Filter Content
Dear Parents/Guardians
Term 4 is an exciting time with many changes as we transition students into the next grade, we also focus on staffing. We warmly welcome Ms Jeanna Bolton to the role of Acting Principal from Wednesday 3rd November, 2021.
Jeanna has been Acting Principal at Scottsdale High School and substantive Principal at Port Dalrymple School in George Town. She brings significant school leadership experience to our school. We look forward to working with Jeanna over the next few weeks especially as we celebrate our students’ achievements.
Mrs Mandy Ritchie has accepted a secondment to the Launceston Library for the remainder of Term 4. Mrs Emma Dobson on behalf of the KMHS community has written a message to wish Mandy all the best in her new role further on in this newsletter.
This week our students commence Progressive Achievement Testing (PAT). The testing will take place over the next fortnight assessing key areas of literacy and numeracy. PAT testing provides our teachers with a useful snapshot of the impact that our teaching practices. These results also assist us as a school in measuring our growth against our school improvement targets.
It has been excellent to observe our students continue their focus on learning. There is a real sense of purpose and renewed energy across our school community as we move through this fast paced term with many events and celebrations to share. Please keep checking the school calendar as we have a number of excursions planned for this term.
Our Grade 10s have attended Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) where important information was shared about being active, responsible road citizens.
A group of Grade 9 students assisted with the Evandale Primary Infant Fun Day. Our students supported the Evandale children to participate in a range of activities. We are proud of the way our students represented our school.
We are delighted with the response with 46 students applying for 2022 Grade 10 leadership positions. 40 students spoke to the school community to describe their leadership goals. Voting has opened and we look forward to sharing the results of the election process.
Our Grade 7, 2022 Transition Program continues with extra transition opportunities for students commencing this week. We are busy planning Orientation Day to be held on Wednesday 24 November 2022. We have commenced creating class groupings and will be sharing these with teachers at a Connect 6 meeting prior to Orientation Day.
Congratulations to the Health and Physical Education team for their organisation of our two day Athletics Carnival. We appreciate the significant amount of planning that goes into making the carnival such a success. It was wonderful to see students participating in the activities on offer and to hear the cheering for team members.
Last Friday was a Professional Learning Day for staff. We examined a range of data describing feedback about our school as described in the school satisfaction survey. We also examined the Student Wellbeing Survey results that was released by Minister Courtney earlier in the week. We used the data sets together with a range of student academic results to measure growth against targets described in our School Improvement Plan. This work will help us to write our Annual Report and our 2022 School Improvement Plan.
We celebrated World Teacher’s Day last Friday. While we thank our teachers often it was especially nice to be able to acknowledge the important work of our teachers on this day.
Regards
Katie Wightman
Acting 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:
Jayden Lowe - for being a supportive class member.
Jaxson Jarman - for his great work in his recent English lessons.
Riley Richmond - for displaying the ROCKS throughout the two days of Athletics Carnival.
Grade 8:
Breeanna Farrell – for participating in all KMHS activities with a positive attitude.
Krystal Padman – for following the ROCKS expectations to the best of her abilities.
Grade 9:
Bonnie Talbot – for her commitment and participation at the Athletics Carnival.
Mackenzie Grant – for her enthusiasm and contribution at the Athletics Carnival.
Grade 10:
Lily Pulford and Phoebe Fahey - for their commitment to the Athletics Carnival over the two days and setting a great example to younger students.
The weather was fantastic and the performances even better!
A fantastic two days were spent at our first Athletics Carnival for Grade 7 students. With the emphasis on fun, participation and encouragement, our tabloid style carnival allowed the Grade 7 students to move around a range of events providing the perfect climate for celebrating our success.
All the hard work and practise during their HPE lessons was put in to place with incredible individual performances, encouragement and teamwork across the day. A highlight was definitely Tug-O-War where house groups battled it out to be crowned the house champions!
iPads
As per our iPad lease agreement, iPads, Apple charging cords and charging blocks will be collected prior to the end of the year. Each student was issued these items at the start of the year. As per this agreement, correct genuine Apple parts must be collected in working order by the end of the school year. These items are then audited, updated and stored, ready for use again in the 2022 school year. Please support your student with locating and ensuring the working order of these items, prior to the end of 2021. Failure to return these items in correct working order will result in the need to replace said items at the families’ cost. Apple charging cords and charging blocks are available for purchase from the Kings Meadows High School Office. Class teachers will begin this process of ensuring iPads are ready for the end of year collection in November.
As a whole school, for the next two weeks, we will be focussing on organisation. Students will be aiming to arrive to every class on time, with correct equipment and stationary. Please check with your student to ensure they have the minimum essential items for learning: pens, pencils, charged iPad and correct exercise books. If unable to access these items, please see Grade 7 Grade Leaders for extra equipment.
Celebrations
A big congratulations must go out the Grade 8 cohort for their settled start to the Term 4. It has been great to see students engaged with their learning and following the ROCKS expectations on a daily basis. In grade assembly this week we discussed how important it is to get the most out of yourself during Term 4. Staff will be encouraging students to take every opportunity that comes their way and to “get out of their comfort zone”. During this term, there will plenty of events where students can be actively involved such as My Education Days and Big Day Out activities. An exciting term ahead.
Athletics Carnival
The Kings Meadows High School Athletics Carnival was held last Wednesday and Thursday both here at school and St Leonard’s Athletics Centre. These are always fantastic events, and it was great to see the Grade 8 students engaged in all the activities. The participation and house spirit were fabulous and plenty of students played their part in gaining house points. Congratulations to Esk House for winning the 2021 champion house. A big congratulations to all Grade 8 students who were place getters and have qualified for the Inter-High Carnival later this term. Good luck and enjoy representing Kings Meadows High School at the next level.
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 extends outside the school gates. We want each and every student to build upon our schools 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 catching a bus outside of the school gates need to leave the grounds quickly.
Celebrations
The Grade 9 aspiring student leaders were involved in delivering speeches recently at a whole school assembly. Each aspiring leader outlined reasons why teachers and students should vote them in to the positions of Prefect, House Captain, Beacon Ambassador or Peer Support Leader. It was fantastic to see the students involved embody the educational values of courage and aspiration by presenting these speeches and we wish the students involved all the best in gaining one of these positions.
Grade Focus
With the Athletics Carnival just completed we have been focussing on teamwork and co-operation. It was great to see Grade 9 students compete in such a positive and supportive fashion and we congratulate all students who participated in the day.
Celebrations
Grade 10 have had a very busy last three weeks. We have had students involved in our two day Athletics Carnival, which was a fun filled two days and their final carnival for their high school years. We also had students explore a renewable energy sector careers expo held at George Town which investigated careers in the field of metal fabrication, systems engineering, mechanical engineering and sheet metal fabrication just to name a few. Last week our students participated in the RYDA program at Symmons Plains. This program was an informative and interactive day which has hopefully given our students more knowledge around risks and decision making associated with driving.
Next week our students will have their college enrolment interviews. These will take place on Tuesday 9th November for Launceston College, in the KMHS wellbeing room from 9-11.30am. On Wednesday 10th November, Newstead College will conduct their interviews from 1pm-2.50pm in the KMHS Wellbeing space. Students have been allocated a 20-25minutes interview timeslot, we are encouraging parents to attend, however this is not compulsory. Students will be required to bring with them their college enrolment sheets indicating predicted subject marks and possible career pathways or interested subjects. The college teachers will then counsel our students into the right subjects and set them up ready for their 2022 year. This enrolment process is fluid and can be changed at any time after the interview, especially if students change their mind or pathway.
In addition to these enrolment days some of our students will also have their VET course suitability interviews. Newstead College will be conducting these at their campus and if your child has an interview, they would have received email and regular mail notification. Goodluck to those students for these interviews. Launceston College will be completing their VET course application process in person on Tuesday the 9th November when they come for enrolments. More information around this will be given closer to the date.
This term we will be holding some extra college transition sessions for some 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 students would like extra transition visits, they should speak with their Class Teacher, Mrs Pel or Mrs Elliott. 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/
Our student leaders will be organising and facilitating a few big events in the coming weeks. The first of these is the Careers on Wheels expo which is run by the Beacon Ambassadors. This day involves grade groups accessing the Careers Expo and gaining valuable information around various career opportunities within the local community. The Peer Support Leaders will be organising the Healthy Me Expo which is another day where grade groups have access to activities and seeking information centred around supporting their own wellbeing. Finally, the House Captains and Prefects will be conducting the KMHS Big Day Out which is an afternoon of fun activities and teamwork for our students. This afternoon will involve food stalls, water slides and other fun games for students to participate in. All funds raised on this day will go towards the Student Leaders Legacy gift for 2021. We look forward to seeing their success in organising these events.
Our Arts students will be now focussing their attention this term to our KMHS Arts Night. This is being held at the Princes Theatre on Thursday 18th November from 6.30pm. This will be a fabulous night showcasing the talent of our Art, Drama, Music and Dance students. There are many Grade 10 students involved in this night and we look forward to seeing them under the spotlight. Tickets for this awesome event can be purchased via the Princess Theatre website:
https://theatrenorth.com.au/arts-night-2021
As we are heading towards the end of this year, we have many and varied events coming up.
We have a group of students who are our Graduation Dinner Committee. This volunteer group will help our staff make important decisions around the planning of our dinner. Their first task has been deciding on the design and layout of the dinner invitation. This has now been decided and invitations to this should be handed out in the coming weeks. A reminder that these invitations will only go to those students who have met the Grade 10 behavioural expectations set out last term and if all money outstanding to the school has been paid. All queries about payments and money owing can be made to the school office.
A notice will go home this week outlining the final costs for the end of year celebratory events and payment for these. If parents or students have any queries regarding anything please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Class 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. We will also be placing focus on preparing our students for transition to further education.
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 |
KMHS ATHLETICS CARNIVAL REPORT:
Esk House wins back-to-back Athletics Shields!
We were blessed with awesome weather for our recent two day Athletics Carnival. Sunny and warm conditions last Wednesday and Thursday contributed to an Athletics Carnival that was once again full of spirit, colour, athleticism and comradery. Participation levels were at an all-time high, which was wonderful to see. House spirit was alive and well on both days with many students emblazoning their house colours with pride. There were some fabulous performances on both days in both track and field events. Our students embraced both days and all who attended are to be commended for the way they represented themselves and our school.
Well done to all students for your efforts over the two days, your ability to run, jump, skip and throw is a credit to your dedication and support of the carnival. With wonderful conditions we had some new records formed. Congratulations to the following students who all broke existing athletics records.
GRADE 7 BOYS
Track Champion |
Jess Bula |
2nd place |
Riley Richmond |
3rd place |
Malachai Dunne |
Field Champion |
Jess Bula |
2nd place |
Dylan Poulton & Riley Richmond |
3rd place |
Harry Self |
GRADE 7 GIRLS
Track Champion |
Meleyah Dudman |
2nd place |
Maddison Medwin |
3rd place |
Iris Alberti |
Field Champion |
Holly Dunn |
2nd place |
Georgie Hawkins |
3rd place |
Amaya Summers |
GRADE 8 BOYS
Track Champion |
Lochie Harris |
2nd place |
Riley Howard |
3rd place |
Cadel Foster |
Field Champion |
Lochie Harris |
2nd place |
Tom Allen |
3rd place |
Lucas Freestone |
GRADE 8 GIRLS
Track Champion |
Grace Weldon |
2nd place |
Breeanna Farrell |
3rd place |
Lucy Smith |
Field Champion |
Lucy Smith |
2nd place |
Caitlin Lyons |
3rd place |
Breeanna Farrell |
GRADE 9 BOYS
Track Champion |
Harry Darsaklis |
2nd place |
Tylah Quilliam |
3rd place |
Zeshawn Ricketts |
Field Champion |
Zeshawn Ricketts |
2nd place |
Harry Darsaklis |
3rd place |
Liam Walters |
GRADE 9 GIRLS
Track Champion |
Bonnie Talbot |
2nd place |
Jaslyn Freestone |
3rd place |
Klarissa Watson |
Field Champion |
Bonnie Talbot |
2nd place |
Georgia Gillow |
3rd place |
Jaslyn Freestone |
GRADE 10 BOYS
Track Champion |
Colby McKercher |
2nd place |
Lincoln Newman-Beams |
3rd place |
Jayden Eldershaw |
Field Champion |
Jayden Eldershaw |
2nd place |
Alex Lyons |
3rd place |
Colby McKercher |
GRADE 10 GIRLS
Track Champion |
Millie Smith |
2nd place |
Taylah Weldon |
3rd place |
Jess Homan |
Field Champion |
Millie Smith |
2nd place |
Lily Pulford |
3rd place |
Lydia Holz |
Bonnie Talbot – Grade 9 – broke the Triple Jump Record with 10.19
(previous record – Abbie Butler – 10.06)
Esk house displayed another dominant performance over the two days and was the successful house who took out the 2021 House Athletics Championships. Excellent participation from all Esk team members was the contributing factor in their win. Congratulations!
Final house points were as follows:
Esk 2934
Tamar 2468
Nevis 2211
Lomond 1953
A massive thank you must go to the HPE team for arriving at school early on both days for set up and for all their work prior to the carnival, helping to organise such a great event. We would also like to thank our parent helpers Mr Tim Talbot, Mr Heath Rice and Mr Jamie Howard for their tireless efforts over the carnival. We couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you also goes to Newstead College students Connor McLachlan and Regina Blair and ex-students Jacob Barker and Grace Gillow for volunteering your time to help us. Your expertise and experience in running Athletics Carnivals was greatly appreciated. Carnivals cannot be as successful as ours without the combined effort from team of people. It was fantastic to see parents and family members back at our carnival this year to spectate. We thank you all for following our COVID sign in procedures without fuss. It was wonderful to have you back! Finally, a big thank you must also go to all staff who supported us on the day and worked tirelessly to produce a smoothly run carnival.
Mrs Coleen Elliott – HPE Learning Area Leader
For the remainder of the year, our wonderful Library Technician, Mandy Ritchie, will be embracing an exciting opportunity, fulfilling a role at the Launceston Library. Mandy has so many wonderful skills and qualities, but above all else, she is known for her deep passion for establishing and maintaining a strong reading culture within our school.
There are many students at KMHS who have discovered a love of reading, thanks to Mandy’s relentless pursuit of engaging books for all readers, regardless of their reading level or topics of interest. Her wealth of literary knowledge, her innovative use of ICT and her resource management skills have made her an invaluable asset to our teaching staff, particularly within the Humanities learning areas. Mandy has never shied away from a challenge and we are very grateful for her innovation and creativity, particularly throughout the challenges of 2020.
We would like to extend our appreciation to Mandy for all her dedication and hard work over the years; she will certainly be missed whilst on secondment in her new role. We wish her all the best!
After a COVID forced hiatus in 2020 the Arts team at Kings Meadows High School are extremely excited to be able to announce the 2021 Arts Night “Showcase” will be held on Thursday 18th November, this term at the Princess Theatre from 6:30pm to 9.00pm.
Students from Dance Music, Art, Photography and Drama have already begun working on pieces to be shown and performed on this evening. An important note: due to changes in the COVID safety plan parents are now required to pre-purchase tickets from Theatre North (either online or at the Box Office) as there will be no general admission. This means you will be able to select your seats and it will be first in best dressed. As part of this process you will also be given a specific arrival time depending on your seat as the ushers and Theatre North staff will have organised ‘staggered’ arrival times as part of the safety plan.
Please click on the link below to purchase tickets. These will be available from 10.00am Wednesday 20 October - $10 Adults, $6.00 Students/Concession, Free – 0-3 years. Please Note: Theatre North will not be charging any additional transaction fees for this event.
https://theatrenorth.com.au/arts-night-2021
Students have been issued with permission forms for the event and it is extremely important that both parents and students read all of the information provided on these letters carefully and that they are signed and returned to school promptly.
We look forward to giving further Arts Night updates in the newsletter and on the Facebook page – keep your eye out for these important messages. Looking forward to seeing you all in the audience on the 18th November!
9 November | Launceston College enrolments |
10 November | King & Crown applications due (Grade 7 2022) |
10 November | Newstead College enrolments |
11 November | My Education Day - Careers on Wheels |
17 November | NHSSA Inter-High Athletics Carnival - St Leonards |
18 November | Arts Night |
24 November | Grade 7 2022 Orientation Day |
24 November | Parent Information Evening - Grade 7 2022 - No. 4 |
24 November | School Association Meeting - 7.00pm |
24 November | Triathlon - selected students |
24 November | Grade 8 College Taster Day |
29 November | Parents Cyber Safety talk with Susan McLean - 7.00pm |
30 November | KMHS students Cyber Safety talk with Susan McLean |
1 December | My Education Day - Healthy Me Expo |
10 December | Grade 10 Graduation Dinner at Casino |
13 December | Presentation Assembly |
14 December | Grade 10 Mystery Picnic |
15 December | Grade 10 Graduation Assembly |
16 December | Grade 7, 8 & 9 picnic - Last day for students |