5 June 2023

Newsletter Articles

Our Average Daily Attendance Rate so far this year is

A Word from the Principal…

The sudden passing of Jody Burkenhagen-Hyland, our school Social Worker has greatly affected all of our school community. Jody was a wonderful person who always conducted herself professionally in her role at Smithton High. Jody had a gift of being able to connect quickly with students and their families and we extend our deepest sympathy to her family. It just won’t be the same without Jody in our school. At this stage I can’t provide any information about what the Social Work role will look like in the near future but as soon as I know I will communicate this to all families.

As the weather gets cooler and we spend more time indoors some staff are offering to run lunch time activities. These include:

Book Club, Science activities, Movie, Lego and a Walking Group. CHAC also supports our lunch activities by offering board games. Thanks to everyone involved.

Reading is a DECYP priority and all school have a focus on improving reading outcomes for every student. We are looking at a whole school approach for reading which focuses on upskilling teachers to use high impact reading instructional practices in lessons in every learning area. We have been looking at the instructional practice of Reciprocal Reading where students are placed in groups and each student has an assigned role.

These roles include: predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising. When students use these roles it encourages them to think about their own thought process during reading.

It helps them learn to be actively involved and monitor their comprehension as they read. It teaches them to ask questions during reading and helps make the text more comprehensible.

How Parents Can Encourage Teens to Read

We know that reading is important and we want to make sure our teenager grows into adulthood with all the skills they need to succeed. The following list offers suggestions for encouraging teens to read.

1. Set an example. Let your kids see you reading for pleasure.
2. Furnish your home with a variety of reading materials. Leave books, magazines, and newspapers around. Check to see what disappears for a clue to what interests your teenager.
3. Give teens an opportunity to choose their own books. When you and your teen are out together, browse in a bookstore or library. Go your separate ways and make your own selections.
4. Build on your teen’s interests. Look for books and articles that feature their favourite sports teams, rock stars, hobbies, or TV shows. Give a gift subscription to a special interest magazine.
5. View pleasure reading as a value in itself. Almost anything your teen reads helps build reading skills.
6. Read some books written for teens. Young adult novels can give you valuable insights into the concerns and pressures felt by teenagers. You may find that these books provide a neutral ground on which to talk about sensitive subjects.
7. Make reading aloud a natural part of family life. Share an article you clipped from the paper, a poem, a letter, or a random page from an encyclopedia — without turning it into a lesson.
8. Acknowledge your teen’s mature interests. Look for ways to acknowledge the emerging adult in your teens by suggesting some adult reading you think they can handle.
9. Keep the big picture in mind. For all sorts of reasons, some teenagers go through periods without showing much interest in reading. Don’t panic! Time, and a few tips from this brochure, may help rekindle their interest.

Staff are also working on developing clear procedures for managing student behaviour in classrooms. The focus of this work has been around identifying positive behaviours we see on a daily basis along with behaviours that cause disruption and are unsafe. This is what we are seeing in classrooms across all year groups:

Positive Behaviours - many students are:

1. Punctual to their classes and are organised and prepared to learn.
2. Positive about themselves.
3. Respectful to their peers, staff and our wider community.
4. Following instructions.
5. Working independently.
6. Engaging in tasks.
7. Actively listening.
8. Helping/supporting each other.

One disruptive behaviour we are focusing on right now is the misuse of laptops to play games or accessing other sites which are not relevant to the lesson, it also includes deliberately not charging laptops at the end of the day.

The other behaviour is leaving class without permission which includes not showing up to class and wandering around the school. These behaviours impact on student learning and effect the ability of teachers to teach. When students can’t be accounted for it seriously breaches our duty of care. We will be making contact with parents about their children in the next few weeks.

We will also communicate the procedures with families, once they are developed, for feedback, along with gathering feedback from students through our Student Engagement Group.

Mid-year reports

A reminder to families that mid-year reports will be distributed in Week 9.

The report will show your child’s learning achievement on a 9-point visual scale for students in Years 7 to 10.

The 9-point scale shows where your child’s learning achievement is against the expected standard for their year level.

There will be no teacher comments in the report. This term parent/teacher conferences will be offered in Week 10. These are great opportunities to discuss how your child is progressing with their learning.

For more information about reports:

• School Reports FAQs
• Understanding the 9-point scale
• Visit the Department’s website at: Reporting - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au)

Nikki Clark
Principal

Year 7 Orientation Day

Youth Mentor Program

The Youth Mentor Programs have been busy this year mentoring students in many different areas from sustainability, works plus, bush patch, automotive, cooking, goat farm, mural painting, life lab and much more.

The programs are designed to work with smaller group sizes that allow students greater opportunities to identify their strengths and work to improve areas in which they lack confidence. We also run reward programs for those students that showcase our school LARF values within the school.

We would like to thank our wonderful community members that have made donations of tiles for our mosaic project. We have begun our mosaic mural and can’t wait to show the public it’s progress, keep an eye out on the school’s Facebook page to watch our journey.

We enjoy working with our students throughout our different programs. Dudley, Max, Leigh, Kylie & Kristy

Ancient Egypt with our Year 7s

On Friday the 26th of May, students from 7.1 and 7.3 participated in a hands-on lesson as a part of our study of Ancient Egypt. Students created plasticine organs and sorted them into the correct canopic jars, and then participated in a 'mummification race' where they had to wrap up a volunteer quickly and precisely. Students were very respectful of each other during the lesson and learned a lot about the mummification process.

Year 8 History

Students in Year 8 have been studying the history of Polynesia, including the mystery of what happened on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Many have taken the opportunity to build models of the moai (statues) that are the centre of the mystery.

Library News

Mrs Kay has introduced a group of students to one of her favourite Picture Books, Puzzle Island by Paul Adshead.

The author asks the reader to find hidden animals in the illustrations and identify a creature believed to be extinct. The reader then must decode the messages at the end of the book to solve the whereabouts of the creature. Congratulations to Willow for completing the final task. Smithton High have several copies of the book if anyone wishes to borrow it.

Jorja, Lily, Willow and Amelia pictured enjoying Puzzle Island.

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) have announced the 2023 Book of the Year Awards Shortlist. CBCA National Chair Wendy Rapee said, “This year we celebrate stories for our young people created by a diverse range of new voices and artists, who all display confidence with fresh approaches to storytelling.”

Book Club

SCHOASTIC BOOK CLUB IS BACK AT SMITHTON HIGH

Order forms are available from your child’s Core Teacher or the school library.

Order forms and cash need to be returned to the library by 23rd June 2023 or you can order and pay online – details in catalogue.

Nurse Rob’s Corner

Your Engagement Place (YEP!)

Your Engagement Place (YEP!) is a new program where children and young people can discover ways to engage with the Commissioner for Children and Young People, and other organisations in Tasmania to have their voice heard. This might involve completing surveys, participating in focus groups, having input into the design of services or joining fun activities taking place around the state.

YEP! membership prize

Children and young people aged under 18 who register before 9 June enter the membership draw for a chance to win an iPad. The competition closes 9 June 2023. T&Cs apply.

Vaping

What is vaping and why is it so dangerous?

E-cigarettes or “vapes” are battery-powered devices that resemble metal pens, USBs, watches, or other small box-like objects. Cartridges of vape liquids or “juices” are heated and converted into vapour, which the user inhales along with harmful artificial flavourings and chemicals and other potential contaminants from the manufacturing process or the device.

A single vape can contain as much nicotine as ten packets of cigarettes.

Research shows vaping can cause lung injury , cardiovascular disease , respiratory infections , other serious, negative effects including on brain development and the immune system. Not only can vaping lead to long-term addiction, but it is also associated with other health risks such as seizures, acute nicotine toxicity and burns.

What schools tell us

There are many reasons a teenager may vape. Most commonly, curiosity or peer pressure lead to their first experience. As researchers, we have heard stories of young students trying vapes because they “taste like bubble gum”, have “colourful designs” and “smell nice”.

A New Online Home for School Football

The North West Junior Football Union (NWJFU) provides a school football pathway for the region's boys and girls.

A new NWJFU website has been developed to showcase the region's high school boys and girls competitions, available at the link below:

In the future we hope to expand the site to include the NWFL and club/association-based primary school rosters and AFL 9's events for our colleges and smaller secondary schools.

Key features of this site include:

• School and team pages
• Rosters and results
• Ladders
• Venue information (including maps)
• Competition resources (rules, procedures, templates)
• Competition history
• Match reports and previews
• Latest news
• Photo galleries and videos

You can also follow the NWJFU on social media, with the association developing Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn and YouTube channels.

Community News

Dates to Remember…

Term Dates & Student Free Days for 2023

Terms

Student Free Days

Year 7-10

Thursday 6th April
Monday 24th July

Year 11/12

Friday 1st September

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@decyp.tas.gov.au

Web:

Facebook: