10 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

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 once again, I am confident that our sports teams will represent our school with extremely high levels of pride and conduct themselves in the manner 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 at a fair standard. This work will be invaluable when our teachers commence writing the mid-year reports in the coming weeks.

I would just like to thank Mrs Jean Abbott-Shirley for her work at Agfest last week with Cattle Handling. All of the students who participated thoroughly enjoyed the experience and represented the school with pride.

NAPLAN:

NAPLAN is moving completely online in 2019. This means moving NAPLAN from paper-based assessments to online-based assessments. NAPLAN Online will provide better assessment and more precise results. The assessments feature a tailored test design where the questions a student receives will depend on their answers to previous questions.

Tasmanian schools will participate in NAPLAN Online from 2019.

NAPLAN Online testing will be held from the 14 to 24 May 2019.

NAPLAN Online 2019 will include four components, Writing, Numeracy, Conventions of Language and Reading. For 2019 Year Three students will be completing a paper based Writing Test. Online Testing will be available for each of the NAPLAN year levels (3, 5, 7 and 9)

Schools will receive results and reports for participants following the completion of NAPLAN Online 2019. Individual Student Reports will have the same format as the results from the paper based testing. The same report format is used for every student in Australia.

Individual student performance in NAPLAN is shown on a national achievement scale for each test. The performance of individual students can be compared to the average performance of all students in Australia.

Security and privacy are key requirements for the delivery of national testing. The online assessment platform has been designed to comply with relevant national data security policies and guidelines as well as data encryption standards. It meets the requirements of the Australian Government’s Protective Security Policy Framework and Information Security Manual to protect privacy of data, including any personal student data, required to be used.

Please see the Department of Education’s NAPLAN Online Privacy Notice for more information.

NAPLAN testing for Grade 7 and Grade 9 students will begin on Tuesday 14th May and conclude on Monday 20th May. All testing will be completed online. Information for parents/carers about NAPLAN Online was sent home with students earlier this week and can also be found at the link below. At Exeter High School, testing will take place as follows:

If you have any questions about this year’s NAPLAN testing, please contact Mrs Robinson or Mr Shorter at the school.

Thank you, in anticipation, for you and your child’s participation in this important national initiative.

Benjamin Frerk
Principal

Cattle Handlers at Agfest

Our cattle handling team consisting of Rhys Van Den Berg, Alex Dickenson, Maddie Dunn and Katie Grant de Haan, with assistance from last year’s team leader Jay Walters, attended Agfest for the Schools Challenge. We were joined on Saturday by Macy Van Den Berg who had been on Grade 7 camp.

This year sheep and dairy cattle were added to the program with beef cattle.

We began each day at 6:00am with feeding, watering and washing the cattle in preparation for the day ahead and finished with a night time check at 8:00pm.

Six schools were represented – Tasman District School, Jordan River Learning Federation, Scottsdale High, Yolla District School, Community Christian College and Exeter High - and over the three days participated in various challenges and events on the Central Arena, watched by large crowds.

The events included the Young Farmer Challenge, Breeds, Junior Judging and Junior Handlers.

Exeter were one of the smallest teams, but performed well gaining several placings.

After winning our heat we made it to the final of the Young Farmer challenge where the team had to construct a section of fencing with straight posts, correct wire knots and use a gripple gun and fence strainer while answering a questionnaire about farming, cows and sheep and Agfest knowledge. Our practice with fencing skills over the holidays paid off and the team gained 3rd place.

In the Breeds section our two heifers, Miss Jean and Imogen gained 1st and 2nd places in their class. Exeter is one of only two schools producing their own cattle and the judge congratulated the school on our breeding program and made the comment that having charge of our own genetics and pasture contributed to the great condition of the cattle. Over the course of the event the ring announcer talked about the schools and remarked that Exeter High continues with a long tradition of producing quality Murray Grey cattle.

In the Junior Judging event the handlers had to assess a group of four cattle and rate them according to various criteria including structure, size and weight for age, muscle definition, head shape and the way they track and then present their report to the judge. In the first time in this event our handlers did an outstanding job with Alex taking out 3rd place and Maddie topping the field as Champion Junior Judge in the under 15 age group.

On the final day in Junior Handlers Macy gained 2nd place in her age group in her first show.

Our handlers represented our school in a responsible and enthusiastic manner and were on hand to answer queries from the public. Congratulations to the students for their commitment to the Cattle Handling program that enables us to showcase the Exeter High School farm and cattle to so many people.

Mrs Jean Abbott-Shirley
Co-ordinator

Cross Country/Fitness Training

In the lead up to our school cross country carnival which will be held on Friday 7th June, all HPE classes will be undertaking some intensive training in both their Health and PE lessons during weeks 4-6 (starting next week). Students will be required to bring a change of gear for both lessons each week along with drink bottles and asthma medication if needed.

This is a major unit in the HPE curriculum and students will be assessed as much on their attitude and effort to improve as their overall fitness. Different fitness levels will be catered for with extension tasks for those who are aspiring to inter-high representation.

Health and PE lessons are as follows:

EHS School Association - 2019 Fundraiser

The Entertainment Fundraiser is one of the favourites at Exeter High School!

This year we are raising money for developing outdoor areas including school oval. Please help us achieve our goal by purchasing your Entertainment Membership from us. Exeter High School receives 20% from every Membership sold so tell your family and friends to support us as well.

The Entertainment Memberships are available as a Book or as a Digital Membership App. Both are full of great value and you only need to use your Membership once or twice and it will have paid for itself!

Anytime you use your Membership after that, the savings are dollars in your pocket!! With great offers which include 2-for-1 offers, special rates and up to 50% off on activities, dining, shopping, travel and leisure. There is something for everyone in this year’s Entertainment Membership.

For a digital Membership order on line at the link below:

For more information or to arrange collection of an Entertainment book please contact the School Association Treasurer Natalie Sydes – sydes.family@internode.on.net

The next meeting of the School Association will be held on Tuesday 28 May, commencing at 6:00pm in the administration staffroom. All are welcome to attend.

Whole School Social – Iconic Australia Theme

Thursday 16 May 2019 from 6.00pm to 8.30pm.

The social will be held in the Student Centre with staff providing supervision. Admission is $3.00 per student. When there are two students or more from one family the price of the second ticket will be $2.00. Soft drink and snacks will be sold for $2.00.

Money and permission slips can be returned from Thursday 9th – Tuesday 14th May.

Tickets will only be sold to students with a signed permission form.

There will be no door sales on the night.

EHS Trivia Night and Silent Auction

SLC/Cambodia Trivia Night is to be held on Friday 31 May commencing at 6.00pm in the Student Centre.

Why not get a table of ten together and join in the fun. Cost is $10 per person with a maximum of ten per table.

For more information and to reserve your table please contact Mr Ty Stewart – ty.stewart@education.tas.gov.au or phone 6394 4366.

School Association BBQ at Polling Booth

Earn and Learn

Exeter High is participating in this promotion again in 2019. Please send in your stickers and help us reach our goal.

Important Dates 2019

Term Dates

Student Free Days

Term 2

May

June

* Calendar is updated on a fortnightly basis.

COMMUNITY CORNER

Dental Van at Exeter

Junior Tennis

West Tamar Youth Centre Programs for Term 2

Nathan Dusty

Wetaway Program