Changes to 2021 High School Bell Times
I am writing to notify you about some improvements to be made to the bell times in High School, commencing from Term 1, 2021. Here are the new times:
| Mon Wed Thu Fri | Time | Min | Tue | Time | Min |
| Pastoral Care | 8:40 am | 10 | Pastoral Care | 8:40 am | 25 |
| Period 1 | 8:50 am | 55 | Period 1 | 9:05 am | 50 |
| Period 2 | 9:45 am | 55 | Period 2 | 9:55 am | 50 |
| Recess | 10:40 am | 20 | Recess | 10:45 am | 15 |
| Period 3 | 11:00 am | 55 | Period 3 | 11:00 am | 50 |
| Period 4 | 11:55 am | 55 | Period 4 | 11:50 am | 50 |
| Lunch 1 | 12:50 pm | 20 | Lunch 1 | 12:40 pm | 25 |
| Lunch 2 | 1:10 pm | 20 | Lunch 2 | 1:05 pm | 25 |
| Period 5 | 1:30 pm | 50 | Period 5 Sport | 1:30 pm | 50 |
| Period 6 | 2:20 pm | 50 | Period 6 Sport | 2:20 pm | 50 |
| Home | 3:10 pm | – | Home | 3:10 pm | – |
There are numerous benefits associated with these changes, including the following:
* The wellbeing program is enhanced, with a short weekly PC Tutor Period replacing the longer Tutor Period every fortnight. The total time allocated to PC Tutor Periods will be unchanged.
* The average lesson time is increased by about one minute, and this small change allows us to meet the NESA requirements for Year 11 one week sooner than in the past. In effect, this adds one week of HSC course time for every course in Year 12.
* Every school day now commences at 8:40 am, including Tuesdays.
* Tuesday lunchtimes will commence at 12:40 pm (previously 12:45 pm) which will help our representative teams to arrive on time for MISA Sport.
* All periods in the week are now scheduled for either 55 or 50 minutes. At only 45 minutes, the lesson times on Tuesdays were previously too short for some courses.
* Greater punctuality is encouraged, as any students arriving after 8:50 am will record a partial absence. Previously, this cut-off time was 8:55 am.
* A weekly High School assembly will be held each Monday at 8:40 am.
Please note that Primary bell times will also change to align with the High School. Robert Burgess, the Primary Deputy, will inform parents about those changes in a separate article.
Kind regards,
Michael Nightingale
Director of Teaching & Learning