8 April 2025

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

My name is Amanda Philp, and I’m excited to be joining the Henbury School community in a new role. I’ve recently transitioned from a Senior Teacher position to Assistant Principal, and I’m thrilled to continue working alongside our wonderful students, staff, and families.

A little about me – I’ve been working in special needs education for over 15 years and hold a master’s degree in special education. I’m passionate about creating inclusive learning environments, supporting student communication, and developing positive behaviour strategies. I strongly believe in building respectful and supportive relationships with children, families, and colleagues to ensure every student feels seen, valued, and empowered to learn.

In my new role, I’ll be supporting student learning with a focus on communication development, working closely with teachers to enhance classroom experiences, leading wellbeing initiatives, and delivering targeted programs for students with complex needs. My goal is to help create safe, engaging spaces where all students and staff can thrive.

Please don’t hesitate to say hello if you see me around – I’m always happy to have a chat and look forward to getting to know more of our Henbury families. Thank you for the warm welcome I’ve already received. I’m truly excited for the Term Two!

We hope all our students have an enjoyable and safe break and we look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday 15^th April.

Monday 14^th April is a student free day set aside for staff professional development.

Amanda Philp
Assistant Principal

TERM 1 HENBURY ASSEMBLY

The first Assembly of the year was hosted by our newly elected NTLC members and Assistant Principals. We said goodbye and thanked Mr David Panjer who was our Principal this term while Sarah Corry took a well-deserved break. It has been a busy first term with over 50 new students joining the school this year. The class awards celebrated how well students have adapted to their new classrooms and were engaged in classroom programs and activities. We were lucky to receive a visit from Mr Khoda Patel, the member for Casuarina, who presented two All Rounder awards to a couple of outstanding students who demonstrated kindness and leadership this term. The audience were also treated to fantastic performances from Aiko, and Alex who had never appeared on stage before. Well done, Alex! Below, is the link to the program of events.

HENBURY CORPORATE LUNCHEON

Announcing the Henbury Corporate Luncheon is back this year, held Friday 28 November. The luncheon is the school’s major fundraiser held every second year, at the Darwin Convention Centre. We host approximately 300 guests from the community and corporate sector. Funds are raised from monetary sponsorships, and donations of goods and services which are used for mega raffles, prize draws and silent and live auctions. We will be communicating more information in the coming months about how our school community can assist! 

HENBURY PRECINCT CAFÉ AND OP SHOP

Our Henbury Precinct Learning Precinct Café and Op Shop is vital to our students’ learning programs and work experience. Students attend these sites 5 days per week (Tues-Sat) and we need our school community to help to make sure they have lots of learning experiences! Please drop off your donations to the Op Shop and do a spot of shopping. Come into the Café and browse the giftware and items that students produce in a wide variety of enterprise education and classroom programs. You’ll also find students taking orders, using the cash register, waitering, preparing food, and making delicious barista coffee and cold drinks. Students who work Saturdays are paid at award rates, and we always need customers! Your visits to the Café and Op Shop = lots of opportunities for students to practice their skills!

 Located in Casuarina Village Shopping Centre, the Op Shop is open Tues-Saturday 8:30-2:30, and Café open Thurs, Fri, Sat 8:30-1:30.

PURPLE 5

What a fun, adventurous and action packed first term this has been! Purple 5 have been very busy getting to know each other and Henbury School surrounds. We have been exploring the school horticulture program with teacher Josh and visiting different places throughout the community. 

Students have been getting their hands dirty, planting seeds, and working in the garden. Our students have been learning how to care for our school chickens by feeding them, collecting eggs and cleaning out their coops.  

Finally, our class have been visiting places throughout Darwin’s local community. Purple 5 have been to see a variety of parks, the Nightcliff Jetty and the horses down at East Point Reserve. The swings have been the biggest hit for us all! 

Teacher: Terri Samules
SESO’s: Maddy Brannelley, Rojee Odari, Tiani Kempster, Chole Williams

DARWIN HIGH SCHOOL

Term 1 has been an exciting and busy time at DHS Outreach, filled with learning, social activities, and excursions. Here’s a look at some of our highlights from the term.

Building Friendships Through Games

We started the term by strengthening friendships and teamwork skills through board games like Monopoly, The Game of Life, What Do You Meme? Spot It, and P is for Pizza. These games gave us a fun way to bond while developing strategic thinking and quick decision-making skills.

Learning Across Subjects

• In Maths, we focused on time management, exploring how to effectively organise our schedules and prioritise tasks.
• In English, we set personal goals and learned how to create actionable steps to achieve them.
• In Health, we reflected on our personal strengths and learned important lessons about cyber and online safety.

NRL Tipping with CSC Outreach
Our class joined the CSC Outreach class for an exciting NRL tipping competition! It’s been a fun way to practice our prediction and analytical skills.

Excursions and Special Activities

• The Street Smart High excursion provided valuable insights into road safety and responsible decision-making.
• We made great use of the DHS gym, improving our fitness and well-being.
• A visit to MAGNT allowed us to view the impressive Exit Art exhibition, showcasing the creative works of young artists.
• We also enjoyed some delicious milkshakes at The Cool Spot, Harry’s Café, and the Museum Café, making for a great way to relax.

We can’t wait to see what Term 2 has in store for us!

Teacher: Chelsea Coleman
SESO’s: Alison Bird

CASUARINA SENIOR OUTREACH

CSC 1, 2, and 3 have had a busy and positive start to the year, getting to know each other through a range of fun games and team-building activities. We’re all settling in well and enjoying the connections we’re building as a group.

In 2025, we’ve launched an exciting new initiative called the Year 12 Service Program, which encourages students to engage with and give back to the community. One of our first tasks has been helping to care for our environment.

As part of Clean Up Australia Day, we visited Dripstone Park and collected eight large bags of rubbish. While students enjoyed making a difference, many were disappointed by the amount of glass bottles and litter found in the area. Despite that, they’re enthusiastic about continuing their efforts to clean and care for our local parks.

We’ve also kicked off fundraising for the Year 12 graduation. Our first Bunnings BBQ will be held on May 15 at Bunnings Palmerston. Please drop by to grab a sausage and support our graduating students!

Additionally, some of our Year 11 and 12 students are now working at the Henbury Precinct café on Saturday mornings. We’d love for you to come along, enjoy something to eat or drink, and say hello—our students would be thrilled to see you there.

Thank you for your continued support!

Casuarina Senior Outreach Team
Teachers: Anne McClelland, David Plews, Matthew Vaughan
SESO’s: John Kouros, Sarah Penny, Tina Glover

GREEN 2

Green 2 have been enjoying getting to know each other in Term 1. We all have different ways of communicating our wants and needs and have developed a lovely class environment. We have completed individual 5-point scales to help regulate our emotions as well as individual learning pits, so we can continue to persevere during challenging work tasks. We interviewed the students about what they have enjoyed so far, and these were their responses. Happy holidays!

Jacky – “I enjoy playing Minecraft, coding, doing woodwork, and my automotives VET course. I love building things and coding and cars.”

MM – “So far this year I’ve enjoyed BEAT choir and making scrunchies in Enterprise Ed. I also like sending emails to my old teacher Francesca.”

Dixon used his eye gaze device to answer, ‘What have you enjoyed this term?’ – “Brittany is funny. Swimming, splash, I like splashing Brittany. I like when my class go bike riding. I enjoy serving food at the café.”

Mark – “I enjoy acting with Action Boy 6 and drawing and bike riding and playing lego.”

Josh – “I really enjoyed playing minecraft at lunch. I really enjoyed swimming and shopping at Cas Village.”

Hunter – “I love swimming. I love cooking. I like working at the café. I like my teachers.”

Morgan – “I like netball and swimming. I like hairdressing and the café. Being in G2 is the best.”

Kiara – “The things I have enjoyed the most this term are screen printing, working on my jumper, NTLC meetings, swimming with my class, VET course, working at the café, and going to my TEAP meeting.

Teachers: Brittany Daly, Sarah Clifford
SESO’s: Molly Althouse, Damien Fuller

VET NEWS

Henbury Precinct:  We are delighted to announce that the Henbury Café has reopened, and our students are ready to serve you. Henbury café offers a welcoming environment for everyone to relax and enjoy a variety of delicious refreshments. We invite you to visit and experience Henbury Precinct. 

Northern Land Council: Our students recently had the opportunity to visit the Northern Land Council. This visit provided them with valuable insights into the significant work being done to support Indigenous communities, and offered an insight into future career pathways for our students. It was an educational experience. 

Helping People Achieve Our students visited Helping People Achieve, where they learned about the organisation's efforts to support individuals in reaching their full potential. This visit was informative and some of our students will begin work experience at HPA in Term 2. VET- HPA

Blak Expo We were lucky to have participated in the first Blak Expo, where our students engaged in various activities and explored different career paths. This event was a fantastic opportunity for our students to connect with the community and gain exposure to new possibilities.

VET Courses Our students have been actively participating in a range of VET courses, including:

• Revving engines in Automotive
• Fixing pipes in Plumbing
• Protecting nature in Conservation
• Glamming up in Beauty Cosmetics
• Assisting in Salon Assistant
• Cooking up a storm in Cookery
• Learning the art of Butchery

These courses provide hands-on learning experiences and help our students develop practical skills for their future careers.

For more details and updates, please visit our Facebook page.

Teachers: Alicia McManus (VET & Work training teacher)
                   Felicity Faull (STI Transition & Pathways)

UPCOMING EVENTS – Term 2, 2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to the following students that celebrate their birthdays in May:

Andrew– 2^nd
Tama – 4^th
Julian C – 5^th
Lucian and Delvin 6^th
Lebron R – 7^th
Syler – 9^th
Robert A – 10^th
Petersen – 11^th
Enriques – 13^th
Jaiken – 22^nd
Alice and Lucy – 23^rd
Rosey – 25^th
Camillia – 27^th
Lilly-Rose – 28^th
Zaijian – 29^th

COMMUNITY NOTICES