear their commemorative jerseys.

Meet & Greet Year 7 parents/carers tonight followed by P&C AGM meeting!

Year 7 parents, don’t forget our Welcome to Year 7 night tonight. This will be a great opportunity to meet some of our dedicated, caring Year 7 teachers in a relaxed way and to know you. Following this event is the AGM for the P&C meeting. We have a wonderful, engaged P&C that is committed to ensuring our students have the best, a great group of volunteers doing great work for all of our students. Please come along and join the team.

Principal’s Annual Report 2025

It is my pleasure to present an overview of our school’s vibrant and dynamic year in 2025. Together, we have continued to foster a culture of respect, responsibility, and learning, nurturing every student’s potential and strengthening our community connections. In July, we bade farewell to Mr Greg Armstrong upon his retirement, which led to my appointment as the permanent Principal. It is an honour and a privilege to continue our school excellence journey. In Term 1, our Step Up transition program for prospective Year 7 students was a tremendous success, supported capably by our 2025 Captain team and staff. Engagement from families and partner primary schools was overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing our strong transition links and leading us to plan to use the hall as the venue for 2026. Students in Year 7 and 9 participated in NAPLAN assessments, with ongoing analysis guiding our teaching strategies and support in the Small Group Tuition Program. The percentage of our Year 7 students achieving proficiency at strong was above State and Statistically Similar School Groups (SSSG), in Numeracy, and those exceeding proficiency, was on par with SSSGs. In both Reading and Writing, our Year 7 students achieved above both state and SSSGs at strong and exceeding levels. In Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation, there is room to develop more students towards the strong and exceeding levels. For our Year 9 students, a focus on Vocabulary in the classroom saw an improvement in the percentage of students achieving at strong and exceeding levels, above both state and SSSGs in Reading and Writing. In Spelling, students achieved above both state and SSSGs at the strong level. Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy are both areas for improvement with this cohort in comparison to both state and SSSGs. Attendance remains a major focus; Overall student attendance in 2025 was 77.6%. This is in comparison to 87.4% at State level. Only 26% of our students attended more than 90% of the time, significantly below regional and NSW averages. We continue to collaborate with families to improve attendance awareness and support, as well as implementing and sustaining a variety of wellbeing initiatives within the school and in collaboration with local youth providers such as the Byron Bay Youth Activity Centre, Byron Youth services and the Mullumbimby District Neighbourhood Centre. Our Aboriginal Education Team worked closely with partner primary schools on Muggi Culture and Friendship days, fostering respect, inclusion, and connection and drawing on the knowledge of our local community elders. One of our students was selected to perform as part of the State Aboriginal Dance Company at Schools Spectacular. The NSW Public Schools Survey provided valuable feedback, indicating areas for growth in student motivation, sense of belonging, and agency, which we aim to address collaboratively. These results along with the work of the P&C in engaging with the Mullumbimby District Neighbourhood Centre Community Conversations have led to the school engaging with MDNC and the Office of Youth to develop a youth conversations event in 2026 to build student agency and voice. The repurposing and relocation of the demountable classroom, Garhima, have been progressing in consultation with staff and learning and wellbeing staff, with the new space in action from the start of Term 1 2026. The P&C major fundraiser for 2025, the Trivia Night, will further contribute to ensuring excellent opportunities to enhance student wellbeing at our school. 2025 saw outstanding success on the sporting field with many students selected to represent at a regional level across a variety of sports. Our Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country Carnivals were well attended and provided students with the opportunity to challenge themselves and achieve personal bests. In the cultural sphere, our CAPA showcase extended across a week and included a highly successful production of The Life of The Insects by Year 11 Drama as well as outstanding musical performances and a showcase of magnificent Art works. Edie Oliver from Year 12 had her major work for Aboriginal Studies exhibited at the Tweed Regional Gallery. Two of our outstanding staff were recognised for their expertise, with Leanne Clarkson our Careers Adviser recognised for “Excellence in Student Engagement” through the Careers Advisers Association. Our Deputy Principal, Josh Edwards received an award from the NSW CHS for Excellence in Leadership in Sport. Our staff participated in Trauma-Informed Practice professional learning, enhancing understanding of how to best support students impacted by trauma. The Partnership Agreement workshop between the NSW Department of Education and the NSW AECG reinforced our commitment to embedding Aboriginal histories and cultures and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. In 2025, fifty-eight of our students were awarded their Higher School Certificate. Among them, an impressive eight students achieved Band 6 results, forty-five earned Band 5s, and nine received E4 or E3 results—equivalent to Band 6 or Band 5 in extension subjects. This is an outstanding achievement for our small cohort of students. We are also delighted that several of our Year 12 students were recognised on state-wide merit lists. These achievements highlight the talent, commitment and breadth of learning across our student cohort. I thank the P&C for their ongoing commitment to growing community connections and fundraising to ensure our students have the best facilities available. The faculty wish list created in 2025 and continuing forward allows our Head Teachers to work with the P&C to have the greatest impact for our students. The willingness of Amy Colli as President of the P&C to engage with any and all community events is greatly appreciated. To members who have been a part of EOI and recruitment panels in 2025, we are very grateful. I look forward to growing our connections with our partner primary schools and their P&Cs over 2026 to further enhance our school transition processes and ensure a whole of community approach to growing our great public school. Bree Harvey-Bice PRINCIPAL

Reminder of school procedures: Leaving Early, Arriving Late or Messages

GOING AWAY 5 DAYS OR MORE? A reminder to our school community that the NSW DET requires that parents arrange holiday DURING school vacations. If your family holiday is during school time, you will need to inform the School Principal in advance and submit a permission to leave from school. An application for leave should be provided at least two weeks prior to departure. Ask our office for an “Application for Leave” BEFORE the holiday. ABSENT, LATE OR EARLY?  If your child is not at school, let us know they are safe. We will let you know they are not at school with an SMS message if we have not heard from you. COMING IN LATE?  School starts every day at 8:50am for all students. If students arrive after that time and miss CARE (roll call), please let the school know why they are late or provide them with a note. Students need to sign in at Student Services Office as soon as they arrive on the premises. LEAVING EARLY? Only legitimate one-off appointments will be approved by the principal. A note or a phone call should be made to Student Services before 9:30am and a leave pass will be processed. MESSAGES TO STUDENTS? Please call before 2pm. Only URGENT messages will be passed on during class time. We ask that all arrangements regarding after school activities be discussed with your student BEFORE school to avoid stress and distraction.

Homework Club

Attendance Matters

Coming to school regularly makes a big difference - it helps you keep up with your learning, stay connected, and give yourself the best chance to succeed. We're excited to announce that this year, we're recognising students who show a strong commitment to being at school. At the end of each term, all students with 95% attendance or higher will go into the draw to win a $500 gift voucher. Two vouchers will be awarded every term so there's plenty of chances to win. Vouchers can be used at a range of stores, including JB Hi-Fi, Foot Locker, City Beach, EB Games and plenty of other leading retailers. So come to school each day, stay consistent, and you could be in the draw to win $500!

From the Careers Adviser's Office

Year 11 & Year 12 HSC Success Webinars

Strategies for HSC Success Webinar - University of Newcastle and InspirationED  Date: Monday 16 March   Time: 7:00pm   Location: Zoom Webinar – Register Here 

Unserious Careers -- Building a strong career support team

Dates for your diary

• Monday 9 March - Year 7 Parents and Carers Meet & Greet @ 4:30pm to 5:30pm
• Monday 9 March - AGM for P&C @ 5:30pm in the school library
• Tuesday 10 March - Futsal Opens in Coomera & FNCNR Rugby League in Ballina
• Wednesday 11 March - Safer Driver Course
• Thursday 12 March - Marine Studies Excursion
• 11 March to 23 March - NAPLAN period for Yr7 and Yr9 students
• Monday 16 March - South Passage Excursion all week & FNC Football in Ballina
• Tuesday 17 March - Futsal 16s in Coomera
• Thursday 19 March - FNC Touch in South Tweed
• Friday 20 March - FNC Surfing
• Friday 27 March - Expression of interest for High School Year 7 are due
• Tuesday 31 March - Year 10 Vaccination program (only with permission)
• Wednesday 1 April - Transition Day for Year 6 students @ 1pm to 3pm
• Thursday 2 April - Last day of school - end of Term 1
• School returns for Term 2 on Monday

An Invitation from our P&C

Our next ordinary P&C meeting will be tonight Monday 9 March, starting with our AGM. Please join us in the school library at 5.15pm for a 5.30pm start. Light refreshments will be served.  Paid members are entitled to cast votes during the meeting. If you’d like to become a paid member before the meeting, please fill out a form and pay your $2 annual membership at the school office before 9 March so we can get you signed up. We warmly welcome new members.  Grants writers needed - One of the ways we secure funds for our school is by applying for grants. If you have experience in this area, or are keen to learn, please reach out and give us a hand.    Any feedback or enquiries, please contact us by email: mullumbimbyhighpandc@gmail.com  Or phone Amy Colli 0429 804 890

MHS Uniform Shop Volunteer Roster

Canteen

Students should hand in their lunch order at the canteen before 9:30am to avoid disappointment.

Community Announcements

The safe driving course is delivered by qualified trainers and experienced driving instructors. The course is broken down into two (2) Modules. To attend the course, learner drivers need to:

• have a valid learner licence
• be under 25
• have completed at least 50 logbook hours of on-road driving (excluding any 3 for 1 bonus hours)
• have included night driving in some of those hours.
• Fee: $140

Free Course for Concession Card Holders. SDCL - Tuesday 3rd & 17th March - 4 to 7pm Barista - Tuesday 3rd & 17th March - 4 to 7pm