14 May 2021

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

NAPLAN has been held across Grade 7 and 9 this week and I have been impressed with the commitment and application shown by our students. Thank you to Mrs Robinson and Mr Shorter for organising these test sessions, and to all of the teachers involved for ensuring they ran smoothly.

Attendance this term is a concern for me as we are regularly having up to 25% of our students away on any given day. Naturally, students fall ill, and families also occasionally have other situations to deal with, and we appreciate parents contacting the school office to notify us of these instances so we can adjust our records. However, if your child is away for any other reason, please make contact with their Grade Leader to discuss how we might be able to offer additional supports to improve their attendance.

The wearing of uniform is one of the aspects that has helped create the positive image we now have as a school within the wider community. Students who are not in full school uniform will be asked to change into appropriate uniform as this is the school’s policy as ratified by the School Association. Once again, if any families are having difficulty accessing uniform items, we as a school can help with this.

Work Placements are a valuable experience for students and we currently have a large number of students out on these. If your child has a particular career interest, please get them to talk to their Grade Leader so that we can help support them spending some time in the work force.

Last Tuesday, our School Association AGM was held. Thank you to those parents who nominated for the Committee. Tim Swain was re-elected as Chair – congratulations Tim. Our School Association meets on a monthly basis at 6:00 pm in our staffroom. Dates are advertised in advance in both the newsletter and on our Facebook page.

Benjamin Frerk
Principal

CITY PARK RADIO – Schools Out radio broadcasts

This term, the Grade 9/10 Drama class have ‘hit the ground running’ preparing for their ‘Schools Out’ radio sessions on City Park Radio.

Community radio station City Park Radio has been running “School’s Out”, a 30 minute program every Thursday afternoon from 4:30pm during school terms, for the past 18 years. It gives students the opportunity to produce their own show that is broadcast live in Launceston on 103.7FM, 96.5FM and streaming around the world at the link below :

There have been more than 550 programs presented that have seen dozens of schools from the north of the state involved. Volunteers at City Park Radio help students put their program live to air on Thursday afternoons.

The senior drama class has undertaken workshops on vocal and breathing techniques, radio communication – things to consider and avoid and preparing radio show scripts. Many ‘life’ skills being developed with students focussing on team work, negotiation, research and general brainstorming and bouncing ideas off one another. Emotions are currently mixed with students excited by the prospect of performing on radio but daunted that they will be ‘live’ in front of people from the general community. You can tune into our EHS shows on the following Thursday dates:

20th May
10th June
1st July
22nd July
12th August

An extra 6th show on 23rd September!

Grade 9/10 Drama class

MURAL WALL COMPETITION

The SLC is running a design competition for four murals to go up in our toilet blocks. The murals are to promote positivity amongst our peers at Exeter High. To help with the design process, here is a list of six words to inspire you:

Believe Inspire Smile Unique Laugh Kindness

What you need to do:

Using one of the words above, design a mural that captures and promotes positivity. Your design needs to feature your selected word along with appropriate imagery. We are wanting the murals to pop, so think about bright colours.

Your final design needs to be submitted to Mr Stewart on an A4 sheet of paper. Please also complete your design in colour. Your design can be completed on a digital program such as Adobe Photoshop or Pro Create. You will need to make sure you save your design as a jpeg file and print it.

The successful designers will then have their artworks upscaled onto the walls of the toilet block. You will also help with the painting of your mural.

Competition closing date is Friday, 4th June 2021

Mural design examples

Student Leadership Council

CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL – Wednesday, 19 May

Structure for the Day:

• Students arrive in full school uniform (not sports clothes or free dress)
• Lesson 1 as normal (9.00- 10.40am).
• Core teachers will complete a list of non-participants (those students who do not have a change of gear, are unwell or choose not to run/jog the course).
• Recess as normal
• Lesson 2 will be shortened (11.05- 12.15pm)
• At 12.15pm students will be dismissed from classes to take everything that they need for the afternoon (bags etc) down to the oval to assemble in house areas on the bank.
• Grade 7 students may move to get changed at the gym or toilets.
• The blue gates will be locked at 12.30pm (all students should be at the oval/canteen area)
• 12.15pm - start of the official lunch break.
• Rotary BBQ available: (Sausages, hamburgers, and cans of soft drink will be sold for between $1.50 -$3.00, so bring some money to support this)
• 12.30pm – canteen opens (ordered hot food only)
• 12.45pm – all staff need to move to checkpoints

Non-participants:

• These students will have their lunch break between 12.15-12.55pm and will be doing private study for the afternoon from 1.00-3.10pm.
• Students are responsible for taking work to complete.

Race Times:

Presentations and Clean-up 3.00pm
Dismissal at 3.10pm

COSMOLOGY TALK & STAR GAZING EVENT

Last Thursday, 29th April, we were very privileged to have two Astrophysicists/Cosmologist from the Australian National University give a very engaging talk to all of the year 7s plus about half of the year 8s and other students who were interested. Mr Peter Swanton gave a very interesting account of the astrological skills of our indigenous people told in stories and song long before modern science knew about these phenomena. Dr Brad Tucker showed his enthusiasm and vast knowledge as he talked about the huge technological advancements that have occurred in recent years, such as the moon having a 4G network that is superior to Australia’s. Both speakers were able to inspire our students to consider the world outside of their immediate environment and to consider the consequences of space travel.

Following the student talk was a public Star Gazing event held that evening which was a great success. We had a good turnout of families and other interested people who were fascinated in hearing Peter and Brad talk. Unfortunately, ‘Murphy’ played a cruel joke on us. The sky was completed covered by cloud and not a single star was gazed upon.

Brad and Peter’s visit was the result of a grant by the STARS program (Scientists Taking Astrology to Regional States) which also donated an 8 inch Dobsonian telescope to the school. The telescope will be used to support the Science and Mathematics curriculums across the school.

Mr Finnigan

Isabella with the donated Dobsonian telescope

Excellence at Exeter

These certificates are awarded to Grade 8 students in recognition of their efforts in upholding the school values and helping to make our school an excellent learning environment.

Congratulations to this fortnight’s Grade 8 students:

Milly from 8C: Milly is an extremely polite, considerate and caring student who always gives 100 percent to every task she undertakes. Her application in class is commendable and she instinctively displays outstanding citizenship. Values demonstrated: Respect, Learning, Maturity & Acceptance.

Lakeesha from 8A: Lakeesha is a caring and conscientious student who has commenced Year 8 in a very positive manner. She can work effectively with a range of students and is highly regarded by her peers as a supportive class member. Values demonstrated: Respect, Learning, Maturity & Acceptance.

ALL SCHOOLS MOUNTAIN BIKE COMPETITION

On Friday, 7th May, 15 absolute shredders from Exeter High School competed in the Tasmanian All Schools Mountain Bike Competition, which is a Tasmania wide cross-country race that was held in our local trails of Trevallyn. Riders from all over the state came to Launceston to compete and represent their schools in the race so that meant big numbers so competition was tense. Over 400 students turned up at the event so the race starts were sketchy to say the least with over 100 students crammed into a tight area to get a good lead. The day started off with perfect, warm, overcast weather and the stoke levels were running high. Race briefing at the start of the day informed everyone of the course they would be racing that day which consisted of gnarly, rocky descents, long, pedally flat straights and torturous fire road climbs.

Once the briefing was over, the Under 15 boys were at the start line and ready to race. Jack Porteus was lucky enough to get the head start with Abe Kemsley, Flynn McEvoy, Jack Roach and Sam Stocker just behind in the big pack of easily 150 shredders. The race was a spectacle to watch with most racers getting one or two laps in and Porteus getting an impressive 3 laps under his belt of the gruelling course. Once the U15’s had finished up, the spotlight was handed over to the Under 17 Boys who had a team made up of Jesse Kerkham, Ash Carr, Blake Bakes, Daniel Jordan, Will Hay, Fergus Simpson and myself, Ben Hockey. Ash Carr had the head start with the rest of pack just behind. The start was hectic as over 100 racers were competing but it spread out once riders made their way down the trail. The race was intense, but all riders managed to complete one, two, three or even four as demonstrated by Ash Carr. Aimee Ringk was the only girl from the Exeter to compete but she certainly did us proud in the Under 17 Girls category where she fought against shredders from all over the state.

After the racing was over everyone had lunch, which apparently Will thinks should consist of six tubes of yoghurt, which I believe he was regretting afterwards. Then we headed off to the timed trial held at a steezy downhill track called Sidewinder. This part of the race was new for the All Schools Competition and was a timed downhill run where only the downhill are timed. Riders were absolutely carving it up on the sweet gap jumps on the track and nice flowy berms were held victim to explosive roosts. Riders then found themselves at the top of a huge fireroad bomb that was going great with the Exeter riders sending it at mach 10 speeds until Blake and Jack decided they couldn’t turn and ran straight into a bush (no bushes were harmed). Once the riders made it back to the tent safely they enjoyed track standing competitions (a game played on bikes where you cannot touch the ground or roll so the last one standing wins) as well as many games of foot down (similar to track standing comp but there is a given space that riders can ride around in but cannot touch the ground or go outside the space) which Fergus completely dominated at. By the time everyone was tired out by the games, the presentations had started which called out the best three from each grade age group, which was interesting to watch.

That called the end of the day and schools started packing up to head home.

Huge thanks to Mr Lendvay and Mr Clarke who did an amazing job at getting us all into the race and making sure no one got hurt throughout the day.

By Ben Hockey

MEME/VINE SCHOOL SOCIAL

SILLY SOCK DAY - SLC FUNDRAISER

On Friday, 7th May the Student Leadership Council held a fundraiser in support of the Cancer Council; the fundraiser was called “Silly Sock Day”. By bringing a gold coin donation, students were able to wear silly socks. As a school, we were able to raise $100 to donate to the Cancer Council. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this fundraising effort.

Term Dates 2021

Calendar – Term 2

May

June

July

Calendar – Term 3

July

August

September

Community Corner

West Tamar Council’s Youth Centre Programs

West Tamar Council's Youth Centre program for Legana and Beaconsfield recommenced from 3rd May 2021.

We require all young people to complete the form before attending (if you completed this for term 1, you don't have to complete again). We look forward to having a range of fun, active and creative activities on offer for young people to engage in. The youth centre program is completely free and also includes afternoon tea and refreshments for everyone to enjoy. Age restrictions apply.

Registration is required as part of our safety plan. Make sure you register for 2021!

Online registration can be made at the link below: