11 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Assistant Principal

Paul Stevenson
Andrea Saville

Grade Leaders

Grade 7: Sharon Parish
Grade 8: Naomi Cartledge
Grade 9: Liam Fox
Grade 10: Allison Macpherson

Support Services

School Psychologist Jessica Walker: Mon & Wed
Social Worker Esther Fleming: Mon & Tues
School Chaplain Robin Shearer: Mon/Tues/Wed
School Health Nurse David Mackay: Friday

Principal’s Report

We have had an extremely settled start to Term 2 and there is certainly a lot taking place here at Exeter High over the coming 10 weeks. During the holidays, our Student Leadership Council attended and represented our school at several ANZAC Day ceremonies. Our students spoke with such confidence when addressing the crowds and, once again, Exeter High School’s wider community can be so proud of the students that we have here and the way they conduct themselves and represent their school with pride.

Grade 7 Camp was a huge success and a wonderful opportunity for students to challenge themselves with the activities our teachers planned for them as well as form strong friendships through the experiences that only school camps can provide. I would like to thank all of the staff who made this amazing opportunity possible for our students. It is a huge undertaking - from the initial planning of the camp, to being away from their own families for three days. School camps are only possible through the high levels of dedication of teachers and teacher assistants, which were obvious to me when I visited the camp on Thursday.

Winter Sport commences next week and I am again confident that our sports teams will represent our school with extremely high levels of pride and conduct themselves as we have come to expect of our students at all times. Please come along and support your child’s team whenever possible.

On the last day of Term 1, our teachers took part in a Moderation Day. This was an important opportunity for our teachers to compare student work samples with teachers from other schools to ensure we are assessing our students at a fair and consistent standard. I was so impressed at the levels of engagement and professionalism shown by our teachers throughout the day and the day also reinforced to me that our teachers have an excellent understanding of the curriculum we cover here and that they are assessing their students fairly. This work will be invaluable when our teachers commence writing the mid-year reports in the coming weeks.

Mr Benjamin Frerk
PRINCIPAL

State Schools Touch Football Championships

On Wednesday 11th April, three teams participated in the state-wide competition held at Prospect Park. The competition was a full day of back-to-back shortened games to allow all 41 teams to play a minimum of three games each. Due to the number of teams entered, divisions were split into pools with results combined into one ladder to enable finals to occur.

The Grade 9/10 girls’ team kicked off the day with a 5-0 win, followed by an 8-0 win, then going down by one try in their third game. They played off in a finals match and finished the day 5th out of 14 teams. The girls played fantastically as a team and the Grade 7 students in this team looked right at home.

The Grade 7/8 boys started their campaign off with a 2-all draw. There was a big break until their next game, but with a great warm up they came out firing and registered a 6-1 win. Heading into a finals playoff, the boys came out on top, finishing in 4th position out of 9 teams. It didn’t take long for the combined 7 and 8 students to learn each other’s playing styles, showing continued improvement throughout the day.

The Grade 9/10 boys came up against some big challenges in their division, kicking off with a 3-2 win against St Pats. This was followed up with 5-2 win against Kings Meadows. This pushed them well up the ladder and into a playoff against Riverside for a spot in the grand final. In a very fast, tough game the scores were tied at the final siren, resulting in a drop-off. After a few changes of possession a score was made and the boys were victorious. The grand final saw a magnificent display of skills, teamwork, sportsmanship, speed and talk from both teams. Again, the scores were tied up at full time. The drop-off got down to 4 v 4 and with the extra space MacKillop squeezed a try in. A fantastic effort from the boys to finish in 2nd position. The boys truly showed what a team is all about. Well done!

Well done to all students for upholding the Exeter school values throughout the day.

Grade 7 Battle of the Classes

Grade 7 has made an excellent start to the term and it is great to see them all excited to be back and well rested after their break.

The end of Term 1 saw the completion of the first “Battle of the Classes”. The Battle of the Classes is a whole grade competition focussing on the many different ways students can positively conduct themselves both individually and as a class group.

We are all very proud to say that 7A was victorious in our first term of the competition and have won possession of the “Battle of the Classes” shield which is proudly on display in their classroom for the term.

We are looking forward to another great term for our Grade and are all keen to see which class can be victorious at the end of this term.

Can 7A do it again or will one of the other classes be triumphant?

Interschool Short Course Eventing

On Sunday 22nd April, Exeter High School had four competitors compete in the 2018 Interschool Equestrian event held at “Fairlands”, East Tamar Highway, Launceston. This event consists of dressage, show jumping and cross country. Our competitors were Lauryn Bingley, Hayley Bingley, Isabelle Wynwood and Katelin Adams, with all riders placing top 5 in the individual rankings. Exeter High School competitors were happy to walk away with a first place in the senior teams event.

Cattle Handlers at Agfest

During the first week of May, Exeter High School Cattle Handlers attended Agfest as part of the Inaugural Schools Challenge run by Rural Youth. The other schools competing were Jordan River Learning Federation, Tasman District School and Yolla District High School, which also included students from Burnie High School. Our team consisted of Jay Walters, Matthew Heslin, Harley Wykes and Rhys Van Den Berg, and three heifers, Miss Tilly, Imogen and Miss Jean. Our team was the smallest, but consistently put in a huge effort in the various challenges and displays. These included the categories of Breeds, Junior Judging, Junior Handlers, Farm Skills and a fun event of best dressed cow and handler, judged by Frank and Nicki from Betta Milk.

The days began at 6.30 am cleaning out the cattle stalls, feeding and watering the animals and then washing, drying and grooming the heifers ready for competition. We also had to maintain our display stall in windy and occasionally damp conditions. There was a final check of the animals by adults and senior handlers at 8.00pm, so the days were long, but rewarding.

All the schools worked together in a spirit of fun and co-operation and many new friendships were made.

Exeter performed to a high standard in the competitions and received the following results:

Champion Junior Beef Handler (the top award) was awarded to Rhys Van Den Berg.

Rhys received 1st place in his age group category which put him into the final with the winners of the other age groups. As this was only Rhys’s second competition, it was an outstanding result against handlers who were older and more experienced.

Final Results for the three day event:

2nd place Murray Grey (beef) Imogen
3rd place Murray Grey (beef) Miss Jean
2nd place Team Synchronized Handling
4th place 14 years and 15/16 years Junior Handlers

Whole School Social – “Iconic Duo” theme

First social for 2018 will be held on Thursday 17th May commencing at 6:00pm and concluding promptly at 9:00pm. The social will be held in the Student Centre and doors will close at 6:30pm. Admission is $3.00 per student. When there are two students of more from one family the price of the second ticket will be $2:00. Bring along your money and permission slips on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th May at recess and lunch to the Deck. Tickets will only be sold to students with a signed permission form. There will be no door sales on the night.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast club will once again run here at EHS every Monday and Wednesday morning between 8:30am – 9:00am starting Monday 21 May. Students can meet our School Chaplain Robin in room 602 and enjoy a chat over some breakfast.

New Canteen item

Gluten free Beef Lasagne is now available from the school canteen at a cost of $4.50.

Calendar Dates – Term 2, 2018

May

June

July

Community Corner