27 May 2025

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Welcome to Week 7 of Term 2!

While the weather is cooling down, students and staff continue to move forward with their busy timetables!

Gail Preston – Structured Teaching Observations

In Weeks 4 and 5, Structured Teaching guru Gail Preston visited us to complete classroom observations to provide feedback to teaching staff around classroom structure and learning implementation. She also led professional development sessions for staff new to Henbury.

Nemarluk Transition

In Week 3 we welcomed the Year 6’s from Nemarluk School who have commenced their transition to Henbury. Each week students rotate through a variety of activities as they get to know the sights, sounds and spaces at Henbury.

Wellbeing Week

A massive thanks to teacher Amanda Thomas and her team of NTLC students and staff for putting on a fabulous Wellbeing Week for us all in Week 6.

The week was jam-packed full of fun. Ice-creams, fairy-bread, water-play, Wii competitions, disco and free coffees for staff and a yummy morning tea were well received and very much appreciated.

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T/EAP Plans and Progress Reports

Teachers are busy finalising EAP plans and progress reports to celebrate their learning from across the semester. We aim to have these to you by Week 10 of this term.

Henbury Precinct

The Henbury Precinct Café is open again and the OpShop is ready for donations and sales.

Doing a Spring Clean? Let Us Help You Declutter!

Clearing out your wardrobe and wondering what to do with those pre-loved clothes? Henbury Op Shop is ready and waiting to give them a second life!

It’s easy – simply drop your donations at school

Check out our Facebook page for more details! https://www.facebook.com/HenburyPrecinct

School Council

A reminder that if you would like to have a say in how our school operates, we encourage any new or existing parents to join our School Council. We would also like to encourage an indigenous voice for our school council as we have 56% indigenous students. You don’t need any experience to join, just a passion to provide the best for your child.

HCL 2025

The Henbury Corporate Luncheon is back for 2025!

The now bi-annual event is Darwin’s Biggest Corporate Christmas Party! Help us raise money this year to resource our attendance and engagement programs, communication technology and the Henbury Precinct Training initiative.

If you would like to support us via sponsorship, donations or purchasing tickets, please email hcl.henbury@education.nt.gov.au and one of our team will get back to you!

Lauren Hofmeyer
Assistant Principal

STAFF PROFILE

Paul Campbell 

My name is Paul Campbell. I am a proud Arrernte and Arabana man from Alice Springs. I have been working at Henbury since the start of the year and have enjoyed my time so far. I am the Aboriginal Education Officer and work in the classroom as a SESO. I have the privilege to work with Ian Bateman and we both have enjoyed starting up the Young Men’s Program at Henbury.

Ian Bateman

My role at Henbury – VET Inclusion and Engagement
My People are the Kamilaroi People from Coonabarabran area central NSW.
If anyone has heard of Kid Laroi he is the same mob.

Paul and I established Young Men’s Group last term. We have encouraged the students to take on some ownership of the group and appreciate that it is built around respect.

Paul shared with the students that when he was at school, he also had a foot in both worlds. Urban lifestyle and cultural responsibilities fall on many young people. The students involved are always super keen to join in with whatever we are doing. Our group is still at the grass roots stage but is evolving weekly.

The young men are eager to learn how to become Baristas. They have started a fundraising activity selling coffee on Tuesday’s or Thursday’s. All money raised goes back into their excursions and outings.   

SARAH CORRY FELLOWSHIP WINNER

Sarah Corry, Principal of Henbury School in the Darwin region, is getting ready for an international study tour to Singapore this month as part of a teaching fellowship program following her national recognition at the 2024 Schools Plus Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards.

Sarah is one of 12 inspiring awardees to receive the $40,000 fellowship which included support to attend the 2024 awards event, significant funds towards a strategic school project, 12 months of professional development, the international study tour, and a membership for the community of leading educators from around Australia.

Among several activities lined up for the tour, Sarah is most excited for her visit to Pathlight School who cater for Singapore’s children with autism, where she will have the opportunity to present her work from Henbury School on educating students with intellectual disabilities.

We are so proud of Sarah and her incredible commitment to creating brighter futures for her students and school community. We look forward to hearing all about the tour!

TRANSITIONS & PATHWAYS PARENT INFO SESSION

On Thursday 19th June, 9am to 11am, we will be holding an information session for parents and carers outlining how to prepare for your student’s transition from school. We have invited a small cross section of service providers that are integral to the post school transition process for our wide range of students - including NDIS services and coordinators, Centrelink, post school employment and day program providers, and employment and recreation services

All families are invited to attend, however we strongly
encourage families of children in Years 10, 11, 12 to take the opportunity
 to attend and learn more about the transition steps ahead
and services and post school options available. Please rsvp via the link below.

CASUARINA SECONDARY COLLEGE

Our first Year 12 Graduation Fundraiser Bunnings BBQ was a great success! We managed to raise several hundred dollars to help keep the costs of graduation affordable for all students and families of Henbury School. Huge kudos must go to our CSC Year 12 Service class who have been contacting local politicians for donations, planning, shopping for, and running the BBQ. And well done to a few Year 11s for volunteering to help with last-minute changes. 

Thank you to the following for their generous donations;
Mr Khoda Patel MLA (Casuarina)
Mrs Oly Carson MLA (Wanguri)
Mr Brian O’Gallagher MLA (Karama)
Justine Davies (Johnston)
Hon Robyn Cahill OAM MLA (Port Darwin)

HORTICULTURE

In the garden this semester, students have been up to all kinds of things. Not just learning about gardening! We have worked together to build and improve our garden space to make it better for us and for our fish and chickens. We explored our natural environment and enjoyed ourselves. It wasn’t all hard work, although it did include quite a bit of digging, cutting and weeding! We tired our hand at growing mushrooms with the help of the CSIRO. Some students also had the opportunity to help the Territory wildlife park develop their atlas moth garden.  We cooked some delicious meals using our garden produce and all left with a smile!

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YELLOW 2

Hello Parents, Families, and Carers!

Yellow 2 has had a fantastic start to Term two, filled with engaging excursions and exciting new ventures. Our class has explored several local sites, including Jingili Water Gardens, Stokes Hill Wharf, the Careers Expo, the Disability Expo, and Nightcliff Beach. These outings have provided enriching experiences that complement our classroom learning.

In addition to our excursions, we're thrilled to introduce our class business initiative: selling freshly baked focaccia to staff every fortnight. This project offers students a hands-on opportunity to develop skills in baking, entrepreneurship, and teamwork.

Our favourite things this term:
SL – “Disability expo – it was so fun there!” 
KC – “Disco – we just hung out” 
VD – “Disability expo – seeing all the different stuff and the food there” 
BB – “Community access – café 21” 
NW – “Shannon – garden”

DISABILITY EXPO

On Friday 16 May, students had the opportunity to attend the Darwin Disability Expo, where they explored a wide variety of stalls and displays focused on accessibility, support services, and inclusive technologies.

There were so much to see and learn, including NDIS providers, therapy services, mobility aids, sensory tools, and even assistance animals. Students had the chance to chat with stallholders, collect information, and discover how many resources are out there to support people with disabilities. The event was very engaging, and a whole lot of fun—especially when the students found the stalls giving out snacks and free pens! 

It was a wonderful experience and everyone had a fantastic time!!

Students from Green 2 were asked to provide some feedback on the day.

• I bumped into Hayley and Lachlan and my old mentor. I felt happy – Josh.
• I liked the food. The mango ice cream and crepes were very yummy. – Jacky
• I ran into Lashyah. It felt good and she finished school later. – Martika
• It was good, I guess. I enjoyed the candy. I enjoyed holding a lizard at the petting zoo.  – Hunter
• I saw my little brother and Dixon did donuts at the disco. – Kiara

BLUE 2

Great Barrier Reef Project

This semester, Blue 2 has been learning about the Great Barrier Reef. Each student chose an animal that lives in the reef and researched its appearance, diet and habitat.

After gathering their information, students created their own dioramas to show what their animal and its environment looks like.

The dioramas look amazing, and the students have done a great job showing what they have learned. Well done, Blue 2!

YELLOW 3

Yellow 3’s Epic Visit to the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Careers Expo!

Yellow 3 started off the month with a bang by visiting the 2025 VET Careers Expo at Marrara Indoor Stadium! Our class — Jacob, Miley, Jasper, Kinisha, Owen, Tatiana, Andrew, and Aiko — had an amazing time exploring all the exciting career opportunities.

Meeting the Defence Force

One of the highlights was meeting the Army and Navy officers from the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Owen enjoyed using a real-life combat excavator, while Aiko loved trying on camouflage gear and testing the radios. Miley and Tatiana were thrilled to pat the Military Working Dog, Shadow!

Next, we checked out the police display. Kinisha and Jacob had fun trying on police hats and learning how officers keep our community safe.

All in all, Yellow 3 had a fantastic day full of learning, laughter, and big dreams for the future. We’re feeling excited and inspired about all the possibilities ahead!

Thank you to the Darwin VET Careers Expo for such a fun and educational day!

From Class Yellow 3

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Neighbourhood Watch recognises that the transition to travelling independently within the community may be a time of apprehension for both children and caregivers. In response to this, we have developed Neighbourhood Watch 4 Kids; an e-learning portal to support caregivers in preparing their children to travel independently, particularly to and from school. The portal uses easily accessible and interactive information and resources to provide a safe and enjoyable learning experience. 

Neighbourhood Watch 4 Kids can be accessed at https://nhw4kids.org.au/

SCHOOL IMMUNISATIONS

School Immunisations for year 7 and year 9 students will take place at Henbury school on May 29. Consent forms for these students have been sent home for parents / guardians to sign. It is important that you return your child’s vaccination consent form to the school as soon as possible. If you do not want your child vaccinated at school it is important to return the consent form indicating this.

Janine Kelsey
Health Promoting School Nurse

UPCOMING EVENTS – Term 2, 2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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

Nelson F – 6^th
Kaleb C – 9^th
Daudi J – 10^th
Zyethan C – 11^th
Ashley M – 11^th
Lucie B – 12^th
Oliver A – 13^th
Alexander S – 13^th
Laura Y – 13^th
Javik J – 17^th
Leilani A – 21^st
Ivy D – 23^rd
Manoli S – 24^th
Gerard S – 25^th
AJ P – 27^th
Selenia B – 28^th

COMMUNITY NOTICES