11 June 2021

Newsletter Articles

Assistant Princials

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: TBA
School Chaplain: Paul Burton: Wednesday/Friday
School Health Nurse: Dave Mackay: Thursday

Principal’s Report

As I mentioned in the last Newsletter, we had the Education Minister, Ms Sarah Courtney visit our school recently. We are very excited about the new development that is planned for Exeter High School’s campus, along with the new classroom facilities that are being built on the school farm later this year. As plans progress and we have dates locked in, I will update our community.

Teachers have been writing reports for students and these will provide parents with a view of how their child is progressing throughout the year in each subject. These will be handed to students in the last week of term and Parent/Teacher/Student interviews will be held early Term 3. I encourage as many parents as possible to attend these interviews with their child. Dates and times will be published in the coming weeks.

I have had several teachers voice their concern to me about the aggressive nature of some parents when they have phoned them about their child’s unacceptable behaviour. I would like to remind parents that teachers make these calls to inform parents about their child’s behaviour in an attempt to allow parents to talk to their child and help them modify the behaviours that are seen as inappropriate. Aggressive language will not be tolerated as it would not be acceptable in any other profession and our teachers do not come to school to deal with this. I’d also like to highlight the importance of making appointments if needing to speak with staff in person. While our school is extremely accommodating to parents and visitors, staff are often on class and in meetings which they are unable to leave when parents and visitors arrive unannounced. Our admin staff can assist with making appointments to ensure staff availability and to allow adequate time for the conversation.

On another positive, our students have represented our school in last week’s Inter High Cross Country which was held at Kings Meadows High School. Please see the report in this week’s newsletter for further information. Miss Cartledge also took our school leaders from across all grades to a leadership conference last Friday. Students learned valuable leadership skills and reports came back that they did our school proud in the way they interacted, led by example and represented our school.

Benjamin Frerk
Principal

LAUNCESTON COLLEGE PRODUCTION “CHAOS”

On Tuesday the 8th June, the senior drama class were invited to attend the Drama 3 performance of ‘Chaos’ at Launceston College.

Chaos by Laura Lomas is a play made up of scenes that are both separate and interconnected, in which a series of characters search for meaning in a complicated and unstable world. The characters explore themes such as love, violence, mental health, the universe, physics, and friendship simultaneously. A girl is locked in a room. A boy brings another boy flowers. A girl has tied herself to a railing. A boy doesn’t know who he is. A girl worries about impending catastrophe. A boy’s heart breaks. A butterfly has a broken wing.

Written specifically for young people, Chaos was a play very exciting on many levels. As a piece of theatre, it offered a fast-paced exploration of themes. There were lots of monologues and duologues that could be used as stand-alone pieces as well as many choral moments. The acting performance by the Drama 3 class was outstanding and absorbing from the beginning til the end. There was very clever use of performance space and interaction of characters. It was a fabulous performance! Former EHS students Xavier, Carrie and Ella were outstanding, and showed the importance of subtleties in performance. We’d highly recommend the show.

As a sidenote, Liz Bennett, the teacher of Drama 3 heard that Mrs Parish was currently involved with The Push-up Challenge (3,318 push-ups in 25 days) raising money for Mental Health in Australia. When hearing this, the Drama 3 class decided to donate their gold coin entry fee from their evening show to this great cause. Thank you L.C. Drama students for your dedication and compassion.

Grade 9/10 Drama

From the Chaplain’s desk

Hi all,

Hasn’t 2021 gone by so quickly.

It only feels like yesterday that I was getting my own kids ready for the school year and now we’re talking about what we might do for the July School Holidays!

Speaking of which, Scripture Union are holding a camp during the School Holidays. I’ve attached the information flyer and registration details in this article so please take advantage of this opportunity. They are an excellent way for kids to meet new people and have a great time being involved in activities that you don’t have to organise or think up yourself, to keep your children entertained for a few days over the holidays.

Here’s the details:

The camp is for Grade 7 to 9 students at ‘Carnacoo’, Paper Beach, from the 3rd to the 5th of July.

The camp is based on the movie 'Ready Player One?' and the theme is 'Game On: Playing the Game of Life'. The main content of the camp will be about building positive relationships, positive choices and just enjoying the fun of being a teenager by games, camp-fire, craft and laser tag in the bush. There will also be some minimal Christian input which campers can opt out of should they not feel comfortable engaging with this.

There is a flyer and a registration form attached but the easiest way to register is online at the link below.

If you would like to register but haven't got a credit card you just can enter one of the promo codes (below) at the checkout stage, the price will go to $0 and you will be allowed to finish registration.

Cash Payment: SUBeyond21Cash
Direct Deposit Payment: SUBeyond21DD

If you have any questions, please contact the names listed on the flyer for clarification.

Also, be sure to take some time out for yourself as the shorter days and cooler weather sets upon us for another season, because the fact is, people can get the ‘winter blues’. The following link is to a great article about this phenomenon. Seasonal affective disorder: Can winter really send you into a case of seasonal depression? - ABC News

There has been a lot of focus on the area of self-care over the past 18 months and I’ve also had to make time for ‘me’ amongst all that has been going on.

I find a great way to destress or to stay sane is going for a walk to a favourite spot and taking in the sounds in a mindful way; what do I hear, what things are going on around me, is there a different flower in bloom or are there leaves on the ground, how does this make me feel? It certainly helps to view things in a calm way. What’s your destress activity?

If you’ve never heard of mindfulness and would like to explore this concept more or check out some ideas for mindfulness activities visit: www.positivepsychology.com

Take care and be kind to yourself, and others.

Paul Burton
Chaplain

INTER-HIGH CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL

On Tuesday 1st June, Mr Stewart and our current Health and Physical Education Professional Experience students escorted a group of enthusiastic students to Kings Meadows High School for the annual Inter-High Cross Country Carnival. For “first-timers”, this can be quite a daunting experience with approximately 50 competitors in each age/gender group across all the NHSSA affiliated schools.

The weather was kind, although the hilly sections of the course still proved challenging and somewhat slippery with wet leaves and mud underfoot. Our students once again conducted themselves in an excellent manner and encouraged their teammates throughout the day. There were some outstanding individual performances including the following students who finished in the top ten:

Congratulations to the Year 10 Girls’ team of Hannah Carr, Paige Dobson, Aimee Ringk and Emily Franks who achieved 3rd place in the overall team placings.

Exeter High finished in 5th place overall which maintains our spot in the Division 1 carnival.

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:

Avery from 8A: Avery is an outstanding student and role model to his peers. He consistently strives to achieve excellence in all learning areas and is a caring and helpful student who has demonstrated strong leadership qualities. Values demonstrated: Respect, Learning, Maturity & Acceptance.

Jessica from 8D: Jessica is a quiet achiever who consistently upholds our school values. She applies herself conscientiously to all tasks and can work with a range of her peers. Jessica is a kind, respectful and helpful student. Values demonstrated: Respect, Learning, Maturity & Acceptance.

My Education Day

My Education is a supportive and inclusive approach to career education that inspires and guides all students from Year 7 to Year 10. It supports students to identify their personal interests, values, strengths and aspirations, and teaches them how to use this knowledge to make decisions about their future learning, work and life opportunities. My Education is a coordinated whole-school approach to career and life planning.

A variety of activities were undertaken in each of the grades as part of the EHS My Education Day on Thursday 27th May – Day 2, 2021

Grade 7 – My Education Day

Year 7 students explored the topic of stress and valuing differences. In lesson 1, students attended 'Stressica', a drama performance by Happy Habits that explored causes of, and how to effectively manage, stress. Lesson 2 and lesson 3 saw students undertake learning activities around valuing differences: they watched 'Wonder' and reflected on how they might apply lessons from the film to their own lives.

Grade 8 – My Education Day

The Term 2 Grade 8 focus for My Education day was around self-awareness. In lesson 1 students attended a comedy performance ‘Stressica’ about managing stress and participated in a post-show wellness workshop. In lesson 2 students completed activities around reflecting on and recognising their pre-conditions for growth and learning and in lesson 3 demonstrated their perseverance and resilience in a series of class ‘minute to win it’ challenges. Students engaged well with the content and activities and identified some strategies to manage stress making it a worthwhile experience for all.

Stressica performance

Grade 8 ‘Minute to Win It’ challenges

Grade 9– My Education Day

In lesson 1, we looked at the MyFuture website and completed different tasks related to job interests, things you want to avoid in the workplace and which subjects you enjoy, which all combine to specially allocate everyone their own individual careers bullseye. These bullseyes work as guides to give students an idea on what career paths best suit their desires. Multiple jobs for different categories were listed, as well as the weekly pay and what degrees are required. A lot of students agreed the career bullseyes were helpful.

In lesson 2, Year 9 classes combined in the library to play celebrity heads and watch a film. Groups for celebrity heads were completely random, giving students opportunities to work and engage with other students. Everyone was laughing and enjoying the game. Afterwards, the clip shown informed students on how self-confidence, time management and advice from peers can be important in the workplace and as life skills overall. Whilst watching the clip, students were given a sheet to write down any important things they didn’t know or already knew to reflect.

In lesson 3, students worked on starting or finishing their resumes. They were taught the correct way to list information and which information is necessary to include and irrelevant to include. Students were given a badly written resume to edit and correct. After students individually worked on correcting the resume, as a class they all discussed their thoughts with what belonged and what needed to be changed. Once students finished their resumes, they emailed them to their teacher for feedback on what to improve.

Overall, the My Education Day was successful in helping students in some way towards their goals and preparing for the future or upcoming jobs.

Report completed by 9C.

Grade 10 – My Education Day - My Futures:

Exploring future pathways and subject requirements; research and watching videos regarding Year 11 and 12 subjects on offer – level 2 and 3, VET courses etc.; University presentation; College presentation; consolidation of learning/pathways and Transition Plans.

Exploring future pathways

University of Tasmania & Launceston College presentations

Launceston College Parent Information Evening

Grade 10 Launceston College Parent Information Evening

Thursday 12th August, 7.00pm in the College Main Hall

ALL WELCOME

Details on registering for this event will be provided at a later date.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN WITH AN EDUCATION

When students finish Year 11 and 12, anything can happen.

As educators, we know that if students remain engaged in education and training until they complete Year 12, their future life outcomes and opportunities are significantly increased. Most jobs today require students to complete Year 12 as a minimum. The Tasmanian Government is working hard to create a job-ready generation. Whatever a young person wants to do in life, there is a pathway to take them there.

In Tasmania, young people are required to stay in education and training until they turn 18 years of age or meet a leaving requirement, under the Education Act. A leaving requirement includes the following:

• Completing Year 11 and 12 (this may include an Australian school-based apprenticeship);
• A full time VET program at TasTAFE or other Registered Training Organisation;
• An apprenticeship or traineeship with an employer; or
• A combination of these options, if the provider(s) allow.

Young people with full time employment (or other specific circumstances) need to apply for an exemption so that they can leave education and training early.

Anything can happen with an education. There’s more than one way to get where you want to be – but just dropping out isn’t one of them. Whatever you want to do in life, there’s a pathway to take you there. You can do anything, be anyone. It all starts with an education. For more information visit at the link below.

Term Dates 2021

Calendar – Term 2

June

July

Calendar – Term 3

July

August

September

Community Corner

The Smith Family’s Saver Plus program