6 November 2020

Newsletter Articles

Assistant Principals

Paul Stevenson
Andrea Saville

Grade Leaders

Grade 7: Naomi Cartledge
Grade 8: Elle Fox
Grade 9: Skye Champion
Grade 10: Allison Stone

Support Services

School Psychologist: David McCormack: Wednesday & Friday
Social Worker: Lauren Brown: Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday
School Chaplain: Paul Burton: Wednesday/Friday
School Health Nurse: Dave Mackay: Thursday

Principal’s Report

Term 4 is always a special time when we acknowledge the successes and achievements of our students across the school through the various celebration assemblies that have become a tradition here. This year, however, these events will need to look a little different due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions currently in place.

We will need to ensure that any gatherings this term, continue to meet Public Health requirements in relation to venue capacities, social distancing, hygiene and safety protocols. Due to these regulations, our Grade Celebration Assemblies and the Grade 10 Graduation Assembly will need to have different formats this year. We will provide further information when available. The Graduation Dinner will be going ahead at the Tailrace Centre on Monday December 14. This event will also need to have changes to its format to abide by the Centre’s Covid-19 management plan and please see further information in this newsletter relating to this event.

We have just held our annual Athletics Carnival, and once again, I was thoroughly impressed with the positive attitudes and high standards of behaviour that were on display across the two days. There were some outstanding results, and these will be celebrated in our next newsletter as well as being recognised in an upcoming assembly. Thank you to our wonderful HPE staff for organising the event and to our other staff for officiating over the two days.

Mrs Skye Champion has been taking a group of Grade 9 girls to the PCYC over the past 15 weeks and they have been participating in Health and Wellbeing activities, both physical and mental. This activity will culminate in a few weeks’ time when the group participates in a 5 day walk on The Overland Track. I’m sure this will be a challenging, yet very rewarding experience for the group and look forward to hearing about their adventures on their return.

Congratulations to Grade 9 student, Emily who has been nominated for the Curious Minds Program for 2020/2021. Now in its sixth year, Curious Minds is a brilliant program designed to encourage girls to continue STEM studies in their senior secondary school years and at tertiary level. The program is aimed at highly capable girls in Grade 9 and 10 who have an interest in STEM learning areas. It is a six-month program that combines two camps and a STEM coaching program. The camps will enable the girls to explore all aspects of science, technology, engineering and maths through guest lectures, interactive sessions, practicals, and field trips. This year the camps will be delivered virtually due to Covid-19 restrictions. We wish Emily all the best with this fantastic learning opportunity.

As always, if you have any queries or concerns around anything in relation to the final weeks of the 2020 school year, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Benjamin Frerk
Principal

Operation Christmas child

During term 3 and 4, the SLC (School Leadership Council) organised a fundraiser for Operation Christmas Child. The school community was invited to bring in items to fill boxes for the children in third world countries. After 6 weeks, the SLC checked and packed a total of 16 boxes. The SLC thank the school for their support for this fundraiser and congratulate everyone of a job well done.

Exeter Primary School Kinder students visit Exeter High School Farm

On Wednesday 28th October, as part of our school garden program, the Exeter Primary Kinder students visited the High School Farm. The students were very excited to see all the animals on the farm up close and hope to come back again soon.

Grade 9 Science

Students are currently working on a Physics unit about Heat Transfer. They have been investigating conduction, convection and radiation. This will lead up to students making their own Solar Oven!

Overland Track for ASCENT Program Participants

Eight Grade 9 girls have been fortunate enough to be selected to complete the Overland track at the start of December. These girls have all completed the ASCENT program, which is run by PCYC Launceston. The overland adventure has been made possible through the support of Merridew Fountain and On Track Expeditions.

In the lead up to the expedition the girls have been participating in weekly training sessions ranging from putting up their tents, strength work outs and practise hikes.

SLC Social – Disney Theme, Thursday 19 November

The SLC will be holding a “Disney Theme” whole school social on Thursday, 19th November 2020, from 6.00pm to 8:30pm sharp. 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 or more from one family the price of the second ticket will be $2. Soft drink will be sold for $2.00 and there will also be snacks available. Staff will provide supervision.

Money and permission slips can be returned to SLC representatives on either Friday 13th, Monday 16th & Tuesday 17th November 2020 at recess & 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.

Important Grade 10 Information

The Graduation Dinner at the Tailrace Centre and the Final Presentation Assembly are understandably major functions. Due to Covid-19 guidelines they will look quite different this year.

GRADUATION DINNER

The Graduation Dinner will be held at the Tailrace on Monday 14th December from 6.30 pm til 9.30 pm. The following changes will apply:

• The Graduation Dinner will be in a larger room to accommodate social distancing.
• Students will be able to dance as this will be held in a separate room to the dinner.
• Due to Covid 19 regulations, parents will be unable to congregate to watch students being dropped off at The Tailrace. If parents wish to take photos of their child, cars etc. we suggest that this is done prior to arrival at The Tailrace. Linda from Linda Pasfield Photography will be taking red carpet photos of students arriving and throughout the evening.
• We are allowed to have a whole group photo.
• At the end of the evening, parents can collect their child at The Tailrace entrance while remaining in their car. Staff will escort students to their parents.
• Students will need to arrive between 6.30 - 7.00 pm and be collected by 9.30 pm.

PRESENTATION ASSEMBLY

• The 2020 Presentation Assembly will be held on Friday 11th between 11.00 – 12.40pm.
• Parents will be invited to attend however, we will need to follow Departmental protocols regarding signing in and social distancing etc. Further details will be available in the coming weeks.
• Grade 10 students will be allowed to sign out for the remainder of the day if their parents are in attendance at the assembly.

Other activities that the Grade 10 students will be involved in are listed on our calendar in this newsletter.

2020 Athletics Carnival Results

After two fantastic days of our carnival we are happy to announce the final house results.

We would also like to acknowledge how awesome the students in attendance were on both days and congratulate everyone on their participation. A more detailed report will be available for our next newsletter.

2021 STUDENT ASSISTANCE (STAS)

The Department of Education recently announced that they would be expanding the Student Assistance Scheme for 2021.

Parents who have a current concession card as listed below, can apply for dependent students for assistance under the STAS:

• Service Australia – Centrelink Health Care Card
• Service Australia – Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card
• Services Australia – Pension Concession Card or
• Department of Veteran Affairs – Pensioner Concession Card

Please note that if you are already receiving student assistance you do not need to complete a form.

For 2021 a new on-line form has been developed to assist with processing applications for new applicants.

The online form can be completed here:

The form will be available for public use from the 10 November.

Once a validated form is completed the Department of Education will confirm the outcome of your application in writing, this process takes approximately 14 days.

Ordering from the School Canteen via Qkr!

Ordering food and drink from the school canteen via Qkr! is fast and easy, and we’re pleased that many of our students and parents/guardians use the App. We are concerned, however, that some money and food/drink is going to waste because students aren’t aware that orders have been made on their behalf. Parents/guardians who use Qkr! to order from the school canteen on their child’s behalf must also tell their child that food and drink will be prepared and available for them to collect at recess and/or lunch. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Reporting Student Absences via SMS Messages

You can now respond to the SMS messages you receive in relation to your child’s absence from school. Please remember to include your child’s name on your response.

Uniform Shop – OPEN – 8.30am-3:45pm – Every Day

You can now organise your child’s uniform requirements on a Monday to Friday basis between 8:30am and 3:45pm. Please call in at your convenience during these times.

Important Dates 2020

Term Dates

Monday 12 October – Thursday 17 December

TERM 4, 2020

November

December

* Calendar is updated on a fortnightly basis.

Community Corner

Girls Cricket Come and Try Day – Thursday 5 November from 4:00pm at the Riverside Cricket Club

Exeter Art Studios Opening Soon

2021 Show Dates for your calendar – Happy Habits Presents “STRESSICA”

Stressica is a professional Tasmanian Educational Children’s Theatre production featuring the collaborative work of over 15 local artists and a fun way to introduce children to live theatre.

A comedy, both tender and wise, about managing stress for children aged 4 -12 years.

Family Shows at IO HQ, 180 Cimitre Street, Launceston (next to Spotlight) from January 27th – 31st 2021.

Show times: 11:00am, 2:00pm & 7:00m