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Today brings an end to Term 1 and is the time to reflect on the adjustments we have had to make to continue the learning program for students at school.
Congratulations to Miss Reynolds who was recognised in the Together We Inspire Awards held by the Department of Education. She won the section Engaging our Learners (Secondary).This is a fantastic recognition of her work in the Year 11 and 12 area not only in our school but our state.
We held a Virtual Assembly on Tuesday to recognise our Swimming Champions and Runner-Ups. Thank you to the SRC for the organisation of the free dress day last week which raised over $450 for Ukraine Save the Children Fund and the Community Services class held a guess the Easter Egg number in the jar with all money raised going to the Ulverstone Community House.
Art students last week participated in a Mural Art Design workshop with Jamie Edwards which was organised by Mel Budgeon from The Central Coast Council.
We farewell Miss Johns who is returning to NSW to be closer to her family. Miss Johns joined us at the beginning of 2020 as part of the T.F.A program and has made a big impact in our school and will be sorely missed. Miss Lily Knowles completes a 4 week contract on grade 7 and she has done an excellent job filling in for Mrs Cavanagh from when she left at the end of week 6 and started Maternity Leave.
From the start of Term 2 there will be a reduction of grade 7 classes. We will move from 6 classes down to 5 with class sizes still being only 24-25 students. We will welcome Mrs Laird-Richards at the start of Term 2 who will work in the humanities area and Mr Murfett will be taking some Grade 7 and 8 Music.
Moderation Day for Teaching Staff will be held today and there will be a focus on the 9-point scale for reports that will be introduced later this year. I would like to thank all students, parents and staff for the way we have embraced the many challenges that have been thrown at us this term, masks wearing being a big one.
The Department of Education have developed a plan for Term 2, and I think the key will be for us to adapt to change as it happens and we will continue to update parents of changes that are made as we move forward. The D.O.E have provided us with 50 Ventilation Fans that will be placed in the rooms from the beginning of Term 2 to help with air flow.
Please do not hesitate to contact me through the school office if you have any questions or concerns.
Glen Lutwyche
Last week, we had the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of students in our Grade 7 Assembly. Many students received certificates for their efforts following our school values. Congratulations to the following students:
Respect
7A: Lily, Ella, Rory and Shantay 7B: Corben, Jordan 7D: Zeik, Jarrod, 7E: Brayden, Charlotte, Paige, Lincoln, Breyana, Abbey, Lachie, Braydy
Achievement
7A: Jaxson, Taylor, Eli 7B: Corben, Charles, Marcus 7C: Hayley, Charissa 7D; James 7E: Charlotte, Paige, Ava, .7F: Chance, Jack, Rubi,
Grit
7A: Tahlia 7B: Marhley 7C: Axle 7D: Monique 7F: Khatijah, Jaydan, Beck
Creativity
7A: Taylor, Alice 7B: Taron 7C: Georgia 7D: Hunter, Jaxon
Belonging
7B: Jhett 7C: Dayna 7D: Olivia, Shakayla 7E: Gracie, Bradley 7F: Emma
Congratulations to the following students who make up our Grade 7 Leadership Team:
Tahlia, Taylor, Shantay, Arianna, Sebastian, Jarrod, Jack, Piper, Charissa, Suraya, Emma, Miah, Olivia, Corben.
The following students have received good notes for their efforts this month. Congratulations to: Jaxson 7A, Suraya 7B, Jake 7C, Jarod 7D.
We also announced the Homeroom Winners for this term’s ‘Top Dog’ prize. Congratulations, 7F. The Peer Leaders rated each of the homerooms against the school values during an afternoon competition. We also added points for attendance at the swimming carnival. Our next homeroom competition will be ‘Theatre Sports’. We look forward to seeing who will come out as top dog next!
As parents would now be aware, we have had to make some adjustments to our Grade 7 classes due to staffing and current student numbers. We have done our best to make this transition as smooth as possible. Change isn’t always easy, and we ask that our students demonstrate our school value of ‘Grit’ and focus on their learning and building positive relationships with their peers and teachers.
Mr Conkie and I would like to thank the Grade 7s for settling so well into high school and a big shout out to our Grade 7 team who have worked hard at ensuring students have engaging, relevant and fun lessons resulting in some outstanding learning.
Have a safe holiday and period and we look forward to working together in Term Two.
Wendy Leonard and Shaun Conkie
Year 11/12 Update
Year 11 and 12 staff have been involved in a range of professional learning this term to ensure that our staff are informed about TASC and VET course requirements. Staff continue to be actively involved in providing feedback in the development of new courses, marking external assessment and folios and being critics for external assessment.
Congratulations to Elise Davey who was successfully selected to be an exam critic this year.
By participating in these opportunities, we are ensuring that our staff are knowledgeable and provide innovative and engaging learning experiences to students.
Community Services Class
We are very proud of the efforts of our VET Community Services class who have been working on a number of projects throughout the term. Last weekend Eco Fest was held where students prepared activities for young children to do at the Eco Fest; this included a nature scavenger hunt and art and craft using natural items.
The class has also run an Easter Egg guessing competition with money raised being used to purchase non-perishable items for Ulverstone Community House.
Congratulations to the Year 11/12 Legal Studies class who correctly guessed the number of Easter eggs as 185!
Year 12 Leaver’s Tops
Our Year 12s have been designing their Leaver’s Top for 2022. After much deliberation a fabulous design has been chosen. We are hoping these will be available early Term 2. Orders will need to placed and paid for through the front office.
Thursday 14 April
This is a student free day for all students across Years 7 to 12. Students who are shared enrolments with other schools that are timetabled on a Thursday will need to talk to their teachers about if there are still classes on this day.
Year 12 High Impact Program
Unfortunately the Beacon High Impact Program ‘PERFORM’ had to be cancelled today due to unforeseen circumstances. This program will be rescheduled to go ahead for our Year 12 students in Term 2.
This is an exciting program organised and funded by the Beacon Foundation to provide students with essential advice and skills from mentors regarding employability skills and future work pathways. This program supports young people to feel ready to take up employment opportunities. It explores personality styles to grow self-awareness. Volunteer business mentors share career insights and facilitate small-group workshops on topics such as elevator pitching, resumes, interviews, networking, conflict resolution, and goal setting. Perform offers a rare and exciting opportunity for young people to practice communicating with professional people in a non-threatening environment.
Visit from Adam Lloyd
We were very fortunate to have a visit from Adam who spoke to our Year 11 and 12 students in Career and Life Planning this week. Adam works as a Crash Investigator with the Tasmanian Police. His informative presentation on road safety gave clear messages to our students in relation to driving safely.
Attendance Matters
This term has been full of events. This includes Kindness Day, Harmony Week and the Casual Clothes Day. During Harmony Week we held a poster competition on the themes of harmony and belonging. We are pleased to announce the winners. In first place was Indiana Mee and second place was Hayley Emmerton. On Friday the 1st of April the SRC held a Casual Clothes Day to raise money for Save the Children: Ukraine, we raised over $400 in donations. The SRC also held an unofficial contest to see which classroom raised the most money, we are glad to congratulate 8D for raising the most. We held another lunch time concert today, as a fun way to end this term. We hope you all of have a nice holiday and we will be coming back more ideas for events next term.
Thank you,
Eadie and Sarah
SRC Secretaries
On Friday 25 March we held our 2022 School Swimming Carnival at Splash Devonport Aquatic and Leisure Centre. The day started off cold and overcast, however turned out to be a perfectly warm day with everyone having a blast and enjoying themselves. We held our competitive races first up in the morning with the 100m freestyle starting at 8:40am, then it was the 50m butterfly followed with 50m freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke.
It was great to see so much participation in the novelty events which were held in the afternoon. Whether you went down the waterslide, played water volleyball or you just got in the pool for a swim, you earned your house valuable points.
Congratulations to all students that attended the carnival this year, overall it was a fantastic day with some great results.
2022 Swimming Carnival Champions & Runners-Up
Champion Runner-up
Year 7 Boys Chance Carpenter Reed Lovatt
Year 7 Girls Dayna McNab Hayley Emmerton
Olivia Lyons
Year 8 Boys Hudson O’Neill Wyatt Dobson
Year 8 Girls Shanae Auton Taylar Johnson
Year 9 Boys Kynan Lee Jacob Gaffney Tyler Gleeson
Year 9 Girls Sarah Brewer Lucy van Rooyen
Year 10 Boys Jack Bundy Cayden Moore
Year 10 Girls Chloe Jordan Zaali Arnold
Year 11/12 Boys Dustin O’Neill Landon Dobson
Year 11/12 Girls Frances Gaffney Bree-anna Wise
2022 New Records
Landon Dobson – Furneaux
50m Backstroke 39.11
50m Breastroke 41.4
Dustin O’Neill – Tasman
100m Freestyle 1.05.12
50m Freestyle 28.02
House Points 2022
1st Bass with 3,722 points
2nd Flinders with 3,625 points
3rd Furneaux with 3,600 points
4th Tasman with 3,535 points
Great news, rehearsals will soon be underway. The cast and band are keen to make a start early next term. Keep an eye out for a rehearsal schedule, which will be posted on the facebook page, and on student notes.
We have created an USC 2022 production Jungle Fantasy facebook page for cast, band, crew members and families to receive the latest information and rehearsal schedules. Please feel free to request to join this closed group.
SPONSORSHIP: Sponsorship packages for Jungle Fantasy are available for individuals or businesses that can support us in this venture. Please contact Ms. Paterson via the school office or email fiona.paterson@education.tas.gov.au if you would like further information on how to become a sponsor.
A huge thank you to the following people or organisations who have become official sponsors of Jungle Fantasy:
Show Systems Australia
Maveric Clothing
SPS Office Choice
Taspac
Fullife Pharmacy Ulverstone
Honourable Roger Jaensch MP
Jeremy Rockliff MP Liberal Member for Braddon Premier of Tasmania
Anne Urquhart Labor Senator for Tasmania
We greatly appreciate and value your support.
Will the Jungle Queen’s secret remain a secret?
Will Catalina ever be able to play the sacred horn correctly?
Will Moonchie become a Movie Star?
All will be revealed in this fun, family friendly musical, that features a host of colourful characters, a large chorus of Jungle Cats, Bonglies and Monkeys and a rockin’ live band! This production is suitable for all ages. We can’t wait to share it with you!
Fiona Paterson
Director/Producer
COVID-19 planning - The Department of Education Tasmania
A clear plan for Term 2
Being at school is the best place for our students. Term 1 has shown us that when we work together and have COVID-safe measures in place, our schools can safely stay open and student learning thrives. This is our plan for Tasmanian Government schools for Term 2, 2022 – to keep our schools safe and make every day of learning count:
- Face-to-face learning will continue with COVID-safe measures in place.
- Students with disability who have complex health needs will continue to be supported by their school with individual learning plans.
- Regular school and learning activities will continue in a COVID-safe manner. Indoor Launching into Learning sessions and the Gifted Online program will recommence.
- Testing for COVID-19 when you have symptoms will continue. Students and staff will have access to rapid antigen tests at their school, to use if they have symptoms. If there is a COVID-19 case in your child’s classroom, your school will let you know and ask you to monitor for symptoms – your child does not need to isolate and can continue going to school. If your child is unwell, please keep them home and get tested.
- COVID-19 cases will be safely managed by Public Health. Every school has a dedicated COVID-19 support person, who works closely with Public Health if there are COVID-19 cases. Families will be contacted directly about any COVID-19 impacts at their school.
- Learning at home via the Virtual Learning Centre with the support of an online teacher will continue if students need to isolate due to COVID-19. If your child is a household close contact, they can do online learning while isolating at home for seven days. If your child is a COVID-19 case, they can do online learning if they feel well, and return to school if they have no symptoms after seven days.
- Workforce planning strategies are in place to ensure there are enough staff in schools.
This applies to:
- Early childhood services (including childcare programs and Out of School Hours Care)
- Primary schools (including childcare programs and Out of School Hours Care)
- Secondary schools (including vocational placements and school-based apprenticeships).
Some elements of this plan may change during Term 2 based on Public Health advice. We will continually monitor the situation, make changes as necessary and keep school communities informed.
Keeping up our COVID-safe measures
Vaccination: Children aged 5+ years will continue to be encouraged to be vaccinated – vaccination is not mandatory for a child to attend school. All Department of Education staff, including volunteers and contractors, are vaccinated.
Face masks: All adults will continue to wear face masks, however, teachers may remove their masks if required to assist clear communication when teaching (for example, to meet the needs of a student with disability). Primary school students still do not need to wear face masks, but can if they choose. Secondary school students must continue to wear face masks. Medical exemptions apply. Face masks are available at school, if needed.
Ventilation: Air purifiers will continue to be used in classrooms, with schools supplied with additional units for Term 2, as well as use of open windows if cool climate allows.
Outdoor learning: Schools will continue to take advantage of outdoor learning opportunities where possible, dependent on cool climate.
Physical distancing: All adults will continue to keep a physical distance of 1.5 metres from each other.
Hygiene practices: Regular handwashing and sanitising will continue.
Cleaning: Frequent cleaning will continue, particularly on high-touch surfaces.
Safe site management: Non-essential visitors will continue to be limited, and schools will regularly review their COVID-19 safety plans.
Groups: Mixing of students and staff will continue to be limited where possible. COVID-safe ways of bringing students together to participate in learning activities will be considered.
If you need support translating or interpreting this information, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450. Accessibility information is available.
Recently the Year 12 Work Readiness Class visited the new UTAS Cradle Coast Campus at West Beach in Burnie.
Students enjoyed learning about all the possible future study options here on the coast and seeing the fantastic learning environment.
School Nurse News – Sleep
How to Sleep Well and Stay Healthy
The amount of sleep we need changes with age. Everyone is different, but as a guide, children and teenagers need the following amounts of sleep every night:
- ages 3 to 5: 10 to 13 hours
- ages 6 to 13: 9 to 11 hours
- ages 14 to 17: 8 to 10 hours
Getting enough sleep is vital for your teenager’s physical health, brain function, emotional wellbeing, safety, and ability to function day to day. Not having enough sleep or not sleeping well can affect how kids learn and lead to mood swings and behavioural problems.
Tips to help teenagers sleep well
Following the ‘How to sleep well’ guidelines will help-
- Establishing a routine in the lead up to going to bed
- Getting outside-helps the creation of melatonin (the hormone that helps you fall asleep)
- Exercise during the day will help you deal with stress and anxiety and will help your body burn up energy
- If you have got things to do like homework, getting ready for the next day, a computer game to play or a favourite programme to watch on TV, try to get it done well before bedtime
- The last hour is the most important hour of all. Your body is naturally getting ready to sleep with the release of melatonin, you are probably yawning, and your muscles are beginning to relax. Switch off the computer, the TV, the iPad, and don’t use your mobile phone as the light that comes from their screens can interfere with the production of melatonin and stop you falling asleep
- Once in bed, read a book or listen to gentle, relaxing music
- Keep as close to a regular bedtime and waking up time as possible, as it helps to ‘set’ your body clock.
If you can consistently go through as many of these stages as possible, you should soon find that you are waking in the morning feeling more refreshed.
For more information –
http://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/
Please feel free to call me at the school if you need any more information. I’m at the school on a Friday!
Debbie Knightley- School Health Nurse
Writing Warriors Winner: Sensory Writing
The Storm’s song
Salt Violently fills the air as you sit on the sheltered porch. Swinging on the cushioned seat, the warmth of the cup of tea spreads on your legs as you watch the foamy dark waves crash against the jagged rocks standing erect from unknown depths. Subtle shakes vibrate the small wooden building you call home as the sky rumbles and the waves crash against the cliff beneath you. There’s a morbid peace hearing the thunder roll above and watching the white veins of lighting streak across the horizon. In a way it has always calmed you. Despite the anxiety of the building shaking with every thunderous sound. Your feline companion finally stalks outside in hopes of catching a treat only to be greeted by the rough pelleting of the rain against the hardwood floor mere inches from where you sit.
The rhythm of the storm sings a symphony only you could hear. As if Mother Earth was throwing a concert personally for you and the lighting being the neon lights that lit up the stage. You close your eyes and slowly breathe out, seeping into the crevices of the old pillows that comfort you. Firm and stitched with floral designs. Tussles on the corners tickling your bare arms as the wind blows through the small gap of the porch. Your bare feet begin to feel the cold water of the rain massage your toes signalling it was time for you to go inside before you catch a cold.
Jayde - Year 10
Updating your child’s medical information.
It is very important as we start the new school year, that all medical action plans for asthma, anaphylaxis or other allergic reactions are updated and returned to the school office. If we have medications or epi pens for your child at school, it is also good time to ensure these are up to date.
School Blazers for Hire
We currently have several school blazers that students can hire or purchase.
Limited sizes are available. If your child would like to hire or purchase a blazer, please see Ms Paterson.
Dates:
Thursday 14 April - Student Free Day
First Day back for Term 2 - 2 May 2022
We hope everyone has a Happy Easter and a good break ready for Term 2.