Dear Parents/Carers

It is hard for me to believe we are now in the final few weeks of Term 3. Where has the year gone? As we enter the last few weeks of the term, it is important that students do not ‘slacken off’ and remain focussed on their learning, wear their full uniform, attend every day and uphold our behavioural expectations here at school and in the community.

Congratulations to our two teams that participated in their respective grand finals as part of the winter sport rosters. Our senior seconds boys football team played against Riverside High School and our junior firsts girls netball team played against Prospect High School at the Silverdome. Congratulations to all students and staff involved and thank you to family members who came along to support our teams.

On Tuesday, 2 September we hosted the Black Square Chess Tournament at Kings Meadows High School. We hosted students and staff from Launceston College, Launceston Church Grammar School, Scotch Oakburn College and St Patricks College. We were the only high school represented and had over twenty students involved. Chess is a great game of strategy and develops problem solving skills as well as social networking opportunities. Thank you to Brendan Poke for his initial organisation of the event and Chris Murray for his passion and enthusiasm for supporting students on the day. Hopefully, we will participate in further tournaments and host the event again in the future. The day was fantastic and provided a great opportunity for our students.

This week we are conducting Year 10 exams with students completing examinations for English, Mathematics, Science, History and Health and Physical Education. Examinations provide an important opportunity for students to demonstrate the culmination of their learning for the year to date. In addition, these experiences model exams held at college and university and therefore they provide a valuable and authentic ‘practice’ for students who might experience these high-level assessments in the future. Exams also provide students with any opportunity to develop study skills and managing study schedules for multiple assessments in a compressed time frame. Students must take these exams seriously, prepare for them and give their best when sitting the exams. Thanks to teaching staff for preparing, supervising and marking these important assessment opportunities for our senior students.

We are at that time in the year when our current Year 9 students have the opportunity to apply for Year 10 student leadership positions. While there are a few tweaks to the selection process and roles for 2026, students will need to prepare a written application, interview and speech prior to the election process, as has occurred in past years. It is important that students wishing to be considered for these positions are genuine about their reasons for doing so. These students are expected to uphold our school expectations and values at school and in the community, be a role model for other students, work constructively with staff and the other student leaders, and generally contribute positively to the best interests of our school. They are prestigious positions. Applying for positions not only takes effort but also courage, as inevitably not all students will be elected. Students should only apply if they can accept the responsibilities of the role, be humble in success but also be able to be resilient in disappointment if they are not elected. We have many strong candidates in Year 9 this year and I wish all applicants the very best.

Although Term 3 is not a reporting period, we provide an opportunity for parents and carers to meet with teaching staff should they wish to discuss their child’s learning progress. These progress conferences occur on the afternoon of Tuesday 23 September and require a booking. You should have received a separate communication regarding these conferences. If you are unable to meet during these times, teachers are often happy to communicate with you at other, mutually convenient times, if you have any queries about learning or are concerned for your child’s learning progress. Afterall, education is best when it is a genuine partnership between families and school staff.

Thank you to those families who have already completed the annual School Satisfaction Survey. Last year, we had our highest ever return rate with 95 families completing the survey and this year our target is at least 112 families to complete the survey. We would appreciate some more parents and carers to provide us with this data. So far, we have had 37 families complete the survey. If you would be willing to complete this survey, please access it through the link below. It should not take more than 10 minutes of your time. These surveys remain open until 19 September. Thanks in anticipation. Take the online survey by clicking this link, or pasting it in your browser: https://nam.dcv.ms/ikuA63t9sJ

You may have seen recently in the media the updated Every School Day Matters campaign. As part of this, former Richmond footballer, Jack Riewoldt has been appointed as the first campaign ambassador. If you would like to view the messages or access some of the resources to support school attendance, then please visit the link below. Regular attendance at school is important for many reasons.

Home - Anything Is Possible

This Friday 12 September, Peer Support Leaders and House Captains will be running a fundraiser to support the Cancer Council. Students and staff are encouraged to wear pink in aide of this cause and bring a gold coin donation. There will be a barbeque running at lunchtime with all funds raised being donated to the Cancer Council. I encourage everyone to get behind this worthy cause.  

Looking ahead, we have our next School Association Committee meeting tomorrow night, 11 September at 6.30pm. Families who have lodged expressions of interest for Out of Area Enrolments for next year should receive their letter outlining the decision this week or early next week. Next week we also have students involved in the Netball Tasmania High School Championship at the Silverdome from 16-19 September. Best wishes to all students and teams involved.

I encourage all our students to ‘embrace the opportunity and accept the responsibility’.  We can all contribute to having a strong finish to Term 3.

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:

Harry (7F) – For being a polite student who does his best in class and for being an all-round legend.  

Indiana (7F) – For always trying their best in class across all their subjects and being a reliable contributor to class discussions.  

Year 8:

Phoenix - For his steadfast and enthusiastic approach to work across all core classes. 

Alice - For her quiet diligence to completing tasks and consistent kindness to peers. 

Quinton - For his commitment to learning in English and his constant positivity toward teachers and peers. 

Year 9:

Oscar 9B – For treating all staff and students’ daily positivity and respect. 

Jett 9F – For being a supportive peer and motivated learner during intervention groups. 

Deagan 9E – For being a well-mannered, respectful and supportive peer. 

Amalie 9E – For finalising work during class time and using her learning time effectively.

I would like to start our Year 9 newsletter article by congratulating Indra, Charles, Oscar, Anon and Caleb who competed in the recent Black Square Chess competition held at Kings Meadows High School and to thank Mr Murray for organising such a wonderful opportunity for our students.  While we were the only public high school participating, it was excellent to see our students’ playing games against students from Scotch Oakburn College, Grammar, St Pats and Launceston College, allowing them to enjoy meeting students from other schools.  All our students won a couple of games while also experiencing games which presented them with challenges and an opportunity to develop their resilience opening their minds to further learning.  I look forward to hearing about future opportunities for our Year 9 students and I know Mr Murray is keen for us to form a team who will have the opportunity to compete against other schools in future competitions.  I encourage any other Year 9 students interested in chess to contact Mr Murray.

On Wednesday last week our senior boys’ seconds played Riverside High School in their football grand final and I would like to thank all our students for their competitive spirit and sense of teamwork on the day.  I would also like to thank Mr Brewer for working with them over the season.  While we didn’t walk away with the win, they did walkway with the opportunity to work together as a team and to further develop their skills in a competitive environment facing their challenges in a positive manner.

Stella, Layla, Alix, Lucy, Bella A and Ebony have been working hard learning their lines to compete in the upcoming Deloraine Drama Festival on Friday 19 September and I would like to acknowledge their efforts and contributions to the arts this term.  Their teachers have certainly commended them on their recent hard work in class and we look forward to sharing more about their experience from the Drama Festival in the next newsletter.

Congratulations also to Kaiden, Isaac, Gracie and Isla who represented our school well on their recent excursion to Airtime 360 and the PCYC as part of their Elevate experience.  Feedback has been extremely positive and I know they enjoyed the trampolining, rock-climbing and boxing activities provided for them on the day.

On Friday last week we had 31 Year 9 students interested in taking up the role of student leadership.  They were also welcomed by Sadie and Grace two current Student Leaders who provided them with some advice and knowledge about the responsibilities and roles, prefect workload and the importance of teamwork for success.  Thank you to Mrs Glasby and Miss Attard for creating this wonderful opportunity for our future applicants as they start to craft their applications with higher levels of motivation and understanding because of your efforts and the speech given by Sadie and Grace.

YEAR 9 CONTACT DETAILS:

As we move through Term 3, Week 7 has been a focused and productive time for our Year 10 students. With exams scheduled for this week, students have been busy preparing, revising and seeking support to ensure they are ready to demonstrate their learning. It’s been great to see so many students taking their studies seriously and making the most of the resources available to them.

In addition to exam preparation, transition planning is well underway. Year 10 students are beginning to think carefully about their future pathways and the courses they will choose for college next year. These decisions are important, and we encourage families to have ongoing conversations at home to support students in making informed choices.

A reminder that the Year 10 Agreement has now been signed by all students. This agreement outlines the expectations for behaviour and engagement as we head toward the end of the year. Please note that breaches of this agreement may result in the loss of some or all end-of-year activities.

Finally, a huge thank you to the entire Year 10 team for their continued hard work and dedication. Your support makes a real difference in helping our students succeed.

YEAR 10 CONTACT DETAILS:

This year, the Student Leadership team again held a Trivia Night to raise money for the school. The student leaders and Mrs Glasby worked exceptionally hard to plan and deliver this highly successful event. It was held on Friday 8 August and was the biggest event we have hosted this year. 

Preparations for this night were in the works for over 10 weeks with Prefects, House Captains and Year 9 and 10 Beacon students working in collaboration to plan, organise and deliver this large scale event. The whole team worked positively together and put in a massive effort to ensure the night ran smoothly. 

On the day of the Trivia Night, we spent most of our school hours organising prizes and hampers for our attendees. Our first place prize was worth over $1,300, our second place prize was valued at over $815 and the third place winners received prizes worth over $470. 

The night was a huge success, and we cannot thank enough the many businesses from Kings Meadows, Launceston, Greater Tasmania and Interstate who were incredibly generous in their donations. The logos of these businesses can be found below. Families and individuals within our school community were also incredibly supportive and we’d like to thank the following for their big hearts in either donating a gift or helping us secure gifts:

The Plummer family, the Chugg family, the Marshall family, Grandma and Grandpa Glasby, Joh Breen, Belinda Selby, Todd Nankervis, Kate Hume, Scott Brewer, Wendy Dalton and Jo Bent. Without these people and businesses, the silent auction, raffle prizes, inter-round game prizes and overall prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place would not have been as phenomenal. 

With around 150 people in attendance, we had so many teams that the tables were spread across four classrooms. Mr Nankervis’s senior catering class had the unenviable job of feeding the hordes and they delivered platter after platter of sweet and savoury delicacies (including: pumpkin arancini, spring rolls, focaccia, choc-fudge brownies, jam-filled doughnuts and more). These platters were in the making for a few months and the student leaders and Mrs Glasby cannot thank the catering students and Mr Nankervis enough for their amazing food and professional service. 

In terms of questions, there were 10 rounds of challenging trivia questions across a range of categories including General Knowledge, Geography, Music and Art. Additionally, there were a number of inter-round competitions held throughout the evening. A fan favourite was the air guitar competition which was demonstrated to rapturous applause by the talented Mrs Glasby. The Air Guitar Champion title was eventually taken out by a very enthusiastic, energetic and engaging performance from Mr Meurant – Rock on Mr Meurant! 

Another amusing inter-round game was the student leader mash-up where three beautiful faces were mashed together to create another (not so beautifu)l face and tables had to guess which facial feature belonged to which student leader. These games broke up the night and gave the teams an added opportunity to gain extra valuable points. 

Overall, we raised over $4000 that will go towards the prefect legacy gift, which will be unveiled during our final assembly. 

The Prefect Board would like to extend our thanks to the staff, students, parents and wider community who supported the event and attended the evening, as well as all the staff and student leaders who gave up their time to help and support with the execution of the night. To round this missive off, a big shout out to the Year 9 staff team who took out first place. Well done! 

PS: Please remember to check out the pages below as they showcase all of the amazing businesses who supported this fabulously successful night.

Student name: Halle  -  Year 9

What can you tell us about this piece of work?
This piece of work was part of our assignment for the novel ‘The Giver’. We were asked to write a TEEL paragraph on a chosen topic from the novel. I chose duality, as there were many ways it could be interpreted. For example, when Jonas’s father used the syringe to “release” the new child, he is in the position of nurturer in the community, portraying care, while simultaneously ending lives.

What is your favourite thing about English?
My favourite thing about English is the variety of topics we cover as well as the freedom in how we complete assignments.

What are you working on at the moment in English?
In English we are working on persuasive texts, where we have learnt different techniques and strategies to strengthen our arguments. We are currently writing an essay on the topic “should performance enhancing drugs be legalised in elite sport?”

What are you reading at the moment?
I’m currently reading the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas.

What is your favourite book and why?
My favourite book would be Jazz Thornton's autobiography “Stop Surviving Start Fighting.” It has many strong messages and it is written in a relatable way by such an inspiring person.

What are some books that you would really like to read?
I would like to read ‘Empire of Storms’ and ‘Crescent City’ by Sarah J. Maas and ‘You’d Be Home Now’ by Kathleen Glasgow.

THE CARER

In “The Carer”, Louis Lowry explores duality by showing how people and their roles can hold opposing qualities at once.  For instance, Jonas’s father is portrayed as caring and gentle when tending to Gabriel, yet he also calmly releases infants without remorse.  When releasing the smaller than “he pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp vein until the syringe was empty.”

(Chapter 19) This reveals the disturbing quality in his personality as he is both compassionate and lethal at once.  As a Nurturer, his role is supposed to protect life, yet it also involves taking it away.  The community normalises this be removing his awareness of right and wrong, allowing him to kill without guilt but is also able to appear kind.  Therefore, through the father’s personality as well as his role as Nurturer, it is emphasised that in this society, roles designed to care and look after, can also destroy; hence supporting the theme of duality.

In preparation for 2026, our Transition Leaders have been busy working with Glen Dhu, Evandale and Longford Primary Schools. Not only is it important for our future Year 7’s in learning more about high school, it is also great in developing our Junior Leaders' skills through sharing their stories about KMHS.

Students also recently visited Norwood, Perth and Youngtown Primary Schools.

Students had an amazing experience learning about soil science, drone technology, fertilizers and the Wildeye weather station. This authentic experience outlined the changing technology in farming (careers) and the importance around sustainability. A big thank you to Liam and the team at the Agricultural Learning Centre.

Leadership Staff

Support Staff