Dear Parents, Guardians and Community Members,

We are now mid-way through the term and beginning to focus on end of term assessments and communications with families. Prep-10 reports will be issued at the end of Week 9. Parents will also be receiving an ‘evidence of learning’ for Maths and English with reports. This is a detailed summary of an assessment piece showing what students have learned and how they have been assessed.  

Kindergarten and Year 11/12 Parent Teacher interviews are running next week. For students in Prep-10, Student/Parent/Teacher conferences will occur in Week 10. For these interviews, we are moving to a 3 way conference format that includes students whenever possible. Research evidence clearly shows that students who are involved in planning, assessing and communicating their learning are more engaged and successful. Teachers will be preparing students for the conference with scripts, preparation sheets and opportunities to practice. Parents are still able to attend without their children present if that is their preference or to make a separate appointment outside of the conference times if a private conversation is preferred.  Information on how to book a Student/Parent/Teacher conference for Prep-10 families will be comminicated to families in the coming days.

We want to extend a warm invitation to all families to attend the conferences. We are particularly focusing on increasing participation by secondary students. We know that attendance at parent teacher events often drops off in these age groups but we also know that communication and planning together is as vital with older students as it is with younger ones.

Schools across the state have experienced an early winter virus season and we are no exception. We are now emerging from it after a tough couple of weeks. I want to thank staff for their commitment and flexibility in maintaining learning to the highest standard under changing circumstances and parents for their diligent communication with the school when students have been unwell. Judgements about when to keep students home and when to send are certainly less straight forward than before Covid. If students are well, it is vital that they attend every day of learning. If you are unsure, please call the school to discuss.

Our Secondary students represented us at the Inter-High Cross Country on Tuesday of this week, congratulations to students involved. The Northern Midlands Cross Country carnival is being held on Friday 2nd June, we wish our Primary students all the best, we know they will represent us with courage and in the best spirit of competition.

Our Year 10 students are commencing planning for transition to Year 11 with visits from Launceston and Newstead Colleges happening over the next few weeks. Students now have the choice of attending Year 11 at Campbell Town or transitioning to a Secondary College. Apprenticeships, School Based Apprenticeships, Traineeships and other training opportunities are all options that students might consider for their future. We hope that parents will play an important part in planning for these important choices.

School photos are being taken on Thursday of this week. A reminder to check school uniform for these. Please contact the office if you have any questions.

Kind regards

Mike

A reminder that Kindergarten Parent/Teacher interviews are being held next week on Tuesday 6^th June from 3.15pm till 6.00pm, Wednesday 7^th June from 3.15pm till 4.00pm and Thursday 8^th June from 3.15pm till 6.00pm. Interviews are strictly 15 minutes. Interviews will be held in the Kindergarten classroom. 

The link to book an appointment is below.  You can also book an interview via the Schoolzine app (SZApp) by clicking on the Parent Teacher Interview tile.

Link to book Parent/Teacher interview:

https://campbelltowndistricths.schoolzineplus.com/sessions 

Link for assistance to book Parent/teacher interview:

https://www.schoolzine.com/sk-booking-guide

Last week students toured the facilities at Tasmanian Quality Meats (TQM) at Cressy and Purefoods egg laying facility at Longford.

The TQM tour commenced with us kitting up with hairnets and protective clothing after entering the stylish new offices. We walked through the new expansion which houses offices, staff dining area & locker room, and new freezers allowing increased storage and processing.  We were able to see carcases being cut up and packaged for orders. After walking through the chillers, we toured the offal room where tripe, kidneys, livers and intestines were being processed. A quick look at the killing floor before climbing the stairs to see the processing line. Students were also able to see skins being slated and smell the rendering plant. Thanks to Dylan, at TQM for his interesting and informative tour.

After lunch we toured Purefoods egg laying facility at Longford, as part of our learning into intensive agriculture. Again we had to conform with biosecurity guidelines by wearing protective clothing. We walked through several of the free-range chook runs & houses, with the inquisitive hens easy to catch, and following us. Students learnt that hens are housed in temperature and light controlled environments. Computers control the ventilation, regular feeding and removal of waste. We got to see the last eggs of the days being collected, sorted and packaged before heading to the Kings Meadows depo for packaging into egg cartons.

Thank you to Brad and John for an interesting afternoon. The boys have never been chased by so many chicks!

Wether Challenge Update

We would like to thank some people for there support with the wether challenge.

Thank you to Dana Lester for the donation of 2 hay rolls

Thank you to Sam Lyne for empty drums which have been made into feed troughs

Thank you to Peter Wickham for cutting drums & metal

Thank you to Georgina Wallace for the loan of sheep halters while we get ours sorted

Now we should be able to move full steam ahead. Watch this space!

Jill Bennett

VET Ag Co-ordinator

With the Campbell Town Show approaching, four students took the opportunity to learn some wool handling skills in preparation for the schools Wool Handling event at Myrtlewood last Friday. AWI trainers, Jack Monks & Petrisse Leckie taught students the points of a fleece. They also learnt about removing the shanks, crutch wool and stain, before picking up and throwing the fleece on the table for skirting. Well done to Ella, Hannah, Zoe & Isabella for being part of the Wool Throwing team for this year’s show. Henry will also join the team this coming Friday, as 4 students compete against other schools. The challenge starts at 10.00am and it would be great to have supporters cheering our team on.

Thank you to Australian Wool Innovation for supporting our students with this training and Locky West for organising the day.

Also a very big thank you to the Scott family of Myrtlewood for hosting this event, and their continued support.

Jill Bennett

VET Ag Co-ordinator

On the 17th of May the 11/12/13 Biology class went on a trip to Woodbridge Marine Discovery Centre for a chance to learn about marine biology and the animals that live below the waves and in our oceans. Early Wednesday morning the class travelled through Hobart, and south to Woodbridge with Mr Wickham at the wheel.

Once there we looked at the amazing collection of marine animals kept in aquariums at the centre. The main pool had sharks, flathead, toad fish, salmon, skates and other fish which we had the opportunity to feed later in the day. We were able to touch sea stars, sea urchins, crabs and others in the touch pool. Daniel was very active with his fishy “dad jokes”.  In the lab we learnt about the factors which limit life in our oceans – abiotic factors such as pH, salinity, oxygen content, temperature, available sunlight and wave action. We also learnt about the different zones for life in our oceans and marine classification.

After lunch we boarded the marine research vessel, the RV Penghana. Once on board we tested the water for abiotic factors including salinity, photic depth, pH and temperature. Afterwards we got to drive remote control submarines and observe the ocean floor just out from Green Island.  The seals on the island were interesting to watch.

We stayed at the Snug caravan park and had pizza for dinner. The next morning after a breakfast of bacon and eggs, we went back to the centre to learn about conducting experiments on animals and the types of measurements which should be collected. Students conducted three experiments on sea stars, sea urchins and crabs. From these we observed how much more active the Pacific Sea Star is to Native Sea Stars and how sea urchins prefer the dark to light areas. Micah learnt how the Northern Sea Stars made their way to our waters via ballast water in ships. We also learnt that factors such as being out of an animal’s natural habitat or being fed the day before can affect the results of an experiment.

Back out on the boat after lunch, we dropped a long line to try and catch some sharks. We also did a dredge of the sea floor, and classified the animals found. We were surprised at how much lives on the ocean floor, and the different types of life. Mr Wickham was disappointed he could not take the scallops home to eat. We were lucky to have some time to do some hand reel fishing. The competition was strong between Piper & Mr Wickham, with Mr Wickham catching 2 flatties and Elijah surprising us all. He hadn’t wanted to fish, but with some persuasion threw a line over, to be the only student who caught a fish. We went back to the long line and released the couple of gummy sharks we had caught. Madi & Daniel got to handle to sharks. Quick photos were taken before these were released back into the water. Before heading back in we did a tow for plankton which we looked at using microscopes back at the lab.

A big thank you to Mr Wickham for driving the bus, and the Parent and Friends for supplying us with muffins and jelly slice.  

Jill Bennett and Daniel

In the Year 11/12 Essential Mathematics-Workplace, we are investigating the financial maths involved when we are earning money! Students see the real relevance in the topic and there have been some very enthusiastic discussions.

Basic number skills, the use of decimals and percentages and problem solving have informed our inquiries into superannuation, wages, tax, Medicare levy as well as the development of a glossary of common employment terms.

Today we researched our dream jobs; the salaries we would earn in those jobs, calculated the tax we would pay and discussed the impact of this on our lifestyle.

TASMANIAN ALL SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY, SYMMONS PLAINS

The 2023 Tasmanian Primary All Schools and Tasmanian Secondary All Schools cross country events are almost here! Get your entries in now!

Primary All Schools XC: Tuesday 27 June 2023 – entries close at noon, Wednesday 21 June

The Primary All Schools registration portal is open. Registration, event information and regular updates can be found here: https://www.tasathletics.org.au/events/161181/

Secondary All Schools XC: Tuesday 20 June 2023 – entries close at noon, Wednesday 14 June

The Secondary All Schools registration portal is open. Registration, event information and regular event updates can be found here: https://www.tasathletics.org.au/events/161182/

The event information pages include links to registration portals for individuals and schools teams, a printable waiver form and provisional timetables.

Athletics Tasmania looks forward to seeing you at Symmons Plains.