Dear Parents/Carers

As we start heading into winter, it is timely to remind ourselves of accepting responsibility for trying to stay healthy with good hygiene, adequate sleep, good diet and appropriate exercise. All of these things, along with a structured daily routine, support student learning and engagement. It is perhaps most important at this time of the year when it is colder, days are shorter and we are not at the beginning or end of the year, and therefore it might be tempting to stay in bed that bit longer or not venture outside in the cold. Nevertheless, every school day matters, irrespective of the date or the weather.

In a similar vein, full school uniform is an everyday expectation of all our students. We have multiple layers to our uniform and students can also wear undergarments that are hidden from view. Just because it is cold and wet, this is not a reason or excuse to be out of uniform. All of our classrooms are also heated. In addition, it is an opportune time to remind families that we are going through a transition year with uniform in 2025. It has been great to see many families already embracing the new polo tops and shorts.  Please remember that the sports uniform of white polo and sports shorts will cease being day to day wear in 2026. If your child is in need of new uniform, it be worthwhile updating to the new items now.

Last week we had students involved in the Smart Arts Program, immunisations were conducted for relevant students in Years 7 and 10 and winter sports rosters commenced for both junior and senior students. We also conducted successful visits to local primary schools as part of our highly valued Year 6 to 7 transition program.

This week, we have a group of Year 10 students venturing interstate for our Melbourne Trip. I am sure this will be a fun, exciting and memorable journey. Trips such as this cannot occur without staff volunteering their time to make these experiences happen. I cannot direct staff to undertake these duties as part of their employment but they do so because they care, are committed and believe in providing well-rounded and enriching experiences for our students. Thank you to Joh Breen, Brendan Poke, James Guy, Sam Maddern and Kate Blaubaum for enabling this opportunity to occur and for giving unpaid time away from their family, friends and their ‘down time’. I hope students and families also appreciate their efforts as much as I do.

Thank you to those people who were able to attend our School Association Committee meeting last Thursday evening, including our student leader representatives. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 19 June.

Next Tuesday, we are hosting the Northern High Schools Sports Association (NHSSA) Interhigh Cross Country Carnival. This has become somewhat of a tradition in recent years and we are always happy to support the Association with sporting events. However, hosting comes with added responsibility and workload. Thank you to our Sports Co-ordinator, Emma Attard for her work in this regard and the broader Health and Physical Education teaching team led by Brendan Poke. Congratulations to all students who were selected in our cross country team and I hope you perform ably on the day.

In the second half of the term, teachers will be completing mid-year reports, so it is important students focus on their learning, submit work on time, seek support if needed and generally accept the responsibility for their learning and embrace the many wonderful opportunities they are presented with.  There will be progress conferences for parents in the final week of Term 2. However, if you are ever concerned about your child’s learning and progress, please do not hesitate to make contact with your child’s teacher(s).

From time to time, we get asked about the rules regarding students undertaking employment and things like apprenticeships and traineeships. Students can undertake paid employment outside of school hours. Generally, there is no minimum age to start casual or part-time work in Tasmania but there are age restrictions for certain types of work. Students are not permitted to work for an employer during school hours unless an Application for Part-time Attendance or an Application for Exemption from Attending School is completed and approved in advance.  There are also opportunities for older students to undertake work experience/ work placements and Australian School-Based Apprenticeship (ASbAs) whilst at school. If you would like more information, please follow the links below.

Employment while studying - Department for Education, Children and Young People

Apprenticeships and Traineeships - Department for Education, Children and Young People

Whether it is students going to Melbourne, representing our school in winter sports, going on some other excursion or simply walking to and from school, we want our students to represent our school with pride, loyalty and distinction. As such we want our students to be good community citizens whether that is at a school activity or otherwise. Afterall, everyone and everything associated with our school reflects on us all. I encourage and remind all students to think about their actions and behaviour at all times. Everyone who goes through our school should feel connected to our community and contribute as good human beings. One saying that I often recall in this regard is, ‘do you do the right thing even when no one is looking?’  I encourage our students to accept this responsibility and reflect upon this question.

Regards

Cary Stocks
Principal

As part of our Positive Behaviour Support Program at Kings Meadows we will be acknowledging students who have been contributing positively to our learning environment.  This means that they have been supporting our school-wide expectations.

Respect for others, self and environment

Organisation

Commitment to learning

Keeping safe

Sensible behaviour

We would like to acknowledge the following students:

Year 7:

Marlee Dent – For always completing learning tasks efficiently and to a high standard. 

Mitchell Cornelius – For always being a supportive and encouraging class member to his peers.  

Year 8:

Rory Lindsay - For showing a positive mindset and strong attitude towards his learning in Science.

Year 9:

Isla Walker, Scarlett Wischnat, Charlotte Hammond, Bella Hammond, Stella Wright, Amalie Hodgetts  -  For having the courage to perform at the recent Launceston Competitions and achieving a Highly Commended rating. 

In this newsletter article I would like to spend some time congratulating students across our cohort who have taken opportunities to challenge themselves in learning through entering competitions and representing Kings Meadows over the last two weeks. 

Firstly, congratulations to all Year 9 students who recently participated in the Launceston Competitions as part of their engagement with the ‘Arts’.  On that note I would like to proudly share that Isla, Scarlett, Charlotte, Bella, Stella and Amalie received a Highly Commended for their Dance ‘Rescue’ on Tuesday 6 May. Well done girls!!

I would also like to commend the following students who participated in the recent Science and Engineering Challenge held at the University of Tasmania campus also on Tuesday 6 May.  Thank you to Daegan, Sam, Tom Caleb, Aden, Eamon, Oscar, Callum, Charles, Alex J, Lexi, Sarah, Halle, James, Nathan, Jess and Savvy for being courageous enough to take up the challenge to represent Kings Meadows High!!  It’s certainly great to see so many of our students competing in academic competitions that encourage a sense of collaboration and teamwork to achieve results.  Well done on achieving third place on the day. Thank you to Ms Casey for her encouragement and support of our Science and Engineering students also.

Finally, congratulations must go to Charles, Callum, Caleb, Oscar, Halle, Sarah, Anabel and Jazzuri who competed at the Newstead College Maths Super Series recently. Both teams demonstrated fantastic teamwork and focus – with the boys achieving 4th place overall. All students involved thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to showcase their skills in a fun, fast paced and challenging competitive environment.

I’m pleased to say that our attendance across Year 9 since our last article has remained steady at 88% across our Year 9 cohort and I thank all students and parents for working in partnership to support maintaining high levels of attendance for every student.  I encourage parents to reach out to class teachers, Miss Attard or myself if you require some extra support in this area.  Over the coming weeks our team will also be looking over the individual attendance levels of each student and class groups to determine and suggest areas that might require additional support or improvements in pursuit of achieving our School Improvement Plan targets.

I would also like to let parents know that we are now starting to finalise dorm preferences for camp.  If your child hasn’t finalised their dorm preferences, could they please do so as a matter of urgency as it is not our preferred option to have to allocate students a dorm without allowing them the opportunity to suggest their preferred options first.

Aquatic forms have also been sent home with students now.  If your child would like to take up the opportunity to swim while on camp these forms also need to be returned because without permission, we are not able to let students swim when on camp. 

Nathan Karas
Advance Skills Teacher (AST) Year 9

YEAR 9 CONTACT DETAILS:

A sensational day at the KMHS Cross Country Carnival last Friday!!  Our students didn’t just run the course, they rewrote the record books!! A huge congratulations to everyone who participated, cheered, and pushed themselves. Results are below: 

Overall scores:

Esk: 303
Nevis: 325
Lomond: 363
Tamar: 448

Congratulations to Tamar for taking out the shield for the second year in a row!

Records broken: 

Mrs Howard’s Year 8 Drama class received a 2nd Place in the Creative Group Section at the Earl Arts Centre- a great achievement! Year 8 Dance also travelled to the Princess Theatre to compete. All students performed extremely well with some tough competition. Olive and Charli received a well deserved 2nd Place. Congratulations to all these students and thank you to families who came to watch and support.

And that’s a wrap on Launceston Competitions! What a huge night! Congratulations to Mrs Breen’s Senior Drama class who received a well deserved 2nd place in the Creative Group section. Congratulations also to the 8 groups of senior dancers who competed in a tough section of 15 entries - they all performed amazing! Well done to Isla, Lucy, Bella, Charlotte, Amalie, Stella and Scarlett who received a Highly Commended for their piece ‘Rescue’.

Students last week visited our local primary schools to engage in discussion around the programs and opportunities at Kings Meadows High School. The leaders were able to answer questions, which will ultimately  support the transition of these students into high school in 2026. Congratulations to all involved.

Last Thursday a group of Year 10 girls were able to go to visit Salon LC at Launceston College. Here they were models for the LC students who gave them a wash, blow dry and hair style! Students were also able to practice their own skills on the mannequins and ask lots of questions of the college students. Thank you to Amanda at LC and her students - it was great to connect with ex KMHS students too!

On Friday 9 May a group of Year 7 and 8 girls were able to attend Motorsport Australia’s ‘Girls on Track’ event at Symmons Plains Raceway. They were able to participate in fitness and reaction time challenges, Stem race car building and media challenges. They were also able to tour the pits and garages and see a supercar up close. The girls had a blast and were treated to being able to watch the practice racing all day before the race day on Saturday!

Last week a group of Year 8, 9 and 10 students were lucky enough to take part in the SmArts program provided by The Smith Familyorganization. This year we were thrilled to have Tasdance and Assembly 197 involved and we also travelled to their studio to work. The students involved thoroughly enjoyed the program and performed their work to an audience of peers Friday afternoon. Thank you to everyone who made this program possible. We look forward to being involved again in the future.

On Tuesday 6 May, 26 students from Year 9/10 participated in the Science and Engineering Challenge at the University of Tasmania. This competition saw students split into small groups, tackling tasks requiring teams to work collaboratively to design solutions to solve increasingly complex problems. Challenges included designing balsa gliders to cover distance and land with precision, design messaging systems using limited coloured lights, plus even constructing a scale model of a house that is wind-resistant, holds weight, and even catching and storing rain water!

All challenges showcased student aptitude, while also highlighting their ability think critically and creatively. It was fantastic to see our students represent the school with pride and experiencing personal success throughout the day, with students radiating a sense of achievement when learning new skills, discovering that their designs worked, and testing innovative solutions to complete their tasks. Our students were also highly visible in that evening’s '7 Nightly News' bulletin. All our student teams’ scores were combined throughout the different challenges across the day, with our students coming 3rd overall!

Congratulations to all students who participated in this opportunity for your outstanding achievement, as well as the teamwork, growth and courage you showed across the day!