Becoming a High School student can be an exciting and yet daunting experience, whether you are new to Carmel or whether you are graduating from our Primary School and coming 'across the oval' to become a Carmel High School student. This process will require a level of adjustment as you settle into new environments, new ways of learning and new routines. Rest assured there are many people on hand to help! We have a range of programs available for students and families who are looking at High School options.

Twilight Tours

These events provide the opportunity to see our facilities and also meet key members of the High School team. Details of the events will be available in early 2022 and registrations are essential. To find out more or book your place, contact us via email

Tours

Even if you are familiar with Carmel Primary School, it is a good idea to tour the High School before you start Year 7. Tours with our Marketing Team are available at any time and can be booked using the tour booking form. Tours and meetings are also available with our Head of Secondary, Mr Dean Shadgett. To book a meeting, please send us an email.

Be a 'High Schooler' for a Day

Over the course of the year, we run immersion days in our High School for students in Year 6. These events will be specifically designed to respond to the questions and interests of the different age groups and their families. For more information, or to register, send us an email.

 

To assist with the transition process, making it as smooth as possible for you and your child, and to answer some common questions we have compiled some Q&As for your perusal.

We welcome parent and student questions at any time and if something is not address by our FAQs, please email us.

Tefillah starts at 8:00am sharp, you need to be dropped off at approximately 7:45am each morning.

On your first day please proceed to the Breckler Troy (BT) Hall with your bags. You will be greeted by the Head of Secondary and/or the Director of Student Development and Wellbeing. They will welcome you to the School, and lead you through your first morning.

Drop off is between 7:30 – 7:55am at Kadima gate on Creswell Avenue, parents can drop and go or park across the road at the Breckler Park carpark.

Pick up is at 3:15pm. There is parking in the embayment on Cresswell Avenue or the Breckler Park carpark.

Please note if you are dropping off and collecting kids from the Primary School, your High School child can walk across the oval.

Bring your Carmel School bag with the books you will require for the day (refer to your timetable which is on SEQTA), stationery, water bottle, recess and lunch. A padlock for your locker is recommended.

And don’t forget a big smile!

Yes you can, we have a High School canteen situated near the Kadima block.

It is open during recess and lunch. Pre-ordered lunch is available via the Flexi schools App.

Term 1 requires summer uniform. Your timetable will indicate which days you have sport, on those days you are required to wear sports uniform. All other days formal uniform is required.

Each day starts with Tefillah from 8:00-8:30am followed by Mentor Period from 8:30-8:50. Classes begin at 8:50. There are nine periods in the day, with recess at 10:40-11:10am and lunch at 1:35-2:05pm. The day ends at 3:15pm.

You should email your Mentor teacher or Reception on reception@carmel.wa.edu.au. A phone call can also be placed the front office on 9267 1644 or you can lodge the absence via our app, School Stream.

For everyday matters, your child’s Mentor teacher should be the first point of contact. For matters regarding your child’s learning in a particular subject, contact the teacher by email (located on your students timetable on SEQTA). For matters relating to your child’s pastoral care, please contact the Director of Student Development and Wellbeing, Cherie Birch. 

Use your timetable as a starting point and know what each day looks like and what books to take out from your locker. Your diary will also help you plan for upcoming assements and what homework needs to be done. Students are expected to use their School Diary and parents asked to support by checking this weekly.

A whiteboard at home is also a good planning tool.

You will be placed in a dedicated Year 7 and 8 Mentor group within your House. Your Mentor teacher will provide pastoral care and support and act as a communicative channel for any concerns you or your child has with a teacher or student. In Years 9 - 12 students are grouped in vertical mentor groups which encourages interaction and socialisation between the year groups. Siblings are kept together in the House system and this enables Mentor teachers to build a strong bond with our Carmel families.

The School is divided into four Houses, each named after important cities and towns in Israel: Be’er Sheva (red), Teveria (blue), Yerushalayim (yellow) and Zfat (green). Within each house, there are two Mentor groups.

 

Each student is allocated a locker for the year. Year 7 and 8 lockers are in the Kadima area. Please provide your own padlock. A useful tip is to have a copy of your timetable pasted in the inside front door so you know which books you require each day.

Only new students to Carmel purchase a new laptop. Others retain them from Year 6.

Students’ laptops are generally replaced through the parent purchase scheme every three years. For students entering the High School from the Primary School this generally occurs in at the start of Year 8.

Your laptop is a tool for learning and is used in class under the teacher’s instruction to aide learning. It is not the focus nor ‘end all’ of teaching and learning. Hence, the amount of time on it will vary in different subject and at different times. Handwriting is still important as students should continue to work on this skill. Laptops are not to be used for entertainment during recess and lunchtime.

Laptops should come to school fully charged every day.

Our IT Support Service is located in the IT office in the Library. Please email with any concerns.

Generally no. However, banding does take place in Hebrew. Further banding, based on performance, takes place in Mathematics in Year 8 and then in other subjects as students progress through the High School.

Students experience a full range of subjects in Years 7 and 8, before they are able to select elective subjects in Year 9. All Year 7 students study Jewish Life and Learning, Hebrew, Yahadut, Mathematics, Science, English, HASS, Drama, Media, Music, Visual Art, Health and Physical Education, Design Technology and Food Technology.

No electives as such. The students complete semester rotations in Drama, Media, Music, Visual Art, Design Technology and Food Technology.

A High School timetable is not the same every day. Over the week we have 45 periods of 35 minutes each. Some of these are double periods and some are single periods. Over the week there are 4 periods of Hebrew, 4 periods of Jewish Life and Learning and 2 periods of Yahadut, of which Barmitzvah and Batmitzvah is the focus in Semester 1.

In Year 7 there are two Jewish Studies camps. One as the culmination of the Barmitzvah/Batmitzvah course and one is a Zionist Seminar Day camp in Term 3.

All Year 7 students are involved in the ACC Sports program in Terms 1 and 2 on a Tuesday afternoon until approximately 5:00 pm. Study Club runs two days a week after school on Tuesday and Wednesday until 4:30pm in the Sylvia and Harry Hoffman Library. Other extra curricular clubs on offer in 2022 include WADL Debating, Mock Trials, Chess, Circus, Robotics and Wheel Club.

All Parents are given a login and password details. If you have lost your password or are having trouble logging in, please contact reception@carmel.wa.edu.au.

SEQTA provides information about your child’s academic progress. It discloses your child’s daily timetable, when assements are due, how your child performs in their assessments and teacher’s feedback, as well as how your child reviews their assements. It also provides a report each Semester as well as teacher contact information.

Yes, each student is given a hard copy diary. The diary is an essential tool to develop organisational skills and have a focus on wellbeing. We ask parents to support their use at home by signing them weekly and ensuring their children are using then for each subject each day.

We are generally a dual stream school with two classes running in each subject during the year. Hence when there are 40 students in a year group the classes are approximately 20 each. In streamed or banded classes such as Hebrew the class size will vary based on the ability grouping of the students.

Our class sizes often allow us a greater opportunity to work with students individually to both remediate and extend our students. In addition, Study Club operates after school two days a week. As a student progresses through the School, banding or streaming also takes place in Mathematics and Science allowing for greater support and extension. Students with a diagnosed specific learning disability are further supported, wherever possible, in line with recommendations made by specialists and after establishing an Individual Education Plan. This may include support in class or, in some cases, one on one or small group support outside of class.

Carmel recognises the rationale for homework and the vital place it occupies in the educational process. The assistance of parents is requested to ensure that all homework is completed according to the School's guidelines and expectations. The recommended weekly homework commitment for Years 7-8 students is up to 1.5 hour per day, four days a week on average. If nothing is being done one week then more than 1.5 hours a day may be required the following week. Students should plan to spread out their homework.

Please note: Not all students work at the same pace, so what take one student 30 minutes may take another shorter or longer. What is important is that students use their class time well to minimise the amount of time they spend finishing work they may have completed in class. Some tasks are set to be completed completely out of class time and if these are taken much longer than the time suggested by the class teacher, then please contact the teacher to discuss.

When you arrive at Carmel you will be buddied with a person from your cohort and in your Mentor group. They will be able to help you with any questions you may have and guide you along the way.

Towards the end Year 6 you will be invited to attend the Beach Carnival, which usually happens on the last day of Term 4. At this event, you will be able to meet your cohort as well as students from the whole school in a relaxed, friendly, fun environment away from school.

Besides getting something to eat, these times offer a period for students to socialise and get to know each other, play basketball, kick a soccer ball and have some fun outside the classroom. Students can also read or play chess in the Library.

We run a Peer Support Program in the first few weeks of the year, at which our Year 11s mentor our Year 7s introducing them to High School life, offering them support, guidance and friendship.

Our SRC, Dean of Students, Mentor teachers and staff are always approachable and available to lend an ear and guide our students through these unfamiliar first few weeks of their high school journey.

Being a community school offering the vertical mentoring system, as well as having all the above practices in place in the formative years of high school, makes for building solid and strong relationships between the students as well as their teachers. These relationships continue long into their high school career and beyond.