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- PRINCIPAL'S REPORT:
- ROCKS STARS:
- GRADE 7 REPORT:
- GRADE 8 REPORT:
- GRADE 9 REPORT:
- GRADE 10 REPORT:
- GRADE 7 2022:
- BULLDOGS CUP:
- CHILD STUDIES:
- WRITE A BOOK IN A DAY 2021:
- TIMBERLINK:
- GRADE 7 FOOD TECHNOLOGY:
- DELORAINE DRAMA FESTIVAL:
- GRADE 8 COMPUTING:
- GRADE 8 ENGLISH:
- GRADE 8 SOCIAL:
- GRADE 10 GriPP EXCURSION:
- UPCOMING EVENTS:
Well here we are at the end of Term 3 and I know that the team here at Kings Meadows High all feel the same in asking; “Where has that term gone?” Schools are such vibrant and busy places and we continue to be so lucky in Tasmania that we have been able to have all our students on site for learning all the time this term. I thank families for their continued efforts in ensuring students remain home if they are unwell which supports us all to remain healthy and well.
We have had much to celebrate throughout the term and I certainly hope everyone has had opportunity to read our fortnightly newsletter throughout the term to keep track of the achievements and celebrations. The last fortnight has certainly been no different and I share with you some of the wonderful events and activities that have been happening.
Write A Book in a Day
Last Tuesday we had four teams working in the library until 8.00pm on their stories around the different stimulus tasks they were each given. It was wonderful to see throughout the day the collaboration, teamwork and enthusiasm that our young writers all had and I was super impressed with the creativity and imagination that was evident in their stories and accompanying graphics. Well done to all involved and thank you to Mr Gale and Ms Furley for co-ordinating.
Northern High School Netball Championships
On Thursday and Friday last week we had teams competing in both boys and girls Netball Championships at the Silverdome. All teams certainly represented the school with great pride according to Miss Williams who accompanied them on the day.
Deloraine Drama Festival
On Thursday evening last week, we had senior Drama students travel to Deloraine to perform at the Deloraine Drama Festival. This festival has been running for many years in the gorgeous Little Theatre at Deloraine. It was a fabulous opportunity for the students to perform on stage with and audience and adjudicator. They performed two pieces; Alice’s Adventures with Poorly Coked Cafeteria Seafood and Dystopia, the Hungry Maze Game of Divergent Death. The feedback from the adjudicator was very complimentary and the students all appreciated this opportunity. Thanks to Miss Blaubaum for her work in preparing the students and taking them to the festival. Thank you also to Mrs Joh Breen and Mrs Katie Wightman for attending and supporting on the evening. The pieces will be able to be viewed again later next term at Arts Night. (See article below for more information)
Grade 8 Social
On Thursday 9th September the Grade 8 Student Leaders organised a School Social that was held at Kings Meadowsn High School in the gym. This was a fabulous event and such a fun evening was had by all that attended. The Grade 8 staff team and I are very impressed with the calibre of leadership that the students modelled in planning and organising then running the successful event. They had all bases covered to ensure it was a great night. Thank you to Mr Chatwin for all his guidance and support, the staff who assisted and attended to supervise on the evening and most importantly to the Grade 8 Student Leaders. The standard of leadership displayed was outstanding. Well done.
Timberlink Excursion
On Friday 17th we had a group of Grade 9/10 students travel to George Town to Timberlink to see the workings of their factory and build connections and understandings around the timber industry. We have a good partnership with Timberlink and this was an opportunity for our students to see an authentic business in the building industry. Thank you to Mr Chamberlain for accompanying the students.
Leadership Interviews
In the last couple of weeks we have seen a vast number of students participate in Leadership Interviews for the 2022 Leadership roles for senior students (Prefects, Peer Support Leaders, House Captains and Beacon School Ambassadors). I had the pleasure of sitting in on a few of these interviews and was certainly very impressed by the articulate well thought out responses provided by the students. Our school and department values of Aspiration, Courage, Growth and Respect certainly come into play here and all students should be very proud of themselves for stepping forward and stepping up in applying for these positions.
Academic Competitions
Congratulations to all the students who have participated over the last few weeks in ICAS external competitions. These competitions provide students with a fabulous opportunity to extend and challenge themselves in specific learning areas. It also is a wonderful achievement to have in personal portfolios. Thanks to Mrs Kate Hume for co-ordinating and managing these tests and ensuring this opportunity is afforded to our students.
Student Growth – NAPLAN
Last week parents of students in Grades 7 and 9 would have received a NAPLAN summary report for their child. This report also provides a description to help parents understand what this information represents. If you have any questions about the report, please don’t hesitate to touch base with your child’s teacher or grade co-ordinator. Whilst the report reflects a child’s assessment for the key areas of literacy and numeracy at a ‘point in time’, we know that it doesn’t necessarily reflect the growth and passion that students may have for plenty of other areas that they should be proud of, and celebrated for. It is always important to share this perspective and balance with young people when discussing assessments like this.
As a school, we have seen some very positive trends for our recent focus on building students' reading and language skills which is very reaffirming. We will be using this as a platform to take our improvement further and have this reflected in our school improvement planning. We will also be unpacking our NAPLAN school summary reports with our teams to ensure our work is targeted for every student.
Grade 7 Reading |
94.4% - KMHS |
Grade 9 Reading |
91.1% - KMHS |
|
87.6 % - Similar school |
|
83.3% - Similar school |
|
91.0% - Tas |
|
86.4% - Tas |
Grade 7 Writing |
93.2% - KMHS |
Grade 9 Writing |
83.7% - KMHS |
|
85.1% - Similar school |
|
77.4% - Similar school |
|
86.9% - Tas |
|
78.3% - Tas |
Grade 7 Numeracy |
92.4% - KMHS |
Grade 9 Numeracy |
97.5% - KMHS |
|
86.1% - Similar School |
|
91.4% - Similar School |
|
90.3% - Tas |
|
92.7% - Tas |
You can see from the above table that Kings Meadows High School results are well above schools of a similar demographic and also Tasmanian averages for all areas which is worthy of celebration. We never rest on our laurels though and certainly know there is still much work to be done to ensure that all our students are making the necessary gains in their learning.
I would like to wish everyone a relaxing and safe break over the next two weeks and look forward to a busy (as usual) Term 4.
Warm regards
Maree
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:
Charlotte Freeman - For always exhibiting our ROCKS expectations.
Imogen Quillerat - For consistently following the ROCKS values.
Grade 8:
Lily Johnson - For commitment to homework and study.
Harry Whyte - For commitment to learning and taking a keen interest in his studies.
Grade 9:
Harry Darsaklis - For his improved work ethic and commitment to learning.
Caden Swindells - For his consistent commitment to all learning opportunities.
Grade 10:
Upasana Gurung-Webster - For consistently displaying an outstanding work ethic across all learning areas.
Will Fearn - For being a respectable and responsible school and community member and for always following our school ROCKS expectations.
Celebrations
Term 3 is now drawing to a close. Students have continued to display positive learning behaviours and have now completed their course selections for 2022. Many students are excited at the prospect of trying new subjects and challenging themselves to develop new skills. Early next term, Grade 7 students will compete in their first Kings Meadows High School Athletics Carnival. Students are currently busy practising in their Health and Physical Education lessons. This will be the third formal opportunity for students to contribute points for their respective house groups as they compete to be crowned champions of the Athletics Carnival. As always, the most successful houses are the ones who show high levels of participation across the two days. There are a range of traditional events on offer as well as some extra novelty events for students to participate in. We look forward to seeing the participation, individual and team performances to come in early Term 4.
Grade Focus
The Grade 7 focus for the upcoming term will be centred around how to be a respectful member of the Kings Meadows High School Community. We have emphasised the importance of being proud of our school and the wider community, wearing our uniform with pride, maintaining our school grounds and displaying positive interactions with each other. It important for students to understand that they are Kings Meadows High School students beyond the school gates and their positive interactions create a positive school culture and wider opportunities for all.
End of Term Reminders:
- Maintaining a clean locker.
- Ensuring you move to class with all required equipment in a timely manner.
- Housing mobile devices inside your locker, using the provided school lock.
Celebrations
On Thursday 9th September the Grade 8 students held their first school social in the gym. This was a fantastic event that allowed the Grade 8 cohort to socialise in a safe and positive atmosphere. The purpose behind the social was to provide an opportunity for students to get to know each other better. It was important for this opportunity to be given due to the absence of their Grade 7 camp. During the event there was plenty of dancing, photo booth pictures, side games and limbo. It was great to see all the students engaging in the planned activities. The staff would like to thank the students for their excellent behaviour and for following the ROCKS expectations so well. A big thank you to all staff and students involved in the weeks of preparation of this event. It was greatly appreciated.
Reminder
Kings Meadows High School follows the “Off and Away” policy with mobile phones. Phones are to be off and in lockers for the duration of the day. Students will accumulate phones offences if caught with phones during the day.
In Grade assemblies, we have been discussing how quickly the school year is going and the fact that students will soon be entering senior school. Staff have discussed that in Grade 9 you will be role models for Junior School and the positive decisions you make today, will hold you in good stead ready for senior school.
Grade Focus
The Grade 8 focus for this term will be centred around how to be a respectful member of the Kings Meadows High School Community. We have emphasised the importance of being proud of your school, looking after our fantastic facilities, wearing uniform with pride and being respectful to all members of our school community. An important point we are focussing on is being a respectful member of the Kings Meadows High School Community extending outside the school gates. We want each and every student to build upon our school's already positive reputation.
The following reminders have been discussed in this week’s grade assembly:
- Lockers must be locked at all times with your phone placed inside.
- Please wait until you are outside B Block before you start eating.
- Breakfast Club - food and drinks need to be consumed before entering B Block.
- After you have accessed your locker head straight to class.
- After school move directly to the location where your bus picks you up from.
- Students who are walking or catch a bus outside of the school gate need to leave site.
- There is to be no drawing on your skin at school.
Celebrations
Our Grade 9 aspiring leaders recently participated in the interview stage of the leadership process for 2022. Mr Stokes and Mr Gale, along with a range of other staff listened in as applicants explained why they would make a good leader within our school in 2022. It was a pleasure to listen to so many fine, articulate students and it is going to be a very difficult task in finalising leadership positions. A large group of Grade 9 students participated in the ‘Write a Book in a Day’ event that was held in the school library during Week 9. Students worked in teams over a 12 hour period to create a book entirely from scratch, only given a small number of parameters. It was an action packed day and it was fantastic to see all members of the groups working collaboratively and producing some amazing pieces of written and visual art.
Grade Focus
The past fortnight's grade focus has centred around general organisation and respectful language. Students were encouraged to be mindful of the language that they used and to make sure that interactions with peers and staff was positive and respectful.
Celebrations
The end of Term 3 is upon us. It has been a busy term, action packed and the weeks have flown by. Last week our Grade 10’s completed their exams for their core subjects. We are so proud of the way our students approached these exams. They were mature in their attitude and really made a concerted effort to do their best. Over the next couple of weeks these exams will be marked and our students will receive feedback on how they fared in all their subject areas. The important thing to remember about these exams is that they are treated only as a single assessment piece and a practice for their final exams in Years 11 and 12. Students who missed exams over the week will be given an opportunity to catch up and complete these exams.
Last week our student leaders held Sports Colours Day, raising funds for the Student Leaders Legacy. Students had the opportunity to dress in their own or favourite sports teams’ colours for a gold coin donation. It was great to see students brightly dressed and representing a variety of sports and teams. Thank you to our Prefects for organising this day and for the donations from students.
Our Performing Arts students have been working hard for most of this term on a Drama piece for the Deloraine Youth Drama Festival. Their performance written by Don Zolidis and titled “Alice’s Adventures with Poorly Cooked Cafeteria Seafood“ is a very entertaining and humorous piece based loosely around the characters from Alice in Wonderland. The following students should be congratulated on their dedication, persistence and for giving hours of their own time to ensure the performance was successful. Well done to Jasmine Jones, Campbell Stebbings, Erica Kirk, Ryan Hayes, Kiara Eamens, Ebony Wegman, Ashtyn Peters, Brooke Cunningham, Melody Reihana, Bree Lavelle, Jayda Laskey-Roles, Frances Day and April Stebbings. A second Drama group worked on a piece titled “Dystopia, the Hungry Maze Game of divergent Death” This group put in similar hours dedicated to rehearsals to produce another quality piece. Congratulations to Grade 10 student Ashlee Page on being a performer in this group.
At Kings Meadows High there is always opportunities arising for our students to challenge themselves academically, socially and on the sporting field. This week we had several our students involved in another of these opportunities, Write a Book in a Day. Congratulations to Erica Kirk, Jasmine Jones, Bree Lavelle, Ashtyn Peters, Liana Connie, Kiara Eamens, Erica Kirk, Bree Lavelle, Melody Reihana, Jasmine Jones and Frances Day on working collaboratively as a team to write their book. In addition, we had had some students play in their recent club Hockey Grand Finals. Congratulations goes to Millie Smith, Melody Reihana and Ashtyn Peters on gaining premierships in their Hockey Divisions.
This term we will be holding some extra college transition sessions for students who either missed our college transitions days or would like some more information. These sessions will be informal sessions and will be open to anyone who seeks interest. If parents wish to gain more information about what each college offers, both colleges have websites with videos, course selection guides and information about their campuses. The Newstead College website link is https://newsteadcollege.education.tas.edu.au/ and Launceston College’s link is https://launcestoncollege.education.tas.edu.au/
As said in previous newsletters, Newstead college has opened their VET course applications for 2022. If students are intending on studying at Newstead College and would like to be considered for a VET course, application forms can be obtained from Mrs Pel, Mrs Elliott, or the Grade 10 staffroom. These applications must be completed and returned to Mrs Pel or Mrs Elliott as soon as possible. In addition, the Northern Urban Collective also have their applications open for 2021. If a student wishes to enrol in any of the VET courses run through the High Schools in Launceston, including our own programs at Kings Meadows, students must return their expression of interest forms to Ms Blaubaum as soon as possible. Launceston College will be completing their VET course application process in person next term when they come for enrolments. More information around this will be given closer to the date.
As we are heading towards the end of this year, we have many and varied events coming up. If parents or students have any queries regarding anything please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Home Group Teacher, Mrs Pel the Grade 10 Leader or Mrs Elliott the Grade 10 AST via email or phone the school on 63431000.
Email contacts for our Grade 10 Team:
10A – Ms Karen Furley karen.furley@education.tas.gov.au
10B – Mr Mick Bent mick.bent@education.tas.gov.au
10C – Mr Andrew McLean andrew.mclean@education.tas.gov.au
10D – Mr Solomon Walker-Bowd solomon.walker-bowd@education.tas.gov.au
10E – Mrs Katie Mathews – katie.mathews@education.tas.gov.au
Grade 10 Leader – Mrs Megan Pel megan.pel@education.tas.gov.au
Grade 10 AST – Mrs Coleen Elliott coleen.elliott@education.tas.gov.au
Year 11 and 12 – Mr James Guy james.guy@education.tas.gov.au
Extra transition/Student support – Ms Mel Hudson mel.hudson@education.tas.gov.au
Grade Focus
Our Grade focus this term will be preparing for the transition from Grade 10 to further education. We will be setting ourselves goals that challenge us and establishing good learning behaviours and academic rigour in all classes.
End of Year Dates:
Friday 10 December | Grade 10 Graduation Dinner | 6.00pm arrival - Country Club Casino |
Monday 13 December | Presentation Assembly | 11.15am - Gymnasium |
Tuesday 14 December | Grade 10 Picnic | Mystery location |
Wednesday 15 December | Grade 10 Graduation Assembly | 11.15am - Gymnasium |
A reminder for Grade 7, 2022 parents and students, that course selection receipts are due to Kings Meadows High School Friday 24th September, 2021.
The link to the portal is below:
https://www.selectmysubjects.com.au/
A unique access code and password has been created for each student. These have been emailed to each school transition co-ordinator and learning support teacher.
Students will need time to log into Web Preferences online. The instructions are on the Students Web Preferences Access Guide.
Students can print the receipt at school and take it home for parents to sign.
Students return the receipt to their Grade 6 teacher.
More information can be found in Grade 7, 2022 Transition Course.
https://canvas.education.tas.gov.au/courses/114280/pages/2022-courses
It’s that time of year! Bulldogs Cup has arrived for it’s eighth instalment on Wednesday 22 September at the South Launceston Football Club in Youngtown.
First bounce of the day is with the 2nds girls at 10.15am with the final showdown between the Senior 1sts Boys beginning at 5.45pm.
All games look to be high quality and close affairs, so get down to Youngtown Oval and cheer on Kings Meadows High School!
Please note that COVID procedures will need to be followed at the ground to ensure the day runs smoothly and safely.
During Week 9 both Child Studies classes participated in practical experiences by visiting Youngtown and Glen Dhu Primary schools. Students have been learning about language and cognitive development in young children and were required to choose and read a picture book to a small group of children. They were given class time to practise reading aloud to refine their pace, pitch and projection. This has been an extremely valuable experience for Child Studies students as they explore potential career pathways. All students from Kings Meadows, Youngtown and Glen Dhu had lots of fun and we hope to visit again soon.
On Tuesday, 14th September, a group of eager and excited Grade 7, 8, 9 and 10 students arrived at school bright and early to participate in the ‘Write a Book in a Day’ Competition. This year Kings Meadows High School entered four teams in the competition: one Grade 7/8 team, two Grade 9 teams and one Grade 10 team. The groups moved into the Library and waited enthusiastically for 8.00am so they could receive their parameters for their story. Each group receives two primary characters, a non-human character, a setting, an issue and five random words. These need to be combined in an original and creative way in the students’ books.
A frenzy of planning ensued once parameters were received, ideas flowed and the groups began working collaboratively, talking through their thoughts around possibilities for plot, characters and setting. Once planning was complete, some participants began working on illustrations whilst others began typing up the chapters.
Work continued throughout the day fuelled by copious amounts of sugar filled treats! After pizza for tea and a visit from Ms Furley’s two scottie dogs; Fergus and Finlay, the books began coming together and by 7.00pm were ready for uploading.
Ms Furley, Mr Gale and Miss Hart would like to commend all the students who participated in the competition. It was wonderful to see students collaborating so successfully in their teams to create such amazing books with such beautiful and professional illustrations in such a short time frame. A fantastic effort from all team members! A big thanks to Mr Gale for organising this event!
Senior students visited Timberlink Australia in George Town. In awe of the size and technological advanced centre, students were taken through the process from log to shelf and had great discussions of the company’s excellent work in environmental sustainability. We thank Timberlink Australia for their ongoing support in industry exposure for our students.
Students in 7G have been very busy this term in Food Technology, learning lots of new skills and knowledge about cooking and more importantly, cleaning! We started the term making a range of sweet dishes, including Anzac Biscuits, Apple and Raspberry Muffins and the very delicious Butterscotch Scrolls. The second half of the term has been dedicated towards savoury dishes. In Week 9, students were transported to Mexico, cooking and eating some delicious Chicken Quesadilla’s with Potato Wedges. Students have been enjoying cooking these savoury meals, but more importantly, the opportunity to sit down with their peers and enjoy eating their own cooking with their friends.
On Thursday 16th September, our senior Drama students headed off to Deloraine to participate in the 66th Deloraine Youth Drama Festival. This was a new event for our Drama students and they were extremely excited to share their hard work with an outside audience and perform in a new space, at the Little Theatre in Deloraine. They presented two pieces, both written by playwright Don Zolidis.
Alice’s Adventures with Poorly Cooked Cafeteria Seafood: Between her genius little brother forcing her to play Dungeons and Dragons with his weird friend and scoring detention with the meanest teacher in the school, Alice is having the worst day imaginable. Hoping to get herself sent to the hospital, she eats as much mystery fish as possible from the cafeteria. What follows is a bizarre series of hallucinations that have a suspicious resemblance to another famous Alice story...
Dystopia, the Hungry Maze Game of Divergent Death: Trapped against their will in a dystopian future, a group of teens must battle against emotionally sensitive guards, limited budgets and the trigger-happy Gamemaster to be proclaimed the winner.
Their performances ran smoothly and the adjudicator highlighted their excellent physicalisation, clear vocalisation and clever use of stage. There was a strong sense of ensemble, with all students supporting one another and working seamlessly together as a group. Congratulations to all participants for their commitment to learning, pushing themselves outside their comfort zones, working as a team and setting and achieving performance goals. Campbell Stebbings and Jasmine Jones won Runner Up Best Actor and Actress awards and Lily Dobson won an award called 'No Such Thing As A Small Role' for her performance. Well done!
These pieces will be showcased at our annual Arts Night in November, so come along and see the great work produced by Drama, Dance, Music and Visual Arts students across the school.
Have you ever considered making your own mobile app? Students in Grade 8 Computing explored the steps required to making your own app. They investigated what features make a good app and how app inventors go about transforming their idea into a finished product available on the App Store. As a part of this unit, students were required to plan and prototype a KMHS App, designed to be installed on the iPads of students to help navigate around the school and assist in their day-to-day learning. Looking at the quality of these designs, we might be all using an app designed by these students in the not-too-distant future!
In Term 3, Grade 8 English students have been studying the novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Part of their study of Coraline has been engaging in Literature Circles. Literature Circles are collaborative sessions in which students read, discuss, respond and reflect on a text. It has been wonderful to see the growing confidence and independence amongst students as they prepare for and conduct these sessions. The critical thinking skills and creativity emerging in Grade 8 is exciting! We look forward to showcasing some more of their amazing work with you next term.
- Grade 8 English Team
On September 8th, the Grade 8 social took place. As Grade 8 Student Leaders, we planned this event as a replacement to the unfortunate cancellation of camp last year due to COVID 19. This was such a fun night! As Grade 8’s we got a special opportunity to hang out together, play lots of games and activities and develop friendships amongst our grade. At the social we had lots of different competitions, food catered by our Grade 8 cooking classes, disco lights and decorations by the Grade 8 Student Leaders. The social was a great night and was so beneficial for our grade as a bit of fun for the year and to get to know people we didn’t know very well.
Thanks to all the Grade 8’s that came on the night and followed the ROCKS in exemplary fashion to ensure the night was a success. We also want to say a special thank you to all the people that enabled the event to be such a success, but particularly to all of the teachers that attended on the night. Thank you so much for giving up your time to allow us to have our social.
By Charli Merritt 8D
On 31st August, 10 of our Packages of Learning students and Grade 10 students attended the GriPP Beacon Foundation excursion based at UTAS Stadium. The day was a valuable experience for our students, as they gained further insight to the construction industry pathway.
The day began with an introduction and a walking tour through some worksites and seeing firsthand how extensive some of the projects are.
After the tour, we got to meet a few of the Fairbrother employees, who were fantastic in giving us their insight on how the got to the position they are in today.
Towards the end of the day the students went through job applications for an apprenticeship position at Fairbrother. Having the Apprentice Program Manager at Fairbrother in Matthew Scrimgeour helping us throughout the day, was particularly valuable considering there is applications open now!
Wednesday 22 September | Bulldogs Cup - South Launceston Football Club |
Thursday 23 September | NHSSA Girls Footy Gala Day |
Friday 24 September | Last day of Term 3 |
Monday 11 October | First day of Term 4 |
Tuesday 26 October | Grade 7 & 10 Immunisations |
Friday 22 October | RYDA - Symons Plains - Grade 10 students |
Wednesday 27 October | Athletics Carnival - Day 1 - Kings Meadows High School |
Thurscday 28 October | Athletics Carnival - Day 2 - St Leonards |
Friday 29 October | STUDENT FREE DAY |
Monday 1 November | PUBLIC HOLIDAY |
Thursday 11 November | Careers on Wheels |
Thursday 18 November | Arts Night |
Friday 22 October | Grade 10 RYDA excursion - Symmons Plains |
Wednesday 24 November | School Association Meeting |
Thursday 25 November | Grade 7 2022 Orientation Day |
Thursday 25 November | Parent Information Evening No 4 |
Wednesday 1 December | Healthy Me Expo |
Friday 10 December | Grade 10 Graduation Dinner |
Monday 13 December | Presentation Assembly |
Tuesday 14 December | Grade 10 Mystery Picnic |
Wednesday 15 December | Last Day for Grade 10 students |
Thursday 16 December | Last Day for Grade 7, 8 and 9 students |