Apologies that this report is not in video form, but some technical difficulties and the looming deadline has forced me to revert to a written report for this newsletter.

Term 1, 2023 will go down as the shortest term on record for quite some time. Nine weeks to be exact, take out some public holidays has meant only 40 days was available to us for teaching and learning. It is little wonder then that so many people are talking about how fast this term has gone.

That said there are many things to be proud of and celebrate as we head to Easter. A few of the highlights for me included:

• The way in which our Year 7 students embraced life at our college
• The participation, and perhaps more importantly the support shown to all competitors at the Swimming Carnival
• The efforts of student leaders to elevate student voice
• Our Relay for Life Team, raising over $7,000 for Cancer
• And as recently as yesterday the completion of a mural at the Ulverstone branch of Tas Ambulance
• Most importantly, despite not being a headline grabber, the way most students have applied themselves to learning and conducted themselves as respectful members of our college community

Alarmingly there is growing concern around safety and the climate within our college and the broader community in general. Over the past fortnight I have raised some concerns with students and collected data from them to begin conversations about what we can do collectively to improve our college and community climate. I will also be reaching out to parents and community members early next term to gather your views and or possible solutions. Watch this space!

• We have also managed to fit in some big-ticket items this term, some of which will support us to develop our strategic approach to ongoing improvement.
• NAPLAN testing for Years 7 and 9
• Development of Learning Plans
• External School Review – thank you to those people that gave up their time to speak with the review panel
• Progress Reporting and Community BBQ (last night) – again thank you to those parents and community members who were able to attend and connect with teachers and staff

I hope you manage to get some time to relax and recharge over the Easter break and if you are heading away, please travel safe as you make some great memories.

Simon Dent

Principal

Transdisciplinary Science 2 and 3 Leven River Field Trip

We have been looking at the context of water to set up our investigations for this subject.

To explore water quality, we took a trip up the Leven River and sampled the water quality (flow, dissolved oxygen, phosphates, nitrates, temperature, E. coli etc). We analysed the data and considered the reliability and validity of the sampling techniques when we returned.

It was a great day enjoyed by staff and students alike. Enjoy the images.

Curious Controllers

We were fortunate to have Questacon come and run some fun hands-on workshops with our Year 7, 8 and 9 students on Monday 3 April. Students got to try out a set of controllers to play a computer game. They also got to use Makey Makey to invent their own controllers to play a piano keyboard. It was great fun. In doing this, students developed their understanding of circuits and insulators and conductors. We would like to thank the Questacon team for their support, work and enthusiasm.

Science Engineering Challenge – 9 May

We are looking for year 9 and 10 students to join our team for the Science Engineering Challenge in Burnie. Please encourage your students to come and sign up for this fun day where students get to build and test their designs. It will be a great fun time - just see the activities here in this link. Our Activities / Science and Engineering Challenge / Education / College of Engineering, Science and Environment / Colleges / The University of Newcastle, Australia

As we draw close to the end of Term One, we would like to thank Year 8 staff and students for the effort that has been put into this short term. It has been very busy and the majority of students continue to work hard and give their best effort with their learning.

Two weeks ago, we held a Year Group Assembly. In this assembly we focussed on ‘being ready to learn’ and what this looks like. We spoke about having high expectations and being prepared for class, as well as treating people with respect. We highlighted and  congratulated Jaxon W for demonstrating this through how he had helped another student at USC. We also announced our Homeroom winners for our Top Dog Award, a Year 8 Homeroom competition that has continued on from Year 7. This award was given to 8E for having the best attendance on the day of our whole school swimming carnival. We will continue this tradition next term, with an afternoon homeroom sports competition.

We would also like to congratulate all the Year 8s who have taken up some extra opportunities this term. We have had a number of Year 8s involved in sporting teams, represent the school in Inter-High, the Relay for Life fundraiser, Dungeons and Dragons and the Chess Tournament. We encourage students to take on every opportunity that comes their way. 

A big shout out to Stella in 8D, who was elected captain of the Under 14 Girls Ulverstone Football team. This is an awesome effort and we hope you and your team have a successful season.

If you have any concerns about your child, please call the school on 6425 1433.

Wendy Leonard and Shaun Conkie

Assistant Principal and Year Coordinator.

The Year 7’s were delighted to have Kristian, from Volunteering Tasmania, present an interactive workshop on the Youth Volunteer Army program. The program recognises and rewards volunteer work of young people.

Students can sign up via the app or web browser and log their volunteer hours to earn badges. There are 5 badges young people can aim for; 5 hours: Member, 32 Hours: Bronze, 250 Hours: Silver, 500 Hours: Gold plus Top Volunteer of the Year.

The Youth Volunteer Army provides a “CV of volunteering” which provides a summary of volunteer work which will assist students to gain employment, University & TAFE placements and scholarships.

The Top Volunteer of Year Badge of 2022 was presented to Tahli  for the hours of volunteering she has contributed to her community. Congratulations Tahli!

Do you know a young person who volunteers? Let them know that the Youth Volunteer Army is now available at Ulverstone Secondary College.

It’s free to sign up. Simply search “SVA Volunteering” at the app store or google “SVA Volunteering” and sign up to start earning badges!

Remember, you can add all the volunteer work that students have completed from Year 7 – Year 12.

If you would like to know more information, please contact Belinda Gillard.

In January I was fortunate enough to participate in the National Youth Science Forum in Sydney. This is a program for students going into Year 12 to explore education and career pathways in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM). We had 3-4 days exploring universities, museums and other science organisations and 9 days of online learning, experiencing Science at Home, the CERN Hadron Collider, Tesla in America, Design thinking workshops, University, and career days. Some keynote speakers were Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Professor Venna Sahajwalla and Adam Spencer. A highlight was attending the University of Sydney Integrated Pathology Museum where I got to see preserved human specimens. I am most grateful for this opportunity and would like to acknowledge the Rotary Clubs of Ulverstone and Ulverstone-West for their endorsement and sponsorship to attend. I would like to also thank Kylie Waters and Tanya Adams for their support and encouragement throughout the program. This was an amazing experience and I would like to encourage any Year 11 students to take up this opportunity if they have an interest in STEM.

The Swimming Carnival was a major success with so many students getting in the pool and having a go. Bass was the best house on the day winning the carnival with 1909 points. Furneaux came second on 1699 points, Flinders third on 1374 points and Tasman fourth on 1347 points. It was great way to finish off the day with a free swim and waterslide. Thanks to the HPE team and House Captains for organising and running the day.

This term students in Art Club have been spending their Friday lunch times planning and designing a mural for the Ulverstone Ambulance Depot.

During the last week of term, students went out and brought their design to life.  The theme was Australian bush oasis and what a wonderful job they did carrying out this theme.

All students should be so proud of what they achieved over the three days.

Mrs Chamberlain.

Big congratulations to everyone who participated in and donated to USC Dream Team! We raised over $7300 for Relay for Life and walked/ran 281 laps!

A reminder that registration forms need to be returned with payment to the office prior to taking the field for the first game, which will be in Week 2 of Term 2.

Please click link for more information and registration form.

Football_letter_and_Registration.pdf

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