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- PRINCIPAL'S REPORT:
- CANVAS PARENT APP:
- SNOW DAY AT KINGS MEADOWS HIGH SCHOOL:
- ROCKS STARS:
- GRADE 7 REPORT:
- GRADE 8 REPORT:
- GRADE 9 REPORT:
- GRADE 10 REPORT:
- GRADE 7 2021:
- STUDENT WELLBEING SURVEY:
- LITERACY LEGENDS:
- BEACON STUDENT AMBASSADORS REPORT:
- KMHS ROCKIN' READERS:
- KINGS MEADOWS HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION NEWS:
- IMPORTANT DATES:
- COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD:
Dear Families
It definitely is Winter!
And what a significant event that happened in Launceston last week to remind us that winter is here. My father is in his 80's and he cannot recall seeing snow of this magnitude in and around Launceston. I, like many, awoke my household at 2.00am to go outside to see the beautiful serene picture of snow all around our house. There is definitely a quite tranquil and peaceful feeling when it is snowing, and it settles gently on the ground and fauna like icing on a cake.
After a careful drive to school admiring the hills and suburbs all covered in snow, I arrived at another beautiful scene at school. (Please have a look at the video and pictures below). After doing a site scan and mitigating some safety risk areas which needed to be blocked off, we welcomed our excited students to school. Recess and lunch time also proved to be a joy with students having fun in the sun and SNOW! To hear the squeals of excitement and harmless snowball fights was such a delight.
Retreat Day
Another fabulous occasion at school was our recent Retreat Day. Initially first tabled by the Grade 7 team as they had missed the opportunity to attend camp this year and spend time getting to know each other better and build relationships, it was easily decided that all grades would partake in a Retreat Day. Wellbeing continues to be a priority for us at Kings Meadows High School and this day enabled all grades to spend the day undertaking activities that were fun, cooperative and focussed on relationship building, friendship and supporting one another. Thank you to all staff for all the extra work in planning and running this successful day.
Assembly
Last Tuesday we held our first face to face, live assembly with all students in the gymnasium. This was the first assembly that this year’s Prefect Board have been able to co-ordinate and they did an exceptional job. Again, it was wonderful to see so many students receive awards, certificates and accolades as well as conduct and perform in front of their peers.
We have to ensure we adhere to COVID restrictions which means adults in the gym have to be physically distanced still and good hygiene practices present. At this stage we are still not sure what the end of year assemblies will look like due to restrictions but will keep families informed, particularly Grade 10 student families.
Excursions
We are now able to undertake school excursions as long as we adhere to the Health Department restrictions when we leave our school site. We have a very clear COVID safety plan which is available for both on-site and off-site visitors on request and we also ensure any off-site excursions are risk assessed including knowledge and understanding of COVID procedures wherever students go.
Last week our Packages of Learning students visited Crisp Brothers to learn more about the steel fabrication and engineering company. Thank you to Mr Wood for co-ordinating.
Academic Competitions
Last week we had a large number of students undertake the Australian Maths Competition. We have a vast number of competitions that become available for our students throughout the year and it is a wonderful opportunity for students to stretch and challenge themselves. It is also a fabulous edition to personal academic portfolios to have participated in such competitions. Thank you to Mrs Claire Lovitt for facilitating and supervising these competitions.
CANVAS for Parents
Kings Meadows High School is a pilot school to introduce parent access to Canvas – our Department’s Learning Management System.
To take advantage of the platform’s capacity to also share information between home and school Kings Meadows High School will be using Canvas Parent to enhance the way our school communicates with families about the learning progress of their children. Canvas Parent will enable parents/carers to review upcoming or past assignments, receive alerts for student activity and most importantly, see ongoing teacher feedback for your child in order to progress their learning.
Please see the information following this report regarding this new app which we believe will be an excellent way for parents and families to continue to work together with the school around student learning.
Communication Procedures
A reminder to all families and carers that if you need to communicate with your child during the day please go through the main office. Also, if your child needs to communicate with you, we ask that they do this through the school grade teams or the main office. This is particularly important if they are unwell or injured as we need to ensure we follow our processes to track and monitor student welfare and wellbeing as our duty of care responsibilities require. If they message or call independently, we cannot do this.
The “Off and Away” mobile policy only allows students to check their phones at recess and lunch and they need to be secured in their lockers at other times. This is an Education Department requirement and we need to follow these instructions.
Absences can be communicated by phoning the school office on 6343 1000 or through the Schoolzine App “Absentee or Contact Us” tab.
Maree Pinnington
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:
Grade 7:
Billy Gilmore - For improved organisation and attitude and excellent engagement in HPE practical lessons.
Riley Howard - For displaying a consistently good attitude and upholding the ROCKS in Grade 7.
Grade 8:
Sarah Henshall - For always giving her best and being diligent in class.
Aaron Styles - For being a quiet achiever and always displaying a positive attitude towards his learning.
Grade 9:
Courntey Burnie - For commitment to her English studies.
Dylan Thallin - For improved application and commitment to Mathematics.
Grade 10:
Connor Barnes and Shelby Ladlow - For displaying exemplary character and representation of themselves and the school in a public setting. Both students are commended on their continued application to their studies, good behaviour and leadership within our Grade 10 culture.
Celebrations
Last Friday we held our very first Grade 7 Retreat Day. Our Grade 7 students spent their day broken into 10 different teams of 16 students. Each team participating in some team building activities during the morning blocks, deciding upon their team name and creating a coat of arms. Students then completed a series of three activities for the remainder of the day which focused on building interdependence, teamwork, resilience, problem solving and communication skills. We would like to thank our Grade 7 teaching team for putting together such engaging and challenging activities for our students and congratulate our students for the incredible approach they took for the day.
We are looking forward to continuing this focus on our upcoming My Education Days this term. Please see below some photos from the day.
Grade Focus
Our Grade focus for the next few weeks will be consistently upholding our ROCKS. We have been disappointed with the behaviour of our students at break times and their ability to seek support from a teacher when conflict arises.
During our most recent weekly grade assembly, Mrs Wightman supported by Jasmine our school Social Worker, addressed the grade about concerns for personal safety from silly and unnecessary physical behaviour. In addition to this, the legal aspects of these types of behaviours were addressed with the grade regarding the seriousness of ‘play fighting’ and physical behaviour.
At Kings Meadows High School, we deal with physical behaviour very seriously and will not tolerate this in our learning environment. We would like to encourage parents/carers of Grade 7 students to discuss the messages raised in assembly and our schoolwide ROCKS expectations with students. By sending clear and consistent messages at school and at home and setting high expectations for our students' behaviour will assist improving their behaviour and ensuring that learning is the highest priority.
Celebrations
In Grade 8, we are celebrating teamwork, success, fun, innovation and leadership!
As some of you may know, in Grade 8, students have the opportunity to apply for the position of Beacon Student Ambassador for Grade 9. This is a coveted and prestigious role in our school. Our Kings Meadows High School Beacon Student Ambassadors play a vital role in supporting students in the career and life planning process. They liaise with businesses, professionals and further education providers to ensure that our students have the chance to prepare for the ever-changing world of work when they leave school. Our Beacon Student Ambassadors organise key events in our school, including the famous Careers on Wheels event. We have received some outstanding applications from our Grade 8 students and we have been impressed with the attention to detail, the maturity and the commitment to growth and leadership. We wish our students the best of luck as the shortlisting and interview process begins. Congratulations to all who applied; you should be proud of your willingness to be vulnerable!
Another cause for celebration in Grade 8 was the fun we had on our first ever Kings Meadows High School Retreat Day. This was a fantastic opportunity to connect as a year group, to practise mindfulness, to try new things, to further develop teamwork skills, and to have fun. In Grade 8, our Retreat Day consisted of activities such as baking, mandala art, craft, reading, fishing-lure making, frisbee golf, paper plane competitions, cards and board games, Scattegories and much more! The day concluded with ‘Battle of the Classes’ challenges, including a skipping competition, a hoop challenge, tunnel ball, balloon relays, netball shooting, and of course, the crowd favourite – jelly eating! The Grade 8 staff and students watched on with delight (with tears of laughter streaming down our faces!) as our volunteers from each class stood in front of their plate of jelly, with their hands behind their backs, preparing to annihilate their jelly at record-speed to take out the grand prize. Congratulations to our winner, Oscar Alberti, and our runner-up, Adut Yel – what an incredible effort! This fantastic day would not have been possible without the hard work of our Year 8 team. Thank you so much to our wonderful teachers for all of the work behind the scenes.
Please enjoy a selection of photographs from Retreat Day!
There was a buzz of excitement in our school last week as staff and students embraced the snow day! What a crazy year 2020 has been so far. Our beautiful school was transformed into a winter wonderland and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, watching students have snowball fights during their recess break!
Finally, congratulations to all of our students who were shortlisted in our first Kings Meadows High School Writing Competition! Thanks to Mr Murray, we have a published author judging our entries and the overall winner will be announced in our next whole school assembly. We loved celebrating our shortlisted students during our assembly last week, and they were each presented with a certificate, a Kings Meadows High School pen and a bound copy of their short story.
Grade Focus
Our focus for the next fortnight is wearing our school uniforms with pride and we acknowledge and celebrate our students who consistently do this so well. As we know, our uniform makes the school environment less competitive and instead creates an environment where the focus is on learning and inner-growth. We thank students and families for their continued support.
Celebrations
Retreat Day last Friday was a brilliant day out for Grade 9. The concept of the day was for the students to have fun, reconnect and enjoy build teamwork with their classmates. We started our day with a whole grade team activity. In Block 1 each home group had to design and make formal attire for a student out of newspaper. We had some very creative and innovative designs and the students got right into the challenge. Marceline Bula and her design team of Jessica Homan and Bryce Stone were judged best formal outfit of the day. In blocks 2, 3 and 4 students had the opportunity to choose their activities. These ranged from more physical pursuits such as Sports Ed and The Amazing Race to quieter more calming activities of reading, knitting and artwork. All of our students enjoyed their time and it was great to see smiling faces and hear laughter coming from the grade block. The day culminated with a final home group challenge where each group was racing to be the first finished in a series of quizzes. The race was close between 9A, 9B and 9C and came down to the points gained in a logo guessing competition. Overall victory went to 9B and Mr Bent. Congratulations on a great team effort!
Our leadership journey for our Grade 9 students is well underway. This week students completed their formal application for our leadership positions. The final day for submissions was Friday 7th August. The Grade 9 leadership team now have the task of reading these applications and ordering them for the next step in the leadership process. Our information newsletter we sent out earlier this year has details about timeframes, processes and election dates. We wish all of our Grade 9’s the best of luck in this process.
Grade Focus
Our focus for Grade 9 this term will be developing formal and informal leadership in all of our students. We will be continuing to apply good learning behaviours and academic rigour, ensuring that deadlines are being met and that we have caught up on anything we are behind in.
Grade Focus & My Education Days
With the next My Education day approaching, students in Grade 10 will be focusing on their transition plans. The day will be filled with opportunities for students to explore their options for post Grade 10 and the requirements for their chosen pathway. On this day students will also complete the ‘MyRoad’ program that was started in Term 1, and work with the ‘My Futures’ and ‘Anything Can Happen’ websites to inform and prepare themselves for post Grade 10. It is important that students prepare themselves for next year by making the most of the upcoming My Education days. Attendance on these days is vital to ensure students are prepared, informed and ready to make decisions for their individual pathway. These days will help guide students when selecting their ‘taster’ courses for the orientation days.
College Orientation Days
We are pleased to announce that Orientation Days to Launceston College and Newstead College have been confirmed for 2020.
Newstead College – Thursday 3rd September
Launceston College – Monday 7th September
More information will be provided to families about both orientation days in the next few weeks.
Other Grade 10 News
Leavers Hoodies and T-shirts
Planning is underway for the design and process for the 2020 leavers hoodies and t-hirts. Students have now been provided with information about the designs and are being provided with an opportunity to try on sample sizes. Order forms will be provided to students before the end of the term.
Prefect Announcements
Congratulations to our 2020 Prefect Board for hosting their first whole school assembly last week. The assembly was a showcase of all the amazing work that is happening at Kings Meadows High School. It was fantastic to be able to celebrate the achievements of students in our school. A special mention to Sam Brophy, Chilli Kettle, Jaxon Basset, Seb Clarke, Taylor Hughes and Bella Dyer for their outstanding performances during the assembly.
This week the 2020 Prefect Board will be hosting a Red Nose Day on 14th August. There will be items available for purchase on this day as well as an additional fundraiser for this worthy cause. Be sure to get behind your student leaders and support them with this event.
On 31st July the Grade 10's participated in a Retreat Day, whereby normal classes were paused for the day and the Grade 10's spent the day together completing a range of activities. The activities ranged from a murder mystery, class challenges and a whole grade trivia competition. Each class teacher group approached the murder mystery in different ways, with some opting to reenact the scene and others creating a courtroom where each character was questioned intently. Trivia in the afternoon was extremely competitive! Mr Chamberlain was outstanding as MC, however, challenged the marker and scorers when he continually changed the rules. It was wonderful to see the whole grade come together, have some fun and strengthen their connection with each other after such a disruptive and challenging start to Grade 10.
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Parent Information Evening 2 is via Microsoft Teams. Please follow the link to join
The agenda for this evening is:
- Welcome and video about Kings Meadows High School
- Principal address
- Grade Leader Navigating Canvas
- Feedback and Assessment via Canvas
- Transition Program and Course Selection Handbooks
- Question and Answer session
Katie Wightman
Transition Co-Ordinator/Junior School Assistant Principal
Attention: Parents and Carers
The wellbeing of our students is important to us. To get an understanding of how students across Tasmania feel about their own wellbeing, students in Grade 7-10 will be taking part in a wellbeing survey.
The Student Wellbeing Survey is part of the Department of Education’s Child and Student Wellbeing Strategy.
The details for the survey are:
When: Monday 24th August – Friday 28th August during their HPE lesson for that week.
Who: Grades 7-10
What do I need to do: You and your child do not need to do anything. The survey will be done in class time and will not require your child to prepare in any way.
A letter with more information has been sent home with all students and a form to sign and return to the school if you do not want your child to participate in the survey.
If you would like further information, please contact the school on 63 431000.
Thank you for supporting us to ensure that all our learners are safe, feel supported and are able to flourish, so they can engage in learning.
Student name: Lily L’Huillier
Student class: 7A
What can you tell us about this piece of work?
This is one of my best persuasive writing texts, most likely THE Best. It took me a long time to think of the three topics to base my paragraphs around. I loved the topic and had many opinions to share.
What is your favourite thing about English?
I like all aspects of English. I enjoy reading and writing the most. My favourite text to write is persuasive.
What are you working on at the moment in English?
We are currently participating in literature circles. I am enjoying reading the book, Mallee Boys so far. It’s very easy to read and it is realistic.
What are you reading at the moment?
I am reading three books, at the moment- The Haunting of Lily Frost by Nova Weetman, Mallee Boys by Charlie Archbold and Saving Everest by Sky Chase.
What is your favourite book and why?
I don’t think I have a favourite… since I like lots of books, it’s really hard to choose. A few books I have really enjoyed are; Sister Heart by Sally Morgan, How to Bee by Bren MacDibble and Scarlett and Ivy by Sophie Cleverly.
What are some books that you would really like to read?
Some books I would really like to read are Innocent or Guilty by A.M Taylor, Torn by Amanda Hocking and The Secrets we Keep by Lara Prescott.
Should the Death Penalty be Illegal?
“Society has always used punishment to discourage would-be criminals from unlawful action”. But is a punishment that is not benefitting society something that we as a whole should keep? No not at all, I disagree with the death penalty. Introduced in 1788 and still being used in our modern society but helping absolutely nothing!! It is a racist punishment that impacts people with colour and the poor. The gravity and finality of the death penalty evokes strong feelings on both sides of the issue. The many aspects of capital punishment include; potential execution of the innocent, the roles of politics, race and poverty, futile deterrence, cost, mortal and religious perceptions and a range of other issues. But in this text I am focusing on the following reasons why the death penalty should no longer be legal; potential murder of innocent beings, racism and poverty in capital punishment. In my last point, I will discuss the concept of Hammurabi’s code and how “an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth” connects with the death penalty and the fact that if murdering or other offences is against the law why are law enforcers punishing them by murdering them.
How is it fair for an innocent person to die from something they didn’t do? False, invalid and misleading accusations have resulted to more than 4% of people on or were on death row in the US were found innocent. You can’t take back someone’s life. If someone is dead there is absolutely no way possible to bring them back. If someone was executed for doing something against the law and proven innocent years later that would be it there would be no way to apologise and hand them their life back they would simply be gone, but if someone was jailed for supposedly doing something against the law and proven innocent years later of course, you couldn’t give them the years they spent in jail back but you could free them and let them live the life they once had. How can the loss of even one innocent life be justified by employing capital punishment to exterminate supposed murder and rapists. Enough People with colour and poor people have been set up for crimes and later been executed although they never committed felonious actions. It is so incredibly, heartbreakingly sad how real racism and poverty is and how it affects people in so many situations. Untruthful sentences and lies have been placed on these two socio economic categories including the people within them.
Racism and poverty undermines the two main reasons why the death penalty has treated people unjustly and wrongly. The unfair application of the death penalty could be halted by deleting that sentence all together. Racial bias has always impacted society, but particularly in the criminal justice system. It is hard to come to terms with but especially from what has gone on already this year with the George Floyd protests and the many other innocent African Americans lives lost to people taking a side according to race it is so much more likely a white man be let free or not accused of something criminal than a person with colour. The same goes for poverty. If you are poor the chances of being sentenced to death are so much higher than if you are rich. Poor people being accused of crimes or committing them cannot afford lawyers, by the time the case enters court it may already be too late to undergo a fair trial. Rich people are so much more likely to hire better quality legal representation to get them out of death row and instead sentenced to life imprisonment or a lesser sentence. Every day in many parts of Asia people are risking their lives to survive by making money in criminalistic ways such as drug trafficking. Although it is definitely not ok it is the only way some people can keep alive by trying to sell illegal goods for small money it provides them food, housing and a somewhat stable life. Poor people are a lot more probable to be caught by the police, they are an easy target. The inhumane act of condemning someone with capital punishment may have been the same a killing a person who was merely trying to survive life without the resources some countries have and doing that all while feeing many mouths of their family.
Hammurabi’s code is well preserved code of law from Babylonian Mesopotamian times. A main part of this law was the saying “an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth” basically meaning “if you hurt me I’ll hurt you” or “you kill my brother I’ll kill your brother”. I strongly believe this relates to the death penalty since it is all based around punishing someone for something they did. If the case was robbery does that mean the legal administrators should rob the criminal as punishment, because it seems exactly like what they are trying to say. If the case is murder is it right to resolve the situation by murdering the criminal, what’s that solving?! The legal system is literally punishing murderers by murdering them, the point the whole world has tried to make by enforcing law is to not do what they are telling you not do do…but to repay a murderer with murder is such a contradiction!! Who in their right mind thinks it is right to think it’s ok to enforce the law but then commit it. Same punishment for the same punishment.
Murderers, rapists, armed robbers and all criminals have committed disgusting crimes that could never be forgiven but the legal system have already messed up just as bad. The death penalty must be abolished on countries that still stand by it, all it has shown is racism, discrimination and killing the innocent. It is officially proven that the death penalty does not deter crime even in the slightest if it’s not stopping crime be a happening thing why it is still around! I undisputedly stand by my fight, for one day the death penalty will be stopped. There is nearly no difference in being locked away for life imprisonment or being executed, we should save a few of the 7.8 billion lives that could as well be held accounted for capital punishment. Down with the dastardly, dishonest, death penalty.
By Lily L’Huillier
BEACON STUDENT AMBASSADORS REPORT:
The Beacon Ambassadors have been meeting weekly, even during our period of online learning and also since returning to school in Week 7 of Term 2. During this time we have been able to reconnect as a team in readiness for a big second half of the year. We have a lot of exciting events and programs planned for the second half of the year. Our first big job this term was to write speeches to present to Grade 9 and 8 students. As the process of applying for 2021 leadership positions starts this term it was important that they hear from us in regard to what being a Beacon Ambassador is all about.
We have also been working with Ebony Bridle from the Beacon Foundation on providing opportunities for students on the upcoming My Education days this term. These include completing the My Road mentor sessions for Grade 10 and the High Impact Polish Program for Grade 9's.
Our biggest job has been organising our flagship event ‘Careers on Wheels’. To launch the Careers on Wheels event we will be holding a breakfast event later this term, catered by Mr Pedersen and the catering team. At this event we will inform organisations and people from the community about what the Beacon Foundation is and how our 2020 Careers on Wheels event will run. We have sent over 30 emails this week to get the ball rolling with our invited guests for the breakfast launch.
Moving forward past the challenges we have faced this year, we will be resilient and work together to make this year a good one. We look forward to what this year will bring us.
Important Dates:
Thursday 17th September – Careers on Wheels Breakfast Launch
Thursday 12th November – Careers on Wheels
Riana Francia, Katie Cross and Mrs Selby
Name: Grady Lynch
In school role: Teacher’s Aide
Out of school role: Professional wrestler
Currently reading: ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is about a London lawyer named John Gabriel Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll and the evil Edward Hyde.
Reading likes: Mystery, Adventure, Fantasy and Horror.
Reading dislikes: Any story with a disappointing conclusion.
Where/when/how I read: I like to read just after dinner, before bed… especially when reading something spooky.
Favourite book quote: “I want you to believe… to believe in things that you cannot” Bram Stoker, Dracula.
Friday 14 August | Prefects - 'Red Nose Day' |
Monday 17 August | My Ed Day |
Tuesday 1 September | My Ed Day |
Friday 3 September |
Newstead College Orientation Day |
Friday 3 September |
Year 7 Challenge Day - Punchbowl, Norwood, Yolungtown, Glen Dhu & Non Feeder School students |
Monday 7 September |
Year 7 Challenge Day - Perth, Evandale and Longford students |
Monday 7 September |
KMHS hosting second Parent Information Evening at 5.30pm via Microsoft teams LIVE events |
Monday 7 September |
Launceston College Orientation Day |
Monday 21 September | Grade 7 & 10 Immunisations |
Friday 25 September | Last day Term 3 |
Monday 12 October | First day Term 4 |
Wednesday 28 October | KMHS Athletics Carnival - Day 1 at KMHS |
Thursday 29 October | KMHS Athletics Carnival - Day 2 at St Leonards |
Thursday 12 November | My Ed Day - Careers on Wheels |
Friday 20 November | NHSSA Division 1 Athletics |
Wednesday 2 December | My Ed Day - Healthy Me Expo |
Thursday 10 December | Grade 10 Leavers Dinner - Country Club Casino |
Monday 14 December | Presentation Assembly (invited guests only) |
Tuesday 15 December | Grade 10 Mystery Picnic |
Wednesday 16 December | Grade 10 Graduation Assembly - last day for Grade 10s |
Thursday 17 December | Last day for Grade 7, 8 and 9 students |