6 September 2023

A Word from the Principal…

There is a lot of responsibility placed on schools and teachers to fix things that need a whole of community response. We are often expected to be police officers, surrogate parents, medical doctors or nurses, social workers, psychologists, chefs and child safety officers. These expectations take us away from our core business which is focused on student learning and wellbeing. The important task of preparing students for further education/training or work, with the skills needed to be successful, productive young people, who are respectful, responsible and resilient is within our sphere of influence and a critical driver for everything we do in our school. It is disappointing when we hear negative things about our school and this commonly occurs when people do not have all the information. If you have concerns please contact us, and we will do our best to work through them with you. The good things that happen in our school are usually overlooked when negativity becomes a strong focus.  Over the course of this term students have participated in the following things:

Science Gig – Year 10 Award Winners, Peer Support training for interested Year 9 and 8 students, House and Vice Captains supporting the Year 5/6 Primary Winter Sport days and the Primary 3/4 Winter Sport program; students attended the Outdoor Ed camp at Ben Lomond, Year 10 Science students visited the Hive Tasmania (Science) in Ulverstone where they participated in a range of science activities related to their current studies. We have seen school based traineeships, where students can work one or two days a week and attend school for the other days, increase over the last two years. This opportunity has led to full apprenticeships being offered to many of these students. Currently we have 21 students doing SBTs and 10 students doing work experience as part of VET course requirements. There is no doubt that more students with a work pathway are picking up full-time work because they have participated successfully in the 9/10 Work Placement elective, completed a VET course or participated in the Work Experience program organised with local industry and businesses. So there’s a brief look at the great things happening at Smithton High. Remember we have implemented our Leaving Class Procedure, launched our RESET HUB and have procedures in place for students who access the toilets together. It is pleasing to see that in all of these areas corridors and classrooms are more settled which allows for teachers to teach and students to learn.

Nikki Clark
Principal

Every School Day Matters

As we move through the school year, sometimes regular school attendance can be challenging.

It’s important your child keeps up good attendance habits though.

Going to school every day means your child has every chance to learn, and be around their friends and teachers. Every day adds up, to benefit your child now and in the future.

If you’re having trouble getting your child to school, please talk to us. We’ll listen to your situation, and help in any way we can.

Year 6 Transition

Below are the dates for our Year 6 transition groups. Your school will let your child know which day they will be attending.

Outdoor Ed Camp

This year the Outdoor Education unit was delivered across two separate half year units, the first across Terms 1 and 2 and the second across Terms 3 and 4. Both groups were offered the opportunity to attend a camp at Ben Lomond and approximately 45 students were keen to attend. Mrs Wade spent some time creating two even camp groups. Group 1 left Monday morning and returned Wednesday night, while group 2 left Wednesday morning, swapped over with group 1, and returned Friday afternoon. Each group planned to spend some time acclimatising to the weather before heading out into the cold for various activities including tobogganing, snowball fights, making snow angels and even a hike up to the summit of the mountain. Unfortunately, the fog stopped the second group from summiting, which meant they spent more time on the various indoor activities on offer: movies on the projector screen, card and board games, puzzles, finding pockets of phone reception, trivia, mugs of hot chocolate and witty conversations with teachers. A special thanks goes to Mrs Wade and Mr Barber for spending an entire week on the mountain and Mr Pennicott and Mr Bones for assisting with a couple of nights each and the return bus ride full of students.

Circular Head Science Gig

Students from the Year 9/10 Applied Science class submitted projects into this years Circular Head Science Gig. They entered scientific reports representing the practical investigations they had experimented on. Investigations included the following:

• Do hand dryers spread more germs than paper towels used in the toilets? (Second Place)
• Do reflect reactions diminish with increased age? (First Place)
• Can a person kick a football further if their leg angle is 47 degrees? (Third Place)
• Can lavender perfume reduce blood pressure levels?
• Are there certain genres of music that tend to relax subjects?
• Can sea monkeys be grown during a Smithton winter?

It was pleasing to see the enthusiasm shown by these students and pleasant to see that three of the groups take out the first three places in the competition.

SHS Science teachers Mrs Owen and Ms Anderson enjoyed a busy night experimenting with non-contact forces in future innovation. Students and children were able to make their own polymer worms, pick up slime using magnetism, test out conductors and insulators to build a working electrical circuit, and try their luck beating an opponent in electrostatic can football. 

A visit to the Hive Tasmania

On Thursday August 24th, Year 10 Science students made their way to Ulverstone for an excursion to the Hive Tasmania.  Students were given time to have some hands-on experience at the Hive's Science Centre, where they designed, created and raced their own small-scale vehicles.  The Hive contains Tasmania's largest dome planetarium, where students were able to view a live show presented by a local expert.  They were shown how scientific instruments in Australia continue to piece together the puzzle that is the history of our Universe.

Daffodil Day

Last Friday, our canteen supported the SRC and raised $183.00 for Daffodil Day. A big thank you to McCain Foods Smithton for the donation of chips which was a real treat for our students at lunch.

Our 7-9 SRC members also held a stall outside Woolworths selling merchandise for Daffodil Day. Thank you to everyone who purchased something or made a donation. They managed to raise over $600, with all proceeds heading to the Cancer Council. Well done to Genevieve & the SRC members.

Nurse Rob’s Corner

Community News

Dates to Remember…

Term Dates & Student Free Days for 2023

Student Free Days

Office Hours