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JUNE | |
Thursday 9th | Cross Country |
Monday 13th | Queens Birthday - Public Holiday |
Monday 20th - Thursday 23rd | Grade 10 Exams |
Wednesday 22nd | Reports sent home |
Monday 27th | 3-way Conferences |
Tuesday 28th | 3-way Conferences |
JULY | |
Friday 8th | Students last day- term 2 |
Monday 25th | Professional learning day |
Tuesday 26th | Students first day- term 3 |
Reporting
It is that time of the year when staff are working incredibly hard to provide you with an accurate picture of your child’s learning. Mid-year reporting provides this opportunity, and it is one that teachers take extremely seriously. We have spent significant time ensuring that all teachers have common expectations of student achievement and that their predictions about your child’s achievement is as accurate as possible.
This report will reflect the feedback your child has already received in class and will be in line with the information on the numerous assessment rubrics, teachers are using with students in class.
Due to feedback in recent years, we are giving families a chance to view the report before coming in for 3-way conferences. This will give the parent and student a chance to reflect on assessments before talking with the teacher about the student’s learning. You will notice that there is now no written aspect of the report due to the new DoE reporting guidelines, therefore, we encourage all parents and students to be part of the 3-way conference process.
Reports will be sent home on Wednesday 22nd June. Included with the report will be a letter that outlines how families can book in for 3-way conferences. They will take place in week 9 at the following times.
- Monday 27th June - 3.00pm to 5.30pm (All Teachers)
- Tuesday 28th June - 3.00pm to 7.30pm (all Teachers) Plus Don College Staff
We encourage Grade 10 families to book in on the Tuesday night if they would like to talk to Don Staff about possible course options for their child.
Parents will have a 15-minute timeslot.
A coffee van will also be available for any parents who would like to purchase a drink on the Tuesday night.
Respect
Previously we have been fortunate enough to have an international speaker, Jonny Shannon speak to us about Bullying, Resilience and Cyber Safety. Jonny explained that bullying can have a profound effect on one’s life, leading us on a road of self-destruction, however, there is still hope.
This was the case for Jonny Shannon who is nowadays an international technology entrepreneur and travels the world to share how he worked through being bullied. Jonny grew up in South Auckland, New Zealand and found school extremely difficult, having undiagnosed dyslexia and other disabilities which led him to failing all his subjects and being bullied.
After over-reacting too many times, Jonny was finally expelled from two high schools for too many incidents of fighting at school. When moving to a new school, he was given support from a Social Worker that focused on his emotional wellbeing. She gave him clear strategies that supported him in making respectful choices and building positive relationships. She explained to him that it was his negative reactions to the conflict that was having the greatest impact on him.
Jonny’s message was truly inspiring. I have included a flowchart below that outlines the strategies that supported him in turning his life around. He highlights that the person who is being teased has the most power. Please work through this flowchart with your children. It will help them to navigate through negative interactions and ensure they are assertive, but also respectful.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN has now finished, and I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate our Grade 7 and 9 students on their approach to the tests. Once we have received the NAPLAN Assessments back, we will send them home to individual families and share our school results in the newsletter. This data will provide our school with information about how education programs are working, and which areas need to be prioritised for improvement.
Grade 11/12 Trip
I had the privilege to work with our Grade 11/12 team last week and participated in two courses (Shipboard Safety and Fire Safety) as part of our VET Course in Seafood and Maritime Operations. The experience definitely took us outside our comfort zone, having to jump from a height into water, turn over a capsized life raft and support each other to survive in extremely cold conditions. We even got the chance to use fire extinguishers on different types of fires. I would personally like to thank Miss Loone for organising this valuable learning experience. A highlight was getting a chance to board “The Navigator”, which is the training vessel in Hobart for seafood operations and shipboard safety.
Science
Something about Science that I enjoy are the experiments. Here are some of the experiments that we have done in Grade 7. In our chromatography experiment we separated different colours from inks and found out that there are many colours needed to make black ink, such as red, blue, and yellow. The most exciting experiment we have done so far is definitely the saltwater filtration experiment. We used the evaporation process to filter the salt out of salt water. In this experiment we also had our first experience of using the Bunsen burners. So overall, I think science this term has been pretty exciting so far. – James
Mathematics
During the school year, we have been learning so much in Mathematics. In Term 1, we focused on what factors and multiples are and the LCM (lowest common multiple) and HCF (highest common factor) and how to find them in a pair of numbers. We then moved our focus onto the perimeter and area of a shape. Now in Term 2, we have been focusing on algebra and algebraic expressions which include how to understand the concept of variables as a way of representing numbers using letters, how to simplify algebraic expressions by using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and how to sole algebraic expressions in worded problems. – Kyle
Art
In Art this term we have been looking at ceramics. Ceramics is working with clay and learning the different stages of clay. First, we learnt about the stages. There is wet clay, which has never been moulded or played with. It’s just been shaped into a certain shape for packaging. The next stage is leather clay. Leather clay is where it is still at the wet stage, but it has been played with a bit and is starting to crack a little, however you can still fix the cracks. The last stage is bone dry clay, where it is completely dry, water won’t fix it but there are other ways you can fix it. After we wrote all of this down, we were told we were making a pinch pot. We found an image that we wanted to create, we grabbed a piece of clay and started to form a pinch pot. After we made our pots, we learnt how to add details onto our original pot. This technique is called ‘score and slip’. – Charli
MDT
During the first term of MDT we’ve learnt so much, from basic measurements to making our visions come to life. Our first project was to create a marble maze and puzzle. We started by writing our measurements and writing down all the steps to achieve building this project. We’ve created a glossary in the middle of our books to look back on. The glossary is on all the different tools we’ve used in the workshop and how to use them. We are now working on creating a metal person. We get a choice on what pose it will have. We do this by welding the metal into shape. We always walk into MDT with a smile on our faces and Mr Smith continues to surprise us with the opportunities we have to explore in this environment. – Haylee
HASS
This term in HASS we have been learning about Ancient Rome and its impact on modern society. In our lessons so far, we have been focusing on the advantages of Rome’s geographical location and their government system that contributed to its continuity. In these topics, we learnt about it’s locational benefits, the three different periods of government, the rules and laws known as the ‘12 Tables’, constructed a mind map and even labelled a map of the countries Rome ruled over in its long reign. I believe this will prove to be a very interesting topic and I hope we will learn a lot within this subject. -Hannah
Community Connections
In Community Connections we have been learning about our character strengths and our values. We started off with identifying our values and how they relate to us. Once we learnt what character strengths and values were, we identified the main value we thought related best to us. We took a quiz that would help identify our character strengths. Once we found out about the character strengths that represented us, some of us were surprised and others of us agreed with the findings. – Angel
English
In English, we have learnt how to complete a constructive peer review within our narrative groups, as well as understanding about why people flee their country of birth. We are now gaining an understanding of how an author creates characters, events, and settings in a novel. In class we have been demonstrating what we already know about character types and their roles. We now know the terms used for characters such as protagonist, antagonist, anti-hero and sidekick. – Gabi
Food Studies
This term we have cooked the most delicious meals, like chicken fried rice, cheese and bacon muffins and chocolate chip cookies!! Food studies isn’t just the basics about learning ‘how to cook’, it’s also about time management, following a recipe, cleaning up after yourself and the hardest part patience. Cooking as a team is the best part, which makes this subject the most exciting. - Dani
Grade 8 Science
Throughout Grade 8 science classes we’ve been focusing on energy. In class, we have been learning energy types, and how to write energy chains for examples such as a kettle or vacuum.
In groups, we have been assigned to write a energy chain for a Rube Goldberg machine we then get to create. This is the process of using energy to do daily tasks; groups are therefore creating a Rube Goldberg machine to pop a balloon, ring a bell, turn a page in a book or fill a cup with water – all everyday tasks. After experimenting and then completing our Rube Goldberg Machines we must write a paragraph on the energy transformations and transfers used within it.
For an example of an energy chain we will use a kettle:
The straight line represents a transfer or transformation in energy types. The squiggly line represents byproducts, an energy type we don’t necessarily need, but get as a result of the process.
We look forward to sharing our Rube Goldberg machines when they are completed.
Paddock to Plate
One of the Grade 9 cooking options for the first half of the year is Paddock to Plate. In this class, students learn about where their produce comes from and how it is grown, produced, farmed or harvested. Working with seasonal produce from the North-West Tasmania region, students have created dishes using potatoes from Forth, chicken from Sassafras and apples from Spreyton. Throughout this unit, students gain an insight into the range and high quality of the produce that Tasmania has to offer.
USI numbers
During week 5, students will be submitting an application for a USI (Unique Student Identifier) number. A USI is a reference number, unique to each student, that doesn’t expire and gives students access to their online record of training, for example First Aid, White Card or Responsible Serving of Alcohol. As this number must be obtained before training commences, we would like students to complete this process during week 5. To do this we must have identification for your child. This can be from any of the below documents; we suggest students take a photo of the document and send to their school email address.
- Medicare card
- Australian Birth Certificate
- Australian Passport
Grade 10 students have been participating in Resilience Training with the PCYC (Police and Citizens’ Youth Club) over the past two weeks. The first day involved a session at PCYC in Burnie with a trip to the new Cradle Coast campus of the University of Tasmania. The second day was an obstacle course at Hellyer College. These days were designed to teach students the importance of working together and utilising each other’s strengths to get their whole team to their destination. They were challenged both physically and mentally, learning skills that are needed for the work force in a fun and positive environment.
At some point in the future, all students will need to sit some type of test/exam. This might be sitting their driver’s licence test, an aptitude test for an apprenticeship, or exams for ATAR subjects in college. In week 8 of this term, Grade 10 students will be sitting exams for English, Math, Science and HASS. This is a valuable opportunity for students to learn how to study, manage time and stress, and to understand the expectations of sitting exams so that when they encounter them in the future, they are prepared. Teachers will also use their exam results to support their assessments.
If you have any questions or concerns about exams, please contact your child’s principal teacher.
Sarah Elliott
Grade 10 Team Leader
Last week Year 11 students ventured to Hobart to complete ‘Elements of Ship Board Safety’ as part of their VET course. The units were comprised of two days: Survival at Sea and Fire Fighting. The class also spent time on the training vessel the ‘Navigator’ to get a first hand look at how vessels are used at sea for commercial fishing. They also got to work with scientists to gather important ocean data. There were many memorable moments for staff and students and we would like to thank Seafood and Maritime Training for their support in enabling us to attend.
During the 20th century, Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families to be “assimilated” into white Australian culture. They are known as the “Stolen Generations.” It took several Australian government administrations coming and going before an apology was officially offered to the Indigenous Australians, but it finally was made official, and actions are still being undertaken to this day to repair the damage caused by tearing native families apart.
National Sorry Day takes place on Thursday 26 May 2022 with National Reconciliation Week following from 27 May to 3 June. The 2022 Reconciliation Week theme is ‘Be Brave. Make Change.’
REMINDER- Canteen days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
Thursdays we offer Subway ordering online as well as toasted sandwiches prepared by the prefects.
The Design and Technology department at Reece High has been working hard over Term 1 and into Term 2. The quality of the projects has been great with many students now taking at least one of their completed projects home, across all grades.
The Grade 8 2 block class has completed a small shelving unit, sliding toasting fork and are currently working on our sheet metal projects. The single block class has completed a slingshot hockey game and metal fish. The quality in student work should be commended and the skills that students have learnt over these projects will set them up well for the rest of the year.
The Grade 9s and 10s have been working well with their projects, taking a little longer due to the level of skill and craftsman ship required. Most students have just completed, or are close to completing, their step stool (Grade 9) and folding sawhorse (Grade 10).
Grade 7s studying MDT for the first half of the year are all currently working on their metal action figures which allows students to be really creative in how they pose their figure. Having students work with the oxy-acetylene equipment, with a flame at around 600℃, enables them to learn about safety and responsibility in a workshop environment. No doubt Grade 7 families will be keen to see their student's work once completed.
School Nurse News – eSaftey
For help with all things social media the Office of the eSaftey Commissioner is the place to go.
Here you will find advice for students, parents and carers on topics such as how to report illegal or offensive content, advice on sexting, and how to get cyberbullying material removed.
They also have iParent, a resource to assist parents and carers with online safety advice.
For more information visit-
As always please feel free to contact me at the school if you need further assistance.
Lisa Evans, School Nurse