5 March 2021

Newsletter Articles

A Word from the Principal…

New School Year Begins

Welcome back everybody! I’d particularly like to welcome our Year 7s and new students who are joining us for the first time. With the new school year comes a fresh start and I’m pleased to see students, new and old, engaging in their learning and working productively with their teachers.

Smithton High teachers are working together in learning areas and grade teams and will continue to collaborate with teachers across the cluster. The cluster focus will be around the strategy of differentiation. I’ll have more information to share about the details of this work as we continue to plan this term. Our school priorities for this year and into 2022 will continue to focus on Writing and the Teaching and Learning Cycle; Student Engagement is a new priority and we will be focusing on improving school climate, school belonging, cognitive engagement and positive and respectful behaviour supports. We know when students feel more connected to school they flourish because it’s a place where they feel they belong - it’s safe, they are respected and learning is meaningful and relevant. We will be looking closely at classroom learning, our school values, gathering student and parent voice, attendance and positive behaviour supports. Andrea Wilson (AST) will be heading up this priority and she will communicate regularly through the newsletter and other social media platforms to keep you up-to-date. Systematic Curriculum Delivery falls into this priority too where Science, HPE and Maths teachers are working with Principal Education Officers to design quality unit plans and engaging learning tasks. By the end of Term 2, whole school curriculum documents will be completed and this will allow us to provide information and better communication to our students and families around the learning that will be happening in each learning area, over each term.

Uniform, Mobile Phones and LARF

I’d like to congratulate all students and parents on ensuring the wearing of our uniform is a priority.

Keep it up everyone! Black school shoes are named up in our uniform policy and we usually have a blitz around reminding parents and students about this at the end of year and before the start of each term. I have noticed some students are wearing shoes that are not completely black, which isn’t part of our uniform. We want to work with you to find a solution so your child’s Core Teacher will be making contact with you. Our local shoe stores usually have all black school shoes for purchase when you need to get new shoes for school.

All Tasmanian government school have now adopted the “phones off and away” mobile phone policy. Just a reminder to parents that students need to hand their phones in every morning where they will be stored in class tubs in the office and returned at the end of the school day. Students are not permitted to keep them in their bags or on them. The Tasmanian Government have mandated this policy.

I’d also like to remind our school community about LARF which stands for:

These values underpin everything we do and we aim to exhibit them on a daily basis. Teachers and students will be working together with LARF in classes and I look forward to celebrating many successes with each year group as they actively engage with our school values. We will also be reviewing LARF as part of the work around the priority of Student Engagement.

Staffing

We welcome Ceilidh Newbury, Louise Owen, Jamon Pennicott, Dani Quilliam and Mel Watts to our school. Our new staff have a good mix of enthusiasm and knowledge in their chosen fields and we are excited to have them here.

What’s been happening?

Core teachers will be contacting home to give you an update on how your child has settled in to the new school year. This may be a phone call, email or other communication (via social platforms). Please feel free to communicate with us if you have any questions or concerns about your child. A list of the Core Teachers is provided in the newsletter when you need to contact them.

Core Teachers 2021

Our House and Vice Captains assisted SPS with their Athletic carnival last week. Here’s some feedback from Katelyn Stanley:

“Thank you so much for the ten high school students. They were amazing! So much help!! Couldn't have run so smoothly without them. Smithton High should be incredibly PROUD of these students. Again, the carnival wouldn’t have been able to run as smoothly without our high school students. They all were such a terrific help for me.”

Congratulations to these students. We are proud of your achievements and the positive feedback you have received.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) presented information to Year 9-12 last week about career pathways in the army, navy and air force. There are plenty of career opportunities in the ADF and some significant perks too. For more information check out

Youth, Family and Community Connection (YFFC) began the first of a few workshops they will be facilitating with our Year 7 last week. They worked with the boys and girls separately around issues relevant to each group.

The Student Executive Council (SEC) have conducted the application/interview process for the Year 7-9 Student Representative Council (SRC). The outcome will be communicated to students very soon.

It was great to see a steady number of applicants apply across all year groups. The SEC worked through a thorough process with the applications/interviews, it was impressive to see them in action and developing their leadership skills. Good luck to all applicants!

Nikki Clark
Principal

What’s Happening in Year 7

Youth, Family and Community Connections Inc. (YFCC) is a not for profit community organisation serving the needs of Tasmania. Providing encouragement, support and resources to enable individuals and families to participate positively in the community.

YFCC have been delivering drug, alcohol and health promotions programs in schools across the North West and West Coasts for many years. The feedback over the years has been extremely positive with demonstrated outcomes for all parties involved. YFCC have visited Smithton High previously and this year we are looking forward to welcoming them back!

Over the course of 2020 they have structured our programs to compliment the curriculum and also build on learnings as the year progresses.

Each workshop is aimed to be educational, interactive and is working within a harm minimisation and early intervention framework. The facilitators are very experienced and knowledgeable in the subject areas and can also provide links and referrals to other support services relevant to young people.

The Year 7’s will be participating in a number of workshops during our Pastoral Care times over the course of this year in relevant workshops.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact the Core Teacher or the Year 7 Coordinator.

Mel Watts

Year 7 What’s Up

Year 8 Teacher Profiles

Name: Claire Wade - 8.1 Core Teacher

How long have you been teaching?

3 years

What subjects do you teach this year?

Maths, HPE and Outdoor Ed

What is your favourite thing about teaching?

Seeing my students develop their skills and grow as individuals.

Who is someone you look up to?

Steve Poulter

Hobbies:

Soccer, skiing, hiking.

Favourite quote:

“You will face many defeats in life but never let yourself be defeated” – Maya Angelou

Name: Steve Poulter - 8.2 Core Teacher

How long have you been teaching?

5 years

What subjects do you teach this year?

Maths, PE, Paddock to Plate

What is your favourite thing about teaching?

Seeing students succeed both in and out of the classroom.

Who is someone you look up to?

Sam Gleeson

Hobbies:

Basketball, football, fishing, warzone.

Favourite quote:

You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.

Name: Linky Joubert - 8.3 Core Teacher

How long have you been teaching?

I started teaching on and off in 2018 while I was doing my Master's degree, and became a full-time teacher at the end of 2019.

What subjects do you teach this year?

This year I teach English, and History/Geography.

What is your favourite thing about teaching?

There are many things I love about teaching, so it's hard to pin-point just one. I get to work within subjects that I am passionate about and try to impart some of that passion to my students in doing so. I also love that I get to be a positive and safe person for the students to turn to if they should need it, and I also get to be part of their jokes and shenanigans which makes the teaching experience one that is both valuable and enjoyable.

Who is someone you look up to?

J.R.R Tolkien is someone I admire. He was a prolific linguist and author and wrote many academic essays on the importance of fantasy literature in development of children's cognitive and imaginative abilities.

Hobbies:

Reading, writing, video games, half teaching myself another language every four month’s, and then forgetting I was doing it and starting a new one.

Favourite quote:

The sooner I do it, the sooner I don't have to - from my teenage self in regards to homework and the dishes.

Name Paul White - 8.4 Core Teacher

How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching since 2004 – 18 years. Mrs Wade was in my first class at Yolla. I am proud to be the fourth generation of my family to teach in North West Tasmania and the third generation to teach in Circular Head. My great grandfather H. B. ‘Scout’ Pithouse, was the first teacher at the Irishtown school.

What subjects do you teach this year?

This year I am teaching; 8.4 Core/Pastoral Care, Year 8 Science, Year 9 Science, 9/10 Paddock to Plate and 11/12 Workplace Maths.

What is your favourite thing about teaching?

I enjoy working with young people. As a teacher, you are always investigating the subjects you teach. Through this, there is never a day when I don’t learn something new, and I love learning.

Hobbies:

Bushwalking, mountain biking, gardening, sea fishing, ocean sports, reading, listening to all kinds of music, gemstone and mineral collecting. I am passionate about living self-sufficiently and sustainably.

Favourite quote:

“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space”

Name Lindsey Blake – Year 8 Leader, Assistant Principal

How long have you been teaching?

11 Years

What is your favourite thing about teaching?

Seeing students from many different places and backgrounds come together as a community to support each other and learn to their full potential. I passionately believe everyone has the right and ability to learn and I love being part of that process. If I can convince a few students along the way that Maths is awesome it’s even better!

Who is someone you look up to?

My mum – she is resilient, intelligent, confident, fierce and has a massive heart.

Hobbies:

Spending time with my kids, reading, going to the gym, camping and listening to music.

Favourite quote:

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending – C.S. Lewis

News from 8.1

To start off the year, 8.1 focused on community, respect and cooperation in Pastoral Care. They started creating their own birthday display including students, teachers and support staff’s birthdays. This gave 8.1 the opportunity to have a sense of belonging amongst their peers and ownership of their new learning environment.

8.2 Artwork

Community News

Dates to Remember…

Term Dates & Student Free Days for 2021

Terms

Student Free Days

Year 7-10

Tuesday 2nd February
Thursday 1st April
Monday 19th July
Friday 29th October

Year 11/12

Tuesday 9th March (Engineering Students still attending)

Office Hours

8.30am – 3.30pm daily
School Starts: 8.50am
School Finishes: 3.00pm

School Office Ph: 6452 9222
Trade Training Centre Ph: 6452 9288

SMS: 0418 220 201
Email: smithton.high@education.tas.gov.au
Web: http://education.tas.edu.au/smithtonhigh/Pages/Home.aspx
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Smithton-High-School/219062138251149